Vacations at my native place - 1

Vacations are such a great time to indulge in simple pleasures of life.  During our school or college routine days,  we kind of leave everything aside in the pursuit of catching up with the various pressures  of academics and related activities.

We had shifted to Mumbai very early due to dad's job. I was 3 months old at that time. My mom and dad have worked very hard to make the ends meet. They have tried their level best to give us the best days  of our lives and happy memories. You are already reading about it, right?

After a gruelling session at school, we used to visit our native place during vacations. My Native place  - Bhuj Kutch.

The journey to Bhuj and the excitement attached to it is something which I will never forget. We used to reach Bombay Central station by taxi.  Why taxi?  Because we had a lot of luggage with us, carrying small tit bits for everyone in the family. Then we used to rush into the junction to catch our train  - the Kutch Express. Looking out for our compartments, checking our names on the list, getting in and finding the correct seat and most importantly to check whether we had atleast one window seat. All of these were an exuberant  experience. With great anticipation, we used to see all the stations pass by. Our patience would reach it's limits by the time Borivali and Virar stations crossed by. You are wondering why? Because then we would be allowed to open our food packs and enjoy the delicious snacks packed by our mom. Imagine having our favourite snacks and watching the beautiful sites from the  train's window.

As quoted by someone, 'It's the journey, and not the destination, that's important'.The wind blowing on my face and the different smells from outside the train would fill up our minds. We would look out of the window, engrossed in taking each and every site of the cities, a small peek in their way of life and natural scenery that passed by. The most fun part was to buy a variety of snacks sold at different stations. Being a hardcore foodie, my dad had a lot of knowledge about the various foodstuffs available at different stations. We simply adore him for that. Chiku and vadapav at Palghar, Bhel, Chana jor garam and masala chana sold by the hawkers inside the moving train, Salted peanuts at Bharuch, chivda and bhakarwadi at Vadodara, Amul's flavoured milk at Anand and finally Vadilal icecream at Ahemdabad (that too at midnight). Whoa!!!! It's not that we had everything at all times, but a thing or two would do wonders on our pallets. After such  a  tantalising snack treat, our humble dinner, packed from home, would be awaiting our justice to it. Well, a dinner is a must to have a good night's sleep. So dinner had to be justified. Settling down to sleep with the wind blowing in my face was amazing. Sometimes I would read a book with a torch on and sometimes I would just gaze out of the window drinking the night scene of small towns and villages passing by. The lights in homes and on roads and streets would look like a sheet of stars spread out on the ground. Finally, very slowly my eyes would close and I would drift to a deep sleep. Sometimes it's the journey that teaches us a lot about our destination. It also instills in us certain attributes of having patience, tolerance, sympathy, empathy, sharing and having respect for others opinions.

We would wake up in the morning to find ourselves entering Kutch. A bridge called Surajbaari pul @ Samakhyali junction. I would be mesmerised by the wide expanse of the creek of Kutch, the salt pans, the tall electric towers and the dry barren land beyond. The change in the terrain would be the first hit in our minds. In our books, we had read that Kutch was a desert. So we would try to find sandy soil,  cactus shrubs and long stretches  of barren landscapes. 

 In the present times, I wonder, how did we travel all the way to Bhuj in a second class compartment? In those  days, either due to excitement or ignorance, we didn't used to feel hot or cold as per the season nor were we so aware of our wind blown hair and the worn out look it gave us . Also we were ready to brush our teeth in the dirty basins of the train and get ready to get down at our destination.  But then,getting out of the monotonous routine and enriching ourselves with the knowledge of the world around us was the priority. This curiosity in us has lead to many insights and experiences, which today, I'm able to share with you. Moving ahead, we used to listen to the hawkers shouting and selling 'Gubit'. It was a typical Kutchi sweet made from sugar and ginger powder. Though we didn't like it's taste, our parents did try to get us to taste it every time we visited Kutch. Well, this was the time to show patience and tolerance.

Thank God for changing those days.  Now  I can't imagine myself having a journey without a flight. Taking the flight in the most decent dress and a neat hairdo, and arriving at your destination looking just the same, is what is the most desired situation now.

In those days, we had to disembark the train at Gandhidham station and take either a  meter gauge train or a state transport bus to bhuj. For a very few years, we enjoyed both the ways of travelling.  But then we opted for hiring a private taxi to bhuj.

Both the sets of our grandparents stayed in Bhuj. So our days of stay were divided.

Look out for another write up. Till then bye.