Nothing about Mayawati was one dimensional. Her rise, her rule or her departure from power – every bit of it is laced with controversy. But, that’s true for all or most political leaders in UP. When Mayawati won the election, people hoped that she can’t be much worse than the anarchy loving Yadav clan. When she was ruling, nothing could be worse. Once the Yadavs came back to power in Lucknow, people fondly remembered her citing corruption and waywardness is better than rampant hooliganism. Lesson…Continue Reading “Ambedkar Memorial & Park, Lucknow”
Almost all the hill stations have beautiful churches. Why? Same reason why all the tall mountain peaks have temples. You give the religious guys a beautiful spot, they will say wow and immediately get down to piling rocks and building a place to pray. Anyway, few days back, we were in Lansdowne. Given the name, it would have been surprising if the place didn’t have a bunch of churches (imagine a Rudrapur without a shiv temple!). So, the churches were there – St. Mary’s Church…Continue Reading “The churches of Lansdowne”
Old cities are like celebrities. You form a thousand preconceived notions about them even before meeting them. Sometimes, they are flattering, most of the times, not. For instance, I am a reluctant explorer when it comes to these relic towns. Though I have taken a thousand walks in Old Delhi, I love sitting around Connaught Place more. In spite of being amazed by the crowds and the 24/7 life of Cuttack, I have always preferred the orderliness of Bhubaneswar better. So, I was not exactly…Continue Reading “Hazratganj, Lucknow (I)”
Born close to the beach, I always had a weak spot for the hills. When the whole of Delhi migrates to Goa or Jaipur during the winters, I race to the hills. When the city heads to Kerala during the monsoon, I sneak into the hill stations to see the droplets from up close, to listen to the mighty waterfalls and to dip my feet into the streams and go to sleep. Recently, a friend bought a flat in Rishikesh. It was not just fully…Continue Reading “A house in the hills”
When I write about something, I want to tell you all about it. Not this time. I am being a little selfish, and by the end of it, I may just keep you guessing. Now, this story is about the epic waterfall that I had been to a few days back. It’s on the top of a very high hill. If you walk up, it might as well be seem like a mountain. It’s so little known that you can count all the people on…Continue Reading “An amazing waterfall I won’t tell you the name of”
Pushkar is not a place that you should travel to. It may be a place that you get stuck in, somewhere a bad friend drags you or you land up by mistake thinking it may be an awesome place. In any case, this post is only an account of our time there, it is not an encouragement of any sort. The best part of the town is the approach. When we started from Ajmer, we had no idea that we had to cross a hill…Continue Reading “A night in Pushkar”
Bollywood’s favorite baba has the same legend as the Mata at Vaishno Devi – you can’t visit them until you have the divine approval. We got it sometime last month and made the visit that included Pushkar and Jaipur as part of a three day trip. The drive to Ajmer is effortless with all the expensive toll roads. Though, it is not true for the drive back, as most of the flyovers and bypasses are still under works. Starting from Delhi, I did the four…Continue Reading “Ajmer Sharif – the dargah and the temple”
Bangkok for me is quite a frequently visited place. On one of my previous occasions I had even organized for my wife to come over and we could see the place together. This ended up being a disaster as she simply refused to surrender to her usual practice of reducing me to a coolie to carry the load of whatever she bought to satisfy her appetite of street shopping (yes Bangkok is a great place for street shopping). The only interesting experience was that a…Continue Reading “A Brahmin In Bangkok – Part II”
Bangkok- The very name reminds me of those umpteen discussions that we friends at the Delhi University’s VKRV Rao hostel used to have during our nostalgia inducing days. After those hectic, hallucinating classes at the Delhi School of Economics when we returned to our hostels, intense Boys centric discussions around Bangkok and its way of life and fancy about those steaming oriental body massages being offered by those mermaid type women, with the tinkling magical music being played in the background acted as tranquillizers to…Continue Reading “A Brahmin In Bangkok – Part I”
History is a deceitful story teller. You can never trust what it says. Let’s take an example from the romance capital of the world. It is hard to imagine anyone having any negative thoughts about the Eiffel Tower. But, when it was being built, the artists of France revolted against the construction and did all they could to stop it. Here are excerpts from a petition written to the then Minister in charge: “We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched…Continue Reading “Bansberia – A half-hindu mosque & a terracotta temple”
Before we come to the historic Chandannagar (chandannagore), let’s dwell a little on Kolkata. Nothing represents the idea of India better than this city – crowded, religious, passionate, overwhelming, dirty, cheap and good food, strong women and stupid politics. No wonder, it’s the only other city that has been the nation’s capital. Somehow, I have avoided the city for exactly the same reasons I avoid religious places. An Odia has no business being in that city unless you are an aspiring plumber. But Sid travels…Continue Reading “Chandannagar – Kolkata’s French Connection”
Pamir knots is supposed to be an awesome spectacle. I will tell you the truth, I don’t care. What sort of a mountain is called a knot? The only knots that I care about are the ones that I end up with in my pajamas that my wife buys for me. Since I was a kid, my sisters used to tie my shoelaces and every other knot that needed to be tied. During festivities, when I had to wear churidaar , I will wander around the…Continue Reading “The Amazing Pamir Knot”
There was a time when Kathmandu was a hot travel destination. Some went for its sinful nightlife, casinos, pubs and compared it to Vegas. Some others went for the Hindu temples. Until a few years back, it beat Dubai as the cheapest shopping destination. Electronics, travel stuff, clothes, shoes and even guns, there was nothing that Indians could not find in Kathmandu. Then it all stopped. The years of naxalite upheaval brought this cosmopolitan country to its knees. But many still swear by its charms….Continue Reading “Kathmandu – is it on your places to visit list?”
Sid has sent another installment…. Already? I know that’s what you are thinking. Does he plan to take over the blog? Hope not. Doesn’t he have a plane to fly? Seems not. Does he do anything other than take photos? I am afraid not. Does he have anything to say in his defense? I will tell you not 🙂 Anyway, here we go. Sid was on a trip to Kazakhstan and took these photos of Lake Balkhash while flying over it. All those traitors who…Continue Reading “Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan”
My friend and guest blogger Siddhartha Kumar just sent me another installment – this time the Mumbai Sea Link. His Old Delhi pics were very popular, I am sure you will love these ones too. It’s not an art installation, it’s a bridge. It takes a while to realise that even concrete and steel can be so beautiful. I have stayed at the Taj Land’s End a couple of times. Each time, I will go till the end of the corridor where a window overlooks the sealink….Continue Reading “Bandra Worli Sea link”
I am not the adventurous types. When something new happens, I let others take the plunge, see how it goes, then I deliberate a lot and sometimes, try gingerly. But at times, the slowest animals find themselves ahead of the herd. And in those mysterious ways, we found ourselves on the newly opened Yamuna Expressway, also known as the Taj Expressway. We had heard that it was 165 kms long with just three entry ways and toll booths, rest is just a long six lane…Continue Reading “Yamuna Expressway – Tale of fast cars and invisible animals”
You can say it is entirely my fault, I can agree and that will be the end of that. But it is not in my nature to agree with others. Heck, I have a hard time agreeing with myself without a tough fight. So, my defense is that it’s not my fault but the way we think about travel should be blamed. When we think of travelling, we think of it in terms of miles, we ponder how we will reach there and how many…Continue Reading “Qutub Minar – why I took 12 years to visit a must-see place in Delhi”
Can you imagine a trip to Corbett without the jungle safari, stories about spotting/narrowly missing a tiger and elephant rides etc? If I tell you that’s exactly what my trip was all about, you will collectively tch tch with all the heartfelt sympathy and wish me luck for the next time. Thank you for your concern but I had a great time during the 51 hours I spent there. We walked inside the paths inside the resort, we tried to scale the walls (it was prohibited),…Continue Reading “Photographic tour of Corbett. All nature, no tiger.”
When I plan to travel, I research extensively. I go on Tripadvisor, I go to Travelblogs, I ask questions at forums and I call up the shortlisted hotels in advance. I read reviews, I mail the reviewers, I do google image search and I send mass mails to my friends inquiring if anyone has been there. I check local temperature, I carry extra clothes and some food too. I carry cash stuffed in three separate places as well as the debit and credit cards. I…Continue Reading “Photographic tour of Club Mahindra Nature Trails Safari Resort in Corbett”
If you love to travel, it’s difficult to avoid religious places, because they are always at such beautiful places. Hilltops, beaches, river banks, lake sides, close to the waterfall, by the lonely jungle trail – if you are close to natural beauty, you are never too far from a place of worship (maruti service stations can take a tip). But there is another side to it too. They are always filthy. They defeat one of the most important objectives of a vacation – to get…Continue Reading “Religious tourism and why you can never escape it”