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People

People

What will this planet be without that singular species at the top of the evolutionary pyramid? People – caring, creative, and co-operative as well as aggrandizing, avaricious, entitled and demanding –  they are its very essence.  They may be destroying the rich tapestry of our 

The Stragglers (Work in Progress)

The Stragglers (Work in Progress)

There are journeys that defy definition or slotting. They happen, often without aforethought. And bring a wealth of unanticipated pleasures, pain and perspectives. Perhaps they happen for a reason. Every trip need not be a themed one. Leave some to serendipity and see what it 

Adventure & Trekking

Adventure & Trekking

Confront your fears before they conquer you, they say. I did. What does it take to jump out of an aircraft flying 15000 feet as the ground rushes toward you at the speed of light? How does it feel when your instructor pushes you off 

Mystique of Mountains

Mystique of Mountains

Mountains are majestic and irresistible. Linking the plains and plateaus with the skies; reaching out to suspended droplets of water in the clouds and gathering them in glaciers and snow peaks; sheltering the treasures of the sea floor in their crests; cherishing unfathomable secrets in 

Enchanting Islands

Enchanting Islands

Islands are magical. They often are quirky, funky, wilful, eclectic and more. Islands are never insular even when isolated. Vibrant, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual or pidgin, multi-cultural in a way mainland can never be, islands are the stuff of legends and lore. They are too independent to 

Sliding Off the Map

Sliding Off the Map

Our planet is hopelessly trodden upon. There is hardly a spot untrampled by human feet or unclaimed by human greed. Even in the remotest jungles of the Amazon or Borneo, or the wastelands of Patagonia, our insatiable race is digging for buried riches – oil, 

Cities

Cities

Cities boggle, baffle, bluster, overwhelm, intimidate. Yet they are also dynamic, vibrant and above all, inclusive. Holding out hope to the millions who throng to them from everywhere, never turning anyone away, cities offer refuge and the promise of a better life.  Like alchemists,  they 

Exciting Rail & Boat Journeys

Exciting Rail & Boat Journeys

My love of train journeys began in 1981 when I travelled all the way from London to Moscow, by train crossing the channel by ferry and resuming the train ride in Belgium to reach Paris. We stopped in Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin (those days it was 

Rallies & Remarkable Road Trips

Rallies & Remarkable Road Trips

If Charles Lamb were to live in modern times, he would amend his famous quote to say, “the automobile has entered my soul”. It clogs up our cities, sprays carbon into our lungs, turns our environs into a dreadful cacophony of blaring horns, screeching tyres 

Wild Trails

Wild Trails

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome and dangerous, wrote a friend. No, not a curse, but a blessing. My wild trails have been all this and more; if only you care to walk with me, you will track the frustratingly elusive orangutan mom as 

Peering into the Past

Peering into the Past

The most fascinating journeys are those that lead you backwards – in time – step by chipped, cracked, crumbling step.  If you manage not to trip or slip through the cracks, a world of wonder awaits you. These are places that tease and tantalize, excite 

Silent Valley – India’s Jurassic Park (2024)

Silent Valley – India’s Jurassic Park (2024)

1000 km return, 7 days When was the last time you drove off Google Maps into uncharted territory? After all, google maps have a million tentacles which reach out everywhere and strangles almost the entire planet in its vice-like embrace. Yet, there are hidden corners 

Finsterre – Craggy and Rugged (2023)

The craggy coastlines have an irresistible allure. The pond stretched all the way to the Americas from the west coast of Spain. Finsterre is truly Lands End, on the Atlantic coast. It is a fishing village. The coasts is studded with practical fishing boats with 

Pretty Porto (2023)

Pretty Porto (2023)

Porto, another UNESCO World Heritage site in a planet crowded with such sites, is a coastal city in northwest Portugal known for its stately bridges and port wine production. Cobbled and sloping narrow streets lined with colourful homes and ornamental windows face the river and 

Hiking Caminho de Santiago (2023)

Hiking Caminho de Santiago (2023)

Where in the world can you hike through a tunnel of green canopy for miles through charming villages with their antique stone masonry and fecund farms bursting with produce? In Gallicia in Spain. Even for the non-believers, the Caminho is such an enchanting trail that 

Chettinad – Ethnic Elegance 2023

Chettinad – Ethnic Elegance 2023

As you drive south from the swaying emerald rice paddies of Tiruchy and Thanjavur peppered with magnificent temples, the land becomes less lush and even arid in patches. Don’t let the apparent aridity fool you though. Karaikudi, the main town and the villages surrounding it 

Merry Melaka (2022)

Merry Melaka (2022)

Melaka, sitting astride the busy Malacca Straits is a quaint little town that fancies itself as the Venice of Asia. It has the Melaka river (more a canal) running through the town. Kitschy bridges criss-cross the canal while the dilapidated houses on its banks have 

Chalukya Charm – Badami, Pattadakkal, Aihole (2023)

Chalukya Charm – Badami, Pattadakkal, Aihole (2023)

As you drive through the dusty plains of northern Karnataka, dun-coloured rocks and boulders, some as big as hillocks line up on both sides like sentinels. Chalukya kings were captivated by these boulders that they decided to turn them into works of art. Burrowing the 

Protected: Musings 2012-2022 – 7

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Protected: Musings

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Windhoek – Expansive & Elegant (2022)

Windhoek – Expansive & Elegant (2022)

Like Delhi, Windhoek is perched on the edge of the desert, but unlike Delhi, there’s no alluvial river to fertilize it, nor is there abundant vegetation to clothe it. To me, Windhoek appeared like a disrobed town, fair, clean and orderly in its nakedness. The