Salil Deshpande

Mumbai

Head of Editorial Content at Condé Nast Traveller (India)

The guy from Old Twitter

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Articles

The truth about being the first guest at a hotel

1 week ago | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen the fantastic series called First Guest, where CNT editors take you right inside some of the world’s best new hotels. It’s a 90-second blitz across all the property has to offer. As you can imagine, it is tough to do justice to each space and experience, but I think we do a pretty good job. Now here’s the part you don’t see.
A haveli about as old as Jaipur is now a boutique hotel

3 weeks ago | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

Why book:For a stay that blends classic Jaipur aesthetic with modern comforts in a spot that allows for last-minute shopping raids. Set the Scene:The tuk-tuks may have been tongas, but the bazaar was probably just as buzzy as it is today, when this haveli was built shortly after Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II set up the city of Jaipur. The immediate setting may feel a bit gritty, but The Padmaa scores for its location in the beating heart of the city.
Mapping the regulatory effects of common and rare non-coding variants across cellular and developmental contexts in the brain and heart

2 months ago | biorxiv.org | Andrew R. Marderstein |Soumya Kundu |Evin M. Padhi |Salil Deshpande

AbstractWhole genome sequencing has identified over a billion non-coding variants in humans, while GWAS has revealed the non-coding genome as a significant contributor to disease. However, prioritizing causal common and rare non-coding variants in human disease, and understanding how selective pressures have shaped the non-coding genome, remains a significant challenge.
‘Restaurants are cultural spaces, where we often get our first taste of a different world’

Feb 4, 2025 | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

With every passing dining experience I have, I realise just how little I know about our country and its food. At Farmlore, near Bengaluru, I learnt that fire ants can be delicious (and crunchy!), and taste different based on the trees they live on. That the tribes of Karnataka know this well, which is the secret to their assortment of chutneys.
The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

Nov 24, 2024 | traveler.es | Salil Deshpande

Muchos hoteles en Agra prometen vistas del Taj Mahal, pero pocos pueden cumplir la promesa como este. Mientras otros cumplen a duras penas las expectativas y si acaso muestran un trocito de la cúpula desde una esquina concreta, lo normal aquí es que pases toda tu estancia haciendo lo que sus creadores pretendían: contemplar extasiado el Taj Mahal.
'What is art without a frame?'

Oct 29, 2024 | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

In 2007, The Washington Post set up an experiment. It asked the great violinist Joshua Bell to go incognito, dress like a regular busker, and play on the Washington DC Metro. Just three days before, the virtuoso had sold out Boston’s Symphony Hall. On that day, at the L’Enfant Plaza station, Bell pulled out his magic wand—a Stradivarius violin handcrafted to perfection nearly three hundred years ago—and played a medley of the greatest compositions from Bach to Schubert.
Tropen-Träume in Sri Lanka: Die schönsten Hotels am Strand und mitten in Wäldern

Oct 28, 2024 | cntraveller.de | Selina Denman |Chandrahas Choudhury |Salil Deshpande |Clare Dight

Kleine Hotels in Sri Lanka: Das sind die besten Adressen in tropischer Natur. Paradiesische Strände, majestätische Berge und Wälder, reiche Artenvielfalt und Spiritualität – dafür ist Sri Lanka bekannt. Dafür reisten bereits 2024 über eine Million Tourist:innen in das Land. Und auch diese kleinen Boutique-Hotels sind Gründe, warum die nächste Flugroute gerne ganz bald nach Südasien gehen darf. Klein, aber fein: Die 6 schönsten Hotels in Sri LankaIn Sri Lanka möchte man der Natur ganz nah sein.
‘I have seen no country, no people like Cuba’

Oct 23, 2024 | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

Ten years after he first went to Cuba, photographer Rohit Chawla returned on assignment to shoot Havana, its culture and its cigars. He came back lighter than planned when his cigars worth nearly a thousand dollars were seized at Miami airport. “Like an honest Indian, I disclosed that I was carrying Cuban cigars,” he says. Not only were they confiscated, Chawla would later be put through an interview by the US embassy when he reapplied for a visit.
The man on a mission to celebrate India through 1,000 films

Aug 13, 2024 | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

If there was a way to measure these things, Bharatbala Ganapathy can claim to be the filmmaker to have induced the most amount of goosebumps across India over the past three decades. Through films like Maa Tujhe Salam, with AR Rahman; Vande Mataram, with Lata Mangeshkar, and Jana Gana Mana rendered by a panoply of India’s greatest artistes–not to mention that version shot with the Indian Army in Siachen–Bharatbala has managed to arouse India Pride in a way few others have.
'When we are truly seeking an answer, back to the roots we go'

Aug 3, 2024 | cntraveller.in | Salil Deshpande

In Ladakh this summer, I had a strange experience. I sat in front of an lhamo, an oracle, who channels the spirits to find answers to your problems. Her remit is mostly matters of medicine, though I was told I could ask her anything. With all respect to the faithful, I am quite sceptical about shamans and soothsayers. But I am also aware that these prophecies can mess with your mind in the funniest of ways.