Tag Archives: travel

The Road to Geneva is calling you

On Thursday, 30th May, my friend Steven and I are filling up my scratched up Renault Clio with diesel and setting off from Western France heading for a pretty ski village tucked into the folds of  the Haut Jura mountains. … Continue reading

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On turning 60 in 2023: Life Before the Internet

My 60th birthday, walking the beaches of Tamil Nadu, India. When I lived in LA in the early 2000’s, I interviewed a 100 year old woman for an oral history project. she was going to turn 101 the following month. … Continue reading

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Breath by breath, walking the pilgrim’s way

We were stretched out on the grassy slopes of the medieval walled city of Forteleza in Valença, a stone’s throw from the Portuguese-Spanish border. I was gazing at a bee clumsily mounting a dandelion. The simple act of removing shoes … Continue reading

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India’s love of acronyms (or ILoA)

It was my first visit to India and I was staying in a hotel in New Delhi’s East of Kailash—a neighbourhood that always makes me think of the sunrise face of Tibet’s holiest mountain with which it has nothing in … Continue reading

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Cats of Zanzibar 2

The cats of Zanzibar have a presence that I’ve rarely seen in the stray cat world. You see them in full and unguarded sleep on foot-worn steps in the middle of the day in the relentless cacophony of commerce. Since … Continue reading

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Hinglish—a language all its own

There is a language few outside of India have encountered that – like so many trends originating in the sub-continental mind – is quietly going global. This is Indian-English or ‘Hinglish’ as it is affectionately known. Spread mostly by Bollywood … Continue reading

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The end of the inner selfie

We have come to regard the universe as little more than our personal Paparazzi, with lenses zooming in and out in relation to our activities on the World Stage. Every ‘click’ is another reassurance that we are somehow solid, permanent and important. It is our misery that deserves the most attention. It is our happiness that is the most desirable. But how is this possible on a planet of almost seven billion people? Continue reading

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Journey of a neopilgrim – Kedarnath (part 3 of 4)

‘Anything you are attached to, give that. Go to the places that scare you.’ Machik Lapdrön In the high plateau under the gaze of snow-capped mountains Puttiah ambles away in the direction of the temple. I wonder where he plans … Continue reading

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Journey of a neopilgrim— Kedarnath (Part 2 of 3)

September 10th, 2015 ‘Pilgrims recognize one another by a capacity for wonder, and a gut-level discomfort with bigotry.‘ From Pilgrim’s India The sun has not yet risen but my mood is already quickening. I dress fast, having prepared my pack … Continue reading

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Journey of a neopilgrim – Kedarnath (part 1 of 3)

‘There is no happiness for him who does not travel, Rohita! Thus we have heard, Living in the society of men, the best man becomes a sinner….Therefore, wander!’ Indra (Protector of Travelers) to a young man named Rohita September 9, … Continue reading

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