The beauty of the snow capped mountains in the distance did not cheer me as I looked out of the window. We had left from Mussorie on a Himachal Pradesh pilgrimage. We had covered most of the temples and we had halted at Kangra. I had been to visit my aunt and while coming back last night I had got stuck in a small snowstorm and couldn’t get my car past. Thus when I reached Holiday Spot, Kangra, the lodge where we were booked, my group had already left and proceeded on the pilgrimage. There on the...

One thing I like about my Saturdays is the regular jamming session that we have in my house. Yes, and that too with the amplifiers and the mike. My younger friends have their own band which they are slowly developing into something meaningful. So Radhika Aunty’s house is the jam point for them. So come Saturdays and we are all set with Chinese cuisine and South Indian coffee and ready to jam. This Saturday however we didn’t as we were planning to jam elsewhere. Guess where? To the most pristine...

The chilly breeze grazing my cheeks, I walked slowly up the path towards my house thinking of the lovely film I just saw at my friend’s place. Rajiv Upadhyay, my friend is a documentary film maker and he just had shown me a film on Benares – The Holy land of the Hindus. The film showed the city in general and it made me want to have a look at this sacred hub of India. “Hmmm, so it is Benares this time huh Rossy boy?” I asked myself, smiled at my uncontrollable urge to visit places for any...

Her smile kept coming back in my memories. She had the angelic look and the charmed beauty of a beautiful swan. I was not able to decide whether it was her beauty that charmed me or was it the beauty of the Taj Mahal. “Sanjukta” she had said her name was and was the newest student in my college. But she wasn’t to be seen today. I just gave up and thought it was more worthwhile thinking about the other beauty I saw last week – The Taj Mahal. With a big nostalgic sigh, I just went over the...

“And they lived happily ever after!” So saying, I closed the book, and looked at the glee in my niece’s face. She had to have me tell a story to her every night before she went to bed. She insisted she wanted another story. “Tell me the story of tigers.” She said. “Tigers?” I asked “Yes,” She said, like Bagheera in Jungle Book. Jungle book? Oh yes, that guy Mowgli I remembered. “Ok, Nayantara, I will tell you a nice story of how I saw tigers.” My niece who was almost falling...

“ The show goes on. Aren’t we the best? And the crowd cheering me, I got down from the stage and settled on a chair with everyone coming to me and thanking me for putting up a wonderful show. My NGO show over and this to the ire of my cousin who had to postpone the travel tour to Kullu Manali because of this. The next morning saw Arun, my cousin calling me and saying we got to get ready to go to Kullu Manali. My kids and I reached Delhi by the Rajdhani Express and met my cousins, uncle and aunt...

The thin covering on top of the wedding card, was so finely designed that the golden patterns in it, seemed to dance when I lifted the cover – Priyanka weds Satyajit. Priyanka? Priyanka – Daughter of Smt. & Sri. R. Padmanabhan. Priyanka! Kuttymol! That small toddler with chocolate all over her face and who had the cheek to drum her fingers on my bald head. Good Lord! She was getting married ! How time flies. I checked the venue. Madurai. I just checked the Tamil Nadu Map and saw where...

One reason I took up the profession of an Environmental Planner is to be able to be closer to Nature. So it was obvious that when I got my next project at Cochin, my happiness was incomparable. My aunt’s constant prattling about how Kerala is God’s own land used to sometimes irk me but deep within, I had developed the urge to visit the place. And when I told her about it, she just went berserk and said she would immediately contact her friend Sriram, there in Cochin. I knew my job was done. For...