India is a country that is culturally and geographically so diverse that it is an astounding experience to go and understand even a small portion of its magnificence. A journey through different parts of India changes one’s perspective and increases our appreciation of our motherland. We started our journey from the financial capital of India and ended it at the political capital of India passing through and staying in a multitude of places. We covered a total distance of around 10000 km.
The experiences we have gained are priceless. We got to experience the so called discomforts with no shortcuts out of it like the scorching heat in the metal coach of the trains, there is no way out of it other than just sitting through it for hours together.
We learnt the art of surviving the crowd in the very beginning of our fellowship thanks to Mumbai local train experience and the bustling streets of Mumbai. It was truly an achievement of sorts when we independently traversed the crowds of Mumbai from South to North. We also got to brush up on our crowd handling tactics every now and then in the trip like in Kolkata, Varanasi, Delhi etc.
Walking became a norm for us as the usual distance of a restaurant from anywhere we stayed was above a kilometre. Since all of us were vegetarians, we always observed the locality very carefully while travelling, looking out for a pure veg restaurant close by. Due to this, we had no difficulty in finding a pure veg restaurant even in the remote areas like Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya. Walking at least 5 km was a daily routine since nothing covers an area as good as walking does. By walking, one is able to comprehend the magnificence of local culture and now we can relate to various aspects of different regions like the architecture, language, dressing style, food habits, et cetera when we think about the diversity of India.
We covered almost all the linguistic families in the course of our trip and had absolutely no language problem anywhere. All four of us speak different mother tongues (Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil). Thus, collectively, we could handle many languages fluently: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Tulu. Plus rudimentary knowledge of few more related languages ensured a smooth linguistic passage for us in all our destinations across India.
Going to several places with a variety of geographic features, we were exposed to the different vegetation, weather, wildlife and birdlife. Also, all these collectively influenced folk life including architecture, food, culture and many a times languages. The sights we saw were mind-blowing – each landscape was spectacular and different from another, each bird had its own plumage and call, each animal was had its unique features and each getting used to kind of weather was a different experience.
We observed that the traditional culture of people in any forest area in India is similar and deeply connected with the forest and its produce. In Karthik’s hometown in the Western Ghats, scores of acres of forests are protected as sacred groves by the local community, this has been going on for centuries. We could observe the same thing in the pristine forests of Meghalaya where the forests were protected by the local tribes as sacred groves. This sort of protection of the forests involves active involvement by the community and hence the forests are relatively untouched because human greed and corruption are overcome by the local belief system.
It is said, “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow”, and we completely agree with this. Travelling to numerous places of India has broadened our worldview and given us a whole new perspective of life. It has helped us discover ourselves and understand the lives of many people in India.
We have had a wonderful time together here are some things we have to say about the trip.
“-Akhilesh Ravi
My mind was blown so many times that if I start and count, then the number would be mind-blowing!! ”
“-Karthik Subramanya Karvaje
The idea of India(Bharat) from ancient times to now is roughly the same as the political borders of present day India, we are all united by a common underlying culture. “
“ -Kaushal Modi
As we travelled through different regions, we observed many differences in geographies, languages, politics and cultures, but something inexpressible was common to every region which transcended all these differences. That was very beautiful and according to me is the idea of Bharat and the very basis of this nation.”
“-Shubham Deshpande
The quest to truly understand the purpose of life led me to travel India last month. In those moments, all structures of the modern world turned hazy, I realized that rule book of society with its definition of money, religion and human identity started to became irrelevant and with every single step I pulled myself away from comfort and pushed myself a little bit towards unpredictable. I might not have come back with answers but I surely found questions that led me to self-discovery. “
