Latest Articles
Hindustan Times: Gin and Smell
Smell or olfaction is among the most ancient of our senses. In order to smell better, it seems obvious that you have to practice smelling. Children do this. We are surrounded by smells but have stopped paying attention to them.
Hindustan Times: Science in the City
Here is a fairly stunning statistic, to use the tempered language of science. In the 2023 Nature Index of the top science cities globally, only one Indian city made it to the top 100. Guess which one? Bengaluru.
WisdomCircle: Course Correction
Having someone hold a mirror to your face is the hardest thing to....well, face. But if you are lucky, you will have at least one friend who will do it for you. I write about this.
Mint Lounge: Indigenous food
In the effort to serve up history while infusing it with storytelling, chefs are mining journals and literature, meeting home cooks and local eatery owners, and tracing little known ingredients and recipes.
Hindustan Times: Artists in Bangalore
Even though I have lived in Bangalore for nearly 20 years, there are certain parts of the city that are inaccessible to me, mostly because I did not grow up here.
Sommelier India: Blind Tasting
I am organising– and attending– my first blind tasting for The Wine Connoisseurs– a club that I am part of.
Hindustan Times: street & luxury Bangalore
Anyone who says Bangalore is an expensive city has not been to Shivaji Nagar in the evenings.
Redeeming yourself
Failure, Apology, Redemption. The older you get, the easier this becomes, or does it? My monthly column for WisdomCircle!
Hindustan Times: Wedding shopping
It is a truth universally known that NRIs who need to shop for a wedding usually come to India. We each have our own list of products, shops and people. This one is mine.
Hindustan Times: Isn’t food enough for restaurants?
When you go to a restaurant, what do you go for? If it is just food, I would argue that you can get better food at your home or a relative’s home.
For WisdomCircle: on connection
Connection is what defines us as humans and it is one thing that exponentially increases our happiness. This isn’t some deep profound confide-all-secrets type of connection that I am talking about, although that too is good.
Old favourites that I wrote for Condenast Traveler (US edition)
For Condenast Traveler US on China
I have come to China from my home in Bangalore, India, to find a tai chi teacher. My pursuit of tai chi has been punctuated by such cultural challenges. When I informed my conservative Indian family that I was interested in tai chi, they were appalled. Why was their Indian child, heir to an ancient and proud tradition of yoga leaning toward an alien discipline?
Singapore fling
Staid, chaste, strict, small—Singapore has heard it all. But this island-nation of 4.2 million people has one thing going for it (many things, actually, but we'll get to that later): Singapore is a sure fling. Having lived in Singapore for two years, I have returned wanting to revel in it as a tourist—to see it all and do it all within forty-eight hours.
For Condenast Traveler US on Japan
I have come to Japan to learn about allure. I’ve been married for seventeen years, and while my marriage isn’t falling apart, it is fraying at the edges. So I have come to Japan to learn about feminine allure from its acknowledged masters: the geisha. Geisha were created to pamper men—but they were also the freest women in old Japan.
For Condenast Traveler US on Mumbai
I am going to Bombay to become a movie star. Why not? Every country in the world, if it is lucky, has a city that allows people to create such gauzy fantasies unfettered by the grim shackles of reality. They thrive and inspire, catalyze personal transformations and fuel creativity, not through wide-open spaces but through vibrant congestion.
For Condenast Traveler US on Goa
Once a hippie haven where even India's tightly chaperoned teens could turn on, tune in, and drop out, Goa has lately gone upscale. Living in a trading port for the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Europeans meant that Goans were forced to interact with the outside world far earlier than the average Indian. This has made them friendly but not overly curious about foreigners.
For Condenast Traveler US on Scuba Diving
I don't want to write about this place. Few people know of it; fewer still visit. Perhaps that's the way it should be. In this rapidly shrinking world, there ought to be somewhere that remains remote, even obscure; set apart in space and time; offering the promise of mystery, the romance of discovery. Lakshadweep—the name comes out in a sigh.
For Condenast Traveler US on bargaining
The thought occurred as I eyed a stunning Persian carpet in a downtown Manhattan shop. The Mogul-inspired piece looked terrific but cost thousands more than I wanted to pay. The smile on the manager's face suggested that he was willing to bargain. But where to begin? Middle age brings with it the sobering realization that you can actually learn something from your mother.
For Condenast Traveler US on Cambodia and Laos
Cambodia is like a lotus bud concealing an onion—serene on the surface but eliciting tears as you peel back the layers. The scale of the Angkor temples contrast with the photos of skulls in the Genocide Museum. The peace of a Buddhist monastery gives way to the raucous din of tuk–tuks. I am in Cambodia to meet a monk and to travel the Mekong.
For Condenast Traveler US on National parks
Bangalore is home. I didn't always live here—until two years ago I lived in New York. But now this is the city where my kids go to school, where I hail auto rickshaws for bone-rattling yet perversely exciting rides to work and meetings, where I prowl pubs and malls in search of stories and sales, and where I go to Namdharis Fresh supermarket to buy organic grapes, too-hard bagels, and much-too-soft cream cheese in an attempt to replicate the Sunday morning brunches at my Upper West Side apartment.
