Celebrating culture

Published in the Hindu Sunday magazine today. Read Celebrating Culture online…
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Who would have thought kitsch could be so charming? The first evening of our stay at Jodhpur, when I venture into Mandore Gardens for the inauguration of the annual Marwar Festival, I do not have very high expectations. Blame it on everything I have read [...]

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Uneasy dreams of Bundi

Published in the June 2008 issue of Himal – Uneasy dreams of Bundi
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If, today, Rudyard Kipling were to come back to Bundi, in Rajasthan, he would find that nothing has changed in nearly a century since he last was here. Indeed, traveling to Bundi is a bit like traveling back in time – except that [...]

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Iftaar feasting and haveli hopping

I had written a piece on Mohammad Ali Road – that appeared in this edition of Taste & Travel magazine along with another article on Shekhawati. Here is the iftaar piece…

Don’t worry, you will smell it much before you see it, said my cabbie when I asked him to drop me close to the [...]

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Burning Bright

Published in HT Brunch (Dec 09) as Burning Bright…

As always, link available online for a week – so here is Burning Bright, page 1 and 2.
The park opened in October after the rains and if you have not been to Ranthambhore yet, now is the time to go…

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Ranthambhore summer : the fort

I am a recent convert (extremely recent, to be honest, after my first and only encounter with the tiger at Ranthambhore last week) to wildlife love, but I have been a history nut for much much longer. Therefore, a holiday in Ranthambhore had to include a trip to the Ranthambhore fort from which the entire [...]

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Ranthambhore summer : the park

It was intended to be a short holiday for our anniversary. Ranthambhore near Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, home curently to over 30 “royal” bengal tigers. And I fell in love there. Our first safari ride into the Ranthambhore National Park, just before sunset, we sat and waited by the almost dry lake on one end [...]

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Haveli hopping in Shekhawati

It is fascinating. It is colorful. It is even slightly bizarre. A freshly painted wall at Saraf haveli, with two images vying for our attention – one of the Wright brothers making their first trip up into the air, looking very tiny and unsure in their brown European coats. And right next to it, a [...]

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When art is irrelevant

Aap yahan ghoomne ke liye aaye hain? [have you come here for sightseeing?] asks the aged shopkeeper as he hands us the bottle of Bisleri… I nod as I wonder whether his emphasis is on yahan or ghoomne…
Aap Jhunjhunu dekhna chahatey hain? [you wish to see Jhunjhunu?] he continues. The question unsaid but loud and [...]

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Food? Or art? Or religion?

Street food, in fact, all food in India can be so colourful and interesting… Here is some arty street food from Amber, Jaipur. Photograph clicked from elephant-back…

***And here is one for the sheer dazzle and striking colours… Carrots so fresh they hurt the eye… From Mahabaleshwar…

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Windows by Microsoft?

A structure made entirely with windows, in fact, built only for the purpose of being a window to the world. For the royal women of Jaipur who used to stand behind the numerous windows at Hawa Mahal
Hawa Mahal, the palace of winds, not just due to the gentle breeze of the evening that the royal [...]

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