Masala Dosa on the Mekong

It was midnight. I was alone in my hotel room. Someone knocked on the door. I said, "Who is it?" There was no response. I was in Madurai, on my way to Kodaikanal in south India. The weather forecast said that the temperature in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) was soon going to reach 46C (115F). I checked the weather in Kodaikanal (commonly known as Kodai), a hill station about 500km away. It was 23C (73F). Half of that of Chennai! I decided to go to Kodai for a few days. I had a club membership which gave me access to stay in their property in Kodai. I just had to pay for the food and liquor that I consume. The easiest way to go from Chennai to Kodai by public transport is by taking the night bus. It's a comfortable, air-conditioned bus that reaches Kodai the next morning. But I wanted to travel during the day. I wanted to sit by the window, look out and daydream. So, I decided to take a day train from Chennai to Madurai. I would stay overnight there. The next morning,...

It was pitch dark at 4:30am. "Let us rob him," said Red Shirt. Green Shirt asked, "What if he fights back?" Red Shirt replied, "We will kill him." They were talking about me in Malayalam. I was alone in a remote boat jetty, trying to explore the lesser-known backwaters of northern Kerala. More than ten years ago, I was in Alleppey. I was there to experience the famed backwaters of Kerala in southern India. Alleppey was the Mecca for all backwater related activities. There was a very popular cruise from Alleppey to Kollam. "I can book the ticket for you," said my hotel receptionist. The ticket was ₹400 ($6) for the 8-hour journey. I reached the boat jetty for the 10:30am boat. It was an old wooden boat with an aisle and wooden padded benches on either of the aisle. I took my seat on one of the benches in the front. There was nobody sitting next to me. There were about 70 to 80 passengers. There were people from all over the world - Europeans, Kore...

"You are looking for a girl?", she asked. I said, "Sorry?". "Are you looking for a bride?", she said. I was in Kanadukathan village in Tamil Nadu state in southern India.  I was travelling from Trichy to Karaikudi. I was planning to visit the area called Chettinad. The villages in Chettinad were full of mansions, called periya veedhu in Tamil, that were built in the 1700's and 1800's. They were built by rich traders with the finest material available in the world at that time. Their businesses flourished until the arrival of the British. They went into decay when the British imposed harsh taxes on Indians and introduced laws favouring European businesses. Most of the traders in Chettinad migrated to Singapore, a mecca for traders, and are currently multi-millionaires there. I was travelling to explore the Chettinad mansions that they left behind. I was in a bus from Trichy to Karaikudi and wanted to catch a connection to go to Kanadukathan village...