top 15 memorable things to do in kabul, afghanistan’s capital

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Rama Arya

Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, is not your regular city. Hemmed in by the Hindu Kush Mountains and Kabul River, it is beautiful. And broken.

The city traces itself back some 3,500 years and was a strategic trading centre on the Silk Road linking India with the Hellenic world. Over the centuries, the Who’s Who of Central Asia’s rulers and empires have ruled over it.

One of its earliest turning points was in the 9th Century when it was conquered and Islamised by the Abbasid Caliphate. Prior to this, Kabul was politically and culturally a part of India with a Buddhist and Hindu populace and rulers. Another major turning point was in 1776, when it officially became the capital of ‘Afghanistan,’ a nation the country’s founding father Ahmed Shah Durrani had established a decade earlier. Continue reading →

an urban monk’s guide to rishikesh and haridwar

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Rama Arya

Are you an urban monk? I am. Or at least that is how I perceive myself. Ok, that is how I like to perceive myself—not unlike many others who love the city life and its dynamic vibrancy but are equally at ease with spirituality, restraint, and minimalism. Is that not the new order? And when we go to places that are hubs of spirituality, well, we just tend to experience them a tad differently. 😀 Continue reading →

8 hours in casablanca

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Rama Arya

Casablanca. The very name transports one back to 1942 and the black and white American romantic drama set in World War II. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, the film was an unprecedented success like no other before. Who has not heard of Casablanca? And Rick’s Café?

But did you know that not a single scene in the movie was actually filmed on location. Casablanca was shot entirely at Warner Bros. Studio in California. There never was any Rick’s Café in Casablanca, back then, either. The one that stands now near Hassan II Mosque is a recreated version of the one in the film, built much later. It doesn’t really matter though, for through the movie Casablanca, Casablanca the city on which the film was based became a household name globally.

Most travellers zip past Casablanca onto the more exotic destinations Morocco has to offer. Compared to the cultural charms of the royal cities of Fes, Marrakesh, Meknes and Rabat, Casablanca comes in as a poor second. When it is rugged nature that tugs your heartstrings, what does a commercial port-city by the Atlantic Ocean have to offer?

Lots. Continue reading →