ALL BY MYSELF!

This travelogue is very special to me. It’s not because that I have travelled approximately around 4000 km back and forth, but it’s because when I type this, I wear this garland of achievement and badge of pride.

The trip to Vadodara or Baroda, Gujarat was inspired from the Instagram profile Yaathrakaran. This profile gave me a faint idea and was my initial travel guide as to how to reach this glorious city. And to my long-forgotten dream of travelling alone, for at least once in my lifetime, was chiseled out and I decided to embark on this wonderful journey seeking for new experiences.

My first solo trip had its own issues to begin with. I have neither travelled alone nor have I gone out of South India. But the reason why I chose a place so unfamiliar, with so many strange faces, language that I barely knew of, circumstances that I may or may not have been able to tackle, was with one aim. The ardent desire towards travel and a test to myself!

My friends barely knew about this adventurous side of me. They knew only about the studious and the nerdish me, who were petrified to hear about my wish. They did express a lot of concerns from their side as well. To begin with was the most terrible sleeper class of Indian Railways where I would have to face Panparak and squeezing in passengers who may not have even bathed for a long time to transgender people who may torture me if I don’t give money to somebody may abduct you and we will get a holiday to how will you even survive in that place to college toppers cannot do it to planned trip never works out to CAB problem going on at Vadodara and finally with monstrous laughing faces to teasing smiles and henceforth, my friends did all they could to stop me from going there.

But 21 years of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was to begin with this journey. I knew that this was just a small step taken towards a lot of future endeavors ahead of me. To execute this: meant to step out of my comfort zone and experience that adrenaline, which rushes through your spines when you have that feeling of loneliness, when there’s nobody else to help you out and to shred the scary cat title and specially to overcome my fears!

Since I was away from my home and was studying at Chennai, I was still a new born baby to my parents. So, I decided to leave without telling them as they wouldn’t have let me pursue this “dangerous-unwanted-trip” according to them.

Anyways, my journey began on Sunday morning, December 22nd 2019 from Chennai Central to Vadodara. It was a seemingly endless journey of 36 hrs in the train. But never in my wildest dreams did I thought that I would get to travel in a new sleeper coach of that train (Navajivan exp.). Very good starting indeed. Right at the face of all of my friends. Well painted, well maintained, tiled washbasins and hygienic toilets, I felt like I was in a foreign train. And again, to their disappointment neither people came to squeeze in chewing panparak nor any transgenders for begging. I was happy at the best beginning of my travel.

Well my solo trip wasn’t exactly solo. This is the beauty of travelling in a public transport. You meet random strangers who just simply pour all their stories to you. And more about why I chose such transports will be dealt in my next blog. But, as I was on a budget trip, I decided to have bread and jam while being in the train. And the only thing I got was the stare of all the people around me!

The train journey was not so boring. Outside my window, I could see beautiful fields, similar to those picturesque portraits by talented artists. After Tada, Andhra Pradesh, there was nothing else but vast areas of agricultural land. Till the end of the horizon, there was only greenery. I witnessed the India where man and nature was beautifully living in the best of symbiotic relationship, among crops both small and tall, with fields filled with spicy red and fluffy white plants, making the portrait a masterpiece of colours. But sometimes, amidst such beauty, travel takes you through the ugly truths of life, of some people around you.

The next day, on 23rdDec, Monday, when the train crossed Bhusaval Junction, I was reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens after having a very sweet sambar and idli which was worse than my Amet food. Suddenly, I was startled by a boy who I thought fell on the floor, just beside me, from the side upper berth. I almost dropped my book in shock of the noise and looked at him to check if he's ok. Later only I made sense of what’s happening around me. His brownish dirty face had a fake black moustache drawn and 2 red circles on both his cheeks. He was thrice as young as I was, yet I was gobsmacked by the way he did summer saults like it was a piece of a cake, which I earlier misunderstood with him being fallen down. In a distance at the entrance of the sleeper coach I saw his mom playing some music in an old drum that had no tune and no rhythm. Probably that music must be about the life that she is living right now. Having to make her boy dance for their livelihood and to fill their stomach with something before sending to bed. Probably she must have been apologising to her son for ending up like her! It was the most depressing lullaby I might have ever heard. Later I realised that he was a performer when he brought out his steel rings through which he passed all of his upper and lower limbs and even made a loop out of his hands and sneaked between them. When I was reading a novel in English that young boy without schooling was working for his family. When I begged from my parents for the trip, he was proudly working for his mother and was giving her money. I noticed his mom being pregnant. Probably she must be carrying this young performer’s upcoming brother or sister who is meant to join this performing business! For once I cursed the creator for making somebody's life the worst while somebody else's great. A great curiosity arose within me at that moment- how does he sort us out? How does he decide who deserves the best from this world and who should be at the worst?

A journey that had seen the best and worst so far was unleashing new challenges ahead of me. It was Monday evening when I reached Vadodara Railway Station. A great vibe, unclear but interesting chit chats of strange faces welcomed me as I stepped out of the station. If you are planning to stay at HOTEL GARDEN, mentioned in my travel guide previously, then take the over bridge from railway station and take right and get down and walk straight beside the busy market spurling with life. Keep an eye on google maps and the top of the side buildings. HOTEL GARDEN will be on your left, which I found out the hard way because sometimes even google maps will confuse you and it made me walk another 500 m or so when I had to do just the former. Anyways I was happy with my place of stay. Very good receptionist and good ambience. After checking in with my ID, he showed me my AC dormitory bed and cupboard. Bathroom had to be adjusted with but was alright for 200 Rs.

Hence as per my travel schedule, I was supposed to go to Sayaji Baug. So, I left immediately after keeping my luggage in the cupboard and walked towards it. I would refer Sayaji Baug as the central square of Vadodara. Spreading for about 100 acres, this beautiful place comprises of a lot of surprises. Starting with the World’s and India’s largest floral clock located here, with an amazing modern state of the art Planetarium, along with Baroda Museum and Picture gallery and finally the zoo and a joy train to see the whole thing. From people relaxing to exercising to love being shared in the air at the various corners of the park, I have never experienced a place so calm and serene with such a huge amount of greenery in my life. This is something you should experience and I am sure that it will taste better once you go there.

I decided to walk and see the rest of the attractions nearby as I had the idea to spend my evening outside rather than being in the room. Above all, to have a taste of Vadodara’s streets and her children from various walks of their lives trying to make a livelihood along the sidewalks. My next destination was Laxshmi Villas Palace. But as I mentioned in my guide, Monday is a bad day to visit as most of the attractions will be closed. Even the palace was also closed, but I had a glimpse of it from outside its gates.

As darkness creeped in with the setting sun, the streets were lit by light and my stomach started craving for some refreshment. Sadly, I was like a nomad looking for a treasure in the desert. My tongue was seeking for the taste of chicken or anything non-veg and my fingers were tired of typing and searching for Kerala Restaurants nearby to best non-veg hotels etc… Finally, I ended up eating Thali, which is a dish comprising of varieties of veg gravies with a bowl of long rice and two rottis. Disheartened and displeased I had to fill up with what I got rather than starving. And yes, every dish in here comes sweet!

I unleashed my tiredness under the comfort of my AC dormitory dreaming to go up to the Tallest Statue of the World; tomorrow morning. Well, I could’ve been a bit more alert to my never-ending sleep. Yep, I overslept! My bus will depart at 0700 hrs from Vadodara Central Bus stop, 10 minutes’ walk from my hotel and 5 minutes’ walk from the railway station. Since I thought that trekking bags cannot be kept in Statue of Unity cloak room, I had to keep it in railway cloak room. Then I had to take the necessary items for going to SOU. And I woke up at 0615 hrs. 45 minutes of “Christ my solo trip is going to be a waste” to all the cuss words unleashed upon myself, the antireligious me turned to all the Gods I knew to help me out. Somehow, I brushed and rushed out of hotel, went to the station, took platform ticket and tried to find the cloak room under all those chaos (I just had to turn left after entering platform), they told me I can’t keep my luggage there as I had to show them the PNR of that day’s arrival ticket to them. Now this is when I was sweating hard with my heartbeat up the roof even at that cold December early morning. Time was around 0645 hrs. I begged them and finally showed my PNR of yesterday’s arrival ticket and filled up all the details and again ran out of the station wearing a small cloth bag alone. This was a run that I have never made before. As I reached the bus station, I opened my e-ticket to see my bus number. And guess what, only then I realised when we book buses online in Vadodara, they neither provide you with a bus number nor with a driver’s contact number. AMEN to you my lord!

Now with less than a few minutes left for my bus to depart, I went to the busy ticket counter to seek help and found out at what platform does the buses to Navagam or Kevadia (Statue of Unity) stood. And now to my “aid” the almighty had arranged 3 to 4 buses in the same platform with SOU pictures stuck on them! I mean, even though I laugh at this when I type, at that moment, it was hell unleashed upon me, mercilessly, for a sin that I wasn’t even aware of. But with no time to waste, I tried to read what was written on the buses. But obviously, whom am I kidding, it was in Gujarathi. Great isn’t it? So much for the desire to travel to World’s Tallest Statue. So much for all this passion and dreams. Devastated, but not willing to give up, I remember booking a window seat, so I climbed up and down looking something similar to what I have booked. Then I thought of asking the conductors help. But then again, my English cum Hindi made the indigenous people to open their eyes and mouth wide open probably thinking that I'm mad and leaving the conductor ponder over what I was trying to ask. At that moment, I wanted to beat them all for not learning English and myself for not knowing Gujarati. Somehow, he understood my concern and showed me a seat that had a cross marked on it, with white chalk indicating that this seat has been booked, by some poor soul coming all the way from Chennai to see the great wonder! Dehydrated, devastated and all sweaty, I sat on my seat grasping for as much as air I could suck in into my poor body with a little satisfaction and a lesson learnt-

NEVER EVER OVERSLEEP!

I had booked a local bus for reaching SOU and an AC bus for coming back as I wanted to experience both the transport facilities. NOTHING changes whether AC or Local, you will never get a bus number nor a contact number and GSRTC’s track my bus- my friend, that’s a joke!

With the sun already risen and warming up my journey, the bus took us away from the city to the serene village side. It takes two hours to reach SOU from Vadodara, and the bus was also filled up with people who also had the same destination in mind. I reached SOU which is easily identifiable, with walls made of reddish orange colour, the whole area looks like as if we are in a foreign land. Well maintained and clean (even the roads) it was a good welcoming moment for me after my morning hustle. The place where the bus stops is called the Shreta Bharat Bhavan or simply ticket counter with lots of hotels and parking facilities. It is from here you have to book ticket if you haven’t booked online, keep your bags in cloak room, and wait for the AC buses to take you to Statue of Unity. When I had gone there, it was spurling up with life. Kids from various schools dominated the area. Shouting and howling and taking selfies, they were enjoying their excursion, while I was in a roller coaster ride of memories of childhood excursions with my friends.

The bus was good and it took us to SOU, from a distance I saw the tallest statue of the world. Remember to carry a printout of your ticket as it will be scanned at multiple locations from entrance for verification. Freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s Statue stood right in front of me at height of about 130m. My allotted time slot for reaching the viewing gallery was between 1000 hrs to 1200 hrs.

So, I went inside the statue’s bottom area, which had a mini showcase of the actual statue ahead of me, with two modern cinema halls displaying his freedom fights and how they built the whole thing etc… The elevators that take us to the viewing gallery will be right ahead of us and I reached my spot on the gallery. From the top, a grand view of the bottom world- it was stunning. At a distance, Sardar Sarovar Dam, holding back the Narmada River and people so tiny posing for several pictures, it was good. But, as I was roaming around the premises of the statue, I saw the tallest man being covered in dust. Dust from the screaming Earth, on which they were scaring her and was digging out her skin with huge drillers. I saw the riverbed in front of the dam, dried and dirty from all those constructions going on. For a while, I thought, even the tallest man couldn’t shine as a great wonder in all the dust that Mother Earth had spilled on it.

When it was noon, I decided to have lunch. Unfortunately, I ordered pizza which I wonder if at is a pizza, because it tasted as dry as possible with a lot of cheese on it, like wheat rock. So, food was a major issue for me. But still as long as I ignored my tongue, my stomach was filled whenever it had to be.

My budget travel restricted me from going to The Dam, Valley of Flowers (full of varieties of cactus) and Garden of Butterflies etc… which I was disappointed for going while sitting in my return bus to Shreta Bharat Bhavan. But to satisfaction a woman at the top of her most disappointed voice said that there were no butterflies in the butterfly garden and it was not worth it. So, I was glad that I saved some money!

My next adventure spot was river rafting. My first river rafting along with my first solo trip. There were a lot of firsts in my trip actually. River rafting is one of the adventure things that I wanted to do in my life among scuba diving, bungee jumping, sky diving etc… As it was my first time, obviously my mind ran wild projecting episode by episode of various “What can go wrong with this” series in my mind. I didn’t know to swim, knew a lit bit to row, then what happens if I fall overboard and break a bone or two and can’t work in a ship anymore to who will look after my family to my parents dreams and hopes to why don’t I just skip it and go back home. It was wild. Now you must be thinking then why I chose to do it in the first place. I mean, there’s always a what if question for everything that we do for the first time in our lives.

If you want to do river rafting book online and come to SBB where their small counter is there, which is hard to miss, then you have to sign all “we are not responsible” and “I know what I am doing” forms. From here, they will take you to the spot in their vehicle. No extra money required. I took the slot for 1330 hrs to 1500 hrs. Those rafting buddies were really surprised to see 21 years old me travelling all the way here. I was expecting a why from their side, but guess what, they are also extreme travellers who have travelled a lot only difference is that they didn’t start at 21 years of their age.

River rafting at Narmada was a grand luxurious event for my trip. We did a 7km long stretch with 10 rapids on the way. Before starting they taught me all the orders that I should follow. I wore my AMET jersey and shorts and two other trainers joined me as I was a solo rafter. Words cannot explain the fun in it. Seriously. I cannot put my feelings in words at all. Because it is that much amazing. I request you all to try out something like this in your life.

Everything I had to do in Vadodara was now complete. I sat in one of benches at SBB, watching the sun setting over the horizon with a mild cold breeze brushing my face, maybe congratulating me for all the efforts. I missed the laser light show at the dam because my bus was at 1900 and the show was at 1930. But no worries as I had more fun on that day and had already made some beautiful memories.

The real panic was when I had to go to board my bus back to Vadodara. Like I said, the bus service is a mess there. My boarding point was Navagam that’s all. No contact number, no bus number nothing. I went where private buses usually come for taking passengers, but couldn’t find anything. Now remember that feeling of loneliness and not knowing what to do and all darkness around you gives you a chill at your back? Yea I was experiencing just that. Some kind auto rikshawala helped me out and took me to the nearby bus stop which is a little far away from my actual boarding point. There I was looking for people who speak English and was walking here and there thinking what else can I do to go back. Then later, I found out that my bus was actually late from obviously a person who knew English and then he helped me out to board my AC bus. Again, a two-hour journey back to Vadodara where I reached at 2100 hrs. The panic i had for getting a bus... man! It was amazing.

I boarded the train next day morning back to my home, on 25thDecember 2019, after being the happiest person to successfully execute what I came for.

P.S.

This is what travelling means. It gives lessons that no teacher, no classroom, no syllabus can teach you. You need to search for it. Learn from it.

Also at least for once in your life I recommend you to travel alone because travelling alone gives you an idea as to how much capable you can be in executing things, all by yourself. A faith starts developing within where all the talents you had buried inside comes out all at once to your aid. And trust me there's nothing as powerful as when you start supporting yourself and start believing in you.

That’s exactly what happened on 25th December 2019, when I departed from Vadodara. I left as a new man; born again learning and gaining knowledge and as someone who now has the faith that wherever I am, whomever am with, whatever I do, I can manage things by myself and that I don’t need any familiar faces for helping me out.!

A smile, a request that’s all it takes for another human to help you out.

Travel all your life.

Conquer your fears.

Live a proud life of achievement.