From watching quaint flamingos in Kutch to emergency visits to the hospital in Barcelona, from an encounter with burly German immigration officials to a mother’s quest to find 100 individual stories for her daughter was all part of the Lime Diaries event, conducted by Byond travel. At the event, a group of people narrated travel stories from across the world. After giving up his corporate job, Vikram Sridhar decided to explore India and landed up in Gujarat, where he was fascinated by the boutique print. “I found that these prints were made in Kutch and decided to make a trip. I found that the region was very remote. We visited one of the villages in Kutch and stayed for three days. We stayed in a small community, a set of three independent housing units.”
He adds, “The women are the ones who are involved in design and embroidery while the men deal with leather work. They claim that the inspiration for their work came from a very unlikely source, the urine of the water buffalo. The manner in which the urine flows determines the patterns that they create on the dresses. I also had a great time watching the flamingos and felt at peace observing them silently. It is a beautiful sight and cannot be captured by photographs. I chanced upon the memorial of one of the earliest freedom fighters from India.”
For Tejawani Gopalswamy, who runs a travel company, curating or collecting stories inspired her travel expeditions on cycle to Bhutan. “My daughter was always keen on hearing real stories about people who actually existed. She had become bored of the fairy tales I used to narrate. I decided that to get more stories, I needed to travel more and meet more people. This was the push I needed. With my daughter, I made a list of individuals I wanted to meet, ranging from clowns to actors and even strippers. I want to meet these people and narrate their stories. I started this with a trip to Bhutan. I want to travel more so that I can finish this list by the time my daughter turns 18. In Bhutan, I was stuck in a snow storm with a bunch of truck drivers. I was the only woman in the group. However, we managed to bond over maggi and tea.”
RJ Danish Sait was very excited about a trip to Europe with his mother and sister, before he feel ill in Barcelona. “My mom and sister had to rush me to hospital as I kept throwing up. It was a nightmare come true,” says Danish. The trip was salvaged with Amsterdam, where the family went cycling and even ventured into the red light district. “It was great fun cycling in a beautiful city like Amsterdam. We decided not to do the touristy things and travelled across the city on cycle. I enjoyed it thoroughly,” adds Yasmin Sait.
Actor and Singer Vasundra Das spoke of making a trip to Columbia to meet a long lost friend. “It was music that had got us together and was the common thread of our friendship. I travelled across the country, attending jazz and salsa concerts, trying my hand at Columbian folk music and the excellent food. The music and the hospitality made it a superb trip. I learnt more about traditional forms of music. It was a marvellous experience.”
