During my first ever solo long
trip, all I remember is how I was literally at the edge of my seat throughout
the journey. It was a three hour bus
ride from Tirunelveli to Madurai with an adventurous bus driver. Clearly he was aspiring to be a pilot and
assumed there was an auto pilot mode in the bus. The ride completely took away my fear of solo
travel at 17 years of age, and made me focus on keeping myself alive at the end
of it.
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| Tirunelveli to Madurai bus |
My next solo travel was no better
experience. It was an overnight train
journey from Madurai to Bangalore. I was
super excited to go to a prestigious institute for summer internship. I discovered everyone else was equally
excited too! There was a mini stampede
near the coach. My parents, brother,
uncle's family, couple of neighbours' families, family friends, my professor
who had recommended me for the internship had all turned up. I suspect everyone
was looking for an excuse to have that halwa opposite the junction in the
pretext of seeing me off. My protective uncle did a reconnaissance of the
coach; he pulled me aside and cautioned me as to who I should watch out for
(practically everyone in the compartment except the TT). That did me in; throughout the night, I was
waiting for someone to snatch my bags or me!
My first ever flight journey
happened to be as a solo traveller too, from Bangalore to Bombay. I had never seen a plane at close range,
forget flying in one. The gentleman who was seated next to me in that plane
must still be remembering that day. I was in panic most of the time - when I
could not unfasten the seat belt, when I could not put up the tea table up, when
there was minor turbulence. During the
brief periods when things were peaceful in the flight, I was fretting about the
upcoming interview. I resisted visiting
the loo, as I could not have taken the gentleman with me to help me out, in
case I got stuck inside. I literally let
my breath out only when we landed.
My solo jaunts at hotels during
my travels are another story. My first
job required extensive travel in the southern states of India. Initially I went
with my parents' suggestion to stay with relatives in the city I was visiting.
It became tedious; my hosts ranged from daughters of cousin thrice removed and
acquaintances of friends who had not met each other in a decade. I convinced my
parents to let me stay in a hotel, assuring I would choose a good, safe
one. It helped that we were eligible for
3 star hotels at that time in my company.
There was no turning back after
that. I fell in love with business related
travel and stay. What else could one ask for?
An itinerary at my disposal, a room and TV for myself, the pampering of
room service - I could go on and on.
I still remember a place I stayed
in Calicut. There was this hotel which
would qualify as a heritage hotel in this age. I was given a suite (take any
category of room that your DA allows was the office policy!) with a huge poster
bed and a lounge room big enough to hold a conference with TV and fridge. Unfortunately I did not even have any
colleagues in the city and I had come to visit a dairy unit. But that did not deter me from enjoying all
that luxury.
Another time, I was given a room
in the hotel Ivory Tower in the famous Barton Centre in Bangalore. I wish I could take that room today, ALONE, with
that breathtaking view of the city from the balcony in the 13th or so
floor.
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| View from Barton Centre (Flickr) |
I also had my share of
misadventures. At Windsor Manor in
Bangalore where the entire office team was put up after a gala event, I was
again given a large double room being the solo woman candidate in the
team. I just could not figure out how
to lock the room! It was too late in the night and I was embarrassed to call
the hotel staff. I did not want to disturb my colleagues at such late hour.
Next morning, my male colleagues were wondering why I also had blood shot eyes
(they all had raided the in-room liquor shelves!).
And the food experiences I had?! I would hunt for and savour delicacies in
cities I was visiting, find that famous hole in the wall eatery by asking
around. What a joy it was to discover the Maharaja Pessarat in Hyderabad, the
sambaram at Cochin, the missal pav at Mumbai, the gulkand at Bangalore!
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| The delicious gulkand (picture source : Wikipedia) |
And what a pleasure to
experiment, choose and order items from the room service with nobody to
question you or give a quizzical look (well the room service boys have done
that at times :>) There was this hotel in Cochin where I ordered for lemon
soda after a long hot day and was given a glass of the soda along with a jar of
thick luscious liquid. After some
sniffing and finger dipping and licking, I discovered it was sugar syrup. It sounds downright silly, but it was sinful
pleasure to have my own jar of sugar syrup at my wish which could be refilled
too! Ultimate food indulgence, isn't it?
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| The ultimate indulgence - sugar syrup |
How can I forget the shopping
experiences? My habit of picking up
souvenirs from every trip started then, just that the souvenirs mostly happened
to be for my personal use. It was
absolute delight when there was a woman colleague available to accompany me and
I discovered shopping lanes and goodies that one could never find out alone in
a new city. I must have been the only travelling executive in the company who
spent more than my allowance during the travel.
And I discovered the miracle of
the century - the credit card! No worry of losing cash and let the company
settle directly!
At least once in every trip, a
client or a family member would ask me how I could travel, and if it did not
affect my family life, etc. It was
mostly out of curiosity and concern and never with a wrong intent. I was having
so much fun with my travels that my grin would give them the answer.
As I switched job and had
children, my business travelling did stop for some time. And I was so thrilled to start it again about
9 years back, though in a different avatar.
Coming from development sector, it is now no-frills travel but equally
charming. I am privileged to collect
heart warming memories and experiences, from a very unique perspective.
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| With tribal women in Odisha |
Solo business travel still
tingles and excites me as it did when I went on my first trip! Just that it
takes more than a jar of sugar syrup to please me these days!
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