Walking, ideally, is a state in which the mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them.
— Rebecca Solnit, writer
The morning walk has always been my constant and this is how I try to centre myself. I used to make calls or listen to music, occasionally a podcast but eventually, I learnt to be more mindful while walking, being aware of my surrounding. Mindful Walking is a form of meditation. As you start walking, focus on every step that you take and align it if possible with the breath - honestly that’s a challenge for me. But my senses come alive - seeing, listening, smelling, and touching, and being aware of every moment. In fact, one of the grounding exercises that I learnt in therapy was to “see” three different objects when walking, “listen” to three sounds, experience three types of “smell” and “touch” three objects and feel them in my palm. But ever since the pandemic, the routine has been disrupted and I am trying to slowly restart my mindful walking experiences.
And on the mindful note, hello and welcome to this issue of Journeys and Jottings. A list of my favourite travel writers and books, travel news, a workshop on travel writing, an amazing art exhibition by a beautiful artist friend, Kirthi Shetty and we have the award-winning Eesha Singh and Harshavardhan Tanwar who manage No Footprints and curate fascinating and niche tours in Mumbai and Delhi in People Make Places.
Journeying through books
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” …St Augustine
I was quite a bookworm as a child, devouring pages and losing myself in not just stories but in places as well. Every book took me to a world that I had not heard about and I found myself wandering in the mystical landscapes and mysterious stories. Be it fairy tales of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or the Lilliputs and Giants of Gulliver’s Travels or Johanna Spyri’s Heidi or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island or Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, every book took me into a magical realm. Every page was a journey by itself. Travelling took me into many different worlds and it became a way of life for me. In fact during the lockdown, these were the books that made me travel virtually.
I started reading “travel” books much later in my life but most classics and fiction were set in cities and very often the place became one of the characters in the book. Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities for instance which was set amidst the French Revolution in the cities of Paris and London. And much later, I fell in love with Australia, especially Alice Springs through the books of Nevil Shute, an author my father introduced me to. However, there are a few authors of mine who are travel writers and I wanted to share some of my favourites here.
1.Mark Twain - I started reading Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and later the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but it was much later that I read his travel books, my favourite being The Innocents Abroad. In his characteristic humourous style, Twain chronicles his “Great Pleasure Excursion”. This is not a work of fiction as Twain along with a few passengers are on board the vessel Quaker City and he humorously narrates his experience, while sharing stories of his co passengers.
2.Alexander Frater - One of the most fascinating books, Chasing the Monsoon is more than just rains. For the author, it is almost like a “modern pilgrimage.” Frater himself was born during the monsoons on the island, Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. When he was a boy, his gardener thought he was the reincarnation of the Rain God - perhaps that’s where the fascination for rains began for him.
3.Bill Bryson - Almost all of Bill Bryson’s books are brilliant and every aspiring travel reader should read them. My favourites have been Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, The Lost Continent among many others.
4.Pico Iyer - It was his Beginner’s Guide to Japan that fascinated me. Since then I have read quite a few of his books. However The Art of Stillness is one of my favourites and as someone who follows (tries to) mindfulness, this book is an absolute treasure
5.Ruskin Bond - Every book, short story, essay, and article by Ruskin Bond is a sheer delight and will take you into the world of snow-clad mountains of the Himalayas. I can’t just pick one book and I always pick up a book of his for inspiration.
Travel Writing - A Masterclass
“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Philip Pullman.
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.
Snapshots of Innocence - An art exhibition
My dear friend, Kirthi Shetty, who is a brilliant contemporary artist is exhibiting “Snapshots of Innocence" along with Rad Art Media to support the endeavor of Cuddles Foundation, an NGO with a vision to give every child fighting cancer a chance to survive it by providing food and nutrition.
"I believe in going with the flow; of seeing the unseen and touching the untouched." I don’t go in search of ideas but in forage of experiences. Art is as natural to me as breathing. It is the avenue that keeps me buoyant. And through my art, I envisage keeping my experiences ebullient,” says Kirthi.
This exhibit showcases Kirthi's melange of mixed media paintings that display women empowerment, child-like innocence, and thought-provoking themes. Proceeds from this show go towards the support of kids at Cuddles Foundation suffering from cancer. The show will be live from Nov 1 to Nov 14 2021 and can be viewed here
https://www.radartmedia.com/snapshots-of-innocence
With over two decades of experience in the social sector and rife in the field of counseling; she has collected memoirs that translate into her art collections. Be it child education or women empowerment, through life and art, she has found her purpose in giving voices to the unvoiced.
Travel News and Views
US lifts restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers from November 8th
Indians vaccinated with Covaxin will be allowed to enter UK from Nov 22 without quarantine
Quarantine for business travellers in Japan reduced to 3 days
Direct flights between Delhi-Sydney to start from November 15
IRCTC announces Shri Ramayana Yatra trains this November and December
People Make Places
We meet the award winning , multifaceted, dynamic duo, Harshvardhan Tanvar and Eesha Singh who are the force behind No Footprints . Congratulations are in order as they have just won the WTM Global Responsible Tourism Award for Inclusion and Diversity in tourism. As Harshvardhan said , “For us inclusivity is at the forefront of everything we do and making the communities the primary stakeholders. “ Indeed people make places.
No Footprints and Mumbai Dreams were born in 2013-14 and they were eventually merged. While Harsh focussed on cultural and historic tours and experiences as part of No Footprints, it was Eesha’s brainchild to create Mumbai Dreams, inspired by Bollywood but to make it more creative and historical.
Coming from different cities, academic and professional backgrounds, it was travel and creative endeavors that brought them together . While Harsh was into advertising Eesha was into marketing and consulting besides focussing on creative pursuits. However, travel was always an integral part of their lives They realized that mainstream tourism did not even include walking tours in India and there was an opportunity out there.
We had a quick chat over the Deepavali weekend as they traced the journey and inspiration behind No Footprints and their own stories.
1.How did the story of No Footprints begin ?
We wanted to creatively and culturally engage the travellers with our trails, workshops and we wanted people to take back something with them. Travellers need to have a wholesome , insightful and a fun experience while learning something new. There has to be something more meaningful. And as we were toying with the idea of what we can do that is different but immersive , we had a challenge.
How do we engage with clients, especially foreign tourists who are doing a tour in the city ? They saw Mumbai as a transit and not as a tourist destination and we had to change the narrative somehow.
We were incredibly passionate about Mumbai as a city and we wanted to creatively represent the city we love and that is how Mumbai Dreams was conceptualised by Eesha. It was inspired by Bollywood but it was also part of the pop culture.
We always take our own city for granted and we discovered that Mumbai was home to different communities who have been living here from the 1st-17th century and its their unique customs and cultures that were getting lost in constant urbanisation. We wanted to create conversations on communities and make them the primary stakeholders. We wanted to unearth their stories and listen to their voices. And thats how it all began !
2. Mumbai by Dawn - From one guest to a flagship tour. Tell us the story.
Our journey started with a tour that we conceptualised called Mumbai by Dawn. The idea was to wake up people at 5 am and see the city also waking up. Many tourists associate Mumbai with trade and commerce and we wanted to show another side of the industrial city.
And we took people to Sassoon Docks and show them the life of the communities - the Kolis, one of the oldest fishing communities and the original inhabitants of the city. We wanted to showcase the work that goes beyond the fishing industry, talk about sustainable fishing, create converations on how community based businesses, age old practises were dying, the concept of artisanal fishing and how that is ending with corporates getting into fishing. The conversation would deep dive into not just understanding the business of fishing but culturally connecting with the fishing community and how urban infrastructure projects were not inclusive for them and they were being marginalised. It was very important to tell that story.
We also included more experiences like seeing a newspaper distribution at work , explore mill culture, migration patterns and many more. We were very convinced that the tour would work but when we started pitching people thought we had gone cuckoo. Who would want to wake their guests at 5 am especially those on vacation ? We finally got one guest and we said that you could pay if you liked the tour . It was an experiment, but it paid off. Before the pandemic, we would do eight to ten tours every day .It became our flagship tour.
3.You have always said that people make places. And they tell the best stories. Please share a few with us
There are so many fascinating stories here - There is a Japanese temple, Chinese temple, Parsi shrines and even a miracle well. Every community is so rich with stories and we can unearth so many . For instance , in Worli village, the Kolis have a tradition where they perform a Kaul Lavani Puja to get permission from the Goddess, especially related to fishing. She would answer through a process where silver pellets were kept adjacent to each other. If the silver pellet fell to the left, then the answer is a NO. Any questions , be it marital or children or business related are asked to the goddess . Even today faith moves boats if not mountains in Mumbai.
Another historic story is from Mazgaon and it is believed that the mangoes grown here were a delicacy and were the Mughal Emperor' Shah Jahan’s favourites as well. The poem Lalla Rookh talks about how these tasty mangoes have travelled far and wide, including to the Mughal courts.
One more interesting story is around the docks of Mumbai. The ship, HMS Minden built by the Wadia family has an intersting connect to the Amercian National Anthem. The Star Spangled Banner was written abroad the ship by Francis Scott Key.
So many communities, so many stories, so many rituals and most of them lost and forgotten. One of them is around a unique tradition of the East India Community called Umra Cha Pani. Before a wedding, the enire village goes on a procession to the village well, singing and dancing to draw water which is then used to bathe the couple on the day of their wedding. The tradition started when marriage houses needed water and even today it continues and the bride and groom thank every household after the wedding is over. Simple traditions and cultures of cimmunities which gives a sense of belonging are getting lost today.
4.Tell us about some of your popular tours.
Mumbai Dreams is one of them. The culture of cinema has always been under represented. We wanted to take the idea of Bollywood but do more storytelling and experiential tours. Guests get to watch shoots, dub in their own voices and mouth famous dialogues.
We are also very proud of our queer tours - not to be confused with queer friendly groups. Inclusivity and representations of communities are at the core of all our tours. The queer community is an integral part of the city and the tour is led by the community. We want the conversation to be around transgenders,drag culture, the idea of sexuality, movements like pride. We have created workshops as well. This is our personal favourite.
The community is always at the focus of our conversations. Mumbai’s communities make the city and we are losing all the cultural ethos and uconversations. Sustainability is beyond eco tourism. It is about sustaining an artist or a folk perfomer. We do walks in Worli village, we do workshops with Warli artists. We focus on culinary, art, music, folklore and showcasing the work of communities. That is incredibly important for us - sustaining communities and their cultures. And when people appreciate their work, its a big win for them
5.People make places. Who have inspired you ?
There are so many people. Ganesh Nakhwa, a fisherman who talks about sustainable fishing and seasonal fishing. Consumers need to eat sustainably as its leading to destruction of environment. There is Kavita Koli who performs Maharashtrain folk dances and teaches kids and now our guests about these lost cultural gems. And there is Chintamani Shivdikar , a Koli singer who blends pop culture with folk music. Also Mogan Rodrigues who is working towards promoting the lugra, the East Indian Saree. And in my own life, my father who loved to explore the city and we used to go on road trips together when I was young and that is how I fell in love with the city
6/What about future plans ?
We are right now in Mumbai but we started in Delhi just before the pandemic. Delhi worked well with us, with the Afghan and Old Delhi communities. We would like to expand to more cities but we want to impact more people, especially communities , showcase cultures through exciting content.
You can contact them at e.singh@nfpexplore.com and h.tanwar@nfpexplore.com
Feedback Please
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