Monday, June 8, 2009

Travel across my fantansies


i love traveling, however short or long it may be. i recall the bike rides with my dad across the town, especially when the whole town is about 2 sleep. Each time he took thrugh different roads and when it rains, we never cared. The pleasure in finding new roads, our own little chats, secrets v shared (mom never approves that cold coffee is most tasty when you hav during in a heavy downpour). it was my childhood pride....oh hw i miss it!!

Another thing that i recall is the occasional trips 2 our cousin's home. Years back, when we were free from career tensions and xam worries, it had been trip for week. I still remember the last minute rush and run behind the bus. though it was a mere two and half journey, for me, it was journey around the earth. I used to watch with wonder-struck eyes how paddy fields ran past me and slowly the flat land turns into rough and hilly terrains and how slowly green carpets of paddy gave way 2 darkness filled rubber plantations. Mind would be then filled with plans for blasting the vaction with my cousins.It was a memorable journey. But the jouney back home was miserable especially with the thoughts of re-opening of school and also worried about many a things i forgot 2 share with my cousin.

I started traveling alone only when i was in 10th. ( disadvantages of having a very anxious mother and very little guts). though it was short trip to-and-fro school, i liked it. all bus stop chatter and all. but moreover it was the sense of freedom that i loved most.

For last three years I hav been shuttling from ernakulam to allepey. Home sickness made me a frequent commuter, so frequent that sometimes i need not tell the destination, because an alleppey ticket would be in my hand before i know. Bus travel gave me so many memorable things. I think i could write a book on that....mention not the time i had took the wrong bus and had a free trip across the town, the fights made 4 seats on monday mornings, the time when the bus was taken to police station and had a chat with friendly SI, the time when bus has to stopped since the poor conductor had to attend to the call of nature, the time when i snored over my old professor's shoulder (it was rly embarrassing), the time when i accidently met my friend's best friend about whom v used to talk a lot, but have never met, and what not. At first, one of my frnd used to accompany me back home.. the bus jouney was a time for sharing the gossips of the whole week. but now it is time for my solitary pleasure. I won't usually listen to music, but like to sit in the first window seat and lose myself in dreams. Seriously i never know , how the one-and-half hour passes. Nowadays I have found a stretch of road which as dreamy as anything. it is hardly of a kilometre, without a single building in sight, the road winds on like a black ribbon with green marshy land on one side and silvery blue backwater on the other lined with green shurbs. in between there are some palms reminding of old gulf postcards. its truly seems magical, especially today with all rainclouds. in fact i love traveling in bus when it rains, (though not favouring the leaking bus tops). It is a sort of dream -this travel, truly i feel like waking up after a long sleep when i reaches the bus stand.

Coming to think of it, there are many jouneys in my life that stays alive-like excursions from school, little family trips and pligrimage and most recently our clas trip 2 wayanad. I think i could write a separate blog on that.

Coming to think of it i remember our delhi trip last january. I usually despise train. I don;t know y. May i hate the commotions in stations or well feel suffocated by the walls of train. But the three day trip was amazing. Lots of new friends. travel across the dry terrains of andhra, then through chambal and finally the soothing views of Up's mustard fields. I recall a foreign photographer who indeed was traveling the whole trip just for taking snaps.i too was having a thousands of snaps in my heart. Finally we all parted, without even exchanging a phone number. As i took my luggaes to metro station, i just recited an old poem in mind "Like strangers v met, like strangers v part".

In fact as some wise man has said, this life is a journey from birth to death. v meet many through the course. But had to part to with all some point of time. V may not be aware of it until we reach our final destination. In fact , i love this jouney....

2 comments:

Sanal... said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sanal... said...

Simply nice post yaar...You have written very nicely describing the love btw you and your dad...
The bus journeys do throw up some interesting characters and incidents...