India is a traveler’s paradise. It is rich and diverse; there is variety in climate, vegetation, terrain and much more. So, lucky was I when I embarked on a journey from north to south via land transport.
Principal part of this journey was completed in a train much to my delight. This way I caught a brief glimpse of all five well marked physical divisions of this incredible country.
Being born in a valley so beautiful, makes you feel lucky all the time. The form of nature here is supreme and superlative but the umpteen creations that lie beyond it, are just as magnificent. The more you see, the more there is to admire.
The highway that takes you out of Srinagar to Jammu is a traveler’s joy. The ride to Jammu is like a roller coaster.
The Himalayas live up to their reputation of being splendid and majestic. They stand like guards and tower above us. There are as many of the mountains as there could be; sitting together in a round table conference. There are gurgling rivers, beautiful ravines and fabulous waterfalls too.
Patnitop is the highest point in the highway. As you look down from a height you realize that you have scaled great heights and yet you have to go down again. The standard curve of life!
In Jammu you are free to go anywhere in trains which are still unknown to Kashmir. If your heart longs to see nature at its best, take a train from anywhere to anywhere in India!
As the train left the station to traverse the vast expanses of India, the curtain rose and there in front of me were all the things I could possibly have wanted to see.
The moving train traversed the picturesque, never ending fields. Lush green meadows were a perfect site and the seemingly infinite railway track added to the mystery of the land. The never ending river basins were dry. They awaited summer and water. Hutments, temples, trees and houses could be seen scattered here and there too.
The air that blew through the window chilled me to bones but refreshed my soul. It hit my cheeks and sent waves of serenity and bliss to my heart.
The plains of Punjab and Haryana are followed by the desert of Rajasthan. Mounds of barren land stretch far and wide. Desolation and parched earth was all there was to see. There was a feeling of hardship in this land and the sense of leisure that you find in Kashmir was nonexistent.
Gujarat that followed was greener. Its nearness to the sea could be felt in its vegetation. The poplars were long gone and with them went every trace of winter. Trees like palm and coconut could be spotted.
Seeing the sea for the first time was like discovering the end of the world. The magnificence of the waters, the magnitude of the waves, the power of the wind, the softness of the sand, the distant yet seeming near horizon, the blue sky and the peace!
The waves wash ashore a million times a day and they represent the transience of life. They distort all sand structures and level the land without effort. Footprints, inscribed words are washed away as if they were never there.
When sunlight falls over the rippling waters, it gets scattered to bits making it seem as if a million mirrors are afloat.
The deep blue sea hides in its bosom secrets of the land, troubles of hearts and sayings of the soul. It takes all you have to give and leaves you in peace.
My journey to Chennai, via Bangalore and Hyderabad, revealed more pearls of nature. Apart from typical vegetation with coconut and palm trees dominating, there were hills to be seen at a distance. The summits had rocks strangely carved like works of great sculptors. The stones were soft shades of brown and colossal, jetting out at odd angles to the hillocks. The livestock that I spotted in this region was also very different from north India.
The site of one sunflower is enough to make your day, to say nothing of a meadow full of these flowers. There were fields planted with cotton too. It was like seeing miniature snowballs on plants.
Next came Central India. The plateaus of Madhya Pradesh are marvelous. There are no peaks; the earth rises only to end like a table top. The terrain is uneven and the railway tracks wind and unwind in a zigzag manner unlike the plains.
Thus the train moved on to make the complete circle, to leave me back at the place where it first picked me up. Each bird that leaves its nest will one day return home.
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” John Muer
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wow! India truly is beautiful!