TRAVEL TO EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS
This week I thought I’d share a slightly different kind of article. While my recent writing has been about specific skills development and about bringing up children with a certain ethos, this week is about travel. Arguably one of the most fun pursuits, travel is also one of those activities that are as educative, as it is, immersive. Students who have the opportunity to travel can learn and grow immensely. How?
EXPOSURE
When one travels, one exposes oneself to different cultures, lifestyles, and people. In sampling the heritage, food, customs and traditions of a people unknown to oneself, one is enriched and one becomes knowledgeable about the world. Travel to different parts of the country and the world endows us with a new, fresh perspective. A global viewpoint. It makes us realize that in our eclectic diversity, which is to be preserved and celebrated, resides shared, common humanity that transcends boundaries, races, religion, language and creed. Travel then can be the most liberating, uplifting, evolutionary pursuit there is.
CREATIVITY
Through travel, one also feels extremely inspired. The sights, sounds, people, and goings-on of a place can compel us to express our emotions in different ways. From the most obvious travel writing to photography, writing poetry, painting, and sketching; there are infinite ways of translating one’s experiences of a place. Inspiration is always readily at hand when one is travelling, and this can manifest in countless creative forms.
KNOW ONESELF
Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of travel is one’s personality. Many happy accidents can take place along one’s travels. One could, for example, fall in love and find one’s life partner. In another instance, one could spot a rare kind of art or craft and realize it is that craft that is one’s calling. From tiny realizations about oneself and one’s character to big, life-changing moments and incidents; travel offers all this and more. To travel then, is to learn, completely. I urge everyone, especially young children and students, to try and travel as much as possible. Never let any excuses come in the way of this. It isn’t necessary to travel abroad or to some unaffordable exotic destination. We are all blessed to live in a country that is a veritable goldmine of diverse experiences and cultures, waiting to be discovered. Sharing a little sample of my travel writing, a snippet from a trip to Kolkata. Happy reading, and bon voyage!
‘MY CITY OF JOY’
The bread for the day would come from four different places. A loaf from Flury’s, one from Saturday club, another kind from Cookie Jar and a fourth, from a fourth place. As varied as this, were the experiences that Kolkata, the Calcutta of my childhood, would present, each time I’d be here, for at least a month, every summer vacation. ‘Nani Badi’ was a dichotomous contradiction of fun and firmness, of adrenalin and routine, of merriment and meditativeness. Calcutta is, charming, addictive, chaotic, and charismatic, the beating heart of the holiday. Camouflaged in all its ivied glory, my grandfather’s hundred and something-year-old white & green Victorian Bungalow, 5 Rainy Park, at the centre of Ballygunge, the grandiose backdrop of all the festivities.
The house, a resting place for my childhood remnants, a place of respite, a sanctuary of calm, an oasis, only real! That my grandmother screaming at one and all, constantly, sounded to my ears, like soothing music, given the unsavoury tones of my own home back in Jaipur; made this ritualistic visit to the ‘bungalow’, even more cathartic. Here, amid countless trips to the races, to Flury’s, to Skyroom, to Blue Fox, to the Oberoi and the Taj Bengal, to Saturday, Calcutta, Calcutta Swimming, RCGC clubs, AC Market and delectables at Vineet Snack Bar, to family lunches at ‘Kwality’ on Park Street, to muri on Russel Street, to flying radio-controlled aircraft in the maidaan, to Badminton in the house lawns, to being introduced to The Doors and the Carpenters and the Beatles in my younger uncle’s upstairs Bar; I lived, regained some modicum of a childhood.
The moment I’d land in this wonderfully eccentric, poetic, talented city, the fog would lift, the heart would swell, and there’d be clarity of mind and purpose. The purpose is to be a child, to have fun, to just, be! My grandmother (Nani) has always been an authoritarian, stern woman. But she provided and continues to till today, the maximum emotional support to me.
When I was younger, it was by way of pampering. Boat pastries galore, Sandesh by the dozens, and later, be it my choice of subjects, vocation or life partner; my one constantly unwavering source of strength, to her, I owe at least half my sanity! My grandfather (nana), a doting figure whose expression of love I have known largely through his sheer generosity, indulgences, or advice (albeit at times questionable!); and that whenever I’d want something, I’d only have to emit as much as the suggestion of a ‘cry’, and he’d order my mum to procure the desired item (a strategy especially effective in public)! My younger uncle (mama), the ‘cool’ one, the one to look up to, idolize and emulate. The man who’d done it all, from dj’ing to the Himalayan Rally! Whether it was because he didn’t have a son of his own, or because I am his sister’s son, perhaps a combination of the two, he has always showered me with lots of love, and lots of gifts. To me, however, the former, I cherish more. He made me want to be cool, and it is so important to have a ‘cool’ role model now isn’t it! Calcutta, today Kolkata, is much the same, though much changed as well.
Now when I visit the city, my mind grapples with the vestiges of a time gone by. It feels like ancient history, not just the place but even my own time spent here. It is a strange feeling. It’s like I’m looking from the outside, in. It is vaguely familiar. The smells, the sights, déjà vu unlimited. The emotion, however, remains the same. No matter what happens within families, and to this city, Kolkata to me has been, and will always stay, my Calcutta, my City of Joy!
