As a British Sikh, India has all the time felt like a second dwelling to me. My dad and each units of grandparents have been born there, so there’s a deep familial connection to the nation. Rising up, I had the very best holidays with my household who dwell in a rural village in Punjab, and I used to be all the time desirous to see more of what India had to offer. I’d all the time wished I’d taken a niche 12 months to journey, so I made a decision to do the subsequent smartest thing: I took a sabbatical from work to solo journey via India, a journey that may change my life.
After navigating the effort of getting a visa, the day I left for the airport, I hugged my mother tightly, and we each cried. It solely hit me then what a giant deal this was—I had had fairly a sheltered life to date. I used to be in my late twenties and had all the time lived with my family. This was the largest and scariest step I had ever taken, which isn’t the norm for a South Asian Disabled woman.
As somebody who has all the time lived with the uncertainty of Brittle Bone Illness, a situation the place my bones break with none harm or trauma, this journey was a profound affirmation of my independence and resilience. My journey spanned three months, throughout which I traveled throughout 11 totally different states, each feeling like a special nation altogether. I didn’t have a set itinerary—I made a decision what to do every day as I went, which was essentially the most liberating feeling. Over the course of 76 days, I traveled 20,000 miles throughout 26 cities, visiting Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Kerala, Bangalore, Chennai, Pondicherry, and Madhya Pradesh.
