From Khajuraho’s art to Bhedaghat’s falls, Madhya Pradesh is magical

Part of the challenge, and joy, of being a writer is to find exactly the right words to express how you feel. In an industry where powerful stories are increasingly reduced to snappy headlines, I find myself guilty of Internet hyperbole – reaching for the most provocative word to elicit a response. The result? Overly dramatic, unnecessarily emotive cliches. Was that dinner I ate the other day truly magnificent? Did that new video on YouTube actually blow my mind? In hindsight, probably not.

But recently, on a week-long road trip through Madhya Pradesh, I had the chance to understand what these superlatives really meant, and what kind of experiences are truly worthy of them: from canoeing on the serene Denwa River and watching the sun rise across the water to pondering the evolution of humankind while standing in the remains of the prehistoric caves in Bhimbetka. My journey got me to see the futility of using these exaggerated words to describe a meal or video when there are sights that will actually take your breath away, experiences that will genuinely leave you speechless and, yes, will absolutely blow your mind. I went to the heart of India a slightly jaded travel writer and returned astounded, humbled, astonished and inspired. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes, a single word conveys what a thousand photographs cannot.