Banaras: Bold, Beautiful and Bejeweled!
“Banaras is older than history, older than tradition, older than even legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together”- Mark Twain.. “Kashi” as locals calls it, is a city that should be savored slowly- almost like the ‘paan’ that comes associated with this name in its prefix. It is a city that you either like for its character or dislike for its dirt. So, while packing your suitcase, pack patience. Because, if you don’t wear that, it will be hard for you move along or experience it. Be it, for allowing the musky smell of camphor to...
Read MoreDarjeeling- A tale of tail-coats, tea-gardens and tall ‘tains
Never has brewing tea made me more nervous. In fact, I now tremble and take a deep breath before I dare to make that first pour into the teapot. I take extra care with the water temperature for the first brew now. The spectre of burning my tea leaves on the first brew looms. I don’t even dare to use a thermometer to measure water temperature. “Feel it with your heart. Learn it with the palm of your hand and fingers in relation to the changing environment.” – had said a wise man, once. I am back from a short stop-over at Makaibari, the first ever tea factory in the...
Read MoreWhy Vicarious?
I have chewed upon this idea for a very long time now. I want a word to be ‘me’! Every person in the world has his or her own word. Some may have a short phrase, and that’s okay as well. And I needed one,too. But it needed to be chosen carefully, and almost wisely. For it cannot change once decided. That was the first ground rule. And then, it just happened.Almost over-night. Like most important decisions of my life get taken…in my dreams! All I did was snug into my bed, and close my eyes. Behind the sheer pista curtains,the shadows of the trees became longer, the...
Read MoreAbout Sambrita
“We gaze, therefore we are”! Stories dwell tantalizingly close to us, around us, within us yet we continuously fail to pause and capture! Our stereotypical concepts of story -telling and spelling out obvious facts and form keep us from unearthing stories and pictures beyond the realm of the obvious. Stories could be anything that catches our imagination, sticks to our fancies urging us to react to it. And I react. I look around and find joy in people’s joy, jump with the street urchin playing with the water hose, feel the pain on a wrinkled face when he begs for money, or delight in...
Read MoreCoorg with the Thimmaiah’s
The beautiful house and the few other outhouses and rooms that make up The Jade are 170 years old. Each room is impeccably maintained with old furniture polished from long use, tall pillars, old locks and thick doors. The Jade is almost nearly at the border between Kodagu and Kerala and its lovely location offers travellers a chance to drop in also to Waynad. The only sounds you hear is that of birds and the odd job from the sprawling estates around. This was the second time we were visiting Coorg. In our first visit, we had almost concluded, that Coorg was over-hyped. But when we planned...
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