Joy of Travelling

Traveling in modern times creates opportunities galore, breaking the monotony of mundane life. ?Traveling often opens up new vistas of life, giving you the leeway to explore the serenity of flora and fauna.? Life looks enticing with the exhilarating experience in store for you as a traveler. In this networking age, travel helps build relationships with like-minded people across the globe. The celebrated prose writer of the 16th century, Francis Bacon, was profound in highlighting the far-reaching importance of traveling for All:

'For young men, travel is part of their education, while for older men, it is part of their experience.'

It was only last week that I had the chance to visit a beautiful place in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The place boasts of housing one of the seven wonders of the world that has become the epitome of the sweetest of human emotions called love, bringing to our mind the prophetic Shakespearian lines:

'Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind

And therefore, is winged Cupid painted blind.'

My visit to Agra was a memorable one for umpteen reasons. The memory of being in the company of the breathtaking beauty of the Taj lingers in the mind. I saw many important historical monuments, temples, and shoe factories.

I also had the privilege of delivering a guest talk on the theme of Employability Skills for the students of Dayal Bagh Educational Institute (DEI), a prestigious University known for imparting value-driven education and thereby preserving and promoting the mosaic culture of India. ?It was inspiring to find the students immaculately clad in white. After speaking to some of them, I learned about their daily routine. It was hard to believe that they would get up as early as 4 AM and go to the field to contribute to tilling the land and harvesting the crops. All the students are expected to involve themselves in many activities and community welfare-driven projects. They have a role in keeping their sprawling campus green and clean. All this is beautifully integrated into their curriculum.? I felt idyllically happy to find that all types of motor vehicles are kept outside the campus. The University has a huge solar plant to harness solar energy. There is greenery all around. You can notice many peacocks, rabbits, and exotic birds and animals. The tranquillity of the campus resembles the serenity found in a sanctuary.? Students feel happy being in communion with Nature and their cultural moorings. I found the Institution unique in many ways. Simple living and high thinking appear to be the guiding principles for students and teachers.

Summing up

I must admit that it was an overwhelming experience to travel to the historical city called Agra. Unlike Bangalore, I found the town sizzling with heat. The market was flooded with wide new varieties of mango, which are hard to find in the South. While on their campus, I spoke in English, but no one pointed out why I did not speak their language. It was heartening to find them not obsessed with their mother tongue like many people in the southern states. The takeaway for me is simple. Love your mother tongue by all means, but expecting that everyone living in your state must speak your mother tongue is perhaps expecting too much. Ours is not a monolingual country.

We in India live in a multilingual environment, where every Indian, on average, speaks two or more languages. This is the essence of our linguistic diversity. We need to vouchsafe the power of our multilingual culture. In other words, we can say that multilingualism is no longer an exception but a rule in India. Any linguistic fanaticism poses a threat to the country's national integrity. It is high time we understood the pernicious design of some politicians to divide the nation into two halves – the South and the North. India is a unified whole, and it must remain so. That is the beauty and essence of 'Unity in Diversity.' ??Language must improve the social cohesion of our multilingual culture. What could be a better way than traveling to understand India and its diversity?

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