There we were floating down the murky greyish waters of Mekong. Our little plastic kayaks were the only barrier between us and the watery world around when the black rain started falling upon us from nowhere. It was a pretty surreal experience, dream-like I would add, if you are the kind of person to dream … Continued
If the company you travel with changed its philosophy and the way it does business, and improved the way the money was distributed from your vacation, you could fight inequality just by going on vacation. I am also a firm believer that there is no faster path to peace than people getting to know … Continued
They say there is no perfect or worst time to visit the magnificent valleys of Kashmir and Srinagar. And, as per my 10 day family trip experience, I now believe in every word of that saying and the endless efforts that authors and poets have made to describe the place so far. My trip started … Continued
We leave at four in the morning. Guman, whose love for genuine conversation has managed to overcome the fact that I cannot understand Hindi and he cannot speak English, is telling me how Guru (teacher) is god. It is apparently written in the Bhagvad Gita. Those from whom we have the opportunity to learn gifts … Continued
When I saw the bag on the seat opposite me moving on its own accord, I did a double take. When I looked again, it was perfectly still. I rubbed my face and presumed that it was sleep deprivation that was making me delusional. I was at the bus station in Savannakhet (Laos) sitting on … Continued
I almost never met George, my travel partner and now husband. When he first emailed me, I liked his photo and his profile. But I had been on dozens of first dates with not one second date and needed a rest from online dating and unfulfilled high expectations. I sat in my chair, stared at … Continued
Vipassana: 10 Days of Silence, Journey of a Lifetime! Morning wakeup call at 4 A.M., last meal of the day at 5 P.M., complete ‘Noble Silence’ (No talking, No gesturing, No writing, No reading, No NOTHING!), jail-like rooms to stay in, 10 hours of meditation a day in a hall full of 100 complete strangers, … Continued
As the sun was about to say goodbye, we dropped anchor at a small bay at Komodo Island in Indonesia. As I sat at the front of the boat, the sense of enormity of the landscape in its entirety started to set in. The sun was now distributing its parting gift to mankind, an array … Continued
The sea of saffron edged along slowly on hundreds of bare feet on the rain-drenched path. Mud caked the heels, splattered the ankles. Occasionally, a cry of “Har Har Mahadev” erupted from one trembling throat and got carried over to others like a wave, until it rose in a crescendo. And fell. To the muffled … Continued
Growing up, all of us want to believe we are special … special in our personality …special in our choices, special in the way we shape our lives… Bestowed with a well-educated independent upbringing, a fairly successful career, I am now the Urban Indian stereotype- the caring wife, the ‘Nurturer’ in a nuclear family; complete … Continued