Page 24 - Seniorstoday July 2024 Issue
P. 24

plane; anything that would lead to injury,         celebrations.
         landing me in bed preventing me from                Another exciting travel adventure is
         doing all the things on my list.                   to travel the world picking a theme. For
           I decided to focus on the two things I           example, for the longest time I have been
         love most- reading and travel. Now I read          thinking of traveling to places that make
         a lot of history, art and design, food, serial     Ikat fabric. I can follow a trail starting
         killers, philosophy, psychology, political         in the south of India to Odisha to Laos,
         thrillers, but have always stayed clear            Indonesia up to Japan and Uzbekistan.
         of science fiction and fantasy. (I don’t           I can take a deep dive into the history
         know why since I loved reading Lord of             of Ikat in each region, understanding
         The Rings). Diving into science fiction            its origins, evolution, and cultural
         and fantasy can offer some fascinating             significance, connecting with artisans
         and mind-expanding experiences. They               by reaching out to local cooperatives,
         are full of fresh paradigm shifting ideas          museums, and individual artisans and
         - that take us out of habitual patterns of         participating in workshops or watch
         thought and transplant us in fantastic and         demonstrations to see the dyeing and
         unimagined worlds. And what stories one            weaving process in action.
         can weave to tell the grandchildren…                 Keeping a journal or blog about my
                                                            experiences, noting the architectural
                                                            details, spiritual atmosphere, and local
                                                            stories around the temples will be an
                                                            enriching experience. Capturing my ikat
                                                            journey on camera, experiences in a diary
                                                            and sharing them through social media,
                                                            blogs, or even a documentary film will
                                                            fill many an hour with joy and happy
                                                            memories.
         Durga Temple  - Varanasi
                                                             And why not solo travel to a never before
          I travel a lot and often. But even in new         place? Travelling alone makes time flow
         places there is a certain kind of sameness.        in a different way; one tends to look at
         So, to satisfy my wanderlust and desire            experiences through a creative lens. There
         for new experiences, I plan to take a leaf         is something novel that makes us look at
         out of my cousin’s book, who visited sixty         life, “with glittering eyes” and think in
         temples for his sixtieth birthday. I added         fresh ways; something that makes us feel
         to my list, visits to at least thirty temples      completely differently.
         in maybe a year, and to make it more                While eating another variety of a rare
         interesting, and deeply immersive I plan           mushroom in the ‘it’ restaurant does not
         to go to only Devi temples, learn about            constitute an adventure, I love food, both
         the unique legends, rituals, and cultural          homely and comfort foods, as well as
         significance associated with each temple.          the exotic. Maybe I can beg a chef friend
         Maybe try and time my visits to coincide           to let me be a fly on the wall (not the
         with local festivals and special events            most apt way of describing my presence
         at the temples to witness the vibrant              in this context) in her kitchen. I can


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