Friends of Hawaii’s feral cats — Nope, I’m not posing for you. I was trying to take a photo of this sweetie, but she wouldn’t look at me. Then I realized she was keenly watching happenings on the other side of the road. About five minutes later, a car drew up, and a man got out…

“The sun at home warms better than the sun elsewhere.” — Albanian Proverb — “Peace — that was the other name for home.” — Kathleen Norris When I was a little girl, my father owned a small-scale manufacturing unit that made gears and ball bearings. Dad employed ten to fifteen workers in his workshop. Every year during the Diwali festival, my parents distributed sweets…

Six Word Photo Story: Freestyle — Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. That’s it, y’all! Yesterday, we visited a coffee plantation on the Big Island, Hawaii. The plantation also grew avocados. One avocado tree was home to a female chameleon — the lady in the lead photo. “She has two suitors,” our guide told us. He said the males frequently fought over their lady love…

10 Foods/10 Photos/10 Words — I rarely take pictures of food. But I was invited to join this 10-word food challenge by fellow-writer B.R. Shenoy. (Link to B.R.’s wonderful piece at the end of this one.) All the photos and content below relate to our (hubby’s and my) vacation in Hawaii. So here goes —

November Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collecting Smiles!” — Gotta love pancakes with Nutella smiles! My (then) three-year-old granddaughter, *Kai, was fussing about breakfast. But when her mother dressed up the pancake with Nutella and berries, Kai knew it was time to surrender. “When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile,” said Regina Brett. So, Kai ate her breakfast. And the chocolate smiley-face put a…

Just a guy we met on a road trip to Alaska — Hubby and I are driving down the Alaska Highway. All around us are mountains and dense forests. Ahead to our right is a clearing with the signpost: “Welcome to Yukon.” We’re at the border between the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Yukon. *Tej (hubby) stops the car. We get…

A Tryst with Sesame and Jaggery — Every year on January 14 (or 15, if it’s a leap year), Hindus celebrate a festival called Makar Sankranti. This is when the sun begins to transition from the southern to the northern hemisphere. It signals that winter will soon end. We celebrate this festival by making a sweet called…

A Photo Story — Honolulu traffic during rush hour gives the infamous Los Angeles congestion a run for its money. But once we left the city behind, it was mountains, mountains all the way. Cliffs reared up on either side as we drove. Some rock faces were bare. …