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Our Panna is quite a dry forest. The green you see now will wither soon,” 20-year-old Iden Lal smiles at me as we walk across the dry deciduous expanse just within the territorial area of Panna National Park. What I notice first is how…
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Like most non-resident Bengalis, I travel to Calcutta frequently, and every time, I chance upon some unexplored treasure tucked between the drapes of history. But this time was singularly special. I have been researching on the journey of…
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Stealth and grace marked his every step; his long furry tail swished like a bridal train, helping him maintain balance at the top of a ridge. The snow leopard paused, preened and then presented a proud profile, unaware of the adoring…
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It’s that time of year when everything is bathed in a warm, fuzzy, honey glow and there’s a sweet fragrance in the air. That might be partly due to summer setting in across India but it’s also because the best (and India’s national) fruit…
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Phone charger, check. Toothpaste, check. Sunglasses, check. Itinerary, check. Ah, the good old itinerary. If someone’s familiar with those long sheets of paper, it’s me. A vacation essential in our house, only Papa found them appealing.…
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“You must make your way to the gateway of the Deccan through Malwa,” declared Anu aunty. My husband and I were in her dining room in Indore, gorging on home-made dal baati, a speciality of the region. I was trying not to overeat in…
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In the last dozen years, I’ve made at least one annual trip down this road; very often on my own, down a cut and dried route. It starts with a night bus from Delhi that reaches Haridwar in the wee hours. A quick chai in the lone, just-open…
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The first thing most people would notice about Imphal, Manipur’s capital city, is that it seems to be overrun with shabby, worn down buildings, traffic and dusty streets. And the city often becomes the mirror for the state. But if you have…
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Awesome surfing, the coolest street art, yoga studios, hipster cafes and beach bars – it’s time to find out the best things to do in Canggu, Bali.  Canggu is one of the hottest destinations in Bali right now! Buzzing with…
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Tsering offered me a handful of ruby red finger millet grains to taste. A crunch and a pop, followed by a burst of sweetness. I then took a swig of a deceptively innocuous looking clear liquid, brewed from the grain I had just ingested.…
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Daman & Diu, Naida Caves Why Go Now: Cave-crawls and cowrie shells Chomping into the island earth at the periphery of the Diu Fort sit the Naida Caves, a root-wrapped underground labyrinth with flitting bursts of trees and sunlight.…
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Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, and beyond Why Go Now: ‘Water trek’ across placid lakes No visitor to Kashmir returns without taking a shikara ride on Dal Lake. We suggest going a step further—and ‘water trek,’ as Kashmiris prefer to call…
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I am not new to Kolkata. I lived there for two years at the start of my career, made the occasional trip in between and have done the usual touristy activities—from wandering around the Victoria Memorial to eating egg rolls on Park Street.…
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“My home is older than the Taj Mahal”, says Maria de Fatima Figueiredo de Albuquerque as she shows me around her family home, an almost-430-year-old mansion in Loutulim, South Goa. Unlike the mausoleum, the Figueiredo Mansion is lived in,…
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