should you even bother? this is a situation i have been faced with often… a couple of year ago, i visited the river nila project. set in kerala. this is the efforts of one person to make people respect and care for the river that runs through the north – the malabar region of kerala. over years, there has been much abuse in terms of … Continue reading visiting ‘recommended’ artisans in a city, town, village?
there is this quaint part hidden in the midst of a large, hip suburb with big buildings on either side with a suspension bridge on the third stuck in time. between modernity. this little village. stays afloat. islamic architecture melts into christian porches crosses at every turn that date to the 17th century. drying teddy bears dot today’s presence graffiti welcomes in freedom of expression … Continue reading walking down the lanes of bandra…
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off-balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” –Cesare Pavese Continue reading possession… traveling makes you let go?
during my visit to chettinad, i went to a tile factory at athangudi, close to kannadukathan village.. its a common enough thing to do. and there are sufficient of them, and all tourist-friendly. that’s not a compliment. but in a village known for tiles and their aesthetics, they charge to watch them at their art! but, anyway i was there. and people had told me about it. and i had to do it.
had heard so much about chettinad cuisine over the years, but being vegetarian it never really excited me. but, then my husband and i saw pictures of some old mansions in chettinad and knew we had to visit… the old mansions looked beautiful, and there seemed to be way more to chettinad than food and saris!
first steps we had to find a nice place to stay. we chanced upon Visalam managed by CGH Earth. it seemed to have captured that old-world charm without going over-board! none of the places in karaikudi or nearby seemed nearly as good! when we reached at an early 8am, we were awed by the beauty of the house. how they had managed to renovate it! Continue reading “chettinad – love at first ‘site’!!”
it was a road trip. and like all road trips begin… this one started late. we were to leave a good 2 hours before we finally left. we were to leave earlier so that we avoided traffic on the way out of bombay, which we didn’t! so… well… its ok! we were driving to goa. had a friend’s wedding and decided to make it into … Continue reading the woman with the funny nostrils…
he was standing there in the corner. suspicious. wondering why i was peeping into his private space. his 2 ft by 2 ft home. in the morning time, while he say brushing his teeth in the corner. i had looked in from the window in the wall. in an otherwise quite space, in the middle of an orchard of trees, no one came sauntering in. his … Continue reading the man from beyond
i have been to the ‘red-light’ area in pune, india. the first time i went with my mother!! she needed to get a tabla repaired and the person who worked best with tablas had his shop in the middle of the red light area. i sat and waited on the scooter. i must have been 14. i watched women dressed in saris, with pallus hanging … Continue reading bangkok and swaadeeeka
an angry rivulet rushes down the calm valley announcing its presence at every curve and every bend with a loud gush colliding with another river at dev prayag, to become the mighty, revered and feared river of india continues coursing through settlements and cities almost dismissive of their large presence and almost dawdling like a large pregnant woman at varanasi but still seething below then … Continue reading meeting the lifeline of india…
i was commissioned (for a lack of any other word) to write audio tours for a company based in europe! at first i was worried. yes, of course i know my city – bombay, mumbai and all of it in between. but do i know it well enough to tell others about it? so i walked, talked, photographed and re-discovered my city!
in this series, i want to document all the little tit-bits that made me get awed, charmed, amazed, angry, delighted and interested in bombay & mumbai!
we begin at watson’s hotel!
merry to go around 