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Mint Lounge: Conservation story
Recently, conservationists in Bengaluru had a huge win. The State Board of Wildlife, headed by the Karnataka chief minister, approved a proposal to deem 5,010 acre of grasslands, about 25km outside the city, as the Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve (GHCR).
Hindustan Times: Breakfast in Bangalore
India has a masala dosa problem. This folded potato-filled fermented-rice flat circular piece of deliciousness has overtaken the world. The problem is that equally good variations of this form get lost in the focus on this one type of dosa.
Sommelier India: New York City wine
Say you are visiting a new city in the US and you want to taste and buy wine. What do you do? I experienced this recently when I visited New York.
Hindustan Times: Visiting Chefs
To be a good chef, you have to have knowledge, opinion and confidence. Few professions are as unforgiving as a chef’s chosen job. You get feedback instantly. If the dish isn’t good, it gets sent back to the kitchen.
For WisdomCircle: Fearless after 50
Recently, I have noticed a happy trend among women in the fifties. They are blossoming in ways that even they could not have predicted.
Hindustan Times: Dance in Bangalore
Bangalore is blessed with a multitude of classical dance forms relative to say, nearby Chennai where Bharatanatyam reigns supreme, or Hyderabad where Kuchipudi takes pride of place.
Nine features I wrote for Condenast Traveler (US edition) a while back
Interviews with His Holiness The Dalai Lama
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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.