Who am I?

Who am I?

I wish I knew.

Maybe I will, when I get to 79 or 104.

Not sure yet, though.

I was born in free India. But I believe I belong wherever I happen to be.

I’m Bengali by birth, south Indian by choice, and have lived in Bangalore/ Bengaluru since May 1992.

I love children. And the world of the word – written, read, spoken or imagined. I’m addicted to wandering around the globe, around India and way beyond.  

I write books, by choice. I'm an independent journalist, too. 

Over the past four years, I’ve come across dozens of folks who’ve asked me: “Why don’t you blog?”  

So, here's my first blog. Launched on an unusual day, February 29, 2012. Through it, I hope to be able to share chance encounters, conversations, stories beyond route maps, questions beyond guidebooks, all that lights my path as I travel, within myself, without myself. Inner journeys mean as much to me as physical distances do.

I realize with certainty that, as I travel, I’ve grown addicted to the unknown. To wrong turnings. To getting lost. To looking up into the eyes of a stranger across continents, who helps me find my way back ~ and becomes my friend for the next decade or more. To my (sometimes wobbly) centre. To my search for myself.

This blog, I think, will be about places… people… arts... food… stories… images…. I hope it will backtrack through time, location, close encounters….. and who knows what else?!

I’ve chosen to call these meanderings … MULLED INK!

Will you travel with me through this collage of memories and moments? Be my friend? My reader? My guest? My guide? Or even my companion in wonder?