Oasis Holidays: Unshod in India

Unshod in India

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I remember humming a soft tune as I walked down the beautiful Kudle Beach at Gokarna – a town kissed by the Arabian Sea in the South Indian State of Karnataka.

The melody of the tune was completed by the sweet sounds of the crashing waves, regular chirping of the coastal birds, shouts of kids playing soccer and the whispers of lovers walking on the beach. I also remember splashing waters on to my friend’s faces as all of us joyously bathed in the cool Arabian waters. The gradually receding beach was both merciful and welcoming. In the evening, nearly forty pairs of eyes stood staring at the beautiful sunset as the sea gulped the sun, to keep it safe in its hiding for the night. Quite a love story. And quite a sight to behold.

I remember walking down the streets of the beautifully antique town of Gokarna to reach Kudle Beach. I bumped into some really interesting people and sights on the way. And as my eyes caught the glimpse of the beach through the leaves of an ancient tree, I blessed the walk that had led me to it.

But what I remember the most from those two days at Kudle Beach, is a longing – a longing to let go. A longing to delve deeper and understand. A longing to stay.

When we travel, we come across numerous beautiful roads and destinations. And very often, we spend days at these locations and then move on to other places and things. Sometimes we come back from journeys and the places we saw take deep roots in our memories, as our minds get exposed to the realms of everyday life. But at times, we visit places we just can’t get enough of. At times, we feel the strong urge to call a distant land our ‘home’. At least for a while.

Such was the case with Kudle Beach and me. Having been there several times, I still feel the longing to stay there for a longer duration. Still feel the need to stare at the Kudle sunset for days together.

And it’s very difficult to state the reason why. It is definitely not the most enchanting place I have ever been to. But there was something in the way my thoughts completely melted and mixed with the aroma of the place. It lent me a peaceful, easy feeling very difficult to replace. I felt that I completely belonged to the place, at least for the time I spent there. So much so that I’ve been planning to go and stay there for a month or two.

I don’t feel the urge to spend my life away at Kudle. But for what she gave me, I definitely owe her a month of my heart and soul. For me, it will always be my favourite escape.

Things to Do in Gokarna

When in Gokarna, do not miss out on the following:

· - Trek from Kudle Beach all the way up to Om, Half Moon and Paradise Beach. The beach trek is an amazing experience. You are bound to bump into some amazing travellers and picturesque locations.

· - See some beautiful temples and walk the old markets of Gokarna town. Gokarna is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Shiva. Delve in its history and culture.

· - If you are going to stay for long, you can also take Yoga classes near Kudle beach.

· - Go on a boat ride and if you are lucky, you can spot dolphins in the sea!

· - You can get a nice massage and spend the day out in the beach sun.

· - The bike ride around Gokarna is really beautiful. // Amarpreet Singh for Oasis Holidays

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For an all-India tour in 22 days, you may want to check out this video.

For Tour and Travels India as well as International packages from India, please contact us at Oasis Holidays.

Unshod Rover is a worldwide-eyed wanderer currently based in Bangalore, India. You may follow his musings and wanderings on this blog. "Unshod in India" is a series of articles based on Mr. Rover's adventures and discoveries in this very interesting and incredible subcontinent.

{About the Author}

Amarpreet Singh is 25 and lives in Bangalore, India and apart from journeying with a waste management organization called Daily Dump, likes to spend his time scribbling words wherever he can. His passion is penning down random sets of words that may seem gibberish to most people and may make perfect sense for some insane ones out there. He doesn’t seem to stop any time soon too. Poetry is what people say he is good at. Music and Football are his other hobbies.

India is indeed a masala of many wonderful, interesting things. However, for the first-time traveller, the variety of elements you have to deal with could be a little dizzying. It is, therefore, road-smart to equip your backpacks with these useful travel buddies. So as not to send you into tilt or derail you from making happy holidays, let’s stand by what #Rover Recommends.

1. Water Bottle. While it’s general travel wisdom to keep oneself always hydrated, it is doubly important to always carry with you a bottle of water anywhere in India. That is, water that you are already used to. Bottled water is available everywhere as well as those in jugs with a common glass readily offered to random passersby. However, your system may not be as ready to take in different types of water. So, better safe than sore tummy. [One curious detail though is my preference for that warm, pinkish water that they usually serve in Kerala homes. This ayurvedic mix is made by boiling water along with the hard part of the sappan wood or East Indian red wood. It is said to be both a purifier and a cure for many diseases. But then, again, it needs some getting used to.]

2. Wet Wipes/Toilet Paper. Okay, let’s start from the beginning of the digestion process. Most of the time, you would be taking food and meals using your hand. Therefore, it is always wise to wash your hands or in the absence of water, use wet wipes. By the end of the process, repeat step one. Trust me on this. Like, really. Sometimes, clean water and soap may not be available, and many times, toilet paper is still scarce. That leads me to these amazing…

3. Green Pearls. A very concerned friend suggested it to me in one of my earlier travels around India. These are wonder gems made mainly of Pudina Satva that provide quick relief from stomach ailments. I’m not sure yet as to how medically safe they are, but for sure, they have helped me keep the toilet away, which may not always be around the corner anyway. Especially during long trips with irregular meal schedules, these green pearls come in handy along with candies, dark chocolate, and light biscuits. [Personally, I have been war-trained by my grandmother not to eat during a trip. And so, I could actually survive an all-nighter without eating. But that’s just between me and my grandmother.]

4. Sturdy Sandals/Chappals. They help you walk the talk. There’s a lot of walking (and sometimes running and pushing and shoving) involved here in India, and on roads less travelled or badly beaten at that. Shoes are fine, but with the weather varying around the subcontinent, an ever reliable pair of sandals could be one small step for man, one giant leap over potholes and dead animals sometimes. Rain or shine, chappals could be your stepping-stone to wanderlust success.

5. Neck pillow. When you are not walking, most likely you are on a bus or on the train. You might as well keep your neck relaxed and secure, whether on sleep or sightseeing mode. India is big. A three-hour ride is near, eight-hour trips are normal, and hope springs eternal.

6. Blanket/Towel. Please refer to number 2. Well, seriously, your modest accommodation either on the bus or train or during your stay may not provide for these two important pieces of cloth. AC buses or trains could get exponentially cold, while open-air transportation could be a little, well, breezy and/or open to air. Also, you don’t want to catch yourself after-bath without a towel.

7. Mosquito repellent. Quite simply, to repel mosquitoes unless you intend to spend most of your time body-clapping.

8. Water-proof Things/Bags. Aside from the sporadic rain, be ready for your bag to also get sweaty, moist, sauced, etc. There’s also a lot of sweating and washing involved, so a ready water-proof bag for wet clothes could prove to be the hottest deal.

9. Books/Music/Movies. Please refer to number 5. Aside from long rides [which I really, really like, by the way], you will always have some spare time while waiting for your flight, bus, meal, service, etc. So, while trying to learn the ropes tied to the Indian sense of timing, you can read a chapter, listen to an album, watch an episode. In case, these do not suffice. You can go back to sightseeing and people-watching.

10. Camera/Diary. Despite the difficulties and the inconvenience, travelling around India could prove to be the deepest and most enriching human experience one could ever have. It is for me. I have never felt so close, elbow to elbow, with humanity, the essentials of life. It has a way, sometimes charming, sometimes confusing, of keeping yourself grounded. Of course, without much exoticising or dramaticising one’s experiences, you’d thank me later for having told you to keep some memories through photographs and writings. Besides, who knows other people outside of your family and friends could also benefit from your travel stories. Take my word for it, literally.

11. Family Picture. As a family-oriented and friendly bunch, Indians get really curious about your age, your work, your social status, your family background. Showing them a picture of your family is like welcoming them into your home back where you come from. And since all of a sudden you all become one family, a new family selfie is also required. And the whole world becomes one big happy family.

12. Smile. Again, despite the difficulties and the inconvenience, a smile is your map, guidebook, and welcome and parting gift all in one. It will lead you to open arms, and doors and homes, and maybe wrong directions, but still more smiles and even lasting friends. With a smile, come an open mind and a happy disposition. Then, beyond money and/or any other material remuneration, a smile could prove to be the best gift and greeting you could give and leave a host or a stranger. In a world of walls and borders, it is the most effective icebreaker, to begin with.

So, let’s get this packing started. // Unshod Rover for Oasis Holidays

For an all-India tour in 22 days, you may want to check out this video.

For Tour and Travels India as well as International packages from India, please contact us at Oasis Holidays.

Looking at the Mandovi river and walking around Panjim in Goa gives me a Lisbon feel. I realize somehow that I have come another full circle. A few years ago, I was in Belem in Portugal, where boats and ships started during the Age of Discovery, and now site of the tomb of Vasco da Gama. Little did I know that just left of Thailand across the pond, I would one day find myself coming out of the Dabolim airport in Goa and off to the nearest town named after the great explorer, Vasco da Gama.

Life, especially during travel, surprises us with names and memories that invite us to somehow close a chapter, an episode of our continuing journey. Most of the time, if not always, it would signal a new beginning. Goa offers me a lot of these beginnings, but not without first drenching me with deja vus and irony that stick like sweat on a shirt.

The smell of Europe lingering in wooden cabinets or pop-opened in ideas and conversations over fish thali and kokum juice or soup. Modern buildings sticking out in a backdrop of old “foreign” structures. Casinos floating along an ancient river, flashy billboards damming perhaps the eventual erosion of hills.

I was once in Goa for the December holidays. I actually had spent New Year’s Eve waiting by the terrace of a restaurant by the beach in the north. It was at that moment, with feet on top of the balusters overlooking the sea and the sea of foreigners waiting for the countdown, that I reflected on what sort of novelty were we expecting for that New Year.

When everything is new all the time and everything gets old by the second, what’s the new new? The answer came the day after, on New Year’s day, through a family’s welcome and the sight of a woman by the portico of a more than a hundred year-old ancestral home. In a generation of control-alt-deletes and regular updates, that good-old, familiar feeling is the new new.

In a fast-paced world, you look forward to looking back, to not forget about remembering. And stories of past love and failures and laughter are as refreshing as they get. And it is only when we look back to where we come from that we are totally home, that we are new again.

The very first time I woke up in Goa, I found myself on another working day towards a world that I dream of. I saluted those in the offices and those in the greater offices of being with bigger things to work on, that need to work out. I dedicated that day to my nephew whose work on earth had just finished, and to his loved ones whose work just got a major reshuffling and restructuring.

There, by the Capela de Nossa Senhora do Monte, I could see down below Old Goa's world heritage sites sprouting like mushrooms on a canvas of green. I was staying in a building attached to one, the Church of St. Cajetan, which was designed after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. I wondered why with this much precious history and the ever beautiful present, everybody seemed to be always in a hurry.

One time while on the bus leaving Goa, it dawned on me that I had been travelling almost a day in total in a span of almost four to meet with kids for two little hours. I was hoping those two little hours of positive energy would be enough for the kids to carry them on until the next meeting. Deep inside of me I felt some giant changes romping about my being. And the old kid who was married to his thoughts that I was, it was a real kick in my spiritual hypothalamus. And yet, while I did nurse some rebellious thoughts and beliefs that may seemingly go against some time-infested and traditional cultural norms, the wanderer in me felt my system was moving towards harmony, some sort of consolidation.

And so I laid these thoughts one by one and told them stories of the sun and the rain. How sometimes a change would do one good. That walking away might be the best favor one could do to oneself. And some circles have to closed. How more dignified it is to burn in the sun than to rot in the shadows. That there is grace in embracing failure. That there is joy in defeat. I told them these stories and then I told them, yes, there will be consequences. It won't get easier now. And I said home is not the ability to resist in one place for the longest time. I told them home is a journey.

I swear it by the tomb of Vasco da Gama, and the town named after him. // Unshod Rover for Oasis Holidays

For an all-India tour in 22 days, you may want to check out this video.

For Tour and Travels India as well as International packages from India, please contact us at Oasis Holidays.

(Part 4 of the “Unshod in India” series)

A date with my mom would usually go like this: a visit to a Church, shopping for shoes and clothes, lunch, a movie and off to the spa. We try to have these bonding moments each time we can, and such days don’t have to fall on any special occasion.

But for Mother’s Day, I’d like to stretch our usual one-day date into a week or two spanning 6 cities across India. Of course, given that your moms are up for an All-India tour and have the same little joys as my mom’s, you may try to take the following route.

1. 1. First, we go for a pilgrimage to Velankanni, the Tamil Nadu state which is home to one of India’s biggest Catholic pilgrimage centres, the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. My mom is a big devotee of the Our Lady. There, we can recite as many rosaries as she would usually do, especially on a Wednesday, and pray for good health and safety. Of course, depending on one’s beliefs and culture, other religious sites can also be found in Andhra Pradesh (Tirumala Venkateswara Temple), in Rajasthan (Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti), and in Punjab (Harmandir Sahib), among many others. What’s important is to start this day with a moment of prayer and reflection with your mom.

2. 2. Now, from Velankanni, we can go for lunch in Bangalore, in nearby Karnataka. I know India offers a lot of rich and diverse gastronomic pleasures, but Bangalore is home for me now. So, I know which stomach pleasers could lead to my mom’s heart. For example, we can do some restaurant-hopping along Church Street or around Indiranagar. My mom’s not a picky eater, but she does have a smaller appetite. We’ll see about that. Who knows, she might just opt for some soup at any Chinese restaurant or actually go for a full-on Indian buffet somewhere. The point is: we don’t want a hungry mom on Mother’s day (or week, in this case).

3. 3. To lose those extra calories, as we also would want our moms to maintain their, well, great health, we might need some breeze walking and at least, some arm exercises while rolling out and choosing one cloth after the other in textile-haven Coimbatore, again in Tamil Nadu. My mom is not the fashionista kind, but she definitely loves her white pieces. She’s not into sarees and other colorful stuff and all, but a pair of light day dresses and/or dusters would really make her clothing bucket list. How about yours?

4. 4. We’ll not go far from Coimbatore for some pampering as we head further south to Kerala for some ayurvedic sessions. Normally, my mom and I would only go for body scrub and full body massage. But since, we’re in Kerala, a couple of days’ therapy and diet might do wonders on our stress-stricken systems. Just be sure the treatments are compatible with your mom’s medical condition and blood pressure levels, etc.

5. 5. Relaxed and feeling lighter than ever, we are ready to face the mean streets of Mumbai. The movie buff that she is (my grandfather used to work at the town’s box office), my mom would definitely want to check out the film scene of the Bollywood kind. We’ll struggle with the language, but with our deep telenovela sensibilities, we’ll sing and dance our way through a Hindi feature. My mom’s a fan of love stories of the highly dramatic leaning.

6. 6. Our cinematic hunger satisfied, we’ll step on towards my mom’s other guilty pleasure: shoes! They say Agra has a big footwear industry. My mom’s a simple woman but she goes head over heels when it comes to sandals, slip-ons, step-ins, shoes. And while in Agra, we might as well cap our weeklong “Mother’s Day” date with a stroll, new shoes and all, around the Taj Mahal to watch the sunset. Just be careful not to get your new pair mixed up with the rest of the footwear being left outside of the site. If ever, our big “Mother’s Day” celebration might end up on the wrong foot.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mother and every mother and grandmother in the world! // Unshod Rover for Oasis Holidays

Photo Credits:

Basilica_of_Our_Lady_of_Good_Health By Vtbijoy (Own work) Source

Indian_vegan_curry_in_Bangalore By Sharada Prasad CS from Berkeley, India Source

Ayurveda By Amila Tennakoon Source

For an all-India tour in 22 days, you may want to check out this video.

For Tour and Travels India as well as International packages from India, please contact us at Oasis Holidays.

Kudle Beach (Gokarna): The Longing to Stay Back

Kudle Beach (Gokarna): The Longing to Stay Back

Rover Recommends Top 12 Travel Buddies when in India

Rover Recommends Top 12 Travel Buddies when in India

Going, going, Goan: Coming full circle from Vasco da Gama’s tomb to town

Going, going, Goan: Coming full circle from Vasco da Gama’s tomb to town

Eat, Pray, Shop, and Relax with Your Mom: Celebrate Mother’s Day in 6 Indian Cities

Eat, Pray, Shop, and Relax with Your Mom: Celebrate Mother’s Day in 6 Indian Cities