Travel - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Travel: Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

Once a Gond kingdom, there’s more to Jabalpur than the world-famous Marble Rocks. One of Jabalpur’s claims to fame is that it dates back to the upper Jurassic period. The other famous aspect of this town in Madhya Pradesh is the Marble Rocks, located at Bedaghat, about 23 km away. At Beraghat, the deep green…

Travel: Andamans after the tsunami

Just ten days before the sea surged over the Andamans, I was holidaying on its white-sanded beaches… Christmas time is when people flock to the Andamans. That is also when the tidal waves hit in 2004, marauding the Andaman and savaging the Nicobar islands. Since D-day which was Christmas day, over 70 tremors have rocked…

Travel: Chausat Yogini temple in Jabalpur

It was the stuff of high adventure: stumbling on a small, mysterious but beautiful temple, the Chausat Yogini mandir, tucked into a fold of a hill up above the Narmada river. When you are far down in the swirling gorge of the mighty Narmada river you catch your first glimpse of it. More than a…

Travel: Florence, Italy

Tricks of the eye In Florence, what you see may not be what you get. In fact, Florence had pulled a number on me but I’m not complaining. The city lay spread out at my feet, looking more than a trifle dull in the mid-morning haze. I am on Piazzale Michelangelo, atop a hill on…

Travel: To Oxford, Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon

A drive out to Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Bath. A driving trip is a great way to see places. You’re in control of the vehicle and pace. You decide what to see, when to see it, when and where to stop. And, when driving in England, almost everything is stacked in your favour: great motorways, clear…

Travel: Sim`s Park, Coonoor

Silent Sentinels Time to shine a spotlight on a special park up in the Nilgiris, Sim`s Park in Coonoor. Sim’s Park redefines the concept of a conventional park, with as many as 1,000 species of trees contained within a sprawl of 12.14 hectares parkland. Trees as old as eternity, or almost. Trees with gnarled, split…

Travel: Winter in Kashmir

This is a snow song, an ode to the beauty of winter in Kashmir. Nights in white satin and days of shining glory…that is the serene beauty of winter in Gulmarg. The poet who talked of a winter wonderland was quite definitely talking about Gulmarg as far as I am concerned. And yet, in…

Travel: Gulmarg, Kashmir

The heart of Gulmarg lies in its pine forests. I lived there for a year and it was like a sabbatical from the…