THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Almost all Indian writers have written at least one journal about their memory as a kid under their favourite banyan tree or travelling on the uneven and muddy village road .I was myself reminded of it while planning a trip with my college friends as thoughts of “ just 1 year left with my friends “  had started to haunt us.

We usually have our itineraries all mapped out...it’s generally Goa or Kerala (and in Mody’s case Mt. Abu, Pushkar and Udaipur . No doubt Goa would be my favourite holiday destination but don’t laugh if I tell you that for a moment I wished I could take my friends to my family village .Honestly, I haven’t been there much myself , but I still remember going there as a kid with my parents and once afterwards.

The feeling you get after setting foot in that place is just inexpressible .The fresh air , especially  that of wet mud, is completely exhilarating. It was one of the best times I have ever had with my cousins. The first time I had ever been to a real farm anyway we had spent a complete day playing in the “nehar”( a  small stream used for irrigation in between farms ) ,bathing  in the tube well and drinking from the hand pump .I really enjoyed playing “farmer farmer” as I stood on the field plough pulled by the bulls  ,  what are the odds I even told my dad I wanted to be a farmer when I grow up. The next day we woke up to foot long glasses full of fresh milk and after looking at the fat floating on its surface my world came crashing back to reality and I realized I couldn’t be a farmer. It’s true what they say about fresh fruits and veggies on cookery shows, they are delicious and even more delicious when cooked after being plucked directly from the farm.

No wonder people there do not need yoga and meditation centers for peace because they have the most beautiful temples and the ambience there is  infinitely serene. The moment you enter a village temple a sense of peace and calm washes over you (and you can always play with the huge temple bell which as a matter of fact can be heard for miles, it acts like a morning alarm to the people there). Who says there are no adventure sports in the village, try jumping from a tree into the village river or climbing over trees and fighting with the monkeys just to eat mangoes or milking a cow and well in my case getting chased by a bull.

On our last day there we took a ride on a tractor .My brother insisted that he can drive it easily. ..We ended up crashing in the next tree. As a punishment we were told to sleep outside in the farms on jute cots. It turned out to be a completely different experience .I’m sure everybody remembers the yellow sarso fields from Yashraj movies (DDLJ) .It was like sleeping in the same set. We sang all night, heard all kinds of ghost stories from my cousins and Lakhan bhaiya(the person who watched the farms at night)and slept under the starry skies (they are highly under rated).It as the best view and the best night ever.

I often wish to go back there but time has offered me  a limited commodity and so thinking of a trip reminded me of that time, hoping to have a blast under those starry skies with friends (this time preferably gossiping and talking about our love lives instead of horror stories.)

Choosing your holiday destination is never an easy task at hand but if you have some place so intensely rural and Indian to the very core then go there today, you have no idea what you’re missing at . The village life will sweep you off your feet (and the low cost is also a plus for us) and if you have no such place then you can always accompany me on my road less travelled.

Charu Mathur

III year