Last week in Mussoorie
Hello! By the time this reaches you, I’d already be back in Pune.
It felt like it would be so difficult to write this newsletter, I almost didn’t. But then I thought I should write about exactly that. So I wrote this before I left Mussoorie. Here it goes:
Finding home in the unknown
25/11/2020
I’m sitting in a cafe at the edge of the Doon valley in Landour. Surely all the people around me are tourists. It is easy to spot the tourists, at least the ones who travel to check off options from a travel to-do list. On the other hand, I have been here for about a month and already seen much of what there is to see. I am leaving tomorrow.
I don’t know if this letter adds any material value to you, the reader. But it is for me a documentation of what I am feeling right now as I prepare myself mentally to get back to a metropolitan city.
As long as I remember, I have found it difficult calling any place “home”. I consciously use house, flat, apartment or any other synonym but home every time I write or even talk to anyone in a casual conversation. It’s a mental block that I find hard to let go of.
For some time now, I have dreamt of having a place of my own that I could call home. I dream that I travel extensively, collect stories (live them too) and come back home to write about them. Paradox being that the only time I feel at home is when I am away from the place I live in - when I am travelling.
In last Sunday’s newsletter I wrote -
I am but a mere traveller here, like the clouds who stroll through the streets and leave eventually. But something makes me feel at home here even despite the great difference between this town and the metro cities I’ve lived in all my life.
For a month I was away from what was happening in the world. I realise now, that I really did not miss much. There’s still enough cruelty and terrible events across the planet. There are still those in power who take advantage of those helpless.
I still tell people to look for the good, look for love, look for kindness - and more than anything, be a personification of good, of love, of kindness. If you are looking for hate, you’ll find a lot of it. If you just start looking for love & kindness, you’ll be overwhelmed how much of it exists just around you.
Maybe it is easier to do that up here in the mountains. The people here taught me that life really does not have to be as complicated as we all say it is.
It is tempting to want to stay back. Life is simple up here, and so are the people. But I have to leave nevertheless. I have made up my mind that I will come back.
Waking up to buildings outside the window just does not compare to waking up to this view outside my window here.
I’m sure there’ll be a time in the future when I look back on these mountains and feel a longing. I ate and shared food with the locals, spent hours talking about their innocent ambitions & their life up there, ran through their little village, shopped from local groceries, got a haircut at a local barbershop, met a few great fellow travellers & got to know their stories. Although it was just a month, for this month I truly lived in the mountains. For some time, they were my home.
Here are some great pictures & videos from my stay there for you to check them out in full screen. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out. They are absolutely beautiful.
Snippets from my personal journal:
With all honesty, I’m scared to go back. More than the fear of leaving from here, I fear that I don’t have anything to go back to. Fancy jobs, work, money, none of it has ever been a motivator for me. Being a recluse most of my life, I am invested in a handful number of people and I hardly spend time with them too.
One thing I am looking forward to though is this newsletter serving its actual purpose. Writing travel stories and sending these digital postcards was precisely why I started them. Maybe it can add some value to everyone who chooses to read.
Gratitude:
Ankit is the person who manages the cafe at the place I lived in. A 20 year old, he is really fascinated in making websites, blogs (all of which he learnt by himself watching videos online) and he even had a YouTube channel with a 1000 subscribers! Yet, the lack of resources makes him stay put at this cafe. I spent most of my time talking here with him about getting out of here, traveling, learning new skills, finding jobs in other cities. He has what it takes to make it big.
I never have been very close to my own younger brother. In Ankit, I see a young brother. I am grateful I could meet him. I am hopeful for his future.
More often than not, I like being behind the camera and capture the moments. And I try to do just that. Here are some of the people I came across in my month in Mussoorie. I am grateful to all of them for choosing to spend their time with me.
What/who are you grateful for? I would love to hear.
I’m sure they would love to hear too. Let them know below!
Now that I’m back in Pune, I’ll now be back to writing about the books I read, the learnings, my fitness routines, vegan recipes and of course, travel stories.
In the meantime, if you find value in these newsletters, do share them with your friends or over social media! I’d be very grateful :)
Talk to you next Sunday! Take care.