Category: Travel
J&K Sampler – with the fish biting and the first snowfall
AFTER AT LEAST three rail ticket cancellations, owing to bad weather at the desti-nation, KP confirmed that we would be finally leaving for Kashmir. For years Kashmir has been a hotbed of militancy, political upheavals and a general state of unhappiness. However, this trip was for none of the above. We were to go angling [...]
Tales from Africa
HOW THE GIRAFFE GOT HIS LONG NECK: Long ago, there was a giraffe named Emma. Emma was quite a nice giraffe. All of the animals in the jungle liked her. The only problem with Emma was that she was gullible. She believed everything the animals said. Emma was constantly being tricked by the other animals in [...]
Winged wonders: of butterflies and helicopters
THERE WAS SOMETHING in the air this autumn… From the Beriwala Bagh in Harinagar of New Delhi to Haridwar to Rajaji National Park, it kept making its presence felt everywhere. I was perplexed as to why I had not noticed it in previous years. It all started from a trip to the Harinagar Sports Complex, [...]
O’ahu… Aloha
AS WE STEPPED out of the aircraft, a cool breeze blessed with a whiff of fresh flowers welcomed us against a setting sun that had turned the Hawaiian sky into deep orange–blue hues. How romantic! The landing at Honolulu had been most extraordinary—unimaginable scapes, surfs and deep blue-green sea, on which the aircraft appeared to [...]
The Whisper of Wings: Bristled Glassbird
THE BRISTLED GRASSBIRD, (Chaetornis striatus), is a scarce bird though described in all Guide Books as a Common Breeding Resident. I would call it ‘Scarce’ and also ‘Fascinating’. Scarce because—This term fits it best. There are only individual records spread over a very large territory in India, Nepal and Pakistan, which makes it endemic to [...]
Little Runn of Kutch: of Resident Birds and Galloping Ass…
MY NIECE WAS getting married at Vadodara in July and we found ourselves only 200 km from a dream wildlife destination we normally would not have thought of visiting—the Little Rann of Kutch, the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary. Although the monsoons had commenced, our travel agent was anything but dis-couraging. He advised that it may still be worthwhile [...]
Paharpur: Life Across the Gumti
WE WERE TOLD that the hanging bridge over the Gumti River would not be able to bear the weight of our van. So we disembarked with all our luggage and handed the bags over to the Reang tribals who had come on their bicycles to receive us. Kulendra Reang was there with some of his [...]
