If I Were a Season, I’d be Monsoon.
About this post: For a long time, I ran away from the monsoon in India. I had no idea how beautiful the rainy season could be, how rejuvenating monsoon travel could be. After years of fleeing the monsoon in India, I now chase it with all my heart. This season, I’ve collaborated with Radisson Rewards to seek memorable monsoon moments across the country and can’t wait to share them with you!I lie on my back, floating alone in the pool, soft raindrops gently falling on my face. Palm trees rustle in the breeze. A peacock cries in the distance. Grey clouds move swiftly through the sky. I close my eyes and deeply inhale the heavy monsoon air, thinking that maybe, the clouds are erupting just to indulge me.
This is my season, the season I’d be if I were a season. This is the monsoon feeling I eagerly came back to India from Cuba to chase…
Over the last three months, I discovered the trendy city of Copenhagen on a bicycle, set sail to Bornholm – the furthest island in Denmark, slowed down on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, lost myself on the cobblestoned streets of colorful Havana, joined a coral reef restoration project on Cocodrilo – a remote island in Cuba, sampled legal stuff in the Bay Area 😉 and hung out on the Pacific Coast of California.
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When it was time to pick my next destination, I could feel the tug of the Indian monsoon calling me to my home country. I’ve come to believe that nowhere else in the world does the rainy season like India. Not Cuba, not Guatemala, not Southeast Asia. The rains in India are laden with an indescribable feeling of joy. The earth bursts into shades of green, the aroma of pakoras waft out of every house, the immense relief from the hot summer is visible on every face.
But even heading back to India, I felt torn. On one hand, I wanted to slow down and drive my bike along the lush rice paddies of Goa and on the other, I wanted to experience the joy of rain in the desert terrain of Rajasthan. I wanted as much to hang out at my favorite Mumbai cafes while it poured outside, as I wanted to walk along the furious sea waves on the Konkan coast.
Also read: Offbeat Rajasthan: 11 Awe-Inspiring Experiences
Luckily for me, I didn’t have to choose! In collaboration with Radisson Rewards, I’ll spend the next couple of weeks exploring some beautiful corners of India, sampling new cuisines and familiar flavours, revelling in the rains, seeking memorable moments that make India incredible. Along the way, I hope to introduce my parents to the Goa feeling, indulge in the royal ways of Jodhpur, sample city life in Mumbai and wash up on a quiet corner of Alibaug.
Along the way, I hope to get drenched in the lashing rain, inhale the moisture-heavy breeze and fill my lungs with the smell of wet earth. For this is the feeling I came back eagerly to chase. This is my season. The season I’d be if I were a season.
Also read: Unexpected Ways Long Term Travel Has Changed Me
Join my journey through the rest of August on social media with #memorablemoments and #wonderfullyrewarding, as I explore India, indulge in the Radisson experience and chase the rains. If you have any interesting, offbeat suggestions for Goa, Jodhpur, Alibaug or Mumbai, I’d love to hear them!
If you were a season, which one would you be?
*Note: I wrote this post as part of the Radisson Rewards campaign by Radisson Hotels Group. As you know, opinions on this blog are always mine.