Idle Strolls

The winter in our neck of the woods has been so long now that it feels like i accidentally opened a wardrobe and walked into narnia. while im waiting for the bleak days and bitter winds outside to give way to spring, im thinking of one of my earliest spring memories after coming to the usa. nothing says spring more than flowers, especially the cherry blossoms and magnolias - and visiting the cherry blossoms in washington d.c was one of our very first road trips. it has been a decade now since i first saw them, but i still remember how enamoured i was the moment i set foot in the tidal basin in washington d.c during the cherry blossom festival. how do you put down in words the feeling of seeing more than 3000 trees at a time covered completely in white and pink blooms ? these cherry trees came to the usa as a gift from japan in 1912, from the mayor of tokyo, and were planted around the tidal basin, which is a reservoir for the water flowing in from the potomac river. called '...

Travel, like charity, is best begun from home. It is not until we appreciate what we have close to us that we can truly appreciate what we seek elsewhere. And the farther we travel, the more our appreciation deepens for these sights, sounds, and smells that collectively evoke that sense of 'home'. Home, to me, happens to be madras (chennai), basking in whose sunshine and sweating in whose humidity i grew up. regardless of how far away from it i happen to be, i feel the wind of its beaches, the sounds of its streets, every time i hear its name. life may take me anywhere, but i think my soul will come to roost in chennai. it is only natural then, that any attempt of mine to start a travel blog shall begin with sharing an image or two of this city that has seen the best and worst of me. a twilight view of the iconic marina beach of chennai, seen from the top of the lighthouse. the kapaleeswara temple in mylapore, the bright electric lights on its centuries old fac...