Month: December 2013

Naturalist, Chinmay Deshpande, and his passion for all things wild

Published by Anita

Meet naturalist and snake expert, Chinmay Deshpande, who decided that pursuing his dreams was worth sacrificing a career in IT and a desk job. You only have one life, says this young man. And we agree! This is his story. He was hooked at a young age. A wildlife enthusiast and a naturalist at the Kanha Earth Lodge, Chinmay confesses he got interested in reptiles and snakes after watching a lot of Discovery and NG channel while growing up. He began to learn about handling snakes by watching and observing and soon in his hometown people started calling him whenever there was an issue. He began to learn and understand how to handle venomous and non venomous snakes. At the same time, he was also pursuing his studies and went into commerce, but his heart was always in wildlife and nature. He conducted workshops and camps to educate children and people, especially those of the poorer economic class, who face conflict on a regular basis. Chinmay took on a part-time job as a swimming coach …

Your vote will help me realize my dream!

Published by Anita

Yes! Turkey Tourism’s contest to send a blogger to Turkey is now in the voting stage. The link to vote to my entry, “I dreamt of the Bosphorus” is here. And the post is here – in case you missed it! (The voting website has some technical issues, so you might face some hitches, but hopefully that will be taken care of in due time.)

A Kanha sunset

Published by Anita

Wherever I travel, I try and experience a sunset. Isn’t it just magical, watching the sun go down at the end of the day? Travelling in Madhya Pradesh, currently at the Kanha Earth Lodge, yesterday evening we ventured out to a point where we could enjoy the sunset. We packed ourselves some tea and coffee that we enjoyed as we witnessed the gorgeous sight. Around 20 minutes of climbing a small hillock, we were treated to some amazing views of the Kanha forests, the buffer zone and a peekaboo of some villages between the thick foliage. Around 20 minutes later, the sun began to go down into the horizon. Darkness falls quickly once the sun goes down, and we packed up and headed back. It’s just another sunset, but to me it’s always different and special. (This trip was made possible on an invitation from Pugdundee Safaris and the Kanha Earth Lodge.)

I dreamt of the Bosphorus

Published by Anita

I remember receiving a postcard once. It was a long time ago. But it lives in my memory. It was from Turkey. A friend on holiday sent it to me. I pinned it up – it was a monument – the Sultan Ahmed Mosque I was to find out later. I would look at it once in a while. I didn’t really give it much attention and vaguely remember thinking to myself that it would be an interesting place to visit. And then shelved it in the back of the travel “wishlist”. And then, a few years later, a friend who was visiting Turkey happened to upload and share pictures of the food, performances and sights from the country and that piqued my curiosity a little more. The food definitely looked delicious, the sights were varied and interesting, the traditions deep-rooted in history. While reading some literature about Turkey, I came across the whirling dervishes. Nary a mention goes of Turkey without a reference to the dervishes – performers in white and black robes who …

From the archives: The sisters visit Arunachal!

Published by Anita

Many, many years ago the intrepid Bora sisters took off to Arunachal Pradesh. At that time, it was a big deal to travel without guardians, but we were quite determined to make the trip happen. The parents had given up on us by then, I think. The journey to Tawang is a long and arduous one-day affair. And to add to the woes of women travellers – there are really no rest rooms enroute. But we still made it. By jeep, which is the most common mode of travel. The roads are extremely narrow and there are many places which are just wide enough for one vehicle. It still amazes me as to how people drive on these roads. The vehicle is usually bundled with around 8-9 passengers, to ensure that they make the most out of it. It was a good trip too – we visited the Tawang monastery. We trekked to a nunnery. Saw yaks for the first time. And young monks to be everywhere we went. And I think it was also …

The 5 rules of engagement

Published by Anita

Actually, I thought I’d call this post, “matters of the heart”. And then I changed my mind. Didn’t want to sound too cheesy, right? Someone was telling me how I don’t write too many personal posts nowadays. And then I thought I should make some changes. I didn’t really intend this to become a food and travel blog. It just turned out that way. But that doesn’t mean I can’t talk about other stuff. Other interesting stuff. And vent. Yes – I need to vent sometimes. Get things out of my mind. Sometimes, I have all these things to say. But I can’t really find someone to say it to. Well – you know how it is. No one wants to sit around you sipping coffee and be lectured 🙂 And then I realized, I do have a blog. A place I can actually talk about things that I think are important. And hopefully, that you’ll enjoy reading too. So here you go. The 5 rules of engagement (in no particular order): a) Laughing We …