Avijit completed his formal education with an honors degree in History from hometown Calcutta followed by a post graduate degree in Tourism Management. But it was his early years in…
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Hotel Review: Amaryllis Kerala
There is something wonderfully indulgent about doing nothing. It’s something I have to admit being hopeless at and yet, a stay with Victor Bernard Dey and Ranjini Dey renders this…
Kabini where Evolve Back is the way forward
Kabini where Evolve Back is the way forward. October 5, 2018 But what does it mean? I just don’t get it… I’ve heard this several times since Orange County Resorts…
Nadi Shastra – an experience
Yet another reason why India is truly incredible.
India, Perception vs Reality
Facebook, as it does, just threw up a post from two years ago. It was a post which at the time, got a lot of response from my friends and…
What I regained from a digital detox
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…
Detox Day Three, What The Brochure Never Tells You.
Could a detox spa treatment be akin to giving birth? As in, you forget how bad it was the first time until you are in the midst of it again….
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 malarkey but right now, facts need to be faced. I…
Global Storming
A picture clicked in colour. The harsh steel grey of the buildings Blend in with an angry sky. Storms are devastating the world we live in A world we have…
The Women of India – Radhika Kumari
Radhika is a product of Mayo College Girls School, Ajmer and an English Literature graduate from Delhi’s St. Stephens’ College. Radhika has been channelling her professional energies into the field…
Varanasi Part 2 in which it got a whole lot worse, before it got great!
The writers’ conference which I had enjoyed immensely had come to an end. The only bit I had hated was the hotel, The Ramada, it was my second stay in…
The Women of India – Neha Arora
“Neha Arora, is the founder of Planet Abled, which provides accessible travel solutions for people with disabilities. She worked with companies like HCL, Nokia & Adobe before taking the plunge…
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…
Jaipur Has Cleaned up it’s Act – 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…
Indian Experiences Launches New Website
After weeks of grafting behind the scenes, we are delighted to announce the new look Indian Experiences website! I’m even more delighted to have a brilliant team on board this…
Glamping With Elephants, Jaipur
The faint warmth of the sun embraces my back as it starts to rise over the hill, the incessant babble of the seven sisters earning their name of jungle babblers…
Kaziranga, Assam, National Park and UNESCO Site
OK, I am certainly not in the top many thousands of people who have visited and after just 4 nights/5 days, I can hardly call myself an expert but, having…
The Poop Survival Plan
The last 2 Christmases, I have been fortunate enough to spend at Devshree in Rajasthan. On one of these occasions we ventured down to the farm for a typical lunch…
Landour, The Land That Time Forgot
Impossibly tight U-bends, an impossibly, narrow, steep road, up and up and round and round, reverse a bit, try that corner again, and again, up and off, out of the…
Vanghat – An Adventure, An Eco Lodge and almost the end of a friendship
When a lodge owner calls to tells you that something you are planning isn’t a very good idea, it would probably be a good idea to listen. But you see,…
Smokescreen, Diwali, a Poem
Smokescreen Diwali, the festival of light, Diwali, victory over evil Diwali the triumph of light over darkness and hope My hope The re-emergence from illness, incarceration in the wrong place,…
Hoteliering Reimagined, A Destination Reinvented- Narendra Bhawan, Bikaner
Strains of Edith Piaf softly permeate the public spaces. The morning light, filtered through fine jhali work, plays on the textured walls and patterned floors of the passageways and your…
Encounters With Locals – Prosperity in India
To assist with translation: 1. Globally: To have become prosperous = to have gained wealth. In India: To have become prosperous = to have gained weight. 2. Globally: Subtlety and…
On World Tourism Day – Bringing accessible travel to the differently-abled
A big shout out today for Neha Arora, founder of Planet Abled, India’s first travel company for differently-abled travellers. Neha hasn’t just set up a company to make travel more…
Udaipur is more than the City Palace and the lake
There are treks, cycle rides, horse safaris and fascinating surroundings to explore: Discovering Off-Beat Udaipur. A few years ago, I was asked by a certain five-star hotel chain, to put…
The Rasoi on Wheels, feeding the homeless of Delhi
I wanted to share some positivity and an experience I had this morning. A few months ago, whilst researching things to do in Delhi, we came across Rasoi on Wheels….
And On the 70th Indian Independence Day…
At a talk I was asked to give recently about my 20 years in India, someone asked me what was the best thing I had witnessed and what was it…
The Rajbari Bawali; they call it inspired heritage and here’s why…
Way back when, when I was still a tour operator based out of London, James and I, at Ampersand, decided to slow travel down and get people to spend longer…
Jaipur & the Great Outdoors – yes it is an adventure destination.
People tend to think if they have been to Jaipur and seen ‘the sights’ then there is no point going back. I disagree, Jaipur is a destination that can be…
Varanasi, Benares, Banaras or Kashi, regardless its not an easy destination.
Varanasi will chew you up and spit you out and won’t be concerned about the consequences, not even one iota. For through tourists flock there in their masses, to visit…
Top Tips for Traveling to India
Part 01 – Planning your trip. Think about why you really want to visit India and what interests you. It is very easy to follow a cliched program in India,…
Landing up in Landour
“A month long course!” They exclaimed, “but why go all the way to Landour, why not do it in Delhi?” Hmm, well let’s see shall we…….. In Delhi the temps…
He is 80 and he survived his first trip to India – Dad’s trip, the dids’ and the did nots.
So dad leaves tonight after a long three weeks which have absolutely flown by. He is currently tucked up in bed with a cup of tea and the Far Pavillions,…
Olfactory India. Can the character of a city be determined by its’ aroma?
Source: Olfactory India. Can the character of a city be determined by its’ aroma?
Meetings, Dreams & Cycles of Life.
Around 13 years ago, over breakfast at the Malabar House Hotel in Cochin I was introduced to one of the most extraordinary, fascinating and yet unassuming men it has ever…
You’ve Never Heard of Ossett?
Summer 2012: Ossett, the town from which I hail decided to host a ‘Promote Ossett’ day in a manner in which has left me baffled ever since, not to mention…
Top Five things in Puri for under INR200.00 (or GBP2.50)
Five things in Puri for under GBP2.50. I often say, when referring to something cheap, or someone who wants something but doesn’t want to pay, ‘Oh, he wants that for…
The Sun Sets over the Sun Temple, in more ways than one
Today India made my heart bleed. The Sun Temple in Konark is my favourite monument in India. I have wonderful memories of my first visit almost 10 years ago; an…
Horn Please! Indian roads, journeys from heaven and journeys from hell.
I am not a nervous passenger by any stretch of the imagination. I can quite happily be chauffeured around on the worst of Indian roads, barely blinking at what most…
He is 80 and he survived his first trip to India – Dad’s trip, the dids’ and the did nots.
So dad leaves tonight after a long three weeks which have absolutely flown by. He is currently tucked up in bed with a cup of tea and the Far Pavillions,…
Memsahib’s Dad in India, Part 7, The Beauty of Kanha
The morning sun rises and the mists disperse, shoulders hunched against the cold begin to straighten and chins emerge from their muffle of scarves. Dust motes dance & tease in…
You’re Never Too Old! Memsahib’s Dad Visits India aged 80 – Part 6.
Udaipur Part 1: When passion meets tourism, a story teller emerges. You may have noticed dad is a classic car buff and this trip has partly been about him seeing…
People of India – Marryam H Reshii
People of India – Marryam H Reshii Marryam H Reshii has been writing about food and lifestyle for the last 30 years. She is the Times of India food critic besides…
Memsahib’s Dad Visits India, aged 80 – Part 5.
It’s never too late! Travels around India with my octogenarian dad. Dungarpur was meant to be all for dad, the car collection here was the ‘must’ and the bar is…
Snapshots – Ladakh
Snapshot – Ladakh. I’ve been to two lots of polo in the last three weeks, the terribly sophisticated polo we are all more familiar with at the Rajasthan Polo Club…
Memsahib’s dad visits India, aged 80 – Part 4.
I am not sure if two years in a row makes something an annual event, but it would be rather nice to think so. Christmas 2015 at Devshree was all…
Delhi Diaries: She welcomes me home…..
Step off the plane and the aroma of Delhi hits you. A stroll along the now famously hideous airport carpet, luggage out in record time, skip through duty free, a…
Memsahib’s Dad Visits India, aged 80 – Part 3
Jodhpur Part one: And some days it’s better to do nothing at all, in fact it’s something I always recommend for any one traveling around India, yes there is a…