Tag: India

Hampiness – An adventure in the waiting!

Virupaksha Temple

A journey that had been on the bucket list for the last few years.

And having explored India from the north and west.

South had a been little unexplored and was waiting to be explored.

Hampi is a city full of temples that have references not just mythology ( Ramayan) Hanuman’s Birthplace. But, also with Shiva- A single monolith statue that’s one of the most visited sights of the city. To the Dynasties battles Kilji, Chanayaka and later the British coming to existence.

No Wonder a city filled with so much history and mythology feels like one place with many world heritage references that the The Ministry of Tourism, on 29th September, declared Karnataka’s iconic destination as the Best Tourism Village of India-2023.

Hampi was selected one among the 795 applications received from 31 states and UTs.

Some bits of Hampi feel like you are in Macchi- Picchu to some feel like you are in Greece. While some truly belong to India.

The city has many world heritage sites.Think your ₹50 currency and you will observe the chariot stone. Hampi is also referred to as India’s Rome with so many ruins and history to the sights.

The historians at Hampi, also mentioned to explore the whole of Hampi that has 80 monuments worth exploring would take you an ideal 45 days here! So much history!

And if you would like to travel to Hampi some of the most important sites are Vitthala temple, that’s full of interpretations of history and the home to the stone Chariot. To the Virupaksha temple an active temple that has rituals performed daily including feeding of elephants as an experience of lifetime.

Elephant Stables a monument that was built for the kings elephant many centuries ago is another site worth visiting.

At times Hampi makes you believe you are In Stonehenge with the rocks here beautifully placed naturally or makes you believe you are In Grand Canyon with trekking around on rocks that are placed with boulders for support.

The sunset and sunrise view points of the city, give you an overview of the lush green landscapes covered with sugarcane’s and Banana plantations.

With so much to offer for history & nature buffs.Hampi still has the rawness and beauty of India.

Hampi is still not considered a tourist destination, with only one flight to Mumbai! And limited advertising for tourism in Hampi.

Stay: Evolve Back Resort

Did You Know?

Karnataka once served as the capital of one of the largest kingdoms of India the Vijayanagara Empire around the 1500 AD. And during that time it was known to be one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world.

The Virupaksha temple dates back to 7th-century, which makes it one of the oldest functional temple in the country is dedicated to Virupaksha, an incarnation of Lord Shiva, built with a pillared hall, three.

One of the must things to do before you leave the temple take blessings from Lakshmi elephant

The pillars in the Vittahla temple would also be used as musical instruments by the locals. Each pillar would have a different sound and rhythm.

Elephant Stables
Vitthala temple

Reading and Being a Reader!!

It’s always exciting to start with a new hobby! The moment you begin something, You are hungry to know everything about it. The Rules, The loopholes, the prize, the strength, the weakness, the opportunity that lies and the threats you face in continuing your hobby.

And then there comes a point, in persuading your hobby, where you don’t enjoy it anymore and you start thinking about how time flew by all these years.

Reading was an accidental hobby, I came across right when I turned 18.

It was only after reading a couple of books, that I realised what I enjoy reading and explored more on those genres and topics.

When I was looking to read more newer topics and stories, I came across the prestigious award that have been recognising talent.

While reading about all the books, that had been awarded or had been nominated.

I picked up a book. I genuinely loved the way it was written and narrated.

After that moment, I waited every year for the announcement to read more of these nominated and award-winning books. This I did for about a couple of years, and then moved to some of the other prominent awards and so on…

Then I realised, these book awards were representing a certain style of writing, and storytelling and were very depressive and emotional.

Also either, they wanted to reach a new audience or wanted to market a newer country, when they awarded books to a writer belonging to that region or country.

These book awards were also biased towards authors from certain countries and not equal to the rest who had equally good writing talent.

The book awards, too were very inclined and favouring genres that represent political views, Race, Gender and a cultural movement, which they believe were more important than voicing one’s story.

Similarly same goes for Academy awards… That is considered a landmark of success!

They too seem to have similar criteria, since these awards are reviewed and judged by selective jury members, who believe are the only voice that matters in making decisions.

There have been films and books that have been better than the ones that have been nominated or awarded but are given little importance too.

It was a couple of years ago when I decided to move past these book awards and read books for the stories, they want to tell and to my surprise, there are so many stories in each country in the world, that are worth reading and investing your time into, than to read books that have either been awarded or read by certain nationalities.

Now, looking to read my next book, I either visit the local bookstore in the cities or go through the most-read books in the country and read the synopsis and see what I would like to read next.

Darjeeling Tea Experience!

Darjeeling Tea Experience!
We were driving around on the spiral narrow roads for a while until we surfaced around a tea plantation estate and paused when we narrowed our eyes, we could notice a few ladies plucking the tea leaves which were now the first flush of the Darjeeling tea.

The First Flush leaves are tea leaves from late February onwards until mid-April is the time when most of the tea leaves are of the freshest quality and the tea leaves must be plucked every four or five days. “Slender leaves, lacquered green, the tea produces a pale-gold liquor that’s grassy with fresh cut field aromas, a floral bouquet with an intense fruitiness in the mouth says Koehler.

Darjeeling tea leaves are available through out the year, but the quality differs through the year. Tea in general is categorised into six variants black, oolong, green, yellow, white and pu-erh. 

The six type of tea comes from the same plant itself, it’s the processing that makes the difference. Very similar to coffee beans. They are all the same beans the altitude and processing makes them fruity, light or dark roast.

India is a country that generally, produces a lot of black tea which is withered and fermented. Whereas Green tea is produced through a process of steaming the leaves and a lot of is produced in Assam compared to Darjeeling tea.

oolong Tea is semi-fermented and though a lot of tea drinkers aren’t aware.

It provides the benefits of both Green & black tea and has higher antioxidants than green tea.

Pu-erh is another type of tea that’s a variety of dark, fermented and aged black tea.

As we settled into the tea estate and discussed the tea planation process the Pluckers also told us about the other tea flushes of the seasons.

The Second Flush 

Mid-April onwards until the Mid May the weather places an important role as sudden showers change the tea leaves and the heat makes the leaves drier and changes the colours to deeper amber and mahogany hues. The second flush tea is as high in price as the first flush for this reason.

The Monsoon Flush : 

July through September is the worst period for the tea plantation estate. As the plants are damaged with rainfalls. The flavours are lost and the a quality of tea is rarely sold in the market as Darjeeling tea.

The Autumn Flush: 

The period from October to November is the final flush of the season and although the

It has that body, amber colour, very defined favours, from malts to chocolates to fruity notes,

“It doesn’t offer the same quality of the first flush or the second flush.

  Koehler quotes Sanjay Sharma of Glenburn estate.

And the price the buyers pay for this makes them feel cheated.“

Did You Know?

Darjeeling is India’s only geographically indicated (GI) product, protected by a WTO patent And yet it’s not marketed as an activity for tourist or tourism.

it takes 22,000 selectively handpicked shoots to produce a single kilo of Darjeeling tea.

Tea was first mentioned as a beverage some 2,500 years ago in China and became a prized ceremonial drink at the royal court. Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, called it ‘the elixir of life’.

There are only 87 tea gardens that produce Darjeeling Tea.

Makaibari is the estate known for the finest quality of Darjeeling tea.

They recently auctioned 1 kg white tea for about one lakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Darjeeling Tea to Queen Elizabeth II when she invited him to lunch in Buckingham Palace. The queen prefers Darjeeling and Earl Grey tea.

Darjeeling black tea is rich, fragrant and sophisticated, and serving it is a palace tradition.

Darjeeling tea is one of the only few Indian luxury brands that are at the afternoon tea salons in London’s The Dorchester, Claridges, Langhams, The Ritz or the Orangery at Kensington Palace.

Sources: 

The Darjeeling tea book by Jeff Koehler.

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023

We have been planning this for last two years! Ever since, we were frequently visiting Kolkata for my sister’s work!

But, the more we were trying to club our darjeeling trip with the kolkata trip!

It wasn’t making sense!

And then we searched and found a direct flight to Bagdora airport! Which was the closest to darjeeling city. But few hour’s drive from the airport!

Well! If we needed to travel to darjeeling.It had to happen soon!!

So we planned this three days trip earlier!!And realised gangtok is another few hours away, so why don’t we do that too!

And so we braved both!

Through the mountains round and round!

We travelled on roads so narrow! It seemed it was made for one way, but they were cars coming from both ways!

The drive itself was so exhausting! We couldn’t think of another road journey for our destinations!

The hotels were our most beautiful parts of the journey apart from the road journey we drove around.

The closest hotel from Darjeeling is Taj Chia Kutir!! Where we stayed For a night.Before we took off for our flight.

There have been quite a few cafes! We visited for coffee and bakes!

But, surprisingly the bakes had no taste! It was disappointing! We only had coffee most of the time there!

The Cafe Fiction, Rachna Books! Was the highlight of our gangtok experience!

They had amazing coffee! And the book collection they had was very impressive! They had a frame of all the Murakami book covers too! The asian and indian regional books they had were unbelievable! I had most of them on my Amazon cart and here they all are under one roof!

Meeting Hilton the pet at the gangtok Elgin! Was our entertainment for our stay with Sikimmese and Tibetan food we tried during our stay.

The drive-through tea estate and staying around one was another experience we experienced.

The darjeeling city mall road was a nice stroll! Bakes at Glenary we’re not that good! But the vibe and the setting of the cafe were an experience you need to experience.

Darjeeling & Gangtok 2023… 

Closest Airport : 

#bagdograairport 

#pakyongairport is another option. Major Flights start soon from this airport. 

Stay : 

@elgingangtok @elgindarjeeling @tajchiakutir 

Tea Experience: 

@mayukh.tea 

Coffee: 

Himalayan Cafe #Darjeeling 

@thelocalcafe.in #Gangtok 

@cafe.fiction #Gangtok #darjeelingaltura 

Eat: 

@dekevas_darjeeling_siliguri 

Momos & Ramen 

@glenarys @glenarysdarjeeling 

@tashidelek #gangtok 

Fried Momos, Pork Belly and Thukpa 

 Bookstore: 

@nerdvana_books_and_coffee #Darjeeling 

#Bibliothéque Cafe #gangtok 

@rachnabooks #Gangtok 

The Relationship’s Today!

I worked on a Wedding show for television.
And learnt something that would make me teach how things worked in the years to come. “Storytelling” and “stories” are the two things that connect us the most. A good story, Told beautifully or interestingly would hook us on immediately. That was the foundation of marriage: Make someone believe they are in love with you over and over again until the “Drama” and “Nonsense” won’t be tolerated or “You are exposed” and can’t hide the truth behind the “affair” or sudden suspicion that you are dealing with. Going over hundreds of stories and looking for the right one was “Essential” The one that should be telecasted and would bring the eyeballs to keep the audience interested. “The Love” “The second marriage” The divorce, The triangle and the backgrounds were all some of the criteria. While this you would believe is just a real story. The Reel Story is made to be believed and looked more real in many ways.


When I look around people who have either been married for too long or haven’t got married at all. All I see is that they are trying to make it work, have made a deal to make it work or are too afraid to leave the marriage to start all over again. Many reasons ( Family Pressure, Society Pressure, Confidence, Pain of going through loneliness and afraid they might fall into the trap with somebody else)(At this moment a known devil is better than the unknown. )
Marriage/Relationship: Shouldn’t be something we fall under “Peer or Family” Pressure. The post-marriage, if it doesn’t work out can be hard to deal with psychologically
Coming back to the question, how do we choose the one?


Well, Today there are many factors to consider when getting into a relationship besides of course Compatibility and how can this transition become more successful rather than getting declined.
Environmental factors, Geographical factors, and others are very critical of the political factors (If we follow the ideology of the same political party) if we are tolerant with humour, Sarcasm and Freedom.
Considering so many filters that one has to consider when looking for a relationship/marriage to last or vice versa for a relationship first to last until marriage and marriage to last until one becomes intolerant of each other.
It has only made it more difficult to find the right one rather than believing too many filters would help us in giving more clarity to the choices.


And now imagine the worst of the lot: You suddenly notice people moving from smaller towns to bigger cities and this brings its own set of challenges and problems. While trust issues aren’t the real issues. It’s the how will one settle when one goes back home or how will they take the changes of all the bigger city? Wouldn’t one definition, meaning and expectation of love, relationships and marriage change from this exposure?
Will Love, relationships and words that are associated with bonding, friendship and companionship just remain words in the dictionary like a glossary used for historical references?