Contributed by Abhinav Ramisetty
My journey of 20+ long years of travelling and exploring India and dream of visiting every Indian state and territory. Not just travelling single, but also with the two perfect companions i.e my Mom and Dad. In a lighter manner, I joined with them or they joined me. I want to start this note with these small sayings.. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" "Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean" When considering the vastness and diversity of India Kanyakumari to Kashmir is just a general notation, but when we start exploring the country, we will come to see the real dimensions of India. "The more you See it, The more you Love it.." quote is not confined to a single state, but also to the whole Country. The basic idea, when I thought of travelling in India is just booking a bus/flight and going to a place, hotel check-in, getting around the town/city, having good food in a restaurant and coming home with some memories and photographs. Slowly or little lately, I realised that "It's not the destination, the journey is important". Few years dedication of Time, Energy and Money, could only made this possible. Not just travelled 20yrs in India, also seen the Transformation of India Travelling 1,000s of Kilometres turned to Lakhs of kilometres. From forts of Greatest Kings like Ashoka, Chatrapati Shivaji, Ahalya bai Holker, Jhansi Lakshmi Bai to remains of Bravest Freedom Fighters like Subash Chandra Bose, Sardhar Vallabhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Damodar Veer Savarkar. From Oldest Temples like Kedarnath Temple, Anantha Padmanabhan Swamy Temple to the newest Sri Puram Golden Temple, Akshardham Temple. From remotest Towns in North East like Aizawl, Kohima, Itanagar, Guwahati to the Himalayan Town Like Leh, Manali, Darjeeling, Gangtok. From Island town like Agatti, Port Blair to the Desert Town like Jaisalmer, Bhuj. National Monuments, Heritage and Cultural Sites, National Parks, Beaches, Forts, Rock Cut/Cave Temples not left a Single Place or Entity or Zone or Site. Remembering the instance of travelling to Kolkata in 2hrs by flight and 24hrs by Road and also train. Driving on NH66 West Coast in the foggy winter in Karnataka and to drive on NH 16 East Coast in humid summer in Andhra Pradesh. Cruising at top speed on Mumbai Pune expressway and to drive in 1st gear in maoist region of Sukma_Kunta road in Chattisgarh. Pleasant stays in a star hotel, Luxury Villas, Suite Rooms, Beach Resort, Cottages, Duplex Rooms and also to sleep in road side Dhabas, got to experience all dimensions of life. Temples or Monuments, Picnic or Pilgrimage, Friends or Family, Hill station or Megacity, Forests or Beaches, Winter or Summer, Rainy or Foggy, Highway or Rugged Roads.. Criss-Crossed the National Highways in the country. "Life begins at the end of the comfort Zone". Caste, Religion, Region, Ethnicity all the boundries vanishes. Like Inflation, my love for India also increasing year by year Not only just Kanyakumari_kashmir Kohima_kutch Thiruvananthapuram_Tripura Srinagar_Silchar Dwarka_Danushkodi Bhuj_badrinath Porbandar_portblair Agatti_Aizawl Touching the every possible extreme co-ordinators in the country over comming all the difficulties, health issues and budget. Not just counting years, making every year to count. Making the full use of Indian Airways, Indian Railways and Indian Highways.. Fastest of the Trains to the Biggest of the Planes, Widest of the Roads to the Longest of the Expressways.. and bearing the weather constraints like, extreme Heatwave in Deccan Plateau to the Tropical Cyclones in the Coromandel coast, Foggy cities in NorthEast to the Heavy rains in the Western Ghats Snow stroms in Himalayas to the sand stroms in Thar desert.. Whenever facing this kind of difficulties, I memorize this quote, "Different Roads Often Lead to Beautiful Destinations" From once in two, three years a trip, to twice, thrice to ten times a year, and making exponential growth in travelling more than 15 times a year A Race against time and tide Spending lakhs of rupees on increased airfares, reservation in trains filling up months before, rugged or no roads at all, hilly terrain, increasing fuel prices, inline permits to sensitive areas and insurgent areas, last minute cancellation of helicopter services, heavy rains, tropical cyclones, extreme floods, heat wave, snow stroms, making it more and more difficult to travel. On the flip side the more you see it, the more you love it, "MERA BHARAT MAHAAN" "You Don't travel in INDIA, you discover yourself!! Lastly, Looking back, Soaring Ahead.. భారతీయతను గౌరవిధాం.. భారతీయులుగా గర్విధాం.. Jai Hind जय हिन्द যায় হিন্দী জয় হিন্দ જય હિન્દ ಜೈ ಹಿಂಡ್ جاي ٔيند जय हिन्द ജയ് ഹിന്ദ് जय हिंद जय हिन्द ଯାଇ ହିନ୍ଦ ਜੈ ਹਿੰਦ जय हिनद ஜெய் ஹிந்த் జై హింద్ جائی ہند
