“There’s nothing in new Nagzira.” “Why don’t you go to Koka?” “It’s about 35 km from here.” “Anyway, Nagzira is closed on Thursdays.” “You could go to Koka on Thursday.” “Maybe you’ll see a sloth bear.” “Or bison.” We didn’t agree that there was nothing in new Nagzira. There were fewer animals; we did not […]
Nagzira
Ten days away from the city. No internet. Phone connectivity for about an hour a day. Eleven safaris into the beautiful jungle. Three leopards. A leopard making a kill: whose side are you on? The leopard’s or the fawn’s? Wild dogs in the distance. A herd of bison. Flycatchers, thrushes, drongos, night-jars, parakeets, hoopoes. A […]
Bus-Signs
I know that in situations like this, pictures speak more effectively than words, but I did not have the time to take a picture. At the back of a sleeper bus, I saw the sign: ‘Sleep in the Night, Morning in the Tight.’ What do you reckon it means?
Holiday Pictures
Two pictures I could not resist sharing …
Goodbye, Gangtok …
We woke up at 4:30 this morning. This far east, it is not as early as it sounds to my Western Ghat friends. The sun rose soon after, and we stood at the window and watched the clouds. We saw the Khangchendzonga. She played with us, hiding in the clouds and peeking out again. We […]
Beautiful Gangtok – Day Two
When I was a child, my parents and I went to Darjeeling. We did a very touristy thing – went on a ‘Fun Ten’ tour of ten points in Darjeeling that visitors must see. This included a ride in a cable car and a visit to the zoo that housed a red panda. When we […]
Gangtok!
Rain, clouds, mist. The spectacular, fascinating Teesta river. Hot momos on the way. Welcome to Gangtok. While we were in New Jalpaiguri, I was more than a little nervous. The driver we had was aggressive and noisy, and seemed to think the road belonged to him. Would we get to Gangtok safely? The moment we […]
Double Decker Train
I saw a double-decker train after so long today! I did not even know they still ran! I remember when I went on one as a child. The extreme excitement and anticipation. The dread that we would actually have to sit down. Blue train, blue seats, silver stairs. Running up and down those stairs, careful […]
Ashadi Ekadashi at Prashanthi Nilayam
Standing there, behind the backdrop, we held our breath. We had been working with 43 Bal Vikas children with little or no knowledge of dance since May, and this was the outcome of all our efforts. Working towards the performance for Ashadi Ekadashi at Prashanthi Nilayam was often frustrating, but ultimately, deeply rewarding. The […]
Not the Mona Lisa
Entry to the Louvre is free on the first Sunday of each month, and I landed in Paris on the first Sunday of June. Jet lag is a luxury that people who have time and money to spend in a foreign country can afford. I couldn’t. Whatever debate may surround the aesthetics of the pyramid […]
Voted!
It’s a duty, I know. It isn’t anything to be proud of. I should vote and I did. But hats off to those who took their duty seriously enough to come to Pune from places like Delhi just to vote. I just had to go down the road. And those who did not bother to […]
Incredible Bus Journeys
Yes, I have travel woes. Often. I faced a bird-hit in Ahmedabad. A light-bulb shattering in my hair on a train journey. Floods in Bengal and trouble in Bihar caused a train-detour of twelve hours. Aircraft crew went on strike to watch a football match. And that’s just scratching the surface. Of late, thanks to […]
Indian Coffee House
smoke swirls coffee tastes peculiar i drink it anyway, along with something with mustard mainly for the mustard, rather than for the ‘something’ people stick political posters over the board that says ‘SMOKING IS A PUNISHABLE OFFENCE’ people ask for ash-trays and get them or they don’t ask for ash-trays and they tip ash on […]
Trams in Kolkata
Yes, I’ve written about trams before, in a post with the same name as this. But how could I go to Kolkata again and not create some more tram memories? My grandmother often told me about how her father always gave her the fare for first class tram tickets to college and back. Like so […]
Varsha and the Kerosene Stove
“So, Mamma, there’s no geyser in this place and they’ve given me a kerosene stove to heat water. What to do?” “Hmm. Okay. What kind of stove is it?” “Mm?” “Does it have a pump?” “No.” “Good. Okay. There’s one cylindrical thing that’s loose. Pull it off. Okay? Now there should be another cylindrical thing […]
Vierge Noire
The Vierge Noire – the Black Virgin – how little I know of her, but how enthralling it is! When I visited Chambéry for the first time in 2004, I am sure we visited the chapel with the Vierge Noire, a black statue of the Virgin Mary, but then, I did not quite understand its […]
A Conversation in Paris
A few years ago, I was alone at Paris airport. Shortly after I landed, I went to use the washroom. Sitting on a wheelchair was an old, old lady with wrinkles all over her face. As I stood there, managing my hand-luggage, coat and all the other hundreds of miscellaneous things I was carrying, she […]
Wild Dog Hunt
No one will ever believe that it’s not very easy to see wild dogs in the jungle if you spot them three times during the course of the same safari. At first, we saw five. Then we heard wild fowl crying out to one another – alarmed that the dogs were nearby. We then saw […]
Tigress
We did see a tigress on our very first safari at Tadoba this time around. When I went to Ranthambhor, as part of a school excursion, we were divided into ten groups. Nine groups saw a tiger. Mine didn’t. Then I went to Kanha. Three safaris there – and I didn’t see a tiger. Then, […]
Back from the Wild – Again
Green forests. Dense. Tall grass. Just a few metres away, a tiger could be hiding and we wouldn’t even know. Anticipation is thrilling. Spider webs glinting in the sunshine. A huge black spider poised on her web eats a grasshopper. The black ibis with its red hood and impressive beak pecks away in the grass. […]