Where have the (real) pilgrims gone?
How well and truly have we moved on! Then, the colossal ecological devastation of Uttarakhand which left thousands dead and missing was two months ago! So now it’s time to shun, humiliate and threaten – and charge-sheet – Durga Shakti Nagpal, the brave IAS officer and crusader who went after the sand mining mafia […]
India’s Only One: Bay Island Driftwood Museum, Kumarakom
For many communities by the sea it was firewood. Others – like the Norse – took the relevance up a notch and endowed it with the beginning of life itself: their first man and woman – Ask and Embla – floated in as driftwood. But for the lady who used to drag the weird-shaped stumps […]
Snake Boat Racing League, Anyone?
This is no Thames. The coxswains aren’t second-skinned in Speedo, neither are they mic-ed up on live TV. Their fan bases do not extend beyond the four bunds of their native backwater villages. No frenzied tweeting after contest. No autograph rush, no sponsorship deals to plug protein supplements or aqua gear; not even the state […]
Curious in Kerala: Nature reclaims Kuttanad?
Any place with a captivating degree of scenic lure, the Pandavas have been there before you. Seasoned domestic explorers will agree that the famous five have traipsed over every picturesque mountain and verdant vale, camped across the most spectacular lake and gushing river and traversed every panoramic forest. At least according to local lore. The […]
Curious in Kerala: God, gore, devil and ridicule
The charlatans in Kerala didn’t need toadeaters; the people were too gullible to doubt or too nice to question the power of their potions and mantras. ‘Chathan Seva Madoms’ or shrines that deified the devil mushroomed in different parts of the state promising to annihilate your enemy, bankrupt your business rival or just make life […]
Splash 2013: All Set to Make Waves
This year’s edition of Wayanad Splash – a genuine effort to promote rain tourism – takes off on July 12. Be there if serious off-roading, dirt biking or mud football floats your boat. And yes, business will meet business too. ‘It’s like the human brain. We know it but we don’t know it.’ This was […]
Curious in Kerala: What really is Malabar
There was Malabar. And there was the rest of Kerala. A landowner relative used to tell us he was going to Malabar and would be gone for weeks, sometimes months. From my early memories thus ‘Malabar’ meant ‘faraway’. A swank house would spring up overnight in the neighbourhood and we would be told the folks […]
Pimp my trip: Amazing yet simple travel gears
Yes, we have been travelling even before they were vague strokes on the drawing board. And yes, we will continue to travel even if we do not get to lay our hands on them. Then it doesn’t hurt to get to know some of the gears that have caught the recent fancy of the pleasure […]
India’s first seaplane: The swanky, bumpy last mile
Stormy dark clouds piloted an inclement weather. Slogans of dissension rippled over the backwater from hundreds of fisherfolk who gathered in their boats with families braving the monsoon shower. The media scrutiny was intense. And like any other episode of moment this one too was accompanied by bouquets, brickbats and high drama. Nonetheless, it was […]