Tag Archives: travel

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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Radical friendship and the end of the guru

Again I catch a glimpse of a recalibration of the politics of the knower, the known and the as yet unknower/unknown. I see Liberation Camaraderies replacing Mystical Theocracies. Continue reading

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Hitchhiker’s guide to duality

Surely, the man wasn’t going to tear Prem’s arm out of his socket while he was driving! Even cannibals must have some code of honour, even if they are short on table manners. Continue reading

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The backstrap

One professor of literature told me that after her mother had died of stomach cancer, she had not been able to cook for three months because the system wouldn’t let her refill her kitchen gas cylinder. She had visited the concerned office six times to appeal, but the clerks kept telling her that her mother needed to come to make the payment. Continue reading

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