I asked Shailu’s nephew, “What is your philosophy about life? What is your objective/ goal in life?”. He paused and said, “I need to think.”
Shantan’s quiet demeanor hides a cherubic excitement of discovery and curiosity. His comments and responses are very well thought out and sincere. He does not read newspapers or watch news on TV. Instead he prefers to do his unbiased online research. The picture below, is of Shantan carrying our guides backpack. Selfless help is a trait that he seemed to have inherited from his dad. When he heard, we are visiting Kakinada and planning our anniversary vacation, he called to help us plan the itinerary. He connected us to a few tour guides and showed us options to get around, public transport, rental car and packaged tours. When none fit our crazy ideas and he sheepishly offered to be our guide and driver - “if” it was not an “infringement” of our privacy. We gladly accepted.
Feb 13, 2024. Our 27th anniversary was aptly celebrated at Sarpavaram, Bhavannarayana Swamy Temple - thanks to Shantan. He explained the history as we drive to the temple. It was constructed by the king Krimikantha Chola in 1465 and was restored by Raja (King) Vasireddi Venkatadrinaidu of Amravati kingdom in 1856. Legend traces back the swayambhu lingam to the times of Lord Rama. More details are at https://eastgodavari.ap.gov.in/temples/sri-bhavanarayana-swamy-temple-sarpavaram/. It is sad that such a great cultural legacy is not promoted and maintained well. Some of the locals in Kakinada also did not know much about this historic place! I wonder how many more such nuggets of history are available all over India, forgotten or destroyed during the 500+ years of occupation by invaders?
Anyway back to our vacation. Our journey stared from Shantan’s home on valentine’s day. Shantan’s dad, Ramesh and I share a love for bananas. Ramesh packed a bunch for the journey along with pulao packets, made by Shantan’s mom.
We took a quick pitstop for lunch on the way to Paderu. Paderu is a sleepy town on the eastern ghats of India and base for hikes in the region. A stroll down the streets of this idyllic town was very refreshing. Shailu was a bit car sick from all the winding roads, so we took it easy and rested for the night after a light dinner.
We started early to Vanajangi to catch the beautiful sunrise. As were drove towards the sunrise point, i kept looking at my phone to see how far we were, expected sunrise time, google’s predictions for arrival time. My fidgeting stopped as i saw Santhan pulling over to the side. He wiped out his camera to capture a beautiful silhouette of a tree in the pre-dawn light. I almost told him to hurry but then I saw his happy face. Not a worry in the world. Just lapping up the beautiful moment !
As soon as we parked at the designated spot, Shailu and I took off to the sunrise point, while Santhan stayed back to setup his camera, hardly bothered about the sunrise.
After lapping up the beautiful, sunrise, we hiked to the peak at Vanajangi. Some say it is the Ooty of Andhra, mainly because of the low cloud cover and cool environment.
To our absolute thrill, we found the Tiranga( tricolored flag of India) hosted at the peak. Apparently, Modi ji, our beloved prime minister of India, did a campaign called - “Har Shikhar Tiranga”. Or flag on each peak. Next to the Tiranga, was a flag of Hanuman, who Shailu is a big follower off. An enterprising young man had a Chai stall at the peak. Sipping warm chai, at Vanajangi peak after a nice hike, a salute to the national flag and a prayer to Lord Hanuman was the best way to start to our anniversary vacation! - A big thanks to Shantan !!
While driving to our next stop, Shantan confided that he could both sleep well and was reflecting about my rhetorical questions - “What is your philosophy about life? What is your objective/ goal in life?”. Mavayya (or uncle), i have an answer and it is the same answer to both your questions. It is very simple - “I want to live”.
“But what about goals and objectives? Or a purpose of living? I am sure, you have a higher purpose? “. This kid, must be out of his mind, was my first impression. But Shantan, stayed calm and composed and replied, “Mavayya, I reflected on it a lot. I may not be able to explain it, but it is clear for me. Maybe by the end of this tour, i can show. For both your questions, it is still the same - I want to live”.
The hard nosed, career junkie in me wanted to beat some sense into him. But something told me, there is more to this young man and his words, than what meets the eye. Maybe it is worth waiting and discovering later. We are anyway together on the vacation for a few more days.
Stay tuned for “I want to live - part II”.
Very nicely written! You have the gift DSK! Nice pics too