Culture

  • Heritage Managers: Guardians of India’s Cultural Treasures

    By preserving cultural assets, heritage management professionals enrich community life and enhance the nation’s appeal. Read on to discover how alumni from the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University are contributing to this transformative work. Protecting heritage and cultural assets…

  • Remembering the creative souls we lost in 2019

    As the year is coming to an end, we remember these creative personalities of eminence, from India, that are no more amongst us. The departing year took lives of many creative personalities—from literary geniuses, to cinema personalities to some of…

  • The Manifestations of Mythology in Indian Fiction

    Writers are finding interesting ways to return to stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana. Some of the recent approaches include tracing the journey of minor characters, or of the major ones who weren’t explored enough. We revisit some of these developments…

  • The Indian Connection in San Francisco

    It was the eve of the Indian Independence Day and I was on this season’s first visit to San Francisco. And unwittingly I discovered these two icons of the Indian mythology and the Indian freedom struggle at the first and…

  • Leonardo da Vinci: The Renaissance Man Lives on

    It’s a pleasant coincidence to see Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – mostly known as a Painter – being remembered and celebrated in both East and the West after 500 years of his life. While celebration of this landmark about the…

  • Meet Dr Tejus Naik – the former surgeon who lives in a museum!

    Imagine living inside a museum with more than 9000 antiques, collectables and artworks. That’s the life of Dr Tejus Naik, an established surgeon of Ahmedabad and grandson of Gulzarilal Nanda. Soon into my interview with Dr Tejus Naik, a well-known…

  • Measuring with Ma Nature’s units

    Did you know you are as wide as you are tall? Just stretch your arms out in the famous Titanic pose and measure your arm span! Though we comply with international units of measurement today, our old systems of measurement were…

  • On International Museum Day explore Ahmedabad through its museums

    For art lovers. For the history buffs. For the anthropologists. For the science enthusiasts. For the conservationists. For the curious minds. These museums are for all. Tucked away in a bygone era, these lesser-known museums of Ahmedabad have some amazing…

  • Notre Dame de Paris: will it rise like the phoenix?

    The Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus during the crucifixion, colourful stained rose windows, one of the world’s largest organs, and various other relics, paintings and sculptures were present in the Notre Dame de Paris during the fire. Do they…

  • Amdavad Yatra – Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad

    With Amdavad Yatra stroll with us on the trails of the old stories of India’s first world heritage city Ahmedabad. Know about the history in this heritage walk video. Ahmedabad has always been a melting pot of various cultures and…

  • The basic must-knows of Indian Classical Music Part 1

    Are you someone who doesn’t let Indian classical Music reach your heart, harboured misconceptions for ages? Music, in all its glory and forms, is never unappealing or unmoving. The Raag and Raginis are as enthralling as Rock and Roll, provided you take a free plunge and don’t…

  • Trailing Heritage in Sri Lanka & Nepal

    Do you know Sri Lanka and Nepal have five World Heritage Cities? Let’s explore about these magnificent timeless cities that have preserved their culture, architecture, arts and celebrations for centuries! As a backpacker, a question that predominantly occupies my mind…

  • Of a legacy and a vision to commemorate it

    A demure, daring girl with dance in her breath and Tagore at the core of her being during formative years, on tying the nuptial knot with a scientist from Gujarat, set foot in this culturally nearly dry city when the…

  • Louvre Abu Dhabi – the Largest Art Museum in the Arabian Peninsula

    A marvel of engineering and architecture, the Middle East’s new Louvre museum boldly draws connections across Eastern and Western cultures. As scorching sunlight strikes the Louvre’s gigantic dome, the sprawling museum is sprinkled by a ‘rain of light’. It is…

  • Rajpipla – A Step Back in Time

    From the ‘Taj of Gujarat’ to its palatial seat of royalty, the quaint former kingdom of Rajpipla is dotted with little-known remnants of heritage and old world charm. Rajpipla is a small town in the Narmada district of Gujarat –…

  • Jallikattu – Things to Know Before You Take a Stand

    Confused about what the recent furor in Tamil Nadu is about? Here, we break it down for you. The first time I read about Jallilkattu, I thought of it as an Indian version of Spanish bullfighting, with matadors and red…

  • Flashback: Female Poets and the India of their musings

    Lets take a look at some of the most important pre and post Independence Women Poets from India. Male folks, as it was the norm in most part of the world largely dominated literature in India. History however along with the…

  • The Powerful Women in Cinema: Satyajit Ray’s Cinematic Portraits

    Even though they were regional films, Satyajit Ray made powerful cinema. His oeuvre transcends boundaries – geographical, linguistic or otherwise. The women portrayed in his films were detailed and multifaceted in both rural and urban settings.  Let us look back…

  • Miguel de Cervantes : an introduction to the Spanish literary great

    A Spanish writer, poet and philosopher, who himself became a revolution of Spanish literature and language.  His contribution towards Spanish literary was so impactful that people started calling the language as La lengua de Cervantes (The language of Cervantes). The…

  • Fernandes Bridge – the most unique book market in Ahmedabad!

    The street Fernandes Bridge connects readers with writers, students with publishers and curious beings with the age-old answers they’re looking for. The Chopda Bazaar of Fernandes Bridge is one of the oldest Book Markets in Ahmedabad that serves thousands of people…

  • Yoga Day : Uncovering the science of wellbeing

    Yoga can bring transformation! The way we conduct our deeds, thoughts that we develop in mind, habits we infuse, and everything that that defines our existence can be transformed for betterment and wellbeing through Yoga.  Yoga, a 5000 year old…

  • International Museum Day Guide for Ahmedabad

    Summer vacations are on, and you want a dose of enrichment for your children and for yourself. This International Museum Day i.e. May 18, Team Creative Yatra suggests treating yourself with a visit to the 10 most interesting museums in…

  • Modern Caveman’s Guide to Kumbh at Ujjain

    There are theories, but no one knows when exactly this celebration started. Since thousands of decades every 4 years an extravaganza occurs, where men, women and children from varied culture and ethnicity come together to celebrate human history’s biggest social…

  • WHY DO WE STILL REMEMBER SHAKESPEARE?

    In Greek tragedies like Oedipus the King and Agamemnon, it is the gods and fate that pull the strings and humans, like puppets, behave the way they do. In Shakespeare’s tragedies like King Lear and Othello, the factors that cause…

  • History’s Forgotten – Women, Water and the Wells of Gujarat

    Few people realize that there is a strong connection between water and women, as they descend into the subterranean Adalaj or Bai Harir stepwell and feel the changing dampness and temperature. Queens, mothers, daughters, mistresses and goddesses – various women…

  • The dying art of shoe-making

    If you are walking around the labyrinth streets of ghee kanta, ask for Dahya kaka’s shop and even a stone would direct you. And if you decide to ask a human, be ready for the counter question – ‘Dahya kaka…

  • Narsinh Mehta – Remembering the legend

    Narsinh Mehta an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna continues to reside in our hearts even today, after 600 years. Such is the presence of souls like Narsinh Mehta. Being a pioneer of Gujarati bhakti (devotional) literature, Narsinh Mehta started his…

  • Ismat Chughtai – a brief introduction

    “Only progressive literature can produce self-confidence. It will be disappointing if our writers don’t use their pen for the betterment of the common people, because if writers, journalists and thinkers turn away from present-day circumstances and write merely for personal…

  • Gandhi’s first Ashram in Ahmedabad

    There’s an interesting story behind Ashram Road of Ahmedabad getting its name. It is said that Ashram road is the road that connects the two ashrams of Mahatma Gandhi, Kochrab Ashram and Sabarmati Ashram. While Sabarmati Ashram is more popular nowadays,…