North India

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

January 2018

In January I traveled to the south of India for a work trip and added on a few days to visit the holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to the north. The city is generous with its customs and everything unfolds right in front of you. The religious pilgrims bathing in the Ganges at sunrise. The bereaved families shaving their heads before lighting the fires. The bodies burning on funeral pyres. Maybe it’s uniquely Indian to include strangers in something so intimate. A cremation in Varanasi next to Hinduism’s holy river completes the cycle of reincarnation and is something they celebrate. It was mind altering to see how an apocalyptic scene for one person could be a beautiful end for another.

South India

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

This was my second visit to the southern city of Chennai (Madras) where the company I work for has a team of software engineers and a large support center. I rented a motorcycle for a day on a past visit and this time I wanted to go harder. Rental companies are expensive and have shitty bikes. So I slipped my hotel concierge $100 US to ride his brand new 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet Classic for the entire week.

I commute aggressively on my supermoto (think dirtbike for street) 365 days a year back home. But Chennai is famous for its brutal traffic and dicey roads, even by Indian standards. So at first it was white knuckle getting to the office and back. Once I figured out my route and got the hang of navigating via GPS the chaos felt routine. On Thursday I dipped out of the office early for a sunset mission to Mahabalipuram, a surf spot that gets summer swells. No waves this time of year, but sick cave temples and weird rock formations.

The last day in the south, my Indian coworker Praveen rode with me to Kancheepuram, a temple city 2 hours inland. Praveen shreds on a bike and chasing him through highway traffic was fucking awesome. Slaloming trucks, cows, and buses had my adrenaline absolutely throbbing. I couldn’t believe it when I rolled into the hotel garage for the last time unscathed.