BY RUPANWITA DAS
TRAVEL EXCECUTIVE
CITI TRAVELS, KOLKATA.
KOLKATA, 14 AUGUST 2023:
My first ever travel journey started at the age of 6 months old. It was a camping trip, probably that is where I got my love of wildlife and nature. I do not remember anything about that trip, of course. As an adult , or from the time of consciousness I have traveled. Some luxury trips but mostly the places I connected with were forests and destinations close to nature.
As a Guide from Bharat Scouts and Guides , I have had the opportunity to travel to places every year till my school days. Staying in camp sides where you wake up to the elephants trying to break the fence or being deep inside the forest and setting a camp, from getting taught about constellations to find our way and getting a surprise from the universe in the form of meteor showers. I have been lucky enough to experience all of that. We used to be dense into the forest with no network or service and the energy felt is still beyond explainable.
I like luxury tours , being in villas , that is a completely different experience in itself but my soul feels at peace around the trees and the ocean. We have all read about the southernmost tip of the Indian mainland in our Geography classes in school. The facts amused the confluence between the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. I always thought I would be able to tell the difference of where one starts and the other ends. Last year I had to find it out in person.
I visited Kanyakumari with my parents , it was our second stop through the trail of the South. We stayed at the Vivekananda Kendra. Many people hear about Swami Vivekananda and already feel calm. Kanyakumari is also known for the Vivekananda Rock. Talking to people there, I understood the monument made more sense to them because of the gracious nature it had. A place in the middle of the ocean , Immaculate architecture and serene surroundings . It makes sense , when we search about going to a place for any purpose of travel, we are drawn to the scenery or how the place looks. Just hearing about the history or why it is there does not really spark that feeling.
We need that visual imagery to see okay this is how it looks. I personally on the other hand like the history and how people talk about it , to feel the essence of that destination. Yes pictures talk to me , but it’s the mental imagery for me first rather than going to google images and searching for the picture. I feel it extracts the monument and the architecture from the essence of why it was made there in the first place. Being able to feel the essence of the being who was able to give the vision to make it what it is.
Kanyakumari was a destination that was always on the bucket list. Waking up early to catch the sun rising from beyond the horizon. To catch the sun setting, sitting by the beach. Getting to experience the Devi Mandir, even seeing the rituals tells the story about the place also. The Kanya Kumar Devi is also famous for the gorgeous nose ring she wears that can truly be blinding for the naked eye. Also most importantly, talking to the local people. It, in fact, then feels like how the picture wants to be interpreted as. Some people define some places as magical. The word magical has magic in it , quite literally and figuratively as well. Those feelings are hard to explain in words , Kanyakumari is one of those pl aces for me.
I feel there are two types of people. One who is a vacationer and one who is a traveler. Both have that zeal to travel but one wants to unravel the place as their very new christmas gift. I am most definitely the second. As much as I want to just go out as a vacationer, the traveler in me is always ready to unravel.
Kanyakumari also known as The Land’s End. It may be the end of our land , India but personally I feel , it starts something and geographically may be the end but again philosophically , it is just the beginning.
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