Lotus in Bloom

A couple of weekends ago, a friend tipped us about the Waterlily Festival at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. We went in the morning at about 10 because apparently the blooms close up in the… Continue reading →

London

I always thought that my dream job would be one that required a lot of travel because I could explore a (new) city and that too on company expense! But like all things… Continue reading →

Civil War Period Costumes

Continued from previous post… The Battle of Chancellorsville reenactment offered us a great opportunity to look at the costumes of that period, and see a little bit of life as it was then.

Battle of Chancellorsville 150th Anniversary

PG is a big US Civil War buff, and last weekend I found myself in Chancellorsville watching thousands of amateur actors reenacting the battle of Chancellorsville to mark its 150th anniversary. To give… Continue reading →

Hawa Mahal

Perhaps my favourite piece of architecture after Amber Fort is the Hawa Mahal, which was built in the late 18th century, was intended for the royal women to look down on creation (aka everyday… Continue reading →

City Palace Jaipur

Jaipur, the “Pink City” was painted pink on the orders of Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh to welcome the arrival of Edward, the Prince of Wales, during a diplomatic visit in 1853. The inner city still… Continue reading →

Amber Fort, Jaipur

With PG in India for only 2 weeks, we had to plan quite a bit to make sure we saw the Taj Mahal (after all, agar Taj nahi dekha to kya dekha?). And… Continue reading →

Delhi and its Dynasties

Just before I moved to Delhi some 14 years ago, someone advised me not to live there, warning me that Delhi was a troubled place. Obviously, he wasn’t referring to future events (at… Continue reading →

The Darjeeling “Toy Train”

I lived in Darjeeling for seven years, but in all that time I never rode on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). The urgency to explore a place or an experience is rather low… Continue reading →

The chai tutorial

When people here in the US think of chai, they think of this a.k.a. the masala chai. But, chai can also be this. For those scratching their heads, chai is any form of… Continue reading →