Travel

"Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen."
- Benjamin Disraeli

This is one of my favorite quotes...I love to travel..Physically and emotionally...Through the roads and through my soul...Have travelled a lot in my life-solo and in group....each with different kind of feel to it..solo ones made me learn life skills and gave me a sense of self belief..group ones always were about fun..sharing and enjoying the journey...in the monsoons i am always reminded of the journey i took on the foot- through the deluge of the century in Mumbai on July 27th, 2006!It was a group and a solo journey...

Like millions, i was stuck that fateful day on 26th July in the city, some 30 kms away from my home..And actually was outdoor when the clouds burst and walked upstream in running rain water to reach safety...Had the prudence to walk through the known roads and visible land otherwise would have found myself in the Arabian sea via open manholes and Mithi!!!!!! Another prudence we exercised (thanks to elderly advice!) was to put up at a place for the night to tide over the stuck traffic and trains...Lifesaving decision that was...And lifechanging too for me!

We started walking for home the next day...And what a sight it was! everything submerged..taxis floating...flyovers half visible and vehicles jammed in streams on the roads...water upto waist high and people walking in streams..one after another in a line..the only way to survive open manholes and being drowned! I walked four hours non stop- wise decision again... avoided muscle cramps and reached home in five hours flat! I heard stories later on that people travelled half of that distance over two days !

Nothing different from what almost every Mumbaikar experienced at that time! But it taught me few lessons i would never forget all my life! One- to always listen to yourslef when faced in a situation which is unprecedented..Another that no matter how much you are bogged down by whats happening with you, there are people struck by worse and they are managing as well! So you can manage too...I learnt to let go..take things as they come by..and trust myself that i would be able to face it head on.....

Am a much more self believing soul now and definitely saw more than i remember and remember more than i saw that day!