emotional – think twice nish

Konkan is the coastal plain region between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It is home to many beautiful beaches, forts and temples. This is the first post in the series of my experience of the Kind Konkan. I hope you enjoy the read and perhaps learn something new.

I had yet again chosen to travel over something else more important. I had an extreme guilt of being selfish but I knew my decision wasn’t wrong and kind Konkan did prove me right!

As planned, we took Mangalore Express train from Thane station at 10:30pm. We were hoping to at least get on the train, but we not only got in, but we also got seats. The place wasn’t enough to get some sleep yet somehow we managed to relax and reached Kankavli station at 7:10am.

Eight of us freshened up and started walking towards the bus stop. We managed to have tea before we stepped in the bus to Ramgadh. Peeping through the window I saw the landscape of small houses and fields touching the horizon and in minutes we reached our first fort.

Ramgadh fort has the most unique Ganesh idol with a wobbly trunk and asuras at the base. There are seven tofs kept in line with a lot of grass and trees around it, obviously making a beautiful frame.

This intriguing fort kept us exploring it for more time than planned and we missed our bus to Achra from where we would head further to Sindhudurg. Soon, we hopped into a tumtum to Achra.

I and my friend sat behind and couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride. It was like living our ‘khwabon k parindey’ moment. The road had trees on either side, the clouds in the sky forming various shapes, the warm smiles of people in intervals, the leaves on the road following us for a while and the calm breeze soothing our souls.

Luckily, we managed to get this tumtum to ride directly to Sindhudurg. We kept our luggage outside and headed to our boat ride to the fort. Sindhudurg is a 16th-century architectural marvel made possible by the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The entrance to the fort is hidden like that of the other sea forts built at the time. The purpose was for the enemy to never find it. Only locals can point the correct entry, no tourist can locate it.

Yes, the fort has a beautiful structure and amazing history but my attention was totally driven to the sea. The waves kept thrashing the fort walls, the sound of which was so serene I got lost in my own world.

The mighty sea waves many time hit the fort walls so high the water fell inside. The waves managed to fall on a few of us as we walked past the entire fort wall churning excitement among all of us the entire time.

If the waves could climb the fort walls and reach us, I kept thinking of all the things even I can do and think are impossible. Like the endless efforts of the waves, even I can and I should keep giving my all for my masters and hope to achieve what I think I can.

After a thoughtful walk around this historical fort, it was time to leave. By now, the heat and hunger both were unbearable. As we returned from the fort, we had a kala-khatta gola and headed straight for lunch. The old lady serving us food reminded me of grandma so much, it made me cry within.

As usual, instead of being low about missing grandma, I acted weird and made all around me believe I was annoyed with her being so much keen on me eating. She kept looking at my plate, conversing to me about food and other things, just like grandma.

I wish I had courage enough to hug her and say thank you, you made my day. Her kindness made my soul smile and heart cry. It definitely felt like grandma had come down to say hello, please take care and eat well one last time.

We had some time before our bus to Vijaydurg and we had a walk around. I crossed the lunch place twice, thinking if I should go in and thank the old lady, but I couldn’t. I think I need to get more emotionally stronger for that.

We boarded the bus and saw one of the most beautiful sunsets. The cool breeze helped me have a nap despite the ride being extremely bumpy and scary. I think the BEST drivers should be given special rewards and recognition for their driving stints. They are really underrated F1 drivers.

It was dark when we got down near Vijaydurg fort. A visarjan was going to happen soon and a procession was approaching towards us. The dhol was so amazing, I began dancing in reflex. Not for long but we all did a little jig of our own for a few minutes. It felt odd yet refreshing to dance at a distance from a procession.

We attended the visarjan aarti and I witnessed my first ever visarjan. I don’t have feelings about what I saw, kind of blank about the whole festival itself, I have no clarity of thought on the festival as it is just my second year of actually understanding it, I’ll surely write more on it when I know and experience more about it.

Soon after that, we finished our dinner and then the moon appeared above the sea. Deep pink, calm and as if smiling and welcoming me for a conversation. I sat near the edge of the sea and saw the moon reflect over the sea.

The waves hitting the rocks at the shore felt like the moon was responding to my questions. I clicked a few pictures and hummed a few songs. I was lost in the divine beauty of this moment after that.

My mind had zero tabs open, perhaps still somewhere some music player was on in low volume but nothing more. For a few minutes it was just me and the moon, its reflection and the sound of the waves at the shore, it was a soulful conversation with the moon.

I saw the moon rise above and observed the change in its reflection pattern. After spending these moments of peace it was time to head to our rooms and have enough rest for the next day. We headed back, played cards for a while and slept.

I slept with a big smile on my face. I thanked the superpowers for a beautiful day where I saw the power of the mighty waves in the start and for the beautiful end with the moon and everything serene that occurred in between. I knew somewhere within, that this was just a start and there was more madness in store in the coming few days.

There can be many essentials to carry when traveling but the following are a pure no-no. If you ever went on a trip and didn’t enjoy, you probably need to take notes. There are my five travel essentials I tick mark surely before I leave.

1 No Guilt

There can be a whole big list of trips I have had with the guilt of missing something important. A friend’s birthday, family occasion, some interview and what not. Throughout these many guilt trips, I have had the evident company of sorrow with a toss of weird emotional state.

Back when I began trekking and having big vacations, I was in college and would only have weekends to spend time doing something else. And so there would be some family gatherings or a night out at a friend’s place or something planned for the weekend.

It was still manageable back then as I would meet these important people during the week and make up for not being there for the weekend and traveling instead. But now that all work, missing a weekend gathering gives a bigger guilt.

After ruining a few trips, I added this to my checklist before I leave. I spoke with two of closest friends and told them why traveling is important for me. They have a better backstory of my life and they got it. It gets difficult, but now they always know when I am heading out and all our night outs and meets are planned way ahead.

2 No Emotional Baggage

How are guilt and emotional baggage different? Well, here I mean, if there is something is bothering you real bad, it is sucking the life out of you, it can be anything, big or small, don’t let it be in the way of you having fun on a trip, instead use the trip as a way to let go of it and feel lighter.

I have a habit of overthinking and it sucks. I still remember years back, I had a small argument with a very close friend before I left for a trip and I didn’t enjoy the day at all. It was so bad I couldn’t stop whining about the fight to a few I was traveling with.

I realized instead of being there and enjoying with people I was with, I spread gloomy vibes. Only if I could go back and change that day, and be a better person, I would. But hey, that day gave me this pointer. If you are an emotional fool like me, make sure you don’t miss ticking this off.

3 No Responsibility

This is one a little more subjective than the ones above. I am a responsible head otherwise. I have taken charge of things, people and situations and have done well. But, when I travel, I love to be with myself.

It is purely my time, where I get all my thoughts out and just be me. Be amidst nature and feel the love around without a single thought about the real world back home.

Last week I had been to Gorakhgadh and I trekked it with an eleven-year-old girl. It was her first ever trek. I saw the entire fort through her eyes, her observations, her happiness, her care and concern for others, her idea of fun and laughter. It was beautiful.

But, the entire climb up and down with her, I was worried. For this trip, she was my kiddo, she was my responsibility. It was different and difficult. I am not good with kids in general who are big enough to speak. I get very awkward, shy, or I don’t know why very conscious. But this kiddo was different.

Among the many things I learned from her, I surely figured that I can’t travel with someone’s responsibility. It was a fun trip with her but it isn’t something I can do often. I can do such a trip once in a while but not too often.

4 No Health Issue

This is the most important one and you should definitely add this to your checklist. I have traveled with a cough cold and fever and managed. But, always listen to your body, it does tell you if you can or cannot do something.

Do not mix this with the feeling of fear. Feeling sick out of fear is normal, but if there is something severe, just don’t go. Oh, yes, I have traveled sick and that trip is one of the worst I ever had.

I just had to travel and so I head out. But that day I realized when you are sick you slow down the entire group. You aren’t able to enjoy much and you kind of spoil it for others too.

I don’t even let someone carry my bag even if it is extremely heavy and the climb extremely difficult. If I am not able to carry one bag, how would someone carry two? Don’t let your health issue or any sort of physical trouble spoil someone’s fun. Stay back home and if you head out, give it all you got.

5 No Virtual Presence

I have made it a habit for my mom now that on one-day trips I call her only once when I began my journey back home and on two-day trips, I call her twice. On bigger trips, I call her once in two days. This is because of a simple rule I follow that is to use my phone only to click pictures, take videos and call mom once.

My phone is full time on airplane mode to save battery too as I still own an old Moto phone. If you have read my previous travel posts and loved how I connect to nature and people around, add this to your checklist and make sure to do it. This will help you be more present in the place you are more than just physically.

There is not a single trip I had where I haven’t followed this rule since my first ever trek. And the results have been beautiful. If not always, try this on your next travel, do let me know how it works for you.

These are five travel essentials I check before I head out. It may or may not work for you as they are purely subjective to my travel experiences but hey, if you try any of these, or do follow any, I would love to know your story.

Tag: emotional

The Konkan Kind – I