0345 hrs and Nizamuddin Railway station resembles a zombie movie set. It is mostly dark, a few sputtering streetlights barely illuminate the car park. People are everywhere on the pavement, scattered like dead bodies. The odd person walking about, does so in a slow stagger. I am looking for a porter but there are none in sight. I am resigned to heft my heavy luggage single…
Rajdhani
What a jerk! The invective directed towards the idiot who has piled a mountain of luggage in the aisle. And towards the collective force of the train’s weight acting on the coupler as it starts. The owner of the luggage appears, rushing in from the door waving goodbyes to the hordes that have come to see him off. Barging his way past me, he spends…
Notes from the Rann
The dusty, bumpy road from Morbi gives way to smooth tarmac at Halvad and our GSRTC bus soon pulls in to the dusty town of Dhrangadhra. The princely state it once ruled commanded a 13 gun salute. Today it is just one of those blink and you miss places. Not for us though – we are here to explore the Little Rann of Kutch and…
The Battle of Lakhota Lake
Lakhota Lake, Jamnagar – March 14 1755 hrs The day is drawing to a close. The sun inching closer to the horizon. Birds are flocking back to the trees surrounding the lake. Flocks of Mallards, Teals and Moorhens are swimming gracefully in the still waters. The lake’s resident Pelicans are out feeding too – swimming in semi-circular formations to herd fish and diving in sync…
Rock and Ruin
“Tamil, Kannada, Telugu or Malayalam, there is only one superstar – Rajinikanth!” “What about Upendra?”, I ask. “He is only a copycat”, replies Shankar, our auto driver. Sharing the driver’s seat with him is Gopi, his best friend. “You look like faariner, medam.” Not for the first time has MB heard this in her life. BB and I share a laugh, as the narrow road…
The most treacherous road in the world
The sign by the side of the road makes it plain. We are travelling on the most treacherous road in the world. This is not a sign that has been put up a local, or some wise guy tourist. Somewhere there in the picture below, lies one of the most important roads in India. And that is why the sign is important. It has been put there by…
Who needs a beach?
It’s 8 AM on a steamy March morning at Madgaon Railway Station. Taxi drivers and tourist ‘guides’ are falling head over heels, trying to peddle their beach properties. We make our way through the melee and manage to reach the Pre-paid taxi counter only to be met with a strange question – Why on earth do we tourists want to Aldona? As it happens, Aldona…
Aboard a train
Wherever a train goes in this country, chances are that I have been there. And in those hundreds of journeys across thousands of kilometers I have come across uncountable men, women and children some of whom have left an indelible impression on my being. I was lucky enough to capture some on my camera but a vast majority of them are out there is some…
The endless and enchanting Sambhar Lake
A picture in a travel magazine of a train cruising past a bunch of rosy pink flamingos had caught our fancy a few years ago. Ever since M and I had been planning to visit the vast expanses of the Sambhar Salt Lake. For one reason or the other, the trip was postponed until last week, when we were cruising down the excellent Yamuna Expressway…