Wanderlust (ভ্রমণের নেশা): Pilgrimage to Puttaparthy

You dress up nicely. The excitement gets to you and your family. The food is packed and the clothes are folded neatly and kept in the suitcase which is dusted and cleaned for the purpose. The windows are shut and the taxi arrives to take you all to the railway station. You go inside the train and look anxiously if the window seat is taken and jump with excitement and start to breathe in the smells of the railway station which is nostalgic and the cries of the tea vendor and the person selling snacks make you smile like an idiot even though you have had the same food each and every day in your house.

source

The train moves slowly and you are on the way to your destination.

Those were the days when I was a little girl and our family used to take time off and go to Puttaparthy which is a small town in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. We used to go during our Onam vacations so that everyone could join in.

It was truly a pilgrimage and just like people love to visit Mecca and Medina and Jerusalem and Kashi(Varanasi), we used to desire to only go to Puttaparthy where we could meet our Lord.

The Journey is what I am describing here because the topic is about wanderlust and not the destination.

We alighted from the train in Dharmavaram station and this was during the Eighties decade. It was one and a half days away from our house and by the time we got down we would be sweaty and hot because the climate is really very different there. The excitement would not have died though.

source

Outside the railway station, we would meet horse-pulled tongas which would take us to the main street. I remember being scared to get on the tonga because the horse would not keep still and we would have to get on the cart and fold our legs so that others could get in too. It was exciting and we used to giggle a lot.

After the fun ride, we got on a minivan which took us to our destination. The whole journey was so exhilarating that we never felt tired. Well, maybe the elders did but we used to enjoy each and every minute of it. I can guarantee you that it is more exciting than the fun rides in malls that you now get to see.

The smells and sights of rural India is really refreshing and you should undertake such a journey at least once in your lifetime because it will help you to understand how different a world it is outside your city where there is much of pretense only.

Needless to say, the return journey was not so exciting because we got a direct bus to Bangalore city and from traveled back to our place and routine life.

Thanks to the @bdcommunity for giving us all an opportunity to relive our memories and write down our experiences.

I hope I can get to experience a horse cart ride once more.

I do not have any personal photos to include because, at that time, we did not own a camera, and mobiles did not exist.