Gone for a Very Long Lunch
2 Jul
Two months long, in fact. I’ve planned my entire sojourn around India and Nepal around food: in my twisted little head the North/South and East/West dichotomies in culture and tourism are really about the variations of regional cuisine I’m expecting. Instead of Chennai and Tamil Nadu, I think idli. Instead of Hyderabad, I can’t help myself from thinking about that excellent Andhra food, in that city of excellent briyani and dal palaak. Rather than restaurant reservations, I’ve reserved the cousins of my close Nepali friends to take me around to sample extreme Nepali cuisine: e.g. milk-soaked chambers of goats’ lungs. I’ll also be drinking too much Chindian (i.e. fake Chinese) hot and sour soup than I’d like to admit.
The point? There is no point, nor is there an obvious itinerary. There are two ‘commissioned’ stories I’m shooting and writing alone, one of which has great potential; additionally, also a handful of other related projects on hand which I’m not at liberty to divulge. Once every couple of months I convince myself I really want to go somewhere else… like, say, Turkey. Or China. After futile research about said alternative destinations, I become overwhelmed by a need to go back to Bharat Mata. Like this time. And the last, and before that, and the last, and…
I should apologise for the poor quality of content here of late — intense writing efforts elsewhere have admittedly taken a toll on me; regular programming should resume shortly upon the return to the motherland (I think).
Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom, Bombay (yay!), and then a wedding (not mine). Two months is much too short, especially since I will most definitely be pretty near those “I’m travelling for one year/two years/forever” types whose freedom I envy.
P.S. It’s just awesome how you can book everything online, from the air ticket to India, to my Chennai-Bhubaneswar train journey on the Shalimar Express (can even choose the berth! I finally got my side upper!), to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses.
P.P.S. This is what I’m expecting for S$4 a night. Why do I have a feeling that by the time Anil comes to Pokhara to poke around, I’ll still be there, just chilling?
