The God of Snakes – Scaling The Himalayan peak of Nag Tibba – Intrepid Times
I was walking. I kept walking through the rocky trail as my body could feel the weight of every step I took. The sun shone bright, but the air was still chilly. I looked around, gazed at the majestic Himalayas of the Garhwal, the green valleys and took in a lungful of fresh mountain air. The duffel bag on my shoulders was trying to pin me down and the wooden stick that I held for support was wet with my sweat. I looked around to spot the summit, but it was too far to be seen.
Demonetisation has left unorganised sector in UP’s Saharanpur traumatised but local BJP leaders are in denial – Firstpost
Saharanpur: Rajbala was two months pregnant when demonetisation hit the country. The 30-year-old labourer from Kumharheda village in western Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district had been working on farms for a daily wage. Work was already scarce, but after 8 November, 2016, it became impossible to find any.
Memories of a devastation – The New Indian Express
When Kamani D’Silva first saw the wave, she thought that it was the end of the world. “Run”, she
How Mumbai’s Roadside Corn Removers Are Trying To Keep Their Peculiar Profession Alive – Huffpost
Dilip Pannalal retired as a pedicurist from a salon 14 years ago. It was the end of his professional life as a pedicurist, but also a new beginning. From an upscale parlour in South Mumbai he moved base to a footpath outside the Veeramata Jijabai Bhosle Udyan Zoo in Mumbai’s Byculla East. Armed with a toolbox, a stool and a vibrant sign that read ‘Corn Specialist’ in bold, Pannalal began his new career. Ever since then, the 55-year-old has treated thousands of people, who have come to him with their foot ailments, right there on the footpath.
The Bombay Building That Brought Hindus And Muslims Together To Free India – OZY
Engraved in Nastaliq script on a shining white marble plaque, this Urdu couplet — penned by the Persian poet Hafiz — decorates the gate of a 200-year-old building located on a quiet lane in Mumbai. It’s a fitting tribute
‘In the Absence of Writing’: History as it was recited – Hindustan Times
One morning, in the town of Yazd in Iran, an Indian woman named Astha Butail pitched tent and invited local scholars in to recite hymns from the Zoroastrian Avesta, the living oral history tradition of Iran. She recorded the hymns, then interviewed them about their significance, drawing parallels with the Indian oral tradition of the Rig Veda.
Republic of #Grit: The Lives of Two Sanitation Workers in Uttar Pradesh – The Wire
Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh): Santosh* had always been prepared for his father’s death. Yet when the day came, the 36-year-old found himself questioning his own identity. Santosh’s father had a long battle with a respiratory disease, a professional hazard of being a sanitation worker – a job that Santosh’s father did for 50 long years until he passed away in 2015.
Soul Searching in Sri Lanka – Intrepid Times
One Tuesday afternoon in Mirissa, a small tourist town in the southern province of Sri Lanka, I slouched my sandy self on a beach chair and gazed at the clear blue ocean in front of me. It was a bright, sunny day. However, that was not how I felt. The waves were calm and gentle, yet uncomfortable thoughts raged in my head.
In Saharanpur, art of woodwork thrives as artisans embrace international designs, digital business methods – Firstpost
Wahid was feeling particularly restless the day he decided to come back to India. The 51-year-old woodcarver, having spent 25 years of his life creating furniture for the king of Bahrain, dreamed of starting a woodcraft business at a time when he could have been working towards a retirement plan. With enough expertise, Wahid returned to Saharanpur — the place where he was born and grew up. He found his way back to the same old lanes where he was first introduced to woodcarving.
Tracking Down ‘Flipped Out’ Israelis In India – Homegrown
On a beautiful summer morning in Kasol valley, Ran started hearing voices that he claims were out to kill him. Smoking incessantly, parading up and down outside his room quietly, his tiny eyes shining with a ferocity that could pierce right into your soul without acknowledging your presence at all; the young, 20-something Israeli backpacker refused to eat, sleep or talk to anyone around him.