My First Solo Trip At The Age Of 15

 "Send me a telegram when you reach", said my father. I was planning to travel to another city alone, for the first time in my life. I was 15.

My plan was to travel from New Delhi to Chandigarh, stay overnight, and return the next day evening back to home in New Delhi. Though this was to be my first trip alone outside the city, I had been travelling inside Delhi alone for quite some time. At the age of 11, I started travelling from home to the school by public bus, instead of the school bus. My parents could not afford the school bus, it was expensive. From home I used to walk to the bus stop, which used to involve crossing a major road with a lot of traffic. I then used to take either one direct bus or sometimes two buses, with a change of bus to reach the bus stop near my school. From that bus stop to reach the school, I had to cross two major roads. All this I did by myself. At the age of 13, my father bought me an "All Route Bus Pass", which was commonly known as "Saade Barah" in Delhi. Saade Barah means ₹12.50 (16¢), which was the cost of the bus pass for a month. The bus pass was available only to school and college students in Delhi. I had to get a form signed by the Principal of the school to get the bus pass. It allowed me to travel anywhere in Delhi, in any bus, at any time and as many times as I want. I was over the moon! 

My school was a six-day week, so every school holiday and every Sunday, I used to take a bus and travel until the last stop. I used to prefer double decker buses, I used to climb on top and sit right on the front seat, with the air blowing into my face. When the bus reached the last stop, I used to explore the place and then get into another bus and travel until the last stop again. I had the "Saade Barah" bus pass! I used to leave home in the morning and come back home only in the evening. For lunch, I used to eat Chole Bhature (fried Indian bread with spicy chick peas) from a road side cart. I explored the whole of Delhi in this manner. I used to travel by bus to the houses of my friends Madvesh and Vibhas. It was Vibhas who introduced me to Dr. B.C. Roy Children's Library, which was quite far from my house. I had to take two buses to reach. I used to go there regularly to borrow Enid Blytons, Biggles and Hardy Boys books. They also used to screen Tintin and Asterix movies. I never missed any of them. 

At the age of 14, I started having penfriends. I used to have penfriends in Sweden, Finland, Malta and other European countries. Because of my penfriends, I got interested in philately and started collecting stamps.  During my summer vacation, I came up with an idea. The idea was to visit an embassy, tell them that I was doing a school project on their country and ask them for their country's stamps. I went to the embassy of Poland to try it out. In the mid-1970s, embassies in New Delhi were not barricaded fortresses. Anyone could walk into an embassy and talk to a receptionist. I walked into the Polish embassy by myself and spoke to the receptionist. I told her my rehearsed story. She asked me to wait and called an officer from inside. A Polish woman came and met me. I told her the same rehearsed story. She smiled at me, went inside and came back with 10 or 12 stamps of Poland. I still have them. My idea worked! My father, who was a government employee, got me a list of all the embassies and high commissions in New Delhi with their addresses. I don't remember the exact number but there were about 100 embassies in New Delhi at that time. I visited each and every single one of them on my own. All of them gave me stamps, except one embassy. That was the Bhutanese embassy. The receptionist was very rude to me and said, "Bhutan's main export is sale of stamps. And you cunning boy, you want stamps free? Get out of here!". She then called the security guard who held my hand forcefully and escorted me out of the embassy. "Don't back back!", he shouted at me. Some of the embassies were very sweet. In the Japanese embassy, the Japanese receptionist was wearing a kimono. It was the first time I was seeing a woman wearing a kimono. She gave me Japanese tea while I waited. In the Italian embassy, they gave me a book of Italian recipes.

Now, my neighbour Vivek, who was 17, and I were planning to go on a trip to Chandigarh. Both his parents and my parents gave their permission for the trip. But one week before the trip, Vivek's parents rescinded the permission and said that they would not allow Vivek to travel to Chandigarh. My trip was in jeopardy. I spoke to my teacher, Bhuvaneshwari and told her about it. She said, "Why don't you go on your own? I went to Kurukshetra a few weeks ago. I went on my own. So can you". That evening, I told my parents that I wanted to travel to Chandigarh on my own. They said, "Impossible!". I think my father was fine with it but my mother had strong objections. She raised an objection that I had never spent a night without my parents. That was an untruth. When I was 10, my Uncle and Aunt had come to New Delhi from Madras (now Chennai). They didn't know Hindi. They knew only Telugu and Tamil. They wanted to travel to Haridwar and Rishikesh and took me along as a translator. My job was to translate Hindi conversations, signboards and menus to Telugu for them. They took me to Agra too. It was the first time that I was seeing the Taj Mahal. I spent several nights without my parents. I mentioned it to my mother who brushed it aside saying that it was a long time ago. I then said that my teacher, Bhuvaneshwari was fine with it and she had asked me to travel on my own to Chandigarh. They accepted! My trip was on. I was excited and also a little nervous. 

As I was planning to leave, my father said, "Send me a telegram as soon as you reach Chandigarh". Very few people in India had phones in their houses at that time. We did not have one. I went to the Inter State Bus Terminus, commonly known as ISBT in Delhi and got into a bus going to Chandigarh. There was a man sitting next to me. He never spoke to me for the entire journey of 5 hours. I felt strange having to buy a ticket for a bus ride, since I was used to my bus pass. When the bus reached Chandigarh, it stopped in several places. But I wasn't sure which was the nearest stop to my hotel. I decided to stay in the bus until it comes to a stop and then figure it out. I could not afford to take an auto rickshaw to my hotel. I figured out local bus routes and then took a bus to my hotel. When I checked in, the man in the reception asked me to pay the entire money upfront. There were no hostels in India at that time. The first Youth Hostel opened in New Delhi in 1978. After checking in, I went to the telegraph office and sent an "Urgent" telegram to my house, stating that I had reached Chandigarh. After wandering around Chandigarh, that evening I decided to go to Pinjore Gardens. I wanted to go in the evening since the gardens are lit up at night. Pinjore Gardens are about 20 km from Chandigarh, but in Haryana state. I reached Pinjore Gardens by bus and saw that there was a discount available for children. I asked for the discounted ticket at the counter and the man asked, "Where are your parents?". I said, "They have already gone ahead. I was in the toilet". He gave me the discounted ticket and allowed me to enter.

After returning from Pinjore Gardens, I went to a café. There was a band playing rock music. There was a small dance floor and a few couples were dancing. Chandigarh was one of the most affluent places in India in the 1970s. A couple of tables away from me, there was a very cute girl of about 14 or 15 years, sitting with her parents. I walked across to her and asked her if she wanted to dance. There was both shock and excitement in her eyes. She then said,"You will have to ask my father". I asked her father, "Can I dance with your daughter?". He said, "No!" with an air of finality in it. They left a short while later. As the girl passed me by, she gave me one of the sweetest smiles that I have seen!

The next day I planned to start my way back to Delhi. I went to the telegraph office and sent a telegram to my father, "Leaving Chandigarh. 11am". I then took a bus from the Chandigarh bus station and reached Delhi. The journey was uneventful. I reached home. After about 10 minutes, the telegram that I had sent from Chandigarh got delivered! My solo trip was over. 

Since then, in the last 43 years I have been on several solo trips to places and countries all over the world. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility of travelling solo. On some days, I do nothing other than sit in an outdoor bar, drink and people watch. I like to talk to people. I find that it is easier to talk to people when I travel solo. I also like to observe when I travel. Travelling solo gives me invisibility, so it is easier to observe. 

Have you ever travelled solo? At what age was your first solo trip and where was it to?

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