“Bhaisahib, this is mine”, the amiable gentleman sitting on my seat was polite but firm, and to seal the argument, he produced a ticket backing his claim. Since possession is 9/10th of the law, I had no choice but to stand in the aisle and wait for the Ticket Checker…

Orchha is a stamp-sized hamlet at the center of Bundelkhand that turns bigger historical cities green with envy. It packs more punch per square acre than Gwalior and Agra combined. Spectacular palaces, temples, and cenotaphs abound, wrapped in tales of romance, chivalry, and deceit. And it remains under the radar…

Three hours by road from Jaipur or Bikaner, in north-east Rajasthan lies the triangle of Churu, Jhunjhunu, and Sikar, called Shekhawati. The climate is inhospitable-summer temperatures rise to 50 C and water freezes in winter. Tourists restrict their visits to a few favorable months. You won’t find the imposing forts…

Three hours south of Jaipur lies Bundi, a fertile valley fed by Chambal tributaries. A few centuries back, this was the center of the Hadoti kingdom. Proud and prosperous. The stories of Hada Rajput valor still make for a fascinating evening. Then, in the 17th century, Shahjahan carved out Kota…

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” After four decades outside India, as we wade back into the country of our birth, I doff my hat at Heraclitus’ wisdom. …

Once upon a time, rolling a joint was cool, and the Marlboro man was a center spread. It took decades of research and litigation against the tobacco lobby and its publicity machine to unequivocally announce that “Smoking Kills”. Today, Social Media (SM) is the new weed that we inhale through…

The other day I was chatting with a friend in Canada, who, on principle, refuses to be vaccinated. Obviously, I found his perspective quite opposite to mine, and we discussed at length his choices. At the end of the conversation, I kept wondering how we end up with contrasting conclusions…

San Francisco (SF) was born with a bang in 1849 when the rest of the world tilted to deposit hordes of the poor, the swashbucklers, the swindles, the explorers, and the exploited into this 7 square miles hilly hamlet with a cove. …

Every big city has more than one story to tell, but none weaves a yarn as rich as New York. This megalopolis was built by immigrants, slaves, the poor, and the persecuted, which arrived at its shores over the generations, to make a better life. In the nineteenth century, Italians…