MY DREAM DESTINATION – A Journey through the time
18th June, 2004. The day I left home for doing my Engineering in Nagpur. It was the happiest day of my life. I was getting the freedom I had craved for over 1/2 a decade (1/2 a Decade because most BOYS get to realize the real excitements of life at around the age of 12, and since then they crave for freedom. I was no different).
So here I am. My first dream destination outside my home, Nagpur. Days rolled into months and months into years. Every bit of it filled with fun and frolic. Study was always an exotic thing for me but Machines weren’t. I got involved in a Robotics project. We were making an AGV using sensors. God knows what we did but something figured out and our project got selected in the annual project competition held at IIT Powai. Mumbai, here I come. I had been to this city when I was very young. Wanted to visit it again and here I was. All we could manage there was a circuit failure (Burnout) and retreat without even participating in the event. But the other and better part of it was exploring the city. I always wanted to go back there and live like a Mumbaikar. I guess I had got my dream destination. But could things be so simple for me. Moving into my final year, I got a chance to be a part of the college excursion trip to Goa.
O Goa! How could I describe it? It was so very lively and enchanting. The beaches, restaurants, people, culture, all was so special and unique in its own way. How could a person not think of living here? This had to be it. The final stop of my search was here.
In pursuit of my Management studies, I had to move to Delhi, “the Capital of India”. Always wanted to see this place, a place where THE QUTAB MINAR and THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE stood. During my tenure of two years in Delhi, I visited places like Agra, J&K, Punjab and Rajasthan. India was diverse, I was now, very much sure of that. Every bit of it was encapsulating.
But, there was something missing. I wasn’t sure of what that was. This feeling never existed during my stay at Nagpur, during my visits to Goa and Mumbai. And this, this was Delhi, one of the best places to be. What was this feeling?
To clear my doubts on the subject, I revisited Mumbai and travelled to Goa. To my surprise, the charm had been lost. The charisma had faded into the time. Nothing seem to captivate my thoughts, nothing seemed enchanting. My tenure at Delhi was coming to an end. I had got a Job in Bangalore. Life was just perfect. But, somehow, I did not want to stay here anymore. I wanted to travel but did not know where. I decided to take a break before my exams began, hence I decided to go back home.
Rajahmundry, a small town in Andhra Pradesh was my hometown. As the train crossed river Godavari, a stream of energy started flowing into me. A bubble of unexplored and unexpected happiness had engulfed me. What was this? This wasn’t one of the elite beaches in Goa ; this wasn’t the Marine drive of Mumbai. Neither was this the Ganges from the Himalayas nor was this the Amrit Sarovar of Amritsar .
It was then that I realized. This destination was something more embracing, more hospitable, more close to heart. This was my Hometown from which I stayed away for years. The days have now passed and again I m in one of the biggest cities in the country, Bangalore. But now I exactly know where my Dream Destination lies. Y only mine? For all those who have been living away from home for long, given a chance, ask them where they would want to go. 90 out of 100 (I left out the 10 because there are always exceptions) would like to go home and spend their sweet own time with their family.
Life has become so fast that we seldom have time for ourselves and our families. A Dream destination is a place where you could cherish moments, where you could forget your clients and your deliverables, where you wish you could relive the carefree moments of your childhood. What better place could it be than your home?
HOME SWEET HOME!!!
