ZAC O’YEAH
and potatoes seven days a week, whereas India is the genuine smorgasbord of gourmet sensations. I think I have grown a lot as a human through my interactions with Indians and all things Indian.
Tell us about your adventures and misadventures in India. What has been the most memorable experience?
As far as misadventures go, there’s been a fair number, like falling off a few mountains in the Himalayas, losing all my travel documents and having to improvise my way back home. One time an elephant I was riding drank up a bottle of pungent hair oil and sneezed. I got showered with its eucalyptus-smelly snot. I once had a leg broken during a monsoon downpour when I got flushed into a stormwater drain. But any hardships were worth it, for the many rewards of being in India—even the hospital stay when they reattached my leg was interesting and inspired me to write one of my novels. Memorable moments of the more pleasant kind include meeting many fantastic people while travelling. Perhaps my finest moment was spending a morning with R K Narayan, whose books I adore.
What are your travel essentials for exploring the country?
The most wonderful trips can get ruined if one forgets to bring antacids and anti-diarrhoea tablets. I usually take a lightweight umbrella, lots of digene and immodium, toiletries and sanitiser, a sturdy notebook and many pens, a power bank, and adaptors. India is a shopper’s paradise, so whenever you need anything else, you can just buy it—like more clothes.
Apart from Bengaluru, which other places in India get your creative juices flowing?
I’m very fond of the Western Ghats—to trek up mountains, experience the wilderness. Other than the hills, I enjoy coastal Kerala for its lovely food. But I also love going to big cities like Mumbai and Kolkata that are so vibrant—almost manic— and full of culture. I also get very excited when I visit ancient, old-fashioned towns in Odisha or Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, or Uttar Pradesh where there’s a lot of important heritage that tends to get overlooked by tourists who are too busy ticking off the main sites from their bucket lists. So, while all tourists go to Varanasi and Taj Mahal, very few know about Kaushambi, which I found to be an absolutely thrilling excursion. Seraikella in Jharkhand is a remarkable culture village if one is interested in dance, and Dholavira in Gujarat totally blew my mind as I was the only tourist there the day when I walked through its majestic ruins.
A scenic drive from India’s start-up hub of Bengaluru takes you to the city of silk, sandalwood, palaces, and horse carriages. Mysuru—formerly called Mysore—is the culture capital of Karnataka and has lent its name to some iconic products over the years. There’s the exquisite Mysore silk, the bejewelled royal turban called Mysore and the fragrant Mysore Sandal Soap that was born during the First World War when the kingdom couldn’t export sandalwood to Europe. The culinary specialities include the sweet Mysore and the savoury Mysore dosa. Thanks to a conscientious society, Mysuru has also been recognised as one of India’s cleanest cities. With over 200 heritage buildings that make you travel back in time, Mysuru leans away from the one-size-fits-all idea of tourism and makes for a great destination.