“We thought tourist always come in AC taxi, stay in big hotel and eat from restaurant. We thought they from different world. They no show any interest in our village”, says my friend Shiva from Sikkim while we eat the steamed dumplings being freshly cooked in the kitchen and served with red chili and cheese sauce.
Many people ask me that why I travel to villages and far flung places never heard of. They secretly wonder if I am crazy. With their constipated look, I know they are not saying it on my face. I wish they knew that I like being called crazy. Here are some snippets from my journeys where conversations happened at leisure, relationships got created and I dared to be lazy. Here are the snippets from the journeys that continue to transform my life:
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| Northern Thailand |
Two years ago, I sold my belongings to travel to Thailand. I am glad I drove to Northern Thailand. I hadn’t planned but the place that I booked happened to be in the middle of a rice field. A short early morning walk took me to a vast expanse of poster perfect landscape with yellow mustard throwing a striking contrast.
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| Rice paddies in Eastern Bengal |
Once again, my journey to Chalsa was unplanned. The mountains of northern Bengal were closed and hence I stumbled upon this place. These children kept following me at a distance while I walked around with my camera. There were times when I also used to run around on streets with my friends.
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| Majuli Island Assam |
I had heard of the stories from Majuli Island and always had the curiosity to visit it. The stunning beauty of palm trees and wetlands topped with the welcome I got from my host family made me want to stay longer. The hymns of evening prayers that came from every Neo Vaishnavite monastery on the island still echo in my ears.
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| Holi in Kumaon Uttarakhand |
I celebrated the best holi of my life with the Kumaoni community in Uttarakhand. The women had gathered in the forest to cook food, sing holi songs, and dance. Children did not have any fancy toys but they were very happy playing with whatever they could get hold of. I experienced a strong sense of community where everyone had time for everyone else.
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| With village children in Salawas Rajasthan |
While I was watching the camels chew the food slowly in the barren yet colourful countryside of Rajasthan, these children appeared out of nowhere. Being a city dweller, I was taken aback and did not know how to react. Then I just went with the flow. After all I do not have to know everything.
Travelling to villages has given me an opportunity to live with different communities and know them in their purest forms. It has grown the gratitude in my heart for who I am and for humanity. I may live in a city and also travel to them, but I will always be a villager by heart. Or should I say ‘Urban Villager’?
Do you also have some unique experiences? I would love to know them in comments below.
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Gaurav Bhatnagar
Travel Writer, Photographer, Public Speaker, Entrepreneur @ www.thefolktales.com
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Hi Gaurav! This is another heart touching piece by you. Keep up the good work dude. Love the picture with the village children. Its just beautiful in a very sweet way. Wish I could get to explore such places. All the best for your next journey. Looking forward to your next blog 🙂 🙂
Hi Nikita ! Thank for reading. If you 'wish', you definitely 'can' 🙂
What a lovely read 🙂 Resonates with my state of mind !