With an estimated budget of $3.5 billion, Saudi Arabia is at the helm of building the world’s largest hotel. Sublime suites, luxuriating surroundings, succulent food and everything extravagant will define this hotel. The city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is soon to give the world a gorgeous hotel in Abraj Kudai. Still under construction, the hotel will span around 1.4 million square meters and is expected to open in 2017. The […]

International wheelchair tennis player, Prathima Rao has her eyes set on the 2020 Paralympics to take place in Tokyo. The only thing holding her back is an old wheelchair. Bangalore-based Prathima Rao was all of 3 years old when she lost the use of her right leg to polio. She was forced to use a caliper to move around, and continues to do so till date. This has not stopped […]

It is not every day that opportunity comes knocking at your door and when it does, you better answer it! This is exactly what Pratima decided to do. Alas, there was one major decision she had to make – move to another city. The only thing holding her back was her husband, not because he was intimidated by her success but because he had his career to take care of […]

Incidents of crime, hate speech and scams in the news do tend to create a cynical impression of the world around us, as so much negativity can even drive people to stop viewing the news completely. The social media is further filled with controversies, negative responses to news and Twitter spats, as it erupts every time a controversial development is reported. But numerous positive stories from day to day life […]

While riding early morning from Narsipatnam to Lambasingi I stopped at a village for breakfast. There was a table set out outside a hut along the village road and an old man was making tea. I asked for a cup of tea and something to eat. The old man pointed to the tea and then said something in his local language that I didn’t understand. I made the sign for […]

“Why is it a ‘grievous sin’ for women to be allowed near the tomb of a male Sufi saint? Aren’t Sufi masters born to women?” asks Bibi Khatoon, a leader of the organisation that has been braving the storm against women seeking blessings at the 15th century dargah of the Sufi saint, Haji Ali Shah. The Haji Ali Dargah is not only a dargah (shrine or hospice) but also a […]

I recently had a friend visit my beachy apartment in California from New York City — also known as “The Concrete Jungle.” She was mesmerized by the amount of plants I had in my home, calling them lively and elegant. I was a bit surprised by her confusion. I grew up with a garden, plants perfectly placed to ignite life throughout the home, and as an adult, surrounded by quite […]

Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular celestial show this weekend, the Venus-Jupiter conjunction. On the evening of August 27, the sky’s two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – will come so close to each other and appear as one large, bright star in the sunset sky, providing space enthusiasts an opportunity to witness the stunning show. During their conjunction, Venus and Jupiter will be only about 1/15th degree […]

India’s national record holder in marathon O P Jaisha’s Rio timing was 2 hours 47 minutes. Her timing for the same event in Beijing Worlds last year was 2 hours 34 minutes. Why such a big change in timings? Because Indian Officials didn’t give a crap about her run. But how is it an official’s fault? How can the officials help her win? Marathon runners who run for 42 kilometers […]

In a world where readily believable first-hand accounts from the frontlines of the war against terror are abound in the same pensive space that authors on this side of the line are trying to define, there is probably little that an author can do with fiction that non-fiction hasn’t already. In other words, the war in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State have supplied enough narratives written along […]