I had been offered the privilege of spending two weeks in a Naturopathy Detox Spa. I needed it desperately for mind and body, yet even so, I sent frantic messages before accepting, will there be WiFi? You see the state of my mind? It’s all we seem bothered about these days. To be fair, it…
Shedding The Outer Goddess.
It’s not often I go on for the woe is me, me me me, inner peace and finding myself and all that mallarky but right now, facts need to be faced. I arrived back in India three years ago having kicked a three year illness in the ass. This background is not asking for sympathy,…
The Women of INDIA – Lakshmi Menon
In a valiant attempt to battle the scourge of plastic and the menace of disposable pens in particular, Lakshmi Menon set up PURE Living (Products Up-cycled Recycled and Economised), a Kerala-based social enterprise that makes disposable pens from paper, each one having a seed inside that can grow into a tree when disposed of. Not…
Not Often We Say This – Well Done INDIA
A shift is taking place. For years nothing happened except a worsening of a bad situation. I had started to wonder if there was any hope. I love India and have pledged the last 20 years of my life to promoting it far and wide but it was almost too much for me to bear….
Snapshot – India in a Nutshell
A snapshot on India: Sitting in Manchester Airport, the man next to me asks where I am going and grimaces when I say Delhi. The second sentence out of his mouth is, “My wife won’t go there, there is too much poverty.” I reply in all innocence, “Oh, have you been?” He replies, with a…
Snapshots – Cochin
A snapshot – Cochin: It’s rare on a work trip that I get time to myself, given that I have to assess all aspects of hotels and insist on trying every experience before I either ditch or develop it. So it came as a pleasant surprise when I had a couple of hours free in…
The People of India – Victor Dey
I first met Victor in 2000 just after he and his wife Jini had opened up their home, in a coffee plantation, to guests. They remain some of the most charming people I have met in my 18 years in India and are naturals when it comes to hospitality. I had the pleasure of meeting his…
India, An Epicurean’s Delight – mostly.
‘’You can’t eat a mango politely, not if you really want to savour it.’’ This was one of my first lessons in Indian cuisine, from my host, a culinary guru as we sat slurping and sucking as mango juice ran down our arms and landed on the table. I had arrived in India for a…
Cochin, but not as we know it
A barely perceptible ripple on the surface of the water alerted the beady eyes of the multi-tasking Vinod, who promptly dived into the lake, emerging seconds later, his small, wiry brown body glistening with droplets of water as he threw three live fish onto the gangway of our private Chinese Fishing Net to show them…
The Mistress that is India
India can’t be instantly appreciated, nor can she be rushed. She will reveal herself in her own time, she will move at her own pace. You can’t demand from her nor hurry her along. India is magical, baffling, confusing and unfathomable and frustrating. She is captivating and beguiling, fascinating, awe inspiring but most of all,…