The road to Mandawa
From the ramparts of the fort, a heritage hotel today, Churi Ajitgarh looked like a movie set. A period epic involving wealthy people who loved art and the good life and, just like a lot of wealthy people, given to self-aggrandisement. They were merchants who travelled far and wide and brought back with them architectural […]
A dummy’s adventures in a smart hotel
Gone are the good ole days when all you had to tackle in hotels, which involved application of astuteness and agility, were the timer switches which lit up corridors for 20 or 30 seconds – you invariably ended making a dash for it. It must have been a good feeling – saving electricity and all […]
Make the most of winter – Wanderink through forts
If I told you winter was the best time of the year to be in the desert you’d ask me ‘so what’s new?’ Or ‘how predictable is that?’ Then, think about it, do we really? I mean if not exactly make a beeline, at least make serious plans to hit the desert in winter? From […]
SK Pottekkatt: Trailblazer travel writer
‘Bridge View’ was the name I gave my writing room – a rented space in a commercial building by the banks of the canal. It had a unique atmosphere marked by a strange colour and odour. Sound even. The stink from the cremation ground towards the west wafted in with the wind along with the […]
Reach vs. arrive: The difference is planning
First day of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland some years ago. Many glasses of zutho, traditional rice beer, later I was winding my way aided by random hands and shoulders out of the Kisama venue to the car park. My crew – we were filming the weeklong spectacle for a travel channel – was supposed […]
Weave your way through the odd-even formula
The odd-even formula has struck like boarding school after a jaunty summer vacation. Though we are aware the restrictive regiment is for our own good – Delhi pollution levels are 15 times higher than the WHO standard, capable of claiming up to three years of our lives – as true Delhiites we have to groan […]
Asian Absences: The lyricism in travel writing
Every travel is a quest for Shangri-La – the mystical, mythical land of harmonious coexistence, contentment and fulfilment. With a subtitle like ‘Searching for Shangri-La’ travel, thus, has to go on. But when the last in the collection of (just) six travelogues that make up Asian Absences is called ‘Shangri-La’ it almost seems like the […]
Chronicle of a resurrection foretold
Nobody wants to read yet another account of passenger trauma induced by the proclaimed pathological delay of Air India flights. Nor about the anguish inflicted by the habitual misdemeanour of the autumnal aunties of the aisle (AA). Though I had my share of both these ritualistic inevitabilities by the time I took my seat on […]
Churu: A mirage in sandstone
Desert rain falls like a baptismal shower, there is divinity and rebirth. It is a diffuser of an exotic perfume with top notes of fragrant earth, a heart of nostalgia and the base leaving a hint of longing. The desert itself remains almost still, the shifting dunes quivering just a bit in a silent frenzy […]