Year: 2011

  • Frida, females and fun

    Since visiting Mexico some years ago with my family I am fascinated by the figure of Frida Kahlo. It seems I am not alone in the world and my good friend Kanchan Chander has dedicated a part of her recent new solo show to this fascinating woman. Kanchan in her own right is also quite…

  • Autumn in Europe

    Autumn is definitely one of my favourite seasons and I am happily visiting the UK to see my boys at a time when the weather is still mild and the leaves are clinging to the trees in a myriad colours of burnt oranges and reds, subtle yellows and screaming ones too.The view of this wonderful…

  • Liverpool

    When my husband told me all those years ago that we are moving to Liverpool I really did not know what to expect but truth be told it was not a good first impression. This was a grand city that had thrived in the past but the latter part of the 20th century has been…

  • TJ 's

    TJ’s  not TG’s.  Yes, you heard me correctly. This is TJ’s as in TIHAR JAIL. Tihar being one of the largest prison complexes in the world. The total population in ten prisons is around 12000 prisoners. It was built with a capacity of 6250 prisoners. So if you are in it you might as well learn…

  • Rangoli time-for Diwali

    Diwali and the festival of lights is a festival of light and colour and giving. The colour comes from the wonderful Rangoli that every indian family will have at the entrance to their homes Most of the patterns are circular, indicative of the endlessness of time. The day-to-day Rangoli patterns are simple or intricate. The most…

  • Sweden, Nobel and India

    Last night we drove down our pot holed road to north Delhi, gave biscuits to the poor begging at the window of our car, took deviations to avoid the gridlocks that were forming everywhere because of the heightened traffic for Diwali shopping and made our way somewhat painstakingly to the Swedish Embassy which was celebrating…

  • The Red Fort in Agra

    Walking through this amazing collection of beautiful buildings I felt very much the sense of what it would have been like to be living there at the time. Its location optimum, its vantage point over the surrounding land perfect, its attention to detail unparalleled. It started out way back in 1080 as a fortress and…

  • Fatehpur Sikri

    This is a ghost town on the outskirts of Agra. The interesting thing about this wonderful place is that it should remind us of two things and two things alone. The first is that Akbhar built it to honour Shaikh Salim Christi (a Sufi ) who lived here, as it was the Sufi who told him…

  • Mehrauli Flower Market NO MORE

    This, to me, was always my first port of call for any visiting friends. Mehrauli Flower Market- up the road from where I live, tucked away in a side street off the busy main road and thriving,buzzing,dazzling with the garlands, rose petals and marigolds.The colours were arresting, the fragrances breathtaking. Even the pigs feeding on…

  • Power out – head out

    The weather in Delhi is almost perfect now, warm without being hot and bearable without outside aids. Sadly though in spite of the lesser consumption Delhi is currently experiencing daily long power cuts and water shortages which are troubling and inconvenient but also a sign of worse to come. What to do when this happens,…