The Things that I Remember the Most about My Family- Road Trips

When it comes to family memories, our vacations are the only things that I remember the most. Now that I am in my late twenties, I don’t remember the number of toys I had broken during childhood or the number of clothes my parents had got for me. Even though I was a tough child, mom and dad never gave up on brining me up well. The best thing that they did for me was that they took me to places where I collected experiences and memories.

When I was in my early teens, we went to Pondicherry and I still remember the surprised face of mine. I had my jaw dropped to the ground and I kept looking at the clear blue waters for a good number of minutes. I made the sand castles, played in the water, and we got countless pictures clicked. After more than a decade, those memories are still afresh on the walls of my room.

Since we live in Delhi, I learned about the Punjabi culture for a greater part of my life. However, I got to know about the South Indian culture when we went to Chennai and Bangalore. The cuisines that we tried there were positively different from the Punjabi food that I had eaten all my life. I could fathom that this is a great learning experience, but I cannot assume a life for myself here. This knowledge was really useful when I had got a brilliant job offer from an MNC in Chennai, but I already had my share of knowledge to decline that proposal. Even though the salary was great, I realized that being a foodie and a Punjabi, the South Indian food was not for me to eat. In the coming years, I would however, accept the job offer from Pune because of the multi-cultural environment.

Travel helps make an opinion

Had I not traveled to the various parts of the country during my childhood, I would not have been able to have an unbiased opinion about the world. It is because of my road trips with family and friends that I know how the people are around the world. I have lived in different parts of India, and I can live with people from almost any culture. I have spent a good deal of time away from parents, which has made me a flexible person who can sleep anywhere in the world.

I have had the luxuries of Self-Drive Cars when I had money, and traveled in a basic passenger train when I was almost broke. Yet, it was only family trips that made me an enthusiastic traveler. Mom and dad are also passionate vacationers who would pack the bags as soon as the summer vacations hit. However, we never went to the clichéd places where everyone seems to rush, which is why even now I don’t go to the hottest tourist spots.

I have learned the art of finding our offbeat places from my mom, who never agreed to wasting time in traffic jams just for the sake of it. Road trips were a learning experience for me, as well as, my parents. They would cherish the time equally as I would do. And we loved creating scrapbooks as we returned from road trips, and they are my most valuable possessions till date. I, being a guy, hear it all the time that I am way more dedicated to my family than I should. Yet, I cannot forget the contribution of my parents in making me what I am.

Why I Feel That Indians Are Sweet to the Strangers

While it is entirely true that Indian men are shy to talk to other females, the elderly people are particularly sweet to the younger generation despite their gender. There have been several instances when I have met utterly sweet Indian men and women who would ask cute questions, just randomly. There was a similar incident when I was there at the Delhi airport and was waiting for boarding my flight.

The battery of my mobile was low, so I decided to charge it at the waiting lounge in the airport lobby. I engrossed myself in the newspaper I was carrying since I could not access my phone. It was surprising to realize that I had not read a newspaper in many years. Just because I bought it that day on my way to the airport, holding a newspaper in my hands felt good and astonishing at the same time. 

An elderly man, who must be in his sixties, approached me and asked if I worked at the airport. I said no, but I was curious to know if he needed something because he was clearly disappointed. I asked him if I could help him to find someone from the staff at the airport, to which he said yes. Unfortunately, we could not find any staff member, and I finally asked him about the matter that concerned him.

He responded that he was there to pick up his son, who was coming from Bangalore. He just wanted to inquire about the timing of the flight that his son had boarded. I smiled at his concern, to which, he got puzzled. I told him that I could help him in this regard if he had the flight number.

Now it was his turn to smile because he had the number with him in his phone. I opened the required website and told him that his son’s flight will be landing in roughly half an hour. We sat together talking about things. He thanked me and asked about my job and introduced himself as a retired bank manager from a government bank.

I was impressed and told him that I come from Kanpur and that I live in Delhi for my job in a company that deals with Self-Drive Cars.

Although he was impressed at my introduction, he immediately asked me if was okay living alone. I nodded, and then he immediately kept a hand on my shoulder and advised me to eat properly. He wanted me to learn cooking and gave me his number so that I can inquire about the quick foods that I can manage for myself. He was really careful that I should not eat too much from outside because it is cancerous.

I was so amused at his elderly affection for a stranger that I could not help smiling for the remaining time that we spent at the airport. Many similar incidences have happened with me in India, where people have proven their sweet nature for me and other strangers. My friends are also the witnesses for the same. Whenever I used to visit any friend’s house for the first time, their parents would treat me with such affection that would melt my heart.

I had once gone to Punjab and the warm nature of the Punjabi folks took my heart away. They never asked any questions beyond my work, food, and family. They just wanted to feed the guest in their house with as much food as they can. Without exaggerating things, I want to say that I love traveling in India, even more than foreign countries.