amjamin

The windows and the balconies at The Dadhikar Fort, are a mix of the Indian and mughal architecture History, it is said, lies buried in the annals of time, faded in the yellowing pages of books and oft forgotten; if one were to chart the history of The Dadhikar Fort, it has risen from the ashes - figuratively and literally. In a country which is home to 1.2 billion people, finding serenity is the most luxurious and rare commodity, and this fort, situated 125 km west of India's capital, New Delhi, in the princely state of Rajasthan, is a voyage in a time machine. Leaving behind the swanky glass buildings, the zip-zap zooming, stalled traffic, blaring horns, and the sea of humanity. The first things that strike you are the laid back pace of life, the greenery, and the dirt track that is shared with herds of buffaloes, cows grazing in the fields, schoolchildren waving gleefully at the lone car passing by - bliss to the nth degree. Somewhere, a peacock is ready to spread its...

A roti is made on a clay skillet on a Chuhla, the traditional Indian clay oven. This phenomenon is slowly diminishing in the fast paced world, but some households are keeping this tradition alive Every evening, Savita Yadav religiously bathes, gets ready, goes into the corner of her home with a high zinc roof, the cemented courtyard lined with the pots of holy basil plants, pours ghee (clarified butter) on to the stack of fuel in a mud stove, strikes a match, waits for the fuel to burn, and puts an earthen ‘tawa’ (Indian flat skillet) on top.  The chulha (pronounced choo as in shoe, la as in large), a traditional Indian cooking stove, has been an integral part of Indian households for centuries, a rapidly diminishing phenomenon taken over by the gas stove and the more ‘funky’ microwave. “I started cooking on the chulha when I was seven years old,” said Yadav as she meticulously divided the kneaded dough, neatly packed in a brass vessel, and blew air from a hollow metal tub...

In north east India is a district, which is off the tourist grid, seeped in oft time warped traditions – Madhubani (translated as Forest of Honey – Madhu: honey, Ban: forest) – is the home, and lends its name, to the country’s foremost traditional painting genres, which dates back centuries. Rustic, traditional, and precise, each work tells a story – of the painter’s thoughts, dreams, aspirations, and critically giving life to Hinduism’s holy scriptures and deities. A mix of folklore, realism, celebrations, joy, and spiritualism, Madhubani is a personal statement of the artist, carrying on a tradition that has been handed down from generations. Ram Charita Paswan, is one of scores of painters who started dabbling with colours when he was six years old.  “I used to watch my grandmother paint,” the bespectacled, lean fourth-generation painter said. “I used to take cotton wool, tie it on a stick and try to dab paint on a paper, but I always ended up making a mess of th...

Courtesy: stock.xchng As I boarded the Rajdhani Express one fine morning at Chennai (formerly Madras) for Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi), swarm of flies and the unbearable stench from the toilets overpowered me, on the compartment wall a face of smiling ' incredible !ndia ' welcomed passengers aboard. The journey to Delhi was pleasant, nice company, unending conversations and not to forget the flies and mosquitoes, who sung in accompaniment of the PA system that periodically rattled some haunting melodies. We complained to the coach attendant and the (TT) ticket-checking official on the lack of cleanliness...pat came the reply... "sir what can we do, the maintenance of the trains are now in the hands of private contractors, ...they are just minting money without doing work!" Then it was the turn of the coach attendant to make rounds to distribute the bedding, a blanket, bed sheets, pillow and a hand towel. The spick and span white sheets were fine save for so...