Hemantha Kalam - 75 'Anweshana - The Search'

                                                                                                       "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