Found Poem For Fourth Blogversary

I was never the one for poetry. In school, reading poems meant clinically dissecting it for its meaning and picking out the figures of speech. Important lines or the ones I thought important were memorised to embellish the answer; the paraphrasing was done with precision. That was it! Sometime after I left school, I noticed…

Special Spots in Aurangabad

Think of Aurangabad, Maharashtra in India and Ajanta and Ellora Caves come to mind except they are really far from the city. Meanwhile what does one do in Aurangabad other than make travel arrangements to the caves? Well, you pack the family into an auto rickshaw and go see Deccan's Taj Mahal- Bibi ka Maqbara.…

Sleepless In Stockholm

Four memorable days in Stockholm was not a tall order but I was determined to make every hour count. So you can imagine my excitement as I sat peering through the aircraft window for my first glimpse of the city. "Venice of the North", was what my classmate had called it. I could see why.…

Reading Challenge Report Card Of a Reluctant Reader

December is here and it is time to take stock of the year gone by, the things I challenged myself to do such as read diligently once again. Sad but true, I lost my mojo to read sometime back. In fact realisation dawned when I noticed that the only books I animatedly spoke of were…

Sunday Walk Through Paltan Bazaar, Dehradun.

Things I tell myself the night before Sunday walk: a) Be resolute, be strong. Be ready to abandon bed-blanket on a Sunday morn. Sigh! b) Be on time to hit the trail. Set the alarm for 5.45 and 6.00 am. Another one for 6.15. Then RUN! c) Carry the essentials. Excitement , wonder, curiosity, and…

The Case Of The Vanishing Voice

Come winter and like clockwork my health flip flops in spite of every precaution I take. This time it was just a scratchy throat. I thought it would become alright; I had much faith in my legions of white blood cells. The next day my voice had transformed into a deep throaty whisper reminiscent of…

Perched On A Roof In Milan

“Milan is the fashion capital”, Ms Teen chirped. The Knight of course had to counter, “ San Siro Stadium- AC Milan- the gods of football.” Both good choices but I stuck to the Milan Cathedral. I should know because I was astounded when I saw it for the first time. You see, no amount of…

Chasing Art On Streets Of Italy.

Honestly speaking, street art was the last thing in my mind while visiting the land of the Old Masters. Florence was picked because of David, the one that Michelangelo carved. Well, he was spectacular but then so were Michelangelo's unfinished Prisoners/Slaves that really don't get the attention they deserve. Anyway more of that in another…

Magical Venice!

I have always dreamt of Venice like the way made famous by our very own Bollywood films and romantic novels. Water would lap at the doorsteps of these grand buildings that would stretch on either side of a winding canal. The gondoliers would be dressed in their jaunty striped shirts humming a tune, their gondolas…

Cats Of The Most Beautiful Bookshop In Venice.

It was my Instagram savvy teen who told me first about the bookshop that goes by the tag line- The most beautiful bookshop in the world. It happened to be in Venice and since I was going to be there, perfect opportunity to check it out. Well, the online chatter around it was amazing and…