The 'S' word

Standing in the midst of The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, I was wondering, is this the same country I live in? Is this the same India or Bharat or Hindustan? whatever you call it.

The same country where walls of ancient temples are carved with nude Gods and Godesses, where one can see cave paintings depicting humans indulging the sacred act of reproduction i.e SEX. Why has this 3 letter word wrecked such a havoc in this country?


In India where population goes around 1.2 billion, we can't even utter the 'S' word.

Is it the same place where the famous Kamasutra was written? where people so openly worship the Shivalingam (for those who don't know, Shivalingam represents the male and female reproductive organs). So why is it that a filmmaker has to struggle forever to get a kissing scene passed through the censor board? why does a painter gets thrashed for painting nudes?

Do we have any idea where all this hypocrisy leads to? A confused generation. Can't we just accept the fact that people have sex in our country, before marriage or after marriage and then educate the younger generation rather than keeping it under covers and letting them explore it on their own. Be it the right way or wrong way?

In God's Own Country - Kerala

Came back from a vacation in Kerela a couple of days back. It felt like I was floating in a dream and was shaken back to the harsh reality.... Mumbai. The mere feeling of being away from the chaos of the city as soon as you step in the God's own land rejuvenates you. So much green, so much peace and so much nature filled me with a new life. The beauty of kerela reflects in people as well. It seems as if they inherit their calmness, sweetness and honesty from their land.

I remember one incident when we booked a houseboat on the day we reached Alleppey. We were offered a price of 12,000 Rs. The next morning when we were loading our luggage and ourselves on the boat, the manager of the Houseboat company asked us for 13,000 Rs. After a brief and a little hot discussion the manager realised that he mistook us with some other client. I guess for him it was the most embarassing moment. He had apology written all over his face and tears in his eyes. He said sorry to almost everyone in the group and send Nariyal pani (coconut water) for each of us. It might not have cost him much but the sheer gesture left a mark on us. By that simple act of his he gave us a piece of his land.

Small incidents make your travel experience worth remembering.... and this is one of them.