Dear Friends,
During our childhood, I used to be fascinated by sitting by the window, especially on inter-state trains. If I reflect on this today, it gives us enormous opportunities to understand life. Slow-moving passenger trains help us to introspect deeply, especially as they pass through slums near railway stations, deep jungles, tunnels, different houses and lifestyles across states. We can observe the behavior and economic backgrounds of people boarding the trains. We will not get this opportunity in Express and superfast trains.
Whenever we traveled to Raipur, it was almost a 15-hour journey on a slow passenger train. It stopped at every station and gave way to express trains. In those days, there were very limited options for attending to nature's call because the train was often filled to 200% capacity. Once you left your seat, there was almost no chance of getting it back. Sometimes, we even slept just to reduce the biological pressure!
Recently, we drove from Vizag to Coimbatore (more than 1,300 km). As I am the sole driver in my family, I had to keep my eyes fixed straight ahead and avoid the side views. On top of that, I could not sleep but had to remain alert throughout the journey. It took almost one and a half days. The roads were sophisticated and uniform, and there was relatively little to observe about the habitats along the entire stretch.
You might be wondering why I am writing about journeys in this story.
Most of our trips are for recreation, better opportunities, or better prospects. They are usually optional and not driven by the struggle for survival. However, this week, two real stories prompted me to reflect on this subject.
A couple of days ago, I read about a female Amur falcon that had been fitted with a satellite transmitter in South Africa and later reached Finland. Her journey covered approximately 10,000 km in just 42 days. She migrated from her wintering grounds in South Africa, flying north through Zimbabwe or Botswana, then across Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. From there, she crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, continued through parts of Eastern and Central Europe, and finally reached Finland, her breeding destination.
She traversed diverse landscapes, including African savannas, tropical forests, arid regions, coastal zones, and European woodlands, demonstrating one of nature's most extraordinary examples of endurance, navigation, and seasonal adaptation.
Look at her resilience. She is doing it for survival. Her internal biological clock, internal map, and constant decision-making—finding freshwater, deciding where to rest, navigating unknown places, and avoiding predators—are purely biological, without any technological assistance. She endures changing weather, mountain ranges, and strong winds across East Africa; crosses the Sahara Desert at temperatures touching 45°C, often flying for long hours to beat sandstorms; crosses the Mediterranean Sea without rest; and finally enters the cool weather of Finland.
Another story shook my heart.
Yesterday, thousands of migrants, mostly young Moroccans, traveled from various cities to Ceuta, a Spanish city on the North African coast, hoping to reach Europe after hearing that the border had become easier to cross. In the videos that went viral, many were swimming with bare bodies and without backpacks against strong currents and cold waters in the Strait of Gibraltar. A standard Olympic swimming pool is only 50 meters long. However, these young men attempted to cross more than 50 Olympic-size pool lengths in the open sea under unpredictable conditions.
At least 60 people died, and those who arrived found little food, water, shelter, or any way to continue to mainland Spain. Hungry and exhausted, more than 48,000 of the estimated 50,000–60,000 migrants returned to Morocco within a day, their hopes of finding work and a better life-giving way to the harsh reality of survival.
A real education lies in understanding both a vacation journey and a survival journey.
Ravi Saripalle
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