No frills, only food

I do not often do food pieces, but there are some places which just have to be written about. Crystal is one such – unassuming facade, with excellent food. Here is a short feature on Crystal that appeared in The India Tube: No frills food.
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Atmosphere – that is the word that describes Crystal. The tiny [...]

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A story in dance

I recently watched a Kathakali recital at the Chembur Fine Arts Society in Mumbai. The performance that evening was based on the story of the wicked king Jarasandha who is supposed to have lived in the time of the Mahabharata. Over a two hour period, the performers enacted a piece called Jarasandha Vadam (the conquest [...]

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Idyll by the sea

A good holiday is one that is spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours ~ J. B. Priestley. I smiled as I read this and thought about my weekend holiday at Kashid.
Despite being close to both Pune and Mumbai, Kashid remained undiscovered and ignored for a long time, just [...]

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For a glimpse of the Kanchengunja

“Why do you want to go to Yuksam? There is nothing there”. I have lost count of the number of times we hear this in Gangtok. Travel agents, cab drivers, even perfect strangers earnestly advise us against Yuksam. Some of them go on to elaborate, “no sight-seeing”, and suggest we go instead to Pelling [...]

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A space to call their own

It is Sunday morning and the roads leading to Chandni Chowk are deserted. We cross the chaotic merry-go-round of Connaught Place in a trice and head to old Delhi. Where are all the people? The buffaloes that amble through the roads listlessly? The children who dart at unexpected moments across the road? It is so [...]

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Footprints on the sand

I am looking out of the window of my room in Sindhudurg at the rain crashing down, as I sip the ginger tea (my fourth cup… fifth? since morning, I have lost count). It was clear and sunny just a minute ago. Just as I put my book away, finding rain-watching more absorbing, the downpour [...]

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A slice of history

This piece on Fort Kochi appeared in HT Cafe on Saturday as ‘Historical Potboiler’…

Walking out of St. Francis church, I see a tour guide escort a group of British visitors into the building, leading them to a flight of steps to sit on comfortably while removing their shoes. “In India it is customary to remove [...]

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Come home to Sindhudurg

My piece on the Culture Aangan homestays in Sindhudurg appeared in yesterday’s Mid day – here it is…
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‘Safety on the roads is safe tea at home’, proclaims the sign on the Mumbai – Goa highway, just one of the numerous well-meaning signboards that make this route so enchanting. We have been on the road [...]

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One river, two continents

The simit vendor shakes his fist at me. He is tired of tourists taking photographs of him and his pretty sesame-flecked looped bread without buying anything. On the other side, my friend is trying hard to not shake her fists at me; instead she points to her watch impatiently. We barely have time to grab [...]

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All that flutters: at Wagah Border

Charukesi Ramadurai visits the Wagah border and comes away shaken and stirred in equal measure…
Shouldn’t we take a book to read since we are going to be reaching so early? I wondered aloud. I had imagined us getting there well before it was to begin, walking gracefully up the gallery to find seats that gave [...]

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