“Is it really breathing, if you aren’t living?”
It’s been 223 days since we have breathed! Amid the cawing of the distant crows, we hear a fading voice, whispering stories from our forgotten past…amid those secret kisses from the sun, we see a mirage of a time when we followed it to tomorrow…and amid the occasional chirping of birds, we realize…
That today, this breath of freedom is going to make us alive again…With the occasional thud from the exhaust increasing, we loosen our grips on the clutch and we start moving, one mile back at a time…
No, this isn’t a murder mystery novel.
Yes, we read minds and we know you are hooked. Off we go!
A French Breakfast
This is us, Maannsi and Nishanth, two crazy teens, high on living that ‘takkaru’ kind of a life and this is gonna be a good one!
It’s day one and the sun in Pondy is distracting me from my warm croissants and those beautiful looking sandwiches. Is it a bit too cheesy? I think it’s Maannsi’s cheese buns, she kinda loves them!
Well, catch you guys later over a glass of fine wine.
Bangalore Diaries
Phew! Navigating through these packed roads sure is a pain and oh boy, am I jealous of Nishanth dozing off in the sidecar.
The scorching sun makes me miss the wind blasting on my face during our picnic the previous evening at Cubbon park, and quick mental note to get the recipe for the Paneer sandwich and that reminds me of the Iced tea! Oh, what I’d give to sip on my iced tea and walk through M.G.Road again, but hey on the bright side I’ve got this hand fan thanks to my wonderful rounds of dealing with the locals. Debater Maannsi for the win, yes!
“Dai Auto anna, what anna!” Oops, that was a close one, good thing he is sleeping. Off we go like a snail!
Anna- slang for brother
takkaru- On an amazing level
An Inner Calling
Day 7, we walked right into a “National Treasure” movie here at Mahabaleshwar!
There’s something surreal about this place, especially the walls, it feels as though they are trying to talk to us! And out of the blue I heard something! It was Maannsi, her voice echoed across the halls, “Let’s go, we have to catch the sunset!”
Well, here we are at Kudle beach, in limbo due to this gorgeous sunset! And I guess that is all I am going to say for now…
“Weeeee, increase the ISO, increase the ISO”! screamed Maannsi out of excitement. I was excited too because it’s not everyday you get to see a glowing beach!
Back at the Zostel, I was thinking to myself how it was all magical today even before hitting the bed and Zzzzzz….
Pola Pola, Goa Goa!
My inner teen self is SCREAMING.
And Nishanth is actually screaming, it seems like somebody is enjoying the parasailing as they should. The sun sure is a bit too bright, or is it the hangover hanging onto me. Thalassa you were good to us.
*“Race you to the finish line, Nishanth!” *
I throttle my jet ski, and oh boy, I hope i don’t get thrown over cause swimming surely isn’t my strongest suit. I think I know now what Avicii was talking about.
Live a life you will remember!
*Pola- Lets go
The one amongst thieves
“Bhaiyaa wo camera kitne ki hai? Wo Leica SL2?
Theen lakh rupees
Yaar offer ya discounts kuch nahi hai kyaa??
Mene kahi aur dekha haii iss camera koo udhar toh ekdum 50% off me thaa lekin aap toh full price maang rahe ho?? Waise bhi festive season haii toh kuch offer woffer laga doo”
And with such badass bargaining skills, Maannsi got me a 50% off on my new Leica SL2! “Wohooooo, new camera baby!”. If not for pickpockets, Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar was freakin amazing!
Next stop, someplace that’s worth freezing time…(Photography)
The Only Acceptable salt in my wounds
“We sat there with our mouths open” would be an understatement.
Complaining about having to lug my camera around was surely worth it, though most of our walk around this beauty of a salt desert was done by our camel. Surely Nishanth would agree, had I not chewed his ears off.
*sly grins*
But hey, good that I deep dove into those travel magazines as he rode through the desert like a lone wolf, cue BGM because of which we’ve got these totally rad glasses on our head.
“Look at the camel over there, Nishanth!” Let me quickly fill his shoes with sand, hehehhe. Time to run!!
And boy, this view is everything.
Sorru mukkiyam bigiley!
Food is important!
I slipped out of my Methiyadi slippers, “God you better not let my companion of almost 7 years get stolen”, I guess this is one of those times I believe in God, shamelessly for my needs. I adjusted my makeshift scarf to cover my hair, and I could see Nishanth’s face gleaming golden, “Oh, Nish you are so Golden, hahaha.” Harry, my boy is proud.
The Golden Temple. We are here.
As we sat cross legged, making sure our plates were licked clean. You’re welcome for the image by the way. The ‘Gurdwara’ was filled and batches kept coming in while the temple never ran out of food or volunteers to help serve them.
Top of Jammu
Hoodie? Check.
Scarf? Check.
Cap? Check.
Cold places aren’t my strongest suit for sure. I strapped on my belt and sat ready for take off as Nishanth enjoyed his hot chocolate cake.
“Can’t believe we are a day away from being at the place of your dreams, Nish!” He grinned and tuned into a Christopher Nolan film which I wasn’t going to pay attention to.
Time for my beauty sleep, yes. I’ll happily blame it on the non-existent time difference, for sure. Hopefully my dreams are gonna be filled with the slopes of Patnitop, and how we fell face first on the snow during our very successful skiing expedition.
Glasgow? More like Glasglow!
The architecture, the way the town was built, “it was nothing short of a Christopher Nolan film” as Nishanth would say! Or at least I had thought so till we visited Glasgow Cathedral. The green pasture all around, the barren trees, the towering buildings, they sure showcased the effect of time and held stories of the years that had passed.
Nishanth and I proceeded to carefully whip our babies out and clicked about like it was nobody’s business. Was it our cameras clicking or our feets, just like the Scottish highland dancers we had come across last night?
We only hope we were able to do justice to the view that was presented to us, within those artfully crafted walls.
Diving into a childhood dream
Maannsi in a serious tone, “Oooohh, something’s over there! I saw a huge shadow!” And looking at my reaction, she laughed her heart out and that’s how we began our expedition on finding Nessie, the Loch ness monster! I was madly into Nessie ever since I was a little kid!
Although I don’t know what she saw, it is definitely not funny when you are scuba diving in Loch ness!
It’s been 3 hours and with the sun down, the water’s getting colder by the minute. Sadly, the biggest fish we have seen so far is a 6-feet long European eel!
Back at the shore, I was thinking to myself about how a part of me doesn’t want Nessie to be found! Afterall, the thrill is in the chase!
Ufff! Are you ready??
Day 30 and my mind goes, *“Don’t do it…but if you do it, it’ll be a lot of fun…” *
You see, when we were back in Manali, planning for our first bungee, Maannsi told me that she was scared of heights and so we had canceled it. And that’s when I knew that I had to keep the last stop a secret!
So here we are at Faroe islands, the edge of Scotland, highland dancing to a breathtaking sunset.
As for Maannsi, she still thinks we are here to dance into the night! But the cool sea breeze gently whispered in my ear otherwise. So, I make a run for the cliff knowing that when Maannsi tries to catch me I’ll have to duck!
“You crazzzyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…. I’ll killll youuuu…”
“Geranimooooooo………..”
There we were laughing our lungs out, wading through the Atlantic and talking about how I am not even sorry! That’s when we saw them, a family of majestic Orcas out for a hunt on the last light of the summer solstice. As for how it felt,it felt like…..well that’s one of those things that just can’t be expressed!
Well, if you think that’s where we stopped, then our moms would kill you! The journey back home was a whole new chapter and I guess you would have to stick around to read it….
With love <3 ~ Maannsi & Nish