In a destination competition between MP and UP for me, without even having to think, the outright winner would be MP. And yet, I am one for giving the underdog a chance. Let’s face it where UP lacks in numbers of monuments, it more than makes up for in fame and fortune. It has THE…
Driving Across India: Realising a life long dream.
The dream started when, living in Delhi, I decided to buy a car. An expat living in India, who’s been selling holidays from the days when these were the only cars that were available (well apart from Fiats and really, there’s no comparison) were a/c or non a/c Ambassadors, it just had to be one…
Snapshots – When cooking on gas isn’t quite what you expect!
My company tagline is, Discovering India Differently, and this day, heading away from the main sights of Varanasi, led me to do just that. We headed out of Varanasi, in the words of the song (almost) “To see what we could see,” a soon found ourselves in the countryside where we came across a Gaushala…
Snapshot – Shiva, Snakes and Spirituality, Varanasi
So there we were, sitting on the ghats, on chairs (most pple were sitting on the floor) and in prime position for the arti ceremony thanks to our hosts at #UPTWC16. It was a full moon night, the ceremony was underway, conch shells had been blown, lamps were lit, bells were ringing and devotional songs…
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 a Ramada hotel, and I can assure you, it will be my last. However, in terms of the city, we had been shown the bits…
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 the world’s oldest living city, and to absorb, as if by osmosis, some of India’s famed spirituality; as Tahir Shah so succinctly put it, ‘Enlightenment…
Snapshots: Cremations in Varanasi
A man, wrapped in a white shroud, his head freshly shaved, sits mournfully and watches a burning pyre. A bamboo ladder, supporting another body, it’s shape visible under an orange shroud, makes its way to its final immersion in Mother Ganges. A few steps away, flames lick at another pyre, a body visible, a family…