The pilgrims in love
By Anu Prabhakar
Husband-wife duo Sarala and Srinivasan has recently completed a 12,000km-long pilgrimage all over India. They talk about the epic journey and their fondest memories.
Sarala Srinivasan might just have the perfect retort to all those who poke fun at women’s ability to read a map. After all, the 62-year-old and her husband, the 72-year-old OV Srinivasan, have just returned from a 12,000km-long trip around the border of India — one which she planned in 16 days with nothing more than a weather-beaten map.
But the two are hardly novices when it comes to planning long-distance trips. Their first brush with such an adventure took place nearly six years ago, when they were in the middle of a road trip from Mumbai to Kerala. They had stopped at Belgaum for the night and the next morning, their driver knocked on their hotel room door to return their car keys and make the rather startling announcement that he wants to leave. “He wanted to leave as he wasn’t satisfied with the washroom facilities,” remembers Srinivasan. Instead of aborting the journey mid-way, the two decided to push forward, with Srinivasan at the wheel. “The entire trip took us three months as we visited several temples in our hometown Kumbakonam as well,” smiles Sarala.
But that, and all their former road trips, were nothing when compared to the epic journey that they were about to embark on. But high on energy, enthusiasm and, as Srinivasan puts it, God’s blessings, the two set about planning the journey. “Our aim was to collect water from all rivers and do an ‘abhishekam’ at Sri Kamakshi temple in Nerul, our village and a couple of other places. The trip was merely a tool for that,” explains Srinivasan. “We didn’t tell anyone about it apart from a few acquaintances at the local temple. They all suggested that we hire a driver. But that wouldn’t have worked out for I am very particular about certain things like cleanliness. And well, Sarala would have to sit at the backseat,” he smiles, glancing at his wife.
While Sarala planned the exact route they would take, Srinivasan handled the hardware — that is, the car. “I spent about Rs35,000 on the car, to ensure that it will not break down in the middle of the journey. We had purchased a new car around that time so I exchanged the tyres.”
Taking the advice of his friends, he also carried a bamboo stick with him, just in case they had an unexpected rendezvous with robbers on the highway. “They suggested that I carry an iron rod, but where am I going to get one from?” he laughs. Sarala, meanwhile, arranged for snacks like chakli which they could carry along with them on the trip. “I also carried ground powders made out of jeera and pepper with me. Both of us are strict vegetarians and are not fond of eating at restaurants. We are also diabetic, so we wanted to cook our own food as much as possible.”
On April 18, they set off for the journey. The plan was to drive 350km a day. “But thanks to good roads, we managed to cover 700km in a day! On an average, we covered 500km a day. I have to say, thanks to Modi, 90 per cent of the roads were fantastic. Except for a 5km stretch in Rajasthan where the road was under construction and we had to drive on rubble, we faced no such issues elsewhere. When you travel via road in places like Australia and New Zealand you can have a cup of coffee without spilling. And now, we can do the same on our Indian roads,” beams Srinivasan. The couple would, as per schedule, check out of their hotel room at 6:30am and wrap up the day’s driving at 6:30pm before it grew too dark. “In a few places, navigating the harsh terrain was a little difficult — for instance I had to drive over slopes that were inclined at 35 to 40 degrees. But we managed with God’s blessings,” says Srinivasan.
Over the course of the next two months, the couple covered prime religious spots like Kailash Manasarovar, Kedarnath, Simhachalam, Guruvayur, Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari among others. They also covered popular tourist spots like Gulmarg, Dehradun, Gangtok, Tripura and north Sikkim.
The Srinivasans took a flight thrice — from Amristar to Kashmir and back, from Lucknow to Kailash Manasarovar (via Nepalgunj, Simikot, Hilsa and Yama Dwar) and back, from Kolkata to Guwahati and back. “The roads were bad from Amristar and our children were too worried about us taking that route because of terrorists,”says Sarala. “We also made slight detours and visited places that were not a part of the original plan — like Sringeri.” On June 17, they travelled from Madgao in the morning and reached Mumbai by late evening.
The Srinivasans are bursting with anecdotes to share — about how they managed to reach Kailash Manasarovar on a full moon night, how they discovered OYO rooms at Barmer much to their delight and how while their younger travel companions threw up due to the high altitudes, the Srinivasans’ zest and enthusiasm fetched them the title ‘Lovely young couple’. “I used to be a basketball player in my younger days although now I lead a sedentary life,” says Srinivasan, a former IIT Bombay graduate who ventured into the business of essential oils. Sarala, who once harboured dreams of being a model, walks for 6 kms every day without fail. “That keeps me quite energetic,” she adds.
One enduring memory is of how the duo drove through jungles and coconut trees in Mangalore and Goa. “The greenery was just stunning. At 12 in the afternoon, there was hardly any light because of the canopy of trees. At one point we gave up clicking photos, because they couldn’t do justice to its beauty,” says Sarala. “We should be proud as Indians and anyone who undertakes such a trip will agree. One can see the great progress that we have made — the natural wealth, forest lining on both sides of the smooth roads, hills, valleys and lush greenery all around. In another decade, India will beat any country,” exclaims Srinivasan.
ROUTE MAP
From Mumbai, the Srinivasans headed to Ahmedabad, Somnath and later Ambaji in Gujarat. They went on to cover places like Dwarka, Bhuj, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Amritsar, Kashmir, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, Nainital, Lucknow, Kailash and Manasarovar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok, New Jalpaiguri, Puri, Chennai, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Thiruvanathapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Udupi, Mookambika and Goa among others before finally heading back to Mumbai.
Husband-wife duo Sarala and Srinivasan has recently completed a 12,000km-long pilgrimage all over India. They talk about the epic journey and their fondest memories.
Sarala Srinivasan might just have the perfect retort to all those who poke fun at women’s ability to read a map. After all, the 62-year-old and her husband, the 72-year-old OV Srinivasan, have just returned from a 12,000km-long trip around the border of India — one which she planned in 16 days with nothing more than a weather-beaten map.
The ‘parikrama’ trip — a pilgrimage which the two undertook on a Maruti Ertiga for the most part — took them exactly two months (and several music CDs) to finish. “She made the plan,” Srinivasan tells us, as Sarala grins from a corner of their Chembur house’s palatial living room. “So full credit goes to her.”
But the two are hardly novices when it comes to planning long-distance trips. Their first brush with such an adventure took place nearly six years ago, when they were in the middle of a road trip from Mumbai to Kerala. They had stopped at Belgaum for the night and the next morning, their driver knocked on their hotel room door to return their car keys and make the rather startling announcement that he wants to leave. “He wanted to leave as he wasn’t satisfied with the washroom facilities,” remembers Srinivasan. Instead of aborting the journey mid-way, the two decided to push forward, with Srinivasan at the wheel. “The entire trip took us three months as we visited several temples in our hometown Kumbakonam as well,” smiles Sarala.
But that, and all their former road trips, were nothing when compared to the epic journey that they were about to embark on. But high on energy, enthusiasm and, as Srinivasan puts it, God’s blessings, the two set about planning the journey. “Our aim was to collect water from all rivers and do an ‘abhishekam’ at Sri Kamakshi temple in Nerul, our village and a couple of other places. The trip was merely a tool for that,” explains Srinivasan. “We didn’t tell anyone about it apart from a few acquaintances at the local temple. They all suggested that we hire a driver. But that wouldn’t have worked out for I am very particular about certain things like cleanliness. And well, Sarala would have to sit at the backseat,” he smiles, glancing at his wife.
While Sarala planned the exact route they would take, Srinivasan handled the hardware — that is, the car. “I spent about Rs35,000 on the car, to ensure that it will not break down in the middle of the journey. We had purchased a new car around that time so I exchanged the tyres.”
Taking the advice of his friends, he also carried a bamboo stick with him, just in case they had an unexpected rendezvous with robbers on the highway. “They suggested that I carry an iron rod, but where am I going to get one from?” he laughs. Sarala, meanwhile, arranged for snacks like chakli which they could carry along with them on the trip. “I also carried ground powders made out of jeera and pepper with me. Both of us are strict vegetarians and are not fond of eating at restaurants. We are also diabetic, so we wanted to cook our own food as much as possible.”
On April 18, they set off for the journey. The plan was to drive 350km a day. “But thanks to good roads, we managed to cover 700km in a day! On an average, we covered 500km a day. I have to say, thanks to Modi, 90 per cent of the roads were fantastic. Except for a 5km stretch in Rajasthan where the road was under construction and we had to drive on rubble, we faced no such issues elsewhere. When you travel via road in places like Australia and New Zealand you can have a cup of coffee without spilling. And now, we can do the same on our Indian roads,” beams Srinivasan. The couple would, as per schedule, check out of their hotel room at 6:30am and wrap up the day’s driving at 6:30pm before it grew too dark. “In a few places, navigating the harsh terrain was a little difficult — for instance I had to drive over slopes that were inclined at 35 to 40 degrees. But we managed with God’s blessings,” says Srinivasan.
Over the course of the next two months, the couple covered prime religious spots like Kailash Manasarovar, Kedarnath, Simhachalam, Guruvayur, Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari among others. They also covered popular tourist spots like Gulmarg, Dehradun, Gangtok, Tripura and north Sikkim.
The Srinivasans took a flight thrice — from Amristar to Kashmir and back, from Lucknow to Kailash Manasarovar (via Nepalgunj, Simikot, Hilsa and Yama Dwar) and back, from Kolkata to Guwahati and back. “The roads were bad from Amristar and our children were too worried about us taking that route because of terrorists,”says Sarala. “We also made slight detours and visited places that were not a part of the original plan — like Sringeri.” On June 17, they travelled from Madgao in the morning and reached Mumbai by late evening.
The Srinivasans are bursting with anecdotes to share — about how they managed to reach Kailash Manasarovar on a full moon night, how they discovered OYO rooms at Barmer much to their delight and how while their younger travel companions threw up due to the high altitudes, the Srinivasans’ zest and enthusiasm fetched them the title ‘Lovely young couple’. “I used to be a basketball player in my younger days although now I lead a sedentary life,” says Srinivasan, a former IIT Bombay graduate who ventured into the business of essential oils. Sarala, who once harboured dreams of being a model, walks for 6 kms every day without fail. “That keeps me quite energetic,” she adds.
One enduring memory is of how the duo drove through jungles and coconut trees in Mangalore and Goa. “The greenery was just stunning. At 12 in the afternoon, there was hardly any light because of the canopy of trees. At one point we gave up clicking photos, because they couldn’t do justice to its beauty,” says Sarala. “We should be proud as Indians and anyone who undertakes such a trip will agree. One can see the great progress that we have made — the natural wealth, forest lining on both sides of the smooth roads, hills, valleys and lush greenery all around. In another decade, India will beat any country,” exclaims Srinivasan.
ROUTE MAP
From Mumbai, the Srinivasans headed to Ahmedabad, Somnath and later Ambaji in Gujarat. They went on to cover places like Dwarka, Bhuj, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Amritsar, Kashmir, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, Nainital, Lucknow, Kailash and Manasarovar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok, New Jalpaiguri, Puri, Chennai, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Thiruvanathapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Udupi, Mookambika and Goa among others before finally heading back to Mumbai.
