Not just another day: A photo feature on Fort Kochi
In an increasingly red-and-white world Fort Kochi is still green and blue. The same concession that thwarted all conquest still abounds. The Dutch and the Portuguese, the French and the Brits have all left, their latifundia considerably diminished and their illustrious pasts immured within cemeteries and churches. This estuarine land is fated to lose relevance […]
Itto…Irro: At the helm of the last rural bastion
All sporting events are tagged with a festive element that goes up with the rusticity of the setting. On the gaiety front – counting out the induced ones – few compare with the desert competitions of Rajasthan or the traditional water games of Goa. The snakeboat race of Kerala takes it up by another notch […]
She is pretty and she knows it
The bunds that hold back the lake water from overrunning adjoining paddy fields glisten in trepidation. Rain trees canopies a calm that quivers in anticipation. Palm fronds hold their breath. The usually gregarious marsh toads fall uncannily silent, eyes wide and unblinking, lethal tongues sheathed. The cormorant makes several desperate swoops into the water only […]
The journey called Indian Railways
Book review: India Junction – A Window to the Nation (An edited version of the review appeared in the Sunday Express dated July 20, 2014) This may not exactly be the most opportune time for a book on the Indian Railways, by the Indian Railways, what with the political and passenger angst around the recent fare hike. […]
Aboard the Duronto to Iraq. And back.
He was occupying my seat – number 33 – when I boarded the Duronto Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Ernakulam on July 5. “The terrorists were nice?” He asked incredulously into the phone in Malayalam. Now my assigned seat was a window – a good fortune which interminably brightened up my journeys – and I […]
Like a thakur in Fort Auwa
The efflorescent shower, marigold garland and crimson tilak – de rigueur of a star-studded hospitality welcome – take valiant moorings when you enter Fort Auwa. Rightly cued, the jeep that picks you up from Marwar Junction stops just short of the yett from where you are requested to proceed on foot allowing the red carpet […]
Ten types of terrible (fellow) travellers
The swelling tribe of the solo traveller is no fluke and has more to do with whom you go with than where you go to. Your fellow traveller is unfairly vested with the power to make or mar your trip. To mangle it or make it memorable. A well-travelled fella who isn’t garrulous is a […]
Alpine awes: Kuari Pass Trek / Lord Curzon Trail
This is one of the most picturesque treks in the country; the irresistible landscape overwhelms even the locals – you will find many of them sitting over a rocky outcrop and admiring the view. Join them for a few memorable minutes, listen to their tales, share yours, take pictures. And continue with a spring in […]
Of suqs and sambuqs: Exploring Oman with Ibn Battuta
‘It is a fertile land, with streams, orchards, palm gardens and fruit trees of various kinds… has fine bazaars and splendid clean mosques…’ wrote Ibn Battuta in his epic tome, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325 – 1354 about Oman. The only medieval traveller who visited the countries of every Muslim ruler of his time […]