NEW DELHI: I have often thought about this great urge that we have (and have always had) to travel. So many people look forward to going on a vacation—it is what they save money for, what they dream about and plan for. But, it is not just us, even our ancestors voyaged and discovered distant lands no matter how extreme the condition.
I asked a few of my friends why they travel. A friend in a corporate job mentioned “to escape”. Escape what? Stress, mundanity, sameness!? “Routine!” “That is a good reason,” I said. But travel is more than escapism.
I asked a Nordic man why he likes to travel and his one-word answer was ‘sun’. “To experience a different climate?” “Yes,” he said, adding, “To feel the sea breeze in my hair and the sun kiss my skin.” Later, I asked my young, college-going niece the same question and she answered “For Insta-photos”. “Always more inspiring vistas when we travel,” I said, as I thought aloud, “Or is it that we see it differently?”
So here we are—away from the monotony, experiencing a different weather, and even new eyes. Yet, we also kid ourselves about how important it is to ‘settle’. A validation to the ego’s constant bleating about ‘security’,, knowing—in the more honest parts of our hearts—that it is a false notion. Even so, lifetimes are spent earning enough money for an apartment in the outskirts of a big city. Every noisy, overpopulated city has a dense concentric circle of infinite buildings often made without adherence to quality standards. All this made with money that is more than blood, sweat, and tears.
Is this so-called security what the soul really desires? Is it better than the high seas and the mystery of life? Personally, I think of travel as an activity that helps me realise that I am from nowhere, but I belong everywhere. Every time I travel, I feel a little enlarged from the inside. What can be a more worthy pursuit!?
Anupamaa Dayal This fashion designer is about happy clothes and happy homes for happy women
