WIERDSTORY

Our visit to London is incomplete without a visit to see the art and installations at Tate Modern, Bankside. Contemporary art comes up with a lot of quirky stuff and we were not diappointed.

Bodh Gaya where Bhagwan Buddha gained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, emanates a sense of peace and Tranquility. Nearby Vishnu Padh Temple is where the deity is a 40 cm long footprint of Lord Vishnu. Our visit was indeed a A Holy Day that left us peaceful and happy!

The Friends of Women World Banking (FWWB), Ahmedabad, provides micro-finance to women entrepreneurs and is engaged in capacity building of these women. A field trip to Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya revealed the remarkable determination and creativity of rural women entrepreneurs who continue to build livelihoods despite limited resources and difficult circumstances. What stood out most clearly was the spirit of collective effort among the women.

Arundhati Roy: Mother Mary Comes to Me. If there is one thing common between mother Mary Roy and daughter Arundhati Roy it is that both lived life on their own terms. And the book brings it out poignantly.

Arundhati Roy: Mother Mary Comes to Me. If there is one thing common between mother Mary Roy and daughter Arundhati Roy it is that both lived life on their own terms. And the book brings it out poignantly.

Arundhati Roy: Mother Mary Comes to Me. if there is one thing common between mother Mary Roy and daughter Arundhati Roy it is that both lived life on their own terms. And the book brings it out poignantly.

Rameswaram Theertham

On Shah Rukh Khan's sixtieth birthday today there are volumes written literally everywhere on his stardom! As a tribute to Shah Rukh I repost two blogs earlier.

In August 1862 Jack Tewa (known as Maori Jack) found gold in the Arrow River, in the South Islands of New Zealand. The Chinese settlers started to arrive in Arrowtown in the 1870s. The Ah Lum’s Store was the heart of the Chinese community. The store became a business and social centre. The Chinese Village has been restored in Arrowtown.

Milford Sound: Mesmerising Fjord in New Zealand

Humour on New Zealand Tour

The Shaky Isles: Geothermal Volcanic Valleys, New Zealand

Our tour program in Rotorua, New Zealand posted ‘Duck Tour City and Lakes’. I thought how ridiculous, who wants to go on a Duck Tour? But we went along. We arrived at the pickup point and saw this truck that said ‘World War II Landing Craft’. It took me sometime to realize that this truck can run on land and water. It was the most amazing and unique tour I was ever on! Encourage all to take a ride on this amphibious truck, 83 years young Landing Craft!

Rotorua, New Zealand! Amazing town with geothermal activity below the ground. Steam coming out of the ground. And another worder, the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.

The Roman Baths, Bath, UK

How does a researcher doing fieldwork blend into the surroundings and not appear conspicuous? I learned a lesson. One cannot change one’s looks and background. But one can be courteous and genuinely accept the culture of the people.

Maya Angelou's fascinating memoir of her early childhood, growing up in a Black Town in Southern America in the 1930s. Look forward to continuing her story in the next six volumes.