India: Clusterf@*%

Udaipur, Ahmadabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Mumbai: Kicked in the face, picked up, sent home.

Green City. Haveli. Doors. Bye Mukesh. Roof Top Perches. Reading. Writing. Euro streets. Octopussy. City Palace. Floating Garden. Temple. Living Museum. Please, no more curry. Winding Roads. Sleeper train. 'Staff Training'. Maze. I still don't get the service. More Corb and Khan. Sarabay House. Indian Institute of Management. Reinvigorated inspiration. Thank you, Nurur. Lattice work. Indian Thali. Real Paan. Hello! Wholesale market. The hunt for saris. Seeds. Candied fennel. 4 mangos, 2 pomegranates and HBO. Jet Airways. My life, on a plane. A decent cup of coffee is more precious than those stones. The day of rest. Table for two, poolside. Puttering around. Arabian Sea. Indian Ocean. Fishing traps. Reflection. 700km river. Church. Golf course. Last roadtrip. The tip of India. Ashram. Wildlife sanctuary. Elephants. Have we joined a cult? It was while we were both huddled in one bed, around the glow of my phone, scared the chanting hare krishnas were coming to get us, I decided we had to get out.. anyway we could. Run to the hills. Kingfisher. Terrifying flight. Out of India, but still in India. Pinnacle of dirt. Re-couping and re-entering some kind of normality. The Causeway. Crawford Market. The Taj - a little creepy. Marine Drive. The Gate of India. Indigo Deli. Harrison. Souk. Poly Esther. Obi. The system works here. Wasabi. Train Station. University. Art Gallery. I want to move in. 3 weeks felt like 3 months. The poetic country I remember has vanished.

the epilogue schtick

oh, I dare you.

wear me down,

strip me, emotionally naked.

maybe it's not in me to give,

cause even when i'm where I want to be,

I'm still trying to get there.

and while I only need a pen to tell you everything I want to say,

I still haven't found the colours to tell the story.