By our Tammie, Anjali Tolani
Moatsu festival is one of the most eagerly awaited festivals in this little yet beautiful state of Nagaland. Making the entire state lively with its vibrant festivities, Moatsu Mong festival is celebrated by Ao tribe of the state.
By our Tammie, Anjali Tolani
The sleepy town of Binsar is one of the scenic places of Kumaon region in Uttarakhand. Perched at an elevation of 2420 metres, Binsar is not easy to get to, hence does not attract the comfort seeking tourist but is a great destination for travellers who are looking for an active holiday involving trekking, jungle walks, bird watching and even a try at leopard spotting.
Personal Note by Karan Bakshi – The General Manager of WelcomHeritage Cheetahgarh Resort & Spa
I get into this open Safari Jeep with padded seats & beams and set out to track the elusive Leopard. No sooner than I exited the resort, I looked out for any forest gate or marked route in our search for the Leopard and to my surprise I didn’t find any. Suddenly, in a few minutes, our driver gets a call which sends him hitting 3000 on the dirt road ….the call is from a local Rabari who is part of their leopard information tracking chain and has passed on the news of a sighting, at Jagtala, of the well-known leopard “Neelam and her cubs”. We cover a distance of 5 km in less than 10 minutes (that explains the padded seats and beams) and get there in time to see Neelam lounging on the granite outcropping. She sits there calmly gazing at us, having seen many before us, and goes about playing with her cubs before slipping into the rock crevasses. What amazes me is that all of this is being played out a mere kilometer away from the Rabari settlement, shepherds roaming with their cattle, with no demarcation between core and buffer zones, no barrier between man and beast ….just the wildlife and the shepherds and their overlapping universes.
Continue reading “Jawai Bera – Where Leopards roam the Land”
By our Tammie, Anjali Tolani
Koovagam the festival derives its name from the sleepy, quiet village located about 25 kms from Villipuram district in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Continue reading “Koovagam – The Festival of a 1000 Weddings and One Funeral”
By Poonam Tipnis – VP Sales, Niraamaya Hotels
When we think of the basic necessities of life – Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan is perhaps the first thing that comes to mind. The 1970s movie by the same name made this a household phrase that has been passed through generations, through our grandparents, parents, uncles and friends. I see how patriarchal this sounds as I write this out… but well, that was how it was then. Times may have changed now… but the human need (& greed) remains the same.
Continue reading “Beachy Vibes or Mountain Drives? An Interesting Snippet on Niraamaya Residences”
By our Tammie, Amal Senan
After sitting home patiently for almost 2 years, we elected to resume our post pandemic travel on the 73rd Republic day of India, 26 Jan 2022. And the destination we had selected 2 years back and was cancelled due to lockdown, was the one we chose again – the mighty Himalayas!
Continue reading “A Himalayan Family Retreat – Shimla & Manali”
By our Tammie, Prabhakar Kamat
We were in the midst of one of those mega exhibitions in Noida when I was presented with the opportunity to visit a wonderful place aptly titled Ananda. While the timing was just right, I did a brief check with Francis, my colleague before preparing to head off to the verdant hills and beautiful scenery of the Himalayas. “Ananda in the Himalayas” is a luxury destination spa resort located at the foothills of the Himalayan ranges. The Property is surrounded by lush green Sal forests, overlooking the historical and spiritual town of Rishikesh and Ganges Valley.
By Mahesh Natarajan, COO, Ananda in the Himalayas
In my journey of a decade and a half at Ananda, I have seen personally the amazing physical transformations that our guests have gone through after a few weeks of immersive wellbeing programmes with our experts. I had seen some guests who would tend to gravitate more toward meditation and in the course of sessions would spend more time exploring their personal state of mind with the teachers. But mental and emotional health was still something vague, and what we believed got taken care of simply by improving the physical self and by virtue of simply being in the tranquil surroundings of Ananda.
Continue reading “Emotional Healing at Ananda in the Himalayas”
By our Tammie, Anjali Tolani
While Mumbai does not form part of the coveted Golden Triangle or beckon like the beaches of Goa or backwaters of Kerala, its history and cultural ethos are no less fascinating than that of better-known tourist destinations in India. While many are aware that the erstwhile Bombay comprised seven islands initially occupied by the Portuguese and later gifted to the British as part of the dowry bestowed upon Charles II, not too many know about the indigenous East Indian community.
Continue reading “Uncorking the secret of the Bottle Masala”
On The Spice Trail with Tamarind Global
The cuisine of Uttar Pradesh is as diverse as its history and geography. The sheer diversity prevalent across the length and breadth of this vast territory covers everything from kachoris, chat, jalebis and samosas of Varanasi and the local litti chokha to a mouthwatering variety of Mughlai and Awadhi kababs, biryanis and desserts.
