India Travelogue

Travelogues

valley of flowers Photo: Sneha Hazra

Valley of Flowers Just Blew My Mind

09/07/2023 0

Several years ago, in a more active and fit avatar, I had trekked to the Valley of Flowers  in Uttarakhand. The route from Gobindghat to Ghangaria, the base for Hemkunt Sahib […]

Ha Long Bay courtesy Prem Palanivel

Vietnam – Image & Reality

17/04/2023 0

Vietnam was not on our list, and yet we landed in Hanoi, my knowledge of the country coloured by American war movies like Platoon, and the graphic image of the […]

Prayer Flags flutter near Buddha of Langza

Buddha of Langza

12/12/2020 0

We visited Langza many years ago. But it feels like yesterday. Even though a long time has elapsed, I can clearly see the Buddha of Langza, sitting cross legged, watching […]

Dawki Umngot river

Dawki Meghalaya – Off the Deep End

13/11/2020 0

Minutes before sundown, we surrender our sanity and walk across the border into alien territory. Neither of us is carrying a passport. Nor thinking of what might happen if the […]

Pangong Tso

Pangong Tso, Ladakh – Still waters

06/11/2020 0

The urge to live dangerously tends to strike couch potatoes in midlife. It’s known as a “crisis”. Mine began with The Three Idiots or rather, a visual from the film: […]

People & Culture

India's Spiritual Heroines by Nandini Kapadia

India’s Spiritual Heroines

14/04/2023 0

Book Review by Romola Butalia It is a book that must be read by anyone interested in saints and sages, in gender studies, and the unique and individual lives of […]

Destinations

sikkim iris

Sikkim: an introduction

15/09/2020 0

Sikkim: an overview Wrapped in mists and clouds. A garden state with an incredible variety of orchids, rhododendrons, gladioli and a host of other flowers. Tumbling streams and torrents. Mountain […]

Adventure

  • barn swallow diving photo Prem Palanivel

    Barn Swallows

    I was walking towards the banks of Kelambakkam back waters.  This is a relatively remote part of the backwaters running along the village of Padur, just north of Kelambakkam. It […]

  • Palani Laughing Thrush Courtesy Prem Palanivel

    Laughing Thrush of Palani

    Little did I know of the interesting things about this bird when I photographed it in Kodaikanal. This bird is found only in the Palani Hills range and is categorised […]

  • Gaumukh from Bhojbasa

    Gaumukh: Pilgrim’s Trail

    I do not know whether it was the trekker’s delight of high places, the oft-repeated retreat to the hills and forests to rejuvenate the spirit lost in the mire of […]

  • Aurangabad Bibi ka Maqbara

    Aurangabad: Awestruck at Architecture

    Rock cut architecture which dominates the architectural style of western India, is nowhere more explicitly manifest than the caves of Ajanta and Ellora. Located near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Ajanta and […]

  • scuba-poetry

    Scuba Poetry: Secrets of Eternity

    Scuba Poetry: Secrets of Eternity is a compilation of poetry and drawings of divers celebrating the ocean and the deep. Here we present a handful of poems from the book. […]

Sacred Space

Akshay Trithiya Gangotri photo Anjali Capila

 Akshay Trithiya

22/04/2023 0

 Akshay Trithiya, one of three most auspicious tithis in the year, is associated with several legends through different periods of time. Akshay Trithiya is on the third tithi of Shukla […]

Durga Devi

Navaratri: Nine Nights of Devi

14/04/2022 1

Chaitra Navaratri is from 2nd April to 11th April 2022 Prathamam Shailaputri ca dvitiyam brahmacharini |Tritiyam chandra ghanteti kusmandeti chaturhakam || Panchamam skandamaateti shashtam katyayaniti ca |Saptamam kalaratriti mahagauriti chastamam […]

yoga

Yoga Comes & Yoga Goes

12/03/2021 0

Yoga comes and yoga goes. To be alert is to recognise both. In the hours of darkness, caught in the world of action and the whirlpool of samskaras, or the […]

awareness and mindfulness

Awareness is the Key

16/11/2020 0

Awareness must be cultivated. No amount of discussion, reading, sitting in meditation or prayers will enlighten us. The traveller on the journey needs to walk with one-pointedness, mindfulness, ceaseless determination, […]

Quotes

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

          ~ Lao Tzu

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