It was still 4pm. The sun was shining, but in a tired and soft way, waiting like us humans, to retire for the day and get up the next morning to do it's job over again.
I got down on a deserted platform of a place I didn't know. Yes I didn't know. I avoided looking at the yellow sign boards at the start and end of every platform, which tell the location of the place.
The deal was to not know where I was.
I had boarded the train from Mumbai, choosing a train at random, bought a passenger ticket, and with my back pack, spare clothes, sleeping bag and other useful equipment I started my unknown journey.
It was a sticky journey, I had to stand most of the time near the doors, which are also near the bathrooms. Only when the train is in motion, do you get a sense of relief (in terms of breathing non-stinky air) as the open door poured in enough air for me to survive.
The country side was beautiful. The varying landscapes, the people, the rivers, the rock structures that reminded me of real world objects, the slow transition from building and bridges to huts and farms was beautiful. In some ways, it reminded me of life itself. How nothing seemed to change, but suddenly everything was different.
Once I decided that I had come far enough from the city (the reasons for which will be later mentioned) , I took a step inside to avoid seeing the station I came in and decided to get down once the train came to a halt. I didn't look around and headed straight to the exit.
Why was it so necessary to not know my destination? Because it's pretty futile for us to have a sense of location and reference. We may well be dots in front of the world but when you compare yourself to the Universe, you will know that there is no point in knowing where you are in it's reference. It will only make you feel small and make you realize that you are a very small, yet significant (I like to think so) part of it.
I had about two hours to get away as far as I could from any kind of civilization. As you can guess by now, I was going hiking to the remotest place I could find. A night alone. By myself. In solace. With nature as my company. Away from all the noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution.
I hiked for around an hour and a half, passing by many interested on lookers from the villages who were surprised to see me there. It helped that I didn't know their dialect and they didn't seem to mind as I walked away. The sun was halfway to it's journey back home, and I would soon have to find a place to settle. I decided to take a risk and walked another half hour and it turned out to be a good bet as I found a beautiful, isolated lake.
It was surrounded by trees on all sides, almost like an oasis in the middle of a desert. There were a few birds, bathing and drinking water. Birds that I had never seen.
I settled down my belongings. As the place was full of trees, I had no problem in finding dry twigs for my fire. I spread out my sleeping bag, made the fireplace ready, all in time to witness the sun going out in all its splendour, lighting up the sky in beautiful shades of orange and pink. With the sun settings, most of the birds made their way up to their nests in the neighbouring trees. The place was mostly barren with the exception of the oasis-like place that I had made my abode and I wasn't very worried about the danger of wild animals.
I finished my early dinner as the night turned black, and I light my fire and the mosquito repellent. I was on an adventure but I didn't want to kill myself. As I looked into the tepid waters of the lake, I noticed the reflection of the moon and the stars, as clear as daylight. Beautiful stars which lit up the night much more than my fire could. I extinguished my fire and the result was astonishing. With the only source of light pollution gone, I could see millions of stars inundating the skies. It seemed that they were overshadowing the moon on that night!
I cuddled into my sleeping bag, as the cold wind complemented the beautiful imagery I was witnessing. I comprehended the enormity of the Universe that we lived in and it brought into perspective a lot of things. That our problems were so small compared to the Universe. We worry about the smallest of things, which you will never remember about a year from now, forget ten years. Sometimes, in complying with the petty nature of us humans, we forget that we are not the center of the Universe. We are just one minuscule part of it and are problems are just another minuscule part of that minuscule. Taking that into perspective can solve and ease so many of our fears.
Many of the worries that we get are just like the stars in the skies. They're from the past. Long gone and dead. It's their mere aura that we feel, but it doesn't really exist. To know that many of our worries are just memories of the past, that do not really exist anymore, and that do not hold relevance anymore, lessens our burden.
Just like that day when I took this camping trip and changed my perspective, sometimes all it needs is to change one's perspective at looking at your problems. Physically changing your stance, getting up on the chair, rotating yourself 180 degrees and thinking changes stuff! I know it sounds crazy but it works!
It gave me a lot of clarity in thought, that night with the stars. I spent rest of the night counting stars, and fell asleep. I got up next morning packed my stuff and headed home. As I boarded the train back to Mumbai, I was tempted to look back and read the yellow sign board to see the name of this beautiful place ! But I reminded myself that avoiding it would mean the opportunity to explore even better places!
Sometimes the fun is in not knowing!
I got down on a deserted platform of a place I didn't know. Yes I didn't know. I avoided looking at the yellow sign boards at the start and end of every platform, which tell the location of the place.
The deal was to not know where I was.
I had boarded the train from Mumbai, choosing a train at random, bought a passenger ticket, and with my back pack, spare clothes, sleeping bag and other useful equipment I started my unknown journey.
It was a sticky journey, I had to stand most of the time near the doors, which are also near the bathrooms. Only when the train is in motion, do you get a sense of relief (in terms of breathing non-stinky air) as the open door poured in enough air for me to survive.
The country side was beautiful. The varying landscapes, the people, the rivers, the rock structures that reminded me of real world objects, the slow transition from building and bridges to huts and farms was beautiful. In some ways, it reminded me of life itself. How nothing seemed to change, but suddenly everything was different.
Once I decided that I had come far enough from the city (the reasons for which will be later mentioned) , I took a step inside to avoid seeing the station I came in and decided to get down once the train came to a halt. I didn't look around and headed straight to the exit.
Why was it so necessary to not know my destination? Because it's pretty futile for us to have a sense of location and reference. We may well be dots in front of the world but when you compare yourself to the Universe, you will know that there is no point in knowing where you are in it's reference. It will only make you feel small and make you realize that you are a very small, yet significant (I like to think so) part of it.
I had about two hours to get away as far as I could from any kind of civilization. As you can guess by now, I was going hiking to the remotest place I could find. A night alone. By myself. In solace. With nature as my company. Away from all the noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution.
I hiked for around an hour and a half, passing by many interested on lookers from the villages who were surprised to see me there. It helped that I didn't know their dialect and they didn't seem to mind as I walked away. The sun was halfway to it's journey back home, and I would soon have to find a place to settle. I decided to take a risk and walked another half hour and it turned out to be a good bet as I found a beautiful, isolated lake.
It was surrounded by trees on all sides, almost like an oasis in the middle of a desert. There were a few birds, bathing and drinking water. Birds that I had never seen.
I settled down my belongings. As the place was full of trees, I had no problem in finding dry twigs for my fire. I spread out my sleeping bag, made the fireplace ready, all in time to witness the sun going out in all its splendour, lighting up the sky in beautiful shades of orange and pink. With the sun settings, most of the birds made their way up to their nests in the neighbouring trees. The place was mostly barren with the exception of the oasis-like place that I had made my abode and I wasn't very worried about the danger of wild animals.
I finished my early dinner as the night turned black, and I light my fire and the mosquito repellent. I was on an adventure but I didn't want to kill myself. As I looked into the tepid waters of the lake, I noticed the reflection of the moon and the stars, as clear as daylight. Beautiful stars which lit up the night much more than my fire could. I extinguished my fire and the result was astonishing. With the only source of light pollution gone, I could see millions of stars inundating the skies. It seemed that they were overshadowing the moon on that night!
I cuddled into my sleeping bag, as the cold wind complemented the beautiful imagery I was witnessing. I comprehended the enormity of the Universe that we lived in and it brought into perspective a lot of things. That our problems were so small compared to the Universe. We worry about the smallest of things, which you will never remember about a year from now, forget ten years. Sometimes, in complying with the petty nature of us humans, we forget that we are not the center of the Universe. We are just one minuscule part of it and are problems are just another minuscule part of that minuscule. Taking that into perspective can solve and ease so many of our fears.
Many of the worries that we get are just like the stars in the skies. They're from the past. Long gone and dead. It's their mere aura that we feel, but it doesn't really exist. To know that many of our worries are just memories of the past, that do not really exist anymore, and that do not hold relevance anymore, lessens our burden.
Just like that day when I took this camping trip and changed my perspective, sometimes all it needs is to change one's perspective at looking at your problems. Physically changing your stance, getting up on the chair, rotating yourself 180 degrees and thinking changes stuff! I know it sounds crazy but it works!
It gave me a lot of clarity in thought, that night with the stars. I spent rest of the night counting stars, and fell asleep. I got up next morning packed my stuff and headed home. As I boarded the train back to Mumbai, I was tempted to look back and read the yellow sign board to see the name of this beautiful place ! But I reminded myself that avoiding it would mean the opportunity to explore even better places!
Sometimes the fun is in not knowing!
