Category: Travel

  • Why do we sometimes go quiet during roadtrips?

    Found this in my notes from a road trip taken almost 10 years back in Dec 2005. ——— In the last few months I have discovered a passion to travel, but what I havent learnt so far is why I love it? What gets me excited to just get out of “here” and be out…

  • TripAdvisor feature – add professional profile and ratings

    What makes TripAdvisor a preferred choice in the process of identifying a hotel to stay at is the rich guest-feedback and reviews for most of the listed properties. The stuff about getting addresses, details, baking in a booking engine has been done by very many, but where TripAdvisor leads the pack is this recommendation layer…

  • Pottery – clay coming alive

    The bazaar is one place I enjoy a lot. Especially in small towns, where the concept of air conditioned malls hasnt intruded yet. Here in the bazaar amidst all the noise and commotion, I usually find interesting stories, subjects for my photos or sheer inspiration. I was in Muzzafarnagar, a small town in UP, attending…

  • Pemayangtse Monastery Pelling Sikkim

    Pelling (in Sikkim) is home to one of the most beautiful monasteries I have ever seen – the Pemayangtse Monastery. Founded by Lama Lhatsun Chempo in 1705, it is one of the oldest and premier monasteries of Sikkim. Also interesting is the fact that this was a monastery specially built for “pure monks” (ta-tshang) meaning…

  • T42 says hello, in his style

    Tiger census has gained a lot of public attention thanks to the Aircel Campaigns sharing that there were exactly 1411 tigers left in India.  Many in India, have questioned the authenticity and the reliability of the census figures and maybe even the methodology. Even an ignorant like me, had a point of view. Mounting pressure…

  • Feedback, suggestions and views on Indian Armed Forces Coffee Table Book

    I have been thinking of working on a coffee table book which brings a closer look into the lives of our soldiers and officers. And before I start taking steps towards this goal, I wanted to get your insights and feedback. Background: I had almost joined the NDA after my class 12th but destiny had…

  • Sound and light show @ Amer Fort, Jaipur

    I have been to Jaipur a lot, but had never managed to see the sound and light show at Amer Fort.  Its a shame that I had missed it for so long. Fully recommended. I managed to catch the 1900 hrs Hindi version which had Mr BigB’s voice and some amazingly well articulated narration .…

  • 3guys,New car,2000 kms,No itinerary and Loads of fun

    The best trips are the ones we dont plan- and so it is, yet again. I had been after my friend- Vigyaan- who runs a rural tourism venture- to do some justice to his venture and spend some time on the road- exploring Kutchh and other beautiful places on the way. After almost 3 weeks…

  • Life on the Edge – A Trek To Gidara

    It all started after I posted on facebook that I am free for at least one week during June and would like to go for a trek. Surprisingly, by evening I received two suggestions regarding possible trekking routes that are doable in June from friends who were equally frustrated with mundane city

  • Why Rural Tourism

    What exactly pulls tourists to our villages ? – The clean air & pollution free environ thats hard to find in cities – The “poor, hungry people” as highlighted by Circuit in MunnaBhai MBBS – The slow pace of life & the simplicity of living – Gandhiji’s words that India lives in her villages –…

  • Marketing lessons from Kumbh

    At my recent visit to Haridwar (during the Kumbh Mela) one thing that really struck out (apart from the crowd) was the number of hoardings on the Haridwar-Rishikesh road. This road is parallel to Ganga & is the path that most devotees would take from their camps/hotels to the ghats. And each hoarding was vying…

  • Granada- The Last sigh of the Moor

    As a schoolboy I had seen a picture of the glorious red castle of Alhambra surrounded by hills. And often I wondered how it would be to walk through the courts of the Kings of Granada. So when we made the trip to Spain, we took the five hour bus ride from Madrid to Granada…

  • Rail Museum

    As a kid growing up in a small town (I had spent most of my childhood days in Ranchi), our annual summer vacations in Delhi usually left a deep impression.  Can you imagine the excitement one had at seeing such huge buildings/forts & so many cars on the roads. One such trip whose memory lingered…

  • The JUNGLE BOOK (Kanha, APRIL 2009)

    The first day At 4:00 am there is a sharp knock on the door. It’s still pitch dark but its time to wake up with tea & biscuits at 4:15am! The gypsy and eighteen year old Ramzan are waiting for Simrata & me and we quickly join and drive to the queue at Kanha gate.…

  • Mukhteswar- an ideal hill station

    December was almost gone & I had not done any serious trips in the whole of 2009. The guilt was really high & I was asking some friends if they were keen on a road trip – anywhere from the hills to the deserts. After a lot of SMS, I realised by the evening of…

  • What is vipassana?

    Disclaimer: I have attended just one course and my understanding of Vipasanna might be inaccurate. I would recommend interested people to read literature on the same by Goenkaji or actually attending the course. ————————————————————————- Vipasanna is best summarized as a meditation technique that revolves around body sensations. Sounds strange- right? But apparently this strange but…

  • My first vipassana course- part 2

    Couple of masala-teas later,when the shock of the situation had been absorbed, I started figuring out how best to utilize my time before the registration (which was to start at 1400hrs). AY had already told me about a good trek to Bhagsu village, but I needed to freshen up and dump my stuff somewhere. The…

  • My first Vipasanna course- part 1

    Life is best lived if one learns to read the signs (so says the Alchemist) and most of us have at some point or another read those signs and followed em. Vipasanna was one such sign that had been staring me in the face for almost 3 years. The first I heard about this seemingly…