like a river
a solo travel story, less to care, language tips, real life vs theory, the many many things to read, and pictures from Malaysia
Dear Reader,
Thank you for being here.
My sincere apologies — I was about to send this newsletter yesterday, that is on Sunday. But I had to rush to Delhi to meet a family friend. Here we are now.
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Today I want to start with an excerpt from my travel memoir, Journeys Beyond and Within… that came out a couple of months ago, as you all know. It’s from one of my favorite stories in the book, and also of one of my favorite adventures, when nothing went as planned yet it was all so delightful.
Please note: The cover photo is from the same adventure.
***
Seven white couples and I had just disembarked from the long, motorised canoe. It carried us on the misty Tembeling river to Taman Negara National Park in the northeast of Malaysia. Huddled on the floating platform of the tour company, travellers were being picked up by their guesthouses and resorts. I peered at the map to find the way to the camp I had booked. A grey-haired female passenger – her eyes enlarging with surprise – asked me if I was travelling alone.
I buckled up my blue rucksack and told her I was. Stupefied, she clutched my hands and said, “I wouldn’t be able to do it. You’re courageous.”
The friendly middle-aged woman’s comment surprised me. Didn’t a million women from her country, probably England, travel solo?
Instead of asking her, I glowed in the generous compliment, like the olive-green river gleaming in the sun.
My partner Sagar had returned to India after vacationing with me for two weeks in Indonesia; I stayed there for another fortnight. I intended to be in Southeast Asia for a few months. Flown in from Bali six days earlier, I would travel in Malaysia for the entire thirty days the online visa allowed me.
On the three-hour boat ride, I sat on a narrow bench on the rear end, behind the seven couples. The air, though slightly damp, felt clean and fresh. Away from our wooden boat, the river rippled into sandy beaches and lush green mangroves. The shores dotted with small fishing boats, stilt huts, and little cottages led to forested hills on both sides. In the shallows, buffaloes wallowed. They didn’t turn to look at our loud boat as it thrust forward, lathering the water into foam. Slate-grey and inky-blue clouds swelled above. It was monsoon. I dipped my hand in the river, the warm water rushing against my palm. Just a touch relaxed me.
Back home, I had always lived in inland towns and cities, away from the sea or rivers. The rare rivers, like the Kali river in my hometown, Yamuna in Delhi, and the small lakes in Bangalore, were all dirty and poisoned. And here? The beautiful river was a whole ecosystem and a highway to the lucky locals living at its shore. How unbelievable! I looked around, pretty sure that my eyes shone with wonder and love. I was grateful to be there.
When the pony-tailed Dutchman on the seat ahead pointed out the buffaloes to his partner and they giggled or a lady a few rows away photographed her husband, I wished Sagar was with me. If only I could exclaim my surprise to him. He would understand how stunning and exotic I found the riverine scenery.
Copying other passengers, I captured tens of photos and videos to save the view forever. The pictures didn’t match up to the landscape. In the selfie camera, I smiled, my lips closed. My eyes had lost their earlier glitter and were wistful. I didn’t like looking so desolate. If I wasn’t used to exploring on my own I might have stayed that way. But hanging out by myself, I had been riding the emotional roller coaster different places threw me upon. I told myself that being sad was a waste of the vista. Alone by choice, I decided to not make much of it.
I could have stayed on the boat the whole day.
I tightened the cotton sock wrapped over the black yoga pants on my right knee. Though four weeks had passed since the scooter accident in Bali, the wound was tender and purple-pink. Thankfully it didn’t hurt. Holding the knee, I got up onto a narrow wooden board connecting the platform to the stone-crammed shore. Beyond a car park, I climbed up the steps to the Kuala Tahan village. The village serves as home for visitors to the 130-million-year-old Taman Negara rainforest that even defied the last few ice ages.
The sky-scraping Taman Negara jungle – which covers 4343 sq km – swayed across the river. The woods looked impenetrable. I couldn't wait to get into them. Like everyone else, I would have to take the ferry to the park.
First, I needed to figure out how to reach my sylvan camp. Then I would worry about the dirty laundry, the freelance writing project due in a few days, and the relentless monsoon that didn’t care a twig about my travel plans.
***
Journeys Beyond and Within… is available on Amazon globally, in paperback, hardcase, and ebook formats. Just search for the title, or here are all the Amazon links.
My travel memoir is also in bookstores around India. Yay! If you can’t find a copy at your favorite bookshop, let me know. I’ll make sure it reaches there.
For this week’s letter,
Some of my past writing,
quotes I love,
things to read,
and
things to watch.
14 Things You Can Care Less About
In today’s noisy world, learning how not to care about everything is indispensable. Here are 14 things we can care less about.
Read the essay now. Or Pocket it for later.
How to Learn a Language By Yourself – 24 Foolproof Tips
These are my own methods that helped me learn Spanish so fast the Chileans were amazed to see me converse.
Read the tips now. Or Pocket them for later.
Quotes I Love
“Life is a garden, not a road. We enter and exit through the same gate. Wandering, where we go matters less than what we notice.”
Kurt Vonnegut
Sometimes we focus hard on one particular aspect of a thing: we think it is crucial to have that before we move ahead. We emphasize and insist on its importance to others too. They nod and shake their heads or gently tell us that we can still go on without it. We still insist. On the way ahead, we figure out that not all boxes have to be ticked off for us to move forward. Sometimes those boxes need not be ticked at all, and it is those we never thought of that need to be filled in.
This is one of the most important things about experience versus practical knowledge or things on paper/in theory and on the road.
Life isn’t the path we are thinking of taking or the destination. It is the daily, the daily grind in which we make do, duck, open our umbrellas, run under the rain, are stumped more often than we thought we could take, leave those we once loved behind, get pampered by those who were never on our radar, we overeat and we starve, and we still remember where we were headed so that one day magically we find ourselves standing at our end point only to realize that we had shifted the endpoint further beyond without any conscious realization of it and that we need to keep going.
Then we keep going, like a river.
Yours Truly
What I’ve Been Reading
I’ve been reading short stories, books, articles, and so much more. I can’t possibly list all what I have read in the past week so I’m putting down the things I found most relevant and worthwhile.
There’s so much I have read since the last newsletter, and precisely in the past two weeks. Please consider bookmarking some of the below reads if you feel there are too many. I use the Reading List feature of Chrome and save the current tab to pick it up later.
#222: In what specific way are you annoying? by Haley Nahman — I share Haley’s posts often. She writes simply and beautifully, breaking every atom of our being and thought. This annoying post works for me. And for you?
Pench: A tiger safari with a difference by Garima Varma — This is a beautiful little piece on spotting tigers in Pench national Park in India. I’m specifically sharing it for those who love to go on wildlife safaris, travelers who visit India especially for tigers, and just for a pacy read.
Beyond The Beaches: Experiencing Eagle Feeding In Palolem's Backwaters by Urmi Chakravorty — I really love this travel story but it also makes me very concerned. Glad the writer and traveler also talks about how eagle feeding will change their natural ecosystem and habits.
6 things I learnt on a solo trip to Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, again by Urmi Chakravorty — A beautiful write up on solo travel in the Himalayas by a 55+ Indian woman.
"Instead of wallowing in self-pity about what is lost, true wisdom lies in making the most of what remains. And that is a precious and abiding life lesson this vacation gifted me."
Anything is Possible by Kenneth M. Kapp: It’s a heartbreaking story, but also so very hopeful. This one is on letting it go and keeping it, too.
A book store (in Delhi) that celebrated and that should be celebrated: Young, Left, and reading—Delhi’s May Day Bookstore celebrates Workers’ Day for the 13th year by Pragya Sharma
A couple of days ago, I came across this piece on how May Day Celebrated its 13th Year by The Print. The article is brilliant and made me happy. It showed me how crucial the book shop is in today's time, and how vibrantly, poetically, and rebelliously the shop is not just keeping itself alive but putting in roots for something deeper. It’s a store of its kind.
I’m very happy that May Day has Journeys Beyond and Within…!
Delhi High Court to shortly hear a defamation suit filed by Newslaundry Executive Editor Manisha Pande and eight other women journalists against Abhijit Iyer-Mitra for referring to them as ‘prostitutes’ and their workplace as a ‘brothel.’ — I found this thread interesting, frustrating, but also a way ahead. Newslaundry is a respectable consumer-supported independent news platform in India that I regularly read. (Sorry this is only on Twitter: )
My thought on this case and the resolution was: More of this. Actually less of this. I wish no one uses such words in the first place. Why really? There are several ways to vent out anger, dissipate envy, and boost ego. Try a sport, or run, if you may!
Resolution: The defendant, the one who called the women names, was given time to take down the abusive tweets within five hours. I hope this deters others from abusing online. But what is the organic solution here?
When camera replaces conscience in Kashmir by Quratulain Rehbar —
“The media is being used to shift focus onto an ‘enemy within’—Muslims, Kashmiris. This helps the state dodge real questions while using the media to manufacture consent, stoke anger, and divide.”
When will this narrative retire?
The Wayward Daughter by Shradha Ghale: I picked up this book at the distributor’s in Delhi where I had gone to talk about my own. Eyeing the big stack of The Wayward Daughter, I asked the main guy there, “How is this book doing?” He said, “It’s in a lot of demand.” The soft cover of the book, its pink-orange spine, and that it fit in my hand made me buy it.
I’ve said this before and I am saying it again, even at the fear of sounding arrogant. I’m not being able to finish most contemporary books these days, both fiction and non-fiction. Mind you, these are some of the biggest releases of the biggest publishing houses. The editing is poor, the book is too sad or unnecessarily complex, it’s meandering and should have been half its size, the plot is weak and the words are gaudy, and so on. This is one of the reasons I didn’t go with the publisher’s contract and self-published Journeys Beyond and Within…
The Wayward Daughter didn’t disappoint. It is an engaging, simple, and entertaining read that informs on the social, political, and economical system of Nepal. Above all, The Wayward is a story of a family, an imperfect family, which you will relate with. As the characters grapple to get hold into their lives and rise in the social strata, they also suffer at the hands of their desires, weaknesses, and backgrounds. Despite some characters being too shallow or predictable, or the story at points taking the most obvious turn, the narrative being extremely frustrating making me yearn for it to be different — yes despite all of this — the book kept me going, turning the pages. This could be the story of any family residing in a South Asian nation, and perhaps the frustration that — how unbelievable this is — stems from the originality of people and their lives. I recommend.
Important tip: Ask the bookstores for discount. They take the books from distributors at a discount which is supposed to make up for their profit but also to give the buyers a relief on MRP. Most book shops bill you at MRP, but they should offer you some discount at least. That’s the intention of the whole system. I know it is hard for book stores to survive these days. But there are a lot that are thriving too. Given the rising MRPs, and inflation in general, the buyer, at least not all buyers, can be expected to shoulder the entire system by paying the printed price.
The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas by David Almond and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers: It’s funny that I found this one in the donation section of a book store where I had gone to sign my own. More than signing copies of Journeys… I was luring after the stacks of books kept to give away for free. Most were children’s books. Sometimes they are the ones that really entertain me, nourish me, and teach me valuable lessons. The innocent and fun world of children is also daring, unpredictable, and a mirror.
I enjoyed this book so much I finished it in a day. It was a hard day, but towards the end of it, having turned the last page of The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas, I was stronger, happier, and hopeful. I highly recommend to everyone.
There are many overwhelming review of my travel memoir Journeys Beyond and Within... that I want to share.
But for now, only sharing two, the ones that are still on my mind and that will help you decide whether you should get the book.
“The solo woman traveler from India has intricately woven the breathtaking hikes, exhilarating treks and the intense life lessons she has learned from the trips. From the vibrant scenarios of London and Paris to the mighty Himalayan Peak, the travelogue spans seamlessly and reminds the readers that travel is not only about visiting new places but also about finding one's true entity and learning new things to embrace the growth.”
Arghadipa Chakraborty
Please find the original review here.
And here is another one, Journeys Beyond and Within… by Priyanka Gupta reviewed by Sonal Singh
“Priyanka writes a detailed travelogue punctuated with just enough wit and humour to make it endearing. You want to flip through the pages fast to know what comes next, what new adventure she embarked on. I have laughed, cried and felt the pang of her loneliness as I read her memoir. I have wanted to hug her close, just because there is nothing a hug cannot cure. And, parental drama…lol … yep, felt that too. After all we both are from UP and well, UP marches to its own parental beat. There’s only so much a single woman is allowed.”
Sonal Singh
The book is available on Amazon worldwide, in bookstores around India (still not everywhere but getting there), and I’m also, still, sending signed copies. Enjoy!
Find all the Amazon links here.
13. Way To Go: My own piece came out in India’s national newspaper The Tribune last Saturday.
As the article says: 'From Muzaffarnagar to IIT and the jobs that followed, to giving it up for a life that revolves around travel and writing' - I answer colorful questions that I get from people as old as 80. Why do you travel, how did you take the leap, and aren't you scared?
The answers are excerpts from my travel memoir Journeys Beyond and Within... The joy is double!
Enjoy, and let me know how you like it.
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning
I do have a bunch of things to share but as this letter is already long let me do that the next week.
And for all adventure lovers!
some photos from past travels :-)
***
Thank you for reading! I hope you have a lovely week ahead.
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Yours,
Priyanka
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