India

Mata Amritanandamayi, now called Amma, was born into a poor fishing family in a village in Kerala in 1953. From an early age she showed exceptional empathy for others. She began to comfort those who were suffering by hugging them. In her early twenties she developed a following which steadily grew. [...]

Just 45 minutes South of Varkala is the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram (or Thrivandrum for short). My friend Helena and I headed there on Wednesday. We arrived around mid-day, found a hotel and set out accross the city. One of our first stops was a restaurant which serves South Indian ‘thali’. [...]

On Saturday morning I finally managed to tear myself away from Varkala for good. I headed a few hours north to the city of Cochin. I took a ferry accross the bay to Fort Cochin, which lies at the end of a long peninsula. There I found well kept Dutch and Portuguese [...]