tanaz

These are the photographs a dear guest named Petr from Prague in the Czech Republic took of us kayaking when he visted havelock. Thank you so much for this Petr. Enjoy.... read more

What is it with ‘non-veg’ restaurants and sleazy rowdy men? Why is it that if an un-escorted girl enters a ‘non-veg’ restaurant post 6pm, then SHE is what’s being served! At least in India. Well appetites apart, Coimbatore Railway Station has a variety of lodges and accommodation for nearly every type of traveler. I, being one of the lesser value ones, chose a single-occupancy (very fancy word for a not-so-fancy place) room at Raja Lodge, just behind KR Restaurant (a landmark here), for Rs 300/- per night. If I must rate it then I’d give it a 1.5 on 10. Actually, it depends, if you’re an Indian sportsman then it’s a 6.5, but if not then it’s 1.5. I think every Indian sportsman has stayed in conditions far far worse and even appreciated some of those. ... read more

Disappointed, dejected, and disillusioned with my 4 drunk nights in Ooty and one drunken night in Allepy, I decided that what I needed was a vacation from this my hectic vacation. So, while my 24 hungover batch-mates flew, drove, or rode back to their respective lives, I stayed on in Kerala. In Cochin, a very kind friend of my mother’s (and now an excellent friend of mine) hosted me for another three nights. During that time, I visited Fort Kochi (by road and sea), which is a simply-must-do for so many reasons…one being its sudden Goa effect. There are quite a few homestays in this area (so no need to pester me for my friend’s address). One of which is a lovely Portuguese building which is supposedly where Vasco Da Gama himself lived in (I believe ... read more

Sometimes, you gotta just run. Get out there. No ‘oh, but it’s too hot, or too cold or too dark or too sunny, or I haven’t got the correct track pants or t-shirt or shorts’ or whatever. Put on your running shoes and just run. No one’s asking you to break some record so stop looking for excuses. Just run till you’re okay with stopping. I hate running. I hate it. I detest it. Me. Me who cancels dates or ‘catch-up’s because ‘I gotta run’. Yeah, it destroys me every time. Time. Time always wins against me when I run. But I don’t run to run. I run to kayak. I run to get to my kayak. I run to get into my kayak. I run only and I mean it when I say ONLY because ... read more

Bruised, Burned, Blistered and Bleeding – and I’m not talking about my ego, here. My back is scraped thoroughly from all the pivoting in my seat trying to keep my kayak right-side-up in five-feet swells just south-east of John Lawrence Island…ohhhhh and the wall of rocks they end on – not a pleasant sight. Still rolling and pitching from the rough seas while kayaking this past week, I haven’t felt this alive in a lonnnnng time. But all in all it was a bloody good week at sea. I actually enjoyed the fight. A mini-storm (something you get a lot of at this time of the year in the andamans) hit me just as I was through playboating the swells a couple or so days ago, and turned to start my 4 km ride back. The ... read more

At the end of a fantastic meal why is it always a fight over the bill? How do I end a perfectly good date without getting into an argument over paying for something I want to pay for? When she fights to pay, is that a good thing or a bad thing? The survey successfully spanned five guys and three girls. And it kind of resulted in the fact that we would simply like to be an actively contributing part of a wonderful time. I mean, “I’m an adult, and I am as much part of making this evening happen as you are, so let’s both contribute to it so that we can both afford to have more such evenings”, is what the girls eventually agreed on as common reasoning. Everybody wants to feel special, and ... read more

Option A: Half Day tour: Rs 500/head Leave your heels and fancy shoes behind: this one’s for the adventure and nature lover. Don’t forget to apply mosquito repellant even during daylight hours…it’s pretty much a jungle out here. Remember the hat. This 30 acre mass of overgrown flora, legally referred to as ‘The 5th Island’, is nothing more than an organic island-plantation. Situated six km from the airport by road, the last point of drivable land ends at the Attam Pahad village football field that doubles up as a parking lot. From there it’s a 300mtr stretch of offroad, followed by another 200mtrs of a walkable path that ends in the sea. This sea is part of a bay called ‘Flat Bay’. And from this final point of land you will be transported to this Island ... read more

A friend of mine is going through a real rough patch in his relationship. So he has a ton of questions for the female species: Q.1. What do you want from us? A.1. DRAMA. Okay, to spell it out, it’s all about that effect that one person has on another. We’re not looking for looks, or muscles or bone structures or facial hair or skin type… we’re looking for that effect. What effect: It’s like that song, by Elvis Presley: All Shook Up, we want your hands to be shaking and your knees all weak, where you just can’t seem to stand on your own two feet; Your tongue gets tied when you try to speak, your insides shake like a leaf on a tree; you’re proud to say that I’m your ‘buttercup’, coz your in ... read more