A very good place to start...

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 facade reflected in the waters of its tank.

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Prague - Pavements and Patterns

I had told in my previous post that Prague is a very beautiful city. While in any new place it would be common to be told 'watch your step', you should take that literally in prague - for prague's beauty lies even in its streets. Prague's pavements, or sidewalks, (depending on which side of the atlantic you come from) are paved with beautiful patterns in many areas. They are such a work of art, the granite cobbles laid out by hand, stone by stone. So while you certainly have to keep looking at the buildings in every direction around you, make sure you look down too, to this unique form of street art exclusive to Prague. The most commonly found are white and grey stones, but some areas in the heart of the old town also have pink stones. There are apparently 25 or so different patterns, and i was delighted every time i spotted a new pattern, and tried to capture as many as i could. I share a few below. I wish i could know more backgroun...

4 UNESCO World Heritage Churches in Europe

Europe is full of historic churches anywhere you go and it's hard to pick just a few. During this Christmas weekend, i chose to write about these four below which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and have been important centres of history and culture. Since Prague was the first european city i saw and the one i spent the most time in during my trip, i have grown partial to it and hence will start from there :) St Vitus Cathedral, Prague St Vitus’s cathedral is at the centre of Prague, situated inside the Prague castle grounds. When you catch a glimpse of ‘Prague Castle’ from any other far off point in the city, it is in fact the tall towers and spires of st vitus church that you are seeing. The church was founded in 1344 on the site of an earlier 10th century church in the same place. Construction of the church went on over the next six centuries, halting in between for wars etc. some of the major work, and the ultimate completion of it happened only in...

The Allure of Trains in Indian Cinema

This is not quite a travel post - let me begin with that disclaimer. And yet, i'm parking this here for now, because i dont know where else to. Also, slightly long read - second disclaimer. Today, April 16th, 2023, marks 170 years since the first train service began in India, between Thane & Mumbai. And it has grown into something much more than transport, becoming an inseparable part of our lives, memories, and even social fabric itself. So many of us in India grow up with a certain fascination for trains and train journeys - it evokes in us the nostalgia of looking forward to holiday travels, memories of watching random villages, towns or fields roll away in the distance and wondering how life is for people in all these unknown places. View of the Chennai Central Railway Station There is a lingering feeling that is a mixture of romance, expectation, and dreaminess that most Indi...

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