Soliloquy of a Wandering Pilgrim

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. In other words, I don't improve, in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable.- John Steinbeck Photo: Dinesh Korday The morning I left home I had high fever. It was a legacy of a recent respiratory tract infection. A kind flight attendant offered paracetamol and the  temperature was under control. Thankfully some some infections in life are still remediable or should I say medicable. Reaching Mumbai I was glad to meet my friend Dinesh Korday. While together we enjoyed coffee I showed him the book that was taking me back to Africa, once again after 3 years. Good coffee, a close friend and...

In 1937, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay chronicled the adventures of a Bengali boy named Shankar. This novel was named 'Chander Pahar' (English: 'Mountains of the Moon', as the fiction refers to a range of mountains and not a single standing mountain). 'Chander Pahar' went on to become one of the most loved adventure stories in the Bengali literature. In his lifetime, Bibhutibhushan wrote 16 novels and over 200 short stories. Interestingly, even though most of Bibhutibhushan's works were largely set in rural Bengal; in this particular novel the writer chose the setting of 1909 Africa. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (1894-1950) In the story 'Chander Pahar', our protagonist Shankar gets a lucky break to go out from his little riverside village in Bengal to work for the Uganda Railway. Thus begun his sudden and long journey from the mundane to the extraordinary. A roller coaster ride through adventures involving the infamous man eating lions of Tsav...

In 2012, I embarked on an inspired journey across Africa with my bicycle. I started off from the small town of Nanyuki in Kenya and finished pedaling in Walvis Bay, Namibia. 49 days on the road, 5 countries and 4500 kilometers later I realized that I have met the 'Real' Africa- its people. However the details of my journey can be found by visiting the following link : (http://himalaya-raja.blogspot.in/2012/09/trans-africa-on-bicycle-solo-tribute-to.html) It truly was and still is the best journey of my life so far. Within the first few days of riding I had realized that this was going to be a very unique trip indeed. As I progressed I met people and made friends. Everyday, every place, every time, without fail I found friendship and unconditional help came in the form of food, shelter and even cash. They were always there when I needed one. The universal language of friendship prevailed. During those days in Africa I used to send dispatches to Uttar Banga Sambad, a Be...

[A solo bicycle journey from the Equator to Tropic of Capricorn and from East Coast (Indian Ocean) to West Coast (Atlantic Ocean) through the African continent]  H.W.Tilman’s journey across Africa along the equator on a bicycle back in 1932-33; inspired me to get out there and begin my very own Trans African  bicycle adventure. Instead of retracing or repeating Tilman’s route I however preferred a route of my own. I would start from the Equator in Kenya and finish near the Tropic of Capricorn. Instead of heading down south in a straight line (as the road network would permit of course); I decided to touch the east coast of the African continent in Dar Es Salam. By doing so my route got an added value of East Coast to West Coast traverse along with the primary goal of Equator to Capricorn journey. My route would take me through the Kenyan Highlands, Great Rift Valley, the Masaai Steppe, Foothills of Mt Kenya, Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro, The Usambara Mounta...