Beyonder

Chambal Valley – Protected by Infamy, Curses and Crimes

Chambal Valley – Protected by Infamy, Curses and Crimes The Chambal Valley is a cursed land as per mythology. It boasts of a barren and ravaged landscape, ravines, gorges and jungles. Bandits and dacoits. Outlaws and lawlessness. The setting for many iconic movies and the backdrop for many legendary Indian Robin Hoods… It remains pristine and untouched...

Malana, The Magic – Of ancient Sages, Myths, Alexander & Malana Cream

Malana, The Magic  - Of ancient Sages, Myths, Alexander and Malana Cream. This is a strange story and a real place. It involves ancient sages, kings, mythology, legends, history and drugs. To understand this, you have to get to know the ancient sage, Jamadagni, and a bit of Hindu mythology. Let me start with ancient times...

Quarantine Queues

Quarantine Queues

This is a ramble about the Quarantine. And the self. Why Queues, you ask? No reason, I say. Of course, the Quarantine has Queues – in front of the provision shops, transport hubs, liquor vends, etc. Hence, Quarantine Queues. There is no other connect that this blog has with queues. Actually, I used the word...

Trichinopoly Cigar, Churchill, World War II, Sherlock Holmes and Trichy in India

Trichinopoly Cigar, the one that Churchill loved and Sherlock Holmes used was from a town in British India that lent its name to it - Trichy What was it that Winston Churchill, Sherlock Holmes and the average Balaji in South India loved? The Trichie or Tritchie. The Trichinopoly Cigar which is a type of cheroot that...

A Bazaar that connects Burma and Madras

 Burma and Madras have traditionally been linked by the British rule, people and customs. They still are...

Burma- A mix of the old and the new

This is a picture that I had clicked of a monk in one of the temples that I visited in Burma (current Myanmar). He was delivering a sermon under a makeshift...

Kiruna – Northernmost town of Sweden

This northernmost town of Kiruna, Sweden might not be a part of your bucket list but you might find your true calling in this cold, cold town if you are one for me-time, we-time or adventure. Kiruna is at the north of Swedish Lapland. The town is known for its huge coal mine which was the...

Kolukkumalai – Highest Tea Estate in the World

Kolukkumalai! The highest tea estate in the world at more than 7000 feet above sea-level. Some of the best teas of the world with a very distinctive flavor… Plus, the panoramic views of the rugged mountains and plains around it as a bonus… And its in India, less than 40 kms from the bustling hill-station of...

Bull Surfing in Kerala

Bull surfing is an old and obscure cultural practice. This underlines the man-animal relationship. It is a part of the Maramadi Festival in Kerala, South India Surfing is all about the sea, water, pristine nature and a single person’s effort to control and ride the waves, right? Yes, but not always. Think muddy paddy fields, oxen and...

Skeleton Lake of Roop Kund in India – where Myths, Mythology and Nature conspire to hold and reveal a gruesome secret

Skeleton Lake of Roop Kund in India – where Myths, Mythology and Nature conspire to hold and reveal a gruesome secret

The Skeleton Lake

Roopkund (also known as Rudra Kund, Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake) is a high-altitude (about 5000 meters above sea-level). It is a glacial lake in Uttarakhand in northern India, at the base of...

Pythagorean Cup – The Cup that cheers AND controls greed

The Pythagorean Cup is a unique Greek wine cup, designed by the famous Pythagoras, that cheers and controls greed at the same time - Beyonder Ideal for followers of Lord Bacchus... A wine cup that drains out its contents on the lap of the greedy drinker who fills it beyond a certain level... Designed by Pythagoras...  You...

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