Travel Around Bharat
“Once you have been to India, the rest of the world feels a little less colorful.” ~ Anonymous
Guinness World Record Attempt For Gita Chanting: Krishna’s Secret of Life Chapter 15
Today, I attended the Guinness World Records attempt for the largest number of people chanting the Gita across the world. It was an event organized by the Chinmaya Mission across all its global chapters, held online via Webex. This year marks the 75th anniversary of...
Unforgettable Travel Essays That Reveal Art, Belonging & Humanity Beyond Any Map
I am writing to introduce you to my travel essays because these are pieces I'm most proud of. I'm attaching a few lines from some essays here. Hope you enjoy them and visit the place vicariously through my words. "I still get goosebumps when I think about the...
Love For My Lava – A Poem by Rachana
It’s not a recurring dream —it’s my childhood in technicolor. I’m in Eluru again,first-floor balcony,colored baby chicksstrut past the open street sewer. Over the brick wall,police cadets march —stiff, precise,the way colonizers drilled them,looking ridiculous under...
A Dream Mehendi in Sitges: An Indian Wedding Celebration Where Tradition Meets Mediterranean Magic
In Sitges, a coastal town in Spain's Andalusian region, we once attended a beautiful mehendi function. A mehendi event is a pre-wedding celebration where family and friends gather to decorate the bride’s hands and feet with henna. Henna (or natural tattoos) is...
Homesick for the Stars – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/AHm4v2h1PhU - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Homesick for the Stars This essay is about travel, wanderlust and our perennial need for discovery. I wrote this while staring at a glorious sunset. As the golden hour sky...
Between Two Worlds: An Indian American Woman’s Honest Take on Identity, Culture, and Belonging
Observations, Opinions, and Cultural Critique Cultural Essays from a Life Lived Between Worlds
Writer-At-Large – The 2025 Indian-American Documentary – Final Part
Continued from Part I HERE JULY My son sent me pictures of the Harvard university library from his visit to Boston and I lamented to him that it's the right place for me, and then got back to my life here in ATL. After all, I had to wash all our Indian...
Writer-At-Large – The 2025 Indian-American Documentary
Not Your Average Recap The last time I did a pictorial essay of this nature was in 2014. I had then talked about bathroom selfies I had taken, although they didn't make me look like Kim Kardashian. But, more on that some other time. Earlier today, I wrote how...
How I Travel to My Village Poranki Anytime Without a Passport
Poranki, my small hometown a few kilometers from the center of Vijayawada, is a place where your morning walk will take you through banyan groves, tall college buildings, and cow-dung-filled roads. I travel there as much as I can, but when I cannot, I just have...
Help! Bengaluru’s Living Rent-Free in My Heart: A Love Letter to Chaos, Contrast, and Everything In Between
- After stepping back onto the plane from a work trip to Bengaluru, I was sure this essay would write itself. As the plane climbed out of Kempegowda, I looked through the window to say goodbye to the city that shimmered like a galaxy on land. I felt captivated...
Nostalgia in Ruins: Watching My Childhood Home Fall and My Memories Rise
- My mother visited her (and mine) childhood home for the last time today as it will be demolished starting tomorrow. Nostalgia, as it turns out, will not have a home anymore. Yet, somehow, we'll have to continue living on. Since I've moved to the US 23 plus...
When East Met West Under the Georgia Sky: A Fusion Wedding at Serenbe
Two Worlds, One “I Do” What can two families born 8000 miles apart yet raising their kids in the deep south of the US have in common? Their children, who inspite of cultural differences, might go on to make promises to love each other forever. And that's what I...
From The Grittiest To The Most Glamorous: The Ever-Evolving Story Of Chennai
- Some experiences in life make you question your blessings. Such was a trip for me to Chennai in September of 2025. I was greeted with a hand-written invite, I ate Tamil food like it was my last time, and I crisscrossed the city with milions who looked like me...
When Home Is Still Here And We Aren’t – A Poem By Rachana
https://youtu.be/PDINhtHzvNI - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Unlike refugees, who don’t have a home behind or infront of them, we have a home. But, Will it remember all those mornings that the woodpecker made mating calls from...
What I Ate in a Year as an Indian American Woman in the USA
Hi, I’m Rachana. Its been my dream for years to do something to consciously create a better future where every one of us is excited about our own potential. My challenge to everyone is that they aspire for their personal best and leave a legacy of their work through...
Conquer Mount Kailash & Manasarovar: Packing & Wellness Guide for Indian-American Travelers
- Clothing Do not wear cotton garments. Use synthetic / wool-blend material. Synthetic undergarments for women and men are available at REI and at A 16. Over undergarments wear the following garments in 4 layers: i) 1st layer (innermost layer): Polypropylene or...
An Unforgettable Indian Summer Wedding in Sitges, Spain: A 2023 Celebration of Love and Culture
- The Indian Wedding, or Shaadi as its called in Hindi, is a feast-to-all-the-senses kind of an experience, delightful and fun filled, unless of course, you are the one getting married. Well, we are not going to talk about the aftermath just yet. For now, here...
Spice & Love: An Indian American Mom’s Journey Through Food, Culture, and Family Traditions
- As eaters we find ourselves increasingly in the grip of a Nutritional Industrial Complex - comprised of well- meaning, if error- prone, scientists and food marketers only too eager to exploit every shift in the nutritional consensus. Together, and with...
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