Our drive from Bikaner to Shekhawat was long and hot, and travelling with a driver who believed that both sides of the road belonged to him, meant that by the time we reached our hotel in the village of Churi Ajitghar we were tired and on edge. It was two in the afternoon and there…
Category: Published
Living with the Bishnois, India’s original Eco Warriors
‘Do you want to see a blackbuck?’ asked Thana Ram Bishnoi, with a slight smile. We were sitting on a charpoy in his courtyard, getting acquainted. We readily agreed. The sun had turned softer and the air cooler; soon it would be dusk. We strapped on our shoes as Thana Ram picked up his stick and we…
Kolhapur’s Pehelwani Heritage
An insight into the wrestling tradition of Kolhapur, a place that put India on the international wrestling map and gave us our first individual Olympic medal.
Tracing the Origins of Madhubani Paintings in Bihar
It gave us a form, a way to express ourselves,” says Godavari Devi, remembering a time gone by. I am sitting in the modest living room of her home in the small, quiet hamlet of Ranti, near Madhubani town, while she regales us with tales from her travels as a National Award-winning Madhubani artist. Behind…
The Sonepur Mela: Of Elephants & Tantriks
Down to the river. It is pitch black as I stumble out of my tent and join the stream of humanity resolutely making their way towards the river in the inky darkness. It was only 5 am, but already the streets were lined with vendors selling everything from packets of flowers to hot milky tea….
A Royal Retreat: Live Like a King at Jambughoda Palace, Gujarat
I’m sitting on a swing, sipping tea with my host Vikramsinh, Maharana of the former princely state of Jambughoda. We’ve been walking around his gardens, and have settled near a large organic vegetable patch. A Great Dane and a Doberman lie at our feet, while several pups scamper around. Vikramsinh, whose estate is almost self-sufficient…
A village called Bam & how we discovered our kind of travel
There was a palpable, tense undercurrent in the car. We’d spent the previous day on a 10 hour drive from the cool and green Bomdila to the horrible dusty town of North Lakhimpur. We’d been pelted with bananas en route by gregarious, drunk revellers and the only hotel we found in North Lakhimpur was shabby…
Nagaland’s unknown World War II heroes
Intertwined with the history of World War II is that of the Naga hills and its people. We seek out the few surviving Naga veterans to hear their accounts of the great war.