Travel Tales

You Don’t Need a Clock, at Havelock!

Posted by on Jan 9, 2014 in Travel Tales | 35 comments

You Don’t Need a Clock, at Havelock!

My first pre-encounter with the islands was in the form of a celestial intervention, cutting across the skies, in layers and hues of gold, violet, tangerine and red. Arriving like a majestic king with pomp and show would. Providing an apparition, letting the audience heave in anticipation, building up to a climax of expectation and then…rising above the skies of the dawn! The sunrise, witnessed through the glass panes of the flight to the islands was a visual treat that will never leave my memory. And truly so, it was the most welcoming sign foraying us into the “Island of...

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A Sweet Winter Reverie in Delhi

Posted by on Dec 30, 2012 in Travel Tales | 6 comments

A Sweet Winter Reverie in Delhi

” Aap Kalkatta se ho? “- Are you from Kolkata? Asked a tall athletic man, muffled up in a colorful Himachali shawl, a biscuit brown full sleeve sweater, from which waist below hung the remaining edges of a sky blue shirt, loose pajamas below that, and black boots further near the winter ground on which he stood. He had a pleasantness about him, the kind you feel comfortable with, even if it was a first encounter. D and me were talking in Bengali; actually deciding from the extensive menu in front of us, what we would ideally like to have for breakfast.  Around us sat several...

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The Name is Skye…The Isle of Skye

Posted by on Nov 12, 2012 in Travel Tales | 10 comments

The Name is Skye…The Isle of Skye

All girls(the big and small cats!) have a fantasy dwelling around a Scottish castle. Romances have been immortalized against these backdrops in Bollywood and Hollywood can safely call it its second home. And, I am just another girl, that has similar fantasies. So, when we were mid-way into our visit to Scotland, it went without any back-lash conversations that a trip up the mountains of the Western Highlands was a must in our itinerary. That was way back in 2007. Circa 2012, and ‘Skyfall’ releases in India as the 23rd 007 James  Bond movie. Many called it the best of Bond...

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Jodhpur: The Land of Fables and Facades

Posted by on Oct 23, 2012 in Travel Tales | 7 comments

Jodhpur: The Land of Fables and Facades

From riding on camels who love ‘street-food’, chatting up with locals who have strange stories to share, spending nights in a 300 year old haveli, heavy and romantic in its own history and charm,going berserk shopping silver and jootees in the bustling walled streets of the blue city, to being carried on camel-tops into the the perfect sunset, only to find that a perfect moon-rise awaits you at the next dune, this journey into the desert town of Jodhpur was indeed a memorable one. “Yeh shabd sirf Urdu aur Angreji mein uplabdh hain, khayal kiya hain aapne? Shaadi karna kyu,...

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Goa-Where Stillness meets Restlessness!

Posted by on Sep 6, 2012 in Travel Tales | 11 comments

Goa-Where Stillness meets Restlessness!

If I had to ever write a story about us, it would need to necessarily contain silly sweet things. Stories about being picked up 5 minutes apart on a rickety blue coloured school bus for 8 whole years. Endless,mindless games that we played within it, sitting at the last seats. Fights about the window seats. Stories about boys we could never meet and headaches that one never knew of. Stories about  planning birthday parties and ‘giveaways’. About insecurities and achievements. About plans and perusals. About escapades and enchantment. Stories about what we can and what we...

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I’m in a “New York State of Mind”!

Posted by on Aug 8, 2012 in Travel Tales | 6 comments

I’m in a “New York State of Mind”!

On my flight to JFK, my co-passenger on the next seat was a very serious looking Dean of a private University in Hyderabad. Not only did he disrupt and disturb me all the 9 direct hours from Brussels to JFK, with his obnoxious snoring, he also was a very bad man. No, no..hold on…not bad because of misbehavior! But bad, because he doesn’t like New York. Unbelievable. “I’ve said over and over to so many people that I’m really just not all that into New York.  I have this idea that New Yorkers and people who love New York, just really like the idea of New York. This is my attitude: who really...

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