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If Elvis was alive, one might have a tough time picking him out of the thousands of lookalikes that this January converged on Parkes, an Australian country town 300 km west of Sydney.

Sadly, ‘The King’ of rock n roll never made it to Australia, but Parkes locals would have you think otherwise.

For most of the year this farming and mining community may seem quiet. Few stories make it out of Parkes and into the national newspapers. The occasional Gran Torino rumbles along the main street next to utes and Holdens. Every now and then the post office receives a package from a tailor in Memphis. Inside is a bejewelled jumpsuit.

But come the second week of January, the town’s annual Elvis Festival descends on Parkes in full force.

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The Volatile State

For two decades, life in Kashmir – the disputed region in India’s north – has been stymied by an on-going separatist movement as well as government concerns over the infiltration of Pakistani militants. As a result, the Indian Army has deployed massive numbers of troops to monitor the territory.

In Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, the Muslim-majority inhabitants still endure curfews, protests and bouts of violence. Most recently the Indian government banned pre-paid mobile phone use in Kashmir on the grounds of curbing terrorist activities. According to the Financial Times, about 3.8 million users have been affected by this decision.

But in the last few years full-blown disturbances have quieted down encouraging Indian and foreign tourists to re-discover the stunning city.

The Morning Star

Finding myself with a week off and with some friends on their way to Srinagar, my boyfriend and I decided to join them.

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The entrance to Kathputli Colony, in Delhi’s West, is easy to miss. The narrow, dirt track which leads into the colony, turns off a busy road, packed with rickshaws honking noisily and speeding rickety buses.

On most days, a trickle of drummers and performers in Rajasthani garb with tinsel trimmings, amble to and from the colony, directing one to the entrance.

Today, an over-sized ginger-colored dog sits near the entry, barking manically and snapping at flies. A group of men with gold earrings, mullet haircuts and rough faces stand around smoking beedis, the Indian cigarette.

“What do you want?” asks the roughest in the group.

Not really sure that we have come to the right place we mutter that we want to visit the slum.

The man’s face erupts into a smile and he beckons for us to follow.

He takes us to his brother, Jagdish, a puppeteer who has just returned to his one bedroom house and eight children, after a stint performing in France.

Kathputli Colony is like most Delhi slums with its cramped quarters and depleted living conditions. But the theatrics of its inhabitants, young and old, colorful homes and props and puppets which seem to be as much a part of the house, as say, a cooking pot, hint at something more.

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Launched this year, The India Tube offers travelers, expats and locals a discerning guide to India. Pooling content from a range of writers and photographers, this online magazine suggests offbeat and exciting ways to experience the country.

I caught up with Annalisa Merelli, the online magazine’s editor to see what the Tube is all about and also, what India means to this Italian expat.

To start, what is The India Tube?

It’s an online magazine through which we try to make the India experience more accessible and authentic.

How does it differ from other travel publications and websites?

All our contributors share things that they find very exciting so there are no bad reviews.

We also try and go to the places that are off the beaten track and we rely on local expertise.

We have stories that would be interesting anywhere in the world and not necessarily connected to the idea of the exotic that one might have of India.

For someone new to India, what can The India Tube offer them?

The magazine is constantly updated with suggestions for things to do and there are a lot unusual stories, for example one story about the ‘Bullet Baba’.

The article is about a Baba or Hindu saint who died after crashing his Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike in a Rajasthani village. After his death, villagers swore they could hear the bike revving up at night.

So they moved the bike back to the site of the accident and started venerating it. There is now a pundit, or priest, who makes sure the bike, is worshiped.

If you’ve been to India you know that this type of thing can happen and nobody makes a fuss about it. If you want to venerate a bike [in India] then it’s fine.

What’s the idea behind the balloon?

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Untitled 11, artwork by Princess Pea. Courtesy of Rob Dean Art Ltd.

In New Delhi, it’s easy to lose one’s head in the thick of it all, and India’s second annual art fair provided no relief. The India Art Summit (19-22 August) wasn’t just filled with hard-core art lovers and curious individuals, every stall was replete with gallerists and curators, a huge smile plastered on their faces and unblinking, weary eyes. If you looked closely, the squiggly red lines bordering their pupils spelled the same unanimous message: this is going to be a long four days.

In all honesty, I managed only one full day of schlepping around the stalls at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, trying to take everything in while avoiding tripping, again, on the guy with the huge white Nike’s and propeller hat who was filming the fair.

With 54 galleries from 11 different countries, the trade-show venue was bustling with people soaking up the contemporary and modern art. The sari-clad women, long-haired, bespectacled maestros, the many children and trendy 20-somethings came for the paintings, sculptures, photography, installations and the video art lounge, launched this year.

While international works were on display, including Picasso chalk sketches and works by Dali, the Indian art was the real fixture. The Indian art market is still coming of age, with curation and art criticism constantly evolving.

And what of the recession?

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