Travel, is it in our genes.. or born out of necessity.
Growing up we travelled a lot as a family, but it was limited to vacations. Our home was intact, we were born, nurtured and grew up in the same city, same home, same family unit, give and take a few as one got married, baby was born or an elder passed on. Not much changed on the home front.
I wasn't afraid or uncertain about traveling alone, in fact I enjoyed it and was ever willing to go on assignments out of town for extended periods of time, would I have chosen to do so if we had never travelled or if my dad never travelled on the job. I also migrated to the US to join my husband.
My dad, he migrated to Bombay like many others from small villages and towns, travelling across India as a lad of 18 to make a future for himself, he had completed high school successfully and also had a certificate in typing. So, he worked as a typist during the day and went to school in the evening to complete his diploma in chemistry and dyes from the VJTI. He lived with cousins and in the following years, his mother and brothers also migrated to Bombay to make futures of their own. My mom, she got married to my dad and her two brothers joined them to continue their post graduation studies and to make a successful lives in the big city, too. Soon her mom and the rest of her family were in Bombay, also. They both migrated, settled and made a good life for us sisters in Bombay. My mom cooked various cuisines that she learned from our neighbors allowing our young palettes to grow and learn new tastes along with traditional fare.
We travelled all over India and very often to the land of our ancestors in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Both my parents come from Palakkad Iyer family's whose ancestors migrated from Tamil Nadu to Kerala, 350-450 years ago to become priests in the temples there. They settled and took up many traditions and cultures of their new land, they changed to accommodate the language, culture, traditions, food habits, etc. of the people in those lands. The palakkad iyers have a unique language that is neither Tamil nor Malayalam and they also have an awesome cuisine, a mix of both their ancestral lands. They are a great group of people, settled all over the world successfully and I may be completely biased on this last fact. :)
So back to my first question, is travel in our genes or born out of necessity?
Maybe it's a mix of both. I know folks who travel but are not too happy to accept and merge into the societies they live in, the one they have migrated to, they try to make a home away from home, hang on to things they know and are not always happy about being in the new land, they yearn to go back home. To a home that has changed and is not really the same as when they left it. An oxymoron in itself and that leads to another question. How does one define home? I guess I will leave it here for now.. And go back to writing about our travels, discovering and to learn the history and geography of the land we live in.. See y'all soon with my next blog.
Showing posts with label Why travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Why travel. Show all posts
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
My journey as a traveller..
Travel makes you realize people are the same all the world. As you know, I grew up in Bombay and travelled a lot around India with my family. Now moving on to my journey, travelling alone or with friends.
My first solo train trip was to Hyderabad by second class sleeper, the year I graduated from college. My cousin lived there with his family and went to visit. Also visited with close family friends in Secunderabad. I had met the family as a 5 year old with my parents and now I was a young lady ready to take on the world. It was where I met my first boss, who asked me to stop by his workplace when I got back home. The offered me a job and soon enough I was off on my very first plane trip to Delhi for training.
Air travel was new to me. I remembered asking dad as an 8 or 9 year old, if we could go by plane and was surprised when he said 'No', I couldn't understand, he travelled on most of his business trips by air. I didn't know it was expensive. He told me, I travel by air since time is important in business and my company pays for all my business travel. When you grow older maybe you will also travel on the job. And I did.
In my second job, I travelled a whole lot more. As an analyst, my projects were in different parts of India. During the years I worked there, I lived in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Bangalore for extended periods of time. I had a great group of friends and colleagues, we traveled quite a bit, hiking and trekking together. Discovering new places when we went on business conferences and conventions together as a group.
Finally, landed up with a consultants job in the middle east.. and was able to visit Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, and peep into Saudi, too.
My future husband and I fell in love while travelling across Italy by train. We had met the year before thanks to a mutual friend when he visited India to mee his family. A few months later, I was working in the middle east. We kept in touch and decided to meet half way in Italy. It was great fun getting to know him and discovering our mutual love for travel, meeting people, visiting places, learning the history and geography of the country and city, exploring museums, churches, gardens, and trying out various cuisines... Together, we managed to see 10 cities in 9 days. Rome, Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii.
We got married a year later. As newly weds we had a fun time travelling in India. We went to Delhi & Agra, Explored Goa, Tamil Nadu(Madras, Madurai, Kodaikanal, Coimbatore, Chidambaram to name a few) and also Palghat district in Kerala. Visiting with family and friends. I was surprised by his love for shopping and bargaining. Unexpectedly my papers were ready and I was able to travel back to the US with him 6 weeks later. Two days before the New Year.
Now you have some background and can better understand why travelling is such a huge part of who we are... More in the next...
My first solo train trip was to Hyderabad by second class sleeper, the year I graduated from college. My cousin lived there with his family and went to visit. Also visited with close family friends in Secunderabad. I had met the family as a 5 year old with my parents and now I was a young lady ready to take on the world. It was where I met my first boss, who asked me to stop by his workplace when I got back home. The offered me a job and soon enough I was off on my very first plane trip to Delhi for training.
Air travel was new to me. I remembered asking dad as an 8 or 9 year old, if we could go by plane and was surprised when he said 'No', I couldn't understand, he travelled on most of his business trips by air. I didn't know it was expensive. He told me, I travel by air since time is important in business and my company pays for all my business travel. When you grow older maybe you will also travel on the job. And I did.
In my second job, I travelled a whole lot more. As an analyst, my projects were in different parts of India. During the years I worked there, I lived in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Bangalore for extended periods of time. I had a great group of friends and colleagues, we traveled quite a bit, hiking and trekking together. Discovering new places when we went on business conferences and conventions together as a group.
Finally, landed up with a consultants job in the middle east.. and was able to visit Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, and peep into Saudi, too.
My future husband and I fell in love while travelling across Italy by train. We had met the year before thanks to a mutual friend when he visited India to mee his family. A few months later, I was working in the middle east. We kept in touch and decided to meet half way in Italy. It was great fun getting to know him and discovering our mutual love for travel, meeting people, visiting places, learning the history and geography of the country and city, exploring museums, churches, gardens, and trying out various cuisines... Together, we managed to see 10 cities in 9 days. Rome, Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii.
We got married a year later. As newly weds we had a fun time travelling in India. We went to Delhi & Agra, Explored Goa, Tamil Nadu(Madras, Madurai, Kodaikanal, Coimbatore, Chidambaram to name a few) and also Palghat district in Kerala. Visiting with family and friends. I was surprised by his love for shopping and bargaining. Unexpectedly my papers were ready and I was able to travel back to the US with him 6 weeks later. Two days before the New Year.
Now you have some background and can better understand why travelling is such a huge part of who we are... More in the next...
Why do we travel.. Here goes my first blog..
'Travel grows the mind' my dad always said, a man of great wisdom. I start with my dad as he is the inspiration to most of the things I do and who I am, today.
We, my parents, sisters and I, travelled to various parts of India. He travelled a great deal around the world on business trips. Growing up our vacations took us all over India - Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh..... when we travelled to Delhi to visit with one cousin, we also travelled to Chandigarh to visit another and then on to Shimla, Mathura, Agra, Fathepur Sikri, etc. on the side. Every vacation had a primary location and many small trips on the side. We depended on trains and buses, rickshaws, horse cart, bullock cart, whatever got us to where we wanted to go.. Helped that India has a great network of trains and bus even as early as the 60's when I was a little kid.
We also had good people connections.. A network of family; first, second, third and sometimes fourth cousins and friends. It wasn't one sided, they often visited and stayed with us in Bombay. My parents were great hosts. My mom had awesome people skills,, was a great cook, and loved history, geography and languages, all adding great value to our travels... We all loved to attend family weddings and various social gatherings, both closeby and in far away places.
Almost every Saturday afternoon, we would go to town by bus. Dad would quiz us about the important buildings we passed by, flora fountain, Victoria terminus, prince of wales museum, Jahangir art gallery are some places that come to mind... We visited art exhibitions, book fairs, anything interesting, walked in and out of stores, ate street food and more. We looked foward to our Saturday afternoons. Never knowing where we would go until we got on a bus.. Malabar hills, Crawford market, nariman point....
Travelling on the job, gave me a very different perspective. It took me to various cities across the country and allowed me to meet people from different backgrounds, cultures, nationalities and I learn that people everywhere are the basically the same. I love people.
Once bitten by the travel bug it stays with you forever. Our trips in those days were often on a tight and small budget. The idea was to get out of our busy city lifestyle and connect with each other, we usually travelled by second and third class. I remember playing cards, dumb charades, scrabble, word games, reading books.. Talking and making friends with total strangers... Also, watching the beautiful scenery, mountains, valleys, cities, towns, villages as the train chugged on.. The dust and discomfort a minor inconvenience, it was all part of the vacation and discovering the country, family and more. The places and people mattered a whole lot more than luxuries and vacations to exotic locations.
We, my parents, sisters and I, travelled to various parts of India. He travelled a great deal around the world on business trips. Growing up our vacations took us all over India - Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh..... when we travelled to Delhi to visit with one cousin, we also travelled to Chandigarh to visit another and then on to Shimla, Mathura, Agra, Fathepur Sikri, etc. on the side. Every vacation had a primary location and many small trips on the side. We depended on trains and buses, rickshaws, horse cart, bullock cart, whatever got us to where we wanted to go.. Helped that India has a great network of trains and bus even as early as the 60's when I was a little kid.
We also had good people connections.. A network of family; first, second, third and sometimes fourth cousins and friends. It wasn't one sided, they often visited and stayed with us in Bombay. My parents were great hosts. My mom had awesome people skills,, was a great cook, and loved history, geography and languages, all adding great value to our travels... We all loved to attend family weddings and various social gatherings, both closeby and in far away places.
Almost every Saturday afternoon, we would go to town by bus. Dad would quiz us about the important buildings we passed by, flora fountain, Victoria terminus, prince of wales museum, Jahangir art gallery are some places that come to mind... We visited art exhibitions, book fairs, anything interesting, walked in and out of stores, ate street food and more. We looked foward to our Saturday afternoons. Never knowing where we would go until we got on a bus.. Malabar hills, Crawford market, nariman point....
Travelling on the job, gave me a very different perspective. It took me to various cities across the country and allowed me to meet people from different backgrounds, cultures, nationalities and I learn that people everywhere are the basically the same. I love people.
Once bitten by the travel bug it stays with you forever. Our trips in those days were often on a tight and small budget. The idea was to get out of our busy city lifestyle and connect with each other, we usually travelled by second and third class. I remember playing cards, dumb charades, scrabble, word games, reading books.. Talking and making friends with total strangers... Also, watching the beautiful scenery, mountains, valleys, cities, towns, villages as the train chugged on.. The dust and discomfort a minor inconvenience, it was all part of the vacation and discovering the country, family and more. The places and people mattered a whole lot more than luxuries and vacations to exotic locations.
This is how it started, the next one is about my journey..
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