Travel - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Travel: Ladakh, the roof of India

Moonscape Pilgrimage It’s been called the moon desert, Desolation Station, the last outpost. The truth…

Travel: Chez Jane Austen

Actually, right now we are having a break from the Austen machine. The past couple of years were basically one long Austen carnival, as devised deftly and wonderfully, by Hollywood, and ably assisted by the doughty BBC. There were a couple of interpretations of Austen’s all-time classic, Pride and Prejudice (and no, I’m not including…

Travel: Bhojeshwar Temple, Madhya Pradesh

Jai, Jai Shivshankar Even as the ASI begins work on the landmark Bhojeshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh, Sheila Kumar pays tribute to an unfinished dream When I read about the ASI starting renovation work on the Bhojeshwar Shiva temple in Madhya Pradesh, I couldn’t help but recall a visit to the magnificent shrine some…

Travel: Train rides I have gone on

JOURNEYS Ticket to ride A recent news item said that all the short-haul trains, the Shatabdis, Deccan Queen, the Brindaban Express , were running almost always full, while flights were going near empty. Oil prices apart, this didn’t surprise me one bit. The thing is, I still remember the days when train travel was…

Travel: The Singapore Flyer

FOOTLOOSE Where eagles dare Watching Singapore go about its daily life from the heady heights of the Flyer is an uplifting experience It is 10.20 a.m. and I’m staring at the Merlion. The creature is framed by fat droplets of rain that is furrowing its way down both sides of the spouting statue….

Travel: Udaipur, Rajasthan

Water, water everywhere… Sheila Kumar visits the City Of Lakes It’s a clear and crisp winter day, the third day of my Udaipur stint and I’m back in a boat. In Udaipur, I find, you sit in a boat for quite a long time. No great hardship though, since Pichola, the lake I am…

Travel: Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Sands of time Time unspools at its own pace in the desert city of Jaisalmer. The sinking sun is a brilliant orb of orangey-red, a tad too brilliant for the last day of 2007. It is also playing out its last moments, squeezing every last drop of drama out of the…

Travel: Guruvayoor, Kerala

Visiting Guruvayoor Riding on the highway to Guruvayoor, 30 km west of Thrissur, signboard after signboard reminds me just how far away I am from the Lord — strictly in terms of physical distance. As I belong to a large clan that has its roots in this temple town, it is with some amount of ownership that I write…

Travel: Kokrebellur, Karnataka

The village of Kokrebellur, near Bangalore, offers an amazing sight in season: clusters of painted storks nestling on treetops. It is nothing short of a miracle, calculated to enchant even the most jaded of city-bred souls. Some 80 kilometres south of Bangalore on the Mysore road, you need to take a turn down what rapidly…

Travel: Fish Reflexology Spa, Singapore

A piscine pedicure The Fish Reflexology Spa at Sentosa is a whole new experience There’s a little Chinese girl in pigtails standing by my shoulder, staring fascinated at my feet. Every few minutes, she lets out a squeal in which apprehension is mixed with delight. When I look down at my feet,…