Magic Moments

Day 1 We arrived at Ernakulam and took the metro to visit the church and roamed around a bit, the Kerala Museum and Modern Art Gallery, and some relatively slow sightseeing. Day 2 It's difficult to click a picture of the multiple lottery stalls here in Alleppey, from a running vehicle. But they are everywhere, every nook and corner, accompanied by old men in mundus (white dhoti worn like a lungi) sitting on plastic chairs and chatting the morning hours away. Lottery of 60k to be won at one stall. Like paan stalls in Odisha, these lottery stalls are everywhere. Also, all shopkeepers, auto drivers wear mundus, their traditional wear. Christian population here is substantial, there are churches too- big ones in almost every turn. We saw some 8-10 medium to huge churches on our way from Ernakulam to Alleppey via road, amidst the coconut trees in the backdrop. Beautiful white washed ones with ornate windows and a cross visible from the top. Our stay was at Palm Grove resort in Alleppey...

  There is a certain allure to a foreign land, a foreign culture, a different language, unchartered territories and a promise of romantic adventure. The latest offering from Netflix ‘Emily in Paris’ gives us all of these and more. It is all of 10 episodes of 25 or so minutes each, and is worth a binge-watch. It’s about a social media content strategist, Emily Cooper, played by Lily Collins, who moves to Paris from Chicago to work for a marketing firm, a big career opportunity, dreaming of a wonderful life. It’s about her adventures both in career and romantic front, as she learns French, making hilarious mistakes and feeding her Instagram with all-things-Paris. We watch the beauty of Paris in its culture of life-first-work-second, all things luxurious- from fashion to perfume to wine, the spiraling staircase of a hundred-year old building where Emily stays, the ornate architecture, the old-world charm mingling effortlessly with the new, the elaborate office dinners, the picturesq...

When Covid19 had just put its foot in the country with only 3 cases in Kerala, we had our Ooty trip planned. All tickets and bookings were done since the new year. With just three days in hand, four of us travelled from Mumbai, Pune and Bhubaneswar, to Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, to join a few others staying in the city. And the excitement to finally meet one another after 6 months of that trip to Pune, the Lohagard Trek- we were kids excitedly clicking selfies in our face masks, hurriedly putting a quick dab of sanitizer before hugging one another. Next day early morning we were to start for Ooty. Sleepy heads, gulping a bowl each of muesli, we started onward journey to Bandipur National Park. Devouring uttapams, dosas and piping hot cups of coffee for breakfast at a restaurant by the highway, chit chats were full on, as was the music and dance in the 12-seater vehicle. Funny anecdotes had us laughing our hearts out, gossips were such a thrill an...

I have been fantasizing travelling alone somewhere far away from home. While watched ‘Queen’ and reveling in Kangana Ranaut’s brilliant acting I wished so hard that I could do what she did- go alone on a vacation and spend all the time exploring new bylanes, eating new cuisines, making new friends, etc. While listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s beautiful storyteller-voice in the audiobook ‘Eat Pray Love’ I had myself wishing the same, once again. She spent a year in three different countries- Italy, India and Indonesia- after the eventual end of her dysfunctional marriage; four months in each place, alone, trying to discover herself through the experience and heal from the depression that she suffered for years. It is when you get lost that you find yourself. Losing oneself is the only way to discover one’s real self back. And travel gives that spiritual and philosophical opportunity to spend time in quiet contemplation. Amidst chaos is calm. Friedrich Nietzsche had said; ...

Like most people out there, I too nurture a dream to travel around the world. Well, it hasn’t to be in 80 days. J I want to go street shopping in China and South Korea (buying beautiful charms, trinkets, dream catchers, etc.); view cherry blossoms in Japan; click a selfie with Moais in Easter Islands; visit Buddhist monasteries outside India; ride in a gondola in Venice and every roller coaster in the world; admire the Hagia Sophia in Turkey and churches in Vatican; tour entire Europe and marvel in its beauty, history, culture, and antiquity. Yes, Zindegi Na Milegi Dobara, and Yeh Jawani Hei Diwani have enraptured my imagination. They have me yearning to know and understand every culture, custom and tradition first hand. But the starting point of this wish was quite early. It started with ‘ SOTC-Musafir Hoon Yaaron ’ series on Indian television with Deepti Bhatnakar. Be it Indian places of worship like the ‘ Char dham yatra ’, places of vacation like the hill stations...