Punjab is in the central north east of India. It is home to the city of Amritsar and the Golden Temple. Amritsar sits about 20km from the border with Pakistan and is only 50km from the Pakistani city of Lahore. The Wagah border crossing hosts a daily 'gate opening' show that is a must see and worth traveling for. The first thing to do when you arrive in Punjab is to buy a … [Read more...]
Chandigarh and Le Corbusier
Why go to Chandigarh they asked? Or if they didn’t ask they assumed I’d be on my way to Jammu & Kashmir. But no, I was determined to go to Chandigarh to see the buildings of French / Swiss architect Le Corbusier. ‘You’re mad’ they said to go north in May / June, ‘it is too hot’. Return airfares had been booked from Bangalore to Mumbai which is in a northern … [Read more...]
Playlist for a Rock Chick
British novelist Nick Hornby wrote a book of essays about songs that he either liked or that had an impact on his life. It got me thinking about a playlist to my life (indulgent!), and tunes that are evocative of a time and place. I like music. I’ve got friends who like it a lot more than me and are better at it. For me it is more of a backdrop to what is happening around … [Read more...]
Ten Favourite Travel Gadgets
Updated 6 Oct 18 People often ask me about my list of travel essentials*. So here is a list of my ten favourite gadgets, compiled from observation, necessity and a good few years of travel. I often travel for work, and for more than a month at a time. I do travel light, and my bag is too small to have more than 20kg in my luggage – allowing a bit of space for ‘acquiring … [Read more...]
Snapshot – Block Printing Workshop in Jaipur
Tourism and textiles are two very important industries to Rajasthan. In Jaipur you can combine both at a hand block printing workshop just out of Jaipur, at Bagru. Natural dyes The printing is done using natural vegetable dyes and colour fixers. During an interactive show and tell session, we learnt things like yellow colour comes from turmeric. Green can be made with … [Read more...]
