THE TRUTH ABOUT: 2 - The Untold Story

Bathukamma: The Telangana Festival Where Flowers Become a Goddess

A Goddess You Build With Your Own HandsBathukamma begins not in a temple but in a field. The flowers used, tangedu, gunugu, banti, celosia, cucumber flowers, are not cultivated for the occasion. They grow wild after the monsoon, in the margins of tanks and along bund walls, and the women…

Times Life · Oct 16

Nabapatrika: The Nine Plants Bengal Has Long Called Ganesha's Wife

A Banana Tree in a SariBefore the sun clears the Ganga on Mahasaptami, women carry a banana plant to the riverbank, bathe it in the water, wrap it in a white sari with a red border, and bring it back to the pandal to stand beside Ganesha. The crowd calls…

Times Life · Oct 16

That Pretty Bamboo Could Become Your Most Expensive Landscaping Mistake

Imagine spending $200 on a few beautiful bamboo plants to create a natural privacy screen in your backyard. Within a couple of years, you’ve got the lush, tropical-looking barrier you wanted, and you haven’t spent thousands of dollars installing a fence.

Frugal Gardening · Oct 15

Puri, Ooty and Munnar emerge as festive travel hotspots as Indian searches surge for October-November holidays: Agoda

As the festive months of October and November approach, Indian travellers are increasingly opting to merge celebrations with getaways. International locales like Bangkok, Phuket, and Tokyo are favoured, alongside domestic gems like Goa and Udaipur. The trend showcases a significant shift towards seeking unique experiences rather than sticking to traditional…

The Economic Times · Oct 15

Tinchuley and Takdah: Darjeeling's Ridge Villages Worth the Climb

Why the Ridge Villages Exist Above the Tourist TownDarjeeling's fame compressed everything onto one ridge and one road. The mall, the toy train platform, the viewpoint at Tiger Hill, all of it stacks within a few kilometres, and in peak season that compression shows. Tinchuley and Takdah were never resort…

Times Life · Oct 15

Dooars in Cool Season: Gorumara, Jaldapara and the Tea Road Between

Why the Cool Months Change EverythingThe Dooars in October is a different country from the Dooars in July. The monsoon has just released it. The Jalpaiguri district's floodplains are still wet enough to hold animals at the edge of the grass, but the roads are passable and the leeches are…

Times Life · Oct 15

An eerie trip inside Thailand’s oldest amusement park, deserted after flooding

Siam Amazing Park was forced to close after rising water damaged rides and left parts of the park inaccessible

The Guardian - AU · Oct 14

Chenab railway bridge to open new tourists viewing deck; vistors will see Himalayan peaks from the world’s highest railway arch bridge standing 359 metres above riverbed

World's highest rail bridge: Indian Railways is setting up a dedicated viewing deck and an engineering museum near the Chenab bridge in Jammu and Kashmir. Standing 359 metres above the riverbed, the world's highest railway arch bridge will now offer tourists sweeping views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks alongside detailed…

The Economic Times · Oct 13

Vagamon to Kanthalloor: The Village Roads of Idukki's Interior

The Plateau Before the ClimbVagamon sits at roughly 1,100 metres and behaves like a place that has not decided whether it is a meadow or a cloud. The grass hills here are not the dramatic peaks that draw trekkers to Munnar; they are wide, open, and slightly damp at every…

Times Life · Oct 13

Wayanad Beyond Edakkal: Estates, Ghat Roads and the Drive Worth Taking

Why Most Wayanad Trips Miss the PointEdakkal is genuinely worth the climb. The Neolithic carvings are real, the views from the top are wide, and the history sitting in that rock shelter is older than most of what India calls ancient. But the cave is also where roughly ninety percent…

Times Life · Oct 13