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  • Published Articles
    • A Conversation with Kevin Kwan (Author of Crazy Rich Asians) About Sex and Vanity, Life During the Pandemic and BLM Movement (Mint Lounge)
    • Amrita Pritam: ‘I wanted to write at all costs, and I did’ (Mint lounge)
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    • Battle Hymn of a Bewildered Mother
    • Love in the Time of Affluenza
  • Events
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Shunali Khullar Shroff
Shunali Khullar Shroff
Articles by me / Published Articles / Travel

Merci Baku: Notes from Azerbaijan (Condé Nast Traveller)

January 21, 2016
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Where nothing is what it seems

Where nothing is what it seems But when our plane landed in sub-zero Baku on a fine January morning, the grand idiocy of my assumptions were revealed to me almost immediately. Wide roads and cascading flyovers stretched in front of us as our car drove into the capital of Azerbaijan. The sun had barely set and beautiful, illuminated buildings from different architectural periods were lighting up the landscape. Moving along the gentle curves of the road that raced alongside the Caspian Sea, we arrived at the Fairmont Baku, which is perched over a hilltop overlooking the sea with the city unfurling around it.

Khazri, began to blow and a flurry of snow started falling from the night sky. When morning came, Baku was under a light blanket of snow, a sight so delightful that I squealed with joy.

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About Me

About Me
Shunali Khullar Shroff
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Shunali is the author of the bestselling books Love in the Time of Affluenza and Battle Hymn of a Bewildered Mother. She writes regularly for a host of publications including the Conde Nast Traveller, HT Brunch, Elle, Vogue, Mint Lounge and The Quint on travel, culture, modern Indian life and feminism. Shunali lives in Mumbai with her somewhat itinerant family and needy dogs.

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