Sarath & Geetha

She held my hand and taught me how to walk. Today, I hold hers and take her around the world.

Amma was like any other middle class orthodox homemaker in Kerala. Her life revolved around her 3 kids, husband, kitchen and home. I had taken it for granted that this was her world and she liked it that way…

It all changed one day when I saw my mother leafing through a travel magazine with a smile in her eyes and asked her would she want to go there; she replied in the negative. Though my Appa was an avid traveller, she had never accompanied him on his jaunts. I decided to break this vicious cycle and forcibly took her along with me on an official trip to Mumbai. Our initial 3-day trip turned into an unplanned 11 day one where we went to Shirdi, Ajantha, Ellora and the vineyards! For the first time in her life, she had experienced natural beauty which prompted her to say, “I don’t want to waste what is remaining of my life. I want to see the world”!

This set of in motion most of our impromptu trips; like the time we were returning from Varanasi to Delhi, our Keralite TT said he was headed to the last stop that is Shimla; and we ended up taking a detour! After shopping for warm clothes and boots to deal with the -2 degree temperature, we explored Shimla. Later, I took the Rohtang Pass to Manali on a 500cc Bullet with my mom riding pillion in a saree, waving her hands and singing! We had role reversals at times when I would remind her of the time as she got lost playing in the snow or with dogs.

Our trip to Kailash was another memorable one… We crossed the bridge in Hilsa to reach Tibet. En route, we saw the ethereal Manasarovar Lake situated 14,000m above the sea level; my mother was speechless at the sight of the holy peaks as well as the Everest when we landed on the top of the ranges.

For me the word generation gap, is non-existent as I see my mother being gung – ho about each new experience; whether its sleeping below the stars, speeding through snow-capped mountains, to partying in a club or trekking in rough terrains or even scuba diving to exploring Leh Ladakh. We have done it all. Through this, I choose to ignore being called a mama’s boy and instead delight in seeing travel pictures of parents with their children.

Coming from Thrissur, a small town in Kerala, Amma and I, are proud to have started the trend that its cool to travel the world with your parents! After all, who would make better travel companions than those who brought us into the world? I now want to sky dive with her and have tea on top of the Eiffel Towers…