My India Trip in 2005

They say, You really know a person when you go on a journey. After nearly 20 years of marriage, the wife and i went on on a trip abroad TOGETHER. In case if you are wondering




whether we were like the frogs under the coconut shell, let me dispel that notion. We both had travelled abroad but separately. Why India? The last time I was in India was in 1979 for about one and a half years. It was a life-changing experience for me then. There is a story there but i will keep it for another day. This time it was to get the wife to see the Indian side of my family. The entire trip to India took about 12 days.

During that time, we travelled through 3 of the southernmost states in India, namely, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala. We started our journey in Madras and ended our journey in Madras. We did all of our travels by land (bus, train, auto-rickshaw, taxi). I wanted to see India close up. Some scary moments, like the time we got into the train in Bangalore and had to stand all the way to our destination, Mysore - almost 5 hours. Since we were in the 3rd class, some of our fellow travellers (some really ruffian types) started drinking and then started eyeing the wife. Thankfully, i was not called on to defend the wife's honour. I hate the sight of blood - especially my own. I enjoyed the trip immensely. You don't really know how comfortable we become until we travel to a strange land. We had to walk... everywhere. No car. Unknown places where you have to go up to strangers and ask for directions. Starting conversations and making friends with virtual strangers.When was the last time i did that at home?