The feeling of wanting to get away (‘run away’ are the words if I may use) surfaced not once, not twice but many a times ! Having moved cities within Maharasthra had left me wanting more than just a change of place. This might sound like a story of the cliches, but when you have that urge within to get away, just stop thinking and listen to that desperate urge within because something great always awaits. Not recommending this to people who have kid’s PTA to attend or the parent needs medical assistance! I am talking to people who mostly are residents of Singleville or fortunate enough to have a partner equally passionate about travelling. Sorry to rule out a certain section of the society but I do not want to receive hate emails from the family.

Movies are inspirational and the characters give you a feeling that you can do it too, but trust me there is lots more that goes in when taking that step ! These same movies will you show you a classic Indian melodramatic mother.

It has taken involvement of family members, endless conviction and months of answering a question ‘we have a home already, why do you need to go away?’ I still have not been able to wrap my head around this question. I am not sure how is having a home supposed to stop anyone from exploring. Like I said, its takes lots to convince an Indian melodramatic mother, and I am slowly getting there !

PADHARO MHARE DESH

When thinking about making that first solo trip within India, it would be rare for someone to pick Jaisalmer as the destination but somehow I did. If you ask me what was I thinking when I took that decision, it was just a random advertisement of ‘Jaisalmer Desert Festival’ that made me opt for it. Rajasthan has always held a special place and having been to Jaisalmer as a child and not remembering anything about the city from that trip, I thought it was a good idea.

Was it? Oh, absolutely yes ! I had booked myself into a hostel, Zostel is all I knew of back then so I just blindly booked it without checking with anyone. The address mentioned that it is inside the Fort but I was not sure if I was understanding it correctly when I read that. Turns out, the hostel is actually inside the Fort premises, also many other hostels/hotels, restaurants and markets. It is insane, it is actually a city within a Fort. It is said that roughly 4,000 people live inside the Jaisalmer Fort.

After checking in, I started exploring the city on foot. No, I did not walk till the sand dunes, that really would have been too much to get out of me (on the first trip yet). However, I surely walked to all the famous tourist spots, the famous eateries, the local market outside of the Fort, etc.

While I was getting comfortable walking around, something that I was yet to get comfortable with was the ‘people’. The introvert side of me is mostly very content not interacting with other people. I saw other people interacting and mixing in already, and there I was sitting in a corner, still trying to figure out how do I initiate a conversation with someone. On the first day, I almost spent the entire day by myself, it was only around dinner time when I had my first interaction with another follow traveller. Clearly, he was the one who just casually dropped a hi which lead to a conversation and soon we were joined by other people. I could not believe I was already a part of a group at a hostel and I was so excited about that ! That very person who reached out to me eventually played an important role in my travel journey and you shall find out later the how part of it. We turned into a bunch of people who became inseparable for those couple of days, we almost attended all the events of the Jaisalmer Desert Festival together and it was so much fun ! We had bhaang from the famous local store there, ate delicious kachoris, attended the musical night played by the ever famous Salim Suleiman of Bollywood, went to the sand dunes together, skipped the shitty dinner package of the desert trip and enjoyed stargazing lying on the sand. The child within me was jumping with joy on experiencing all of this. I was introduced to another whole world of travelling and I was awestruck. I was on my own for the first time, I was making plans, I was making friends, I was exploring a city, I was doing all of this by MYSELF ! What a liberating feeling it was and I knew then there was no looking back.

BACK TO THE REALITY

My trip to Jaisalmer was a short one, I was back to the harsh reality in just a few days. I have always loathed the city I got back to but this time around coming back to the city meant returning to the chaos, not referring to the external one. That is inevitable ! The chaos within was back too. I am sure everyone who returns from a trip question themselves, why the hell did we get back? Well, the only difference was that I questioned, why can’t I just leave and set out on my own?

The constant self-nagging made me consider many options, even moving abroad. I did try that out, whole heartedly, but maybe moving to Spain is not something I was destined for. I tried one way after another, but it seemed like every path I was taking was hitting a dead end in some way. The failed attempts for months left me frustrated and heart broken. At that moment, it was the only chance I had to set out on my own, carve a life of my own (At least that’s what I thought).

I guess the Universe had other plans (better, if I may say).

HEY WAIT!

WHAT JUST HAPPENED ?

The frustration made me want to pack my bags and leave on a trip (Classic!) The first place that came to my mind, or rather was on my mind for a very long time was Ladakh. Let’s rewind a little and get back to that friend I made at Jaisalmer hostel who was going to appear again in the story. This is where he reenters the scene. Having expressed to him umpteen number of times my desire to go to Ladakh, he recommended a hostel about which he had heard good reviews from other people. I did not even look it up online, no Googling involved, the desperation directly made me call the person who owns and runs the hostel and expressed my wish to travel. Having complained to him of a very short window as it wouldn’t have been possible for me to get enough leaves (Corporate slave you see), he suggested to me to carry my work along and not worry about taking leaves. That just changed the narrative ! Hostel, booked. Flight ticket, booked. Parents, convinced. I was going to Ladakh, Woosah Hostel here I come.

JHULEY

The moment I stepped foot out of the airplane is when I knew I was at a place where I had to be. I was happy as a child. The place, the people, the hostel all just felt like a conspiracy of the Universe, what was this beautiful piece of heaven where I had landed. It just felt like the introvert within me decided to take some rest. I was talking to people, I was making friends, people were reaching out to talk to me, I was travelling around with my fellow hostel mates. I was starting to feel like a character who had a major personality altering life event, wherein I started to feel I was in a parallel universe. That happiness was short lived as in 3 weeks I had to get back home, I almost wept while checking out from the hostel and I was so upset all throughout the travel back home. It felt like I was leaving from a place with which my story was unfinished. I landed, got into Uber and first thing I called up Sahil from Woosah Hostel to inform him I will be returning within the next 10 days.

Tickets booked again!