Solo Journeys

That prolonged stillness had its own weight.

At some point, the confinement began to feel suffocating — not because of fear or inconvenience, but because of the absence of movement, chance encounters, and unplanned pauses. One day, almost impulsively, he set out on a long drive alone. The family was informed that he might return in a few days, or perhaps a week. There was no fixed destination, no route map, and no certainty about where the journey would lead.

That was how it began.

What started as a need to break away slowly revealed something deeper: a comfort in being alone on the road, thinking without interruption, stopping without reason, and moving without explanation. Over time, many journeys followed — some long, some short; some undertaken for work, some for pilgrimage, and some simply because the road felt necessary at that moment.

Preparation for these journeys was minimal — often nothing more than a mosquito net and a willingness to stay wherever the road led by late afternoon. There were no hotel bookings or fixed halts. By around four in the evening, the search would begin for a place to stop, followed by time spent simply moving around the area using whatever local means were available — an autorickshaw, a shared rickshaw, or any modest form of transport that allowed unhurried movement and conversation.

Those hours were often spent engaging with local people — listening, observing, asking, and learning — without an agenda. It was precisely for this reason that highways were consciously avoided. Long stretches of blacktop, fast-moving vehicles, and distance covered without human presence held little appeal. The preference was always for smaller roads, slower movement, and spaces where life unfolded visibly and conversations arose naturally.

These solo journeys were never about covering distance or reaching landmarks. They were shaped by pauses, detours, silences inside the car, and thoughts that surfaced only when there was no one else to speak to. Many moments that might have gone unnoticed in company found space to settle and be remembered.

This section brings together those journeys — not as itineraries or travel advice, but as lived experiences. Each journey carries its own rhythm and is often organised through a journey index, capturing what unfolded along the way rather than listing where all it went.

Over time, these journeys became less about travel, and more about what solitude on the road made visible.