They say “When something good happens, travel to celebrate; if something bad happens, travel to forget it; if nothing happens, travel to make something happen!”
Travelling to places and exploring them has always been close to my heart. I am fortunate enough to have a partner in my husband who thinks likewise and is a perfect travel companion. It’s not just the travelling part that is fun, but also the entire process of planning that makes it a wholesome affair.
We start with deciding upon a destination of course! As we all know, we have certain advantages like LTC that we can usepartly or entirely for our journey. Moreover, if you are planning a trip abroad, you can always fly out from another part of the country by partially utilizing your LTC. There are permissions to be taken for the same and visa procedures too. That calls for planning well before three months!
One of my favourite elements of a trip is planning itself! It gives me a chance to spend quality time with my husband in organizing something what we both love to do! The choice of place depends on our mood, the place we are currently at, the duration of our leave, the current weather, our budget and at times, some new food we would like to try out! We plan well in advance, especially when it’s a trip abroad. We both do differ in our opinions as my husband is the planner and I am more of the impromptu kinds. It’s important to find a balance and make a plan you both agree upon. When you are traveling abroad, especially with your kids, I would recommend a good amount of planning just so that they are comfortable. Backpacking might just get slightly difficult for kids unless they are tough enough to enjoy that.
Travelling has opened my eyes to a life that is much beyond what we have. When you meet new people, see new places and know different cultures, you horizons expand to an extent of knowing so much more about life itself. It has opened my eyes to facets of life that I never knew even existed. We were travelling to the river island Majuli in Assam once and we met a 70 year old Swedish man there. He had a house in Coimbatore and was a part of an Ashram there. He would travel during his stay in India, besides conducting meditation classes in the Ashram and would go back to Sweden during the Indian summers. He had been doing that for the last couple of years. While we explored the island in our car, he was happy with his bike (bicycle). The island had minimal facilities but he adapted like a pro! For the uninitiated, Majuli is the world’s biggest (now arguably, due to erosion) river island. It is formed by the river Brahmaputra in the south, joined by the Subhansiri river in the north. We reached Majuli by a ferry from Neemati ghat near Jorhat city and the ferry ride turned out to be one of the most exciting parts of our trip. Ferry services are the only mode of transport that connects Majuli to the mainland. It operates six times to and fro in a day and one has to queue up if you want to cross over along with your car. We opted for the 9 am ferry and after an eventful boarding, when a car almost fell into the water, we were good to go. The ferry ride was an eye opener as we could feel the vastness of the water body around us. The Brahmaputra looked so majestic that one has to be there to believe it! Also it was the first time for our car, and we were thrilled to bits! Our car has travelled the lengths and breadths of the country apart from a road trip to Nepal. More about those road trips some other time!
Majuli has been the cultural capital of the Assamese civilization since the 16th century. As per records, Srimanta Sankardeva, a social reformer, who was the pioneer of the medieval age neo-Vaishnavite movement had established monasteries and hermitages known as Satra on this island. The Satras are basically institutional centres that maintain a prayer house, a school for the devotees and are repositories of religious and cultural relics and artifacts. These Satras are famous for Borgeet, Sattriya Nritya, Sashi Puthi, Mask Making, Thio Naam, GopiNritya to name a few. They also organize cultural and traditional events like Bhaona, Deul Utsav, Janmastami and Rasa Lila. Do visit the Satras like Dakhinpat, Garamurh, Auniati, Kamalabari, Begenaati, Shamuguri as each one has vivid grandeur and culture. It was enlightening to speak with the various Satradhikaris (the heads of each Satra) who told us briefly about their beliefs and practices. We were there during our Holiweekend and the celebrations we witnessed blew our minds away. One thing that struck me personally was their cultured life. The people in Majuli have the beauty of valuing even random conversations and holding them in a direction where you end up learning something. Every person we spoke to during our stay there had something positive to offer. The richand profound culture is inherent in them in the way they conduct themselves in every walk of life. I spoke to two little boys who were all of six and they shared some anecdotes of Majuli. Their polished Assamese put a shame to my remixed version of the language. Their understanding and awareness of the culture made me feel that these are the people who should be interacting with the world outside on our behalf and representing us. It is common to see people in Indian cities (where civilization has apparently dawned upon) littering the streets or scribbling on historical monuments. But in Majuli, every person loves and takes care of their land and more importantly respect their own heritage.
We stayed in a beautiful organic resort called Dekachang. It was beautifully located next to the river and had a breathtaking view of the sunset. The rooms were clean and quirky (the owner has a fabulous sense of creativity) and the staff was friendly. The food was delicious and suitable for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. While you are there, do try local dishes like purang apin(rice wrapped in special leaves), apong (rice beer), and other pork, fish and chicken dishes. In fact for one of the meals, the caretaker of the homestay (nicknamed ‘Election’ as he was born during the local elections) took us to his village and treated us to some lovely Mising food, that comprised of red rice, dal with local herbs, pork with black daal, fish chutney, sesame chutney and fish tenga with locally found green leaves. Aside from the Misings, Majuli has a mix of tribal and non tribal communities like Deories, Sonowals, Koch , Kalitas, Ahoms, etc. to name a few.
Besides fishing, paddy farming, dairying, pottery and boat-making, handloom is a major occupation in Majuli and exquisite and intricate weaving is popular among the locals albeit on a non commercial scale. But you would still get to buy in the small shops that they have around the market areas. I saw some beautiful cotton and muga silk mekhela chadars in a couple of stores around the humble market areas. But they had limited stocked probably just meant just for the local population.
A lot of efforts are being planned to protect the island from erosion. Local environmental activist Padma Shri Jadav Payenghas planted a forest known as Molai forest to combat erosion on this island. The Union government of India, the water resource department and the Brahmaputra Board are trying to save the island without much success. A four-lane highway protected by concrete mat along the southern boundary of Majuli and excavation of river bed of the Brahmaputra River has been planned to manage the already deteriorating situation. Whether the local people are ready for this change is a debatable issue. We spoke to a few local people regarding this and their views were conflicting. Whether they want connectivity and help at the cost of compromising their sanctity is something they still question about! Let’s hope man triumphs over nature this time at this juncture and Majuli continues to prosper in its own glory for years to come.
