Journeys and Jottings

People Make Places - Issue 16

Sitting is an art. The art of resting first. It’s very important that we learn how to rest.
— "Sitting, Resting, and Not Worrying" by Master Thich Nhat Hanh

Word of the Day - Zazen . Sitting Meditation in Zen.

Zazen is more a mindful meditative practice in Zen that gives you a sense of being aware and conscious and yet sitting silently and still. The posture is important, some masters instruct you to “sit like an immovable rock” and just focusing on the breath. The meditative practice in my understanding is not about the absence of thoughts. It is actually about letting thoughts come and go, without reacting to them. “In zazen, leave your front door and your back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don't serve them tea.” says, Shunryu Suzuki. I start my day every morning, sitting and staring into nothingness, letting the thoughts flow freely, practising gratitude, and learning how to ground myself. And then I would do my breathing exercises followed by ten minutes of meditation before getting started. However if you find it difficult to meditate, as I do many days with my restless mind, all I simply do is to sit still as this article suggests. As Pico Iyer says, “ In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”

Hello and Welcome to the 16th issue of Journeys and Jottings. I am going to be sailing away on the Cordelia Cruises with Go Air from Mumbai to Goa tomorrow and hence this issue has reached you a day earlier. I will share my experiences in the next issue though.

Happy Dussehra to everyone. In this issue, we will talk about Golus and Navaratris and dolls and toys. In People Make Places we meet Loretta Nadar, travel designer and an army wife based in Benaras who manages Travel Assistance, a 35-year-old travel company that was started by her father, Ronald Benjamin Nadar. And I have a workshop announcement on travel writing, top three recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to, while we end the issue with travel news and more.

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Happy Dussehra

The divine court of Goddess Durga is recreated in most households of South India in the form of Golu or Kolu as it is called for nine days during Navaratri and Dussehra. The slaying of Mahishasura by Durga is celebrated over nine days. While Dussehra also represents the victory of good over evil (Vijayadasami), it also refers to the slaying of demons residing inside us, in the form of negative emotions and energies.

While most of India celebrates the Durga Puja, Dussehra in different ways, women in South India celebrate Navratri Golu or Kolu or Gombe Habba or Bomma Koluvu mainly in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

The word Kolu ( I call it Golu as Ka and Ga are phonetically the same in Tamil) comes from the word, “Kolu Veetriruthal” meaning the divine court at home, including the presence of Gods and Goddesses, saints and seers, kings and queens and ordinary mortals. Dolls or Bommai are arranged in steps (usually odd numbers) and they are artistic creations of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and their stories.

The steps represent the spiritual progression of humans and hence, in the last step, you can see a display of snippets from human life - be it a marriage procession or a concert or a vignette of village life or representation of potters and weavers, merchants and traders. The Kalasam is kept in the centre denoting devotion as we move upwards from the basic activities of human life towards spirituality. And the Gods and Goddesses adorn the highest steps, depicting legends and myths as well.

To me, it is more of a connection with my childhood where I got mesmerized by Hindu mythology and legends. I grew up creating parks and zoos with my cousins while the elders arranged the dolls and I heard so many stories - hence the fondness for this festival. I used to celebrate Navratri Golu every year and colourful clay and wooden figurines of Gods and Goddesses jostle for space with mortals as Ram and Krishna are displayed along with cobblers and snake charmers.

I am missing Golu this year . All the more I am missing chatting with my mother, discussing dolls, what to buy this year, walking around Mylapore in Madras, her gift every year, planning the themes, buying the gifts for guests, the varieties of “sundal” to prepare, the blouse pieces, the little things like zoos and temples we used to create in childhood .. so many stories, so many memories ..

My mother has gifted so many old and new - from Dasavatharam set to the Kondapalli Rama and Sita, to Krishna with Gopikas and the radiant Sharada Ambal from Sringeri. There are also the popular Thanjavur dolls made of clay and the Marapachi dolls, made with wood which are very significant. My collection included dolls from Varanasi and Kolkata as well.

However, I am not keeping golu or visiting any homes this year but I am celebrating the spirit of the festival silently through these memories. You can however see my old posts on the Golu .

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Workshop alert

"As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing."

- Jonathan Raban

In the last several years, I have been asked several questions on how to be a travel writer, what are the opportunities out there, how does one begin and whether it will pay . So this master course on travel writing answers some of these questions and more.

• What is Travel Writing - Types of travel writing

• Ten Travel Writing Tips - The Three I's of Travel Writing

• How do I become a travel writer? What are the opportunities out there?

• How do I find travel stories? All about Pitching and getting published

• Does travel writing pay?

• Difference between travel writing and travel blogging

• Tips from travel writers, editors, authors and bloggers.

Date November 13, 6 pm Price - Rs 799/- Duration - 90 mins

Register here https://lakshmisharath.graphy.com/sessions/travel-writing---a-masterclass/c56c7571-0e68-40df-83af-fe101ae038c8

And in case you register and are unable to attend the event, a link will always be sent to you as well. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

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Top Three Recommendations

To Read

My Life in Full - Work, Family, Our Future by Indra Nooyi. I have just started reading it and I am in awe and inspired as well. But am also feeling nostalgic as she speaks about her upbringing in my hometown, Madras aka Chennai.

To Watch

The Squid Game - on Netflix and it’s my first Korean drama. I read a fascinating snippet on twitter about how the creator Hwang Dong -hyuk wrote the show in 2009 but it was rejected by everyone and he had to even sell his laptop at one time.

To Listen

The Musafir Stories on your Podcast App and I was featured on the podcast speaking about my favourite road trip in Tamil Nadu along the coast to explore Coromandel Colonies. It features a traveller every episode and so far there have been 114 episodes.

Hosted by Saif Omar and Faiza Khan, The Musafir Stories is an audio podcast discovering the melting pot of diverse heritage, culture, places and people that is India. From picturesque snow-covered mountains to endless deserts, from tropical rain forests to beautiful beaches - the Musafir Stories explores India through the eyes of travellers, one place at a time.

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Travel News and Views

• India to open doors for international travellers from Oct 15 as it allows charter flights.

• Australia will remain closed to international tourists until 2022

• Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi reopens its gates for devotees from October 7th

• Pune airport closed for two weeks from October 16

• Arunachal Pradesh reopens for tourists.

• All travelers arriving in Uttarakhand are required to register themselves on the Smart City web portal.

• Sikkim says no to plastic water bottles

• Three Indian Villages Nominated For The UNWTO Best Village Tourism Tag

• If you are flying on Etihad Airlines between October 1 2021 and March 31 2022, you can get free entry to Dubai Expo 2022.

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  People Make Places

I met Loretta Nadar through WICCI Rural Tourism Council as we are both National Members and I was completely fascinated by her story. As she said “ I am born in family of travellers and tourism is a part of my life. I had travelled to almost half of India by the time i was 18. “ The mother of two beautiful children, one of them is a daughter adopted from Nagaland, an army wife, Loretta manages her father’s travel company, Travel Assistance which is over 35 years old. But what really fascinated me was her bond to Varanasi ,” Call it Kashi, Benaras, Varanasi, it is my home and the city is an integral part of not just my travels but my life too.” It’s a city that has my heart too and it beckons me all the time.

Loretta was born in Maharashtra, while her roots are in Tamil Nadu, but she has lived over three decades in Varanasi, the eternal city. She studied in IITM in Gwalior and Delhi and returned to Varanasi to work with her father. “Travel and tourism was very different then and we focussed on inbound tours. We created itineraries based on unique experiences, local and cultural immersions. “Loretta is also a social worker and she has her own NGO and she also promotes local arts and crafts, handlooms, weaves through her initiative, “Made in Benaras.” We had a little chat as she talks about her travels, her love for Benaras and her upcoming tours.

1.So how did it all begin?

I belong to the legendary city of Benaras and everything begins right there. Ancient culture and heritage, the rich traditions, the river, the people, the food - this is the real India, the heart of India. I can spend hours on the ghats just looking at the daily rituals, losing myself in the spectacle of life and death.

I am an amalgamation of travel and tourism experiences right from childhood. Being born in a family of travellers, it is not just business. It’s about creating fascinating experiences. I went on to study travel and tourism too and led many tours then. Back then, there were hardly any women in the tourism business, and travelling taught me so many things, made me evolve as a person.

2.People Make Places - Who is your inspiration ?

My father is my strength, my inspiration, my mentor. He gave me the freedom to experiment, to explore, I have been organising tours, creating itineraries, exploring the nooks and corners of India, focussing on offbeat and real India. We were one of the pioneers to create wellness tours, women-centric tours, we even created exclusive tours back then for the LGBT community and we do even now. Every time I create an itinerary, I put myself in the shoes of the client and I learnt that from my father. He is a veteran, having been in this industry focussing on inbound travel for over four decades and even today he guides and supports me and gives me the courage to try new things. The standards set by him are very high and it has helped me follow the path.

3.What are your favourite destinations ?

The Ghats of Benaras are my all-time favourites. I literally grew up here. I can sit for hours especially in the early morning, watching the sunrise, or I come here in the night to feel the calm of the river. I watch the daily rituals every day - the yoga, the meditation and the holy dip, the ripples on the river, the boats floating around, the chants, the temple bells - everything is a divine experience. I keep falling in love with the city, again and again, every day.

Another experience is over 15 years old. I remember leading a tour to the deserts of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. We went on a camel ride for over an hour and then we returned to our camp. i slept there out in the open, looking at the stars - the night sky sparkling away.

Another breathtaking experience is the Everest flight - a one-hour long flight from Kathmandu where you come face to face with the mighty invisible Mt Everest, especially from the cockpit and you feel all overwhelmed. It’s just a humbling experience.

4.What are some of the upcoming tours that you have launched ?

As a travel company, we are based in Varanasi but we have branches across in Agra, Khajuraho, Gwalior, Kolkata and even Nepal. We also focus on the Buddhist circuit. I have tried to focus on real-life experiences and cultural immersions rather than just commercial tours. We have tours that promote back to basic like experiencing classical music concerts on a river cruise.

Two tours coming up - the first one is focussed on wellness and it combines yoga, meditation, astrology, and Ayurveda. We also customise this exclusively for LGBT and women travellers.

And then there is the world-famous festival of Dev Deepavali which happens only in Varanasi. The ghats are lit, the city sparkles in a new light, decked by the locals . We have a special boat cruise with classical musicians and traditional food and travellers can see the magnificent spectacle from the river. The dates are November 17-19.

Contact Details

I am just an email away. We also customise tours for everyone. You can reach me at loretta.nadar@travelassistanceindia.com.

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Feedback Please

I do hope that you enjoyed reading this issue. Looking forward to your feedback as always. We are going to keep the flow of conversations going and I would really appreciate it if you will share my newsletter with your friends and family.

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