Travel

I didn't ever expect that I'll be opening this blog for public scrutiny. Not that I write pornographic stuff here but then it was always my very personal diary. Never mind, let me go ahead and seek public opinion on my work. The contest for which this blog post has been written has actually come as a boon, for I haven't touched the blog since April this year. Also, I was given four options to choose from and without too much of a trouble I chose 'Travel.' As a former employee of a global Internet giant, I had the money (little, not much) to travel and my heart almost always sided with my mind in choosing the places I wanted to travel to.


However, would I be justified in just stating the physical locations I've travelled to? What about my mental journey - something I undertake almost every day? I think dwelling into that would be too much of an effort and would need couple of blog posts to finish. The mind is deep, sometimes dark and often scary a place to venture into. The weird part of the argument is that it is also the closest to us. I think the problem is that the mind is what we are and we run fast and far away from our real selves all the time. Hence, the scare.


Let me make an effort not to digress in this blog post atleast. I've done enough of digression in the others. I think some of my most memorable trips were (1) with my parents during Summer 2003 to Himachal (2) My trip to Bombay during winter 2007 and (3) the one to Delhi during Winter 2008. I plan to make a trip to Shillong with another college-time friend from Hyderabad very soon and then will be travelling to Vizag with a friend from my previous company during winter this year and I am sure they will make it to my list of memorable trips. It isn't that I didn't travel before 2003, it's just that they don't exactly, comparably fit into the realm of being 'memorable', per se.


The trip to Himachal was special as was the year. I had completed my class 12th from the junior college of my dreams but a nightmare of a result. I had failed in Chemistry. Miserable, truly. I was devastated. I told my parents that I had written the paper well and that I did not trust these results. My disciplinarian parents were completely on my side and my father, on my behalf went ahead and filed a request for revaluation. I was too ashamed to do it, you see. I was a coward. Anyway, getting to the point, the revaluation lead to me being given the pass mark and in between this commotion, my father decided that we should go ahead with our plans of visiting Himachal and not drop it. The trip might just uplift my mood. Well, this perhaps explains the sense of deep, deep love that I share for my father that I've written about below. So, after filing the request we flew off to Delhi and then took a cab to Shimla. 


The cab first took us to Chandigarh. Colours, colours, more colours and more energy - that is Chandigarh. Colour in landscape, in the way people talk and exchange energy, in their food, in their clothes and everywhere else. I love the western part of the country, despite their debatable harsh speech, for this quality. The journey then took us to Shimla, Kufri, Kullu, and then back to Chandigarh. Amongst these, what impressed me most was Kufri. Absolute tranquillity-  ranges and ranges of beautiful, white mountains and serenity all around - I believe Kufri is a place one must always keep up on their map of 'Places to visit before we die.' We then travelled our way back through Haryana to Delhi. The tall trees in Himachal that touch the skies, the simple people, the cosmopolitan crowd of Chandigarh, the Rock Garden, the harsh Hindi of Haryana and the energy that flows with it, the beauty of it all and most of all, the bond I developed with my parents - I can simply never forget these for they're etched in my heart and mind.


The trip to Bombay began and ended on a disastrous note but I still remember it for the exposure it gave me to a world of dreams. I was supposed to visit an ex-senior (who had invited me to her home) from the company I was working for. She was then living with her parents in oh-so-posh South Bombay in the Navy quarters. She was all excited when I told her about my plans to visit her but she didn't even lift her phone on the day before I was supposed to take off from Hyderabad for Bombay. I was nervous. I had to really convince my parents (particularly my mother) for this trip and here I was a fool in the middle of nowhere, where the person who invited me disappeared into thin air. Anyway, she did call me back on the eve of my travel date and told me that I could not stay with her family as her relatives were visiting her. I had no clue, where I would find a 'cheap' accommodation in the most posh locality of India. She offered to 'share' my hotel charges but that would't have helped because it would have still meant spending atleast Rs.2000-3000/day for 3 days. While I was still pondering on the pros and cons of the travel, I sought help from a junior in my team at work, who was from Bombay. She was rumoured to be made of bagful of ego and unapproachability. At the juncture that I was, I cared little because it was a question of 'prestige' before the parents! She hunted around and told me that the YMCA Hostel Colaba would be a good option. She gave me the necessary contact details and also details on how I could reach this place. I am now one of the best friends of this girl - not so much because we share an equal ego but more so because she and I, weirdly, understand each other really well. I went to Coimbatore for her marriage too and enjoyed every bit of her happiness. God bless her - okay, here I take the digression track again. Back to Bombay! 


Well, the Bombay girl came to pick me up from the airport and dropped me at the YMCA hostel. It was two days after Christmas and I thought I had reached a beautiful European city - beautifully decorated buildings, magical lights glittering around Victorian-style garden and buildings and the coolness of weather. I was in love, deep love with this part of the country. The hostel was far more cleaner than expected and the next morning, I ventured out all by myself (the girl passed on the message that she'd be free by late afternoon.) I went around the Colaba-Fort area taking snaps of old, Victorian era buildings following it up with a visit to the Jahangir Art Gallery, Kalaghoda Art District (art being made and sold on street), the Prince of Wales Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art. This was followed up with a visit to the best possible jazz bar in the country in the night 'Not Just Jazz by the Bay.' This was my first formal introduction to Jazz and I adored the music and the place. Not surprisingly, I continue to be a passionate follower of Jazz to this day! The girl and I walked around South Bombay later in the cold night, amidst trees showered with lights, beautiful Christmas trees around, Christmas stars adoring lavish, beautiful homes and it all seemed like a dream, rather a fascination coming true. The next two days went by in my travelling alone (mostly) and with her (rarely) to the most elegantly decorated churches of south Bombay, Elephanta Caves, Gateway of India and to do some shopping in south Bombay. 


On the third day, I was supposed to catch the early morning flight to Hyderabad, which meant waking up at 4. I didn't. I woke up at 6 realising that I had 30 minutes to catch the flight. I rushed through but missed the flight. I was very, very disappointed with myself, although I quickly went to the Indian Airlines outlet at the Bombay airport, where they were willing to give me a ticket to the next flight (which was not too late in the morning) to Hyderabad. Thus ended my exciting trip to the city of dreams and on the whole, I don't really mind the accidents that tarnished the trip. I still talk to the Bombay girl, rarely though!


The last entry in my long blogpost would be my short description of my trip to Delhi during winter 2008. Delhi - well, I've written about Chandigarh previously - add a 'tadka' of rich history and architecture to it and you have Delhi! I love the ruins of this place. It's almost as if one would decide to take an evening stroll in the city and just land into a ruin, a piece of history that screams out at you and you want to hear every word of it and not leave anything out. I went to Delhi along with the parents to see the city and decidedly, its ruins. I decided to use the hospitality accorded to my father, as the fellow of a national science academy and to his spouse (my mother, of course) by the host institute (IIT Delhi) during the annual meeting of the Academy to go around with the family members of the delegates around in the IIT bus and absorb the city in. I did all of that. Dilli haat, India gate, Qutub complex and so on. 


What made the trip memorable apart from Delhi itself was the fact that I met this young boy during the trip, with whom I argued my heart out every few minutes. He'd just not get convinced on anything, from history to Harry Potter. Talk about the students of Delhi's 'elite' colleges! However, the more I argued, the more I saw myself forging a bond with him. I don't have a younger brother and I increasingly saw him take that sacrosanct place. I went with him to his university and the youth, passion and culture of the place was, to say the least, breathtaking. This trip turned out to be a relationship-forming one for me. Needless to say, the younger brother is still around and I counsel him right from issues around girlfriends (although he already has more than I ever did) to random everyday parent/brother-talk.


Three trips, three outcomes and three impressions on the mind. I am glad I got to travel so much. I wish I continue with this pursuit and I think since my heart and my mind have synchronised on this matter, I will.


Bon Voyage!