Venkat Talks

PAST TENSE I started as a trickle, Nothing about me fickle Down a pristine glacier I flow; Merry, bright and all glow. Twisting and tumbling over pebbles With foam, froth and spherical bubbles I swirl and surge day and night Through dawn, dusk and even twilight. What is this? A new terrain? Through my shallows flow a drain. I am being pelted with waste and garbage Cans, cartons and even a rotten cabbage. I slow my spirit, cautious and wary, Feeling like a pitiful quarry. 'Is this what I was born for?' I wonder "To be harassed at every meander?' I merge with the sprawling ocean which looks nothing like a calming salvation. Through a sudden epiphany I realised my friends, That my happiness was long gone and is now past tense. by Bhairavi Venkatesan

"India is a Cricket crazy  Nation" I have heard these words and read them 100 times but did not understand the mean until today when India beat Pakistan in the world cup semifinals. Its 2.00 a.m in the morning. I would never do this crazy thing of sitting and blogging at this hour. The reason I am doing this means ,I am an Indian and I have gone crazy. I had earlier tweeted that while the whole nation would be indoors glued to the television sets I would like to go out and explore how a quite Delhi would look like. I had given up the quarterfinal game against Australia an headed for the wonderful discourse of Swami Parthsarathy. That victory in quarterfinal did not stir up the emotions of the nation as against the game against Pakistan. While most of the offices closed for the afternoon to allow its employees to catch up with the game, I decided to be at work as normal. One solace was that the live streaming of the game on internet would make to stay updated. After what happ...

My friend Mariellen Ward  informed me how India was  left out when the  listing of top destinations for food was  drawn up by popular travel publication  and the outrage it received from the readers. Well the publication will have its way . I am likely to end up being called biased when I say "I  feel so fortunate  to be  living India" which according to me has unlimited options when its comes to eating. My words are not to be taken as propaganda . India truly is a "gastronomy delight"  and my friend  who is more right than "Paul Rockower" the young Jewographer and Public Diplomacy guru who believes in India  in "Gastro diplomacy" strengths. Let me now come to this story of my craving for Gujarati Food in Delhi. Since I turned vegetarian six years ago I have been regularly asked this question " Is it not hard  staying veg" . Well my only reply has been being vegetarian...

It was a great sight for the people of Behrampora, Dhobiwan, Kunzer of Kashmir Valley to see a beautiful object flying above their villages in early hours of the day. They could make out three persons standing in a basket hanging from a huge balloon and waving to all the crowds who tried to follow them many of then up to 3 to 4 Kms through the fields. Some were excited to see this type of adventure activity first time in their life . It was a Hot Air Balloon run by Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IIS&M), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Gulmarg first time in the Valley after a long spell  .   The balloon took off from a barren patch near Behrampora village and flew 12 Kms. towards Kunzer, Dhobiwan and Budgam. It was a trial flight by Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IIS&M)  who have just finished 5 snow skiing courses at Gulmarg.   Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IIS&M) is pla...

It has always been a challenge to those marketing destinations to pick up new ideas that will immediately sell and excite the travellers to pick up their bags and decide to move . The destinations have tried everything to get the market attention . India is never short of travel ideas when it comes to telling people the true story . Many of you are now familiar with the phrase " Incredible India" and as one of our advertisement copy say " 365 days 1365 Festivals" its is this festivals that offer a great opportunity to experience the destination. One such festival is the " Pongala Ritual" at the famous Attukal Bhagavathi Temple in Tirvandrum the capital of " Gods own country - Kerala It was a news to me when I was told this is the world's biggest devotional congregation of women. This year it was estimated that over 2.5 million women participated in this festival taking over miles of street space at Trivandrum, Kerala. It was a wonderful sight to s...

Living in Delhi is a great boon when it come to options available for weekend getaways.The opportunities are immense and with a love for Travel I have chose the path of travel to get away from the weekend monotony and get rid of the stress. Travel any time is the best bet to fight stress. Uttarkand some how has caught my imagination and when some asks me to list my favorite destinations in India I end up listing all the 90 percent of my favorite destinations that are in Uttarakand. Haridwar is one such town. the Holy Haridwar as I wish to call it. The Magic of Hardiwar is to to experienced and cannot be explained. I have now been there several times just to be at the ghats of Ganges and experience the power of faith. Every visit to haridwar has been a different experience. The best part of the experience is to have a dip in the ganges in the evening and sit at the ghats waiting for the evening Aarti( Prayers). During certain important bathing dates there is sea of Humanity waiting to...

A documentary film "Kerala: The Cradle of Christianity in South Asia"(30 minutes)was screened on 2 Aug at the Kerala house in Delhi. This film depicting the rich and colorful texture of the Indian version of the Middle Eastern (Chaldean and Antiochene), Roman, and Anglican traditions of Christianity in Kerala against backdrop of one of the most attractive tourist regions in the world. The film highlights a relatively less known aspect of the cultural complexity of the region, provides yet another reason for calling Kerala as "God's own country", and makes India more intimate. Verily, a visual and aural treat. Script: Dr. Joseph Palackal, Direction: Jain Joseph FIIT. Joseph Palackal, a St. Thomas Christian from Kerala, is an Indic musicologist, singer, and composer. He earned degrees in Hindustani classical vocal music, psychology, and Christian theology in India and a doctorate in Ethnomusicology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His ...