HowToDisappearCompletely

In mumbai now, done and dusted with goa, where lethargy and inertia is de rigueur. The monsoon put a dampener on things, literally, as the seasonal rains deluged us on end. The torrential rainfalls put paid to the beach-bum plans, so we couldn’t really soak up the sun and sand as much as we’d fancy. Still! Goa was wicked. It necessitates that you be really deliberate and insouciant about things. The kind of place where you clock in some solid reading time, indulge in beer o’clock every afternoon, and channel leonardo d’caprio like in ‘the beach’. Yes you get the shabby beach shacks, the seedy grass-peddler, the phuket/vang vieng vibe, but well it was good while it lasted. Haha on the slated departure for mumbai we were thrown a wicked curve-ball we never quite envisaged. On ... read more

So we’re in cochin/kochi now. Another one of those enchanting treasure troves Kerala seems to be littered with. Cochin has been a riveting experience, where we suspend both time and disbelief. It’s the languorous waters/backwaters, I reckon, that makes for a very “lepak” milieu. Throw in a good session or 2 of ayuvedic massage, and I think it all makes for a more-potent-than-horse tranquilizer-mix. Nowhere in India/kerala can you find a mélange more assorted than in cochin. With the fêted Chinese fishing nets that line the shore, to basilicas & churches built-razed-then rebuilt by the scores of anglo, dutch, portugese colonials, and the veritable hallowed art form of Karthakali still very much art-of-the-state (haha), its hard for any culture vulture not to adore cochin. We’re residing on the island of fort cochin, very sweet. In a ... read more

its almost been a week in the State of Kerala now; a much-heralded exemplar of good governance and administration which have had the likes of Amartyr Sen waxing lyrical about. Big props to Kerala for the highest life expectancy and literacy rates, and its matrilineal social organization. keralan backwaters are very much bucolic, which is very palliative. it certainly trumps the torpor of Pondi's provençal quality. maybe cause its got smth to do with the fact that it is the putative 'venice of the east'; where the backwaters of kerala amble along slowly and deliberately, in an almost narcotic manner, compelling that you respond in kind as well. no monuments of epic proportions, no such grandiosity, just balmy and buoyant waters that weave intricate matrices and constellations some 900km worth of backwaters in Kerala. We’re in ... read more

Chennai. pretty much where I left off the last time in india with andy & joel. Haha. Still abrasive, still grating, still in-your-face. You can nvr be fully blooded when preparing for india can you. This time we got more than we bargained for- by way of Cyclone Laila. Haha its weird how you nvr think such epic stuff don’t ever happen to you; or aren’t suppose to. Like how in china 2 yrs ago we landed in Guangzhou and there was the Sichuan earthquake. The whole world knows, sans you. Haha. This time we were only privy to Laila on the plane (Air India, no less!) made several figure 8s to circumnavigate the brutal winds, finally reached over an hr later. Plans were pretty much blighted owing to the torrential downpour la. More on continuities. ... read more