CHENNAI: A road trip across the 29 states, in 7 months can be an exhilarating experience. Driving a Maruti Brezza with music blaring were travel enthusiasts Meraj Shah and Paloma Monappa. Having a Discovery channel camera follow them through it all, you might say, is uncomfortable but they got used to it.
The road trip was not about landscapes or monuments, but the people. From celebrities, tribal fashionistas, and tattoo artists to women wrestlers, child scientists, and path-breaking entrepreneurs, they had the time of their life. City Express talks to the duo about their experiences in our city and their bucket list. “Sometimes we ended up at gorgeous locations and sometimes to places we wouldn’t dream of going. The experience was unforgettable!” says Rahul.
Their Chennai-leg began in Surf School at Covelong, where Murthy Megavan, a fisherman turned surfer, runs a school that teaches local boys and girls to surf. “I had read Murthy’s story before so it was really fun to be able to catch the waves with him,” says Paloma.
It wasn’t Meraj’s first visit to Chennai but this time it was new and he ended up collecting coffee, chicory (he loves cooking) and shells from Covelong Beach. “The people here are warm. I was once told ‘Talk to everyone. Most people aren’t snobbish, just reticent’, and I think that’s the best piece of advice I’ve got.”
The duo’s time in Chennai included a visit to the 3D museum. They met Sonaal of Kabadiwala connect and a transgender Bharatanatyam teacher who teaches dance to the kids in slum areas.
Wasn’t it weird to have a camera follow them? “It did feel strange at first but then we both got so used to it we would even forget there was a microphone attached to us. All the delicious food made me forget the camera,” laughs Paloma.
They carried their own gadgets and gizmos too. While Paloma had her iPhone and my go pro Hero 3, Meraj’s list was huge! He carried a Kindle, a power pack, a VR 360 headpiece, Mac Air, external battery packs and more.
Talking about his Olympus EP-3 camera he says, “It’s not an SLR but a micro-third mirror-less camera that’s much handier than the former and gives pretty good results. Recently, though, I’ve been clicking more and more on my Samsung S6 Edge. You can shoot in RAW format and get decent results in good light.” Take note, if you are getting ready for a trip too.
The trip is done, so where to next? “I have a bucket list and my top five are Galapagos Islands, Iquitos (Peru), South Pole, Micronesia, and Space, of course,” grins Meraj. “I would also take solo trips and my dream trip would be to travel the Mediterranean by land starting from Gibraltar and ending at Ceuta in Morocco. Paul Theroux wrote about that trip in The Pillars of Hercules.” Paloma, on the other head, would love to take a trip with her best friend Mandovi Menon to South America, Spain, Ice land, Costa Rica, Hawaii and of course, she would never want to travel without her bikini!
Catch their experience, #INDIAMYWAY, a 13-part series airing on Discovery Channel, every Sunday at 8 pm