India, March 28 -- Summer has always been about lying in the grass, eyes squinting against the glare of the tropical sun. The rough edges of the blades dug into my skin, a contrast to the cool, damp embrace of the earth beneath. Summer holidays meant escaping the concrete labyrinth of Calcutta (I still call it that), where Art Deco facades and Victorian spires funnelled heat through the crisscrossing streets of South Kolkata. Just a few hours away, Mayurbhanj softened the world-open-air, terracotta-roofed huts, untamed landscapes, and cooling foods dissolving the rigid structure of city life.

Editor's Pick Editor-In-Chief Akshita M. Bhanj Deo (Photo Credit: Amitava Saha) Summers were subversive. Uniforms gave way to loose kurtas and tra...