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The gallivanting cougar, Liz Earls
Life-altering journeys have less of an itinerary and more intent. To leave behind. To start anew. It is reminisced and written about as a spur-of-the-moment thingy which it is not really. But the...
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Call for gas in Kausani
Decollement beneath Uttarakhand provides a coherent fault… warned two recent studies. In simple temblor-ese, a devastating earthquake could knock Uttarakhand off the mountain ledges into oblivion. The...
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Circuit houses and some marvels
Those who waited on the Sahib at the Sukh Mahal in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Letters of Marque’ (Nov – Dec, 1887) have remained so, at least in spirit. The twitchy munshi today mans the reception – one eye on...
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Incredibly Indian ‘best jobs in the world’
Rarely did such splendid hyperbole live up to promise. ‘The best job in the world’ went the headline: concise, all caps, XL font. Nothing clever. The position advertised was that of island caretaker;...
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Halcyon valley Tirthan
This devta is out on a picnic The palanquin bearer winced as he stiffened to an abrupt halt. You could see he was under untold duress; cold beads of sweat broke out from his forehead, his eyes bulged...
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White seas of Jalori Pass
Quiet a night Night descended on the Tirthan Valley without much ado. The shrilly, tremolo notes of swamp toads and crickets did not besiege us from all around but piped up sporadically, almost like an...
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Cameo in camouflage
Strangers have always mistaken me for a holy or an army man. Something which has boggled me and not little – while one means soft eyes in a serene face the other mandates a severe one with stiff...
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All that really glitters
The legendary Buick Super The once-happening entrepot Alleppey in Kerala is popular today for backwaters, boat races and beaches, houseboats and homestays. Its immense historicity has been relegated to...
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One happy journey from pillar to post
Land proprietorship in Kerala is classified under three broad no-need-to-quantify heads: muttam (yard), parambu (farm) and estate (estate). The lack of need to quantify arises from an everyday fact –...
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A kidnap in Lagos
Seldom do we have a say in the situations we find ourselves in. But where we do is whether we come out of them. And how: Shaking like a dry leaf in a harmattan but unscathed, barely scraping through...
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Hear hear: Sunny’s Gramophone Museum
Sunny explaining his connect with the iconic HMV logo On the day of the museum’s inauguration in January this year one of the invitees, a prominent local politician, said to Sunny’s wife Josia “This is...
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Vizhinjam: Back to Belita
“We the people…” Das shouted over the staccato din of his rear engine auto rickshaw “are full support of the port.” Das and I were on our way to Mulloor, few kilometres from Vizhinjam, a flashpoint in...
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‘Experience Chhattisgarh on the road’ – The book and some more experiences
Some tough calls are easy to make because we were just waiting, having known all along. I could have stuck to the brief and brought out my book on time. Or I could talk about tribal dislocation, warn...
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Dipadih – Heritage at its creative, playful best
The word ‘archaeology’ is Greek in origin and has nothing to do with monuments or heritage but simply means the ‘pursuit of ancient knowledge.’ While few of us pursue ancient knowledge ardently – or...
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Aye uru
The building yard Like any legendary lot the Khalasis too determinedly deplores and disses any attempt that plebeianises a hard earned reputation. Following the Perumom Tragedy of 1988 when modern...
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Warriors of Varanasi
Traditions with fabled moorings are still sure-footed in Varanasi. Kushti, Indian wrestling, goes back 5000 years in this old old living city. The origins of kushti akharas* where training in kushti...
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By lane and boat, Banaras
At Kachowri Gali Chowk the bereaved family halted abruptly and looked around flummoxed: where did their dear departed go? No moo Narrow lanes threaded by paan and tuck shops met their gaze. Cows...
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Karst country Kutumsar
The stalactites and stalagmites… In the beginning there was the Bastar Palace. Jagdalpur town was originally the living quarters of the palace personnel who settled in the imperial whereabouts. Sure...
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The Gantzers are (still) here. And how!
As I loped down the winding pathway to Ockbrook, home of the Gantzers, I felt a little light-headed and not because of the thin mountain air. I was reminded of reporting for my first date a generation...
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Wanted: a celluloid codicil to the travel advisory
Travel, horror in equal parts: Hostel No movie so far has dealt with the most prodigious of perils – in terms of derailed diplomacies, maligned reputation, dented economy or the sheer brutality of the...
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