Driving in the rolling hills of rubber plantation, Mr. Mohan took me away from the humdrum of city life. My eyes were set on the tall trees and green canopy of rubber trees while Mr. Mohan kept checking on me whenever he had to apply the break suddenly, to see if I am okay? I rolled down the window of the car, let my hair lose and feel the breeze on my face. There was a permanent smile, which sat on my lips; an affirmation for Mr. Mohan that I am living in the moment. As I lay my tired eyes on the cool blue color of Chittar Lake, Mr. Mohan pointed out Anantya on the other side of the lake. And ..read more

It has been almost two years since I started writing blogs. I often think about what made me start a blog? Why I blog? Do I consider myself a good writer? No, but I aspire to be one. I want to read as many books as I can, and get inspired from the words of good authors. Though, I prefer small chunks of knowledge which is easily digestible. Am I a good photographer? I love photography, that’s the one thing which keeps me happy, upbeat and satiates the creative thirst inside me. But I don’t know if I am a good photographer or not! I want to be a good story teller through visuals. So why did I s ..read more

Tugging ropes and bellowing chants could be seen on Fort Cochin, the huge structure is Chinese Fishing nets- a century old tradition I distinctly remember when I heard about Kerala Blog Express from a season 1 contestant and the idea of getting on a customized bus and travel from south of Kerala to its north seemed really cool, and add other 25 travel bloggers from all over the world, and it sounded even more cool. After talking to my host, Danny Gam, who is also a forest officer in Kaziranga, Assam, I decided to do the monastery run for Monolith is a symbol of remembrance in the Jaintia H ..read more

  Narendra Bhawan, Bikaner Ahilya Fort, Maheshwar 500 Rai, Thailand Dusit Thani, Bangkok  Lakshmi Niwas, Bikaner Lakshmi Niwas, Bikaner Anantya Resorts, Kanyakumari  Ahilya fort, Maheshwar Heritage homestay, Goa Narendra Bhawan, Bikaner Mir Bahay, Uttrakhand  ..read more

The smells we encounter on the road probably rate as our most intense­ and lingering travel experiences, but often, it gets overshadowed by our other senses. We are often in such a rush, following a touristy trail or following a lonely planet guide that we forget to stop and feel, and let your senses fully awake to observe, and to know the soul of the place. What we come back with us is souvenirs, books, photos and stories, but how often do we remember the smell of a place? In my opinion, nothing can beat smelling the freshly brewed coffee as you sit on an armchair to watch the rain in mountai ..read more

We all travel and we all take pictures, so what is it, which defines or separates a ‘Travel photographer’ from a hobby photographer. Let’s decode the process of travel photography and learn the art and science behind it. Disclaimer: Earning money in photography is not easy, especially in Travel photography. If you want to keep your regular job and shoot in your free time as a passionate photographer, that’s one of the good options. Else just jump into the game, and continue reading.. Let’s understand what is Travel photography? Travel photography is about taking pictures which invokes a certai ..read more

In the auspicious month of Pongal, I escaped to Chettinad in pursuit of knowing a close-knit community of Chettiars and tasting the Chettinad cuisine.  Sivaganga district, 500 km from Chennai, is home to the Chettiars, once one of the richest communities in the country.  The decades before 1950 were when the Chettiars, also known as the Nattukottai Chettiars were at their flourishing peak. They rode risk to Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and other South Asian and African countries to return rich from investments in plantations and estates, the ivory, teak, timber and gemstone trades. And als ..read more

At Mahabalipuram the 20 feet high and 5 meter wide rock estimated to weigh over 250 tons seems to pull off a balancing act like no other. Known locally as Krishna’s Butter Ball is not a rock that stands on an extremely small and slippery area of a hill. Narrating the glorious tale of this City of Palaces, the Mysore Palace is among the grandest of India’s royal buildings. The seat of Wodeyar maharajas, this beautiful palace is embellished by mosaic floors, carved wooden doors and a series of paintings depicting life here during the Edwardian Raj era. I rolled down the window of the car, let ..read more

I believe in challenging myself to overcome my fears and Trekking has been one such area for me of late. I had partially exposed myself to the rigours of trekking in the rain-forests of Agumbe (http://datravelography.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/into-the-wilds/) to try and see the sunset from the top of a hill. Like a typical debutante, I fell 4-5 times and considerably bruised myself. To extract that little extra out of a destination, to go beyond the usual ‘tourist’ spots, one has to take that extra step (quite literally in this case!), so I decided to give trekking another chance. I armoured m ..read more

Rarely does a place ‘abroad’ gives you absolute freedom with a sense of familiarity, Siem-reap was something like that. This destination is in the list of every travel photographer given its grandiloquent temples and serene countryside and so obviously, it was on my list as well. Due to last minute changes in the plan; it turned out to be an absolute solo backpacking trip. With the fear of unknowns, I planned it carefully but I always knew it is an absolutely safe place to travel alone. I found a stark similarity to India while travelling in Cambodia, maybe it was the temples or the people. I ..read more