Seglvik. What I Had Forgotten to Plan For.
There's something you sometimes learn too late on a journey: what matters most isn't what you prepared for, it's what you forgot to anticipate. I had prepared everything. Everything except…
Puffins
A few interesting facts gleaned whilst researching the topic, for anyone who’d like to find out more. The scientific name, Fratercula, means ‘little brother’ — a reference to the black…
Puffin
In Scotland, he was affectionately known as Tammie Norrie — a name that was also given, in the 19th century, to a rather simple-minded man. I spent hours with them.…
Lathmar Holi, the Festival of Sticks
Krishna grew up in Nandgaon. Radha, the one he loved, lived in Barsana. Legend has it that one day, he came to tease her with his friends, splashing her with…
Holi, the Festival of Colors
Holi marks the end of winter and the return of spring. It is one of the oldest festivals in the Hindu calendar—some texts trace it back several centuries before the…
Kambala: Story of a Race
The word itself carries mud at its heart. Kambala would come from kampa-kala, where kampa designates a waterlogged, marshy field—an ancient Dravidian etymology, though local linguists don't entirely agree on…
Hijras, the third-gender community
Hijras, the third-gender community It was William Dalrymple, yet again, who put me on the trail – not in *Nine Lives* this time, but in *City of Djinns*, his book…
Kambala
The Theyyam had captivated me with its slowness — the turmeric spread across a face, the headdress being fitted piece by piece, hours before the man finally stepped aside. As…
Lathmar Holi
Robert Capa used to say that if your photos aren’t good enough, it’s because you weren’t close enough to your subject. I’ve never thought about that quote more than I…
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