Book Review : 'World Travel in low budget!' by Shrinidhi Hande

As a travel enthusiast and a vivid blogger, I was closely following the blog posts of Shrinidhi Hande,  a well established blogger and IT professional and an amazing traveler, that too within low budgets that astonish us.   So when he first published about his book in Kannada, along with many of his regular readers, I too placed a request for the English version of the same.   Within a month and a half, Shrinidhi posted about the launch of his book, ' World Travel in low budget!'.   And I picked it up from amazon immediately and took my annual break to start reading the book.   The first thing I did on the first weekend of the year was to complete the same.   

Few Lines -  'Absolute delight to read this book which throws light of the no-nonsense ordinary traveler.  This book is the extraordinary feast to the travelers who want to explore the world.   This book also is an eye-opener that travel is not limited to rich and affluent only .  Each one of us can travel all over the world with good amount of planning, understanding our lifestyles and environment,  keep tab on the changing dynamics of the world and this book gives you an amazing reading experience with lot of tips in simple language and relating to the regular aspects of travel.   Want to explore the world?  Then, this book is a must read.

Shri very intelligently covers all aspects of travel,  right from how you can choose you dream destinations,  how to smartly keep a tab on checking for cheap flights,   challenges and opportunities to get Visa's having Indian Passport,    understanding currency of each country,  and most importantly where all you can save to make the travel budget-friendly. 

For sure, I cannot survive like Shri walking 15 miles a day and not hiring taxi even once,  but for sure, there are lot of other great take aways, like understanding public transport system of each country,    keeping online apps to support language barriers and how a great planning will ease your travel  and above all he emphasizes  on planning food, especially if you are a vegetarian.   

Shri gives a detailed checklists on various aspects of travel including Visas, Flight tickets,  Forex,  Climate and seasons,  do's and don'ts,   risks and how to mitigate them.

His concern for environment is in line with the concept of 'Mindful consumption' that I keep bragging about and he gives you great tips on how to be a responsible traveler.    Not just during travel, but practicing these tips even in our day to day life will make huge difference to our health, happiness and environment

He throws light into some of his experiences of travelling to 39 countries in the last 9 years since his first travel to Sri Lanka in 2011 and it is a great motivation now to plan the next travel and pack your bags asap and enjoy the beautiful world that is awaiting to be explored by you.

God bless you Shri for this beautiful book.  May your travel continue for ever and may you one day reach 100+  Nations and keep spreading the message of travel happiness wide...for travel is a great teacher of the best of lessons in life.   

Her Divine Grace - Living in her Aspirations - Way of Life...Mother and Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo so said

" Nobody can transform himself by his own unaided efforts; it is only the Divine Force that can transform him. If you keep yourself open, all the rest will be done for you."

CWSA-31

The psychic being in Savitri

The first line of this verse describes the psychic being as being “no bigger than the thumb of man”. This is an allusion to verse 2.1.12 of the Katha Upanishad which says “The Purusha, of the size of a thumb, dwells in the body. (Realizing Him as) the Lord of the past and the future, one does not (henceforward) want to protect oneself. This verily is that (thou seekest).“

She puts forth a small portion of herself,

A being no bigger than the thumb of man

Into a hidden region of the heart

To face the pang and to forget the bliss,

To share the suffering and endure earth’s wounds

And labour mid the labour of the stars.

This in us laughs and weeps, suffers the stroke,

Exults in victory, struggles for the crown;

Identified with the mind and body and life,

It takes on itself their anguish and defeat,

Bleeds with Fate’s whips and hangs upon the cross,

Yet is the unwounded and immortal self

Supporting the actor in the human scene.

Through this she sends us her glory and her powers,

Pushes to wisdom’s heights, through misery’s gulfs;

She gives us strength to do our daily task

And sympathy that partakes of others’ grief

And the little strength we have to help our race,

We who must fill the role of the universe

Acting itself out in a slight human shape

And on our shoulders carry the struggling world.

This is in us the godhead small and marred;

In this human portion of divinity

She seats the greatness of the Soul in Time

To uplift from light to light, from power to power,

Till on a heavenly peak it stands, a king.

(Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Book VII, Canto V)

Om Namo bhagavathey Om Sri Aurobindo devaya Namaha!

Year 2020 had a great beginning by visiting the beautiful Flowers decoration and group meditation and prayer songs to Sri Aurobindo and Mother at my friend Kumaran's best friend Jaya's house.  

Small things make a great beginning and this one hour of group satsang brought in great positive vibes and absolute inner energy to start the year with great enthusiasm and blessing of the Divine Mother.   Thank you Kumaran for this auspicious beginning.