With my newly purchased binoculars, I headed out to Kasavanahalli Lake. As lakes go, this one has always led a tenuous existence. When I last visited a month ago, I left agitated. Sewage poured in from the unauthorized dwellings clustered along its edges. Pigs lolled in black mud. Men and women squatted among the bushes,... Continue Reading →
I knew I was in trouble when my internal monologues started featuring a full supporting cast with feathers — and that one of them was now due an apology. You see, the red-wattled lapwing is one of the most distinctive birds I encounter. Visually and aurally. I still remember the first night I properly heard... Continue Reading →
In the sun-baked ruins of Hampi, where granite boulders and shattered temples still gossip about the glory days of Vijayanagara, a far more successful occupation force rules the roost: the Brahminy starling (Sturnia pagodarum). These birds are not grand. Ask a child to draw a stick figure of a bird, and she'll most likely draw... Continue Reading →
Hampi is arid. A dry, deciduous surreal landscape of strewn boulders. If the myths and local lore claim it to be the Kishkinda of the vanaras, I can see why. Massive rocks lie scattered as if a giant hand has abandoned a game of marbles halfway through. “Vali and Sugreeva used to play here with... Continue Reading →
"Adhalle Adhinde Oru Sheri" Roughly translated, it means "Isn't that the right of it?" A simple, elegant, if slightly cryptic Malayalam phrase that gently reminds us: no matter the situation, there is an inherent rightness—a quiet spirit of goodness—in doing the better thing. It goes beyond legal obligation or strict equality. It’s a soft acknowledgment... Continue Reading →
"I had spent many nights in the jungle looking for game, but this was the first time I had ever spent a night looking for a man-eater." - Jim Corbett, Man-Eaters of Kumaon I had picked up a gorgeous copy of Jim Corbett's Man-Eaters of Kumaon some months ago—one of those timeless Aleph Classics with... Continue Reading →
Every four years, I reactivate my invariably expired telly license to watch the FIFA extravaganza. I relive the glory days of watching matches on a single channel at ungodly hours. I used to be able to rattle off names like Salvatore Schillaci (as I write this, I have sadly learned that he has passed away),... Continue Reading →
A few mornings ago in Mysore, I stepped out onto the porch, wincing from kidney stones. The Farm is usually my happy retreat — binoculars glued to my face, ridiculous grin in place. But that day, pain was winning. The previous afternoon, I had hobbled deep into the property, stick as a crutch, very aware... Continue Reading →
Just two days back, I drove 300 kilometers back home with a broken foot. All because of an Orange Minivet. Wherever I stopped on the way, mostly for waterbreaks, I hobbled out, leaning my weight on my car, wincing with pain. Despite the gritting of teeth and sweat pouring down my back, I was ecstatic.... Continue Reading →
Bangalore has been especially cold this year. Most early mornings for the past two months, I have been surviving with a steaming cup of golden-brown kattan tea and a shawl wrapped around me. Last week, I picked up Jim Corbett's Man-Eaters of Kumaon—it's gripping stuff: those tense stalks through the Kumaon hills, the way Corbett... Continue Reading →
The Cricket Pages
I am taking notes
Life in Kana-text (er... CONtext)
Travelling with Fabulosity
Author
This is about my trips and adventures.
The Reluctant Book Worm 
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