Posted ON October 5, 2022 A D V E R T I S E M E N T He always finds the right place to have chicken-rice and chai, even if it means checking out a few places, shaking his head disapprovingly and showing me back to the car. He has solemnly refused to take me to just any saree emporium in Kolkata to buy one for my mother. “After all it’s your mother, sir,” he reminds me, with the same authoritative fervour that he reserves for voicing his opinion on the right time to eat ilish. Even if I…
Author: Prannay Pathak
Posted ON September 14, 2022 A D V E R T I S E M E N T Nearly a century after Mahatma Gandhi proclaimed Kausani—a scenic village in Kumaon with a long tryst with history and mythology—the Switzerland of India, guidebooks, tourism pamphlets and foundation stones continue to abide by the epithet. Not many know—or care enough to remember—that Kausani was also where the doyen of India’s own Romantic Poets, Sumitranandan Pant was born. Every once in a while, a literature student or a fanatical liberal arts buff heading further north to Munsiyari, makes a pit stop here and…
Posted ON September 9, 2022 A D V E R T I S E M E N T Delhi’s own little Tibet, Majnu-ka-Tilla is among the city’s many refugee settlements, and arguably the most popular of them all. The joints that operate at “M.K.T.”—upmarket cafés serving tsampa smoothies, cafés with ‘authentic’ Himalayan grub that can give Bir and Dharamkot a run for their money, rooftop cafés that overlook Signature Bridge even through the thickest smog—are to be found nowhere else in the capital. (That is part of the reason the Delhi government plans to develop the settlement into one of…
Ellora’s magnificent Kailasa Temple, also referred to as Cave 16, is probably its grandest and rightfully best-known structure. Fashioned out of a single excavated rock, the ornately carved megalith is believed to have been constructed in the 8th century AD during Rashtrakuta rule. To access the imposing structure’s top and enjoy sprawling views of the area, visitors usually have to take the ramp or the staircase. But if all goes to plan, two elevators for the imposing cave structure have been approved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Milan Kumar Chauley, superintendent archaeologist of Aurangabad circle, told PTI on…
A D V E R T I S E M E N T Rivers have a way of turning even the most self-aware of travellers into mawkish weekend philosophers, I type on my phone’s screen and sound into my mind’s echo chamber. Gazing glassy-eyed at the heaving Ganga, which is busy thrashing around rafts pilgrims have fashioned using plastic bottles and flotillas of diyas, I am dangerously close to believing I have entered that tactless state myself. Thankfully, it’s closing time for Haridwar’s largest private bathing ghat, as a lurking security staff member informs me gingerly. I conveniently turn back…
Adding to India’s promising annual lineup of food and drink festivals, is the World Class Cocktail Festival. After May saw India’s only gin festival take place amid much excitement in the national capital, Diageo Reserve’s much-anticipated global cocktail tourney will make its India stop in the first week of July. Originally a bartending competition that was launched in 2009, World Class has evolved to be a congregation for cocktail lovers in various parts of the world, featuring food and beverage pop-ups, bar takeovers, and smaller events raising a toast to cocktail culture. After a pandemic-enforced cancellation in 2020, the festival…
A D V E R T I S E M E N T In Alibaug, known for its sprawling, resort-like residences blessed with open spaces, pools and vast gardens, the home is no less than a destination—ask Krsnaa Mehta, founder of the lifestyle store India Circus, whose lavish penthouse, Vrindawan Awas, recently came up here. Deriving inspiration from the abundant reserves of nature around and his own creative impulses and modern-art sensibilities, Mehta’s multi-level property is a vaunted landmark in Awas. “The beach is about 100 metres away, so I do my evening and morning walks there. We have a…
Thanks to the enthusiastic response to the Dinosaur Festival in Delhi, a second version is now being organised in Chennai. To be held from June 10 to 19, visitors at the festival will be able to experience full-size replicas of the prehistoric reptiles. The biggest draws at the festival are animatronic iterations of dinosaur sub-species such as Isisaurus, Rajasaurus and Bruhathkayosaurus. Jurassic Park fans are in for both thrill and awe, should they chance upon a Tyrannosaurus Rex—the monstrous carnivore that roamed the face of the earth during the later Cretaceous Period. All of these replicas will be arranged in…
Forget dalgona coffee, dishwashing and home-gardening, among the many trends that unfolded during phase one of the pandemic, the shining resurgence of Garhwali cuisine—so far the lacklustre child of that chunky body of eating practices that together constitute Himalayan cuisine—stood out. This mini-revolution materialised alongside endless doom-scrolling sessions on social media, as creators, cooks, food stylists and home chefs converged on online forums to talk about Uttarakhand’s food beyond kafuli. It came partly from the urgent need to eat clean and fortify the constitution with ingredients anointed by nature as pure, and partly from the nostalgia for the hills and…
A portion of delicious hors d’oeuvres, a glass of wine and a fine movie—all under a pleasant post-showers sky. If the above is anywhere close to your idea of the perfect evening in the heart of the capital no less, you’re in luck. This evening and the following one (May 5 and 6), the lawns of the French Institute in Delhi, in a throwback to the quintessential Parisian open-air cinema experience, will transform into a stage for a unique gastro-cinematic exploration, screening two engrossing films along with serving up authentic French cuisine picks and beverages. On May 5, visitors can…
A D V E R T I S E M E N T Glacier trek routes open in Kumaon The Uttarakhand Tourism Department plans to open treks on three glaciers—Pindari, Sunderdhunga and Kafni—in the Kumaon region between April 15 and June 15 this year. After a lull in tourist numbers and subsequent economic losses for the local tourist economy, the state tourism department expects trekker numbers to grow beyond the miniscule rise seen after reopenings post the two waves. The treks will shut down for the monsoon, before reopening for a month between September 15 and October 15. Those who…
A D V E R T I S E M E N T Perched on the top of a safari jeep hurtling away towards the sunlight-swaddled horizon, I feel oddly buoyant despite my body as a grave of the mustard flies gaining one ignominious century per passing second. These kamikaze devils that crash on every part of my body like artillery fire are my true welcome into Jawai, Rajasthan’s burnished leopard country. Namesake of the Karnataka city famous for its wealth of medieval architecture, Bijapur in Pali, Rajasthan, is in search of its own share of fame. A rustic settlement…
BY Prannay Pathak, Muskaan Gupta Posted ON March 18, 2022 Thinking of Spring in Delhi always reminds me of a lush vine of bougainvillaea in JNU—two trees, almost two islands, topped with a magenta foliage, floating in a river of magenta. This was a Facebook photograph one of my most cherished college professors took eight years ago. Last year, we lost our teacher to the second wave of the pandemic. In the first Spring since that loss, the image full of life force has reappeared to me as an abiding stand-in. Even as the oncoming summer hurtles towards us, causing…
Woolly Mammoth When you’re in Ladakh, pashmina takes precedence over every other tchotchke. Ladakhi pashmina, a warm, lustrous, and extremely premium cashmere derived from the soft underside of the Changra goats of the high valleys, is coming up in a big way in these parts. Lena Ladakh Pashmina (Dr B. R. Ambedkar Complex near J&K Bank), of which you have most certainly heard, is a slow-fashion label selling natural-dyed (marigold, madder and indigo) shawls, scarves, spu ruks and the like. Their knits start at ₹11,000 and go up to ₹40,000. Looms of Ladakh, another women’s cooperative, also downtown, offers fine…
It’s a familiar scene: A Mughal ruler out for shikar in the lush jungle. His retinue of foot soldiers, horsemen and trackers atop carriages at the edge of the frame. Towards the centre, a frenzy grips the scene. The leaping coursers—spotted, bright yellow, hound-like quadrupeds—are scattering a herd of blackbuck at the silvery pond. In one corner, one of these swift hunters seems to have grabbed a blackbuck by the throat. No lesser animal in the forest can outrun the hunting leopard, as the cheetah was formerly known in India. Scenes of hunts such as these—or those of cheetahs bonding…
Like most commodities in India, holidays for families are shopped for on the basis of one overarching condition—that they should be a family package. Some trust the time-tested promises of old cities such as Rishikesh, or the multifaceted timelessness of a colourful Jaipur or a stunning Srinagar. Hill stations, with their easy charms of crowded mall roads, cheap coffee and pastry and brief distractions from the summer heat have stayed no-brainers for younger families. Holidays to see wildlife and experience nature, however, are rarely the subject of family vacays in the Indian context, whose traditional economy needs them to be…
Posted ON February 10, 2022 After a consistent decline in the number of active cases and an uptick in the national COVID-19 recovery rate, a number of changes to the existing COVID-19 travel protocols have been made for international arrivals in India, starting Monday, February 14. Apart from scrapping categories denoting at-risk countries, the Central Government has also removed the 7-day home quarantine mandate for foreign arrivals. The Ministry of Health issued a statement stating the new requirements for passengers flying into the country. 14 days Self-Monitoring post-arrival as against 7 days Home Quarantine as was mandated earlier. (5/6)…
Posted ON January 19, 2022 Among Jharkhand’s tribal communities, gondli, a historically significant nutrient-rich millet, has increasingly been looked down upon as fodder for cattle. But at Ajam Emba, food entrepreneur Aruna Tirkey’s trailblazing Ranchi restaurant and cooking school run by an all-female staff, this pariah grain, a sort of a ‘wild rice,’ is exalted to the status of dessert. The tribal diet’s reliance on flowers in place of vegetable components is represented in the restaurant’s sanai phool curry, prepared using the flowers of the locally grown jute crop. Cassia tora, a seasonal leafy herb with a multitude of health…
Posted ON January 17, 2022 Amchong Dorje is my father’s age and flutters with the same second wind that makes the sixties swing. He wears a baseball hat just like I do, and is a terrific road-trip DJ. “Do you know what Taglang-la means? Tag (pronounced stakh) means tiger and lang means this,” Mr Dorje imitates the striped cat midway through a leap. Much like Aunt Jennifer’s tigers, these big cats enjoy an unparalleled primacy in Tibetan iconography. La, as any self-respecting traveller to Ladakh knows, means pass. We just passed this hallowed milestone—a crucial passage for traders and travellers…
Posted ON January 17, 2022 Amchong Dorje is my father’s age and flutters with the same second wind that makes the sixties swing. He wears a baseball hat just like I do, and is a terrific road-trip DJ. “Do you know what Taglang-la means? Tag (pronounced stakh) means tiger and lang means this,” Mr Dorje imitates the striped cat midway through a leap. Much like Aunt Jennifer’s tigers, these big cats enjoy an unparalleled primacy in Tibetan iconography. La, as any self-respecting traveller to Ladakh knows, means pass. We just passed this hallowed milestone—a crucial passage for traders and travellers…