Love ain’t what it used to be
I am moderating a panel discussion at the Bangalore International Center on Feb 8, 2016. Invitation attached. Please come.
JW Marriott, India: hotel review: The Telegraph UK
With its running trails, tennis courts, birding and photography groups that convene on weekends, Cubbon Park is an oasis amid the bustle of Bangalore, and right across the street from JW Marriott. As well as great access for the town centre, there are the pubs, restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries that are nearby on Lavelle Road - a two-minute walk from the hotel.
The Park Chennai: hotel review for The Telegraph UK
Once the site of the cutting-edge Gemini studio, this 14-year old hotel takes its design cues from the movies, marrying dramatic public spaces with kitschy Bollywood bling. Avant-garde when it opened with its leather-floored bar and nightclubs, this packed hotel still has its swing.
ITC Grand Chola: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
Recreating the grandeur of Tamil history ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, India Telegraph Review/ Shoba Narayan/ Travel writer 8/10 With its signature Kaya Kalp Spa, nine award-winning Italian, Pan-Asian and Indian restaurants, a [...]
Indian vegetarians travelling the world: for a podcast
Audiomatic is a great platform for some great Indian podcasts. Vikram Doctor does a great show called 'Real Food Podcast.' Here is an episode in which I was (a little) involved. Here is the link to the show. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/297693490" [...]
Haveli Dharampura: Hotel Review: Mint Lounge
Haveli Dharampura and the future of India’s past Home » Mint on Sunday » Big story Last Modified: Sun, Dec 25 2016. 12 20 AM IST The restoration of Haveli Dharampura offers a template for breathing life into dilapidated [...]
For Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia on Nepal
Elephants, birds, nature and a posh lodge in Chitwan, Nepal.
Use your commute
24 September 2016 | Home » Leisure » The Better Life Last Modified: Thu, Sep 22 2016. 04 40 PM IST Work out during your commute Engaging your core while in the car, bus or autorickshaw is simple. All you [...]
We live in thee age of betterment
People do many things to better themselves. They take up a sport, learn languages, do yoga, meditate and practise gratitude
The Better Life
Home » Opinion » The Better Life Last Published: Fri, Sep 09 2016. 12 35 PM IST How to get fit without exercising and other such shortcuts Simple things like stretching while waiting for the coffee to brew—and some a bit more complex grounded in [...]
Connecting to readers is a columnist’s particular pleasure: last Mint Lounge column
This will be my last column. My first coincided with the first issue of Mint Lounge and so it continued for nine years, weekly for the most part. I have grown and changed with this paper, participating in and bearing witness to its multifaceted issues. To be one of its voices has been a privilege I have never taken for granted. I was going to write a philosophical piece about time. About how this wasn’t really an ending but a new beginning. About how the ancients viewed time as cyclical. I researched the Pirahã tribes of Brazil who know no past or future but live, like Buddhist monks, in the present always.
You don’t go to Rajnikanth movies for the plot, you go for the comfort
To understand the hold that Rajinikanth has on his fans, you have to meet my ex-driver, Robert. An archetypal Rajini fan, Robert dresses, walks and talks like Rajini. Conversations with him are a triumphant reminder that while English is the language of logic and analysis for us Indians, our mother tongue is the language of the heart. It is Tamil that I turn to when I want to plead or persuade. And like many of our great vernacular tongues, Tamil lends itself to exquisite hyberbole. What passes of as conversation in Tamil would sound like a film dialogue when restated in English.