Bong By Nature

My entire life I have been very conscious of my mother tongue, in ways that are both good and bad. Being a probashi bangali, I never quite learnt the language well. To be honest, I can’t even read the script. Before I was even conceived, my parents moved to Delhi and all my formative and adult … Continue reading →

Porbandar: Peace Country

I recently visited the history yet prosaic Porbandar, the little seaside town in Gujarat, on the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation. After an 8-hour road trip from Ahmedabad, where my flight from Delhi landed, I reached the sleepy town around 6 pm. With my camera in hand, I trawled through its roads, … Continue reading →

A Day in Bangalore

A mid-week visit to Bangalore, Bengaluru, Garden City, Silicon Valley of India; take your pick. Each facet of this city brings alive each of its many names. They all accurately describe this dynamic city which boasts of an absolutely kickass weather all year round (being a Delhiite, I am especially kicked about it!). My third … Continue reading →

Water, this way or that.

So how many of us have faced this question from a smiling waitress in an upscale restaurant – Still or sparkling? – and have looked blankly before managing a – Still, I guess. Not very long ago, I was completely and blissfully unaware of the ways of drinking water in this vanity-without-apologies world. Water was something to, … Continue reading →

Made-to-Order Swiss Marvel

At Audemars Piguet, the art of precision watchmaking is at its highest. Yet my last year’s visit to the company’s manufacture in Le Brassuss, near Geneva in Switzerland proved that perfection is a relative term and that desires have no boundaries. The Valley is what inhabitants of the high plateau of the Jura mountains refer to … Continue reading →

Rameshwaram Snapshots

I visited Rameshwaram a couple of years ago. I was a rookie photographer then (I still am,) who chanced upon some great lighting and got some fairly nice panoramas.  These are a few of those glorious ones.  

Izmir: Pearl of the Aegean

Within just 70 years Turkey has gone from a place with a tangled history to a holiday hotspot. The geo-polictical upheavals of the 1920s forced tens of thousands of Muslims to leave their homes in Greece. Travelling by cart, freighter and camel, they arrived here to rebuild a life. Many ancient civilisations, from the Lydians to the Persians, Romans and Byzantines, have seen their empires … Continue reading →

The Sunshine Estate

As the afternoon Shatabdi Express chugs into Kathgodam, the weather still seems warm for the foothills of the Shivalik range. The jeep ride that follows has all the hallmarks of a hilly holiday in India—winding roads, rhododendron flowers in full bloom, and signs of encroaching urbanisation—only, it isn’t any cooler than the searing northern plains. … Continue reading →

Savour the Rains

We cast our eyes skywards, yearning for a cloud to burst and drench the thirsty soil. The monsoon in India is a time of rejoicing and renewal. It is symbolic, significant and central to the country’s culture—much like the Western concept of springtime that finds echo in its music, art, and literature. In India as … Continue reading →

A Natural High in Kikar Lodge

Chris, the windswept, blond, and rather dishy Scottish instructor reassured me that it’s going to be OK. That the cables are strong enough to lift a minibus full of people, and I am mercifully much lighter than that. But I am dismayed to discover that even after much cheering and comforting by him, I am … Continue reading →