It is the journey and not the destination that is important in travel. This is the travel philosophy of Kochi-based Mithra Satheesh too. Rather than travel with the intention of visiting all the tourist destinations or places in the world, she would rather take a different route and just savour the experience of travelling. She teaches at Tripunithura Govt Ayurveda college.
Mithra’s travel exploits are nothing new for people who know her. Last year she took an all-India road tour with her son and covered 17,000 km in 51 days in her car. It was her dream to experience new things through that journey. Now she is all set for yet another trip with her 11-year-old son. Inspired by the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, she hopes to start from Kochi and cover those monuments, museums and villages which were involved in India’s Independence movement. They are planning to pass through 75 locations. She plans to finish her trip in 50 days. Major Ravi flagged off the journey last month.
This time, it is not really about sightseeing, but they are hoping to meet those freedom fighters who helped in the Indian independence movement. They are travelling in Maruti Suzuki S cross.
To know India better
Her first trip was undertaken with the hope of visiting at least one village in every Indian state. She was able to learn and see a lot of things during that first trip. But the wanderlust never left her and that’s when she thought of making another all-India trip. She also wanted an experience different from other travellers.
She wanted to do something worthwhile than just roam around. So she decided to plan a travel to remember those freedom fighters who fought for the Indian Independence struggle and it is just a coincidence that this year commemorates the 75th year of independence. “There is a bigger history to tell us than what we have read. As Mahatma Gandhi has always said, to know the real India one should go to the villages and experience life there. So I usually plan my trips towards such villages,” Mithra says.
The speciality of this trip
There are a lot of freedom fighters who are not known to us. The undocumented brave hearts! The world should know about them, and they should be brought to the mainstream. Every country would have such freedom fighters. Mithra hopes to know more about them and understand their journey. She hopes to make the future generation understand their worth. Through this trip, she is hoping to make her son give a sense of their struggles, sacrifices and tribulations. Here are the 75 places picked to finish her 50-day journey.
Planned route: Kochi-Thiruvanthapuram-Thirunalveli-Madhurai-Trichi-Chennai-Vijayawada-Rajamundri-Vishakapattanam-Buvaneshwar-Ranchi-Kolkatta-Barakpur-Palasi-Berhampur-Murshidabad-Cooch Behar-Guwahati-Jowai-Patna-Chourichoura-Lucknow-Jhansi-Gwaliyar-Agra-Meerut-Delhi-Jalandhar-Amritsar-Firozpur-Bikaner-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Baroda-Statue of Unity-Dandi-Mumbai-Pune-Belgaum-Mangalore-Payyannur-Tirur and back to Kochi.
