this piece recently appeared at thealternative.in. i don’t know how many of you subscribe to your facebook page so thought might make sense to paste it here too. let me know what you think. catch the original piece here: the pyaus of an erstwhile bombay. (yes, not everyone appreciates or understands my love for the democracy of smallcase.. so i listen. caps it is) The … Continue reading The pyaus of an erstwhile Bombay
you live in maharashtra and are searching for that ‘lovely’ hill station to escape the heat. (a modern myth – there is no brilliant hill station close by) lonavala is hardly a hill station anymore. it’s definitely not cooler in temperature. matheran – you’ve been there, love it. but it’s too dusty to go in the summers; you need to wait for the rains… you are left … Continue reading panchgani & mahableshwar can also be fun
i would like to pack my bag, not have to work and travel all my life. wouldn’t you too? BUT (and there is always a but in most dreams) there are bills to be paid, EMIs to be deducted, restaurants to eat at and tonnes of books i must-must own. so we stay put, dig in our heels, settle into this city, feel jealous of RTW travellers and look forward … Continue reading confessions of a serial traveller
this was the first time i have consciously seen lavender flowers (and i think these are lavender flowers). i saw them from a distance and went running saying, ‘lavender, lavender…’ so if these aren’t lavender flowers please don’t tell me so, i’m oblivious-ly happy. (pun completely and totally intended; i thought through it – i wonder why people say unintended!) i have heard about those beautiful … Continue reading lavender flowers and whispers
graffiti that always catches my attention and keeps me revetted. i don’t know if this happens to you, but once i see one piece of graffiti or street art in a city, i start searching all the walls almost frantically. because if there is one piece, there are always more! i scanned the walls as i made my way from rome to venice years ago, i searched the walls to find graffiti in varanasi, visited … Continue reading walking the streets of kochi – the street art
i have to admit it, i cannot lie. i visited chennai every summer when i was in school and recently lived there for two whole years but i didn’t know all these things about chennai. when i visited last week, i decided to act like a tourist and comb the streets for facts, fiction and stories that quenched my thirst. and wow, what a find! i dare you, … Continue reading 6 things YOU didn’t know about Chennai & Madras
my article: “6 water bodies with a story to tell” is now up at The Alternative. this piece talks about crocodiles, 17th c rain water harvesting and a bubbling tank – amongst other things! let me know other water bodies with crazy stories that you have come across while traveling or in your city. pasting the link and text below. 6 Water Bodies in India with … Continue reading 6 water bodies with an unusual tale
let me begin by saying that i am a confused atheist. my parents never really took us to temples; no childhood memories of peeping over those bars for the ‘darshanam of shiva’. my mother prayed fervently till i was around 14 – she bribed god, begged god, gave up chocolate in exchange for better marks in exams for her kids… you know the stuff. and … Continue reading amritsar and her golden temple
somewhere in the himalayan range, hidden between two passes lies the spiti valley. it is a 5 – 7 hour rocky journey from manali or shimla, depending on which side you enter from. an arid landscape, above the snow line, with no trees and just shrubs eating up the sun with a hungry thirst. it was a jeep safari, that lasted 9 days, but a … Continue reading a taste of spiti, himachal
it was the first night at varanasi. as i decided to venture into the dark & dingy ganga-fuji restaurant. the owner waxed eloquent about his food and chatted about tourists, varanasi and everything by the river. the food turned out to be decent though not as brilliant as he promised it would be. he was warm and chatty and made the experience interesting. what i liked … Continue reading varanasi by the ganga: a sketch
merry to go around 