India is a vast country that is so diverse, that within 100 kms in a state you would find a new culture, language and religion. India is mostly about colours, cultures, sweets, religions, beautiful landscape and much more. I have been travelling in India for the past 7 years. In 2012, being a 19-year-old, I went on my first summer expedition to Mumbai on a local train and was engulfed with the diversity that existed in that compartment. And soon as I started travelling alone, I discovered myself in my own country. I was filled with warmth and love, gratitude and celebration wherever I would arrive. This became an addiction soon, and sooner I would skip my university to get lost in this vast country.
Way to Leh
But then two years back I visitedAuroville almost unexpectedly for an internship, and decided to stay back. In 2019 summer, almost after a year and half in Auroville, I wanted to step out again and venture into the wild. This time I was not travelling alone but with Manolo(a Dutch resident of Auroville and my boyfriend). After6 months of being together I shared my adventures with him and no wonder he craved to jump in. 2019 summer was a very special one, once again I wanted to travel back to the mountains. I started with Manali, and from here on we decided to travel on a motorbike trip(very inspired by a Hollywood movie “The Motorcycle Diaries”) to Jespa and then to Zingzingbar.For the first two nights we were supposed to stay in Manali and hire a bike for further journey.I soon realized that, with the influx of tourism, Manali 2019 cannot be differentiated from a local market in Delhi. I remember travelling to Manali when I was 15 and now,being 26 within a span of 11 years the drastic change that has taken place, seemed like a nightmare. Every inch of the place has been polluted with plastic waste and hundreds and hundreds of cars lined up in traffic. I had travelled all this way up with a very passionate and deep hope of breathing cool fresh air of the mountain but unfortunately our fate had something else instore for us. Doomed in dismay, but still with a lot of hope we wanted to continue our journey. But as soon as I sat on the bike, I could feel myself getting lost among the thousands travelling up the Rohtang pass.
Zingzingbar
The white snow over the mountains, were covered with a black veil of tar. As we still kept moving forward, I understood that the situation would only get worse and decided to prepare myself for all the guilt and frustration. No doubt that I was contributing enough to the pollution caused by the many cars and vehicles driving up. At one point we decided to rest at a local café thinking we would be able to enjoy a local cuisine. But my desire to do so was questioned by consumerism and commercialism. The whole café was full of packets and packets of Maggi and tons of candies wrapped in plastic inside dozens ofglass jars. I was so depressed by this time that I could feel my adventure collapsing. But it was not just about pollution anymore, it was about humanity as well. My whole body was shivering at this point, the country has been blinded with commercialism, has been blinded with religions, has been blinded to divide and rule. But we didn’t give up, we kept going until we reached Jespa and then drove the next day to Zingzingbar.
Writer : Pujasree Burman
Photo Courtesy : Pujasree Burman
