It’s never enough! That’s the one thought I’m left with, when I’m leaving a place. I’m just short of breaking out into Malayalam (in my head), but I still feel I haven’t done enough of Kerala. I recognize most people on atleast 25 ghats of Varanasi and can find my way through the narrowest galli but still feel like I could do with some more time there and the thought of having a home in the hills is always tucked away for ‘another time’. I want to live in each of these places for a year. I feel the need to trail ALL the festivals and the quirks that come with them, in Varanasi, to go fishing with the locals off Fort Kochi and wake up to a white snowy hill in Himachal. Here are the few towns that I need to have a home in.
Varanasi – Yes, it’s an intriguing destination, with the overarching abstruseness of life and death, the smoke veiled babas, the love for the Ganga and more. While all of this has its own charm, for me, I want to live in Varanasi, through an entire cycle of festivals. The city really knows how to celebrate; whether it’s the night processions of Shivratri, the lamp covered steps during Dev Deepavali, the mania at Holi or the bringing in the music stalwarts for Dhrupad Mela. It’s impossible to follow the festivals only on those particular days – it’s about being there for the preparation and really comprehending what it means to the locals.
Fort Kochi – I think Kerala being relatively small, I’d love to stay on Fort Kochi and get a hang of the Chinese fishing nets and then make my way up north and spend atleast 4 months between Kannur and Kasargod during the Theyyam season. That done, a Bhagavathy temple trail is what I would want take up next! Small bits and pieces for books and articles have always left me starving for more of Kerala – not for its brilliant backwaters or the ludicrously green surroundings, but for the strong cultural connotations that have always evaded me.
Naggar – Thanks to Santosh of Getoffurass, Roerich’s Naggar takes me back to the days when I always envied Ruskin Bond’s ‘room on the roof’. This is the place that epitomises the ultimate romance of living in the hills; a fireplace, wooden floors, fresh veggies from the garden and sharing local gossip in the town’s chai shop. Naggar, a small town on the west bank of River Beas, away from the madness of Manali, this works likes Therapy.