Couple weeks back, I was working at the exhall which has become like a second home to me, the ambient noise of people who stay away and don’t disturb (mostly), coffee at an arm’s reach, and the hope of occassionally glimpsing my crush¹. You get it? Anyways, I was sitting all locked-in, mentally prepared for a deep dive into another one of my rabbit holes when I was disrupted by a senior who loves to chat. I allow him that indulgence since our conversations are stimulating and englightening some times. You should always have a friend to discuss politics with, I think. But this time, we didn’t. Life was getting monotonous so out of curiosity, I just asked him “What can I do as a hobby?” By then, I was joined by a junior and we all sat around that uncomfortable table at CCD.

“have sex”, he said. I sighed. You see, my senior friend is running a little…dry. The kind of friends I have sometimes makes me question myself but then my junior said “Travel”. Not bad, I thought. Not bad for a second (more feasible) option at all. Chatting about tech and the sorry state of India’s investment culture, we ended up at the balcony of Bharti after jumping through a window to get there. I left the building after having booked my flights to Vizag. It would be a week long trip, I will not be taking a leave and I will pretty much plan things as we go along. My flight was on Saturday. I got busy with work for the rest of the week.

Day 1 - Adrenaline high

My flight was at 5 am and I didn’t want to wake up at 3 so I decided to sleep at the airport lounge. I had good portions of protein and fibres from the lounge food and then took to a corner reading some blogpost on my laptop. I had packed Amartya Sen’s Argumentative Indian and Sun Tzu’s classic Art of War with me. I saw people walking in and out, some of them hurried, some of them sleepy, some with whining kids, some with hopes and aspirations. The general song of humanity, you know. I wondered about my own state. How was I feeling? I didn’t know. It seemed like the part which hoped and dreamt was numbed down by the bitter realities as they stood. It would have been great to have a partner on this trip, I wondered. I immediately shrugged off these thoughts - this was it, I am used to it. Everything was going to be fine. Who was I kidding? I could already see nights of writhing and crying. Anyways, we’ll get to it in due time. I have a flight to catch.

I was hoping the trip would give me some clarity and clear out the city fog that seemed to be looming over my mind lately². Sure enough, I was getting in the headspace, reading Sen, and typing notes ferociously on my notepad. Thoughts were flowing without much effort, there were some spectacular clouds in the air and I was liking it all. A girl was seated in the middle seat and she was tossing her head around in sleep. I found it both a bit cute and distracting. I asked if she wanted coffee or if she would like to rest her head on my shoulder to sleep better. She refused both. Later I found out she was doing her MBA from IIMV. She asked about my reason of visit and I simply said vacation. Workcation to be precise but anyways. She was a typical Delhi girl; I wondered how Indigo managed to mess this up :P

The moisture-laden coastal air hit me but I was on an adrenaline high, booked an Uber and dropped my stuff at the Zostel in Srirampura. The beach was 1.4km away, I set my Fit3 to walking activity and started. It was terribly hot and not the scorching Delhi kind of hot, it was the sweltering, uncomfortable coastal kind of hot. Some of my friends saw my story and rebuked me saying why I went now. I reassured them this wasn’t the worst decision I have taken in my life. I don’t know what I was thinking but I decided to run along the beach road. After pulling an all-nighter, weary from the flight and without any food in my stomach. Yeah. Sue me. I went back to the Zostel, took a bath and planned my day. My junior decided to show up and show me around. I was mentally making notes of things to stock up on - electrolytes, water bottle, power bank. I blinkit-ed all of it that night, got a leaky water bottle, complained to blinkit customer care and they were incompetent little fucks. I also bought a notebook and pencil.

Around 12:30 pm, I had food. Loaded up on carb and protein at a cafe but slightly expensive. I got some fancy hibiscus tea and it was worth it. I synced with my friend here and we went to Rushikonda beach and got drenched trying to click an aesthetic photo. Bought new clothes and it was super cheap (I don’t know living in Delhi conditions people poorly), drank lots of coconut water for 20 rupees a piece (?!). It was around 3pm and God sent clouds so everything was good again. The wind was incredibly delicious. I booked my weekday stay at the Sai Priya resort - slightly expensive but I thought better than a hostel setup especially for work. However, they didn’t have a workspace and I can’t work from bed. We went up to the Thotlakonda monastery by trekking - it was getting dark. Tumbling down the hill and realising of running and racing with another person. I felt like a child for a moment. My fitness band said I burned around 500 kcal so yay I guess.

We explored various random spots. My friend said he knew a spot and then took me to literal heaven. The juxtaposition of the blue of the ocean with the yellow of the sand with the brown of the rugged rocks with the green of the hill and the white of the clouds. It was magnificent.

My friend effortlessly engaged the locals and we got dirt cheap local commute - at one point, literally hanging from the back of a shared auto. Bumping head on the ceiling when passing over a bumper. Had to tilt my head just to see because my eyes were obstructed by the tarpoline of the auto’s top. Rickshaw wale bhaiya had zero chills, he was zooming past palm trees after palm trees as the cool air made things better. Great experience. Locals were so nice and wanted to help you out without taking advantage. Again, my mind wandered to Delhi folks and the a priori conditioning that people are always unruly and loud and disobedient and selfish.

I slept at 9pm that day for like eight hours.

Day 2 - Meditation and Solitude

I packed some basics and went out for a run on the beach road. They had cordoned off traffic for the stretch and there were people - locals, athletes, vendors – blending into a cacophonic mess. I stretched and ran a 2k, then had some coconut water, called home, and sat down to meditate. No plans, just sitting and I realised how much I missed it. I took out my notebook and made some quick sketches. I don’t remember the last time I had time to sketch. Sorry if this is getting grim, I also thought what the hell was I doing.

Funnily, I looked around sitting at my shade of coconut trees and found people hunched over their phones. I wondered how I have spent thousands just for a few hours of not looking at screens. What world have we created? People don’t value what they have and keep running for things they don’t need. I was reminded of the following verse from the Quran: “Surely, humanity is in grave loss” (103:2).

I had some millet dosa at a local tiffin shop and went out for a solo sight seeing. I went to all the museums, the inside of a submarine and other aircrafts. Vizag is a naval base, apparently so you can also spot multiple frigates on the sea horizon. I was annoyed by a lack of fibre/protein food options, just had some egg bhurji and plain roti at a local shop and my stomach groaned in disagreement. I passed by an officer’s mess and I envied their lives a bit - sure maybe for their exclusivity but also for their discipline. I envy their discipline and structure in life.

I trekked up to Kailasgiri hill and thought it would be quiet but forgot to factor in the fact that it was Sunday. I was surrounded by so many people and yet I was all alone with no one to disturb me. I spent some time relaxing and some time meditating. The trek back was much easier, they have proper stairs cut out.

My friend had given me some food places to try so I booked a Rapido from the Zostel. I have never paid 34 rupees for 3km for a bike ride. It felt strange. The blast of freezing air from the AC and the context switch from the sweltering 43 degree heat made me turn from sweating like a pig to a frozen popsicle in minutes. Vizag people are built different. The place was called Subayya Gari hotel. I looked around, it was white, sterile with warm overhead lights. There were a few families quietly eating at various corners. There was no menu, no spoons on the table. Because there was just one item on the menu. Everything.

The person spread a large banana leaf in front of me and started putting items and rattling off in Telugu about the food with utmost dedicated. I just obediently nodded like a good boy and waited for him to finish serving. I thought it was basic manners. I had one of the most sumptuous meals that night - I forgot everything about my diet and asked for a second serving of all the rices. I decided to walk the 2km back to the Zostel.

I went to bed around 9:30pm. Enough adventure I thought to myself, it would be Monday the next day.

Day 3, 4, and 5 - A Cog in the Machine

Well, I just hanged around the resort at Sai Priya. I went out for morning runs along the beach in the sand and went for swimming at the pool at 5pm. I would get meals at the hotel inside the resort and work the rest of the day from my room. The saddest part was that the hotel folks didn’t bother to make a single person serving size, all their portion sizes were for two people so I always had to ask them to pack food which I would have the next day in the morning. Do these people think that a person cannot enjoy himself alone?

My friend was supposed to come back on Day 6 and we would take a train to the Araku valley, hold for a night and then go to his place for another night. However, his family didn’t allow so I had to cut short my trip by two days. I checked out of the hotel, attended some important meetings from the hotel lobby. I also saw a couple sitting hunched in front of their laptops just like me and I smiled. Blessed are those who have company. It’s the highest blessing.

I took my luggage, booked a cab and headed to the airport. My flight was at 11:40 at night, I had the whole day. I had to submit my thesis so I worked at it the whole day at the airport then bought an overpriced coffee from the food stalls. Once again, the solitude of the airport was allowing me to concentrate and I fired up my word processor to complete that blogpost I had on my mind for a long time. I secretly hoped to be seated next to a cute girl on the way back to perhaps lighten the mood or to have a chat with. The flight was 50% empty and both the other seats were empty as well.

“Well, that’s that”, I thought and stretched my legs like a sleepy cat. I tried concentrating on Amartya Sen but just stayed out of the window at nothing, letting my mind wander into a slumber only to be jolted really hard by turbulence. I couldn’t sleep after that and my mind was on alert. There was a lot of turbulence on that flight (apparently it rained in Delhi and it was very cloudy). I tried looking out the window but all I saw was the red flashlights on the wings diffusing into the clouds. I saw vast tracts of light dots zooming on the roads forming a complex network of veins and arteries. The city was alive.

I landed around 1am, took a cab and by 2am I found myself standing in front of my hostel room, all items right where I left them.

Thanks for reading this far, you are still here! Let me know of places I should go next!

Footnotes

1. She has left the campus now, though.
2. I am writing this from an apartment, and I have all “amentities” but I hate it. I honestly just hate it, all this comfort is making my bones weak and my soul hollow. I want to live like how our ancestors used to live. Not have the supply chain of industry and intricate capitalistic mechanisms provide all food, clothing, tools I could possible imagine served right on my table. I want the freedom, Idk of wandering around? Riding horses? Fishing?