Travel

I’m currently on a six month Idex Fellowship in Bengaluru, India . I will be writing this blog as I go along and then periodically post my progress. This is my first trip to India, and my only other experience abroad was when I visited Mozambique back in 2013 for a day. Idex is partnered with several Indian social enterprises to provide placements for fellows. For the next six months, I’m working with Oorvani Foundation,a not for profit community media organization based in Bengaluru. It has different initiatives such as Citizen Matters (an online community news platform), Open City and…

I’m currently on a six month Idex Fellowship in Bengaluru, India . I will be writing this blog as I go along and then periodically post my progress. This is my first trip to India, and my only other experience abroad was when I visited Mozambique back in 2013 for a day. Idex is partnered with several Indian social enterprises to provide placements for fellows. For the next six months, I’m working with Oorvani Foundation,a not for profit community media organization based in Bengaluru. It has different initiatives such as Citizen Matters (an online community news platform), Open City and…

The way life throws surprises at you! It was on July 29th evening I was standing all alone in some corner of Auroville, located at a distance of around 12 kilometres from the main town of Pondicherry. I had arrived at this experimental township on the same noon, curious to know and understand how this township is experimenting in human unity. I had done my prior booking with a vehicle rental service agent belonging to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry who was suppose to drop me off at Auroville along with a bunch of other travellers and bring me back to…

The way life throws surprises at you! It was on July 29th evening I was standing all alone in some corner of Auroville, located at a distance of around 12 kilometres from the main town of Pondicherry. I had arrived at this experimental township on the same noon, curious to know and understand how this township is experimenting in human unity. I had done my prior booking with a vehicle rental service agent belonging to Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry who was suppose to drop me off at Auroville along with a bunch of other travellers and bring me back to…

Ten weeks have flown by and my internship with Citizen Matters has come to a quick end. Tomorrow, I will board a flight, but I will not be leaving India just yet. I am looking forward to three weeks of travel around the subcontinent to see what else this country has to offer. The author on the beach in Goa. Pic: Kate Clark But soon enough, I will be struggling to nap on 16-hour flight back to Dallas, Texas. When I picture exiting the Dallas Fort-Worth airport, driving a few miles toward my parent’s house in suburban Texas, I can…

Ten weeks have flown by and my internship with Citizen Matters has come to a quick end. Tomorrow, I will board a flight, but I will not be leaving India just yet. I am looking forward to three weeks of travel around the subcontinent to see what else this country has to offer. The author on the beach in Goa. Pic: Kate Clark But soon enough, I will be struggling to nap on 16-hour flight back to Dallas, Texas. When I picture exiting the Dallas Fort-Worth airport, driving a few miles toward my parent’s house in suburban Texas, I can…

Most of us tend to think of nuclear power plants as extremely high-security areas where the general public is not allowed. But in a striking example of friendliness and transparency, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India  Limited (NPCIL) has made it possible for all Indian citizens to visit  the power plant at Kaiga, Karnataka. When my friends and I took permission and visited, we were already at Kaiga to participate in the annual Bird Marathon, an event held to document the avifauna in the area, and also assure the public that Kaiga is a safe place to both live in…

Most of us tend to think of nuclear power plants as extremely high-security areas where the general public is not allowed. But in a striking example of friendliness and transparency, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India  Limited (NPCIL) has made it possible for all Indian citizens to visit  the power plant at Kaiga, Karnataka. When my friends and I took permission and visited, we were already at Kaiga to participate in the annual Bird Marathon, an event held to document the avifauna in the area, and also assure the public that Kaiga is a safe place to both live in…

Dear reader, who I may know well or not at all, you are going to get to know all sorts of strange things about me. Let’s be forward with each other, shall we? Today, for instance, I am going to write about my toilet. Of all of the things I’ve been itching to share with you, I think I need to talk about my toilet. And while I’m at it, I might throw in some interesting details about the rest of the bathroom as well. You see, this isn’t really the type of restroom I’m used to. Pic: Holly Thorpe Had…

Dear reader, who I may know well or not at all, you are going to get to know all sorts of strange things about me. Let’s be forward with each other, shall we? Today, for instance, I am going to write about my toilet. Of all of the things I’ve been itching to share with you, I think I need to talk about my toilet. And while I’m at it, I might throw in some interesting details about the rest of the bathroom as well. You see, this isn’t really the type of restroom I’m used to. Pic: Holly Thorpe Had…