All posts filed under: Art & Culture

books, plays, events, arts

And this is how we bend it!

Published by Anita

After 15 days on the road, the Kerala Blog Express chugged into Cochin and came to a halt. It’s been fun. It’s been tiring. It’s been exciting. Yes, it’s been quite a trip. And instead of writing about more sights or sounds, here’s a fun post. Introducing some of my fellow passengers on board the Kerala Blog Express (KBE) 2014. It’s been fun getting to know them and though it’s impossible to cover everyone, but here’s an attempt to present a few. And with a twist. Yes – I’ve convinced, sweet talked and arm twisted them to do various yoga poses with me. A disclaimer – these might not be “real” yoga poses, but we should at least get brownie points for trying. Daniel is from Brazil and is a very well-known journalist and writes for several high profile publications in his home country. He’s in India for the second time and is excited to be Kerala. From here, he goes onto Ethiopia for an assignment (I’m jealous!), before flying home. And I have a …

Fun, curious and interesting facts about Kerala

Published by Anita

Just some notes from the road as we meander through Kerala on a 15 day trip with Kerala Tourism on the Kerala Blog Express taking in lots of sights, sounds, history, monuments, beaches and backwaters. So while the rest of the troop are in the thick of action sightseeing somewhere in Wayanad, I am enjoying a “do nothing” day at the pictureque and peaceful Vythiri Resort. And while I’m trying to make friends with the monkey who keeps dropping by, these are some thoughts that cross my mind on a particularly lazy day. Density and number of moustaches More often than not, Malayali men will sport moustaches. Most heroes and famous people/ politicians (seen on hoardings – haven’t seen that many in real life) all sport large, abundant moustaches. “Why” is a question that befuddles me and I haven’t gotten an answer from anyone yet. It’s also a fact that it’s not in vogue in the North. Coconut here, coconut there, coconut everywhere Has anyone taken a census of how many coconut trees there are …

Heralding the rains in the desert

Published by Anita

After experiencing the abundance of the monsoons in Kerala and Goa this year, it was a welcome invite when I got an offer to experience the magic of the monsoons in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. And I know exactly what you might be thinking. Monsoons in the desert? But then stranger things have been known to happen. So filled with anticipation and lots of hope, I hopped onto a plane to Jodhpur, which is the closest connection to Jaisalmer from Bangalore. It was a long journey but the thought of the destination was enough to keep the spirits high. Besides air travel has become quite pleasant these days, thanks to all our swanky airports (well, okay not all of them!). At Mumbai airport, I met with Neelima and then with Anuradha (who I hadn’t met for years) and we killed some time chatting and catching up. After a short wait, it was time to board the flight to Jodhpur. A couple of hours later, we finally touched down in Jodhpur and our welcome party was there outside …

It’s an uphill climb!

Published by Anita

The training for Sunfeast is on! This is the Kanakpura stretch where we go when we want to do uphill stretches. This time we did a 4k stretch downhill to start with. And then we come back the same way, except this time it’s all uphill 🙂 Believe me, it’s not happy thoughts on your mind when you’re toiling up one of those hills. If you can spot me here, I look extremely surly and grumpy when Dr Rajat caught me on tape shuffling up on one of the steepest slopes. He was positioned there video taping us asking, “How are you feeling?” You can see me shuffling off. I had no breath left to tell him 🙂