Today,
I share with you becoming one with all that is around you.
The buzzing afternoon markets,
Speeding motorbikes,
History in the food and the lost tourists making their way into this unfamiliar place.
However,
I am intrigued by the travellers,
Backpackers,
Nomads,
Whatever they call themselves,
Who do not seek anything in particular.
They do not want to try the exotic food or visit a popular place or create a checklist of plans.
They arrive there for the whole pleasure of being there.
They do not know what's next or where to go.
They slowly unwind and uncover the new unknown.
They walk about and wander aimlessly without a goal or a plan in mind.
They are curious by the question of how it's out there over what's out there.
They feel the streets with all their senses by becoming one with them.
Travel,
I find it to be surreal,
A trance state.
It's only to get lost you find miraculous things surfacing up.
Letting yourself lose is your entry card to the essence of unknown.
It's a deep meditative state that only when you let go and pause,
You see things that move you,
Change you and stay with you for the rest of your life.
To let go of your control and find the knowing in the natural unravelling of the events.
To follow your heart as it knows where you want to go the most.
Just let go,
It says.
Let's pause,
Stop the planning,
Relax your shoulders and see how this new day turns out in this new land.
Travel changes you.
It puts you out in the unknown with your bare heart.
You wrestle,
You cry,
You want to sit down and look the other way but the curious heart still brings you to the road that is less travelled.
Mind believes in habits,
Comfort,
Orientation but it's the heart that sets the floor.
It wants to get out and see what it's like to feel,
Touch,
Smell and sense the unknown.
And through this,
You develop a brand new perspective about the world around you.
As I walk along the narrow paths of South Kerala,
India,
I take these long strolls to nowhere in particular because I'm curious to know what's it like to let loose and let go of the planning.
A familiar face stops me from my meditative task and asks,
Where to?
I say,
Nowhere.
He smiles as he gets what I'm up to because he understands the richness of letting it go.
I find a narrow lane covered with lush queen moss.
It attracts me and I step inside the lane.
I see a half-finished house on the left and a few workers talking and working on this lazy afternoon in November.
There's a long stretch of brick wall running parallel to me on the right and on the left I see trees,
Big,
Small,
Huge,
Lots of them.
I hear the banging and clinking noisy affair of the building fading away in the background as I continue to walk.
I see a few buildings far away into the woods on the left,
Taking up the space that used to belong to the trees.
I keep walking and I'm intrigued by the bright green moss running everywhere,
On the path,
On the side walls,
Around the trees.
I'm a lonely walker with the creatures of the woods in this moment.
It's mid-afternoon and there's no one outside.
It's quiet,
Really,
Really quiet.
There's no human sound,
Just trees,
Birds,
Insects and the moss,
Of course.
I close my eyes and pause to pick the sounds around me.
I hear birds,
Occasional rustling of the wind.
I want to take in this moment as much as I can.
I take off my sandals to feel the moss with my bare feet.
It's cold and soft,
Like well wet,
But it gives a warm feeling,
Like the patch of my hair on the back of my neck.
I touch the walls where the moss is running into criss-cross patterns.
I sensed this mild,
A passenger,
They might have sat and giggled.
I'm becoming one with this place,
With the woods,
Moss,
Birds and the concrete underneath my feet.
My thoughts are still for a few moments.
I stay there in deep meditative state,
But soon I'm snapped out of it by a dog.
I see this dog looking at me,
Barking from a house right in front of me.
My heart starts to race now as I'm afraid of getting chased by a dog.
I start to walk faster now.
I keep walking and find a small pathway leading to a hill that opens to the market.
I walk towards it and two more tourists appear out of nowhere and join me.
I say goodbye,
My strange white ally.
I leave some of me here and take some of you with me in this moment.
Thank you for being here.
Have a nice day.
Namaste.
