Women on Wanderlust and Wanderlust and Lipstick Celebrate Diwali!

This Diwali was especially auspicious as one of my long cherished dreams came true!

Exactly one winter ago two friends visited the Taj, and while they were admiring its splendour they agreed upon the need to bring the beauty of this incredible sight to women all over the world. Beth and me, continents apart but committed to sharing our passion for travel with other women, decided to work towards making all women travel a reality. Beth Whitman is a travel writer and the founder of Wanderlust and Lipstick. She has travelled extensively, this being her fifth visit to India. With several books to her name one of them being about women travelling to India, she was the best person to bring a group of American women to India!

Beth and her friends arrived in Delhi when the atmosphere was redolent with the festive spirit. To give them a traditional Diwali experience WOW organized a Diwali evening for them. The venue had an old world charm about it as it was a colonial house from Lutyen’s Delhi. The festive fervour was created through the three ps of Diwali celebration- pooja, patakhe and patte! The women participated in the traditional pooja and the pandit tied the holy thread around their wrists. Then it was time to learn ‘teen patti’ and for lack of counters we all played with match sticks, but it was just as much fun! Later the skies seemed lit with starburst as the crackers rocketed into the sky and their beauty was reflected in the sparklers and anaars on the ground. Some very dear friends who have travelled with WOW joined in the celebrations too and shared their WOW experiences with Beth and her friends.

As I saw the women connect I had a vision of a world wide network where women from all over bonded with their passion for travel and visited each other’s countries with equal amounts of curiosity and amazement. Now the Lipstick gang are off to explore Agra, Rajasthan and Varanasi. I cant wait for them to come back and explore Delhi on the last leg of their tour and share their experiences with me! Planning a Karim’s dinner for them, yes in Purani Dilli!! Will write soon and share more pictures of their trip. Till then…stay pink and footloose!