Rakhee Ghelani

Tag: Australia

  • Potluck Me: Starting a Business in India

    Potluck Me: Starting a Business in India

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    One of things I have always said that I love about India is that anything seems possible. Two years ago when I was leaving my job in a bank, if someone had told me I would be earning a living as a freelance consultant and writer, and setting up a couple of start-up businesses of…

  • Home: St Kilda

    Home: St Kilda

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    I have travelled to 48 countries in the world, and consider myself a seasoned traveller. However so far my blog has only touched on my adventures of the past two years. So I have decided to challenge myself to relive the other places I have been and share with you the great, the harrowing, the…

  • Why I Choose to Stay in India?

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    I get asked all the time, “Why do you choose to stay in India?”.  I am asked this by my Indian friends, by friends overseas, travellers I meet and most recently by my parents who are here visiting me for a few months. It is not an easy question to answer, but whilst reflecting on…

  • It’s the Season for Music

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    It seems to be the season for festivals here in India.  Mumbai Film Festival has just finished and everywhere I turn there seems to be another new festival to attend. One thing I did a lot of in my past life (in Australia) was see a lot of music and go to music festivals.  From…

  • Mumbai Film Festival

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    I love a good film festival.  In Melbourne I would always go to the International Film Festival that came to town each year. For someone who is not so creative, I seem to have a lot of friends who are in the arts, and a few of my close ones in Australia are film-makers.  It…

  • Navratri in Mumbai

    Navratri in Mumbai

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    Navratri is a festival that is celebrated around October every year (its actual dates are lunar).  In line with its meaning the festival goes for “nine nights”.  I must confess, I don’t know much about the technicalities of why Navratri is celebrated, but I believe it is related to invoking the energy of the Goddess…

  • Decoding the Indian Man Part 2: Infidelity and Apologies

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    Is infidelity a part of Indian culture? Is it one that is accepted? Is it something that women just turn a blind eye to because of economic dependence, desperation and / or lack of self-esteem? Are Indian men capable of apologising when they are wrong? These are the questions that have been occupying my mind…

  • Foodie Post: Changing the Palate

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    I love wine. For the better part of the last 20 years, it has been one of my favourite things in the world.  A crisp, chilled glass of bubbly on  Sunday afternoon with a girlfriend, a dry white with a nice meal or a full-bodied red with cheese… I have always enjoyed a glass of…

  • Medicine at what cost?

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    After 11 months in India, it finally managed to make me sick…. really sick.  Over the course of four weeks I have managed to spend three weeks debilitated by various stomach bugs.  It hasn’t been fun, and now that we are in the thick of monsoon, I am not entirely sure that it’s over yet.…

  • Finding Home

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    I recently went through the rather stressful experience of trying to find somewhere to live in Mumbai. The options are overwhelming and also very varied in their quality and price.  Coming from a country where you look up some places on the internet, view them and sign up… I discovered its all a very different…

  • A Slice of Luxury: Jaipur

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    In my nine months backpacking across India I have lived on a relatively small budget of between Rs 1,000 – 1,500 per day ($20-$30).  Its not insanely cheap for India, but coming from my very comfortable middle class existence in Australia, it certainly got me out and into the real India.  I have loved discovering…

  • How India Turned Me Into a Feminist

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    I have a confession to make, I am a feminist. Nine months travelling through India has turned me into a feminist and this is me coming out of the closet. I have always considered myself to be egalitarian, striving for equality rather than subjugation of one gender over another. Then I spent 9 months backpacking…

  • Cultural Misfits: Where do I fit in?

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    I am learning Hindi and have found the experience particularly challenging given the rather diverse cultural history I come from ( something I have discussed a bit previously here). My grandparents were born in India, my parents in East Africa and myself in Australia. Growing up, a mixture of four languages were spoken in my…

  • Guruvayur and Thrissur: How do you prove you are Hindu?

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    How do you prove what religion you were raised to someone you just met? A Christian can wear a cross, although anyone could do this relatively easily. A Muslim woman can wear a Hijab, but not all do. A Jewish woman can shave her head and wear a long skirt, although only the orthodox do.…

  • Varanasi: Is there any hope for India?

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    Distressed. Helpless. Filthy. Nauseous. This is how I felt in Varanasi, one of the holiest and most revered places in India. Wandering along the ghats, I observed the rituals. A man placed a cup in the Ganges, pulled it out and drank in the holy water. He looked at peace in the belief that this…

  • Decoding the Indian man

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    As a single, hetereosexual woman, its only natural that I spend some time observing the opposite sex as I go through my travels. Whilst I am not looking for a long-term relationship per se, I do enjoy the company of men (platonic and romantic) and it would be nice to make some friends in my…

  • 5 Things India Does Well

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    Whilst I have moved to India permanently, it has only been two months and I am still a foreigner in this country. For a foreigner India is a land of contradictions, frustrations and challenges.  She is also a country that has so much to offer and teach the Western world. Here are my top 5…

  • Is #Shimla leading the way for #India?

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    Today I arrived in Shimla. Shimla is in Himachal Pradesh.  It is an old British hill station, and is now a bustling town. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I landed here.  I was hoping for hills, greenery and a cooler temperature.  I definitely got all of those.  What I hadn’t expected was…

  • Raksha Bandhan… My Day

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    This weekend was Raksha Bandhan. It is a festival where a sister ties a Rakhi (which is like a wristband made from coloured thread and beads), around her brother’s wrist.  This is to wish him prosperity. In return, her brother gives her a gift. In Australia, I have always been aware of this festival, primarily…