THE JOURNEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE DESTINATION

The path may be long, it may curve and bend,
but the true worth of travel lies in the moment it lends.

[SITUATION:]

[SCENE 1]: An early morning in Pune for Varun, who just resigned from his job, to follow his life-long dream, travelling the world on a bike, capturing the stories of every tiny nook and corner of the world which is left unseen. With him is his trusty AI companion, Echo, who’s going to help him, rather than taking over the world. The road ahead of the duo stretches like a blank canvas, ready to be tainted by their stories.

 

-          ECHO: Good morning, Varun. What a nice sunny day to start your journey. I feel like today’s weather have been cleared just for starting your journey. Anyways, let’s go to our first stop, shall we? It’s a village near Nashik with a population of 1200, and no Wi-Fi, helping you to log off from the digital world for a while. You ready to trade your phone for some hearty conversations?

 

-          VARUN: I don’t know what I am looking for, Echo, but what I do know is that I won’t find it behind a desk in a corporate building in Pune.

 

-          ECHO: Well, then let’s start this journey, shall we? And, remember, don’t chase stories to unravel, let them find you for their unravelling.

 

[SCENE 2]: After hours passed, Varun stopped at a roadside chai stall nearby the village. An uncle in his 60s, wearing a Nehru cap, is serving chai. Varun strikes up a conversation, after ordering his chai.

 

-          VARUN: Hey uncle, one chai, please!

 

-          CHAI WALA: Sure thing, kid.

 

-          VARUN: Can I ask you a question? For how long have you been running this place. Do many travellers pass by?

 

-          CHAI WALA: Not many, but some travellers like you come to ask for some hot chai to me. Someone has to keep the tea warm. As for how long, that would be forty years. My son works in Dubai, but I stayed to serve people like you.

 

-          VARUN: Oh really, that’s such a good will to have. We need to have more people like you in this world. Oh, wait, I have an idea! Can I record your story?

 

-          CHAI WALA: I don’t have much work, so I guess you could.

 

[SCENE 3]: Days pass like hours, and Varun gets to visit so many people as well as amazing places. He sleeps under the starry sky, sometimes under temples, sometimes in strangers’ homes. He meets inspiring people, like a teacher teaching coding to kids in Odisha, a retired soldier planting trees, a blind sculptor in Tamil Nadu. He goes to many places, but records quite few.

 

-          ECHO: Varun, an update to your posts. Your followers are quite confused and send messages asking where you are. You haven’t posted in a while. Are you feeling okay?

 

-          VARUN: I may as well tell you, since you are the only trusty companion I have had in a lifetime. See, I’m here, Echo, sitting on this soft bed, more present than ever. But, maybe the world doesn’t need to see every tiny secret of the world. Maybe, some stories are just for the soul. You get it?

 

-          ECHO: I do, Varun. It is my utmost pleasure that I get to stay beside you on all your journeys.

 

[SCENE 4]: Months later, Varun visits a monk in the Himalayas. They both are sitting near a fire.  The monk says nothing, but Varun feels understood and at peace. Calm and collected than ever.

 

-          ECHO: You’ve come far, but you never stayed. You never reached a destination in this journey of yours. Is that your plan, all along?

-          VARUN: Maybe, or maybe not. But I think I’ve arrived somewhere. {THOUGHTS: Maybe Echo, the journey and destination are not different at all.}

 

[ESSAY:]

Many say life is a game, others a journey. But, at the end of the day, what matters is how you reached your destination. The goal is often decided by the journey. Let it be the largest NASA project or a small surprise party for a friend, the way things go, the moments it gives, are the true destination. That being said, destination isn’t irrelevant, but it is shaped by the journey that starts. So, not every goal should be defined by a destination, but by its journey. So, the journey may be like a winding path of wins and losses, but the emotions it lends, the moments it gives, how it shapes your will and belief, is the important part of a journey altogether.

 

If I wanted to give you an example, it would go like this:

·         I can’t cook. I can’t do typical things, you would require to survive in a house alone. My mother became a helping hand. She taught me how to do such things. I know, that, one day, I won’t have her to hold my hand, only myself. So, why not cherish every little effort she does for me. I tried cooking some chakuli, which is a flat Odia rice-based fermented cake, but mine was really thin, and not like the ones my mum made, but she still encouraged. She knows that experience is better than talent, the journey more important than the destination.

But goals and destination are important, the journey’s not everything. Think of it like this, journey is like our hands, destinations – some clayey soil, and goals as our thought. We think of a goal, then create a destination, and start shaping it with our journeys. The point of setting a goal is to go through the process of growing as a person, by uncovering new realities, harsh truths and new short-term goals that help in going towards the main goal. That growth can only be achieved only by working on the set goal, which also exposes the gifts found along the journey.

It’s like starting at point A and wanting to go to point B, but along the way, you find point C which feels greater than point B. Often, the real benefit of your goals, is to find something you don’t even know you want because you can’t spot it from where you stand, at present. It’s something meant for you to find, to uncover, to unravel. It won’t come to you, unless you try to find it. That said, I feel this essay has been informative enough, for you to feel the essence of the topic, the point C of this topic. Now, as we reach point B, our destination or the end, I would like to say,

 

“In chasing destinations, we often forget that the road itself is the real reward. For it is not where we arrive, but who we become along the way, that truly defines the journey.”

 

Thank you.