Destinasian | Aramness Gir Featured, Hotels, Luxury, Travel For Indians, the jungle is the original storybook where our epics unfolded: a space both sacred and transformative. But Gir is the only place where you can see the Asiatic Lion. Read more Soneva Maldives: for Mint Lounge Featured, Luxury, Travel Just outside my cottage at the Soneva Fushi resort was a coral reef. Several times a day, I walked out into the sea and start swimming with my flippers. Read more Birding Costa Rica | Condenast Traveler US | Featured, Nature | Wildlife, Travel An adventure trip in Costa Rica with white-water rafting, searching for the Resplendent Quetzal bird, and traveling through the cloud forest. Read more Luxury Bhutan: for The National, Abu Dhabi Featured, Travel Bhutan has 774 species of birds.  In comparison, neighbouring India— nearly ten times the size— has just 1200 species. Read more Australian Restaurants: for Khaleej Times Dubai Featured, Food | Drink, Travel Some time ago, I took a trip to New South Wales, Australia. Here are six Sydney restaurants that I tried and loved. Read more The Dalai Lama: for HT Brunch Featured, Profiles, Wellness | Spirituality Where I sit with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for an hour and ask him about life, love, meditation, wisdom and ageing. His Holiness is a person like no other in today’s world.  Statesman, Nobel Laureate, spiritual leader of the Tibetans who view him as God, or at least the manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the... Read more Jasmine Perfume: for Travel & Leisure US Featured, Travel Can India be the source of the best jasmine extract in the world? Read more

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Washington Post review.

By |Books, Monsoon Diary|

"Monsoon Diary" is the first book she has written, but doubtless not the last. It is notable, by the way, not just for its own quite irresistible charm but also as the perfect companion piece to Mira Nair's exquisite movie "Monsoon Wedding."

New Yorker Book Currents section review of Monsoon Diary

By |Books, Monsoon Diary|

In South India, as Shoba Narayan relates in her memoir Monsoon Diary (Villard), food is enriched by ritual importance, from the choru-unnal (the first meal of an infant) to the elaborate feast that commemorates a marriage. When she left Madras to attend school in the United States, Narayan craved bowls of yogurt and rice to ease her homesickness: “While the foreign flavors teased my palate, I needed Indian food to ground me.”

Book Stuff

By |Books|

Articles about Shoba Shoba beats Jhumpa in Writing Sweepstakes Shoba beats Jhumpa in Writing Sweepstakes by Aseem Chhabra When the editors of Gourmet assigned journalist [...]

Book stuff

By |Books|

Books General - Monsoon Diary Apart from the rest of her literary works Shoba has also been involved in writing books. Shoba's first book, "Monsoon [...]

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.

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