No, I hadn’t travelled much. I wasn’t a regular backpacker or trekker of the sorts, but I would like to believe that I was no lesser than an adventurer. I wanted to explore as much!
"I lust not for locales, but for ancient forgotten tales.
I crave not for cuisines, but for conversations that stir the soul.
I pang not for a getaway, but to make another home even if it was for a day."
I feel the nervousness and excitement each time I set out on a journey, however, short it may be. I may not fancy destinations as much as I revere my journey to them and the trinkets of memories that I collect on the way. Sometimes, I try to imagine what it may have under the wraps for me, but mostly I fail at it. And such is the beauty of travelling that if you allow the nature to do its work, it never fails to take you by surprise.
Each place that I have traveled to has added something new to me and I must confess that I do leave behind a portion of me, as well. With said-unsaid promises of meeting again, I part with all my destinations. Then, there are a few collectibles that shaped my idea of travel and adventure for life, and they made me believe that there are miracles set out there for us. We only need to take a pause to listen and see.
My first memory of the mountains, to have watched them sleeping like mammoths and listened to their silent snoring, as if to say that they would wake up some day- is as fresh as I had witnessed it eight years ago. That was where I first truly met - Nature! It had come to life for me, there!
A warm conversation with a South Indian couple as we slipped and fell on the bum-numbing ice slush and talked about our homes was my first memory of an encounter with fellow travelers. That was where I left my notion of strangers being strangers as I found it incredibly easy to open up to people from a different culture and age.
The first struggle for air in my lungs on the uphill trek in Bhimtal was the reminder of how ignorant and indifferent I had been to this essential need, all my life. That was where I gave up the idea that I knew my body and how it worked. I realised how badly I needed to prepare it for such worthy experiences.
The first victory of the crest at the hill-top, and the view of the endless valley mirrored a glimpse of my own limitlessness. That was where I gave up the notion of my limit.
The first wash of the feet by the waves while walking on the warm sand where the night kept me blindfolded till the morning to hold my view of the precious beach! The waves pushed me back with all their might, like an angry lover, only to entice me to make my way back to them. That was where I had given in, had surrendered, and was caressed back.
The very sound of the wild and dauntless Parvati river dared me to plunge for the adventures that came my way next. I could hear the loud score of its gush through out the wake of the night as it made the silence of the valley so ethereal. That is where I gave up being closed to the things that scared me.
All this and much more has come my way as I have embarked on my travels one after another. Some may ask of my great adventures on these excursions, and for them I have only these little stories to tell. These are the stories of me stealing away some treasures on every journey, and of me leaving a souvenir behind to remind each destination of me! Each of these treasures has introduced me to a new side of myself which had been waiting to be unwrapped, traveled, and explored!
To the explorers who might visit these places - May you unravel yourself as you travel within!