Monsoon memoirs!

Yes, it’s messy, muddy and often plays spoilsport but there’s another side to the season. A side that we reminisce on; the romance of the rains that brings out the philosopher in each one of us. This evening, as it pours, we will etch you a fantastic tapestry of the Indian monsoon, woven with threads of nostalgia. So you can enjoy the weather and culinary experience it brings to us with the onset of the season, sitting a thousand miles away!

You wake up at 7. Snooze the alarm and fall asleep again. Everything else in the world falls back before your comfort and the love of your comforter. You want to sleep like a baby while the rains sing a lullaby for you. For us, Indians, monsoon means comfort, fun, colors and happiness. Walk out on any typical rainy day and the streets are a riot of colors. Somewhere within, it instills hope. Why else would someone buy an umbrella with the color of a rainbow if not to battle a grey day!

As you walk through the same lane, fulfilling your responsibilities- the usual of an everyday mendicant- you pass through a familiar smell. Smell that spells rain. Fried food from the ubiquitous vendors that seem to pop up in every office lane. Mouthwatering. Ignoring it as you walk pass, in a very old wall maybe, you look carefully and see moss. You awaken the child within and run your hand along for that velvety feel. Smiling in the rains for no reason is absolutely justified.

While at work you keep looking at that big window and feast your eyes on the torrential downpour, a sudden splash drench you as you step out after a busy day. Quite surprisingly it brings a smile across your face. You hail a tuktuk and sit in it refreshed. The driver draws the plastic curtains in order to save you but you push it away instead- loving the feeling of the cool wind full of water droplets. Maybe stop somewhere for a bowl of hot soup!

You reach home and take little pleasures in all the rain related culinary delights, pull a shawl over you and read a book and fall asleep with the heavenly lullaby. Thank God for the rains.

The Real Travelers’ Guide- Konkan region & Meghalaya

The vacation season beckons us but time is still short between all that you need to complete within this one visit & your promise to your family that they’ll have a memorable time, do you feel stuck? The following 2 destinations are here to your rescue.

Konkan: So there is Mumbai and there is Goa. What’s in between? What’s in between is a stretch of pristine coastal land, yet to be explored. Although recent times have seen an influx of tourists, mainly local, the “Konkan” for the world do not really exist. A belt full of great beaches, mouth watering cuisine, hilly cliffs that meet the sea and honest, good people- Konkan is where you can grab a beer and chill- without the obviousness of Goa and without the crowd of Mumbai. As near as a mere 175 km from Mumbai- the Konkan belt has a lot to offer.

If you happen to hit the Konkan road, one must try is the local fried fish and the quintessential Maharastrian meal which they call “thali” and in available in any “Khanavals” or restaurant. One can book an entire house with terrace for as less as 1200 INR a day!

Meghalaya: Called “the Scotland of India” and which literally means “the abode of clouds” Meghalaya is a quaint little state nestled in the great Himalayas and which houses Cherrapunji- a place known for receiving the highest amount of rainfall in the world. It’s a mystical experience being in Meghalaya- you might just stand in a sunny spot while watching a gush of shower a foot ahead of you! Its a play of sun and rain all throughout the valley and of course interspersed with great ancient monoliths that make you wonder whether it has any connection with the Easter Islands! Right from the snakey road that takes you to Meghalaya to the caves and hidden blue lagoons- its a place so not ubiquitous that you’d actually believe that only dreamy clouds can live here!

Well connected through roadways (through Guwahati-Assam), Shillong is Meghalaya’s capital- a place you’d love to note for its cleanliness. Picture perfect homes, wild roses, little white Churches with their conical heads and happy people make Shillong. Bump onto someone and all you’ll see is them smiling right back at you! It’s a place that makes you believe in happiness.

Must try in Meghalaya would be the Tibetan and Khasi-Garo cuisine which is in one word- Delish!

That would be us with our week’s travel pick for the day. Explore the unexplored; better an experience that can be bettered and see beyond beyond the obvious is what our travel motto is and will always be!

 

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