Marryam H Reshii travels to Bikaner, Rajasthan, and discovers the luxurious Narendra Bhawan, the former residence of a very individualistic and kind-hearted Maharaja, and an old town where time seems to have stopped still. Rajasthan is that magical land that springs a new surprise when you least expect it. So, after you have been to…
My journey in Kutch began at the bus station in Bhuj. It is in a sense a microcosm of the whole of Kutch. The barren land is echoed in the drab bus depot, and in contrast to the plain settings are the people who dazzle the beholder with their brilliance. After the first few moments,…
Srinagar’s heritage hideaway, Lalit The Grand Palace, has been made over by Bharat Hotels Once upon a time there was a king who lived in a palace. Not any old ordinary palace, mind you. It had a fairytale location, backed as it was by well wooded hills, with the finest location in the city, far…
Exploring Srinagar is largely a matter of personal choice: the delight of a shikara is its stately, unhurried pace; a cycle ride around is the perfect answer for seeing what you want. Stop every ten feet to take the perfect shot without disturbing anybody, travel by yourself if you are a loner, or with a…
No photograph, however powerful, can capture the essence of Palitana. Because antiquity, myth and a sense of spirituality are what imbue this lonely hilltop with an intangible dimension, quite apart from the visual. Of the 24 tirthankars (apostles) of Jainism, 22 are said to have attained spiritual awakening on the hill of Shatrunjay, a 2.3…
With 360 miles of coastline and over a thousand miles of backwaters, Kerala is something of a paradise for seafood aficionados. There are reminders everywhere: Rows of giant Chinese fishing nets are poised at the edge of the water near the port of Kochi and fishing boats with foamy piles of drying nets idle at…
“So you’re from India? That’s from where the film stars come here to shoot,” was the common refrain of just about everyone we met in Switzerland. Our film industry and its quirks are the subject of radio talk shows and newspaper reports in The Land of the Cuckoo Clock. But we hadn’t gone there to…
About as large as Sri Lanka, this island is one of Asia’s easternmost outposts, wedged in between China to the west, Japan in the north and the Philippines in the south. Taiwan may be best known for its computer peripherals industry, but it’s a largely undiscovered gem for those who are looking for somewhere off…
Are the Peranakans more Malayan or more Chinese? The jury’s still out on that one, but first things first: who exactly are they? They’re the offspring of the marriages between Chinese men and Malay women that took place mostly in 18th century Singapore, as Chinese settlers – traders, workers and merchants – arrived from all…
The Kashmir Book Shop In the heyday of tourism in Kashmir, books were the last thing that visitors thought of buying. The 1970s and ‘80s were when silk carpets and woollen shawls constituted the main shopping of the tens of thousands of tourists that holidayed in the Valley. So, the two bookshops that stood opposite…
