"Like all great travellers,
I have seen more than I remember
and
Remember more than I have seen"
---Benjamin Disraeli
Aalooru
Kona (Aalooru Valley)
Photograph
by: Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy (Selfie)
Tadipatri,
Andhra Pradesh, India - Circa 1983-84
From the way it was produced, just
after a few episodes, I knew that this is one good programme that is going to
be shelved any way. It’s called ‘Anweshan’ and was aired, on Doordarshan, in
the early 1980s. My prophecy was right onto bingo. Only a few episodes were
aired before the programme was taken off from the viewers. I tried googling for the
same now, to give a more accurate account, but could not be successful. There
doesn’t appear to be any trace of the programme at all. Maybe Doordarshan’s
archives would be able to shed some light on it.
For some reason, I always
yearned to travel the lengths and breadth of entire India on a bike and that
too on a Yezdi which was my favourite motorbike and still remains to be. I
even tied up with Ramesh Timmavajjhala from Chennai who owned a Yezdi. We would discuss routes, easier ways, costs and other logistics
etc., deep into nights, but never made it together, even once.
If you question me why I wanted
to travel, I cannot answer! It is a search, a search to find out
what? No idea, again. Now it has become an Obsessive Compulsory Disorder (OCD).
I have to travel. There were days, when I simply stopped a bus in front of my
apartment gate and travelled to and fro in the bus from end to end. No idea of
a destination or purpose. Just needed to travel.
‘Anweshan’ was sort of my aspiration, but with some changes. A girl and a guy would take off on a
motorcycle in search of India’s traditions and culture. They start visiting the
interesting and rural parts of India and their travels and travails during each
episode form part of the narration.
I could never get to own a
Yezdi bike even till date, but to some extent I could fulfill my thirst of
travelling on a motorbike. While there have been many friends and acquaintances
who helped me in these travels, I have to mention Mr. Avantsa Venkata
Balakrishna Murthy, Mr. Eeduri Jaganmohana Rao (Jagan) and Mr. Vijjapu
Chalapathy Rao (VCR) in this blog. While the first two used to point out and guide me onto lesser known and quaint places in Andhra Pradesh, it is VCR and I
who have really travelled long and deep on VCR’s motorcycles. In fact, he came
along with me soon after he got married, a fact that his wife, perhaps, would
not forgive me for, till this day.
I used to lug with me, a big bag of photographic
equipment of a couple of cameras, lenses, extenders, tripods, flash units,
batteries, chargers, bricks of films (10 rolls of film made a brick), the works.
At the end of the day, between us, I think we could really cover much of the
nooks and crannies and the lesser known places of the United Andhra Pradesh. It
was fun and soul filling. And what a partner Chalapathy Rao had been!? Even
today, if we plan a travel trip, he is on, gung ho - indefatigable travel
spirit.
Vijjapu
Chalapathy Rao and Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy,
Photograph
by: Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy (Selfie)
Pedavegi,
Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, India - Circa 1983-84
Photograph
(filmed on Kodak Eastman film) by: Vijjapu Chalapathy Rao
Sileru
Dam Area, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India - January, 1988
Hemantha crossing Varaaha River
Photograph
(filmed on Kodak Eastman film) by: Vijjapu Chalapathy Rao,
Balighattam,
Narsipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India - January, 1988
Recently I have been reading
through an interesting travel book on my Kindle.
“That I may die roaming” by
Oisin Hughes is an autobiographical travelogue diary of the writer on his
34,000 mile bike ride through the Americas, from Ireland, covering around 14 countries
beginning with Canada till Ushuaia, the southernmost part of the world in
Argentina during 2008.
A few pages into the book, I
liked the guy and his style as that is how I think I write and prefer to too -
Candid, a little raw here and there, and just simple. That I enjoyed reading
through all the 276 pages quite enthusiastically goes without saying, despite quite
a few errors that cropped up here and there. Only thing is, I needed to constantly check the
dictionary to understand the right meaning for some of the Irish he used.
Oisin says that he went on that
trip to put some adventure into his life. I fully agree with him on that. One
should be bitten by the travel bug to understand the scope for any number of
adventures the travellers hold and the travels told.
My own travel adventures and
experiences started flashing before me.
We travelled in random
But in a gay abandon
There was never boredom
Nor much need for any wisdom
We had travelled in the rain
We had travelled in fun
We had travelled in the Sun
And had turned to a burn
We travelled on mountain’s rim
Without a care for the lark
We travelled on slime
In times absolute dark
We were always brisk
Never worried about the risk
Had at all places food
That tasted so good
The nature we had seen
Seen we, an archaeological
excavation
We saw sculpture, the work of a
deftly chisel
On the walls of many a crafty temple
The road was our friend and foe
To which our safety we owe
The travels were so good with
no woe
That we are here now, all to
show
Hemantha walking the fully alluvial bund of Kolleru Lake
Photograph
by: Vijjapu Chalapathy Rao,
West
Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, India – Circa 1983-84
Not always did I travel with
known company, but those who travelled in my company later became known to me.
Most of my living time has been
spent in Bus stands, Buses, Railway Reservation Counters, Railway Platforms,
Trains, Airports, Flights, Immigration and so on.
Except in a balloon, a helicopter, a Concorde, a
submarine, a cruiser and a rocket, perhaps I have travelled in all sorts of
vehicles so far, including tanks and armoured cars.
As I languish at home now, thanks
to the COVID-19 lockdown and longing to travel, I thought I may as well ink my
reminiscences.
And from this blog onwards I
shall be attempting to bring in more of my travel experiences not necessarily
in an order, but maybe in a random manner.
Sri
Ranganatha Swamy Aalayam, Aalooru Kona
Photograph
by: Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy (Selfie)
Tadipatri,
Andhra Pradesh, India - Circa 1983-84
So, brace yourself!
Till the next, so long!
Krutagjnatalu (Telugu), Nanri
(Tamil), Dhanyavaadagalu (Kannada), Nanni (Malayalam), Dhanyavaad (Hindi),
Dhanyosmi (Sanskrit), Thanks (English), Dhonyavaad (Bangla), Dhanyabad (Oriya),
Gracias (Spanish), Grazie (Italian), Danke Schon (Deutsche), Merci (French),
Obrigado (Portuguese), Shukraan (Arabic), Shukriya (Urdu), Bohoma
Sthuthiyi (Sinhalese) Aw-koon (Khmer), Kawp Jai Lhai Lhai (Laotian), Kob
Kun Krab (Thai), Dankie (Afrikaans), Asante (Kiswahili), Maraming Salamat sa
Lahat (Pinoy-Tagalog-Filipino), Tack (Swedish), Fa'afetai
(Samoan), Terima Kasih (Bahasa Indonesian & Malay), Tenkyu (Tok Pisin of
Papua New Guinea), Malo (Tonga) and Vinaka (Fiji).
Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy
Chennai, India
