Opinion | Columnists
Travelling light
I'm travelling light but instead of relief, it brings nostalgia. The spice of past journeys - like so much else - has vanished, never to be captured again.
- By Cheryl Rao, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:48 May 30, 2008
It's holiday time and while some of us prepare for the invasion of the vacationers, others click for their tickets and then get down to the task of deciding what needs to be taken on the journey. Quick work, one might think, and sure, there was a time in the distant past when this was very easy for us, too - we just sat around while our parents made things ready for us!
Then, sadly, we morphed into adults and it was our turn to get out the bags, remember the toothbrushes and teddy bears, and in general, do it all!
So what's the big deal about that, one may still ask. Well, back in those prehistoric times, before cheap airfares and tickets at a click, we travelled by train, carried our own water and food for 24- to 36-hour journeys, and took along our pets and a large portion of our household. We didn't dash off for a weekend of rappelling or rafting or something that exciting. Ours were the long vacations that could get so mundane that one needed the comforts of the household to make life entertaining for ourselves. A dozen pieces of luggage for a month"s leave was normal. And no, they weren"t Louis Vuitton or Sky Bags or anything remotely resembling modern-day luggage.
Special concession
There were a couple of suitcases, yes, as a special concession to the 20th century, but the bulk of the baggage went into very weird-looking cases. There was the good old "bedding", a canvas hold-all that held sheets and pillows for the journey and could be laid on the berth and unrolled and slept upon - if one filled it only with linen for the journey.
However, that rarely happened with us. All last-minute items were dumped into the "bedding" so that what should have been a sleek roll resembled an enormous hedgehog by the time we reached the station! And no one could sleep on it. It had to be unrolled, relieved of some of its burden, and then re-rolled and shoved under the seat - all that in the less than 2 x 4 space of the train compartment!
With a small child and a large dog in tow, provision also needed to be made for safe drinking water and ample food. The "tiffin" baskets available in the market weren't up to the task, so a number of iceboxes, hot cases and similar contraptions accompanied us - and a kind of roll call needed to be taken as we moved along the railway platform, to make sure we didn't lose any and wind up with only dog chow and no water - or water and no dog chow!
Anyone who has travelled with a pet or even packed a suitcase when a pet is around will tell you that the most agreeable creatures suddenly transform into agitated pests who whine and howl and rush around because they fear that they'll be left behind.
And anyone who knows children will understand how they get all excited too, so they metamorphose into agitated pests who shout and scream and rush around as well. Amid this confusion, it is difficult for the voice of reason and reassurance to be heard, so we found it best to let both exhaust themselves into silence - but it was rare that this happened before we reached public places!
How this travelling circus finally got onto the train and then changed trains and travelled the length and breadth of the country, I will never know. But it happened every year - and we and our fellow passengers survived to tell the tale!
So, today, when I just toss a knapsack on my back and hop onto whatever means of transport available to get where I want to go - it seems tame and almost uninteresting. Just a journey. Sleep through it or tap your fingers impatiently until you reach the end of it.
I'm travelling light but instead of relief, it brings nostalgia. The spice of past journeys - like so much else - has vanished, never to be captured again.
Cheryl Rao is a journalist based in India.
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