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 MoreRed Hills in the Nilgiris:A love affair with the monsoon!
It may sound pretty cheesy, but my first memory of Ooty is a dialogue from the 80’s film “Karz’, where a cheeky Jalal Agha turns around to a disturbed Rishi Kapoor ( who is unaware that his love-interest resides in Ooty), and in an attempt of persuasion to get him to station himself there, squeals out “Ooty, pyaar ki booty” (Translated, that stands: -Ooty, the reservoir of love!). I loved the movie, the picturesque locations and the songs. And thus began the love-affair! It was John Sullivan, the British Collector of Coimbatore who put Ooty firmly on the map...
Read MoreYou 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...
Read MoreI’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...
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...
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