Ravi Valluri

History of Verdant Godavari

November 11, 2024

Never the Twain Shall Meet is the title of two prominent Hollywood blockbusters, including a 1925s silent movie. Dhowleswaram is a prominent place in the Godavari delta. It is here that the majestic River Godavari assumes the shape of the geometrical figure of a triangle. The Vasishta River which is...

The Majestic Nilgiri Mountain Railway

October 7, 2024

A tourist can discover the thrill of riding a wondrous toy train, which provides an aperture to panoramic vistas during the five-hour journey from Mettupalayam to Ooty. Ooty, a fabled travel getaway can be reached by road or rail. However, boarding the toy train provides a singular experience as there...

Beyond the Vindhyas by Train

August 5, 2024

It was an icy-cold January in Delhi that year, the year 1983. The citadels of power of the Congress crumbled in the undivided Andhra Pradesh and in Karnataka. NTR assumed office in Andhra Pradesh and cerebral Rama Krishna Hegde demolished the Grand Old Party in Karnataka. People of North India...

Shirshasana: Sovereign among Asanas

July 9, 2024

Yoga is a kind of exercise in which a practitioner locomotes the human body into several distinct and diverse positions in order to attain physical fitness and flexibility. While performing yogic exercises the sadhak has to invariably pay attention to the breath. An insight into Shirshasana The asana basically involves...

The majesty of the fairy queen

July 8, 2024

The Fairy Queen, also known as the East Indian Railway Nr. 22, is an 1855-built steam locomotive, which was refurbished by the Loco Works Perambur, Chennai in 1997 and housed at the Rewari Railway Heritage Museum. The locomotive is steeped in history. It was constructed by Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson...

Kalka – Shimla, an Exotic Rail Journey

June 24, 2024

I listened, motionless and still, and as I mounted up the hill, the music in my heart I heard, long after it was heard no more,” are iconic lines by William Wordsworth which capture the wondrous train journey from Kalka to Shimla. Queen of Hills, Shimla served as the summer...

Valley of flowers: A mesmerizing spectacle of natural beauty

June 10, 2024

Did the Advaita saint Adi Shankara visit the exotic Valley of Flowers while visiting Badrinath and Kedarnath? That could be a matter of conjecture. But we bag packers (for six days) had an exhilarating experience in the valley. Indisputably, the one place where a walk through a valley brings rapturous...

Matheran Hill Railway – History and Grandeur

June 3, 2024

Neral is the starting point of travelling on the Matheran Hill Railway (MHR). This enthralling journey in the viridescent Western Ghats is a journey of around two hours. Our railway batch planned a reunion at Matheran, travelling by this train. The MHR is a 2ft narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra,...