The chants by the monks trickled down from the main prayer hall, winding through the air, and reached me as an unseen welcome at the entrance of the 200-year-old monastery. I was at the Enchey monastery in Gangtok, which sits on a hilltop, a sacred place with stunning sights, surrounded by a soothing forest.
Lal Bazar Gangtok: Where the City Begins Its Sunday
What is the best way to know a place? Visit its popular bucket list places, get a taste of the place at the well-known eateries, talk to the local people and attend local festivals. I do all this.
But my favourite way to get to know a place is through its local markets— those lively, colourful hubs where daily life unfolds. A place where people shop for their daily needs, a place where new and unique things are found, a place where you find stories in lanes and colours. I found this in Lal Bazar – the local market in Gangtok.
A Grief We Share
Is there a term for feeling the loss of someone passing away even though you didn’t know them personally?
Someone who is a public figure known for his great deeds, compassionate heart and humble attitude towards life.
Someone you adored for being a visionary and kind at the same time.
When Modak meets Kozhukatta
Modak, which is made in Maharashtra, is the same as Kozhukatta, which is made in Kerala. For the unversed it is a steamed rice dumpling with the filling of coconut, jaggery with a hint of cardamom. When you take a bite of this piping hot Kozhukatta, you first taste the soft mildly salty taste of the steamed rice covering and then tumbles out of it the moistened juicy coconut and jaggery mixture slowly revealing its richness.
Music and Me
‘Do you have a connection to music?’ he asked. ‘Yes’, I replied with a slight smile appearing on my face. He was part of an online writers’ group that I had enrolled in. We would write short stories on a specific theme every week and submit it for peer review. I had joined it so that I could get honest, unbiased feedback from strangers who were writers and readers themselves, from people who knew nothing about me. I wanted to know what my writing revealed about me and how deep I could go.
Tokyo’s Literary Charms: Readers, Bookstores, and a City That Reads Everywhere
Are you a book lover traveling to Tokyo? Then here are some must visit places for you. From book cafes to book town, you will find it all in Tokyo, Japan.
Solo Female Traveller in Japan: An Unforgettable Journey
Most people who have asked me about my trip to Japan, I have given them just one answer- If you can save money and go to just one country in this lifetime, then please go to Japan. That’s the kind of profound impact Japan has had on me.
Nagaland Travel Guide – the valleys & the mountains
If travelling to Nagaland is on your mind then the perfect places you must visit are Khonoma, Dzuleke, Kohima. And a must do adventure to the surreal Dzukou valley.
Dream a dream
You know how you had that one dream, you had it even before you knew what actually dreams are.
A writer’s fear
The fear of not being able to write is a deep-seated fear inside every writer. It pops up on those days when you have not written a word for days. It’s not that you don’t want to write, words are constantly creating havoc in your head, but you keep postponing it for another day. It happens one morning when you realize that you haven’t written a single long piece in a very long time.