Editor’s Letter — August 23, 2022

William Martin, author of The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents, said as much when he wrote: “Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.” I saw this manifesting quite visibly on a recent trek through the Conservation Education Centre of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Goregaon in Mumbai. That rainy Sunday, I saw scores of enthusiastic city slickers exploring the forest in their backyard and coming away truly wonderstruck. We were slipping and sliding up and down muddy trails, gamely hopping across streams, stopping to admire a wild turmeric flower or catch a glimpse of a Rainbow Beetle here, and listen to the loud, fluting call of the Common Iora there. We learned to appreciate the glimmer of spider’s gossamer and the magic of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. And it was especially endearing to see a whole troop of teeny tiny humans in colourful rain gear determinedly climbing up a rocky surface, each one clamouring, “I want to see the praying mantis, I want to see the praying mantis!”

For two hours, we were transported outside of our city, outside of our humdrum lives, outside of ourselves. Nature has that amazing ability to rekindle a sense of wonder in the most jaded of cynics. Which is why, whenever I travel, whether in my own city or one further afield, I always try to add in a little bit of the outdoors into my itinerary. For example, our Video of the Week brings you a whole new aspect of Srinagar that we planned when the team visited for a shoot recently — a foray into the forest of Dachigam on the outskirts. Where delightful little things such as tasting wild plums and berries on a jungle walk transformed a cool Kashmir morning from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Wishing you a wealth of such experiences and welcoming you back to TravelDine for more joyous journeys.