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The passage reflects on a man’s introspective journey. Despite being physically confined, he embarks on a unique form of travel called “Mental Touring.” He spends mornings reminiscing and thinking deeply about his past experiences, often finding joy in memories of historical places. While acknowledging the contrasting lifestyles of others, he emphasises that true travel is more than just physical movement. It involves understanding and feeling the essence of places and events. He longs to explore India’s rich cultural and historical landscapes. This underscores his deep appreciation for nature and the past, especially those connected to Buddha, Lord Ram, and Krishna.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- The article describes a man’s introspective journey through ‘Mental Touring,’ highlighting that true travel involves understanding places beyond just visiting them.
- He often reflects on his past, cherishing memories of historical significance, and expresses a desire to explore India’s diverse cultural landscapes.
- The author contrasts different lifestyles, noting how some focus on the future while he values the present and the lessons from history.
- His unique approach to touring involves deep engagement with historical sites, seeking emotional connections and understanding their significance.
- Despite physical limitations in travel, he remains curious and eager to explore India’s historical and natural sites, believing in their rich cultural value.
Morning hours
He would often sit alone in the morning for several hours, musing. With an open book in his lap and a smartphone in his hand, he pensively stared into the ether. A potted Sadābahār (Catharanthus roseus) plant near him shook its twigs as if trying to flaunt its blooms. He used to water it regularly, without fail.
While reading the book, he occasionally peeks at his phone. After reading a few pages, he starts scanning his smartphone for messages, news updates, and the like. He lives alone with his spouse in a self-owned house situated on approximately 1,300 square feet of land. For a retired person like him, sitting idly, brooding and introspecting is an easy way to spend time.
The book he was reading was interesting, but his mind was elsewhere. It was about the historical account of a famous city. As he scanned the house—a two-decade-old structure—its walls suggested it needed deep cleaning.
Exploration through mind’s eye
He was on a mental journey of life, not a conventional or physical one. A sedentary person confined to the house might seem unable to travel, yet true travel is not merely about visiting places or hopping from station to station with a backpack, spending nights in unfamiliar hotel beds. His approach was different: he engaged in “mental touring,” a unique form of travel that transcended the conventional.
His life journey, spanning more than seven decades, began without clear direction or purpose. Yet it continued, bringing encounters with diverse people and varied experiences—good, bad, sweet, and sour—that shaped his character. Some people he met seemed distracted or careless, focused on the present moment and living it to the fullest.
Some were, on the other hand, meticulous, who eyed their future, working carefully to brighten it. They were like ants in Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Though they succeeded in their mission and got what they wished, their mind couldn’t enjoy the present but always lived in future.
Nostalgia
He often travels into nostalgia, where old and worn-out memories take him back in time. While roaming in the past, the meticulous ones emerge on his mental screen—ostensibly successful people who achieved their goals but now long to revisit their past, unable to have enjoyed the small moments of joy and togetherness.
Mental touring: Visiting places
Beyond roaming in the past and mental touring, he visits places with purpose, not for superficial display. Unlike those who boast about touring as a hobby, he seeks depth—examining sites from a meaningful perspective rather than engaging in mechanical sightseeing.
He often muses about the journeys he took in the past and remembers them with fondness. Travelling helped him to see the things and people in a different way and with a different perspective. Before visiting a location, he used to collect essential information about it. It helped a great deal in understanding things and even visualising the place or the incidents that occurred there when visiting the place.
Nature and natural places attract him the most; places of historical importance arouse curiosity. Walls of a fort, domes, spiracles, and ramparts whisper their stories in his ear. He used to listen to them and visualise the moments of that time. (india.gov.in)
history unfolded through mind’s eye
He felt horripilated when he first saw the vast flat field of Khanua behind Fatehpur Sikri fort, where a historic war was fought between Rana Sanga and his allies and Babur. The pages of history fluttered, and he was submerged in the river of events—an inexpressible experience that became crisp and clear during mental touring.
While wandering in an important citadel, he felt the same excitement when he touched a cannon, “Kadak Bijli” (lightning thunder), displayed in Jhansi fort. The cannon was operated by a faithful commander and artilleryman, Ghulam Gaus Khan, who fought and laid his life serving his motherland and the queen, Rani Laxmibai.
Purpose and Curiosity
For him, touring and travelling are means to feel, experience and explore history and things. History is not a dry subject, but it guides the person through the past alleys, shows the truth and helps learn lessons. Prior preliminary knowledge helps understanding and visualising things in real perspective rather than superficial sightseeing. Touching the burned bricks, broken walls, and worn-out stairs causes goosebumps.
He has not seen Buddha, nor has anybody in the current era. Places related to Buddha arouse curiosity and interest. While wandering among the ruins of a Buddhist site at Kushinagar, he inquisitively asked himself about the ambience in Buddha’s time, centuries ago. It was the place where Lord Buddha breathed his last. He began soliloquising, touching the ruins and trying to get a feel. Kushinagar, which lies in the fertile Gangetic plain of Northern India, must have been a verdant area full of forests. He often takes up mental touring to revisit places and refresh them in his mind.
Wish to explore
At senectitude, he is physically fit and feels energetic, but domestic conditions prevent him from traveling. He has become confined to a place, though he believes it is only a phase.
He wishes to see and explore places throughout his country and, if possible, beyond. A firm believer that India is a mini world with diverse cultures, languages, history, and natural wonders, he has not yet seen many places but remains eager to visit historical and cultural sites, including natural wonders. He hopes to visit Kurukshetra, Panipat, and the Northeast, and intends to explore various historical and natural sites whenever time allows.
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Kamal Kishore Srivastava
A retired government officer turned writer and photographer, Kamal Kishore Srivastava is a regular blogger and essayist who explores life’s deeper meanings through immersive reflections on nature, impermanence, and happiness. On his blog Nature’s Narrative, he blends philosophical storytelling with practical insights. Writing 1,200–1,500 words or more regularly, Kamal is committed to refining his craft, expanding his audience, and building a sustainable space where thought and feeling intersect.
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