“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover.”
-H. Jackson Brown Jr.
We are just a small organism living on a small planet that exists in one universe of so many other. We are living this moment and we might die in another moment. Then why be sad, why be angry and why bind yourself around a limited space of your existence. Life is short, then why waste it on some unnecessary elements. Instead do what you love, do for whom you love and also do it for yourself. And travelling is what I love doing. Like Mr. Brown said, Explore, Dream, Discover, is my life’s purpose now. And I realised this purpose from a particular event in my life which changed how I live and how I think. This is the trip around Northern India with my friends.
This trip was supposed to be a trip I would never forget (and believe me it was), and well it was perfect time for a trip as it was just after our 5th semester and they say 4th year is the year of placements and being responsible, so a great time to relax. I did some shopping, not much just a jacket and some warm cloths, that’s it!! (yes, I am a male homo sapien). It was 10 days between the end of semester and the first day of my trip. My excitement level was on the seventh heaven and I knew it will go further above on the trip. My excitement level increased day by day as the trip approached closer. It felt like a year passed but as my packing and all the preparations finished, the day finally came when we began our journey which was going to change my life.
We did an Ola cab and arrived at Nagpur Railway Station, and then to the platform where train wasn’t there yet but my classmates and friends were already there standing in groups and talking, all of them looked super excited just like me. I reached near them and a smile erupted on my face knowing that I was going to spend 11 days with these people without worrying about the world.
Train was here finally and it was like Santa’s carriage coming to give us a gift of joy and adventure, taking us to the North to show his land of snow and give us the break we deserve. We settled on our seats and it was time to sleep, and train is my favorite place to sleep, ever. With all the shaking it’s like I am in a baby’s cradle, of course not feeling nostalgic and how can I? But we are young and with friends, it’s very difficult for anyone to sleep early. It’s like a night-out but in a train, and that’s something too cool to experience. We had a chat, played cards, and just talked about stuff, and because it was our first night, sleeping wasn’t till 2-3 am. It was nearly two and a half day trip. We talked and talked and boys-talk-ed and talked and played games like Antakshari, Truth and Dare and Never Have I Ever. Well here I wasn’t very much involved in “we”. I was enjoying myself, the way I like to enjoy a trip.
So our I.V. had officially begun and I knew it was going to be a blasting adventure. So the plan was like this, first stop Amritsar, next Dharamshala, Kullu, Manali, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Agra. It was an 11 days trip and the journey from Nagpur to Amritsar was in a 3 tier AC train and same for the return journey. As of traveling between these cities, it was on a bus. Two buses were provided, one for girls and some boys and other one was a little small and for the remaining boys. We reached Amritsar in the morning and it was amazing with all the fog and low temperature, especially because we were there in the November-end so it was an early winter season. My first breath of oxygen was a feeling of eternal freedom. I was overwhelmed thinking that I was standing on a land outside my state and doing something very different from my routine. I was on a bus with the girls (obviously because of my crush and my friends). It was a good choice as this bus was bigger and had a nice leg space.
We were heading to our hotel, and it’s my habit and also I had decided to look around and remember my vicinity as much as I can, so that I can think about it after the trip and relive those moments. I watched each and every thing through the window, the roads, the buildings, the shops, the vehicles, the people, the gardens, the sky, and inhaled the smell of the Amritsar. Trying to fit all of these things inside my brain was hard and enthusiastic for me. The people there in Amritsar had a very different culture, a different lifestyle from where I was born, and that’s the specialty of this country.
We reached to a 3-star hotel and it was huge and clean. We had already decided the four-man groups, and the rooms were allotted to us. We had brunch after and it was one healthy brunch I ever had. We rested till evening as our first tourist destination was the Golden Temple and the Jallianwala Bagh, which was apparently closed. But the main attraction here was the Golden Temple. I had been here before with my family once, it was during the day time. The Golden Temple is incredible at day time as well as during the night time. The rays from the sun falls on the temple and it reflects them so as to shine it so brightly that even the retina of one’s eye would never forget the beauty of it. And when the sun goes down, it is the lights that do the job. The lights are bright and they are everywhere, but the main and huge lights are on the four sides of the square architecture around the temple, throwing lights upon it, shining it to the fullest. The reflection of the temple was visible on the water, practically providing the existence of two Golden Temples, both a pleasure to the eyes. The temperature was very low. We had to take off our footwear before entering and that gave us cold spikes on our heels. I tied one of the cloth, available there, on my head and went inside through the small area containing warm water, and it felt good. I was in a jogger jeans and a sweatshirt, which was on a t-shirt, which was on my underwear, and these weren’t enough for the chills I was feeling. I had to continuously walk in order to keep my feet warm and blood to flow. We headed to the queue for entering the temple. Unfortunately last time when I visited here, we weren’t able to go inside the temple due to some reasons. So it was a wonderful moment for me to finally see the temple from inside. Not that I am a big follower of God, but the fact that I went inside a temple covered with gold, surrounded by water and the creatures inside it, and shining brightly with lights, is very amusing. The inside of the temple is beautiful. The architecture, the details, and the gold forms a perfect view for the eyes. I didn’t know till that time that the temple has an extra floor and an open roof!!
After the temple we roam around the area and clicked some pictures, selfies, and group selfies. I wasn’t very much into the selfies part, but clicked some pictures for Instagram stories and posts (you can visit my Instagram profile). I roam around by myself for some time, storing all the details of the temple and everything in the vicinity, inside my brain. There were fishes, and believe me they were big, which moved very gracefully, it was very satisfying watching them swim. I walked with them to the corner of the pond where people were giving them food. People also sat there meditating or you can say they sat there in peace in that beautiful environment. As my friends were busy taking pictures, I joined them and sat on one of the mat. The vibes were so positive that even an over-energetic person can be in peace. I could sit there indefinitely given the temperature rose to normal, because it was still very cold. People there were very nice and friendly. I have mostly been around Marathi people, but it was a nice experience to be surrounded by the Punjabis. Not only that night, but it was every night that the people working in the temple clean and make everything shine. They clean everything with a gold colour on it, and not only that but the floor too. And the most amazing thing was that the people who weren’t working there were also volunteering in the cleaning.
After all the roaming and clicking pictures, we returned to our hotel by walking through the alleys. That moment of walking in the alleys in low temperature with friends is all you want to experience. We never stopped enjoying, may it be inside the temple, in the alleys, or inside the hotel. Next day after a healthy brunch we headed to Katra India-Pakistan Border. It’s again my second time here. So much was changed from the last time I visited. Our bus reached a little early than the other one, and so we ended up in a queue. They only allowed our phones to pass through, and every other electronic items and power banks were restricted. And funny story, I didn’t knew that and that was the day I decided to take my power bank with me. So I had to submit that power bank, and till that time all of my friends were inside and I had to run to catch them. I felt so stupid for the lack of information, but then I finally caught up to them.
We reached there, took seats and I can clearly see the enthusiasm in the crowd there, of which the energy was transferring into us, making us shout our lungs out. The soldiers where beautifully dressed and there was one soldier on the drums to whom I was most attracted to. He was fabulous on the drums. There was this other soldier who was on the mic and probably having the most energy of all. He was cheering and motivating us to cheer the soldiers. There was always a cold war between Pakistan and India, if one shouts, other shouts louder and this goes on till the end of the show. The show was as usual incredible and with all the cheering and the feeling of nationalism, goosebumps occurred on every shout they made. It was really an incredible evening, watching our country’s soldier and thinking of their life and the sacrifice they make for the country, brought out the sentimental part of me.
So this was 2 days of my trip. But this is just the start of a big adventure. Thank you for reading, I’ll see you in my next blog, i.e. Part 2 of College Trip.
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“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
-Oprah Winfrey
Peace out.