Grounded,thanks

|

When we were little,my brother and I,we went to long vacations once a year,not alone ,together with our families[my brother is actually my cousin,and his father is my father's brother].The best part about those was the journey,which more often than not used to be a train journey.We never went out of the country,there are so many lovely places in India that we were yet to tour, we chose to remain within the boundaries and since the distance wasn't that much we travelled by train.
I don't remember my first vacation,I was a toddler of 6 months that time when we went to Rishikesh.But I remember preparing MUCH for the journey than the actual vacation when I could differentiate betweeen the call of nature,hunger,irritation...to be precise when I was older than six months.I had a red backpack which used to be stuffed with candies ,packets of lays and goodies which were passed between ourselves(my brother and I) at night when the grownups had drifted off.At this age,we were too impatient to sit still and ran about the train,occasionally stopping to talk to friendly strangers.Later the backpack(still red) had more of books,a walkman,spare batteries than candies and it was great fun reading in the pleasant hum and movement of the train.In a train more time was spent on catching up with all the hum hos of how life was treating whom,taking an occasional smoke when the train stopped at a station,chatting over chai,observing the changing landscape as we entered into a different state.It reminded me of many Ruskin Bond stories and I often weaved a web of imagination with the train being my only connection with Hogwarts,far away from the craziness of life and homework(Hogwarts also has homework and its own craziness pah,but of a kind I wouldn't mind being a part of)

In 2007 I boarded an airplane for the first time,I was SO excited but everthing changed at take off.I didn't appreciate the sudden speed at which it began to move,the feeling of my heart trying to jump out when the plane was finally air borne.The interior made me claustrophobic,my ears were blocked and however much I tried to gulp air,it stayed that way.I couldn't MOVE,the loo was a pigeon hole,okay larger,but still small.


Moral of the story?I never want to board a flight,EVER.I'll sail,if I have to.Thanks,but fly?The bird kind of flying,yes SURe,but the people flying?Never.

What is your favourite way to travel?

17 comments:

That Girl said...

omggggggg i love boats xD

and omg i hate planes. gotta fly on FOUR in the space of a week in july D:
going from england to iceland, the iceland to an island, then island to iceland, and iceland to england D:

lovelyprism said...

LOL... I am a "white knuckle flyer" but I do fly because it is so much more convenient. My Father lives on the other side of the U.S. And how else would I get to Europe? Maybe someday I'll try a cruise ship. But I really prefer to drive if it's not too far. I can stretch out, eat junk, smoke, turn the radio up really loud. YEAH! :-)

Anonymous said...

hey this reminds me of my childhood.. we stayed far away from our hometown and every summer, we would take a train and come down to our hometown.. it was so much fun spending like 2-3 days in a train :) I would keep buy books on every station and finish them and then buy more.. I miss train journeys a lot :(

Anonymous said...

keep buying*

Miss_Nobody said...

Rhian:I love boats too!Whoa,sounds like a LONG trip
lovelyprism:Long drives rule!!
evanescent thoughts:Sigh,I love trains

ZB said...

i too dont like flying, but forced to quite often. i love train journeys, the cacophony, the chai waalas and the passing scenery.

But sailing is worse. sea sickness can really get you and usually sailing takes much longer time.

BTW thanks for dropping by. TC:)))

Miss_Nobody said...

I really haven't sailed long distance,but yea I guess you could get quesy.Trains are amazing!!!And np!

Jo said...

Omigosh, I completely agree with you about the flying thing. Flying is horrible. I love, love, love travelling by train.

I would love to visit India sometime. I looks like a wonderful, colorful, exciting country. I love Indian food, music, culture -- everything.

(But, I won't fly there... *heh*)

Anonymous said...

I love trains, they take longer but they are definately more comfortable and fun, you can move around, talk to people. I remember train trips as a kid, very like yours, trips from Brisbane to Cairns on a train called the Sunlander. Not a big fan of flying either, to scary and to uncomfortable.
Like Jo, I would love to visit India one day, it sounds such a fascinating place.
Enjoying catching up on your blog.

CAC muffin said...

oh you make me laugh. I've been on a train but i would imagine it takes long by train than air and i would get bored fast. I love flying. I would rather love than drive any day! :)

Deb said...

You never want to fly again? How will you absorb the different cultures and beautiful places in this world? Reconsider, please. You are missig so much!

Anonymous said...

helloo..disappeared from blogging world? watched HP6?

Aparajita said...

Well, I haven't travelled on an aeroplane or on a ship, so I can't really judge, can I? But I love travelling in the AC 3 tier compartments on long journeys, because I love the middle berth, and when you're in an AC compartment, the Railways provide you with clean blankets, pillows and white bedsheets, so you can really curl up, although I can never sleep in the constant movement. I don't like travelling by car, though. My legs get all stiff, although I enjoy the wind blowing in my face (I always sit by the window).
By the way, your writing has got a lot better from when I last visited your blog. Congratulations.
And I really hope you will resume visiting and commenting on the ABC club blog, as well as update your blog soon!

Punvati said...

On the back of a bike, going on an impromptu roadtrip with no schedule or deadline in sight :D *Bliss*

Anonymous said...

So where are you? I have been missing your posts.

Anonymous said...

Your pics are gone.. something to do with bandwidth I guess.. BTW I have a beautiful blogger award for you at my site :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just nominated you for an award, hope you get this, missing your great blog. Do you have a new one, somewhere?