Over the past three and a half years or so, I have traveled quite a bit. Only one country i.e. India but states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, besides my very own Delhi. Phew! That is quite a long list, and we are still to go into the cities and villages list. The best part is that while some of those escapades have been very touristy - visiting all the places one is 'supposed' to - a large part of them have taken me to remote villages, slums, and what not. And what that has meant is not-so-typical experiences, conversations and memories.
I like interacting with almost strangers. And by 'almost' I mean I do not start talking to the person standing next to me on a railway platform or a temple, but the next layer of people closer than them - the auto rickshaw or taxi walas, the waiters, the bar tenders, the project associates, etc etc. And I have formed a belief that the kind of insights taxi or auto drivers give about a place are incomparable. I remember talking to a taxi driver on my first visit to Mumbai. He had seen Mumbai age with years. To him the city had become like a museum, where millions come and go but whatever is inside hasn't changed for decades. The infrastructure development has just not coped up with the population increase. I hardly know Mumbai, but I feel that every time I am there. Don't take me wrong, I am not a Mumbai hater or something, in fact, I believe the Arabian Sea makes it the most special city in this country, gives it that soul. But the day time chaos is something that could have been better managed. Anyway, I love the vada pao and when I told this to another taxi driver, he laughingly said, 'Sahab pet bharne ke liye khana padega, toh utna achha nahi lagega', with the laugh receding with every word.
One thing that catches my eye every time I visit a new city is how each city, especially the smaller ones, have their own design of auto rickshaws. I have seen some giant 10 seaters to really petite, slim and trim ones, still having the same capacity. While the city defines its auto rickshaws' exterior structure, the interiors really bring out the personality of each of those auto rickshaws, or their drivers. So some have starking bright blue neon lights with silver danglers hanging down the side railings. Others would prefer posters of bare chested Salman Khan or the shades wearing Shahrukh Khan or more commonly, the not so fair Bipasha Basu. And it does not end there. I remember traveling in an auto rickshaw in Bhopal. We reached a traffic signal and stopped (an impossibility in states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana). Another auto rickshaw came, screeching with a glass shattering sound of Dhoom Dhoom (yes the John Abraham movie's OST). My auto rickshaw felt outdone and replied with 'Muqabla, muqabla..hoga!' and rocketed ahead at the sight of green light.
It is obviously impossible to capture (even remember) all my traveling experiences in one blog post. I think I would not even want to. It is about how thoughts are stored in one memory. I believe they are compartmentalized on the basis of some common characteristics. You think of a fair girl and your memory sorts all the records of fair girls that made lasting impressions at any point of time. You remember a girl in Rishikesh and that brings you to your other memories of that place - the rafts, the camps, the boats, the cliffs, and so much more. And those threads of thoughts are what make memories beautiful, bringing that smile to one's face. At least to me. So let's see how my day-to-day experiences of the future would remind me of some of the moments I have enjoyed in the past and then would like to share them here.
