WANDERLUST

                        My penchant for visiting and travelling to new and unknown places began in my student days. Since I was a voracious reader I used to go through  lot of magazines and novels of adventure of the World Classic Series. During these days, a popular column in the Mirror magazine (being published from Bombay and now defunct ) titled " The Hitch Hiker's Diary " greatly fascinated me.  Moreover, the adventures of explorers like Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Francis Drake ,Columbus and Vasco de Gama who circumnavigated the world had highly impressed me. Their encounter with strange people with their obscurantist culture and confrontation with hostile tribes had really made my hairs bristled up. I too was bit by the travel bug at an early age. I wanted to become a globe-trotter like them. However, my irrepressible desire to travel far and wide was partially fulfilled as destiny took me to Italy and France in 1989.I was overwhelmed with excitement visiting the countryside and small towns of these countries that were culturally, topographically different from India.

                        I have traveled to different parts of India and  have found  a sense of homogeneity in their diversities. Even in my state Odisha ,people of different districts have heterogeneous culture that fill me with wonder. Anyway, I love to travel to new places to know  about other people and to unfold their untold stories.

( Writer - Dr. Pradeep Kumar Nayak )