As an Indian citizen, I have lived both in the pre-Independence as well as the post-Independence era. Post independence era has made many educated men rich, which is why nowadays we see many people visiting foreign countries and inland regions either independently or on package tours. The world has opened its doors and tourism has almost become a hobby.,
Being in central government service, we were posted to different places in India and were able to visit many tourist attractions. However, our ambition was to see the USA and the western world. The chance presented itself when my husband took up a job in Dubai.
From there, we were able to do some globetrotting. Every place I have been to is different with regard to its culture and development. Having seen a good number of countries, I have enjoyed several memorable experiences.
There are bird shows and animal shows with species unique to that region that are a delight to watch. In Bali and Hong Kong, I saw monkeys with a moustache. At Mystic in New England, I saw white beluga whales. In Miami, we saw a bird show where the parrots were trained to ride small tricycles specially made for them. Similarly, Disney World and the Epcot Centre are a treat to the traveller. Among the umpteen things these places have to offer, these impressed me the most.
I grabbed every opportunity I got to travel and saw many parts of the US, the Caribbean islands, Canada including Quebec, London, France, Kuwait, UAE, Singapore, Thailand and, in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and New Zealand. China and Japan haven’t been checked off the list though, yet.
Our travels have not been without their fair share of hilarious anecdotes. In one of our trips, a fellow white tourist wanted to know why another Indian traveller in our group had an exclamation mark on his forehead! I had to explain to him about the trinity of philosophers — Madhwacharya, Shankaracharya and Ramanujacharya — and that the person was a follower of Madhwacharya, and hence that forehead mark. But that tourist found the ‘punctuation mark’ funny.
While I considered myself well-travelled, I had missed seeing Italy. My son, settled in the US, planned a trip for me. I flew from India to Milan where I met him. We travelled further to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Amalfi, Sorrento and Naples and then to Capri island. We saw the city of canals, Venice, and Morano known for its glass. In Rome, we went on a detailed tour of the famous 2,000-year-old monument, the Colosseum, known for its advanced architecture.
Eager to explore everything on our own without the help of a guide, we joined the big queues everywhere and saw it all along with the crowd. At one point, we noticed another serpentine queue, and excited that there was something more to see, we joined the line. This was a great culmination! Alas, after going halfway, to our utter dismay, we realised it was a queue to the toilet!
Laughing at our folly and regretting the time wasted in an unknown queue, we returned to our hotel, and got ready for our journey to further destinations.