The Globe In My Palm

WHY DO PEOPLE TRAVEL TO INDIA? As a young Indian, I have visited quite a few parts of this country and have gathered along the way that tourists travelling to India have multiple reasons for doing so. Let me start with the obvious reason, sightseeing and relaxation. People who want to take a break from their monotonous life and crave a little vacation visit Kashmir, Shimla, Shillong and so on. The trek on snowy mountains and chai and sandwiches by the river is a gratifying experience. Adventure tourism is also prevalent in these regions. They have multiple skilled instructors and equally enthusiastic adventure-heads for sports like paragliding during the summer and skiing in the winter.  These are mountainous regions with a sight for sore eyes. When I visited Shillong, during the summer months, the weather was pleasant and made me crave for an extra ten minutes every time it was time to go into our rooms.  Near here is the world’s wettest plac...

HOW TRAVELLING EXPANDED MY HORIZON As a naïve little girl, I saw the world around me, my neighbours, my school and the local park as the world itself. I had my own little dream that surrounded that little world of mine. I hadn’t explored much until then. But things changed drastically the minute I stepped out of my comfort zone. That little protective bubble that I had, built around me, seemed to have popped when my parents decided to show me a new place every vacation. Now, I don’t think I will fit back into that bubble. Once we have outgrown our cradle, we can’t fit back in, no matter how much we try.   I have always been an outdoors girl, which has made this lockdown all the more difficult for me. I have always been the kind of person who would go all around the place for no particular reason, go to a far-away store to get an item I could have probably got at a far closer store. Just a small car ride gets me excited.    I always wonder h...