Aurangabad: A journey of pride




Victory of good over evil  - A cave painting at Ajanta
Photograpy - Aabeer Choudhury

  Let me explain the title right away. This is the childhood dream of a middle class boy from small town India realised. His dream was to sponsor his parents and himself a five star vacation. He realised it when he was 22. He is me.

 It was summer 2009; we had just disembarked from Tapovan Express at the Aurangabad railway station.I had arranged the tour through the company that I used to work for, wanted to impress my parents, wanted them to experience the kind of ‘tours’ of India that I used to sell to foreign nationals. An Innova  greeted us at the railway station along with the placard which read 'Thomas Cook welcomes Aabeer Choudhury’ and transferred us to the Welcom Hotel  Rama International. My Mom knew about our accommodation plans, my dad didn’t. He was in a shock when we crossed the hotel gates. Being a very miser traveller himself he thought that I would take them to a budget hotel due to influence of his DNA. 

We checked in and the bell boy loaded our luggage onto a trolley and escorted us to our rooms. I remembered the days of my industrial training as at the Taj Residency, Nasik. I was reminded of those days time and again when I saw the receptionist at work, the housekeeping staff cleaning our rooms and washroom, the garcon clearing our plates. This time it was different, I had made a transition from the staff to the customer within a span of three years. It felt great. I saw a calm in my mom’s face as my dad was busy inspecting everything from the glasses to the furniture. As he went out, I asked mom in Bangla “Ki holo Maa?” (What’s the matter Mom?). Her face turned from calm to emotional, I hugged her. She said “Kichu Naa.... bas Bhogobaan er Aashirbaad aimni tor shonge thakug” (Nothing, just hope that God blesses you always”) she said trying to control a tear of joy.

That evening we toured Panchakki which is  an engineering marvel dating back to the 17^th century. In its prime, the humble machiene used to utilize the kinetic energy of flowing water to grind grains for the locals. Next we visited the Biwi Ka Maqbara which is also known as the poor man’s Taj. It is unfortunate that this part marble structure is compared to the Taj Mahal and then rediculed because it makes a very impressive monument on its own.

Ellora
Photography - Lipika Choudhury

Ellora caves, one of the best Cave structures of our country was on our 'to visit' list next morning along with the impressive Daulatabad fort. Our accompanying guide for the day was Aasif (name changed); he was very thorough in his theory. Ellora is a massive collection of 34 rocks cut caves belonging to the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions. The massive carvings spellbound even the harshest travel critics, there are many impressive sculptures throughout the cave complex out of which Lord Shiva destroying Ravan’s pride as the latter attacked Kailash Parbat is the most memorable, every cave has a story to tell and hence it is advisable to hire a professional guide. After this we headed for the Daulatabad fort.  Daulatabad is a sturdy, mighty fort which has been conquered only once till date. Within its premises also stands tall with pride, the Chand Minar, the tallest minaret of India after the Qutub in Delhi.



Ellora Cave complex



After this we returned to our hotel. At the porch area I thanked Aasif, “ You will always be special to us, after all this was the first time I have taken my parents out on a vacation, and you have been a part of our journey” I said as I gave him his fees. I turned back towards the lobby and started walking in. I suddenly  heard  Aasif’s voice “ Mr. Choudhury, You should be proud of your son”. I started walking faster towards my room. My father had rarely ever complimented me in life, and that day was no different. Later on mom said that my dad replied to Aasif with an “I am”.

On our way to Ajanta
Photography - Aabeer Choudhury

The next day we woke up early as we had a 105 Km excursion to the Ajanta caves scheduled. Ajanta is a monument par excellence; it is incomparable to any monument I’ve seen till date. A series of about 30 caves situated on a horse – shoe shaped gorge along the Waghora river effortlessly tells the tale of the Buddha through its glorious and outstanding paintings. Its orientation being in the North – South direction has protected the paintings from the fury of the Sun God, unlike Ellora’’. The construction of the caves took place over the span of centuries commencing from 200 BC to AD 650. Then came in the surprise package of the tour. Srikanth (Name Changed) a guide who we managed to hire on location at the caves. A 50 plus short and soft-spoken gentleman, spoke about the monuments and described the paintings with such enthusiasm as if the monuments were crafted by his own hands. We listened like kindergarten kids to him.

He like anybody else thought my father was Aabeer Choudhury. He was shocked to know I was. “You don’t look old enough to be out of school, how could you work?” I began to get irritated. After a while when my parents were busy appreciating the caves, I and Srikanth had a touching conversation. He briefed me how his father was an uneducated slave, how he struggled to complete his education but emerged victorious with an M.Phil in Archaeology. “Today my son owns two farmlands where our ancestors were slaved and is now an agriculture scientist!!” he declared with pride. I shared my story with him

Photography - Aabeer Choudhury

Time had come to bid farewell to him. This journey of mine was emotionally enriching. I realised that if you really work hard and are honest and passionate about something, there is nothing in the world that can stop you from being the master of our own destiny. “All the best!” he said as we shook hands, “All the best to you and your son” I replied, I could almost see his eyes go moist as he turned around started walking fast and gradually disappeared into the crowd. This was the tale of this Travel Taler in which two sons made their respective parents proud in their own way.

P.S.  This journey could never have been possible without the help of Mr. Jaswant Singh, my ex-colleague from the Aurangabad branch of the company I used to work for. Thank you Jaswant, a self made man himself for helping us with all the arrangements.