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Quest
The Crucible of Patrimony
Keepers of a lost art captivate Meenakshi J, who heads to her ancestral village in southern India to get immersed in the alchemy of Chola bronze idols.
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About the Journalist
Meenakshi is an India-based freelance writer, whose work has appeared in BBC Travel, The Guardian, Nature Medicine, Smithsonian Magazine, Atlas Obscura, South China Morning Post, National Geographic Traveller India, The National UAE, and many other publications.
She covers travel, science, and culture and how those topics intersect with art, architecture, vegetarian food, people, heirlooms, and handicrafts.
Starting off as a travel and lifestyle blogger with her blog, PolkaJunction, Meenakshi soon began writing for local Indian publications and also holds a certificate in Introduction to Digital Journalism from Reuters.
In her previous avatars, Meenakshi also worked as a junior lecturer and a technical mentor in the corporate sector. Being married to an Indian Air Force officer, she leads a nomadic life — chasing fluffy clouds in the Himalayas and exploring the golden sands of Rajasthan, while working out of various Indian towns.