The Traveler

By Amara

"She inspired me to take risks and live with no fear. My story started off with a young girl, traveling from India to the United States, and it ends with a teen girl who dreamed of the world and what she can do with it."

Bharati: Emotionally I was in it, you know, therefore there was no fear, or anxiety. More like anticipation of where I’m going.

Hi, my name is Bharati Bhatt.

Amara: What is your relationship with me?

Bharati: I'm your grandmother.

Amara: For this project, I chose to interview my grandmother, a woman who has seen the world. I specifically want to ask her about what inspired her love of traveling. Here is that story.

Bharati: So my first experience was coming to United States in 1970. Pan-Am flight from Calcutta, India. That was my first time being in an airplane. I was traveling to an unknown place. Traveling for the first time was just like a matter of fact that I was supposed to do this, and I did it. I think many things in life, for me, it's been like that, because I knew I was going to do it. So, I was already… emotionally I was in it, you know, therefore there was no fear, or anxiety. More like anticipation of where I’m going.

Amara: My grandmother started off with her travels when she moved from India to the United States. And with that, the realization of her love of traveling came.

Bharati: When I came to this country, I decided to become a teacher, teaching geography as part of cultural studies in Montessori. Each time, we used to take one continent and explore the culture, the places, the food, everything about that particular continent. Any time I picked a continent, I would focus on part of the cultural part where you go talk about the history and the old buildings or old temples or old, you know, places that that country has, and that actually was extremely interesting to me, to go and see the old places where something took place years and years ago. I actually started making a list in my head where I would like to go and visit because those places seem so interesting.

Amara: After finding her love of traveling, my grandmother visited everywhere you can imagine. From Rome, India, Barcelona, Italy, and even Australia. She talks a bit about those different experiences.

Bharati: Going to Vatican was like, wow. And seeing all the, all the statues and the artwork and just the feeling, getting in there, sitting, waiting in the sun and sweating like crazy from head to toe during summer. When you go in there, it's like you forget everything. You're just like in awe.

When we went to India and we were seeing in south India, some of the temples, and there was a place in Gujarat, it's called Somnath and my friend had told me when at the end of the day, the evening aarti, that's a pooja they do, it's a prayer, where the live bells are rung. And that sound of the bell was… it's just so awesome that you feel it. It's almost like your heart is beating with the bell. And that experience has stayed in my heart and my head. And you had to be in there. You can be outside and listen to it, but when you are inside and experiencing that, the sound and the, the sound waves goes through the atmosphere—I don't think I'll ever forget it. I will go back again if I can, to listen to that. It was the most profound experience I ever had. I must have taken thousands of pictures because I wanted to capture what I was seeing in my photos.

Amara: I also asked her about her experience after coming back from her trips, and how she feels.

Bharati: When I come back, I am… happy, that I had a chance to actually go and visit that place, because I don't know if I'll have another chance to go again, you know? So I feel, I'm very grateful. Every places we went, we wanted to bring something, a small token of a memory of that place. For example, little key chain of Eiffel tower from Paris, you know, or a little beaded work from India, just so the grandkids can have a little bit of memory of where we have been, you know, and that will inspire you guys to go and explore the world.

Amara: My grandma is someone I have always looked up to. Seeing her always going on these amazing adventures and bringing back little tokens from them, inspired me to have that same passion and love for traveling that she has.

She inspired me to take risks and live with no fear. My story started off with a young girl, traveling from India to the United States, and it ends with a teen girl who dreamed of the world and what she can do with it.

I hope this story inspired you. And I thank you for listening. And good luck to everyone on their future travels.