The expansive Majithia Farm lends itself to a perfect winter weekend–or longer–getaway. Oozing infinite charm and style, it is set to one side of a massive sprawl of undulating landscaped grounds, and is surrounded by acres of rolling fields.
Detail – Haji Jamal Tomb, Nakodar
The Mughals left a large and visible footprint in Punjab given its vantage location on their high road from Agra to Kabul, later Delhi to Lahore. Most notable of these structures are from the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir with the latter contributing towards construction of bridges, digging of wells & tanks, and the repair of bridges. Later Shah Jahan would construct and embellish royal structures, serais and roads. Baolis (stepped wells) and traditional wells can still be spotted in close proximity to resting inns and settlements; they once served both man and animal. This harmonious melding of Indian and Persian influences has bequeathed the land with many striking examples of architectural heritage that includes tombs and bridges across perennial streams.
Went down Memory Lane recently… All the way back to a past life when it was apparently uber-chic to deface, sans prejudice, a picturesque, historical, or even kitschy backdrop with a foreground – regardless of how…umm…attractive the latter might have been. In short, some images from my earlier travels.
As someone who lives in the foothills of the Himalayas, and has travelled much in their higher reaches, I sport a barely veiled disdain for lesser highlands. Particularly those bumps in the road masquerading as “hill stations”. Every now and then though, one of them turns around with a resounding ‘Take that!’ moment. Another true story.
It can get awfully frustrating for a foodie who finds herself in lands bequeathed abundantly with innate splendour peopled by a friendly lot yet woefully inadequate far as palate pleasures go. True story from my visit to Chhattisgarh last month. Naturally, I am not talking about traditional cuisine here–as elsewhere, there are innumerable variants of rice (chilla), wheat (khurmi), grams (thethri), and vegetable (pyaaz bhaaji) preparations. I refer mainly to quick bites, food-on-the-move, street-side savouries; energizing stuff to take you through long days on the road. Honestly, how many bananas–boiled peanuts, even–can one eat?
The 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations defined it as one that:
With cyberspace all abuzz with the recently concluded Onam celebrations, and sadya images flooding timelines, I am reminded of another enduring Kerala tradition, that of performing arts. During a fabulously timed visit last month (you know, back in the day when it wasn’t all dry), with an evening to spare, and encouraged by the friendly people at my hotel, I found myself part of a motley audience at the Kerala Kathakali Centre in Fort Kochi. I was in for a two and a half hour session; an hour and half of which was devoted to on-stage application of the elaborate make-up that typifies this story-telling dance-drama from the 16th century.
So you’ve kissed many a frog–chewed on lightly sautéed frogs-legs too as a believer of modern-day fairy tales–and eventually stumbled upon Prince Charming. You’re now planning to perhaps clang away in a vintage car, walk hand-in-hand into a rose-hued sunset, or charge off on a white steed to a happily ever after. Before that, live that romantic fairytale a little longer–the regal way–at Chittoor Kottaram, a royal rest-a-while tucked away amidst a glorious verdure.
It was with happy anticipation I had looked towards my trip to Kerala, recently concluded. Not least for the eating I hoped to experience; also for the breathtaking splendour of the tropical frondescence that the monsoon months accord it. Little wonder this period, karkidakam in local parlance, is considered most suitable for rejuvenating therapies. Having had a first-row view of it, I will never tire of saying this – it is the rainy season which truly underscores this coastal land’s validation for the ‘God’s Own Country’ moniker.
Punjab, long reviled for dusty flatlands and merciless summers, quite marvelously lends itself to splendid driving holidays. Not despite but because of said plains. A well-tended network of national and state highways carves through (mostly) eye-catching landscape and you are never far from this agrarian land’s defining truisms: luxuriant acreage, mustard fields, rows of eucalyptus and poplars, chugging tube-wells, waddling cattle, tractors belting Punjabi pop, haughty mutiaars and strapping ghabroos.