A Hauntingly Good Walk!

The Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun India, is every bit grand as its name. Ask the locals and on cue they go into raptures. See the sweeping emerald green lawns and don't miss the museum and the botanical garden! The monkeys are a menace and be careful of leopards. Yes! They sneak up on…

Unexpected Beauty Of Akhnoor, India.

When your expectations are low because everyone says there isn't anything to see in a small, dusty town called Akhoor, you hide behind your sunglasses and nod off. You instead look forward to sampling the flavours of the sprawling Jammu City next door, perhaps launch a pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi Shrine. Till your eyes…

October Bytes#3: Ravana Rush

Dussehra had always meant watching the towering effigies of the Asura king Ravana with impressive ten heads, Meghnad, his valiant son and Kumbhkaran, his fierce brother, installed in the huge open maidan appropriately called Parade Ground. Much of the conversation would centre around how it was a shade better than the year before; bigger definitely…

October Bytes#1 -The Wonder Wall

Behind the tree, On the wall. Neglected yet resplendent, Lord Shiva in his divine form. This was on the road I often passed, Eyes locked on traffic, honking horn, A flash of blue caught my eye, A Pahadi nose ring, And an enigmatic Mona Lisa smile. "And all the roads we have to walk are…

Agartala Adventures-Things that made me go whoa!

What did I know about Agartala, other than it was Tripura's capital? Nothing really. To tell you the truth, I did the mandatory reading and research befitting a traveller on her maiden visit but nothing quite prepared me for the place or the surprises tucked away. This post is therefore devoted to my Dora the…

Twisted

I confess, I am guilty of holding on to scraps and stuff. Sometimes I keep them for sentimental reasons but mostly for the kids if they ever wish to build a spaceship in the backyard. While my family despairs at my inability to deal with my hoarding syndrome, in a twist of fate I found…

The clue in the ancient writing.

It was billed as a walk among ancient edicts, read a message from King Ashoka himself, a man who lived 2000 years ago. Today he is a rockstar of his times, his life story is the stuff what legends are made of. Reputed to be ruthless, he renounced his blood thirsty ways at the height…

Treasure hunt in Jagatgram.

Jagat= world, Gram=village. All the Indiana Jones and Lara Crofts were in a tizzy. From Kalsi, home to the Ashokan edict, we were driving to the site of the Ashwamedha Yagya, that’s an ancient practice of horse sacrifice conducted by a king who wished to flex his muscles without declaring a war on his neighbors. Nobody…

My Hymn For The Weekend-The Jhanda Fair

The widely popular Jhanda Mela began with a gusto on the same day the world turned green celebrating St Patrick's Day. Here it was a sea of saffron as far as eyes could see, it was the opening event of the annual pilgrimage to the Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib. For the uninitiated, the Darbar…

Calling on Goddess Surkanda Devi

My most vivid memory of the one visit to the Surkanda Devi Temple is of me huffing and puffing and almost collapsing in exhaustion, dragging myself behind my enthusiastic mother, a virtual mountain goat. That was 23 years ago when I cluelessly believed that the temple was right there on a hilltop, which it was…