A Trip Through Culture Nischal Samrat   © Copyright 2021 by Nischal Samrat

Never had I known that a single day field trip could be experienced like a fortuitous cultural unearthing opportunity at a young age. I can still feel the reminiscence of my indelible field trip of my fifth grade. It made me understand the rich cultural roots of my ancestors, marvelous places yet to be visited out there in this enormous world, and how the modernization has led an impact on our culture and the new generation of citizens.

Half of my school’s semester was done. One fine day, during the math class, everyone was literally floating in their dream lands with their drowsy eyes and ears open for a tedious lecture. My legs wanted to run in an empty field to demonstrate the freedom of living. I dropped my pencil when I heard the door banging. A notice from our school had been brought to us that there would a field trip three weeks from now. Everyone gets thrilled by the news. We wrote the specifications of the trip in our dairies.

At the beginning, I didn’t understand what a ‘field trip’ would be like. My best friend made it clear to me. I went home carrying a doubt whether my parents would agree to it or not. A couple of days later, I submitted my fee for the trip. It took me days to convince my mother that I would return home out of harm’s way. A night before the trip, I packed some chips and saccharin chocolates in my sling bag before I dived into my bed to sleep. My eyes were open wide throughout the night, wondering what I could experience in tomorrow’s journey. When the alarm went off, I geared up to face the day.

My dad dropped me to school by 7:30 a.m. After bidding goodbye to him, I went inside a class where my classmates were listening to the instructions of the teacher. Fifteen minutes later, when everyone had arrived, we took off in a bus to Tavarekere to visit the ‘Dodda Alada Mara’ or the ‘Big Banyan Tree Park’ which had enormous big banyan trees of 400 years old each and spread across 3 acres. There were some monkeys which were jumping from one tree to another and living its freedom to its fullest. We were made to sit in a group for a quarter hour on vacant stone slabs, far away from those monkeys. They gave us a few basic instructions and then let us play in that vast greenery filled paradise. My friends and I played a lot of games as much as much as we could until they called us for the breakfast. We were tired of all the chasing and running and finally stood in a line along with plates to take some food from the buffet. My growling stomach stopped its cry after the first bite of the delicious idli, a south Indian dish made of steamed cake of rice, along with sambar and chutney. After having three idlis, I put some upma, a very famous morning dish in south India, in my plate twice.

After having a heavy breakfast, we were made to sit on the same stone slabs where one of our teachers took our photos with her camera. Later, we set off to Ramanagara to visit the culturally magical ‘Janapada Loka’ meaning ‘Folk World’ which is a 15-acre campus, where rural milieu of Karnataka have been recreated. It also houses a plethora of rural artifacts which bring out the theme of folk literature, music, dance, festivals, sculpture, and lifestyle of people of Karnataka. It also had beautiful gardens and a vast playground.

During our travel, I was sitting next to my bestie. We gossiped a lot about our school, television shows, animated series, and ate some of the snacks which we had brought from our homes. One of our classmates had brought along with him a binoculars. He gave it to everyone who asked for it except me. I felt sidelined. What sort of an idiot is he? I asked myself. These days, children’s minds are filled with an illusion of superiority. Considering themselves at the top of hierarchy of supremacy. Parents are overprotective towards them. They pamper them in a way that they are completely unprepared to face the harshness of the material world when they come out of college as graduates.

After an hour of travel, we arrived at Janapada Loka. I didn’t knew the amount of eye-openers which were waiting for me. We were made to walk in a line along with our teachers so there wouldn’t be a chance of getting lost in that huge campus. There were multiple museums filled with thousands of ancient artifacts. I don’t remember the names of all of them, except Chitra Kuteera, and Arghyamala, which tempted me the most.

Swords, armors, bows, arrows, spears, paintings, collection of currencies used in India before its partition in 1947, amulets, sculptures of rural people celebrating festivals, jewelries made from gold and other rare metals, dolls made of clay, mud pots of various patterns, ancient bronze and silver vessels, magnificent stone sculptures, exquisite rings, crowns, a great diversity of musical instruments, war drums, and much more preserved antiques and relics.

Each museum was crowded on that day. While exploring them, my best friend and I got lost in the crowd. We couldn’t find where our group had gone. There was a small door which was half open through which we went outside the museum. We didn’t know where to go. We spent some time roaming in the park. After a while, we finally met our classmates who had finished their tour through all the museums. After having a heavy lunch of pulao, and having drunk a glass of lemon juice, I felt an urge to pee. I didn’t knew where the restroom was located. I was too shy to ask our class teacher but I built up some confidence and asked her. She pointed out at the wooden restroom which was a bit far from the park. I asked my friends for some company but none had the urge for a pee. I went near it and felt a ghostly presence. The door was stuck so I pushed it hard and went inside.

My heart literally skipped a beat when someone called out my name from behind. I nearly stumbled by assuming it was a ghost. Surprisingly, it was my friend who had come to pee. I relieved in sight. We both went out of the restroom together after peeing and met our friends who had finished their lunch. We played various games in the huge playground until our teachers announced that we were getting late for our next and concluding destination of our trip. We packed all of our stuff and prepared to depart. I wished we could spend more time in that place but I wasn’t the decision maker. Though we were leaving that place, my heart was trapped in those museums. One of my buddies had brought some money along with him. He purchased a mud sculpted doll along with others who had money. I wished I too had asked my dad for some cash in the morning before the trip.

When we were nearing the exit gate, there were a few old women who were singing ‘Janapada Geetha’, also called folk song. We went inside the bus, we shuffled some of our seats but I still got a chance to sit along with my bestie. The people who’d love to dance, sat in the front and the people at the back were spectators. We kept listening to songs and dancing inside the bus until we reached ‘Ramdev Hills’. My inner spirit was energized even more after the bus stopped there. It is India’s only vulture sanctuary and an area of rocky hills popular for hiking and birdwatching.

My heart broke along with my expectations when it was announced that hiking was canceled due to shortage of time. It had become 5:50 p.m. Our plans for hiking the hills had fallen apart. We were made to sit inside the bus for a couple of minutes. We were filled with a little anticipation of what the teachers were up to, though most of us had fallen in despair. They asked us to get up from our seats and get down from the bus one after another. I wondered whether the bus had a mechanical failure and we were shifting to another bus. When it was my turn, I went out of the bus without any hopes of hiking. The teachers had kept huge boxes of chips and juices in front of them. They were distributing them to each student consecutively.

It was unpredictable. I went back inside the bus along with others and we set off to return to our school. Our teacher had captured a ton of our activities in her camera. She told us that we could download them from our school’s website the following week. We returned to our school after a tiresome day of a cultural tour and a reminiscence burned deep in our hearts.

My dad was waiting for me along with the other parents. I went back home, rejoicing each moment of the trip which was like a great adventure. My mother hugged me after I returned home and I ate that packet of chips which was given to me at Ramdev Hills by watching the television. Throughout the night I kept remembering those artifacts and hoped that someday I could visit them again.

People without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture, are like trees without roots. We must retain our ancestor’s glory in our hearts and never let it fade away. We have to respect our elders and not treat them with substandard attitude. We should practice empathy and respect each other. The social media sets up an example to mankind. Some leftists spread hatred all over the social media about their own culture without having a piece of knowledge of its magnificence and splendor. We need to educate the next generation of youngsters, not only on the basis of the methodical curriculum but also passing on our moral principles to make them better citizens.

He was a daydreamer during his childhood which later helped him to develop his imagination skills. Most of his works are based on science-fiction. He started writing when he was 10 years old. He has been learning guitar since the past three years. He believes that story telling could change the lives of many as it has the power which no other profession can have.

Most of his songs deal with melancholy. In his Alfred Stone franchise, he depicts his imagination on how he wanted to live his high school days. He is a very determined person and doesn’t leave any of works unfinished. He wrote his first song, ‘Achievement’, on the day he finished writing his first book. He later wrote many songs in a similar pattern.

He has faced a couple of difficulties since his childhood which later helped him to understand the value of life. Writing helped him to overcome his depression. He has a good piece of knowledge in acting, editing and directing which helped him to make his short films. He is fifteen years old now and aspires to achieve success in writing.

Nischal Samrat was born on June 10^th, 2006, in Karnataka, India. He is currently studying in tenth grade. He has written three books, ‘Katsuwa Kalotree: Hypnosis Hillary’, ‘Alfred Stone & The Vacation Hunt’, and ‘Alfred Stone & The Forbidden Island’. He has written a couple of poems and songs. He has made over 12 short films which are out on YouTube in his name.

Nischal Samrat was born on June 10th, 2006, in Karnataka, India. He is currently studying in tenth grade. His books are- ‘Alfred Stone & The Vacation Hunt’, and ‘Alfred Stone & The Forbidden Island’. He has written a couple of poems and songs. He has made over 12 short films which are out on YouTube in his name.

Nischal Samrat was born on June 10th, 2006, in Karnataka, India. He is currently studying in tenth grade. He started writing since he was 10 years old. He has written the books- ‘Alfred Stone & The Vacation Hunt’, and ‘Alfred Stone & The Forbidden Island’. He has written a couple of poems and songs. He has made over 12 short films which are out on YouTube in his name.