Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Three Week Snapshot

Three weddings, three weeks. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Dehradun, Delhi, and Pushkar in the winter sun. Haring across the country at all hours of night and day. Meeting old friends and new conversations.

In a week, waiting for rage and uncertainty to explode. Knowing that now only apprehension of the unknown remains. Understanding that some things and some relationships have changed—irrevocably. Accepting that I have changed—in ways I cannot always describe.

Still later, capturing B's myriad faces and moods at his wedding. Watching him and his bride laugh their way into "stability". Chatting with him afterward like it was any other day. The ease of the day explained by knowing that I was fully a part of my "soul sister's" wedding.

Heart warming text messages finally consolidating the "younger sibling/brat" stigma into an adult equation. Talking and taking in the sunset, in perfect accord, at the Gau Ghat, Pushkar. Concluding a bizarre trip by illegally buying alcohol at the Bombay International Airport.

813 media items on a 2 GB storage card. The Lonely Planet theme music a constant thrum in my head.

All of it liberating, intriguing, and insightful.




A few important lessons - and no great revelations:
  • Never travel with someone you're upset with. You'll never want the same things from the trip. Nor will you really want to be there. (Yup, Einstein - that's me.)
  • Never use buses you've haven't checked out first. The wet feeling at your feet could be anything—anything!
  • Don't believe all the hype about a place. A second person account could be less dissatisfactory than the real thing.
  • Never travel with a friend's camera. That way, when you break it, you don't feel worse than pond scum.
  • Don't try too many things in a photograph. One or two is usually good enough.
  • Always carry your tripod—the winter sun is a gentle but treacherous bastard.
  • Always travel with the elder sibling. The ride is very comfortable and free! :-D
  • Always talk to a young rickshaw driver. He's much more likely to show you the non-touristy path.
  • Travel on your own for at least a while. It's exhilarating to be shorn of expectation when you're exploring.
  • Every last cliché written by a famous author about journeying is true. So children, let the journey to come to you. Too much planning is the devil's, a.k.a an MBA, tool.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, finally. was beginning to fear that the beginning of the new year was the finale, and you'd leave us in the lurch. or waiting at the church. or something. well, are we only to salivate upon the crumbs of your travelogue, or are any juicy bits forthcoming? as in MORE PICTURES??
by the Saqra Al Djinni, you shall publish or shall be pentacled and perish by the flamin cat o nine tails!

Anonymous said...

Ah, finally. was beginning to fear that the beginning of the new year was the finale, and you'd leave us in the lurch. or waiting at the church. or something. well, are we only to salivate upon the crumbs of your travelogue, or are any juicy bits forthcoming? as in MORE PICTURES??
by the Saqra Al Djinni, you shall publish or shall be pentacled and perished. or at least, ravished. whatever's first.

Extempore said...

@Isis: Dear girl, the best I can do is promise to try the travelogues. :-) If I say I will and then don't, we'll both be quite upset! But will certainly point you to Flickr soon enough!

Anonymous said...

be a darling and remove that first comment. i wanted to, but ypou disabled something or the other, or maybe it's that beta version doing things. whatever happened to if it's not broken, don't fix it, nai? they keep tweaking and tinkering and generally screwing around if you ask me.
it's *good* to have you back, lady. i missed ya.

G Shrivastava said...

I posted a comment...where is it? GRUMPF!

{illyria} said...

there you go. travelogue. i was going to suggest something to that degree because you have a knack for it. :)

Unknown said...

benediction at Gau Ghat... who knew we'd live perhaps the greatest cliche of them all? damn those all-seeing Hindoos! :-)


by the way, the staccato style in which you've written the first bit makes my copywriter's heart trill! may be I'll bring you over to the dark side yet!


ps - boundless thanks are in order for one of those trips (within and without) I've only seen and read about... we might be growing up, eh?

Viewer said...

Hi, long time since i have been here. U hve been travelling a lot gal :) Nice