Himalayan Orchard - The Hidden Gem of Apple Country

A few hours beyond the crowds and mayhem of Shimla, in the quiet village of Rukhla, lies a charming farm stay called the Himalayan Orchard.I was there earlier this month when the monsoon was still lingering in the mountains and the apple season was at its peak. With all my love for Himachal I have never been there at apple picking time. I have looked longingly at the trees when they were bare and shorn of their fruit or when the apples were the size of small green golf balls but an Apple Orchard in its full glory had continued to elude me. The roads from Chandigarh are excellent and we made good time inspite of the constant rain. I can understand...

Of Gateways to Heaven and Freedom

I remember watching the news one sultry June evening when I was all of thirteen.The channel kept showing images of a man standing infront of a long row of tanks on a wide road. He was directly in the line of fire and was trying to stop the tanks from advancing. The tanks moved left. So did the man. The tanks moved right, so did the man. This went on for many minutes till he climbed the first tank in the row and started talking to the soldiers inside.  That unknown man became famous as the “Tank Man”. The road he was standing on was at Tiananmen Square, the city Beijing. This visual became an epic image of what would later be known to...

Of Sawan, Lord Shiva and Pretty Ladies

Sawan in Delhi means monsoon, the devout praying and fasting for lord Shiva and for people like me, long hours of commute as the kanwariyas take over the roads. Sawan up in the mountains means something else. It means long lazy days of rain, lush green forests, mist floating among the deodars and a very festive atmosphere in the ancient Shiva temples dotting the mountains. One such Temple is Jageshwar, nestled in the mountains near Almora. What is interesting about Jageshwar is that it is actually a cluster of 124 large and small temples inside a walled complex. Some of the temples are so small that you have to bend double to go in and there...

In Defence of Sneakers

The one picture that will stay in my mind forever from Sonam and Anand Ahuja’s wedding is the groom serenading the bride at their reception wearing a nifty Sherwani paired with - hold your breath, Sneakers !  The sight of those sneakers brought a ray of hope for me. You see, I have broad feet. And when I say broad I mean one foot can cover North America, the other South America and perhaps the toes would still dip in the Ocean. On top of that, my feet distinctly have a mind of their own and refuse to be comfortable in anything else but good old fashioned sandals or sneakers. I go into shoe stores and look with great longing at those...

The Reluctant Gardener

Everyone in my family is born with a green thumb. My grandmother had this huge garden, one side of it dominated entirely by flowers and the other side with less ornamental but more practical things like chilies, spinach, carrot, cauliflower, tomato and other assorted vegetables, not to forget the lemon, mango and papaya trees. The lemons out of my grandmother’s tree were as big as oranges and there was not a more teekhi mirchi or a sweeter carrot for miles around. Living in Delhi and nostalgic for the gardens of their childhood, my parents tried to replicate the same greenery in our small flat in Delhi. We always had plants, shade loving...