Category Get away
Avani – On a clear day you can see forever
The sky is a clear cobalt blue over Avani. The air is as still as the water in the village ponds. Cattle laze under trees and dry fields wait for the rains. The town and its inhabitants take shelter in the afternoon shadows but the stillness is deceptive. Unfazed by the heat, the past is very […]
Hampi – Time stands still
I have hopped on a bus, been crushed by fellow passengers in a Tempo, clambered over rocks and slipped down boulders to finally lurch my way onto a boat. Just to get to Hampi. The bus set us down at dawn in Hospet, the city built by the mighty Krishnadeva Raya, `between 1509 and 1520 in honour of Nagala Devi, […]
Whitefield remembered- Guest Photographer series
In this, the first of my `Guest Photographer Series’, I travel with photographer-writer, Aparna Nori to Whitefield just before World Anglo-Indian Day next Saturday. The Inner and Outer Circles in Whitefield are `genteel’ territory. Sunlit lanes lead you to gates that protect delightful old cottages and bungalows. Flowers cascade over brick walls and fruit trees deliver […]
Devarayanadurga – The hill in our backyard
As darkness falls upon the earth, a few feeble little sun rays struggle to stay alive. But they too slowly fade away, following the sun to the other side of the world. It is dusk, a no -man’s land between day and night when anything can happen. Somewhere in time and space, a pillar splits into […]
Nandigrama- The site of a Celestial Wedding
The bride is wide-eyed and beautiful but unadorned because she is marrying against her mighty father’s wishes. But who needs jewels when there is love? She has spent the night preparing herself for this morning. Her long hair is scented, her body gleaming with aromatic oils. Her large eyes are lined with kohl and her skin is […]
Nallur Thopu – A 1000 year old Devara Kadu
When I first read `The Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton at the impressionable age of 8, it opened the door to an arboreal world filled with magical adventures. Over the years, I continued to look for elves under mushrooms and fairies in buttercups.This behaviour I am told, was not indicative of the appropriate levels of cynicism required for […]
Placing Bengaluru 