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…

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…

To Rome, with love.

Not all those who wander are lost and sometimes getting lost is a blessing in disguise, for this is a tale of how I fell in love with Rome, one street at a time, all in a day. The signs was already there when Mami and I arrived at our B&B in Al Colonato. It…

Training lens on Napoli.

Everything I knew about Napoli/Naples could be summed up in three points- * Napoli Football Team * Neapolitan pizza * A seaside town I couldn't wait to check it on my way back from Pompeii. Only I didn't realise that at the end of a long day clambering among the ancient ruins, I would get…

La Dolce Vita in June

Growing up, Cliff Richard songs were a favourite and come June, the ditty 'Summer Holiday' use to take a life of its own. " We're going where the sun shines brightly We're going where the sea is blue We've seen it in the movies Now let's see if it's true." I literally lived the song…

Struck By Wanderlust

So it is official and the countdown has begun to my very first international holiday. Yay! I am still pinching myself. For the longest time, my deepest desire was to go on a trip around the world. I lapped up travel shows, movies, articles, books (Travels by Michael Crichton tops the list). I would dream,…

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…

Reading Challenge: And The Mountains Echoed.

It was a March Mayhem- exams, hectic term ending schedules, fatigue and figuring what I really wanted to read for my monthly Reading Challenge. Now that was a challenge in true sense. I picked 'And the mountains echoed' by the March born Khaled Hosseini. I was curious about it as I remember enjoying both his…