We Travel

“ We travel, initially to lose ourselves,

 And we travel next to find ourselves..

And we travel in essence, to become young fools again- 

to slow time down and get taken in and fall in love once more”

I read the above lines in some TOI Sunday edition long time back and it has stayed with me since then. Now when I have made the longest trek of my life this thought came back to me once again.  Yes I have come this far to lose myself. Literally yes, I keep losing track of the way and then with all the resourcefulness I can muster I find my way back. This analogy works pretty much with everything.  With people who initially look, speak differently than you, you shake off the unfamiliarity with a tender smile and work a conversation ahead. You lose yourself momentarily only to find your way back home.

Yes I travelled so far to become a young fool again! Had grown old (grey haired) working in the IT sector. I am pretty sure it will be difficult to unlearn things and learn new things.  I am not sure how easy it would be to become a fool again! ‘To slow time down..’ the ultimate elixir. For all the milestones and ‘to do’ things on our list, wish we had just some more time.  When I look into my parents eye why do I see a glance that almost wishes for time to slow down, or is it just me seeing the reflection of my heart’s desire to hold on to things I love.  Being so far away does make things move slowly.  When you sit all alone time does seem to go slow. Ironic how you get what you desire but not really as you would expect it to come along.

To get taken in and fall in love just once more..

Perhaps this is the most philosophical part. We walk gingerly along the shore afraid of the waters. They may take you in and throw you on unknown shores. Leave you all bruised, leave you all hurt. When you leave the familiar shores and step in, you are not always sure of what to expect and the only thing that can keep you afloat is if you can truly love the waters as much as you loved the shore.  And for all you may know, for all the time you were tip-toing along the shore your plank of ‘Bodhi tree’ was adrift in the waters (The 'Bodhi-tree' here has a contextual reference!)