Before I go ahead with the post, I would solemnly agree that I don't swim in money like Scrooge McDuck does. I am not a poor person's daughter/sister, but being a student, I'm perpetually WBPL.. yes, Way Below Poverty Line.
But that does not restrict me from making plans with my friends. Plans for 2-3 day trips or even a random 1 day visit to a nearby landmark. The thing is, in my small way, I try to make the best of places and time available to me. If my parents permit, the budget is higher.. if they don't, the luxuries need to be laid off.
Somehow, all I have learned is that, The less money I spend, the more fun I have!
Ironic, isn't it?
Don't get me wrong.. I love it when I have luxurious vacations with my parents. Traveling in big cars, beach-facing suites, no shopping budget what-so-ever, everything pre-planned and all you need to do is: 'stick to the plan'!
But there is just so much of 'paneer makkhanwala + naan' that you can eat!!
In the last 3 years, I have immensely experimented with cuisine and people. Hence, a little more enlightened Shatabdi confesses that she has had a VERY good time!
Done a lot of crazy things.. But I am enlisting My most favorite 11.
*!* Ordering food at a road-side dhaba by saying "Jo hai, le aao" (Bring whatever is available). Eating 1 plate of everything among 5 people and paying 200 bucks.
*!* Changing in a disgusting loo where normal people would never even set a foot. And then after wards describing the feces to gross people out :P
*!* Getting out of home without knowing the means of travel. Break-journeying in auto 5 times! and later laughing about the fucked up backside.
*!* Celebrating a birthday party at an unknown person's rooftop.
*!* Drinking 4 kinds of unidentified (non-alcoholic :P) liquids just for experimentation. Further, mixing those drinks to make a Grey liquid and drinking that. All of this in a ultra-posh mumbai cafe. Yes, the kinds where film stars walk in :P
*!* Commuting for 23 minutes with 8 people in a 3 seater auto-rickshaw.
*!* Sleeping with 7 people (non-sexually) on 2 mattresses in a friend's friend's friend's boyfriend's house :D
*!* Playing a beach ball game with absolute strangers and terribly losing it :P
*!* Living for 3 days in a room with moss green dripping walls, 1 bulb and Giant insects. AC didn't work and fan showered dust. Thank-god it was in a hill-station!
*!* Traveling in a public bus that was literally about to fall apart.
*!* Getting lost and then mugged and finally, spending the night at Lonavala Bus depot!
Been there, done that! :D
All I am trying to say is that, to get to know a place one has to wander the streets. I lived in a fantastic city like Hyderabad for 2 odd years and did everything that was there to do. Next, I intend to check out some foreign country where language and cash isn't the barrier. OR even a trip just-by-myself sounds fun, but I am not sure if I am mature enough to handle that.
Also, I do not click pictures. Other people do and I choose and collect them. That way, I can absorb a lot more than worrying about "the perfect angle." No offense to the photographer-types, but well, that is just not something for me.
The intention of this post is not to brag about the unusual things that I have done. It was in fact to try and break the stereotype that 'fancier trips are more fun trips'. Call me crazy, but if I take a mountain-top trek, I drink the naturally precipitated water! That is something that makes me feel real close to mother nature.
I would really love it if my partner chooses to go to a national park for our honeymoon. Because all said and done, the best way of doing it, is the way nomads did it :P :P
So, what was your most memorable trip?
P.S. I do not want to encourage kids to run away from home, just to try and have some fun. My parents always knew where I was and how to reach me. Keeping a toe beyond the line once in a while is okay, but we must always be responsible.
13 comments:
Why does this post remind me of a movie YOU love to hate..ZNMD...What's the difference between ZNMD and this post? :)
Fourth last paragraph was mean. Though you know big a photo-lover I am but don't be mean. :P At some point they do destroy the fun of going out though .. cos all everyone wants is a "Facebook DP" :P
Coming to the 11 thangs. Describing feces? :| And oh we celebrated a celebrity's birthday like losers once. :P and temme temme what you mixed. I mixed coke and Mirinda once. *pukes at the thought of it*
And others were phun! I don't want to try travelling in a public transport that way though :P
Were all these pointers your experiences during one single trip? If so, looks like one heck of a trip.
Any trip with friends however shoddily planned is way more exciting than a trip with the parents even if it is to the same place.
I too have stopped carrying the camera around to absorb the essence of the place and these photography maniacs have started getting on my nerves with their 'angles' and 'lighting' and what not. Sheesh.
Eating at dhabba is great fun. I honestly believe food quality, taste wise, is much better at road side dhabbas as compared to hefty pricey restaurants. And that goes for Tea too.
Some of things you mentioned are not very uncommon in India, like traveling with 8 people in a 3 seater. For Students who come under WBPL, its a common feature. Changing in a disgusting loo..and living within moss green dripping walls...not many would do that. You seem to adjust well to unwelcome circumstances :P
Anurag:
Well, things are just as you take them. The differences in my opinion are:
1. I do not say "live now or never" and ask everyone to run away to another country and pretend to be superheroes. I was trying 2 promote spontaneity, not spain :-/
2. The fun things I did weren't planned.
3. There are no irrelevant songs, sex, alcohol or pre-marital affairs involved in my stories :P
4. Everyone lives life in their way and I do not believe in preaching.
You missed out the most imp line of the post. "somehow the less I spend, the more fun I have" :)
Crystal:
I wasnt being mean re. Whenever my brother comes to India, he carries his slr EVERYWHERE and clicks a picture of EVERYTHING. Its such as piss-off I tell you!
And yea, group pictures and fb dp pictures at trips are the worst! People I know dont even have a stop button. There have been times when after 5 pictures, I ended up playing with local kids or sat staring at some tree when my friends clicked away.
and yea, we mixed mocktails re. like I said, "unidentified drinks" :P and btw, sprite and coke is like the baap of cold drinks :D I do not know the proportions though!
Atrocious:
Nope re. It was along the span for 3 years, 5 locations and very different set of people each time :)
and seriously! thank-you for actually saying what was in my mind. I dont mind them clicking 100 pictures. But 1000 pics/day and carrying 3 mem cards and all is atrocious! :D
and yea, I do not know how I missed out on you, but you are blogrolled now bud! :)
Kunal:
Tapri ki chai yaaaarrr!! and no, people from mumbai, how-much-ever broke they are, they cant travel more than 3 people in a 3 seater auto. So, even the thought of that made my head go dizzy.
and btw, I didnt choose to do things that way. I didnt have any other choice. so well..
:)
I absolutely completely agree with you...and your statement isn't ironic at all :)
I have also done and more of all this and have never regretted it, it all added to the fun and the memories become so much more richer and fuller!
Siddhartha:
Yes. Obviously. You are old enough to take a trip whenever you want nah :D
But anyway, i wanna know the extent of craziness of the stuff that u have done :D I did not mention the stuff I did under the influence of alcohol coz that would be enough to make a whole post altogether :P
and yea, both ur awesome blogs are blogrolled btw. :)
cheers!
Almost all of my trips end up like this. When we were going to Haridwar, my friends insisted on taking the AC bus. Thankfully, it had been cancelled (I hate the thought of AC buses and trains) so we had to take the normal, loud, bumpy and overcrowded bus instead. Trust me, there is no better way to travel to Haridwar than that. We've made plans at the spur of the moment, like going to Una (a small town in Himachal) for a friend's sister's wedding, showing up at the ISBT at night, taking the last bus and reaching Una at the wee hours of the morning. This was in December, so it was freezing in HP that time, and we were all shivering by the time we got off the bus. As luck would have it, our bus was rammed by a truck en route, so the window had been shattered as well.
My first trip to Mumbai started out differently, when everything was planned and organised by others. There came a point, however, where I got too bugged about spending so much time in AC cars and restaurants that all look the same, that I ditched my friends and (almost) ran away, to explore Mumbai on my own. I got lost in Navi Mumbai, and in Bandra. I stayed alone with the ocean for a long time, and it was the best evening in the entire trip - and I didn't have to spend anything, apart from the train fare.
You don't need money to enjoy life. All you need is the desire to have fun :)
Cheers,
Arnab Majumdar on SribbleFest.com
That was one awesome post!
Quite the backpacker nomad you are!
Sound like my perfect travel partner! :D
Where the heck are you?
Arnab: WOW!
Mumbai is one city one mustnt spend in restaurants. That certainly is 1 aspect of our life, but there is so much more 2 explore.
Fun only u sound. Blogrolled u :)
Prism:
I sometimes wonder if we have actually met man! 3 hours on a jam packed sunday is so not done! we NEED 2 take a trip 2gether!
2012. ok? before the earth swallows us whole ofcourse :P
Crystal:
aree, jhol only life is mine. Back i came but.
:)
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