EXPLORER

Kuntil

I always keep an extra day in hand for every destination on my itinerary when I travel to explore. This day is spent checking out things recommended by locals who are happy to share the destination’s best kept secrets.

During a trip to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya in Northeast India, a random stranger with whom I was sharing a table in a beef momo and moonshine joint recommended the You & I Café. This quirky café is run by Wanphai Nongrum who is very interesting character.

He is an Artist, Teacher and Social worker. Wanphai has spent over 20 years working with children and the youth in different parts of India and Nepal. The café is a part of his project “Path to Creation”.

It serves as a creative space for the youngsters of Shillong where they are free to come and jam with their musical instruments, paint, play traditional board games and talk freely about issues that matter in their day to day lives.

You & I café serves local snacks and has over 60 plus varieties of teas made from local herbs and spices. Wanphai also trains young adults, parents and organisations working with children and the youth to develop listening, observation and counseling skills. He believes that true transformation of a society is possible only through dialogue where issues are discussed openly and not swept under the rug.

Wanphai later recommended that I should pay a visit to his friend Careen who is an amazing painter and Careen took me to watch her friend Rita performing with her band in a local café. I have come to realise that it is people like the random stranger I met in the moonshine joint, Wanphai, Careen and Rita who make a place and if you care to listen everybody in India has a story to tell.

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EXPLORER

Jay

Growing up as a teenager in the 1980s was a whirlwind of experiences. We went from enjoying the radio to being glued to the black-and-white TV, and then MTV blew our minds. Before landing a job with a travel company, my trips were limited to occasional pilgrimages during school breaks. Looking back on twenty years of travel, I see how much it's changed me. It pushed me to face my fears and insecurities, making me stronger inside and out.

Unlike work trips with set plans, my travels are all about spontaneity. I love hopping on local buses, chatting with locals, and hearing their wild stories, like encountering tigers in their backyards. I don't have a favorite destination because I'm constantly amazed by the world's beauty and diversity. Sometimes I crave the peace of the Himalayas, other times it's the lively beaches of Goa. And occasionally, I need to be alone in nature. Traveling, for me, is about breaking out of my comfort zone and experiencing different ways of life. It's a journey of self-discovery as much as it is about exploring new places.

As Lisa St. Aubin de Teran put it, "Traveling is like flirting with life. It's like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go'; this is my station.

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PRODUCT MANAGER

Soma

I travelled miles, for many a year,
I spent a lot in lands afar,
I’ve gone to see the mountains,
The oceans I’ve been to view.
But I haven’t seen with these eyes
Just two steps from my home lies
On a corn of paddy grain,
A glistening drop of dew.

- Rabindranath Tagore

The lines above, written by the Nobel Laureate, deeply resonated with me when I returned home for the pandemic last year. After spending more than a decade away from my family, I could spend quality time with them.

This time back at my hometown also gave me the inspiration to explore the city that I had so long seen but not experienced. So, I put on my mask and decided to set off discovering Bhopal on foot.

In the lanes and bylanes of Bhopal, I came across interesting stories from the past and many fascinating sites. While discovering the different monuments of the city including tomb of the city’s founder, an exclusive bazaar for women, and crumbling French monuments, I also found myself fascinated by the firebrand begums who defied patriarchy and ruled Bhopal for over a century. I try to find art in my travel and capture it in my sketches and paintings for posterity. Therefore, I decided to immortalize the experience by creating these postcards.

All this while, I believed that I had seen it all, the glistening oceans of far away, palaces, and temples of distant shores. However, it made me realise that even if I have lived for decades in this place, there’s always something new to learn about it and plenty left to seek, to see, and to experience!

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TRAVEL EXPERT

Inderjeet

When I go exploring, I try to listen to the soul of the destination and feel the vibes that are emanating from that place. Some places have such powerful vibes that they tend to pull you back time and again. One such place that I have come across is Lumbini in Nepal – the birth place of Lord Buddha!

Walking barefoot in the ‘Sacred Garden’ had such a calming effect on my mind that I sat down in solitude and slipped into meditation mode just naturally. Peace and tranquillity surrounded me in a few moments…

And when I opened my eyes, I could see others too, immersing themselves in the serene and spiritual environs of this place in their own unique way. Some were chanting ‘mantras’ in soft voice, some were doing silent circumambulations around the complex, some were climbing down the steps of the sacred pond nearby sprinkling water onto themselves, some were lighting candles and incense sticks in front of a small Buddha’s statute under the sacred Bodhi Tree. People of different nationalities were sitting in peace and praying while the prayer flags blew gently in the breeze. It was a rare sight that that I can never forget!

Later I learnt that being aware of your thoughts, your feelings and your sensations without judging them is called ‘Mindfulness’ and it has roots in Buddhism! All this can bring you closer to the state of universal awareness. This tool for spiritual upliftment is now a perfect cure for modern age problems like stress and anxiety.

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TRAVEL EXPERT

Lovleen

Imagine Indian food without its iconic red chilies! The Portuguese introduced chillies to Goa, from where they spread to South India. When the army of the Maratha king Shivaji moved north to challenge the Mughal Empire during the 17th century, the chilli was also introduced to north India. According to legend, the Mughal army could only be defeated because the Marathas’ consumption of chillies turned them into particularly fiery adversaries.

At first, chillies were used to prepare pickles and chutneys, adding another layer of flavour to the pungent relishes that were immensely popular in the 16th century. Today, India is the largest producer of red dried chilli in the world and Indian food can’t be imagined without its heat.

I love to discover such small little things and stories on my travels and how cultures across the world are somehow connected; how cultures have influenced each other over centuries of history.

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