On the first day after arrival, I woke up rather early despite having slept very late the previous night after the journey. In part due to the sunlight coming in through the window and in part due to habit. It … Continue reading Warsaw – Day 1
I’m so glad and thankful that I was able to visit Warsaw finally now, after the disappointment of the plans getting quashed in 2020. That year, I’d already made two short work trips and was enjoying my time back home … Continue reading Warsaw – The Journey
In Rome, you will see Stone Pines all over the place and it’s a lovely sight. So seeing Palm Trees outside the Palazzo Barberini was an unexpected but a very interesting change. The cloudy night sky gave it a very mysterious feel! Another place where I was very surprised to see a lone Palm Tree standing in the middle of the road was in Warsaw. And I was not mistaken to find it odd, as I learnt on crossing a few signals at the huge traffic junction to reach the other side. As it happens, it is an art installation … Continue reading Palm Trees at the Oddest of Places
Tips for visiting Warsaw Continue reading Top Tips for visiting Warsaw
Before answering why we write, the question is why did we invent the language and all its complications? The historians and linguists would have their theories but I guess it was to express the emotions that were welling up inside us and at some point we couldn’t control them from coming out – may be first as sounds, then drawings and then words. The feelings of – joy, sorrow, anguish, anger, love, fear – the whole range, whether on being with someone but also when on your own, seeing the marvels of nature, wondering about life and afterlife needed to … Continue reading Why we write..
Here comes the second part of the Lucknow series. In the previous post, I’d shared some of the beautiful monuments of Lucknow. Now for something different. Lucknow is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The current government is promoting the local products of each district in the state. For that purpose, there is a place called Awadh Shilpgram – where the state government calls exhibitors from different places to showcase and sell their products from time to time (not a permanent exhibition). Luckily there was one such event going on when I was there. So one fine day, … Continue reading Lucknow – some more
Lucknow is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India (the same state which has the Taj Mahal). It has a very long history at least since 5th century BCE, but from around 1722, it was ruled by the Nawabs (pronounced Nawaab) which is what the city started being identified with thereafter. There are numerous stories about the sophistication and refinement – “nafaasat” of the Nawabs. One story that I’d heard was that they were served peeled grapes! Imagine peeling each grape in a bunch. The city is also famous for its rich culture and manners – “tahzeeb”. … Continue reading Lucknow – The Beautiful City of Nawabs
There are so many amazing things and places in India that it would take a lifetime to see even 50% of them. I think I’ll be glad if I can at least touch each state of India! In that effort, I explored a little bit of Rajasthan. And what better place to start than the capital city of Jaipur. I will write more about the trip soon. In this post though, I wanted to share this story. There is a humongous cannon named Jaivan, built in 1720, sitting atop the Jaigarh fort in Jaipur. The cannon was fired only once, … Continue reading Jaivan
It’s been quite a while since I read the book “Notes from a small island” by Bill Bryson, which is about the author’s travels across Great Britain and contains a good amount of humour. He mentioned some town/villages whose names … Continue reading Funny names of towns and villages
Originally posted on Reflections on the river:
The interesting thing about any country is the small (but important) things which are a common practice by the locals but which leave the foreigners just plainly baffled who don’t know the protocol! And it’s in those moments, one might wonder whether this was part of the “divine comedy” or just some kind of random happening.Here’s an incident from a few days back. I was out with my team for a full day of meetings in a different city. After dinner, I arranged to leave with a colleague (S) whose hotel was very… Continue reading The Case of the Closed Door
Originally posted on Reflections on the river:
Who says traffic jams are bad? I have recently had the realization that traffic jam is an organism on its own. It is neither created nor destroyed..it just shifts in form and location.… Continue reading 8 Good Things about a Traffic Jam
Originally posted on Reflections on the river:
Time is the only?one who has seen everything. It?has seen the humans evolving from nomads to settlers. It has seen them travelling far and wide – reasons?are aplenty.?The initial traveller moved for survival, then came the stage of?travelling to create one’s territory, next?came the traders, then?religion was?born who later married politics and the offspring were politico-religious travellers who wanted to spread their territory as well as religion, later people started travelling for studies, work,?health reasons?and?some travelled simply to ease the restlessness inside them! Then travel came under a new brand – tourism! ?… Continue reading Travel and Living
Reflections on the river 