From the time I was about seven, I wanted a mystery to solve every vacation. It was not fair that only Enid Blyton people (for me, they were people, not […]
Surviving in the Jungle
Eight safaris with the same guide ensured that we became friends of sorts, and once he realised that three people out of five in the jeep understood Marathi, he opened […]
Tadoba
Our guide at Tadoba said, “All these people who come from big cities – Pune, Mumbai and all – they take photos of anything!” He laughed incredulously at me when […]
An Old Lady in France
Having performed at Aix-en-Provence (close to Marseilles), and being readers of Dumas, we couldn’t not go to Marseilles and visit the Château d’If. We had read and heard enough about it […]
Jeep Rides
Some people say that if you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world. Others are more specific. They say that if you can drive in Calcutta, […]
The Eiffel Tower
I was not at all impressed when I first saw the Eiffel Tower. My problem with the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Mona Lisa is that they look […]
Torre Pendente
We had just a few hours at Pisa, but we could not travel all over Italy and not visit the famous leaning tower. So we asked a lady on a […]
No Television
I moved into a flat that looked as if it had been painted by the landlord himself. It had definitely been painted by someone who had never painted anything before. […]
Interesting Artichokes
The word ‘interesting’ is a perfectly tactful word that expresses nothing. It has become a word that’s neither positive nor negative, conveying that exact degree of neutrality that is considered […]
Ramayan in French
My association with France began with a French exchange programme in 2004. I was vegetarian, I barely spoke French, I had never heard the French accent, I was to live […]
Crisp Apple Strudel
When we went to Salzburg, we knew more about The Sound of Music than about Mozart. Now I’m mildly embarrassed about that, but when we went, I was just plain excited. […]
A Night in Florence
“Is the station open all night?” In Florence with no hostel to stay at and frightfully expensive hotel options, we had no choice but to stay at the station. “Yes,” […]
Nagarahole
It was not the first time we were going to a wildlife sanctuary. We had been to Kanha and we loved it. The idea of going into the jungle once […]
Learning to Communicate
“Do you speak English?” we asked three police-people standing at a signal in Milan. The policewoman shook her head and turned to the men. “Just a leetle,” said one. Then […]
Raghurajpur
If you have a day in Puri, visit Raghurajpur. You can see the Konark temple in history textbooks; you can’t see the little craft village with all its passion and […]
The FERRY
I had been on a ferry before – to Essel World. I knew all about ferries, I thought. In any case, what was to know? Five hundred people on a […]
Burggarten, bitte
A lovely lady on the train to Vienna told us we must go see the Burggarten, a rose garden. In our attempt to put to use our practically non-existent German, […]
Cycle Rickshaw
When I went to Kolkata for my entrance exams, I stayed with a friend’s family. The first day there, Uncle took me in a cycle rickshaw. He warned me, “Don’t […]
How do we go to Olympia, please?
My sister and I stood at the little kiosk on the little platform at Patras station. We had our passports, as always, and our Eurail passes and all our money. […]
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