
Walk with us as we explore places, regional cuisines, learn some arts and crafts, dig up some history, meet a few interesting people, and add more books to our shelves on this long journey.

Poetry Corner: Volume 6
What kind of times are these? Families aren’t even given dead bodies to grieve. Activists, journalists and NGOs are under the scanner, if not behind bars already. Somewhere, women don’t have abortion rights. Elsewhere, they don’t have a right to education. In most places, they don’t have the right to their own bodies, their studies,Continue reading “Poetry Corner: Volume 6”

From the Coast: A Prawn and Mango Curry Recipe
When you are born in a coastal town, seasons revolve around fish. Summers may invoke mango fervour, but it’s also the season when the curry powders and masalas are made,Continue reading “From the Coast: A Prawn and Mango Curry Recipe”

Becoming a child at Kahani Tree
“Aaaaaaaaccchhhooooooooooooooooooooooooo” Blork! Bluurf! I seem to have caught Gajapati Kulapati’s cold. Just wait till I catch hold of that elephant again! I feel a little biffsquiggled with this cold to beContinue reading “Becoming a child at Kahani Tree”

In exile
Walking in the mist, you wonderIs this the stuff or dreams or nightmares?How many who lay herecarried the dream of a Free Tibet?Waking to a past, untouched bythe mystics ofContinue reading “In exile”

Bookmark

Good Omens, Beastly Tales & Saki
Good Omens: Angels, demons, witches, prophecies, the end of the world – this one’s got it all. Given that it’s a Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaboration, there’s the expectedContinue reading “Good Omens, Beastly Tales & Saki”

Prelude to a riot
India today is a nation of frayed seams. Prelude to a Riot tells the story of one such unraveling in a small Southern town with the help of two familiesContinue reading “Prelude to a riot”

Small Days and Nights & Shikhandi
Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi: Grace is unaware that she has an elder sister. It’s only at her mother’s funeral that she learns of Lucia, who lives inContinue reading “Small Days and Nights & Shikhandi”

Poetry Corner: Volume 5
There are so many memories wrapped up in the month of May – the summer vacations, hometown visits, adventures and misadventures, the youthful follies, pain, loss and more. The retrospective, however, is also an exerciseContinue reading “Poetry Corner: Volume 5”

Travel

Melting Pot
It was evening when we walked into the blue gates of Andretta pottery. Country music was spilling out into the lane, blending perfectly with theContinue reading “Melting Pot”

A walk with the wildflowers at Kaas
Come September, the Kaas plateau comes to life. Tiny blooms, shrubs, orchids, even carnivorous plants blossom on the plateau, which is located in the SataraContinue reading “A walk with the wildflowers at Kaas”

Rock fusion
In the winding lanes of Panchgani, animals and birds take on a different sheen. The peacock by the tiny lotus pond is easily spotted, butContinue reading “Rock fusion”

In Pics: The Island God
Indian mythology has some fascinating tales. An hour-long ferry from Gateway takes you to Elephanta or the Gharapuri Island, where different forms and facets of Shiva are laid out in vivid detail. The imposing figureContinue reading “In Pics: The Island God”

Food, Art, People

Sweet Nibbles
When the pandemic nudged so many of us back into the kitchen, it also made us turn to old comfortContinue reading “Sweet Nibbles”

Reading Braille with White Print magazine’s Upasana Makati
More than 9 million people in India are blind and millions more are visually impaired. Yet, a simple question –Continue reading “Reading Braille with White Print magazine’s Upasana Makati”

Shades of love
Modern love may be a swipe away, but it’s still messy. Ask Mumbai-based illustrator Indu Harikumar. When she started 100 Indian Tinder TalesContinue reading “Shades of love”

Books and Berries
The sprawling villas on both sides don’t point to a village. I’m about to double-back when the signboard declares that I’m still a kilometre away. The signs are all over the place – a book andContinue reading “Books and Berries”

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. …Lord Byron