Written By Sucheta Das Mohapatra
Travel need not always be to escape from routine; it could also be to evoke feelings from within.
“Exploring Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios Park, Paris. My daughter’s childhood dream came true, and so did mine,” a neighbour’s post popped up on my Instagram feed on a lazy Sunday afternoon last month. Next on the feed was a school friend’s video titled ‘Family Fun’. With her three grown-up children and husband, she was enjoying the snowfall in Kashmir. Many more posts, mostly of trips, official retreats and family vacations, kept bursting before my spectacled eyes, making me almost blinded by envy.
Social media is addictive, but what’s worse is that it sometimes can also cause a lot of mental bruising, reminding you of dreams unfulfilled, friendships gone wrong, and loss of a loved one. But before the many causes of my remorse could choke me, my husband’s voice echoed from the other room, “What are we having for dinner today?” Cooking is an anxiety reliever, and soon my sadness became less intense.
Growing income, restiveness or mimicking others’travel itineraries – the reasons why the middle-income group in the country today is travelling more than ever before – could vary. But one thing is certain, travel helps escape from the mundane and look at life from a different perspective.
When Soma Mitra (60), my colleague, walked into the office last week after a trip to Varanasi, the expression on her face was so heartening that it made all of us in the room happy. Soma had been longing to go to Varanasi since her husband’s death four years back. The reason was absolutely spiritual. The autobiography of Paramhansa Yogananda, Life of a Yogi, had been making her restless for a visit to the erstwhile Kashi. But when she came back, she was all praises for the people and culture of the place too.
From the tomato chaat to kachori, rabdi, malpua and Banarasi paan, she savoured everything and brought a generous amount for all of us too. “Everyone, the weavers, the rickshaw pullers, people at the homestay and even on the streets were all so good to me. It was my first solo trip, and it feels like I am still there. I walked in the lanes of Varanasi, enjoyed every culinary delight I came across, went on a cruise, visited all the temples, saw both the Eid and Navaratri flavours in the markets, and did a lot of shopping,” says Soma showing us pictures of the many Banarasi sarees she bought for her niece’s wedding in Kolkata, her daughter-in-law’s friend in Canada, and some for her immediate family.
Soma says she is now manifesting her next trip, which would be to Kerala and most likely solo. Soma enjoyed her first solo expedition thoroughly. But ask Anita Yadav, a Production Editor at DK Publishing, and she will tell you how lonely she feels travelling alone.
Anita (40) is a frequent traveller and loves beaches but is always on the lookout for a travel companion, preferably a woman or a family she knows. “I am single and stay in my flat all alone. I don’t need ‘me time’ when I travel. I go on solo trips only when I am highly frustrated with life and there’s no one to accompany me. And in those cases, I do not book my return tickets in advance. If I start feeling bored, I come back immediately?” she says.
Anita says she is an introvert and is alone even when she goes with groups arranged by travel agents. “Even within groups, people are in their small groups, and you feel lost. I very often take my niece along but that becomes expensive for me. I cannot always spend for two. Friends do accompany but they may not be available when I want to go. Finance, leave from work and family responsibilities come in their way even if they want to.” Anita wants to go on a trip to Europe but will go only when she has a travel companion not because she is uneasy or scared of travelling alone but because she does not like going alone.
Like the journey of life, where our paths, encounters, experiences and destinations vary, the reasons why we travel also vary. The journey taken need not always be to escape from routine, it could also be to evoke feelings from within.
Geetanjali Mukherjee, Assistant Director, EY who is a travel freak says every journey of hers is a journey inward and she finds healing in the slow, quiet gathering of the self. “I have travelled the length and breadth of India – from the peaks of Nanda Devi to the tip of Kanyakumari, from the western shores of Somnath to the eastern sanctity of Puri. But over time, I have come to see that every outward journey has really been a journey inward. The more I have travelled, the more I have encountered myself – my restlessness, my peace, my questions, my quiet. Travel, to me, isn’t about escape or discovery alone – it’s about remembering who I am beneath the noise. In the stillness of a Himalayan sunrise or the chaos of a temple town, I have found pieces of myself scattered across this land,” she says.
Similarly, Mini Krishnan (74) and her husband in Hyderabad approach life and travel with a gratefulness to the Almighty. The couple has travelled to several countries in the last few years and recently had a delightful sojourn in Georgia. “The landscape was breathtaking. We enjoyed viewing the snow-capped hills even from the hotel,” she says. Their trips are arranged by their sons who ensure that they are also looked after well throughout the trip. So more than the travel experience, the way their sons take care of them makes them happy. “On our way to Dubai recently, when the air hostess came asking if we needed anything, I told her we are able to travel business class because our son has arranged this. Can you give me some chocolates for my granddaughters? The air hostess knelt and cried for some time before she left to get us the goodies. I could not ask her why. Maybe she’s also looking after her ageing parents. Blessed are parents who have children taking care of them,” says Krishnan.
As I write this, I prepare for my annual visit home where my mother once waited with a lavish spread and a clean bed for me to jump over after the meal. I now look forward to taking my father home at least once a year, tidying up the house, trimming the wild greens, and spending a few quality days with good old memories. For first-generation migrants like us, going back home is like a succour to the soul, and I am not alone. I had seen that yearning in an uncle I lost last month in London. With age, the longing for homecoming became more severe and was apparent every time I heard him speak to my father over the video call.
Going home for me will be a tumultuous voyage within but as Geetanjali says, “Sometimes, the journey within is the most important one we will ever take.”