Projects, I want to take up

At different point of time, I have experimented a lot while traveling. Something as innocuous as spending a night at Karjat station near Bombay- sitting on a bench, just looking at human activities. And something as moderately daredevil as jumping of my raft while white water rafting in Shivpuri near Rishikesh, and let it go through many a rapids (I think, I was a pioneer of sort because after a few years I heard that it has become a sport called body surfing).

Gradually my thirst for experimentation is taking a more productive and spiritual term. I have been conjuring up ideas to be experienced, that are not just for the purpose of experience but for certain degree of theory building or analyzing established facts for a newer perspective.

I am elucidating these ideas over here and invite the readers to comment on it.(if any, well I think my blog is picking up… now I can see three or four strikes a day, majority of them by same set of persons… but then it is only a few days since I have really started updating it on regular basis). These ideas are open for adoption; I have no copyright on them… I also invite people to adopt these ideas and experience them for themselves… and if possible share the results with me.

So here we go

1. I have this urge of writing the entire history of India, dovetailed in a form of travelogue. Ideally, I will be picking up some little known spots associated with a historical period or context and adopt it as a vantage to write the history of that entire period. There are three sine-qua-non of this pursuit. First the places which I will choose should be relatively unknown or atleast off the beaten track. Thus if I am supposed to talk about the medieval period, initial phase of Mughal kingdom- for example I will like to choose a Sahsaram, as my vantage instead of more natural choices of Delhi or Agra or Panipat. Two, I will travel between these places in a chronological fashion and not geographical fashion so if in one period I have chosen a south Indian town and for the next period I have chosen a north Indian town- I will travel the whole distance- though logically speaking I should group all south Indian town together and visit them in one go. This will of course be tedious, time consuming and expensive… but I feel it will give a very logical and natural look to the entire pursuit and take me to unchartered territories and give me an opportunity to relate the history to the present. Three, I will try to cover all the parts of India- while picking up the places for the travel. I gather that this would be a long duration exercise and has to be sponsored by some organization. May be with time, I will increase my repertoire so as to realize this.

2. Swami Vivekananda once said that if anybody travels in India, it is impossible to die of hunger…in every corner of India, a person will find at least one welcoming home willing to offer you food. (Never mind the hunger deaths happening all around) I don’t know whether he actually said this or not, but I subscribe to this thought…I have seen my mother serving food to every person who came at our doors and asked for food, no one went hungry from our door steps. And to admit, we were never a very rich household. My father and mother had to really work hard to make two ends meet with dignity. His disciple Swami Akhandanand went a step further, he experimented what his Guru said. He actually traveled for months together in Uttaranchal to various pilgrimages on foot with two rules; one that he will never touch money during the entire travel and two that he will never store any food for the next meal. (In fact the RK Mission has an excellent book on his memoirs, a wonderful read…also if going to RK Mission to purchase the books then buy the book on travels of Ramakrishna Paramhans… another excellent travel book, I bought them both from Belur Math). Now I have this hovering question in my mind….if this is possible in today's India….what if I do the same… can I still travel with dignity… can I explain my fellow Indians what I am doing….and what is the time frame…. I am willing to survive with anything, work for food but not for money. (In fact once at Alang, world's largest ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar, Gujarat… I wondered what it would be like to leave everything and work as a labourer over there… like Howard Roark, who worked as a granite miner because he could not design the popular architecture and said to himself- its better to work as a miner than as an architect without conviction). Now this is a difficult project to be taken up…because I have to go for a plethora of social compromises.

3. The third project is actually a game; in fact it can be developed into a wonderful TV show or repetitive experiential exercise. Well first of all pick a place of starting a journey, then pick up a place of destination…preferably far off…say from Delhi to Mangalore (just for an example, I have no particular liking for Delhi…though I just love Mangalore, for its casual air and wonderful people). And then start traveling from Delhi to Mangalore. The only condition is that you will not spend any money on traveling… nor you will travel ticket less, and therefore illegally. You have to travel with the help of people… hitch hike, walk, work in exchange of lift….do whatever, but spend money for traveling. The entire exercise will most definitely open a can of wonderful and bitter experiences.

This is not an exhaustive list of experiments I want to take up… I will surely be coming up with a rejoinder to this post… till then wait.