A Diwali in Gokarna
The thing about travel writing is that words can never capture the smells and sounds of the journey and that of the places where our feet take us. How does one begin to describe the ethereal sight of rain swollen paddy fields arising out of the dawn mist beneath the foothills of the western ghats? I left bangalore for gokarna on diwali day, a few hours before most parts of the city erupted into a war zone. The intent was to escape for a couple of days at least, to a place that in my researched imagination, offered a refuge to spend some time by myself in quiet reflection. The twelve hour journey kickstarted from the s.r.s. travels terminus in majestic. And apart from a very unintentionally hilarious kannada flick called 'sringara kavya' the journey was quite uneventful and comfortable. The tickets cost us 400 one way per head.By city slicker standards, gokarna is a tiny hamlet, centered wholly around its ancient temples. The town, if I can call it that, is easily covered on foo