On a ‘self-discovery’, Sheetal Vaidya drove 25,000 km across 12 states to connect to the soul of varied communities staying in remote areas
‘Distance is just a mere illusion; we are all one and interconnected’ – with this bhav (feeling), Sheetal Vaidya, 39, undertook her ‘Bhav Yatra’, driving alone in her car for 25,000 km and covering 12 Indian states.
Indian woman travelling alone for inner transformation is still a rare phenomenon. Sheetal being an insulin-dependent diabetic patient, it was much more difficult for her to convince her family about her ‘Bhav-Yatra’.
“However, my husband -Neerad and I share a deep level of understanding. He knew my purpose of this yatra and didn’t oppose even once. With his support, I got the blessings and green signal from my parents and in-laws. He accompanied me for the first fifteen days to lessen the anxieties of my in-laws and parents,” said Sheetal.
Sheetal’s inspiration was Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan yatra or land gift movement. He walked on foot for alomst 15 years to inspire people to gift each other almost 5 million acres of land. “He approached each community with the intention of serving them. The urge to go on this journey was to test this theory of Vinoba Bhave,” she said.
Sheetal, through this journey of self-discovery, wanted to connect to the soul of varied communities staying in remote villages of India. Hence, Sheetal’s trip was completely unplanned with some set of rules to follow. “When you have a well structured plan, the beauty of a journey and exploration is lost. Therefore, from my entire journey from March 2, 2014 to October 2, 2014, I just paid for my petrol and toll tax. I remained completely dependent on villagers for accommodation, food and water,” she said.
She met with distress on the fourth day of her journey, when she started driving to reach Hajipir Dargah located in Kutch, Gujarat. She said, “The road to Hajipir was one of the most difficult drives. Suddenly, I found that my car was short of fuel and there were no petrol pumps on the road to Hajipir. But, as it is said, the universe guides you; we bumped into a local shopkeeper who was selling petrol in bottles.”
Another difficulty in Hajipur was that I was hungry and there was no home in the village that could offer me food. “I was sitting in the mosque, when I saw a group of four aged people in their seventies visiting the mosque. Learning about my yatra, they were happy and shared their meal with me,” she added.