The Ancient Trails-A book by Vipin Labroo (Chapter 2)

 

Chapter 2

Friends

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Friends Joseph, Michael and Arnold were childhood friends who grew up in the same neighborhood in New York City, went to the same school, played basket ball together, dated more or less the same girls (separately, of course!), and then split up for a few years. Joseph and Michael went to different colleges and Arnold decided to become a truck driver because there was nothing he liked better than travelling.

They met up again at age twenty two in Joseph’s house reminiscing over childhood memories. The three had always been good friends ever since they got to know each other in kindergarten. Joseph and Michael were Jews while Arnold was a Catholic. Joseph’s father was a fairly successful stock broker and his mother taught at the school that the three boys went to. Both of Michael’s parents were also teachers in the same school. Arnold’s father was a clerk who worked in a store, while his mother looked after the home.

Michael and Joseph were reasonably good at studies because the parents of both the boys took an active interest in their studies Arnold’s father was a genial old man who never made any demands of his son, and his mother too focused on having a happy and pleasant home, and they pretty much left Arnold to his own devices. Consequently he took less interest in his studies and was more interested in finding out more about the world of grown-ups. His grades suffered, but he did not care much, as he had set his heart upon not going to college.

Sitting in Joseph’s old room strewn with childhood memorabilia the three friends engaged in comfortable banter over many cans of beer. The three really were inseparable, despite their having met each other only intermittently over the last four years. They had however kept in regular touch through telephone and email and knew what exactly was going on each others’ lives. The fact that they had no siblings of their own had made them even closer.

Joseph opened another can of beer and said, “Hey guys, before we get busy with our lives, marry and do the other stuff that people do let’s take a year off for ourselves. “Michael the quiet one nodded his head, “I agree, lets travel.”

Arnold raised a quizzical eyebrow at Michael, for he was not overly fond of travel unlike Arnold himself who lived to travel, “Didn’t think that would come from you. Where are we plannin’ to go?”

Joseph who as usual had everything already planned, smiled wickedly, and said, “We leave for Israel in fifteen days from now, where we do the rounds of the Jewish places of pilgrimage. Necessary because my old man always wanted me to and I don’t want to disappoint him. We spend a week there and then we are off to India.”

“India?,”asked Arnold in a surprised tone, “Is that a place to go?”

His information about India was a little fuzzy, imagining it to be some sort of an exotic country where people wore funny robes and turbans in the past and were now making a name for themselves with things like call centers and their film industry where they made some crazy song and dance movies.

Michael who was also the best informed of the lot, patiently explained, “India is home to a billion plus people, with one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has some of the most breathtaking terrain in the world that includes the world’s mightiest mountain ranges the Himalayas, some of the world’s most breathtaking deserts and beaches, as also an amazing number of still extant medieval and ancient cities littered with old monuments. I guess we could go to places like the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh, the desert state of Rajasthan, the sun and sand state Goa — — “

“Whoa, whoa, whoaboy! We get the drift”, Arnold interjected. “India is a great place to go, and can’t wait to get there.

The Ancient Trails-A book by Vipin Labroo

 

Photo by Krivec Ales: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-waking-on-hill-554609/

Chapter 1- Genesis

All major religions of the world arose in Asia. Of these there are two separate sets of kindred religions-Judaism, Christianity and Islam and Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The former believe in the doctrine of the Day of Judgment, of everlasting reward or punishment, while the latter preach the laws of karma, of reincarnation and the final salvation of all souls. It was and is still widely believed that the two doctrines are incompatible, perhaps mutually exclusive, yet more wars were fought amongst Jews, Muslims and Christians than with the followers of any other religion or set of religion.

Recently there has been much speculation in the West that Jesus Christ travelled extensively in Afghanistan, India and Nepal in his youth receiving vital spiritual education from Hindu and Buddhist seers and sages which he put to good use on his return to Israel when he began to preach his revolutionary brand of Judaism. The interest in the West may be recent but on the Indian sub continent it is widely believed that not only did Jesus visit India in his youth, but that he never died on the cross but escaped to India where he lived to a ripe old age and died. In fact there is a 2000 year old grave in the Indian union territory of Kashmir, near the capital city Srinagar, which locals will tell you is that of Jesus.

Howsoever different we all may be from each other it is often forgotten that every single one of us owes our existence to the same African mother, who lived a very long time ago. Therefore from the mists of antiquity we get the message that a lot more is similar than is different. Fact is stranger than fiction. Native American tribes it is believed migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge during the dawn of time only to be discovered as American Indians by European explorers in the fifteenth century.

Christianity struck root in India the ancient land of the Hindus through Christ’s skeptical disciple Thomas, much before the savage European tribes had even heard of Jesus. Today the world is divided by strife. People talk of the clash of civilizations. There is an environmental catastrophe staring us in the face. We the passengers of the glorious space ship- the planet earth need to get our act together. We need to stop fighting like children and grow up.

The story described in these chapters might show the reader the folly of our ways-might make him realize that we are not many civilizations, but one seamless civilization which has many facets to it, much like a multi faceted shiny crystal.

Why not travel a little less?

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Everybody and their uncle is travelling these days. People travel for work, for business, for entertainment, sports and the heck of it. While I am all for travel, if it's absolutely necessary and for broadening one's mind and horizon, is it really sensible to take off for anywhere at the drop of a hat? After all is there anything in this digitally connected world that cannot be accessed without travelling far distances? You can consume all the information you want about anything under the sun thanks to the internet without having to ease yourself out of your armchair. 

Why you can supposedly even strike multi-billion dollar deals using your laptop or even phone! Or am I missing the wood for the trees? After all the whole point of travelling is to post a picture of you sitting in the plane, eating at a fancy restaurant, attending a rock concert by ageing and washed-out rock stars, watching a football match in an exotic city, even though you have never kicked one in your life and pretending to be river rafting when you can't even swim, on your various social media channels and wait for the appreciation to stream in?

Well, all of this comes at a cost. Incessant travelling is wrecking the environment along with our health. It is putting an unbearable burden on the fragile ecosystems of most tourist destinations, whether they be in the mountains, next to the sea, near the forests or in the desert. Why subject yourself to travelling to unfamiliar places far away from home, which may be too overcrowded to enjoy and where the pressure to visit the deemed necessary attractions becomes a cause of tension? How can you ever discover a place if you go like that? Have you really discovered your home town and what it offers you? You can do so at a leisurely pace and always return to the familiar comfort of your home and be richer for it (in experience, not money!)

Every place in the world has its history, its heritage, its park, its monuments, its waterbodies, its cuisine and its cultural centres. Why not spend a lot of time there and get to know your own city or town? That does not in any way diminish you at all. William Shakespeare never left the shores of England throughout his life. Does that make his plays any less profound? He wrote about ancient Rome, Denmark and distant lands, moving the readers with the sheer beauty of his words. Today, his writings are taught in universities around the world and nobody considers him a fool because he was not widely travelled.

We live on a sick planet, which needs healing. Our incessant travelling is not helping things. Aeroplanes pollute massively, as do automobiles. The hotel industry devastates the environment in multiple ways. Then there is the danger to the lives of travellers-from floods, landslides, accidents, crime and so on. Why put yourself through all that? If you have to travel, let it be like it was in the old days. Visit a relative in another town and spend a few days getting to know them.

 Alternatively, you could visit your hometown, if it s not where you live, for a well-earned vacation in the company of your loved ones. Breathe in the fresh air, eat some outstanding home-cooked food and relive your childhood. Visit the hills and seaside too, if these are easily accessible from where you live. You don't have to risk life and limb travelling half a world away for a view and some nice pictures to brag about.

You can get a fantastic view from the window of your apartment every day if you have the eye to discern beauty everywhere. A man or a woman does not need too much to get inspired and feel ecstatic. Dew drops on a flower or a radiant smile on a child's face can do that for you. It is the experience of life that counts and for that, you don't need to go around the globe, just so that you can get some bragging rights.