Did you grow up in the nineties? The nineties was a good time to have lived in. Internet had just been invented, but of course we didn’t have email accounts then. Orkut and Facebook were nowhere near being born. One had limited access to television. A romantic movie meant Shahrukh Khan. Sundays mornings began with(…)
Heritage
Delhi Unravelled – Five Days Five Ways
Delhi is a city of polarities. It is as much modern as it is ancient. It is as much a child as it is a withering old man. No, not an old man—it is a grand old dame, one who has seen much splendour in her salad days, one who has had lovers flock to(…)
Dining Etiquette Across the World — What Not to Do!
I have always found dinner disasters very amusing. The ones in which somebody spills chicken gravy on the white dress of the pretty lady sitting next to them. Or when someone struggles to slice the beef with their fork and knife which, by the way is ridiculously blunt, only to have it fly sharply over(…)
Malana Diaries – Chapter 2 - Foreigners ka Show???
Our story began in the first chapter of Malana diaries with a shady innkeeper. You would recall we had stealthily slipped away from Local Hero’s lodge after catching him in his underpants. After that we trekked for an hour. Running. Looking back to see for pursuing SUVs. Nibbling on oranges. Fishing for sunscreen in bags.Trying(…)
Som Sabadell: How Beethoven’s Symphony became a Flash Mob in Spain
Sabadell, Catalonia’s second biggest town, does not come in the news very often. Just twenty kilometers from Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital and biggest city, it is the quintessential step daughter that was never treated at par. Neither does it have Barca’s glitz, nor glamour, nor its touristy appeal. It certainly does not have Lionel Messi. Why,(…)
Tales of Romania: Who was Count Dracula?
A mist descends from the sky and slowly swirls around the carriage. The horses pick up pace, not because their driver is pulling tighter at the reins, but because they are as nervous as him. The carriage rattles along, spraying the dust and stones in its wake, as it moves rapidly through the only(…)
Sunday mornings with a Belizean lass in Mehrauli Archaeological Park
It all started with a tring, a tring tring perhaps. Or maybe not, because mobile phones are not landlines. So, it must have gone ‘Mauja hi maujha’. Some of us then went on to say hi. “Hi, I went through your website and read about the Delhi Heritage Walks that you conduct. Which one do(…)
It takes two to Tango
The first time I heard the word Argentina was while my father was watching a football match on our fourteen inch television, and I was sitting under his arm trying to do what men did. Watch the game I mean, not admire his armpits. They were running, all of them, in their striped white and(…)
The Fabulous Fests of February
After a stony cold winter, February marks the beginning of Spring, as good a time as any to take off and experience some good ol’ culture. We’ve compiled a list of the best fests this February guaranteed to awaken all your senses. Carnivals Galore King Momo has declared the games open! It Mardi Gras, get(…)
The Secretaries of Juliet: A story of love, letters and Verona Tourism
As a young boy growing up in what seemed to be a pretty school in Noida, I had the greatest belief in the theory of true love. The theory was then put firmly into practice when all of twelve years old and no facial hair to speak of, I fell for that loveliest of creatures(…)
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Allahabad Maha Kumbh Mela 2013
It’s raining cats and dogs in Delhi, people. The rain gods really seem to have descended upon us, unlike the rest of their brethren who are supposedly in Allahabad right now for the Allahabad Maha Kumbh Mela, what is billed as the largest and greatest religious gathering on the planet. Astonishingly, the 2013 festival is(…)
What to do on a date during a Lodi Garden heritage walk
A few days earlier, I got an email notification from Couchsurfing.com about some people searching for a host in Delhi. Out of this, one was a Swede who was missing his girlfriend, enough to want to go visit her in her Nepal University. Not just that, this modern day Romeo wanted to ship his(…)
The Whirling Dervishes: Tales from Turkey
The lights dim. Men dressed in black robes and tall headdress walk to the wooden center stage. They take a bow. The men with musical instruments step back and settle down with their instruments. The dervishes or the dancers settle down perpendicular to the players. One dervish remains standing. Like the rest he has arms(…)
The Forgotten Minaret
The sound of galloping horses still haunt the gorges that once stood proudly on the banks of the still Hari Rud river. What was once upon a time regarded as the greatest city of the middle ages, The City of the Turqoise Mountain - Firuzkuh (Western Afghanistan), became lost to history in the year of(…)
Top 5 Places to Celebrate Dussehra in India
After every night, comes a new day. After every storm, there is light. And just maybe that’s why the Dussehra comes right after the stormy monsoon season – the celebration of Durga’s victory over Mahishasur, Ram’s over Ravan, good over evil. As a child, I used to love Dussehra simply because father would buy toy(…)
One Night at the Chowmallah Palace
The 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity has seen the host city Hyderabad get a facelift. Overnight, roads have been paved, widened and marked. Sculptures seem to have grown from the earth and colours of green, blue and yellow have merged themselves into artistic outlets to mask the graffiti alongside(…)
When Time Stood Still – Unchanged Places over the World
Once upon a time, there was a quaint little city. It was bright and pure and beautiful , a gem indeed. The people there were as happy as can be. They lived and laughed and loved and then moved on. But the city never did.. No, this is not the point where I begin to(…)
1 2
