The romance here is akin to that first sip of tea in the morning. And if it is Darjeeling tea, it will be a pick me up moment for you. I think the place has a lot to do with the Darjeeling tea ! The town is located in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas. The...
Mountain romance in Sikkim You can’t stop falling in love with this place. Green, clean, steep valleys, snow-capped mountains, Rhododendron forests colourful monasteries and friendly locals! Welcome to Sikkim-a mountainous escape from the routine. Did you know that Sikkim was an independent country until 1975, when it got merged with India? Is Sikkim a romantic destination? Let’s look...
Tashiding Monastery is believed to be the holiest monastery in Sikkim. The legend is that just the glimpse of Thongwa Rangdol Shrine (chorten) , washes away your sins. Seeing is cleansing here; no need to take a holy dip into a holy river. The walk up to the monastery is dotted with white coloured prayer...
Nameri National park – for the wildlife and nature lovers Assam is blessed with a diverse wildlife and there are many national parks and sanctuaries in the state. Nameri national park is spread across an area of around 200 square kilometres and the Jia Bhoroli river flows in between the park , which adds a lot of...
Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh of North-East India. Beautiful, peaceful, alluring... Remember Hemingway's novel "The Old man and the Sea"? Well this is "The Old Man and the Bowl" in a small monastery there. For me, he was the highlight of my trip to Mechuka. Here’s the story of the trip… The Old Man and the Bowl - Mechuka...
Assam's cultural landscape can be looked at as pre and post Srimanta Sankardeva. In the ancient time, Assam was a country known as Pragjyotishpur. The name is mentioned in the Indian Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The literal meaning of this word is “astrology of the east” or “jewel of the east”. However, in the medieval period...
Welcome to Mawlynnong –“God’s own Garden”, a small village in Meghalaya India. So what’s so special about this village? It is called “God’s own Garden” because of it’s cleanliness. And it was declared as Asia’s (not India’s only) cleanest village by Discover India , way back in 2003. Just an hour away from Mawlynnong is...
You think Bridges are non-living things? Wrong You think Bridges are always built? Wrong You think Bridges become weak with time? Wrong You think Bridges retain the same size? Wrong You think Bridges are not handmade? Wrong You think Bridges are built by engineers? Wrong We are talking about the living root bridges of Meghalaya locally known as Jing Kieng Jri,...
Abracadabra….heard of a place , where probably this is a rhyme ? Well, not exactly the same words , but the tradition of sorcery and magic is passed on from generation to generation ? A village where fortune tellers claim to predict a person’s future using seashells and broken glass pieces! Welcome to Mayong-the Black...
My tryst with Indian history was through the school text books. I learnt more about them through the history books, newspaper articles, TV serials and movies as I was growing up. I am sure , all of us are aware of the Mauryas, the Marathas, the Rajputs, the Pallavas, the Cholas etc . They were...
