yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Amdavad Thanks are due to Apurva Bahadur for sharing the stunning glimpses of Amdavad and to friends for accompanying for the food trips. Sidi Sayyed Ni Jali – a very unassuming but confident looking structure - stood at a busy junction. As I put in time looking with awe at its skilled artisanship and caressing its - rough with age – walls I wondered whether it was less than adequately maintained or just adequately used to enable it to be standing thus, more than 400 years after it was constructed. Just across the road stood The House of MG . The structure has been beautifully restored and besides the famed lodging its restaurants too are well known. I went to its recently initiated Textile Gallery which showcases images and textiles of different regions of Gujarat - from Patolas to Ajrakhs. The Gallery’s two rooms are the most exquisitely coloured ones I have been to in recent times. On the same floor stands the elegant Heritage Bookstore. It stocks books on textiles and

At Varanasi’s Dhrupad Mela, a celebration of classical music unlike any other in India Thanks are due to the team at First Post. The unedited version placed below. The piece on First Post here . All images by Roshni Subhash. During my trips to Ramnagar for the Ramleela I came across people refer to the performance as Mela – celebration of the epic. On similar lines, this music festival, organized under the auspices of the Banaras Vidya Mandir Nyas, and now in its 45 th year, is known as the ‘Dhrupad Mela’ – a celebration of Dhrupad. Where else to celebrate the oldest existing form of north Indian classical music but in one of the oldest cities in the world?   The entry, like at most music events in town is free, decoration is simple or basic while the artists and connoisseurs mingle ( away from the stage ) after performances. Absence of the west influenced practices for music concerts, read formal and dry, is conspicuous. Shailaja Khanna , during 2018, wrote, ‘ i