by PenTales Pundit Aswini Sivaraman
Only yesterday, I entered a contest at StudentUniverse’s Facebook page, where I had to tag a travel buddy, in the hope of winning a 100 dollar travel voucher. In retrospect, my comment was not my pithiest best; rather, it actually went off on a sentimental track. But it was something I meant; isn’t it right for every travel, literal or metaphorical, to become a journey to remember? What would you need for that to happen?
Our contributions this week on the theme of ‘TRAVEL’ has, surprisingly, if I may add, centered only on the literal meaning. I am no romantic, and I might dangerously be straddling the line of cheesy here, but I tend to think that the most challenging of travels are the ones we embark on to find answers to questions of ourselves – an introspective journey, if you may.
But while we have got the world in all its beautiful glory around us, let me not ignore those that dare to tread on its various paths and have fun doing it! We had two actual stories on travel this week, though I’d prefer to call them adventures, for adventures they are! An anonymous contributor regales us with a very entertaining, very adventurous tale of her escapades in London. I am going to unreasonably doubt its authenticity, but I think that stems more from wanting to disbelieve that such a high-adrenaline night could happen to someone who’d be willing to share it with us! There’s royalty in the story, there’s sneaking in and out of exclusive bars and parties. And what constitutes as the fun part of any travel, there’s plenty of glitter and glamour in it. This is one story you don’t want to miss reading just for its unabashed sense of enjoyment.
Dan’s story initially reminded me of Roald Dahl’s “Switch Bitch.” If you’ve read that story, you might wonder why I’d make that random connection. But there’s the analogy of the mystery at dinner (not that a woman compares to a mystery dish), and the unpleasant surprise that follows it. But my favorite part was that, as part of his travel package, Dan got to participate in a tradition that was indigenous to somebody else. What’s that if not a complete travel experience!
The pictures that Heather sent us leave you wishing for more. What are those monks intently looking at and who’s that endearing kid who’s cheerfully waving at us with a snake garlanded around her neck? There is nothing like a picture in a travelogue to help you identify with a place more.
And just in case you were wondering, I didn’t win that voucher. It looks like my travels have to wait for some time! Fortunately, there is always some time for that introspective journey. It just remains to see how I’d be paying for it!
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