I am sitting in a rooftop terrace garden sipping coffee. The morning breeze cool, gentle. In a distance I can see the St. Sebastian Chapel amid the swaying palms trees. Strains of Alyssa Mendonsa’s soothing Khwabon Ke Parindey fill the air followed by an Enya track. I’m sitting here drinking coffee just how I like it, listening to music I would’ve generally put on my ipod … Continue reading 5 Reasons Why A Fijian Should Go To Goa
You know that feeling in the morning after a big night out? Your head is going doosh, doosh, doosh…your stomach is like you’ve been on the ferries wheel a ride too long, your legs hurt in places you didn’t know you had muscles and you just want to die. And in your agony, you promise to the Gods above that you will never ever let … Continue reading India to Nepal: A 2-Day Journey
A cup of tea sometimes is all that you need. I firmly standby that no matter how bad the situation, things always look up after a good cuppa. And Guwahati the capital of Assam state was my cup of tea after Nagaland. Assam shares it’s borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh. While Assam has its own tribal roots, its more influenced by Hinduism compared to Nagaland. Guwahati … Continue reading A Cup of Assam Tea
I’ve been hogging the same spot in this cafe every afternoon for the past three days. Overlooking the dark waters of Borsola Beel with the afternoon sun streaming in, sipping some very passable cappuccinos and Assam tea. I absently watch the hip and urban of Guwahati stream in and out to the beat of some really good Bollywood indie tunes. Breathing in the familiar scenario, I think … Continue reading What I Forgot About Traveling
They wouldn’t let me take a photo of the Angh. He wasn’t feeling too well. Actually the headman of Longwa was very poorly but nobody seemed to really care in that room because everyone was too busy getting high. Sitting in the Angh’s long house on the Burmese side, I thought back of the week when I was at the India-Myanmar border waiting for my … Continue reading Once Lived Nagas in Longwa
It’s not everyday that you find yourself being offered tea and fire-popped corn by a Naga Angh (headman) in his opium den. And when that happens, do you? – a) Say no thanks (and risk offending the chief of a once-were-headhunters tribe)? b) Take the tea and say thanks. (and hope that the tea is not laced with something)? c) Ask if you could try some … Continue reading The Tranced Villages of Nagaland
All my savviness from the day before went out the window by the time we hauled up the cold mountains of Kohima. A shared jeep took 7 hours (supposedly a 3 hour ride) to reach the mountain town center only to arrive and get stuck in the evening traffic. They offloaded me on the roadside and continued on. It was freezinggggg and no taxi wanted to … Continue reading Coldly, Kohima
Woke up to someone khaakh-ing their lungs out outside my window (what’s with men retching and spitting early in the mornings?). It was freezing in the night and took me a long while to get to sleep and now warmly cocooned in a tangle of dust-mite infested blanket, my big shawl, my neck shawl, socks which must have come off at some point and a … Continue reading Day 7: Burma to Hindustan
Ever dreamt of throwing it all behind, getting on a boat and cruising down a river on a hammock for the rest of your life? I did that. Well…for 24 hours at least. On the backwaters of Kerala. I arrived in Alappuzha (Alleppey) on a 7-hour hair-rising local bus ride from Trivandrum around 8 at night. Wet, stinky and with sore arms. Sore arms from getting a … Continue reading Waking Up on The Back Waters of Alappuzha
I walked into my favorite boutique last week and was fervently welcomed by the owner. She’s an elegant lady and her choice collections are the sole reason why I have ever managed to look good at some functions in the past. She was curious where I had disappeared off to. I always knew that she was from India but what I didn’t know was that … Continue reading My 10 Best Spice-and-Jasmine Infused Memories of Kerala
Where is Shyamni? 