Everything and anything about India
As soon as I saw the snow-capped mountains from my hotel room balcony in Manali, we knew we had to be there. At 13,051 feet above sea level, Rohtang Pass is one of 13 high altitude mountain passes in India and we were excited to head up there! It connects Kullu valley to Spiti and Lahaul while the NH-21 highway to Leh also passes through this. The highest motorable...
The sun was peeking through the curtains and as I pulled the drapes aside, the snow-capped mountains of the Pir Panjal range greeted me with all its glory. Arriving in the dead of the night after a long road trip from Shimla, did not prepare me for the beauty that unfolded in front of my sleepy eyes. My sleepy yawn turned into a jaw dropping gasp at the sight of the...
It was about 8am by the time we started our journey higher and deeper into Himachal Pradesh. Leaving the summer capital of Shimla, we had a long 8 hour road trip to Manali via Kullu. That meant it would involve morning coffee breaks, lunch breaks, toilet stops and most likely a lot of dozing off. The highlight of the day for me was going to be shopping for famous...
Shimla – a refuge from the burning plains of Hindustan. This is how the British East India Company saw Shimla as they set about converting this beautiful place into the summer capital of British India. The remnants of the Raj can still be seen here in its neo-Gothic structures. This was our first pit stop for the day from New Delhi. The Journey We settled down...
This year we decided to celebrate my 33rd birthday in the historical city of New Delhi. And before getting there I envisioned a great city that inspired many an ancient king and emperor including the British Raj to set up their political and financial centres to govern the entire Indian subcontinent. It is also the seat of the current Indian governance and I just...
Going far back as 2600 BC, bangles have been excavated from the Indus and Mohenjo-Daro valleys of old. Made from sea-shells, copper, bronze, agate and chalcedony in ancient times and worn specifically for religious customs and rituals, bangles have come a long way out of India and Pakistan. Today, bangles made of glass, plastic, gold, silver and other metals are worn...
Adorable but sometimes menacing macaques loiter just outside the Periyar Lake Boat Cruise entrance. Bold and unafraid of people, bags with food or any bag for that matter are their only targets. This macaque managed to snatch a bag containing drinks from a passer-by. Unfortunately with only one arm, it struggled to get the cap opened. With wit and ingenuity this...
Deep within the Old City of Hyderabad lie the ruins of the magnificent Golconda Fort. A city that gave the world the famous Koh-i-Noor and Hope diamonds… A city that time forgot. Over four hundred years old and situated on a hill 400 feet high, the fort of Golconda reaches for the sky gleaming in its past glories. Originally a mud fort and later constructed in...
The Gidda is a very vigorous folk dance. The quick dance movements performed at the twink of an eye leaves the spell bound spectator asking for more. The colorfully embroidered dupattas (shawl) and heavy jewelery add to the grandeur of the spectacle that unfolds in front of your eyes. The dance steps translate into gestures and verses (bolis) of poetry that satirize...
It may seem odd to many that all I may pen about Hyderabadi cuisine is its biryani. Nevertheless my biryani quest was provoked by the unsatisfied and incomplete taste of the authentic Hyderabadi biryani that I have savoured all over town back home in Malaysia, across Indonesia and Singapore. That precise zest that I yearned for and undoubtedly recognized from past...