Subject: Kodaikanal
Posted: 5 Oct 2004 1:12 am
Hi Mark,
I was googling for a story that I'm working on. I'm a creative writing student in Bowling Green, Ohio (enrolled in an MFA) and I am currently working on a collection of short stories and a novel on Kodai. I came upon your article on Kodaikanal. I grew up in Kodai, living there from the age of 6 till I was 18, for the most part in a 120-year old British bungalow near the lake. My parents in fact still live in Kodai, and I will be going back this December. Our new home is built on the edge of a mountain, and some mornings when I woke up, I can see the clouds beneath me. I really miss this out here in the plains of Ohio.π
Your article made me terribly homesick! I(Haven't been back for more than a year now.) It also made me reconsider a lot of the ideas I have about Kodai from an outside perspective; which I'm already doing in a sense, living in the US and writing about home as a displaced Indian. Much of my writing is about immigrant experiences and displaced peoples, hybridized identities and warring sexualities.
About your article - I loved the bit about Milk Bikis - such an Indian type of biscuit! (and i'm enjoying the luxury of saying biscuit instead of cookie hereπ) Also your commentary on th elections - yes, they do bring up a heat, a tension that disappointingly is never resolved. Somethign I hope happens in the US, though I have my doubts about that.
You said you were in Kodai in 1998 - in 6 years, much has changed. I'm afraid Kodai is no longer really in an 'embryonic' state, as you had descirbed it. It's a lot omre crowded, though it hasn't gone the way of Ooty or Shimla. It still bears a return visit - do consider another trip.
Thanks so much for the great article - and for your others, some of which I have been reading through.
Sincerely,
Rajni
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