Safar

            You are going to Tripoli….I was told by my boss. This was way back in 2003 when Libya was in the grip of the Colonel and a place not many people would have wanted to go to. I too was one of them….who in their right mind would want to go to Libya ? First lets figure out exactly where it is…definitely not in the tourist circuit !! Ironically geography was not one of my strong points right through school. Perhaps that’s why I was destined to travel…! I was told by an optimist friend that Libya was right next to the country of one of the seven wonders….Egypt. That got me a little interested. I could always drop into Egypt to see the pyramids on my way in or out of Tripoli. Well it would be even better if I could drop into Tripoli on my way in and out of Egypt. Ah ! it was beginning to get better. So started packing…now what would be the right clothes for Egypt ? Our mission was easy….(at least that’s what I thought at the time). We...

Recently Hindus fleeing Pakistan was in news. For many it may have brought back memories of leaving their homes, for the unknown. One cannot begin to understand how it feels, not having gone through it. But even reading about the partition can move the most hardened of souls.  I had the opportunity to travel to Pakistan in better circumstances, as part of an Indian tea delegation to that country. It was really not a part of my beat as Director Tea Promotion, at the Tea Board of India’s office at Dubai. My region was WANA- West Asia and North Africa. However, Pakistan was perhaps more accessible from Dubai than India, and so the task of promoting Indian tea in that country was entrusted to the Dubai office. After all, Pakistan is one of the largest tea consuming countries particularly of the variety that India produces- CTC teas and therefore a very attractive market for us.  So that is how I found myself organizing a tea delegation to Pakistan in coordination with t...

Touching History… A lazy Sunday afternoon, going through the newspapers, I  came across  a photograph which caught my attention-a most beautiful red and blue intricately painted ceiling of a tomb in Delhi….sadly where it exactly was, was not clear from the article.  I sat up. How could I have missed this, having lived in Delhi most of my life and with a father who took painstaking efforts to expose us to our heritage.  I and my brother are one of those lucky ones who have visited most of the sites of historical importance which remain in the seven cities of Delhi. As children, we have run across the city of Tughalaqabad, felt the djinns in the ruins of Feroze Shah Kotla, walked on the ramparts of the Red Fort, looked up in awe at the imposing façade of the Jama Masjid,  climbed the steps of Humayun’s library in the Purana Quila wondering how he could have slipped on these steps to his death , and of course not to forget the fascinating view from the top ...