Meenakshi J

In his backyard in Kerala, India, Vinod Sahadevan Nair, 60, grows bananas and plantains and rears chickens and ducks. Situated as it is in an agrarian region, abutting the biodiverse Western Ghats, his farm may seem typical. But a walk through his four acres reveals bananas growing in every conceivable shape, size, and hue: from deep red to turquoise blue. An avid farmer since the age of 12, Vinod has conscientiously collected some 430 varieties of banana over the past 30 years.

Selvarani Mari is a fisher and seaweed collector who lives on Pamban Island of Tamil Nadu, on the southernmost tip of India.

Every day she helps her husband cast the fishing nets, maintains rafts for cultivating seaweed, and dives into the ocean to gather sargassum. But she always makes time to listen to the radio.

Mari, 33, and her friends and family all unfailingly tune into Kadal Osai on 90.4FM, India’s first local radio station for a fishing community. With guests including from older peo...

The green fronds that grow along much of India's shoreline have large potential as a sustainable food source while helping to fight climate change.

Some of the fragile murals in the Ajanta caves in western India are thousands of years
old – and photographs of them have just been added to an archive deep in the Arctic

A decade ago when I was newly married, I stopped by a roadside fruit stall in the South Indian town of Nagercoil near my in-law’s home to pick up some bananas for a religious ceremony. I gawked at the bunches of this nutraceutical fruit, ranging from the usual shades of yellow to varying hues of red and purple. They hung upended on hooks from the stand’s tinned roof as if they were prized possessions.
There were some 12 to 15 varieties, each with a distinct name and purpose
Each bunch was tag...

While South Indians have eaten this go-to breakfast food for thousands of years, it has evolved into a fast food item to be eaten at just about any time, day and night.

It was time for Sunday breakfast, and I sprinkled a few water droplets onto a hot griddle to check if they would sizzle. Perfect. Quickly, I poured a ladleful of pale batter onto the pan’s centre, gently spiralling it outwards. Then, raising the heat, I added a generous spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) around the newly form...

A few months back, on a trip to Moscow, I happened to visit a glossy mall to buy some essential oils. One of the base ingredients read uncannily familiar. I quickly dug through the annals of my memory, only to conclude that it’s native to us Indians, to be splurged on.
Vetiver. Ushira. Kuruveru. Vettiveyr
One component. Too many names.
So, what is vettiveyr ? It’s the Tamil moniker for a perennial grass with the botanical name Chrysopogon zizanioides, earlier known as Vetiveria zizanioides, b...

An image of an ancient mural – part of work that dates back two millennia – has been converted to special film and deposited in the Arctic World Archive.

Initially photographed by Indian art historian Benoy Behl in the early 1990s, it is potentially the first of many of his Ajanta photos destined for the archive

Sipping steaming green tea, I lean over the wooden gate fencing my boutique property in Himachal, lost in thoughts of nothingness. A cool morning breeze caresses my face and I warm up to the faint rustle of cherry blossoms across the stoned pathway, watching the routineness of early morning village life unfurl slowly: An elderly villager is guiding his flock of gaddi, a breed of sheep so wooly, so adorable, they look straight out of a baby’s touch-and-feel book; trailing the man is his gritty...

Dharamshala is a picturesque hill town in the lap of the Dhauladhar range. Located in the upper reaches of the Kangra valley, it serves as the winter capital of the Himachal Pradesh state. Often overshadowed by the more popular suburb of McLeodganj, Dharamshala is more of a laid-back and calm destination to spend a long weekend. Plan your trip to Dharamshala with this comprehensive guide.
History
Historically, the Kangra valley was part of the ancient Trigarth region that extended from the pl...

A four-page feature on one of the most eclectic neighbourhoods of India's capital- Delhi.

Indore, the second-largest city in Madhya Pradesh, has been a buzzing trade center since ancient times. Located on the edge of the Malwa plateau in Central India, Indore city was founded in 1715 by local landlords and named after the Indreshwar temple that they built a few years later.
In 1733, the Holkars won Indore as part of their war booty in their conquest of the Malwa region. They established their capital here, and reigned over the Malwa region until the advent of the East India Compan...

If you are the kind of traveller who is often seeking holistic experiences at quaint hill stations, Parvada, a picturesque hamlet in Uttarakhand should be on your list of places to visit this summer. Away from the touristy crowd, it is a village where you can press the pause button, unwind, and rejuvenate your soul by surrendering to the best healer, mother nature.

Parvada, Uttarakhand: Nature’s Bounty

Situated 11 kms away from the temple town of Mukteshwar, Parvada is an enchanting hamlet un...

BBC write-up translated into the Tamil language.

இந்தியாவைத் தாயகமாகக் கொண்டது என்பதாலும், எல்லா சமயங்களிலும் நிறைய கிடைப்பதாலும், கட்டுப்படியாகும் விலை என்பதாலும் இந்தியாவில் எல்லா சமயங்களிலும் பயன்படுத்தக்கூடியதாக வாழைப்பழம் இருக்கிறது. நாட்டின் கலாசாரக் கட்டமைப்புடன் இது பிணைந்திருக்கிறது.
10 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு எனக்கு திருமணமான புதிதில், தென்னிந்தியாவில் நாகர்கோவிலில் என் மாமியாரின் வீடு அருகே சாலையோரம் எங்களை நிறுத்தினார்கள். மத சம்பிரதாயத்துக்கு சில வாழைப்பழங்களை அப்போது வாங்கினார்கள். சத்துகள் மிகுந்த வாழைப...

தோசை. தென் இந்தியர்களின் தினசரி காலை உணவாக எப்போது மாறியது என்று தெரியாது. ஆனால், காலை மட்டுமல்ல, எந்த வேலையாக இருந்தாலும் தோசையை சாப்பிடும் மக்களும் இருக்கிறார்கள்.
சுமார் 2000 ஆண்டுகள் பழமையான இந்த தோசை, சென்னை பாரிமுனையில் இருந்து, பாரிஸ் லே சேபல் வரைக்கும் மிகவும் பிரபலமான ஒரு சர்வதேச உணவாக இன்று மாறியிருக்கிறது.
நெய் ஊற்றி சுட்ட தோசைக்கு மிளகாய் பொடி, நல்லெண்ணெய், சட்னி, சாம்பார் ஆகியவற்றை தொட்டு சாப்பிடுவது தென் இந்தியர்களின் பழக்கம்.
ஒவ்வொரு தென் இந்திய மாநிலத்திலும் தோசைக்கு ஒவ்வொரு ப...