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New book, not by me: The Udipi Kitchen
Geetha Rao is someone I got to know through Stanley Pinto's The Bangalore Black Tie. She always wears gorgeous saris and is now President of [...]
Why balance wins over early retirement
Patrick Pichette is probably a nice guy but.... A retirement letter masquerading as a wise sermon should hardly make news, let alone cause effusive gushing. Pichette comes across as a nice man. He has a lyrical turn of phrase. That, along with the fact that he holds a top job in a revered Silicon Valley company, may be why his resignation letter has the drama it does. Man rockets to the top; then drops off the cliff. That’s the story.
The joy of a migratory bird going back home
Have been working on our upcoming music shows in Chennai all weekend. We are completely redoing the show, and including more Tamil songs. The Chennai [...]
The Music Show goes to Chennai!!
We are performing back to back. April 11th evening at YG Mahedra's Bharat Kalachar. April 12th morning at Vani Mahal. This event requires RSVPs. So [...]
How women speak: Which Verbal Personality type are you? for Mint Lounge
Society lays the onus on women. Lean In, says Sheryl Sandberg. Break the glass ceiling. Speak up. Dance like a man. That is one way. If you are the boss, sure, you can tell your quiet colleagues to speak up. Or you can simply hire more women. As has been reported in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Inc. and The Atlantic, teams with more women outperformed teams with more men on a consistent basis. “The secret to smart groups: it’s women,” as a headline in The Atlantic said.
While cricket happens down under I talk to Radio New Zealand about everything but.
Bryan Crump and I chat about the Delhi elections and surya namaskar here. Sadly, we ran out of time and didn't get to Perusal Murugan-- [...]
Nine features I wrote for Condenast Traveler (US edition) a while back
Interviews with His Holiness The Dalai Lama
New York Times
Wall Street Journal
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Shoba Narayan is an award-winning Indian author, journalist, and freelance travel writer based in India. She specialises in luxury travel, immersive journeys, and Indian culture with a focus on food, wine, culture, cities, and identity. With over two decades of experience, she has contributed travel features to Condé Nast Traveler (US edition), Travel & Leisure, DestinAsian, Mint Lounge, The National (Abu Dhabi), Taj Magazine, and Hindustan Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph UK, The Guardian UK, and Robb Report among others. Her awards include the James Beard food-writing award and a Pulitzer Travel Fellowship. Her travel writing spans India, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, the Maldives, Bhutan, Costa Rica, and beyond — always with a focus on the sensory, the cultural, and the deeply human. Based in Bangalore, India, Shoba is a leading voice on South Asian travel, reviewing luxury hotels in India and abroad, and writing immersive features on traditional Indian crafts, and contemporary Indian culture. As a freelance travel writer and memoirist, she writes evocative, deeply researched features on everything from birding in Costa Rica to spiritual tourism in Bhutan.
For editors: Shoba Narayan is an Indian travel writer and food writer, who contributes to assignments on travel, food, culture, and Indian cities. She has reported from across the world and writes narrative-driven features with a strong sense of place.
Key Expertise: India travel writer, freelance travel writer India, South Asia travel journalist, luxury travel India writer, food and travel writer India, Indian food writer, Bangalore travel writer, South India travel writing, cultural travel writer, narrative travel journalist, travel features India, heritage travel India, slow travel India, sustainability travel writer, hotel and destination features India, travel essays South Asia.