After arguments over the Kolkata’s famous and much famed Rosogolla simmered down soon there are arguments over the delicate and fragrant Biryani, and it would not be wrong to say that what Kolkata relishes today it might soon be recognized nationwide. Agreed that Mumbai is the financial capital of India but truly Kolkata is its stomach. The street food of Kolkata is truly innovative so much so that in the crises of Covid-19 they made sandesh in a spiky shape like the Covid virus and so much so when the film Titanic won the Oscar awards markets were flooded with.....Read More

He loved nothing better than to immerse himself in India’s “muddy waters, getting her dust between my toes.” Charles Robin Allen, born in India in the industrial city of Kanpur on January 2, 1940 and was a popular British freelance writer and popular historian from London. Both his parents were too born in India and his numerous works focus on the British Raj. Charles Allen had travelled throughout the length and breadth of India documenting its rich historical facts and authoring some 20 odd books until his demise in August 2020. In his last book, Coromandel: A personal History of.....Read More

The entire procedure of making any exotic tea is firstly to bring water to a boil and then pour it over tea leaves placed in a teapot, leaving it to sit for some two minutes and finally pouring it in cups. The reduction of temperature from the kettle to the pot and from the pot to the cups brings the right flavours of the tea and so is it with Oolong. Oolong is one of the six specialty teas grown at Donyi Polo Tea Estate in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Golden Needle tea as per the news.....Read More

There is a nip of cold in the air in Sivagangai with dark clouds coming closer and the hasty wind bringing in a shower and moistening the terracotta red earth. Situated off the Madurai-Karaikudi highway in the village Kollukudipatti is the Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary and the loud echoes of sounds made by numerous birds. Spread across 95 acres, Vettangudi is the oldest bird sanctuary in the state of Tamil Nadu, accommodating nothing less than 20 migrant varieties including common stork, ibis, grebes, egrets, herons and cormorants and also some rare birds like, the yellow wattle lapwing and lesser whistling duck......Read More

Much before the famous band Beatles reached Rishikesh or Jerry Garcia got inspired by Benares, there was a cult of young and middle aged happy-go-lucky ones who travelled on buses often called ‘magic-buses’ for long distances internationally. This possibly was the first instance when India opened up as a tourist destination to the world, much before it was seen as a leisure destination. The earliest bus that brought in the first batch tourists from France to India was in 1956. This trip started from Paris and brought in French and quite possibly other Europeans too to Bombay. This journey took.....Read More

In Delhi's 14th century Feroz Shah Kotla fortress which is a reminiscence of the Tuglaq era, also known for the famous cricket stadium nearby, comes alive on Thursdays when faithful assemble to offer incense and lamps to the djinns believed to dwell here in the narrow and dark alleys of the fort in hope to fulfill their wishes. Those who are granted their wish return to distribute biryani as thanksgiving. Soon the rice dish gets devoured and so does the controversies of being in India, where rich and poor, love and hate all coexist. Well the aromatic biryani brings all.....Read More

Kashmir in India is known as Paradise on earth as well as Switzerland of India due to its scenic and picturesque landscapes. It is even praised for its houseboats, apples, nuts, dry fruits, saffron, but no one talks much of its architecture of its heritage religious buildings. The Kashmir valley for long has been a conflation for Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Muslims, especially in the 14th century when different traditions of art and architecture conjoined and may be observed in its pagoda like architecture of mosques like the Khanqah-i-Maulla (Great Khanqah) or Madin Sahab. Khanqah-i-Maulla is one of the finest.....Read More

The Ayahs or native Indian nursemaids made long sea voyages to work as house maids or as nannies for the British in the colonial era. One can still see these buildings called “Ayah’s Home” and have been shortlisted for a blue plaque, a type of inscription in London that alerts people to a place's importance and gives an opportunity to people who are interested in history to include it in heritage walks. These buildings called the Ayahs Home or hostel for destitute ayahs in London's Hackney. They have been a testimony of native Indian nannies or ayahs who often ended up.....Read More

The history of Naples goes back to three millennia with reminisces of Hellenic pottery left behind by its Greek founders who named the city ‘Neapolis’- meaning to say new city in Greek. Greeks had an influence on the local population  by way of  speaking Greek and contributions to Italian culture and so much inventing ‘makaria’ which is said to be the origin of macaroni with its unmatched historical continuity. Naples archaeological museum has best of Europe’s collections not only Pompeiian relics but also Greek and Egyptian artefacts and antiques. In the gemstone hall one can find carnelians, which are a.....Read More

1857 22 January The sepoys at Dumdum become uneasy about the new cartridges. January- March Unrest among the sepoys on the greased cartridge question; outbreaks at Berhampore and Barrackpore, the chapaties pass from village to village. 24 April Meerut 3rd Light Cavalry; rebellious conduct followed by court-martial. 10 May Meerut 3rd Light Cavalry, 11th N.I. revolt. Rebels kill officers and other Europeans and burn bungalows, set off for Delhi. 11 May Rebels arrive Delhi; proclaim Bahadur Shah Zafar as Emperor, murder Europeans, Delhi troops, 5th Light Fd Battery Foot Artillery, 3rd Bn 2nd company,38th N.I. and 54th N.I. all Revolt......Read More