Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Travel: Ranganathittu, Karnataka

Wingtips on water makes for a lovely picture and that`s what you get at The Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary Once upon a time, there was water aplenty, in and around Bangalore. And where there was water, birding sites came up, with a host of birds big and small: pelicans, herons, black kites, white-breasted kingfishers, red-wattled…

Travel: Tipu`s Fort, Palakkad

Silent sentinel In the heart of Palakkad town sits Tipu’s Fort, a majestic edifice with a chequered past. Sheila Kumar takes a ramble. It is Tipu’s fort but it was built by his father Hyder Ali in 1766. The sizeable fortress is a striking feature of Palakkad town, one which most locals take entirely…

Travel: Kadavu Resort, Kerala

FOOTLOOSE Riverine reverie As you sit gazing enthralled at the swollen Chaliyar river near Kozhikode, you discover anew the many simple pleasures of life. The next time you want to get away from it all, really get away from it all, do a spot of lotus eating, write that long overdue Booker-potential magnum…

Travel: Rainforest Resort, Athirapally, Kerala

Rainforest revels Cascades of white water, lush forest and a spiffy resort make for an ideal idyll. Also, Ash was here! Raavan shoot Okay. Bollywood preceded me to the Rainforest Resort at Athirapally. And by Bollywood, I mean none other than Mr and Mrs Abhishek Bachchan, when they were shooting in these parts…

Feature: Women in the Army

Women…they excel in the army too! As of 2004, the figures show that there are about 600 women in the Army, 420 in the Air Force and about 100 in the Navy. INCREASINGLY, WOMEN are viewing the armed forces as a good career choice. The attractions are varied. It could be that they have father,…

Travel: Medak Church, Telangana

A Gothic touch Did you know that the church in Medak is perhaps the second biggest in the world? Medak, about 90 km outside Hyderabad, is a beautiful place to be in the monsoons. The grey clouds lend a soft, diffused light to the impossibly green countryside; mango, guava, pomegranate trees host families of…

Travel: Bhimbetka Caves, Madhya Pradesh

Rock stars Sheila Kumar and her intrepid aunt Uma take off to view the Bhimbetka rock shelters near Bhopal “Why not Khajuraho? Or the Orchcha temples? The stupa at Sanchi? We could have chilled out at Panchmarhi, or gone tiger-spotting in Bandavgarh.” The person shooting off these questions is me….

Feature: Ilaiyaraaja, Profiled

Melody`s Raaja : Ilaiyaraaja Following a six-year hiatus, Ilaiyaraaja is composing for Hindi films again. And as Sheila Kumar discovers, the 63 year-old would rather let his music do the talking. If you’ve forgotten how love, the sensual languor of it, feels like, listen to the music of Cheeni Kam. Three of the four song…

Travel: Coorg, an excerpt

MADIKERI Coffee Nama By Sheila Kumar You’d think a travel agent dreamed up Coorg. Picture this: 2,564 sq km of undulating topography carpeted in every shade of green, wreathed over by a gauzy stole of thin white mist. Bamboo, sandalwood and rosewood forests. Murmuring streams and rivulets, children of the mighty Cauvery, herself born within…

Feature: Those Noises in the Head could be Tinnitus!

Tinnitus: Noises in the head Tinnitus could be responsible for the incessant noises in your head. But information and determination can help get things under control, writes Sheila Kumar. All of us hear noises inside our heads at one time or the other. For most of us, it is a fleeting phenomenon. But for others,…