Travel - A great learning experience

Travel is a very interesting way of gaining knowledge, realizing many great truths and soul searching. Not very often do we get opportunities to travel for long periods. Recently I was blessed with one such opportunity. I was away from home for three full months, travelling in the great continent of North America and there were many moments in this journey that I felt like sharing with my friends.
As I planned for this trip, somehow the seriousness of the trip never dawned on me until about a week before I actually departed, because I was busy with so many things at home. Once I realized that my plan was in fact a reality and not a dream, I started getting tense about travelling alone (though millions of people travel alone everyday). The next strange feeling that I experienced was my alienation to the surroundings of my home! I started feeling, ‘I don’t belong here. Anyway I will be away.’ The same home which was the most familiar place for me started seeming different, with others who were invited to take care of my home in my absence, taking charge.
Once I arrived in Seattle and reached my sister’s comfortable home, I felt safe and secure after a grueling journey during which all the news about air crashes, bomb blasts, plane hijacks and wrongful detentions kept haunting me! Not to leave out the fear of facing the immigration officials in the US! Of course I had nothing emergent to get disappointed by their denying me entry! But all the same, the fear that I always have facing interviews, is something that I am unable to get over even after this many years! I felt like I was in a dreamland for the first couple of days and gradually thereafter, I got so used to my sister’s home and her lifestyle that I started feeling comfortable and at home.
After spending nearly a month there, during which my sister took me to many exotic places, treated me with delicious food of different countries and her home, pampered me with her concern and love, when it was time for me to leave, I started dreading the actual departure! But I had more such exciting experiences and loving kith and kin in the wait and hence the pain of departure got soothed fast. I got to spend one whole month with my dear son in Canada and it was very touching to be on the receiving end this time! While it was always me taking care of him when he came home, this time on, I felt very happy to be pampered by him. We almost felt like we were in our own home here in Bangalore, because everything inside his home imitates our home here. It is a moment of pride to see our children grown up and mature, taking charge of everything and leading us. I saw many proud Indian parents following their children happily in the tourist spots like the Niagara Falls, Crater Lake and Ocean City.
When the time came to depart from my son’s place, I was choked with mixed feelings. I felt like I was being torn away from my son physically. That pain is immeasurable. Not that he went there without our consent. We could never stop him from grabbing opportunities which will help his personal growth. At the same time, I curse this situation when you cannot live with your own children. I departed with a very heavy heart.
The last leg of my long trip was in New York with my other sister, who was waiting very eagerly. I spent about forty days with her. I spent a lot of time with her little son, who had his vacation. It was then that I realized how much the difference in cultures can matter in relationships. The little kid was so confused and curious that I was so different in many ways – my dress sense, my food habits, the way I talk English, my accent, my values and my opinions. It was very interesting to converse with this little kid, who asked me many questions and expressed his strong opinions very frankly. He is born and brought up in the US and he could not relate to the things that I spoke of, though he knows his parents are from India. I put myself in his shoes and could really understand how a kid, who sees very little of India as a visitor once in two years, will find it very difficult to accept India as his country of origin. This is a very complicated social pattern, where we back in India expect the children of our siblings and cousins born and brought up in an alien country to behave exactly like our children living here, just because they are our relatives! All the time that I spent with this little kid, my mind was busy thinking about so many such social issues. I got so used to her home, New York and above all my little nephew that when the time was nearing for my departure, I started dreading that moment! But strangely, two or three days before I left, I started feeling I no longer belonged there. That was temporary and I had to return to the real world. I started missing India, the noise, the pollution, the people, the aroma of fresh food being cooked in different homes, the casual lifestyle, the small neighbourhood shops, the street vendors selling fresh vegetables and fruits, the friendly enquiries from friends and acquaintances and above all my husband, my daughter, my mother, my brother, my friends, my pets and my home. I felt surprised that I had lived without all this for three long months!
Once again the thought of the journey back was disturbing my peace. Of course, I had one worry less – I need not bother about the immigration interview! I could not sleep through the previous night of my journey. The issues that were steaming and cooking back home started haunting me. Not that my return would solve any issue spontaneously but I felt I had to be with my spouse to give him strength and company to face the issues. I set out of my sister’s home with a heavy heart. I looked at the streets that I had walked on umpteen times in the last month, one last time. I filled my eyes with the sight of the beautiful greenery along with Freeway, as we drove to the airport. At the airport, I had a few tense moments as I had to rearrange my baggages for check-in. The JFK airport is a very huge airport and we had to walk a lot, take elevators, climb stairs on escalators, take the air-bus and walk along conveyor walkways so many times. It was a bit tense to do all this with my naughty little nephew, as all the doors are automatic. I was dead tired as I bid goodbye to my sister’s family and entered the flight. The statutory demonstration of safety rules by the airplane crew seemed so farcical and I wondered whether anybody really followed those instructions when in real crisis! I thought of all those thousands of people who died unfortunate deaths while on airplanes. Not that people do not die while travelling on the road or water! But the thought that we are not in physical contact with mother earth creates that extra fear!
I had to change the flight in London and once again the whole process of escalators, bus, elevators, conveyor pathways and long walk! I was very tired and as I entered the second flight, I just could not wait for those ten hours to land on my homeland. I felt very comfortable in the midst of many Indian travelers and could not even sleep for a moment because of my impatience! As I got out of Bangalore airport and breathed the fresh morning air, I felt very refreshed. The main thought that then came to me was, ‘At last I am done with all those automatic aspects’! I was overwhelmed to see my husband, friend and mother at that early hour. As I entered my home and was hugged by my daughter, my maid, my pet and my friends, I was touched! So many people need me here! Good that they missed me and I missed them because we realized how much we need each other. Travel is in fact very enriching!
Sudha Narasimhachar