A few days ago, while going through my inbox to delete unwanted mails, I found a note sent by a friend. Mailed in May 2019, this note was an account of his eventful (and harrowing!) overseas trip in April 2019. It brought back memories of my own first foreign trip to Thailand – I accompanied my elder sister to spend…
In times of the pandemic, the Scottish Highlands have been in the limelight for… well, locals testing positive. And a while ago, there were news reports about an increasingly large number of people opting to live closer to Edinburgh rather than commute daily from far-flung corners of the Highlands. A rather obvious decision, isn’t it? And back in the day…
Its winter in Ahmedabad, India, and the minimum temperature has been hovering between 10°C-16°C. Huddled at my desk, feet tucked in thick socks, I shivered and bemoaned the ruthless cold during a telephone conversation with my best friend. Imagine my indignation when she burst into laughter rather than express sympathy over my frozen toes! “Rapti, if you are shivering in…
On March 6, 1989, a 44 year old and his colleagues boarded a British Railway train at the Edinburgh Waverley railway station. The group of six men – all town planners from developing cities of India – was headed to Glasgow as part of a government initiative facilitating knowledge exchange. Among them was my father who returned thrilled with the…
Around the time I had been reading about Scotland, especially Edinburgh, I remember stumbling upon the statement “But Edinburgh is a mad god’s dream.” Now I don’t know about mad gods and goddesses but I do know that it is a city of Good Samaritans. Do you remember where we left off in the last post? That bit about me…
I confess. I have a crush on Edinburgh. I have been in love with Amsterdam from when I first set foot on that gorgeous slice of heaven on earth. But now Edinburgh, with its cobbled streets, mix of old-new structures and a skyline that gives off a broody Gothic vibe on a cloudy day, has found its way into my…
Looking back, the year 2017 was like the craziest roller coaster ride in an amusement park leaving me, the rider, nervous, exhilarated and other things unfamiliar. But the Gods of Travel were undoubtedly kind to me. How else does one get lucky enough to have checked two places from their travel wish list in a year! Yes! Yours truly went…
A week ago, I did a few interesting things. I (finally!) started work on a ‘history journal’ project that had been gifted to me three months ago. I was supposed to have given it a long time back but then life happened, priorities changed and the project got delayed. That’s the first interesting thing there, finishing that long-pending project. The second exciting…
Beat this now! I’m getting better at planning! I actually managed to time the second part of my ‘best of 2018’ and am publishing it on the last day of the year! I could go on and on about how amazing it feels but let’s keep it short and sweet today. It is a Monday, several of us are battling…
It’s been a few days since the giveaway was announced. The winners have been declared and handed over their loot. While in the process of putting together bags for the giveaway winners, I decided to send out a few to friends who’ve been a rock for me in the past year; and some to people who’ve inspired me time and…