Remember my posts on Bhutan, in which I lamented my decision to trek to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery? Despite my earnest desire to go trekking more often since, my loathing for any activity that combines walking with breathlessness and increased heart rate overcame the enthusiasm. And like all other times when life has made me […]
Down the Rabbit Hole: How Europe’s mountain communities celebrate Winter solstice.
Every year, as winter breaks its stronghold and retreats to make way for Spring, the mountain communities of Europe gear up to celebrate the occasion by shedding their human form and dressing up as animals/birds. French photographer Charles Fréger travelled across 19 European countries and over 50 villages to document this fascinating culture and compiled […]
Food adventures: The Avarekai Mela
I recently heard about food festivals in Bangalore that are centred around specific ingredients, and rather than being hosted in some expensive hotel for a couple of days, these festivals are held on the streets of Bangalore for at least a week. Nearly half a year ago, when the Kadalekai (Kannada for Peanut) Mela (Festival) was […]
Banaras: Where Food and Faith come together.
Think of vivid watercolours fading in and out of each other in different forms and shapes – holy men with painted faces and a headful of braided hair, women in rainbow-coloured sarees and men in white dhotis and kurtas. Think of water – the surface appearance of which is smooth glass – catching the sunlight […]
Five secrets to having a great big-family holiday.
Over the third weekend of October in the heart of Bengal, people gathered by the dozen to worship Durga, go pendal-hopping and indulge in a lavish spread of Bengali fare. Approximately 1,800 kilometers away, I was busy with my own celebrations: a weekend away from the city with family. It wasn’t just the parents and […]
