Why meaningful travel begins when we stop collecting places and start understanding them. There is a familiar way of travelling through India. We arrive in Delhi, visit the Red Fort and Qutub Minar, take photographs at India Gate, and move on to Agra. The Taj Mahal is next, followed by Jaipur, perhaps Varanasi, and then […]
Category Archives: Blogs
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Sep
WHY WE DON’T BELIEVE IN “TICK-BOX” TOURISM There is a question I often ask myself when designing an India journey: **What will the traveller remember six months after returning home?** Will they remember how many monuments they visited? How many photographs they took? How many cities they managed to cover? Or will they remember the […]
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Sep
Ahmedabad is not a heritage city because it has old buildings. It feels like a heritage city because people still live, work, pray, trade, cook, celebrate and create within its historic fabric. When I walk through Ahmedabad’s old city, I don’t want my guests to simply look at beautiful wooden houses and photograph carved façades. […]
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Sep
Sep
What if the architecture of Rajasthan is actually a story about survival? When we look at Rajasthan, we often notice the beauty first.The carved sandstone.The ornate havelis.The painted walls.The jharokhas.The forts.The courtyards.The beautiful colours. But behind that beauty is another story. **Climate.**Water.Heat.Dust.Limited resources.And the need to make life work in a difficult environment.That is why […]
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Sep
You don’t have to look very far to see that Kochi has always been a meeting place. When I take guests through Kochi, one of the things I find most fascinating is that the city doesn’t look as though it belongs entirely to one culture. And that is precisely the point.Look closely and you begin […]
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Imagine a city so wealthy and powerful that travellers described it as one of the most beautiful cities they had ever seen. Then imagine it being attacked, devastated and largely abandoned.And centuries later, you are walking through its ruins.This is Hampi.And every time I visit, I find myself asking the same question: **How can a […]
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If you look only at the architecture, you see the past. If you stay long enough, you begin to see the present. The first time you stand in front of Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the scale can be difficult to comprehend.The towering vimana.The enormous stone surfaces.The sculptures.The mandapas.The courtyards.The extraordinary precision.You may find yourself wondering:How […]
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Sep
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Before it becomes a beautiful sari, it is a very long conversation between silk, design, technique and human hands. There is something almost magical about seeing a Banarasi sari in a shop.The silk catches the light.The zari glows.The motifs seem impossibly detailed.You look at it and immediately understand why people fall in love with Banaras […]
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Sep
Sep
The river is where many travellers begin. But it is not where the story ends. If you ask someone to describe Varanasi, there is a good chance they will immediately mention the Ganges.The ghats.The boats at sunrise.The evening Ganga Aarti.The lamps floating on the river.The extraordinary atmosphere.And they are not wrong.The ghats are fundamental to […]
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Sep
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From the streets of Chandigarh to the modernist landscapes of Switzerland and Germany — a journey through architecture, ideas and the making of modern India. The Opening There are moments when a journey changes the way you see a place you thought you already knew.During my recent journey through Switzerland and Germany, I found myself […]
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