"WE MET EACH OTHER WHILE WALKING around the Aravallis," says Preeta, a life coach and sound healer. She is talking about a group called "Let's Walk Gurgaon" that she was a part of in 2008. She would go for walks twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday mornings, and that's where she met her friend Sehba Imam. The idea of taking a train journey together without a fixed destination in mind was conceived at one of their weekly meetups.
"We are both very restless souls, and I just thought how beautiful it would be to take on an aimless train journey," says writer and educator Imam. Their nostalgic memories of childhood, coupled with their love for travel, played the catalyst for their exciting plan.
These two women, as ordinary as you and I, decided to take on an extraordinary journey of 70 hours to travel from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on a train in the spring of 2019. Covering the north and south ends of the country, they planned to go the minimal route.
"We wanted to leave all of our wants and needs at home and enjoy whatever the journey would throw at us," says Imam. Journeying across the length of the nation is no mean feat. Most of the time, as Pradhan tells me, we are so fixated on reaching our destination that we think of the journey itself as something of a hassle, a merely tolerated means to the fitting end. For many of us, the journey is a transitory inconvenience.
"Not for us," quips Imam as Pradhan adds that for them, this entire idea stemmed from the romantic notion of travelling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, so much so that both of them travelled from Delhi to Katra in Jammu to catch the Himsagar Express, which would take them to the southernmost tip of India. "There was no plan, just the solid idea of fun."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Outlook Traveller.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Outlook Traveller.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Chutneys For Every Season
GROWING UP IN JHARKHAND, I've always been enchanted by the state's culinary landscape. Here, the local cuisine never fails to surprise with its depth and variety.
BADGE OF HONOUR
IN THE DYNAMIC LANDSCAPE of tourism, where greenwashing often taints sustainability, certifications can help distinguish between genuine efforts and marketing gimmicks. Green certification systems encourage businesses to enhance their environmental credentials.
WHEELS OF TIME
IN 1947, TRAINS CARRYING REFUGEES ACROSS THE BORDER WERE SYMBOLIC OF THE TUMULT OF THE PARTITION.
RAILS OF THE Raj
FROM ITS CONCEPTION TO ITS ROLE IN THE NATION'S HISTORY, THE BRITISH INDIAN RAILWAYS IS A PHENOMENON MARKED AS MUCH BY MARVEL AS AVARICE
THE RHYTHM OF BOLLYWOOD
FROM THE RAILROAD THRILLER MISS FRONTIER MAIL 1936) TO SHAH RUKH KHAN DANCING ON A TRAIN IN DIL SE' 1998), TRAINS HAVE GIVEN UNFORGETTABLE SONG SEQUENCES TO MANY HINDI FILMS
MEMORY'S OASIS
REMEMBRANCES OF GROWING UP IN SEALDAH RAILWAY OFFICERS COLONY IN KOLKATA
A FAREWELL × TO FLAVOURS
FROM CUTLETS AND RAILWAY MUTTON CURRY IN DINING CARS TO THE UNREMARKABLE FARE AVAILABLE TODAY, THE JOURNEY OF FOOD ON THE INDIAN RAILWAY IS FASCINATING
HERITAGE ON THE TRACKS
THE ICONIC DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY, FONDLY CALLED THE TOY TRAIN,' HAS HELD ITS UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE STATUS SINCE 1999
HIDDEN LIVES
SPANNING 65,000 KILOMETRES THROUGH DENSELY POPULATED INDIA, THE RAILWAYS ARE A BACKDROP TO COUNTLESS STORIES. 'THE UNRESERVED' BY FILMMAKER SAMARTH MAHAJAN CAPTURES A FEW
JOURNEYS WITHIN AND WITHOUT
FOR IMTIAZ ALI, TRAIN JOURNEYS ARE TRANSFORMATIVE, OFFERING GLIMPSES OF INDIA'S DIVERSE SOCIETY AND ITS MANY CULTURES AND RELIGIONS
