In 1893, the British colonial administration was watching Pune carefully. Large public gatherings were viewed with suspicion. Political meetings were monitored. Any organised assembly that could give voice to the growing feeling of nationalism was a threat to the colonial … Read More
5 Senses Tours
Sushruta: The World’s First Plastic Surgeon
Modern medicine credits plastic surgery to 20th-century European surgeons. There is a Varanasi physician who performed it in 600 BCE. His name was Sushruta. He lived and taught on the banks of the Ganges in the city now known as … Read More
Malpe Fishing Community: What It Actually Takes to Bring Fish
The boats leave before you are awake. By the time visitors arrive at Malpe harbour in the morning, the day’s work has already been underway for hours. The fishing families of Malpe do not operate on tourist time. They operate … Read More
Shankarapura Mallige: The Jasmine That Wakes Before Dawn
The flowers have to come off the plants before the heat of the day. This is not a preference. It is biology. Jasmine blossoms at its most fragrant in the cool hours before sunrise, and a flower left unpicked past … Read More
Udupi Cotton Weavers: The Last Families Keeping a 200-Year-Old Craft Alive
The cotton arrives as a simple cone of white thread. By the time it leaves the workshop at Talipady as a finished Udupi saree, it has passed through hands that know exactly how much tension a warp thread can bear … Read More
Tirupati Balaji Temple Tour: Why 100,000 Pilgrims Visit the World’s Richest Temple Every Single Day
Every single day, without exception, 100,000 people climb the Tirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh to stand before Lord Venkateswara. Not during festivals. Not during special occasions. Every ordinary day of every ordinary week of every ordinary year, one hundred thousand … Read More
Aryabhata: The Ancient Indian Mathematician Who Calculated the Earth’s Rotation
In the year 499 CE, a twenty-three-year-old mathematician in Kusumapura, the ancient city that is now Patna in Bihar, finished writing a book. The book was called the Aryabhatiya. It was written in Sanskrit verse. It was 121 stanzas long. … Read More
Sariska Tiger Reserve: The Forest That Brought Tigers Back From Zero
Three thousand years ago, if you believe the Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers spent part of their twelve years of forest exile somewhere in the Aravalli Hills of what is now Rajasthan. Three hundred and fifty years ago, a Mughal emperor … Read More
The Mystery of Iron Pillar Delhi Unveiled: How Ancient Tech Beat Rust for 1,600 Years
Every metal has a shelf life. Leave a piece of iron in the open air and the process begins almost immediately. Oxygen from the atmosphere combines with moisture from rain and humidity. A thin film of iron oxide forms on … Read More
Lakshmi of Pompeii: The Indian Goddess Who Was Buried Under Mount Vesuvius
On the morning of August 24 in the year 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted. By the following day the Roman city of Pompeii, which had been one of the most prosperous trading cities in the Mediterranean world, was buried under … Read More