ASIA
Let’s face it, we are not the most considerate or well mannered of people. If there is a rule to be broken, a line to be cut, or a traffic light to be jumped, you will likely find an Indian elbowing his way to pole position. Any indignant readers quick to rush to the defense of fellow citizens, are […]
Read More
Summer, where I live, isn’t the glorious season that most of you look forward to with anticipation. We dread it with a vengeance. Only one thing makes coping with the blistering heat worthwhile…….sweet, luscious, divine mangoes.And the return of my parakeets to my mango tree. I was concerned they weren’t coming back this year, but […]
Read More
Lining either side of the path leading to the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo, are neatly arranged stacks of wine barrels. These (empty) decorative sake containers known as Kazaridaru, commemorate the sake houses – represented by the National Sake Brewers Association – that supply the shrine (s) with Omiki or sacred ritual wine, an essential component of Shinto purification rituals. The offering […]
Read More
Delhi’s architectural vestiges, the remains of its seven original cities, represent its complex and convoluted history. The spectacular rise of empires and the disasters and conflicts that led to their fall, writ large on every crumbling stone.. Mehrauli is the second of the seven cities, built around 1206AD by Qutub ud din Aibak, a former slave and general of Mohammed Ghori, who […]
Read More
With the dwindling number of Jews in Calcutta – just over 20 by last count – unable to summon up the minyan, or the requisite ten men to hold a service, their shuttered places of worship stand mute witness to the once fabled diversity of their adopted land. They arrived in search of better prospects to a thriving metropolis. Their descendants opted out […]
Read More
No, not the parade for hopeful courting teenagers! This was a trooping ‘home’ of scores of simians across the roof behind the Gateway hotel in Coonoor, and up a nearby tree to wherever it is they bed down for the night! I am guessing leaving room doors open here isn’t an option. Although not part of the parade, I couldn’t resist […]
Read More
I had forgotten the smell of the hills. The fresh clean smell of mountain air mingled with the spicy fragrance of eucalyptus and the overpowering aroma of green tea leaves. But as we negotiated each tricky hairpin bend on our drive up the Coonoor ghat, it was the colours that opened the flood gates of […]
Read More
If you have ever been captivated by tales of fierce samurai and feudal warlords, you will love Takayama. Hida-Takayama is said to be one of few cities in Japan to retain its medieval character, particularly in the timber architecture of the old town that dates back to the Edo* era (1603 -1868). A period when the fragmented country transitioned from turbulence under warring chieftains to […]
Read More
I do not lay great store by my blog stats. I did initially, until my counter one time, read nine views and one visitor, while the country spread indicated the views came from five countries! I highly doubt even Clark Kent could manage that feat in twenty minutes. A recent Daily Post article titled Beyond Traffic by […]
Read More
No wordy post today. Just an early morning stroll through the hustle and bustle of the Kolkata wholesale flower market, overflowing with reams of brilliant marigolds strung into garlands. While I love the vivid yellow and orange blooms and always have bowls of them lying around my house, the ones that grabbed my attention here, were these less showy lotus buds. Don’t you think there […]
Read More
The literal meaning of Bhuta in Tulu – my mother tongue and also the predominant language of South Kanara district in coastal Karnataka – is ghost. But the Bhutas of the ritual worship called Bhuta Kola that take place annually in ancestral homes across the region are not the restless spectres the word conjures up. They are divinities…deified […]
Read More
To see a tiger in the wild has been a lifelong dream of mine and when a dear friend invited us to join him for a safari at the Nagarhole (Kabini) reserve near Mysore, R & I readily agreed. Mr. Tiger stubbornly refused to make an appearance but we were amply compensated by the sight […]
Read More
The Urge To Wander 