The New Normal?

What do you say about travel at a time like this? There’s nothing appropriate to say, is there? There’s a lot to say about home, though. Only, I don’t know where to start. Maybe I’ll start with how both travel and home are slowly merging into different ideas these last three years? In 2017, I…

A Month Of Memories In U.S.A.

Third stop on the sabbatical: United States Of America A people and places pilgrimage O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? – THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER, USA NATIONAL ANTHEM I didn’t know what to expect from this trip, I really didn’t. All…

Ola Espana!

Second stop on the sabbatical: Spain Soon after we got married, B and decided that our fifth anniversary should be celebrated someplace nice, keeping the exact place open to evolving tastes and interests. As we hit that milestone last year, we unanimously picked Europe, and almost unanimously chose southern Spain. The architectural and cultural clash…

Chocolates, Cheese and Cities in Switzerland

First stop on the sabbatical: Switzerland Have you ever heard of a trip to Switzerland without visiting the Alps? Well, welcome to one! Europe to me has always meant history and art ensconced deceptively in either a sleepy old village or a glitzy world city, and the towering Alps that cuts across eight countries. I’ve…

The Kase Of The Kyoto Konfusion

Ok, I have finally met my match in misplaced expectations. Maybe it was because of very last minute prep for this trip, or maybe it is finally a spotlight on how my travel tastes are changing, I know not. But Kyoto left me very, very konfused.  Every since I heard of a Japanese temple town…

Two Years in Singapore

Be a tourist in your own life. Note your private landmarks, your important historical sights, your favourite spots. -  Found in Gretchen Rubin’s “Moments Of Happiness” It’s been two years in Singapore today! What an interesting time it has been. For once, not in terms of the place and the travel and the externalities, like…

The Template Of A Mad Metropolis – Tokyo

You know you’re a city girl when your senses come alive amidst crowds, when your heart thumps to the beat of a commuter train, and when your brain kinda gives up on the necessity of serenity ever so often. I know I’m one. I love my cities as much as I love my mountains. And…

Finding A Green Purpose

The last two months, my travel focus has been home, Bangalore. I decided not to miss special occasions both happy and sad, and I’m glad I went back. Through it all, there was a parallel track running in my head, something that has been on my mind an awful lot this year. Sustainable living, both…

In The Meadows Of Dayara Bugyal

The hills are alive with the sound of music! - Maria, in The Sound Of Music I hopped, skipped and jumped in a green meadow on a sunny morning, singing the one line I knew of this song over and over again. Before me lay an undulating meadow, caught between a white winter and a…

The Glories Of Ancient Angkor

Oh, Angkor. Any ode to you that's been brewing in my head ever since I heard of you years ago will not be ode enough. Any words I find to describe even a minuscule part of your physical grandeur or your geographical significance will do you no justice. Any description of how you dwarf the…