Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Game Show: About safari parks in South Africa: for Time magazine
The silhouette of a lone acacia at sunset, the tremulous gaze of an impala: these are some of the pleasures of Africa, and you don't have to go all Ernest Hemingway to experience them. New-generation game lodges — with spas, designer accommodation and eco-friendly attitudes — are mushrooming. The best seem to be in South Africa, where proximity to the giant Kruger National Park is a boon. Here are four fail-safe choices. None are cheap, but all guarantee that you'll see the "Big Five" — lions, leopards, buffaloes, elephants and rhinos — in contemporary style. ULUSABA Sir Richard Branson's foray [...]
Thread of Hope: wearing healing clothes: for Time magazine
Thread of Hope: from Time magazine February 12, 2006 Never mind applying creams and lotions—if you could relieve a skin ailment simply by the kind of clothes you wear, or the bed linen you use, wouldn't you? The Handloom Weavers Development Society in Kerala, India, hopes so. The nonprofit organization—based in Thumbod, a tiny village of swaying palms an hour outside the state capital of Trivandrum—has infused yarn with organic herbs and plant extracts, and claims that regular contact with cloth made from this material will relieve itches, rashes and other skin disorders. With a sharp eye for the contemporary [...]
India’s Lust for Luxe: from Time magazine April 3, 2006
New Delhi entrepreneur Natasha Chaudhri chases after expensive fashion products like a big-game hunter in pursuit of wildlife pelts. Owner of three restaurants in Bombay and Goa, two lifestyle stores in Delhi and an export business, Chaudhri, 30, has the money, if not necessarily the time, to go on shopping safari, and her closet is full of trophies: Louis Vuitton, Prada and Chanel handbags; sunglasses by Bulgari and Gucci; countless designer outfits; shoes by Sergio Rossi, Tod's and Jimmy Choo. These days, she doesn't have to go overseas to indulge. Jimmy Choo, for example, just announced plans to open its [...]
Cruise holidays: for Time magazine
Asia-Pacific cruise holidays have become one of travel's hottest tickets in recent years, with eager operators offering packed itineraries and massive liners to entertain and accommodate ever growing legions of eastbound vacationers. Good organization, hassle-free immigration, no language problems and a huge choice of dining and recreational facilities are prime selling points. But what if you want your Asian sea voyage to come with more privacy? What if you don't like enforced craft classes before lunch or sharing the pool with raucous children? Enter the world of small cruise liners and private charters. They may not offer half a dozen [...]
Natasha and Jeeth Iype
Bangalore may be India's high-tech heart, but in one part of its leafy suburbs, there's a group of environmentalists trying to get back to the garden. In 2003, husband-and-wife architects Jeeth and Natasha Iype, working with Stanley George, a civil engineer, designed the Good Earth Orchard homes. Each of the 60 projected houses, now in various stages of construction, will feature slate and wood left in a natural state, without toxic waxes and finishes. Sewage will be treated in tanks that process waste without harmful chemicals. Household water will be heated by solar panels, which is expected to reduce electricity [...]
Nothing Doing at Maia Spa and Resort, Seychelles for Time magazine
Maia, an ultra-luxurious resort in the Seychelles, may offer canoeing, fishing and snorkeling excursions, but our tip is to give them all a miss. This seven-month-old property is instead made for mooching on an opulent scale. Picture 30 sumptuous villas, spread over 12 hectares next to secluded Anse Louis beach, and appointed with every comfort. Private gazebos offer sweeping views of the Indian Ocean, but the scenery is best enjoyed from your own plunge pool with a glass of champagne. The service is designed for solitude seekers: you can stay cocooned, interacting with a personal butler whose discretion is matched [...]
Being Mohandas: Book Review for Time magazine April 12, 2007
What more can be said about Gandhi, the subject of dozens of hagiographies, biographies and an autobiography; a hero of both Bollywood and Hollywood; a man whose face adorns stamps and currency? Plenty, if you are Rajmohan Gandhi, journalist, scholar, grandson of the Mahatma and now author of the door-stopping, 745-page Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire. The book's title and its author's pedigree promise much. A scion of the great man, one hopes, will wrest Gandhi's narrative away from cinematic hype and the Hindu extremists who claim to be his true inheritors (even [...]
The Parent Trap: Time magazine, May 31, 2007
As a mother, I regularly grapple with two related questions: How soon should I talk about child predators to my kids, and how should I couch such a conversation? I have two daughters, ages 10 and 5, and they interact with adults of all sorts—coaches, teachers, friends, relatives and, in Asia, household help. I want to prolong the innocence with which my children view the world, yet warn them of its dangers. This is tricky, particularly in Asia, where children are welcomed and cherished with a delight that is as genuine as it is—from a Western perspective at least—threatening. Malay [...]
How to bargain | Condenast Traveler US |
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.
Mekong, Cambodia & Laos | Condenast Traveler US |
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.