It’s an elevator, too many people have suddenly stepped into. It’s closed, congested and somebody just farted. This is what the travel writing industry or, whatever you’d like to call it, has transpired into lately. Travel Writing has been keenly pursued since times immemorial. Journals and memoirs go back to date somewhere around the second …
Suddenly somebody hopelessly in love with India exclaimed, “but then there is no real India, it has many faces!” Each lane and bylane of this country is painted in different shades of culture, belief, religion, work, rituals, festivals and so on. The dance of how magically all this strings together is called India. Often, while …
Winters have started drifting away. And spring is tiptoeing closer by the day. As I sit and write this in Manali, a sparrow tells me that soon it will be summer. Trees, mountains, and trails will open the path for us as the snow melts with the sun shining brightly. Summer, for us travel enthusiasts …
It was last year. A mad March day. The hotter the day, the colder the water. I’d already spent a week trekking in the Sahyadris and was about to call it a wrap in Maharashtra– when a friend announced that one can’t claim love for Sahyadris until they’ve dipped their parched soul in the blue …
Ta na na na na na na naaaaa… Ta na na na na na naaaaaaa… Two things before I start this article: Folks who’ve shared their childhood with Swami and Friends will read this with a smile. Folks who’ve never seen or read Malgudi Days, please go watch/read it and come back with your homework …
As we drove past the greener than green tea plantation cover, the clear blue skies often spotting elephant like clouds, and churchyards tracing roots in history – I wondered if I could be possibly missing on something? Travelers have a grave problem, every time they visit a place, they keep digging in more to unearth …
This story begins at 15000 feet. It is about a haunted trail, a forest that calls, a mountain that shakes your soul, a lost paradise, and most importantly a trail called Dzongri-Goechala, the kanchedzonga basecamp trek. It is said to be the trail of the lost paradise of Shangri-La. It is the “mythical” land of …
Beyond the snow wrapped mountains, the colorful tales of Manali Mall Road, and the hippie vibe of Old Manali, there are trails unexplored. One may conveniently believe that Rohtang Pass is Manali’s peak hype, except for which it is not. The best way to explore the soul of any place is to see it with …
