An excerpt from Hardy’s "The Trumpet Major"

It was just the time of year when cherries are ripe, and hang in clusters under their dark leaves. While the troopers loitered on their horses, and chatted to the miller across the stream, he gathered bunches of the fruit, and held them up over the garden hedge for the acceptance of anybody who would...

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Cologne in Pictures

I visited Cologne for the first time this year on Good Friday, after having heard about it since years! It was a lovely sunny day, the warmest Easter time I have seen in Germany in the few years I’ve been here. Here are a few pictures of the wonderful city to give you a glimpse...

Importance of Aachen in European History

Aachen's Rathaus (Townhall) is an interesting building. It is at the same spot where Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, had his palace in around 800 A.D. Over the centuries, the palace that was once the most important center of power and culture in Europe, deteriorated. This side of the palace was facing the Aachen...

Fountains of Aachen

There is something quite charming about water fountains. I remember that in the city in India where I spent a lot of my life growing up, there used to be a huge fountain, at a roundabout in the center of the city, that used to be lit up with colorful lights in the evenings. While...

A deformity that turned into a greeting!

It's quite interesting how certain symbols become the identifying feature of a person, a place, an ideology or a thing in a completely different manner than its original meaning! Take for instance, the swastika, which most of the western world now associates only as the symbol of Nazis. But if you go to India, you...

When the Devil came to the rescue..

The Beautiful Aachen Cathedral Have you ever found yourself in a fix because you didn't do the work assigned to you and instead, got swept away in having a good time? Then you would very well understand the predicament of the Aacheners who were tasked with building the Cathedral by the 1st Holy Roman Emperor...

Words of wisdom

So I managed to finally get where I wanted to go, after waiting for a long time. I wonder if those who seem to have either everything in their control or everything going as per their plans are special beings or they just have a secret behind it. I for sure am not one of...

Sunny Day

For the first time in the last three years have I found a warm sunny Easter. So it would have been a crime to be indoors. But strangely I am unable to go anywhere either - sitting at the bus stop waiting for a bus that strangely seems to have stopped the service, despite the...

Kolkata – A Walker’s View

After exploring Kolkata like a tourist, it was time to look a bit closer, get on my feet and see what the locals were busy with! So I booked a walking tour with a guide that promised a peek into the multi-cultural kaleidoscope of the city. Even though it was super early in the morning...

Kolkata – A Tourist’s View

I have no idea why the city is known as the "City of Joy" (I haven't read the book) and nobody cared to explain that to me either. But it is definitely a city of many colors. The people are lovely, the places are with so much history steeped into them and of course, it...