TheRovingIndian

We stayed for the past few months at an apartment very close to the over 250 years old steel cantilever Hammersmith bridge on river Thames.   For several centuries , and not so long ago, England was the greatest seafaring country on earth. One can easily imagine how crowded the river must have been then with naval and merchant navy ships going up and down all the time. No wonder, on both sides of the river were innumerable docking stations, wharves and warehouses, shipping men and merchandise from all parts of the globe.Goods shipped included textiles, spices, tea, sugar, tobacco, minerals and gold. Human traffic included pioneering settlers and slaves. In fact, there used to be a rich slave trader staying very close to the Hammersmith bridge. The riverside then must have been functional , busy but rather unattractive then. With changing times and heavier seafaring dreadnoughts, shipping traffic vanished from the Thames. Major layout changes were initiated. Walkways and joggin...

Varanasi is an ancient and preeminent Hindu religious city on the banks of river Ganges. On the western river bank, there are many ghats ( flight of steps) which give the place its distinctive uniqueness. From thousands of years, these ghats have attracted tourists and pilgrims. There are also many famous temples including the venerable Kashi-Vishwanath temple. This temple complex has got a major makeover recently and the cluttered shopping area nearby has been relocated. The morning and evening arti at the Ganges ghats are mesmerizing...especially the evening arti. Since the ghats get very crowded that time, a good alternative is to see the arti from a boat. Apart from the numerous temples and ghats, Varanasi has always been known as an educational and cultural hub. BHU ( Benares Hindu University) is the flag bearer in Varanasi's education world. BHU houses a highly ranked IIT, the only Indian religious town to have an IIT. There is a long list of renowned musicians who chose ...

  The Western Ghats run largely parallel and straight to the Arabian Sea, leaving a narrow shoreline that is known as the Konkan coast. This Konkan coast goes down vertically from Maharashtra, then Goa, crosses Karnataka and finally peters out in Kerala.  When monsoons set in, usually in the month of June, this long belt becomes all wet, green and spectacularly beautiful.  One way to enjoy this is to travel on the Konkan railway line, a spectacular contribution by E. Sreedharan (who then went on to head the Delhi Metro Project). There are many trains in this section including a Jan Shatabdi and   Vande Bharat. You get to see plenty of ponds, lakes, water bodies and rivulets. The hills have many seasonal waterfalls and the low hanging nimbus rain clouds on the Ghat hills look enchanting. Cutting across the Ghats i.e. from the plateau to the plains is also a very nice experience during monsoons.   Apart from the Mumbai Pune expressway Ghat section, and the ...