Skip to main content

Featured Post

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport.  That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’t ju

Back from Lavasa and back to Blogging!

For a travel addict like me, journeys are always memorable - Some for the sights, some for the experiences, some for the destination itself, and some simply for the co-travellers. I just returned from a trip to Lavasa, which had a bit of all these and more! To begin with, this was the first trip to which I was invited as a blogger, which gives and ego boost like no otherJ! Add to that, a location with a huge and picturesque lake nested amidst the hills, a view to vie with heaven, a room facing the waterfront promenade, and the company of like-minded women who never ran out of things to talk or laugh about, and you have the perfect trip, wouldn’t you agree?




While I made the most of the sights, clicking away to glory ( I returned with over 500 photographs!!), and enjoyed the Women’s rally, which was the point of the whole trip, what I really relished was the company of all the wonderful people – Nisha, whom I had already interacted with, and enjoyed talking to, about our travels and common friends; Kiran, whose blog I read and identified with, totally relating to her experiences bringing up her son, who is similar to Samhith in more than just age; Monika and Ideasmithy were people whose blogs I had read off and on, but didn’t know at all. In spite of that, talking to them was surprisingly so easy, and not one of us shut up even for a while! Pushpa was someone I came to admire for all the varied things she does (Just take a look at all the blogs she maintains!), besides which her enthusiasm and determination are amazing! And of course, Shakti, who had to leave early, and was sorely missed the next day! Last but not the least, the lone male amidst a phalanx of women – Biswajit (Bish to us!) from Windchimes, who bore the company of six women who talked non-stop, about everything under the sun, from husbands to boyfriends, kids and food, blogs and blogging……, and even then, didn’t desert us for a minute, in fact, helping us beyond the call of duty! Thanks to all of you, for making this a really memorable trip!



There are lots more posts coming up, about Lavasa – the drive, the views, the place, and lots more, so keep coming back!

Meanwhile, there are two interesting things that happened while I was away –

First, I was featured on the Windchimes blog. This happened a while back, but since I was offline, I was blissfully unaware of it. As they say, better late than never, so here is a link to their post. Please do take a look and read all the nice things they have said about me J


Secondly, my posts on Hampi are on the Club Mahindra Blog. There are two of them, so please do take a look at both… Don’t worry, there’s not much to read… just lots of photographs! Here are the links –



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw

The Havelis of Bikaner - A Photo Post

The lanes are narrow , twisting and turning amidst buildings old and new. Crumbling old structures with intricate workmanship stand side by side with art deco buildings, and more modern constructions, which follow no particular style. Autos, bicycles, motorcycles and vans rush past, blowing their horns as loudly as possible, while cows saunter past peacefully, completely unaffected by the noise. In the midst of all this chaos, children play by the side, and women go about their chores, as we explore these by-lanes of Bikaner, and its beautiful Havelis. Facade of one of the Rampuria Havelis

The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan