अब के बिछड़े तो शायद कभी ख़्वाबों में मिलें,
जिस तरह सूखे हुए फूल, क़िताबों में मिले
While recently listening to the above gazal of Ahmad Faraz,by Mehdi Hassan,the line ”jis tarah sukhe hue phuul kitabon mein milen” jogged my memory about the old faded travel photographs of years gone by lying, for decades, in the trunk in the basement.
And the next line
”Khazane tujhe mumkin hai khrabon mein milen ye”
made this old man fetch the trunk up from the basement, and dumped the contents on the bed.
Holy Cow!!
What a treasure of photos galore of our travels in early 70s, and other occasions. I managed to salvage and scan some of them to make
A Photo Story—Forgotten Travelogue, montage together. May not in be in any order. Moreover I have forgotten the places they were shot, Broadly they were on a trip to South.
By our Herald,and later on, in Ambassador car from Bombay to Mysore ,Jog falls,Shervanbagola,Tippus grave and the temples. Plus Hills like Shimla and Ranikhet.it was early 1973,definitely, with two young kids
This Photo Story also shook up the head of my wife who, suddenly, remembered two incidence of my absent-mindedness during those trips to south, during the rainy season of December,1973.
The Pee and the Pit Stop
It’s always been a habit with us(even today 50 years later) to leave early morning around 4am ,with car-boot(dicky?) packed with Eggs, Tea ,sandwiches , candy etc. So on this trip, that took us to Karnataka,Coorg,and Maharshtra of course.First thing I remember we did when we touched Kohlapur , was to buy Kohlapuri Chappels in the first shop that hit.
Here is the first photo showing the effect of too much tea early morning on the move.
Pee Stop
The next stop, of-course, was always the PIT STOP, on all our travels. My wife always carried stuff to warm up food on the way for two hungry growing boys and greedy husband.(Guess the ages of these two boys now??)
Pit Stop
The first incidence was that I had left the car key inside and closed the doors. It took about two hours for us to solve the problem. We stopped another car and asked for help. Luckily this driver helped to solve our problem by using a plastic foot -rule , that was pushed into the door between the glass and lock; and clicked open it. Learnt a new lesson that day.
And there were always breaks in the long journey to enjoy the beautiful sights of nature and our country.
beautiful sights of nature
beautiful sights of nature
Incidently these kids were born November,1958 and March,1965
Kids
Enough of PEE & PIT STOP. Now here are some photos of our visit to various places,(unable to identify or remember now). In no particular order.
Scenes from past
Scenes from past
Probably , Khajuraho
The second mishap was that when we came down 1000 steps while at Shervanbagola, I realized that I had left the car keys up there where we had sat down to have tea and sandwiches. I had to go back up.
Luckily I found the keys.
Here are few more pictures, including ,Shervanbagola. One fact I remember that the price of PETROL had gone up to 90 paise per liter when we landed back in Bombay sometimes in December,1973.
Being a 25 Buts a smoker a day , did not mind the hike in their price.
Guess from the trip to South
Shravanbelagola
Although there are almost hundreds more photos of our travel during 70s /80s are lying in the albums in the basement, but it’s an effort (though worth trying)to collate like POSTCRDS of Lonely Planet.
From the past
From the past
This is Shimla,1972. Young Sethis shopping.
Shopping in Shimla
Well let me give a finishing touch to this PHOTO STORY
Frames
On the road
From Teas to Draughts
From tea to Drought
Lets all drink to the wanderlust of travel. Cheers.
Sethis of today
Jatinder Sethi
Namaste Sir,
This post is so different in the series of travel loges we have seen on Ghumakkar!
You have shared a kaleidoscope of your life through these pictures which has made me nostalgic about how we used to make albums and keep photos when there were no digital camera or smart phones. I still cherish those photos and he way the paper of the photos ages makes you realize how time flies.
Thank you for such a fresh and different post!
Regards
Pooja
Pooja
Thanks for your understanding that it is not a usual “ghuimakkar” piece, but a”Kaleidoscope”of almost 60 years mish mash..One has to convert the old albums before they get faded and paper starts
Thanks to Nanda,
Incidentally,I am not a Headmaster.So no “SIR”
One of the best pastimes is to go through old photo-albums and reminisce the bygone days especially when children were young. The ‘bell-bottoms’ brought a rush of memories. Enjoyed the mish-mash, Jatinder.
You are right.Best pastimes, especially like us when one is retired and these children have their own growing ups.kids. Along with the old pictures, also stored, now that you mentioned,are THE BELL-BOTTOMS. I have quite few. No one wants to take it.
Thanks Pat.
Sethi Saheb – We finally managed to get this in print. Salute to your spirit, all the emails which you continued to send , the word files, the google drive links and what not. Now it has a permanent place on this world wide web. I am very happy :-)
Nandan
I am really sorry for blocking your mail box and time-schedule with all that non-sense.
And not to mention that”Heavy mails” on Holi day
.As they say”BEDA BAI-ADUB HUEN SAZZA CHAHATA HUEN”
Sethiji,
You surely have had a great journey until now! Both globe-trotting and personally.. And what is better is that all that is in one place now for us to read! It surely is a great thing to get lost in nostalgia.. Sometimes I feel I am more present in nostalgia than in the actual present.. haha..
Those pee stops, those chai stops ( for us teetotalers) and the picnic packing which would be bigger than our luggages, omg, everything was so exciting..
Thanks a trillion for driving us down the memory lane! Felt good :)
Best.
Archana
Thanks for the pat on the back.Nostalgia is good but I do get out to write few other blogs that are not always about travel.,may be nostalgic.so me are posted elsewhere, some are still pending with me.Travel can take different shapes and hues.,as far as I am concerened,not purely of Lonely Planet or Ghumakkar.
Thanks a million,dear.
Jatinder
This reminds me of my parents album, faded old album picture but still golden memories. The first thing I will do when I go home this time, to put them in new album. Thank you for giving an early 90’s child, a glance of early 70’s through your beautiful pictures.
Thanks
Anchal Sarraf
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9bda3da4ca50af4f9968c8dcd927832ab3a129c81549d17b69ab36dbb6ff260d.jpg Anchal
I am glad that I made you think of your own treasure of old photos..They help the family flag flying high through generations. .you know that i am doing it for my gran daughter,who like you is a 90s(1992-Bombay born)child. You see her now in the last photo with us.And here she is with her pet almost 20 years ago
So go and rejuvinate the old faded memories. .god Bless
Thank You :)