INDIA | Tuesday, 25 Mar 2008 | Views [436] | Comments [1]
"May I?" I asked, pointing to the empty chair available at the table occupied by a calm smiling face. "Yes, yes. You can." "Thank you," I thanked him as I pulled the chair away and sat facing the blue sea and my dirty ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 23 Mar 2008 | Views [270]
After a sumptuous dinner that comprised of huge Kingfish and salads Björn and I sat down in his verandah talking and smoking and sipping chai. It is my last night at Gokarna and tomorrow I will be travelling to Bangalore and then to McLeod Ganj, and ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 20 Mar 2008 | Views [330]
The parties at Ananda have been gaining notoriety here in Gokrana. I am not surprised the least bit though. We are back at Ananda for the deadly potent bhang lassi and I would be lying if I said we were not looking forward for some more entertainment ... Read more >
INDIA | Tuesday, 18 Mar 2008 | Views [1132]
Björn and his new found German friends, Bartram and Susannah and Austrian, Kuyt introduced me to ‘the Russian Disco’ of Gokarna, a far cry from the one in Berlin. Ananda or the Russian Disco as we call it is a friendly little restaurant at the far end ... Read more >
INDIA | Monday, 17 Mar 2008 | Views [305]
All I can do is sit by the balcony and drink rum and watch life move on drenched in rain. I have been holed up in my room since I had lunch with Girishappa and his family as the rain has continued unabated. There is no point in staying here and watching ... Read more >
INDIA | Saturday, 15 Mar 2008 | Views [271]
Unseasonal rains have thrown my plans out of gear. It has been raining here since I made the last journal entry. Yesterday I sat by the balcony listening to Jim Morrison recite poetry and watched a cold and miserable Badami scramble for cover from the ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 13 Mar 2008 | Views [301]
I woke up to the cackles of monkeys and the panicky chirps of birds while life moved on as usual at the mundane pace in the streets below. The monkeys it looked were threatening the birds for the berries in the trees, though everyone could have had ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 12 Mar 2008 | Views [262]
Farewell to Gokarna, I am traveling to Badami. I intend to stay in Badami for a week or two and then go back to the rigours of work. I boarded the bus with a heavy load of pleasant memories. Gokarna has been splendid and I am looking forward to ... Read more >
INDIA | Tuesday, 11 Mar 2008 | Views [238]
As usual I ordered my cup of chai and asked for the paper. Seldom does one see hockey occupying the front page of a newspaper and I was pleasantly surprised to see it today. As I grabbed the paper, my joy was short-lived disappointment and ... Read more >
INDIA | Saturday, 8 Mar 2008 | Views [339]
At the stroke of midnight I handed a cheekily written card to Björn. “To you on your birthday, with a glass held high – glad it’s you that’s older, rather than I. Wish you a wonderful birthday.” His birthday coincides with Shivaratri. He thanked ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 6 Mar 2008 | Views [306]
Shivaratri is unquestionably a spectacle here in Gokarna. Barricades have been set up on the streets to block all vehicular traffic and hawkers have set their wares on the road thus making it virtually impossible to walk without being jostled and coaxed ... Read more >
INDIA | Tuesday, 4 Mar 2008 | Views [276]
India takes on Australia in the second, and hopefully the last final of a long, tiresome series at Brisbane today. I hope we beat the Aussies and come back to our shores on a triumphant note. Bart, the beer guzzling Aussie is optimistic they are ... Read more >
INDIA | Friday, 29 Feb 2008 | Views [274]
We woke up to unfamiliar voices within our campsite. A farmer stood there in his shorts and had an intimidating machete in his hand. Jonathan offered him a cigarette which he accepted and sat himself down near our fireplace looking for cinders from ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 28 Feb 2008 | Views [299]
Bart sounded apprehensive when told; Jonathan, Shani and I were going to camp at Honey Beach . “No way will you fuckin’ Israeli’s and a stupid Indian go camping,” he had said the previous evening. To prove the alcoholic Aussie wrong, we walked ... Read more >
INDIA | Tuesday, 26 Feb 2008 | Views [345] | Comments [2]
Building sand castles under a canopy of twinkling stars, Ela shrieked, “Look. Wow!” as she pointed at a shooting star “Aeroplane, aeroplane,” an excited Tom jumped. “No Tom. It is a dying star,” Ela corrected him with the innocence of a little ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 24 Feb 2008 | Views [248]
“Eggplant! Eggplant!” I heard Bart holler near my hut. “Jeez! Whats the matter with you?” confused I asked. “Morning. Would you like to go with me to Ganga Valley ?” “Give me a minute,” I mumbled as I walked back to my hut trying to gather ... Read more >
INDIA | Friday, 22 Feb 2008 | Views [271]
We are sailing to Philadelphia …” I heard Angelica hum the popular Mark Knopfler song as we were boarding the boat laden with fish, fruits – read fruit punch, bread, salads, a life jacket (for me!) for our little trip to the next beach still a long ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 20 Feb 2008 | Views [246]
Five days since my arrival here in Gokarna, a few familiar faces, sipping a cold one as we watched the sun go down, Bart the old Aussie proposed, “Quiet, quiet. How ‘bout a trip to Honey Beach ?” I heard somebody from the far end of the table ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 14 Feb 2008 | Views [255]
I realise I have not updated my travel journal since late Two Thousand Five. Due apologies for all the trips I have not mentioned lately. I have since travelled all around India and a few other places. I sure will update details of these trips shortly.... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 5 Jan 2006 | Views [193]
I spent the whole day reading a cheap paperback of Alan Watts’ The Joyous Cosmology lying on the floor yesterday. I followed Mum’s wisdom rather than visit a doctor and my back seems to be taking it well now. I rented a bicycle for Twenty ... Read more >
INDIA | Tuesday, 3 Jan 2006 | Views [251]
Khajuraho is a nondescript town in the midst of nowhere, far from the clutches of humanity which is well preserved and definitely worth a visit. The distance of Khajuraho is solely credited with the temples standing erect, I was told. No pun intended.... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 28 Dec 2005 | Views [227]
On the roof of my hotel as I sat reflecting the year gone by, I realise life is the same cycle for the humble people of this quaint little town, Orchha, unlike me. I have noticed the same people in the same clothes walking to work at quite the same ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 25 Dec 2005 | Views [224]
The serenity of the cenotaphs with the river in the background has been drawing me here since I first visited this place the day before. I sat down by a spot, that I have occupied my previous two visits. As a swallow sits in an old putrid ... Read more >
INDIA | Friday, 23 Dec 2005 | Views [233]
Rajat and his women have moved out, as far as I know they went back home to Bhopal. I hope they all went back together and he did not show the boot to Jyoti. He wouldn’t have meant any harm to Anita. Rajat also invited me to his place if I am in Bhopal ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 21 Dec 2005 | Views [215]
I have been on various buses and in two guesthouses called Rama Guesthouse and I am not kidding; Laxman Guesthouse, my temporary homes since I left Kushalpur. Does it not feel good to be here? Man you bet. With the chilly winter wind sneaking through ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 18 Dec 2005 | Views [229]
I have not made entries in my journal as the need to do so has not arisen. The time I have spent here is vivid with pleasant memories and I have loved every moment here in Kushalpur. I have accompanied Lochan to his fields, walked Ajith to school (where ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 14 Dec 2005 | Views [240]
After the Mughal regalia on display at Agra I desperately needed time off the beaten track. I am in a nondescript little village, Kushalpur. This little village does not feature on any map, I presume. The closest ‘town’ to here is Narkhi. If I said ... Read more >
INDIA | Saturday, 10 Dec 2005 | Views [231]
I am spellbound with the Agra Fort. How could I have been so close to it and yet not visit this opulent fort not once but twice? Gosh! The fort is fabulous. I simply cannot believe the fort was primarily built to serve the military. I paid for ... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 8 Dec 2005 | Views [296]
Even before the rooster's crowed to wake Agra up, I am at the Taj Mahal perturbed by the restaurateur’s racist attitude. I have indulged myself in soul searching since last night. Hope I receive the ‘divine intervention’ at the Taj Mahal. It is unlikely ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 7 Dec 2005 | Views [265]
Since Hotel Pawan does not have a view of the Taj Mahal I walked to one of the cafés which Shankar had recommended for dinner overlooking the Taj. Quiet cheerful I walked in, “What do you want?” I heard the man at the cashier rudely question ... Read more >
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >
