Paris – My Favourite Things

The Guest Post Series on “My Favourite Things” has contributions by those sharing my interests in travel, books, photography, music, and on issues that I am passionate about. Though the guest posts are not always by fellow bloggers, the guest authors are always those who have interesting experiences to share.

Today’s guest author is Raghav Modi, who writes four blogs —The Traveling Ticker, Ticker Talks Film, Ticker Prints, and Ticker Talk. I admire the passion with which Raghav writes and his ability to juggle his many interests so effortlessly. I like all that he writes, but my favourite post has to be the one on a museum of pens in Birmingham. Raghav is also the founder of Movie Talk on Sunday (#MTOS), and The Sunday Book Club (#TSBC). In today’s guest post, Raghav’s three primary passions in Films, Travel and Photography converge to create unique serendipitous moments.

Ever get the feeling that you are being pulled in three different directions at the same time? I do. Every time I have a moment to spare, I feel like my interests/passions/hobbies all gang-up and pull me towards their individual selves. Films and Travel have always occupied the highest tier on my activities table. Photography was recently added to this knocking down books and food to the under-appreciated second tier. So now when the weekend rolls in I am never sure what to do, which eventually leads to me doing absolutely nothing.

But, just once in a while, something magnificent happens. Everything falls perfectly in place and I end up with a photograph, a memory, or in some cases my vivid imagination wherein all my interests amalgamate. Searching through countless photographs (thank you digital camera technology) I ended up with these few instances wherein my lust for cinema met with my passion for travel to collaborate into a unique photo.

Continue reading “The three directional dilemma” →

Sometimes, in this journey called life, one meets people who are there with you for only a short while, almost as if they were on a specific purpose—that of making a positive difference to your life. I met one such person in the very first week of a year-long stay in London—Mohand.

But before I tell you more about Mohand, a little background information…

The year in London is, perhaps, the most memorable year of my life, in more ways than one. And one of them was searching for affordable, vegetarian food that I could manage within my limited scholarship allowance. I could have cooked in the communal kitchen in the place where I stayed, but I could not stomach the sight and smell of meat, chicken, fish, etc.

Rajshri, a friend & colleague from work, was already in London on a short-term visit when I arrived. A vegetarian herself, she had done quite a bit of research on vegetarian food joints in Central London and introduced me to some of them. The Cafe le Midi, on 23 Warren Street, was one such place, and we would meet up for lunch on Saturdays there. Rajshri soon returned to India, but I continued going to the Cafe every Saturday for lunch.

Continue reading “A special friend” →