Hello Kochi!

Kochi is so dear to me as it is the first place I stayed away from my parents.

I had nights crying myself to sleep for not being able to see my parents and not to mention those mosquitos which haunt me at 3am. That was my first experience with the "Queen of Arabian Sea". Terrible, in the first go!

But fate had different plans for me, I was pulled back to Kochi 2 years later once again. and this time, not to hate her, but to fall in love with her forever.

It was definitely Kochi, who made me love lonely life. To celebrate and love myself without expecting others to do that for me. A part of me grew mature staying on her lap and another part adventurous. I could walk for hours alone, even to places I have never been to before, I dared to talk to people who were complete strangers to me; I could live life to the fullest!

Willingdon Island will always remain my happy place in Kochi. Unlike other tourist attractions, the place has nothing to offer you other than an old museum, Cochin Naval Base, and several factories. You may wonder what is so special in this?

The Peace!

The kind of peace that you can't even imagine to have existed in the heart of a metro city like Kochi. And a year later, that was the main reason I found myself again in Kochi. Whenever there came a time to pick up an internship spot, it was always Kochi for me. My first and probably only option 😂

I did a lot of my "firsts" in Kochi; the people, places and calmness of Marine Drive evenings. Those crowded nights at Lulu Mall, those mighty verandas of Maharajas, Kochi-Musiris Biennale amidst the bustling heat of the city and numerous other instincts. That feeling of being alive when a cold evening breeze blows against your face while holding hands with someone special will always remain one of those special moments that I would pick from my deck of memories any day while feeling lonely and cherish it with happy tears. 

It's hard to believe that Kochi has now become a distant memory, vague yet so clear, near yet so far!

~ Cheerachi 

           Marine Drive, Kochi (2018) | Pic Credits: Dheera Sasidharan (@itscheerachi)

Dilwalon Ki Dilli!

The very first day I set my foot on this soil, I knew this that something was different about the air that goes around here, the wind that blows and even the busy people who seems to be robotic in their movements. I never appreciated a metro city life and my encounter with Delhi made my fear for busy and systematic life much bigger.  But there was something that still held me close to this land.

Pic Credits: Dheera Sasidharan (@itscheerachi)

When I started my post-graduation college life in Punjab, Delhi was the first and most picky choice for a weekend relaxation! Delhi was just 6 hrs away from Bathinda, given that we had direct ‘Punjab Mail’ train service from Bathinda to Delhi and Vice versa for easy and cashless transportation (let me admit my sin, actually we never took tickets for this train journey). It was like making plans and packing our bags at the very last moment, calling a rikshaw and reaching the station when the train was just minutes away from leaving it, rushing towards the platform and chasing the train just like another Shahrukh Khan movie scene. 6 hrs of travelling, you can’t actually call it travelling, each journey from Bathinda to Delhi via Punjab mail that too in a General Compartment was never less than an adventure, sometimes we have to stand for hours without getting a seat, can’t close our eyes due to the fear of thieves and not to mention those devilish eyes falling upon us because we were girls! 

But once we reach Delhi, it is another level of refreshment in itself. You will totally forget the amount of pain you took to travel all the way; I must say Delhi worth it all!

The city seems to tell you a lot of stories; stories of love, sorrows, battles, protests, and moreover struggles. The most attractive thing about Delhi is that the city never sleeps, with all its streets that often come to life after sunsets. Wandering along those streets is the most exciting thing I have ever done. Those constant calling and screaming by street vendors, the hectic crowd in which you will float away like a leaf over a river, the smell of food and cloths mixed with joy, the flashy lights that snatch away your sleep; in shot the markets of Delhi are pure bundle of happiness if you aren’t a fan of brands, privacy and posh life! Can’t argue that those pictures we seen on the outskirts of the city are the best or even anywhere near pleasant, but they are arguably the real India!

                                         Pic Credits: Dheera Sasidharan (@itscheerachi)

I could never explain why this land feels so special, being just another planned city, the National Capital of India. Maybe it is that excitement I had as a child, that one day I will visit this city, with all its monuments which stands high reflecting the brilliance of Mughal Architecture. The same monuments which I have only studied and seen in books and television. To roam around in the same gardens in front of those forts and palaces where someday back in history some Emperor may have roamed, to feel those forts which would have seen a number of battles back then, to imagine being one of those soldiers who died protecting this land, to feel life in past tense!

Pic Credits: Dheera Sasidharan (@itscheerachi)

The streets and metros of Delhi isn’t different from those of Kochi, Chennai, and Kolkata, but the feel it gives is undoubtfully different from others.

In short, Delhi excites me for no accurate reason but still a thousand reasons at the same time.

#Cheerachi