Push Yourself Out Of The Envelope

Traveling is simply not about getting from one place to another. Although the literal meaning might be that. But when you set out from home hoping to discover something new its a travel that is beyond getting to some place. Of what joy is a travel if there are no experiences to be carried home.

The discoveries are not just limited to finding something that is out there. Its also about things that you discover about yourself through this process.

Yesterdays travel had both the learning's. During a visit to a lesser known village called Atikari bettu it dwelled upon me that nothing much had changed with regards to education infrastructure in this ancestral village of mine.

Parents wishing to educate their children had to get them admitted to a school in Mulki. That's a healthy 8 KM ride by cycle to and fro. I checked with dad he said it was the same for him in college days 40 years back.

What has changed in this countryside?  Roads and electricity infrastructure are better. But many have given up farming all together. Most of the earlier seen fertile lands during my childhood are gone. They are either uncultivated land with bushes and wild trees or people have built homes there.

Life's quiet a challenge for people who have opted to stay back in the countryside. Sure, most of them are quiet elderly. A few of whom who have chosen to stay back with families out there have to travel miles to factories far away everyday to earn a decent living. A city dwellers whining and crying about difficult life is miniscule compared to these peoples everyday troubles and challenges.

On my way back to Mangalore I wanted to visit a beach to end the day on a sweet note. But then I didn't want it to be a easy walk to the beach. I challenged myself to find and walk a deserted and less taken path to the Surathkal beach. I sure did that but not without pangs of sudden anxiety on a deserted stretch amidst the unknown. I know it may not sound adventurous to many. But for me it was important and  about fighting my own inner fear.

Finally when I got to the beach and walked the stretch along the shore it was a sweet feeling of exhilaration. Watching those not so calm waves of water hitting the rocks on the shore gave me sense of delight. And then I  walked towards the slightly crowded part of the beach and I was back to the civilization I live with, fellow humans!

~ VJ Says - Cheers and Peace