Teaching Indian languages– a town called Landour

We were in an idyllic little town called Kanatal nestled somewhere in the hills, in Uttarkhand, content to gaze at the glistening white peaks that peeped through the deodar trees. Conversations around travel filled the air as several destinations were discussed and tossed around . However I was in no mood to leave my little balcony that opened into the vast expanse of the mountains. There was something about Kanatal that makes you want to look at these peaks endlessly . But then I was beckoned and off I went, a reluctant traveller to explore the Queen of the Hills, Mussoorie.

The winding roads took us through verdant paths as the peaks continued to give us company until the clouds veiled them. We stopped by for tea and walked through a little market and watched some men play cards on the streets. Time did stop by for them. The journey took us into a little town called Landour , often referred to as Upper Mussoorie, which had a distinct European feel. And that is where we discovered a century old institution, lost somewhere amidst the trees, courtesy my fellow traveller and travel blogger, Mariellen Ward from Canada.

We stopped by a little church and followed a board that took us inside the Landour Language School. There was pin drop silence. A couple of classes were on, where every student had a private tutor. Mariellen, who was fascinated by India and everything Indian was keen on learning Hindi and we followed her as she went around meeting people.

On a little board was a time table with names of students and tutors . We met a few tutors, some of them were third generation teachers. Students here came from all over the world to learn several ndian languages. I was fascinated to hear that Urdu was the most sought after language besides Hindi , while Sanskrit , Punjabi and Telugu were taught here as well. The school boasted of more than hundred students at one time and the demand for Indian languages seemed to be increasing. The teachers told us that while some of the students were interested in Indian literature, some of them were missionaries, while others purely wanted to pick up language skills.

We met Rebecca from Sweden who was fascinated by Urdu and had been learning the language here .” I love Urdu poetry..i am now reading Ghalib, “ she said and talked about her many visits to India. The entire locality of Landour welcomed their foreign guests who lived here for months to learn an Indian language.

Antara from the school told us that the British used to learn Hindi in this school during the colonial era. It explained the evolution of Landour today - from a British cantonment to a literary , artistic and a cultural hub .

We were sipping tea in the “fifth shop” in “Chaar Dukaan” - a popular locality in Landour. Mars chocolates were stacked with Maggi noodles while homemade jams and cheeses were sold as well.Everything in Landour was reminiscent of the Raj era. The markets had a quaint ring to them. The names of manors and mansions were taken out of literary novels. The eeriness of the cemetery was more pronounced as the fluffy watch dogs glared at us. And the silence, the quaintness, the slow pace of life , the beautiful scenery - they all seemed to be a slice of life from a Ruskin Bond’s novel . The only difference being, it was for real here. Everything in Landour seemed to be perfect, but for the fact that we really missed the man himself as we looked for him in cafes and book -stores . As we left, the bells seemed to ring, signally perhaps the end of day . We took that as a cue and continued on our journey to Mussoorie.

This story was published in my column, The Inside Story in The Hindu and on the Club Mahindra Blog, Clay. Club Mahindra had invited me along with a few travel bloggers to CONCLAY – an un-conference of bloggers in Kanatal.

Visiting Dubai Is Like Visiting Venice in the 12th Century

I was talking with a friend of mine about Dubai. She does not want to go there and I do not understand that. She said she doesn’t like to visit places with modern architecture. What do I think? I think that we should take the opportunity to visit Abu Dhabi, Doha, Shanghai, Singapore and yes, the most amazing Dubai. Because we are contemporaneous with such amazing times of engineering and architecture we should go seing – and the only thing different than the gorgeous old places is that the Dubai ones are very new. Of course it is different visiting such a place, I include here also Las Vegas, then going in Italy and France and in even old China, but it is like visiting Venice in the 12th century when it was an effervescent place, a rising city, a modern place like no other in the World. It is an amazing feeling and we should take part at making history, at making dreams come reality. It is a place of steel and glass, and rising islands, and gold, and heights beyond imaginations. If you do not want to see only the modern part you can go and visit Al Fahidi Fort, built in 1799, is the oldest existing building in Dubai and now part of the Dubai Museum. The sandy desert surrounding the city is the perfect place to take a ride with a car, a desert safari. As of 2010, Dubai was the 8th most visited city of the world. Dubai is expected to accommodate over 15 million tourists by 2015. I want to go there :D

Later edit: Dubai is one of the major places to migration birds. There are around 400 species of birds, making it a bird-watching paradise. Some are very rare. Some are very spectacular and I am thinking about the thousands pink flamingo which winter at the protected Khor Dubai Wildlife Sanctuary, just a few minutes of the centre of town. Another unlikely but important location is the Emirates Golf Club, where you can find Red-wattled lapwings, Pacific Golden Plovers, Pintail Snipe, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and Isabelline shrikes; however special permissions are required to visit both of these locations.

36.757891,139.598732 Click for Google Maps or use numbers on your GPS to navigate.

Wikipedia For more information, links, pictures and many more Wikipedia is the perfect site to be informed.

Official Site For visiting information (like fees and open days and times) use the official site.
United Arab Emirates For travel information, the official site of the National Tourist Board, is the perfect location.

Low cost airlines in India - Boon to Tourism ?

A few years ago, I was very much a part of the corporate world and my media job required me to travel almost every month. And although I used to fly Jet or Kingfisher on work , the obvious choice when it came to travel for pleasure used to be the low cost airlines.

When Air Deccan launched in India almost a decade ago, the tag line was "Simplifly" . They were the first of the domestic airlines to make it possible for almost everyone to fly. I used to fly very often to remote destinations and Air Deccan used to be my preferred airline ; not just because of the prices but they had the best network, flying to small towns as well. In a way, the airline brought in more travelers to these small towns and developed tourism to some extent here.

However, with Kingfisher taking over Air Deccan and Jet buying Sahara, the era for low cost airlines seemed to be over. I was for one, a great fan of Air Deccan. Even with all the delays, they made it possible for loads of travelers to take to the skies.

 Pic Credit - Cliff, Flickr.com

Of late Indigo , Go and Spice Jet have however taken over from the realms of Air Deccan and Sahara.Although the latter is part of the Jet family, I still prefer flying Indigo as am assured of the most basic quality - on time performance. Frills and food on board have never been something I cared for as long as the flight takes off on time and lands on time and there is no turbulence when I fly.

Nowadays I prefer flying the national carrier .I flew Air India for the first time in the domestic sector - from Bangalore to Delhi last month and was amazed at the service and punctuality. I have also flown Indian Airlines several times and their price range is rather moderate and they are pretty much on time too. With Kingfisher flights being grounded, travellers prefer reliable low cost airlines which are sure to take them to their destinations.

I am planning Goa next and am checking Make My Trip to see some competitive pricing and looks like I am already late. The prices have gone up but a few surprises in store. Go Air offers a non stop flight and it is the cheapest , but surprisingly Air India is offering very low prices as well, although it comes with a couple of halts. But then, it is the new years eve and what am I doing here, writing this post when I should be booking the tickets !

A Jaunt in Jonker Street - Malacca, Malaysia

Most of travelling is not just about sightseeing. I usually enjoy absorbing the sights and sounds of a city by hanging out in the main square or walking around the streets. One of my favourite streets in Malaysia is located in Malacca, the World Heritage Site. Jonker Street is a cultural melange , a fusion of art and architecture , of local crafts and curios and I could lose myself for hours here. One of the best ways to experience the cultural heritage is to take a journey down the ages in a trishaw or a beca and listen to the stories narrated by the locals as they drive you down these streets.

Pic Courtesy : Brian Jeffery Beggerly, Flickr.com

Some of the ancient buildings here , which have been restored , date back to the 17th century and they lend a distinct European flavour to the architecture styles. East meets West in these quaint streets, now thronged by tourists. Visit Jonker Walk on the main street where you are greeted by art galleries, antique furniture and curio shops that  beckon you but be prepared for some hectic bargaining. And while you are here, do not miss Heeran Street or the Millionaire's Row and the beautiful Peranakan Museum, which showcases the unique culture . Sample the local food here or sit in a cafe and watch life pass you by in this vibrant street.

Take a piece of Malaysia with you

Buy a wooden mask or a tribal blow pipe from Malaysia’s skilled and talented artisans. 

I have a fetish for souvenirs and I collect almost everything from trinkets to masks to handicrafts from every country I travel to.  Amongst the melange of several souvenirs on my shelf is a tiny elephant with pink feet and ears resting under a coconut tree with its arms folded behind its head. Made of pewter, an alloy of tin, aluminium and copper, the piece was aptly titled Rest and Relaxation. It is my first pewter piece from Royal Selangor and although I bought several others, this one is a personal favourite.

Shopping in Malaysia is a delight, if you are like me interested in local handicrafts.  I have picked up wooden masks and carvings, shadow puppets, colourful kites, hand woven fans, batik sarongs among several other souvenirs. I have been told that the Handicraft Market in Kota Kinabalu or the Jonker Street Night Market in Malacca are some of the best places to shop, but you can visit many markets and shops in and around Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kelantan, among other cities.

 The joys of shopping in a market lies in the discovery of a unique product. Sometimes it can be a tribal blowpipe or an wooden ornate panel. It can be jewellery if you fancy pearls or just some interesting trinkets. Eventually it is all about carrying a bit of Malaysia with you as you return home. And the golden rule is that you can always bargain in any of these markets.

This is a post that was published recently in Travel Wire Asi. If you like this post and want more information on Malaysia, do visit Tourism Malaysia.

Destination Goa for 2013

Goa to me has never been just a destination  - I refer to it as a state of mind. I have visited Goa in many seasons and yet, I have never been able to head there for a new year's eve celebration.  By the time we make our plans, Goa Hotels get overbooked, the rooms are full, there are no train tickets  and the flights are  more expensive than a return trip to London.

This time however, we have been trying to make our plans well in advance . I have been toying with the idea of spending a night in the forests of Goa or head to Ponda or live it up in old Goa.  But my friends want to party and they are insisting that we join them. I would ideally prefer a lovely vacation home somewhere atop a cliff near a beach , but I would look at places that are accessible as well and I want to be close to a beach. 

Hotels in Goa get booked almost as early as end November and  it is very difficult to get a room of your choice. There are always two ways of looking at spending a new years eve destination. Either you find a good budget hotel which offers you all the comforts of a resort and you spend your entire night at a party or driving from one party to another or you check in at a comfortable spa resort and chill and party away the night there. There is of course the option of heading to Ginger Hotels, which is located conveniently at Panjim. I refer to Ginger as a do it yourself hotel , but then my friends would prefer a resort .

We have been recommended Pearls Oceanic Resort or the Golden Palms Resort and Spa. I am completely into spa destinations, so am wondering if we should head there and go to South Goa and then drive around for a few days. Given a choice, I would prefer a lovely Portuguese villa near the beach , where I can have my own private party and ring in the new year.

Its almost end of November and we are still not decided..what are your recommendations ?And while Goa is very much in our plans, this is a sponsored post for Make My Trip.

Happy Deepavali folks

It is all about lighting up your own life . Smile. Live for yourself. Celebrate.