Pataudi Palace - a place resonant with a lost lifestyle

On my current visit to India, my family and I paid a visit to the Pataudi Palace yesterday. Just an hour from New Delhi, enter the sprawling luxury of the well-laid gardens at the Pataudi Palace, a verdant oasis in the countryside of Haryana.

The noble, white palace built by Nawab Ibrahim Ali Khan, was designed by the Austria architect Karl Molt Von Heinz in 1935, stretching the proportions and scale of the grand residences of Imperial Delhi, built by Lutyens. The palace in itself is not big but has been tastefully adorned with artifacts and family albums from yesteryear's. It is a treat for the cricket aficionado's as the hallways are adorned with pictures of Iftikhar Ali Khan and Tiger Pataudi at historic cricketing moments.

I must mention here that Tiger Pataudi's father Iftikhar Khan played cricket first for England under Douglas Jardine and consequently incurred his ire as he opposed Jardine's bodyline tactics whilst en route to Australia in 1932. He was never to play for England again but captained India later in 1943. His son Tiger Pataudi had unparalleled success as a cricketer and became India's youngest captain ever at the age of 21 years 77 days. He was also India's most successful captain in test matches before Sourav Ganguly broke his record.

The Nawab's palace has had a way to always stay afloat in fame - first cricket, then Bollywood - and now even Hollywood with Julia Roberts spending a lot of time at the palace while shooting for Eat, Pray and Love.

We did have a lovely lunch overlooking the palace pool and gardens bathed in the beautiful North Indian winter sunlight.

It was definitely a short road trip I thoroughly enjoyed with my mom, dad, sister and of course wifey.....

When Darkness Falls and Other Short Stories

A compilation that once again invites curiosity about the Ruskin Bond way of life.’ Ruskin Bond displays all the qualities of a master storyteller: a deceptively effortless style, an eye for the extraordinary in seemingly humdrum lives, and a deep empathy with his characters. Humorous, sad… More and nostalgic, …a treat for all Ruskin Bond fans.’There is an overwhelming simplicity in all his stories.
A deceptively effortless style, an eye for the extraordinary in seemingly humdrum lives, and a deep empathy with his characters. We make the acquaintance of Markham, a war veteran condemned to a lifetime of loneliness by a tragic accident: Susanna, the merry widow who loved each of her seven husbands to death; the sad wife who returns after her death only to find that her husband has moved on, to another life and another love; a simpleton who outwits a crafty ghost; and Kundan Lal, the reckless rake whom women find irresistible. We also go down memory lane with the author; to Dehra Dun of the 1940s and 50s, when life was simpler and there was space for the small errors of young and eccentric lives. All in all a decent read which can be finished within 2 hours....