Finally it has bit me!

Writing has become too self-conscious. That thought struck a chord in me!

I had this fantasy of mine. After a certain period of study, I will stay in place X for one year. Now how will I choose the place. Make a database of the villages of the five continents. I told you it is a fantasy! Spin a top on the map of these continents. And where the top rests, that shall be my place of residence. For one year. It could be anywhere, Mongolia or Mozambique or Ladakh. Even if I have to work as a wood-cutter I shall.

I think that dream of mine has been revived. It started with trying to plan a basic holiday in Kerala in the monsoon. More for the food and uniqueness of place that Kerala offers. There is a also a neat policy-infrastructural lesson that I learnt from a one-week stay in Kerala. You need not have big cities where all the resources are pumped or centralized. Rather you can have lots of small cities and towns which is what Kerala largely is, I believe. I stayed in some Christian institution which served horrible food in limited amounts. But the food on the roadside stunned me. The appams and spicy fish and chicken curry were gastronomic delights. And the country-side. Simply one word. Wow! I resolved to return to Kerala some time in my life. Maybe if the monsoon is not too generous, I will be able to visit Kerala this time.

I think this travel bug started with a car-trip down the Pacific Coastal Highway. I never surmised California could offer such splendid vistas. I have fallen in love with the colours of blue, green, grey and brown. Those are the colours of nature. See this picture and you will better appreciate why I was hypnotised during the whole trip. Photos will be coming soon.

Another pet resolve is growing within me. Can I make a round-world-trip? I think it is more guts than moolah.

There is this pet joke I share with my elder brother. Some astrologer said that he would outlive all of us siblings. And I rib him continuously of his tortoise-life ahead. I had always felt it scary. Living till ninety! There isn't anything that you can do for so long on this planet. Until now. You can never have travelled enough.