Today was a major cleaning and organizing day. While going through all this stuff, I found stuff and one of the things I found was my Canadian Traveller’s Diary. This is the journal I wrote in 2004 when I went on my epic journey to India. There were three things that were must do’s. The first was to see the Taj Mahal and it was an amazing structure that is a jewel in Agra’s crown. The second must see was the Golden Temple in Amritsar…the cornerstone of Sikhism. Now I am not an orthodox Sikh; however, I wanted to pay my respects to my ancestors. My final task was to go in search of my roots and find the place where my grand father left India and went in search of adventures.
Growing up, I asked my father about our roots and not too much was known except second hand information. My father’s older brother had been to the village but he passed away before we could get any firm coordinates. I went to India to locate and find our roots with literally a photograph and very limited information. My father’s older brother, who had gone to the village, had taken some photos so my cousin sent me a photo of the people in our village in front of the house…as seen on this post. All around me, and in the journal, I could not find a lot of support and people questioned why it was so important to me and why go in search of something that you might not succeed at. It started creeping into my journey and I wrote: “Now on the way…will try our best to find it. Not sure of the welcome or if we will even find it. I sit with anticipation.”
The information I had was limited and while I was originally told that the name of the village is Chaurdari, it was no where to be found but a source said that the name of the village is Janodi…did not find Janodi but did find Jandoli and all indications were that it was correct. Got to Jandoli and after much searching and visiting 5 different houses and lots of people helping, we did not have the right village. My last entry for the day: “I tried my best and did not succeed. I am greatly disappointed but I could not do more. Life’s lesson is that sometimes we do not get to that goal. This was my Everest and I do feel I was close and sometimes we have to abandon our journey and go back without the prize.”
The next day, I wrote: “Had a good sleep but very disappointed. If an opportunity presents itself to back, I will. Today we have the first day of rain.” After this, my driver arrived and we decided to get to a main part of the district and just ask people. Finally someone said Chaudauri is not far and we were off again with a reserved sense. After seeing a person at the entrance to the village, he took us to a house and out came many people. They looked at the photo and one person then identified herself. I found my grand father’s house and in the excitement, all I wrote was: “We found it!!!” There was such relief. We sat and talked for a long time and made all the connections. They knew of us but there was no way to reach us. Now I know that my father , being a paraplegic, is not going to be able to make it to the village. The reason I had to find the village in the first place, was for him. I had ziplock backs in my pocket. I went out to the field and scooped up dirt and brought the village home to him. This entire episode goes down as one of the most memorable times in my life.
This happened back in 2004, we are now in 2012 and what has this got to do with Sam’s 50/50-2012? Well, this is a reminder that by reflecting and writing years ago, I have memories and experiences that I will never forget. It also provides us the opportunity to go back and relive some very important times in our life. It also helps me to capture the essence of what this all means. I know for me, it was about persistence and not giving in to the pressures of abandoning for the sheer aspect of taking the easy way. I am also glad that it was not as simple as finding the village on the map and just showing up. It was about going on a real life adventure and journey. I think it is best said: “The more difficult the struggle, the sweeter the prize.” I am very pleased to have found this book and the memories. This is what CARPE Diem and the 2012 journey is all about and while this was a journal entry that I am re-telling…by doing this blog, I am doing another journal.
I love this story. I must learn to accept that I do not control the outcomes, only my actions. That being said, if you had turned back after suffering your first defeat you would have never found Chaudauri. Persistence. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Will. Amazing how you read a journal after the fact and come to some profound understandings. It was destined. In my journal writing, I had persistence, frustration, euphoria and passion, all rolled into the writings.