SOUTH AFRICA | Tuesday, 26 May 2015 | Views [324] | Scholarship Entry
It’s a still, cold night in early August, and I’m huddled outside a brightly-lit Hindu temple. I’m just a spectator who wants to take part in the annual celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth, Krishna Janmashtami. With the weight of a self-dubbed title, ... Read more >
Tags: 2015 Writing Scholarship
INDIA | Friday, 9 May 2014 | Views [525]
The remote Indian village stands exactly as it was a decade earlier. Raggedy weeds still cleave through the winding dirt roads. The ramshackle shops offer the same toys and sweets from a lifetime ago. It seems as if the same men are standing outside, ... Read more >
Tags: forest, home, india, kerala, nature, village, walk
INDIA | Wednesday, 16 Apr 2014 | Views [478] | Scholarship Entry
I am standing in a whirlwind of chaos. It sweeps me up in its heavy heat and then wraps me in a dusty yellow blanket. My senses are overwrought: eyes flicker between nervous mongrels and rundown buildings; nose conflicted by the stench of old urine, ... Read more >
Tags: 2014 Travel Writing Scholarship - Euro Roadtrip
TANZANIA | Sunday, 29 Sep 2013 | Views [641]
I'm used to looking up at mountains, wondering if I'll ever feel energetic enough to climb them. However in a dull afternoon, I unexpectedly found myself at the top of one without any effort. And the highest mountain in Africa, no less.
The flight ... Read more >
Tags: africa, flight, mount kilimanjaro, mountain, plane, tanzania
GERMANY | Wednesday, 15 May 2013 | Views [638]
Oh, the joys of being wrong about a country. This is a classic case of expectation vs. reality. I only visited a small part of Germany (Bonn), but it was a refreshing experience and threw away any innocently-founded prejudices I had had. ... Read more >
Tags: bonn, cologne, environment, german, germany, green, language, rhine, river
SOUTH AFRICA | Thursday, 9 May 2013 | Views [530]
I am staring at water; a writhing, bursting body of it. The water of a valley nestled in the Drakensberg Mountains.
Bubbling liquid from a miniature waterfall cascades into a pool of delight. The hikers stoop to savour its purity after a wearisome ... Read more >
Tags: drakensberg, mountains, nature, south africa, valley, water
FRANCE | Friday, 26 Apr 2013 | Views [529]
High above, from a fixed abode on top of the Notre Dame, gargoyles watch over the city. They are the grim guardians of Paris.
I am a newcomer to the capital of France, but these carved creatures have been here for more than a century, warding off ... Read more >
Tags: france, gargoyle, notre dame, paris
