Rajasthan. June. Peak summer heat. Holiday.

Don't rub your eyes that hard, you read it right. So now I bet you're wondering to yourself 'What on earth would prompt someone to willingly choose to go there at this time of the year?'

Firstly, the thing is it's not just anyone. It is me. Hi. Ramona; yeh nice to meet you. People have all kinds of ideas and decided impressions about the kind of person I am. They may be right, they may be limited and they may be way off the truth mark. It's not their fault really. The problem is, I have way too many facets to me. I am also kind of moody. So, you get to see a side of me based on the mood you catch me in - be it on a one to one level, social level or an electronic platform. In short, I am everything you can and would never imagine me to be.

Secondly, if you live in Mumbai city, you will understand how important it is for sanitys' sake to get the f@‘$ out of it at least once in two weeks. Now imagine someone like me not having left it in 8 months.

Thus far, we've touched on me and my need for a holiday. Now, why Rajasthan?

- I had a friend who often said I should go visit.

- My last trip there was 7 years ago.

- I needed a change in my life. I was stuck in a rut: creatively, emotionally and mentally.

- I wanted to see if I would be able to give up my life as it currently is and just start anew in a new city, new job, new friends. See if I could adapt to a new lifestyle, new culture. Let everything known and familiar go. For good.

- There'd been something gnawing at my soul for months, saying there has to be more to life than my existence as it currently is. My existence needs to have some purpose. A real purpose. I've been gifted life, been fortunate and now the time has come for me to make use of it and give back. Rajasthan is one state where lots of NGO's exist. Something was pushing me towards a more simple way of life, getting back to the basics, meeting real people, helping animals and people beyond handing out a 10 Rupee note. I didn't know where, what, how or who I'd help.

- Desert life is even harder and the fact that it is so sparse and bare in one way attracted me. It felt like I needed to strip down to the basics, question what it is I really needed and wanted. It seemed to be the perfect place to release and 'shed' in.

- There were too many signs (and I don't believe in signs) encouraging me to take a leap of faith. I figured I had nothing to lose. At least I was taking a definite step in a direction the stream of my life was making me flow toward. I hoped things would work out, magically fall into place, that answers to all questions I didn't even know I had would be answered.

- Best of all, I knew there'd be no tourists or a familiar face in sight at this time of the year, allowing me to just be myself, be with myself, breathe, get far, far, faaaaaar away from everything and everyone known and familiar. Don't get me wrong - I love, adore and appreciate all my friends and family very much.

- And hey! I've always loved Rajasthan, always felt some sort of deep connect to it.

This was a trip I needed to make on many levels, for many reasons and it was now or never. No more toying with the idea, I just had to do it. So I opened up one of my many apps in my most faithful BFF and booked a ticket to Jaipur. Four hours later, I was at the airport completely unaware of anything or the journey that awaited...