Why I love to travel.

Going to a new places has a charm right from the point of research to planning, and if it is a road trip, charting out the route too. These are some of the activities which I love to immerse myself in. In fact, there was a time when I wanted to go to Pondicherry and Goa so badly that I just researched and made a Must see places list for both these places. I visited these places maybe a year after my research, but the research in itself does give me so much satisfaction.

Does this mean that I would not like to go to any place more than once?
I am not sure I would be so excited about going to that place, at least not the way I would if it had been my first trip.
I am the kind of travel fanatic who watches just National Geographic, Animal Planet and TLC. If the television is switched on, it has to be one of these channels, and if I am the only person who is watching a program.Usually not too many people want to watch these channels and hence its just me and T who watch these channels at home. It has come to it that now she asks to see elephants and that would mean that she wants to watch some television. I do not know if that is a good thing, but atleast I console myself that she is not asking for any cartoon.

Recently I have been doing a bit of research on Egypt. It started off on a writing assignment and then it just went on from there. I just could not stop myself from reading and reading. There is the but obvious history attached to the country and the great Egyptian civilization, but there is something else which caught my attention. This was the immense flora and fauna which exists about the river Nile. The longest river in the world. The Nile flows through Rwanda, Tanzania,Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi and Egypt. The way this river flows through one of the harshest, hottest deserts in the world is truly fascinating. And this river never dries up. It might be marshy, wild, slow and meandering, but never dry. That is the Nile. This is all the research and a program which I saw recently on National Geographic about Africa. This is truly one of the most undiscovered continents in the world. It is a completely different world and this is one thing I realized when I went to Kenya. ( Here are the travelogues) I wish to go and go see the Nile one day. It would truly be a great sight.

A charity drive at home

I have been told time and again to clear out unwanted items and create more space, be it walking or for stocking. And, I must say, I do have a tendency to hold on to my things, and more importantly my way of doing things, which really need not be right,  but it is what I thought of and came up with as an answer. Being a little stubborn, it just makes it so much more difficult to change.

Anyhow, T's old clothes, toys are the ones which were in need of immediate disposal and the ones taking up the maximum space. There were so many clothes which just were small, some in worse condition had been already used as mop cloths. T has a no toy for more than a few months policy, and this means I try to recycle her toys to ensure that she gets something different every week, but there is only so much that she can be happy with her year old toys. And now, in fact I do not buy her the usual run of the mill toys. She plays with it not even for a few hours and I am left guilty for the money wasted. One such toy was a Thomas train which speaks and moves ahead. I got this toy only because she loves Thomas, and she played with it maybe an hour on the day she got it, and that's about it. So, it was time to get things cleared up and segregate toys into 'Want to store' and 'For someone'. Clothes were simpler and the toys got a little tricky with Missy wanting to play with everything and not let go of anything! But, that was easy to get over with her favourite book and father and she being confined to reading sessions on the bed.

Now, where to or rather whom to give is a pertinent question when you have huge bags filled with clothes and toys, and you also do not want it to be all unpacked by the kid soon! I spoke to many homes but no one was interested in clothes, and some had specifications for clothes only for older children. Then, I came upon Shishu Mandir and they were more than eager for any help in any form.

Shishu Mandir is a old children's home which has been in Bangalore since 1983. Below is a small excerpt about them.

The Shishu Mandir Home was established in 1983 in the premises of the Ashok Nursing Home at Ulsoor, Bangalore. At the Shishu Home children were admitted from the slums who were seriously sick and requiring intense medical treatment for many months. When they recovered, some expressed the wish not to be sent home again, but to stay on. Hella could not turn away from that heart-rending request and thus she began to create a Home for them. She followed the idea of a big family where everyone's individuality is recognized. The children live as in a large family, and everyone bears a certain responsibility. The atmosphere is conducive and warm, there is no physical punishment. Children of school-going age are admitted at the Shishu School.

They have a new home which is near the Garden city college, K. R. Puram. It is set amongst the lakes and trees and a huge premise which has been home to many children till date. They also have a school and a vocational traning college in the same area which caters to educational needs of the students in this home. The trust undertakes many projects to benefit the village and to help the children in the surrounding villages. They have a large crowd to help and children in varying age groups. Help is accepted in terms of provision, baby items, furniture, etc. They can be contacted and they will let you know what is that they require immediately. It is a little out of the city, but if you can create a drive in your society or maybe just go by and drop by items once or twice a year, that would certainly be a worthwhile cause!

24.

Over a month since I have managed to come here. In fact, there have been many instances I came here, looked about and then decided to not write anything.

Why?
 I am not too sure. 

There have been so many thoughts in my head and being in the process of sorting them, understanding and accepting them is taking a fair bit of time. Time which has been seeing many ups and downs, many iterations, many misunderstandings, and me, trying to settle down and accept.

Some might call it facts of life, and others might call it a part of growing up. It does not help that I shall be turning 30 in less than a month and somehow this maturity absurdity is being forced upon me right about now!

Would it have been better in a different setting?
I doubt it.
Some things are just not done.

Or, maybe I am just making assumptions.