Why do we Travel...

Very interesting question and a question which always comes in my mind. I tried asking myself and came with very simple answer ....... because I hate routine and want a change. I had written earlier about this in my earlier post "Road That Never Ends. These reasons are true but not complete. They do not sounds very convincing when I start deeply exploring my inner sense.

I was travelling with my family to a beautiful place in Uttarakhand, which lies in Himalayas. The Owner of my resort asked one evening if I would like to go trekking in a near by village and have breakfast there. I instantly said yes. It was giving me an  opportunity to experience the life in a village in himalayas and also to enjoy their cousine.  We set of in the morning, passing through beautiful pine forest, going downwards in the valley, passing some clear water streams. The air was cool and fresh. We could see few monkeys on the trees and sound of birds was like  music to our ears. We reached the village in about 2 hours time. Quiet and sleepy village. Since it was working day, men were out on duty and other works. They travel 5-10 kms daily on those hills to catch their bus. the life seemed simple. Small farms on front of houses cultivated with vegetables and corns and some Citrus fruits trees around the house. We were greeted with warm smile. My little daughter was amazed and happy. She has not seen such a life and a village. She was touching a calf for the first time. The mood was emphatic and we were all amazed by the beautiful nature all around and simplicity of the village life and the warmth that they showed us.

The breakfast served was local. Fresh bread made from grinding corn and mixing some spices alongwith green coriander freshly picked from the small farm. The corn was picked from the farm and grinded and bread cooked all in front of us. We all liked it and admired a lot. While returning back we were all discussing the taste and how nicely it was made in front of us.

After coming back to Delhi, in the middle of madding crowd and chaos of a metropolitan city, I kept on thinking - what were we appreciating? The simple life of the village, The Authenticity of the life and cuisine ..... what....

We migrated to big cities and adopted sophisticated life style full of warmth, comfort and chaos as well.... but when it comes to admiring we travel 1000 miles, go to a village and admire the simplicity of life. We would never like these people to become one of us, otherwise what will we admire and travel for.

Is authenticity lies in simplicity .......

Travel gives me this insight and provokes me to pack my bag again and I move on to admire something new ... something really authentic..........

The road never ends for me and when it meets a dead end a new one starts ..............