About a year ago, on the last day of Youth Act fellowship, I was sitting with my friends in Orissa, feeling about how you'd expect to feel after two weeks of stay in those "extreme"conditions, hot climate, no air conditioning, not even proper cooling system, fear of snakes and mongoose and even ghosts (kidding :P), devoid of all comforts. I often recall that moment when five of us got the chance to go to Bhubaneshwar to buy things for the products that we were making. After living in a confined place and without any comfort for 7 days, everyone was so excited to see the hustle and bustle of the big city. Tired of eating bland food everyday (hygienic though), we didn't miss the chance to go to Domino's and enjoy the scrumptious pizzas and garlic bread. It felt like heaven. But after coming back from Orissa, we all miss those moments badly. How we used to charge the laptop during day and save the battery for night to watch a movie; went for long walks into the lush green fields for a change; used to have long story sessions in which everyone used to narrate his/her life story; how we used to laugh to tears while teaching Mary Hindi as she was Tamil; Swati's never ending tales of her world tour and her sex god mountaineer boyfriend; teaching mausiji how to use iPhone and jenaji laptop, listening to ghost stories from jenaji at night and then refrain to go to washroom alone and take others along (haha), Ranjana's "Dolphin isn't an underwater animal, it keeps on coming to the surface of water", Swati's "SOMEBODY SWITCH ON THE LIGHT" when the light was on, are few things which remind us of those beautiful times we all spent together. And now, everybody is busy in his/her own life. Swati is in Thailand, enjoying her life, Ranjana in Delhi, Mary in Kerala, me and Rajbir are dealing with CSPA (:P).
Before I’d even unpacked my bags from Orissa, suddenly out of nowhere, an Idea of visiting and exploring the valleys of Kashmir struck my mind, maybe because I had another couple of weeks left for college to open and I didn't want to miss that opportunity. Convincing my parents was like a piece of cake. They are ever ready to go to Kashmir. We booked our flights the very next day and we along with my uncle and aunt were off to Kashmir. There is nothing like being with your family. It was such a wonderful trip.
As soon as one trip ends, the travel bug starts to bite and my mind begins to turn to when and where my next trip will be. I always feel that my next trip needs to have substance beyond just relaxation and sightseeing and so I plan my trip accordingly.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves” – Euripides
