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| The company mattes on the way |
If destination is all that mattered, the graveyard would be the happiest
place. What really matters is what happens between the cradle and the grave.
That is true about leisurely travels too.
Some of my happiest journeys were the treks in the Garhwal Himalayas
which were all made with students while I taught in Delhi. My first trek was to
Hemkund which is at 4633 metres (15,200 feet) above sea level. Dr S C Biala,
the principal of the school, was a passionate mountaineer and he introduced
mountaineering to the school. Though I was initially hesitant about my physical
ability for a trek of that sort, I fell in love with trekking after that first
experience. In the next few years, I trekked to quite a few peaks in the
Garwhal Himalayas with my students and loved all of them.
The destination is not what really matters when you go trekking. Most of
the places like Hemkund or Gaumukh have nothing much to offer for sight-seeing
or anything. It is the trek that really lingers on in your bones. The ascent
and its excitements as well as exhaustions remain in your memory for years.
However, when it comes to the usual tourist destinations where we reach
by vehicles, I don’t know if we can say that the journey matters more than the
destination. I remember the long journeys I made with students to Goa from
Delhi or Coorg from my present school in Kerala. The journeys were quite
harrying and the destinations were the real fun.
Some of the places I visited with Maggie alone, such as Gangtok, Darjeeling
and Shimla, offered much thrill on the way as well as at the destinations. The
journey becomes bliss when you have the ideal company, I guess. Travel has its
romance too. I still remember our car ride from Bagdogra airport to Gangtok and
the long hours spent waiting on the road for the landslide-caused block to
clear. The bumpy ride from Gangtok to Darjeeling on a shared taxi driven by a
drunken surly young man who kept grumbling all along the way had its own
memorable excitements too.
Life is a journey too. The sights and smells on the way make that
journey worth and meaningful. The bumpiness of the rides and the grumpiness of
co-travellers also add charm to the journey. When I look back at the journey so
far, I’m amazed by the variety of experiences I have had. I learnt a lot of
lessons along the way. The tragedy, perhaps, is that the lessons were learnt
rather late. If only one could begin the journey with the inherited wisdom of
generations!
Well said!
ReplyDeleteLoved your post.
Thank you.
DeleteTravel bliss nicely put in words
ReplyDeleteGlad you visited.
DeleteThis post per se is a journey related to different experiences of travelling. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteI was a lover of travels. Now i would rather drive.
DeleteAh! Loved that reference to the graveyard as a travel destination... and it brought the essence of the topic immediately to the forefront. This is something that only accomplished writers can do. Thanks for sharing your point of view, buddy. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm flattered.
DeleteYour experiences are heartening and the concluding views are completely agreeable.
ReplyDelete