desi Traveler

Mayo College Ajmer Students Campaign for a Swachh Bharat Travel always shows you something new, and I just don’t mean places. For a change  Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated with a difference, instead of just the customary remembrance, speeches and cleaning the pigeon poop smeared Gandhi Statue across country, the nation decided to get out and clean the streets. With PM Narendra Modi, calling for a Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan  (Clean India – BTW Bharat is the Official name of India in Hindi, and our constitution mentions it as India that is Bharat) But the good part is that it is [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

A Night In Anti Poaching Camp Bandipur National Park Acres of  marigold fields glowing in the evening sun waved at us from the other side of a  solar fence that  separated the jungle from the fields, as we drove towards the anti poaching camp in Bandipur National Park. When I did my first phase of Eco Volunteer training with Karnataka Forest department and  Jungle Lodges and Resorts, I wrote about the short visit we made to the Anti Poaching camp in the jungle where tourists are not allowed. As part of the training in second phase we stayed overnight at [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

Making of Ravana for Sale: The demon king gives livelihood to hundreds of people Navatri or the nine nights is a period when most of the country prepares for Dussehra and is Ram may (राम मय). The stories or Ram’s victory over Ravana is enacted in form of Ram Leela ( no not the Bhansali version with bullets doing ballet with Bollywood belle Dipika Padukone, but the real one with bows and arrows ) across the country, especially north India in form of stage plays with the good winning over evil. But as the good old Winston Churchill said [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

A Humours account of an IT Startup  :  The Sales Room Ok this post has nothing about travels except for the fantasy land escape it offers to you into the mind of 26-year-old Ramesh, a sales manager in a struggling IT project management company.  Now normally I would not worry about reading a book that is largely about the sexual fantasies of a 26-year-old single, ambitious,  and confused guy who cannot decide whether to pursue his dream of a US MBA or to continue to work for the company that is still a start-up even after 10 years. But [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

Family Trip to Ibis Delhi Airport in Aerocity I have been a bit busy in last some weeks both on personal as well as work front.  So when I got an invitation to visit Ibis Delhi Airport to come and stay my instant reaction was to say no as my elder daughter had her school exams and I was entrusted by the missus to help her with science syllabus (finally something she thinks I can do better than her). But the lady on phone was very persistent and told me that she got my reference from Mridula Dwivedi, The Prima [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

  Varpu: From Ayurveda and making feasts to decorating hotels One of the first thing I noticed in Kerala in almost every single hotel was a round, shallow vessel filled with water  and flowers floating on it. Now it was nothing new as now it is a common practice to find such vessels or Varpu in many places in India. But I had no idea that this tradition also started in God’s Own Country. But like so many things Varpu has also undergone a metamorphosis. Originally  Varpu, a large cauldron made from cast bronze was used to make Ayurveda [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]

Story Behind Portrait of a Lady I clicked in Mehrauli Me and Tarun Gaur, my friend from Kerala Blog Express days was with me and we were trying to find our way out of the Qutub Complex ( Wait for a detailed post). As we were walking we met a group of daily wagers working on restoration of one of the monuments in the Qutub Complex.  They were all curiously looking at our DSLRs and camera bag etc. It was evening time and the light was beautiful, and  I was wondering if the laborers will agree to get clicked.   I [Continue Reading By Clicking Here...]