Earlier last year, I found myself signing up for a guided meditation retreat at Bodhi Zendo. It was supposed to be 3 days silent retreat but I ended up staying for 9 days. A few months later, I went there again and my quest for guided meditation retreats have taken me to some beautiful places … Read more
During my month long stay in Ella earlier this year, I was frequently looking for places to visit away from the tourist crowd. Tourists meant tuktuk drivers and local businesses hard selling their products and services just like the center of Ella which was a bit overwhelming for my post-covid traveler version. I first came … Read more
Delft Island, also locally known as Neduntheevu island, remains one of my favorite places in Sri Lanka. I had traveled up north to experience Jaffna, a place that remained out of bounds for tourists for a very long time. While Jaffna felt quite intimidating as a single woman traveler, Delft Island was quite the opposite. … Read more
I was walking through the (wo)man-made forests of Auroville with a friend, talking about the disappointment of seeing our favorite places being run-over by tourists, when I sensed my guilt return. The guilt that I’m referring to here is the guilt I started experiencing last year when the sight of tourists thronging places in large … Read more
Beauty in the general sense of the word which often entails a woman putting on makeup and dressing a certain way, was intimidating to me for as long as I can remember. I grew up with a strong association as ‘the ugly duckling’ of the family. Not only was I not great at studies and/or … Read more
Here I’m listing some of the women I deeply admire for either their work in directly elevating the lives of women, or silently being the change-makers by swimming against the current.
We cannot always travel to places in person, some times we can travel to places through the pages of a book. And at times, too much travel can fade the charm a tiny bit. I find books to be of great help to keep the excitement of travel going. I’m listing here some of the … Read more
In the winter of 2019 in India, I had met a woman whose profession was (is) that of a House sitter. I knew of the term and had in fact, tried to register as one as one but expectedly it’s a closely knit community and it takes time to build reputation as a House Sitter. … Read more
Chettinad region comprises of 72 villages (divided into clusters) in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Chettinad region is where Chettiar community resided predominantly. Chettiar community itself is one of the oldest trading communities of Tamil Nadu. The homes are known for their grandeur and adoption of elements from around the world.
Kodaikanal has a remarkably rich history that’s old enough to add to the mystique but new enough to let people feel it through the walls and routes that were set up over a hundred years ago by American missionaries who first set up their homes here.