Travel Stories
For The National Abu Dhabi on tiger safaris
Finding peace on the trail of the tiger Shoba Narayan Oct 16, 2010 It was, in the end, a media brouhaha, but it did crystallise our travel plans. Earlier this year, there were a [...]
For The National Abu Dhabi on Chennai
For The National Travel pages here and pasted below Chennai is at the art of the matter Shoba Narayan Jan 22, 2011 next previous Why Chennai? To get a taste of south Indian culture; because [...]
The Leela Delhi: Hotel Review: Mint Lounge
Is anyone listening to the guest? 4 min read 27 Oct 2011, 09:23 PM IST The Good life | Shoba Narayan Small bites: Try the fresh salads from Egypt, Morocco and all over the Mediterranean, [...]
For Cathay Pacific magazine on Beer
Why Bangalore is the city for craft beers
For Destinasian on Kashmir
Up high in the Kashmir valley where flowers and maidens bloom.
For Mint Lounge India on Delhi nightlife
A Phantom and Other Nocturnal Animals 5 min read . Updated: 25 Aug 2011, 10:01 PM IST The Good Life | Shoba Narayan There is one thing that we Bangaloreans mourn: the [...]
For Cathay Pacific Magazine on Architecture
Why Bangaloreans care so much about old buildings and neighbourhoods.
Tai Chi in Shanghai & Beijing | Condenast Traveler US |
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?
Financial Times: New Zealand
Culinary cornucopia in Christchurch and beyond.
Latest Articles
Poem: Lunuganga: in The Wild Umbrella
Lunuganga I lie in Lunuganga Tracing on My lover’s chest A moonlit path That ends at Slivered water’s edge Where A prehistoric [...]
Poem: Keeper of Harmony: in Mukoli- the magazine of peace
Keeper of harmony Women are like creepers; my mother tells me-- or ought to be. Creepers braid themselves around trees-- no dissonance, [...]
Poem: Calendared Intention: in La Piccioletta Barca
Calendared Intention My mother calls me every morning and recites the panchangam = the Hindu calendar, beginning with the year, which shows, [...]
Poem: in these eyes lie ancient secrets: in The Madras Courier
in these ears lie ancient secrets (a riff on the film Roja) she tickles my ear with a golden brush i wake [...]
Poem: Crows and ancestors: in Indian Literature
Crows and ancestors A crow, dead? Hung from an Indian elm tree, splayed like black shorts on a fickle clothesline, except this was [...]
Poem :The price of tomatoes: in Indian Literature
The price of tomatoes the other day, Ma told me that she regretted not climbing Mt. Kailash seven decades ago then she asked for [...]
Nine features I wrote for Condenast Traveler (US edition) a while back
Interviews with His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Follow my Youtube channel below
Follow my Instagram channel below
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.