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The dark and mysterious side of the moon
As the weather warms up, I have been sitting on the balcony and watching the moon at night. This one is about the moon, about Japan, and watching the sky.
Best Bangalore restaurants for Karnataka food
Good restaurants are not just in the business of selling food. They are in the business of selling memories. For some of these restaurants that I’ve mentioned here, memories are a function of their longevity– we are able to go back to these places time and time again. But that isn’t enough. The food had better be good, else none of the nostalgia will matter. All the places listed here fit that particular bill. Read on to find Bangalore's best Karnataka food restaurants
Does your wardrobe make others pity you?
Does your wardrobe make others pity you? When I took my teenage daughter for her first trip [...]
The best masala dosas in Bangalore
If you live in Bangalore, indeed, South India, it is hard to get away from masala dosas. I am obsessed with them. Here is a list of some really good-- and very mediocre masala dosas. All worth trying, for the atmosphere at least. But hey, write to me about your good choices and I will go try out your favourite masala dosa. What is one more carbo-load?
There is more to a name than you know
Today, I read in the paper about a chess prodigy whose name is 100% a result of numerology. I find this weird spelling names especially in Mumbai folks. Film stars....Ajay Devgn for instance. Another tangential remark is that I found a bunch of Mint columns that are not on this website. For comprehensiveness, I am slowly uploading them. Reading them.
Why isn’t Ahmedabad the seat of design?
I am visiting this 600-year-old city that Sultan Ahmed Shah founded, for the first time, and I love it. I didn’t expect to. Indians are funny that way. Each of us is intensely proud of the region we call home, and, truth be told, there is enough in each place to be proud of. Talk to a Goan and they will act as if the good life or Sussegado originated in Goa. Talk some more and it becomes hard to argue otherwise. Talk to a Tamilian and they will act as if culture begins and ends in Chennai. Visit Chennai in December and you will become convinced. Talk to a Bengali and they will make your head spin with their literary and intellectual allusions. All Bengalis think Kolkata is the center of the universe and once you get into the ‘adda’ mindset, you will feel the same way too. And now, Gujarat. Deep breath.
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.