The immense possibilities that travel can do to the people have always enchanted me.
It is not something that you can jot down on a piece of paper ,nevertheless, one has to take the road and experience it himself to witness the alluring and alarming adventures that lies ahead of him. Road and destination may be an external aspect, but a journey is always taken from within. It has all the power to fill the vacant spaces of soul.
When I took the bus to Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India, how oblivious I was of all that lay ahead.
It was a breezy morning. Sun was glowing a color of red. Landscape was constantly changing. I was miles away from the noisy sound of daily struggles of people bustling to survive. Amid the huge expanse of green, lay windmills, the main source of power in Tamil Nadu, India.
It was time to call an auto and find some comfortable room, where I could dispose my rucksack and have the whiff of arriving safely. Quite easily, I stumbled on a Hindi speaking auto Walla in southern part of India.
‘kahan jana hai madam ?’ (Where do you want to go?)
‘ek decent sa hotel , kitna ’ (one decent hotel would do , how much)
’25 Rs.’
We passed few hotels, small and big, with an eye for the suitable one for me.
Only five minutes would have passed, the auto stopped in front of a white walled hotel with brown glass doors. Auto Walla gesticulated with a smile at me to enter the hotel and make the inquiries.
What came next, was a complete annoyance and dismay. The guy at desk told me to ask for my parent’s permission, if I wanted to stay alone in the room. I have been to other places before on my own, but never came across such a situation.
The weird thing was that , I did not inform my parents at all, that I was travelling to that place alone. I asked the auto wala to show me other hotels. I was sure that, there must be some hotel which should not have any problem in renting a room to single travelling woman.
But to my disappointment, things were not going as smooth as I imagined them to be. When I found there was no hotel which could provide a room to single woman who was some 24 years old, I succumbed to their irrelevant demand. I called my mom. I narrated the entire situation and she in this rather unusual non chalant manner, talked to the man.
After taking the bath, I darted out of my room. From the large glass window, I saw a young foreigner couple bargaining the prices of the hotel with a local man. Within a minute, they boarded the place without facing any further hassle.
The irony was lost one me.
That day, I felt a little demotivated. What about the big dream of seeing this world on your own.
But I just shrugged off and went out into the bright sunshine to see the places and people around.
I did not conclude anything. Neither I was in any hurry.
The first thing to do in Kanyakumari was ofcourse seeing the famous Vivekanand Rock . I waited in the queue and you know what ? ...I was surprised by the fact that you can have such low price ticket to witness one of India's iconic places . Thats what I like about this country.We are not pretentious , at least in some ways. Nevertheless , we ( me and fellow travellers ) were ferried to the rock , the huge rock actually.
I took my time to explore the place. But what happened that morning was still bugging me. I stumbled on Vivekanand meditaion room . When I went inside ,
it was completely dark. It took a while , before I could see that some people were sitting on the floor and there were few chairs in the back ( probably for foreigners , I guess ) .On front wall , there was a large OM symbol shining in bright green color. I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes , surrendering myself to the immense peace of that room.
I came outside after 10 minutes . My mind was like a blank peice of paper. I could not remember what was bothering me before entering the room.Such was the power of that place.
India does that to you , and mark my words , it does very often indeed.
One moment , you find yourslef confounded by the whole chaos and pandemonium , and in the other you are flushed by some strange warm emotion.
