TRAVEL AND EVERYTHING THAT IT ENCOMPASSES
“Travelling is only meant for the brave at heart.” According to me, travelling is no mean feat. It requires alertness, presence of mind and a soul that wishes to explore. In old Bengali literature, there is one character of Guru Rabindranath Tagore called Tarapada who has been described as, “the stars had made him a wanderer”, thus proving that travelling requires detachment as well.
In basic words, travelling means moving from one place to another. The people who travel a lot are known as ‘nomads’ or ‘nomadic people’. Communities were often afraid of these people because they believed that a lot of travelling made them uncouth, unhygienic and dirty and secondly, they believed that these people had some sort of dark magic they carried so they termed these people as ‘gypsies’ and since the gypsy community was excluded to this extent, they had no means to earn money and therefore they resorted to stealing often which often worsened their reputation. These were how travellers were often treated.
However, in certain grimm fairytales, travellers were often treated kindly. For example, in ‘The Princess and the Pea’ a total no of thousand mattresses are given to a drenched in water princess for whom comfort is a necessity. In another story, there is a traveller who comes to an old woman’s house because he wants shelter is offered onion soup. Travelling in these tales is often showed as a hectic process.
A few decades back, when wars were much more common, such as the civil American war, the Vietnam war and in even older times such as The Battle of Panipat or the Battle of Plassey, people had to travel huge distances and they had to carry an extreme number of commodities with them. They had to camp out at the war location for weeks, sometimes even months, and they were forced to live a life which excluded comfort, luxury and peace. Yet these warriors and helpers were willing to make a sacrifice for their motherland.
Nowadays. Students have to sacrifice their comfort and travel to different cities in order to get the best education. They also learn to live away from their parents, eat the simple food provided by the hostels and focus on doing well academically. Over 2 lakh jee and neet aspirants travel to kota, the education capital of india, every year.
However, in today’s time, the majority of people including me, Shreeja Mukherjee, mostly travel for pleasure. Change is the only constant thing in the world. Some change, some distraction, some entertainment, is extremely important for leading a happy, joyous, successful and balanced life. Therefore, my family and I go on an educational yet entertaining trip at least once in twelve months.
We prefer to travel during winter time because we enjoy the long amount of sunshine during the day, the New Year Eve excitement, the Christmas joy, the beauty of the evening winter air and it becomes a really worthwhile experience for our family. Throughout my eighteen years of living, seven trips are very special to my heart.
My earliest trip was when I was a three year old girl and we had gone to Goa. The sparkling river was a dream to look at. I still remember looking up at the tall palm trees towering over me as I skipped around the beach and made sand castles with my little palms. Our resort had the prettiest view of the sunset which was a mesmerizing mix of burgundy, orange and chrome yellow. The Goa trip made me appreciate the fleeting nature of life.
My second trip was when I was five years old and we had gone to the city of Shirdi. This trip made me understand what devotion actually means. The city was full of temples which made the overall look a flaming red and the temples were always bustling with religious disciples, chanting mantras to calm their mind and soul.
My third trip was a foreign trip. We had gone to visit my Uncle in Doha which is a prominent city of Qatar. I think the Quatarians really believe that cleanliness is next to godliness as there was not a single speck of dust on the floors or even the roads. The airport was magnificent with a live waterfall and immaculate paintings. The city was a beauty with huge parks with colourful flowers and tall monuments.
When I was fourteen, we went to the mountains of Sikkim and Darjeeling. They were lush green and seemed to have a history of their own. It felt as if we had literally touched upon the clouds of Heaven.
Kolkata made me realize the significance of diversity. Everyone was kind to each other in the crowds. It did not matter whether you went to Dakhineshwar or Victoria’s Memorial, the architecture was perfection, the food stall were great and the prices were low which makes it the best city for shopping!
In my trip to Dudhwa National Park, we camped nearby and got a bare glimpse of the tiger far away, apart from close ups of deer, rhinocerous and various birds. I could not take out my camera in time to click a picture but I, personally, will never be able to forget the mysterious eyes of the royal tiger which seemed to grotesquely demand, “Well, what are you doing in my territory?
Kanpur, which is one of my most favourite places to visit, is a two hour distance from my hometown, Lucknow. It has beautiful paintings in the Iskon Temple. It has a lovely cave with exquisitely carved statues. One of the main attractions of the city is the J.K. Temple.
I believe that all these trips taught me something or the other and shaped me into the woman I am today. I am more confident and brighter due to all these experiences. Therefore, I am very grateful.
By: SHREEJA
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