Foot Notes: Street Theatre
It’s one of the best ways to experience the architecture and culture of a city. Walk along some of India’s most interesting streets on these five heritage walks.
A Matter Of Life And Death
The smell of faeces, food and faith hangs over the network of narrow streets behind theghats of Varanasi. With the agility of a mountain goat and the reflexes of an alert dog, I manoeuvre past cows, vagrant dogs and people—all self-assuredly occupying their space in inconceivably tapering lanes.
The Middle Land
As I deliberately slowed down the pace of my tea to absorb, the young lama’s story of joining the monastery, I could not help but graze my memory for having a better backdrop to a conversation in a long time. I was sitting at the edge of the Komic monastery with my new friend, more […]
One For The Road
This year began with trundling up the snow-covered Mall road of Mussoorie, to meet the man who said he could balance a cup of tea on his stomach when he sat. The self-deprecating humour and easy writing of Ruskin Bond drew me to the world of Rusty and friends that Bond created with his book, […]
Adventure Stops On The West Coast
If you want to head to sunnier options this winter and are also looking for some adventure, you must explore the 150 km stretch along the west coast of Karnataka, yet to be pegged on India’s travel circuit.
How Deep Is That River
The skeleton of an entire city lies submerged under the Tehri reservoir in Uttarakhand. It is said that a school, the clock tower, complete markets and houses, though now corroded by the water, are still intact.
Gypsy Rain
Dotted with countless black umbrellas, the journey to bekal from cannonore in a local bus is breathtaking on a bonedrenching rainy day.This unassuming little town offers along with incospicious delights.
Colour And Valour
In the urban context, sports in India starts and ends with cricket! Fortunately this seemingly pervasive sentiment remains confined only to cities! Out in far flung destinations of the country there is more at stake; honour, team spirit and most of all, tradition. Away from the world of controversies and TRPs, strapping young men are […]
Ever Been To Crab Island?
Elusively tucked away about 22 kms from Cochin, is Njandu Kadu or the Backwater Crab Island. Patronized by heavy weight travelers from all over the world and yet pretty obscure even to the locals, the ‘island of coconut groves’ is a spectacular treat. Strips of coconut groves intermingled with thickly foliaged canals from a 36 […]
Battlefield Punnamada
As the small town ofAlappuzhabids adieu to the resilient but cathartic monsoon rains, it embarks on the next arduous display of determination in the month of August – The Nehru Snake Boat Race. Peg the bone-drenching rain versus the grit of the oarsmen of the race and you would struggle to establish the stronger contestant. […]
Mahe: Waiting To Be Discovered
“There are no beggars in Mahe,” a gleeful Tayil Sadanandan erupts amidst the noise of the rain on my already weather-assaulted umbrella. Struggling to have someone speak to me in detail, Sadanandan made my second attempt at Mahe absolutely worthwhile.
Fight Clubs Of Varanasi
Faith and fitness have always found common ground in Varanasi. In its traditional ‘gymnasiums’ or kushti akharas along the ghats, wrestlers continue to practise millennia-old moves with single-minded devotion.