Impact of Traveling on Mental Health ft. Manish Lakhani - #talks - the Mental Health Series Podcast

13 July 2024

Impact of Traveling on Mental Health ft. Manish Lakhani - #talks - the Mental Health Series Podcast


In this conversation, Manish Lakhani shares his journey of quitting his corporate life and taking up traveling. He discusses the courage and passion required to pursue one's dreams, the importance of preparation and research before traveling, and the therapeutic value of travel. He also talks about the role of friends and family in supporting one's passion and the importance of accepting and finding solutions to challenges. He emphasizes the need to be open-minded and adaptable while traveling and its impact on personal growth. Manish Lakhani concludes by discussing his perspective on spirituality and the lessons he has learned from his travel experiences.

Manish Lakhani's profile: https://www.withmanish.com/

Takeaways --Having the courage to pursue your passion and take risks can lead to fulfilling experiences. --Preparation and research are important to ensure a smooth and enjoyable trip. --Traveling can have therapeutic value and help in personal growth. --The support of friends and family is crucial in pursuing one's passion. --Accepting and finding solutions to challenges is key to enjoying the travel experience. --Traveling can provide unique and unpredictable experiences that contribute to personal development. --Spirituality can be found in the journey itself and the lessons learned from travel.


Full Interview Transcript:

Nazneen Kachwala (00:00.0)

Hi Manish Sir, thanks a lot for joining this initiative and it's a pleasure to have you for this episode. 


Manish (00:12.462)

Thank you so much for the invite and let us see how it goes. 


Nazneen Kachwala (00:18.555)

Yeah, so today while in the morning when we were just texting each other about the logistics of this podcast, you happened to tell me that today is a landmark day in your journey because you quit your corporate life, I think 11 years back in 2013 and took to traveling across India on your bicycle. So why would someone do like that? And what happened that initiated this travel bug in you? 


Manish (00:49.006)

I don't know how it happened but I'm still looking for the person who inspired me to travel like that and I'm still cursing him because in a positive way not in a negative way because because of that person I'm still traveling around and seeing different places in a different way, experience, culture and everything. So in positive note I'll say I'm really blessed and I really would like to thank that person whenever I meet them again saying that much. 


Manish (01:16.43)

You gave me a really good impact in terms of, you know, you inspired me and I'm traveling today. Yeah. 


Nazneen Kachwala (01:24.347)

Yeah, but so usually what happens is everybody that I know or most of the people I know would want to do something different from their job. Either they do not know what to do or either they don't have the courage to take up to their passion. But you showed that courage probably with some inspiration, with some motivation from your friends. How can someone develop that courage and passion and 


Nazneen Kachwala (01:54.011)

Why do you think it's important or is it important at all? 


Manish (01:56.141)

So you know, I'll tell you very frankly speaking, in first place, in Indian environment, in coming from a, you know, Indian family background and everything, a typical, you know, the middle class family, when you decide to do something like this, nobody will accept you because you know my background. I used to work in, you know, IT infrastructure for quite some time and I was well settled, you know, working with multinationals. 


Manish (02:21.517)

huge income was coming in and everything and when you start traveling or decide to quit something like this it's a shock for the entire family what will happen, how will you earn there are so many other things will come up so and you know there is no standard solution for that even your parents want to support you even your you know your brother wants to support you, even your sister wants to support you, even your friends want to support you but you know it's still like you know there is always some kind of a questions coming to the family from a different society you know 


Manish (02:50.093)

different source of society or maybe within the family, extended family, why this person has did it and what he will do it. So that you have to figure it out. There is no standard way for finding a solution saying that you will do this and you have a solution. That's not going to happen any day. So one has to fight that battle their own and they have to figure it out. So for me, it was like, I worked in corporate when I decided to do that. It was almost 15 years. And during corporate also, I used to travel a lot. 


Manish (03:20.012)

I used to travel for almost four days in a week. So that time also I was, you know, visiting different places and everything, but it was like, like office to airport and airport to office kind of a thing. But my hobby towards, you know, traveling and doing little kind of an adventure around here and there, that kept me motivated to go to different places. So whenever there's a little time in between, during the office travel, I used to, you know, go and visit some places. So that's where, you know, I kept my curiosity alive. 


Manish (03:49.837)

And that helped me a lot when I decided to move out from my corporate life and start traveling full time. 


Nazneen Kachwala (03:58.555)

What is your relationship with photography? 


Manish (04:02.252)

So it came suddenly actually when as a kid you know my uncle he was working with fine arts in Baroda, fine arts college in Baroda. He is a very known and very very known sculpture, national award winner and he used to do lots of documentation in terms of travel and everything. So you know I got inspired by him not because he was taking good pictures but looking at the camera because camera was like very expensive commodity those days. 


Manish (04:31.436)

So I, and I was privileged to touch that camera. So when, whenever I used to touch the camera in school days, I used to tell people that, boss, I touched camera today. So that's where it started. And very first on camera was a digital, for film was there, but you know, when I started traveling, had a little budget when I was in a corporate, I bought one small camera. I don't remember the name, but I used to take pictures and people. 


Manish (04:59.179)

telling you are taking good pictures and a good way to you know telling your story basically photographs you know supports your storytelling kind of thing so my photography started with that. 


Nazneen Kachwala (05:12.155)

then it complemented your travel expeditions. 


Manish (05:16.076)

Yeah, 


Manish (05:16.255)

basically when I talk about somebody, I saw a beautiful sunset or maybe a beautiful sunrise, and people say, how it looks like? So I say, this is the picture. So it started with that. 


Nazneen Kachwala (05:30.779)

Right, so I would love to know a little more about your recent travel expedition. 


Manish (05:36.844)

So recently I was in a country which I wanted to travel for a long time and that was Bhutan. Yeah, so Bhutan, you know, people were read about lot, I heard about a lot about the place. So that was my recent travel which I think I was there in last month. So I spent almost two weeks or little or more than that. 


Nazneen Kachwala (06:04.183)

Okay, now, so do you think that people should consider traveling or has traveling brought a shift in your perspective mindset any added any therapeutic value to yourself? 


Manish (06:21.931)

Of course, because you know most people they generally travel for the work or maybe for the vacation. I don't think so you know that's travel is a travel actually. One should travel like very free kind of a thing without planning anything to know things around how it works, what kind of a challenges they are going to get during you know a travel. And I think you know that's why you start learning how to overcome with the challenges when something comes suddenly. That not only helps you in terms of finding solutions. 

Manish (06:49.674)

during the regular life but it can help you in your work life also, in family life also. That really helps a lot. So one should travel. It's not like that you have to find some expensive or maybe very exotic location to go around and travel. Just go to the bus station, take a local bus, go to some place and come back in evening. That could be a nice travel. 


Nazneen Kachwala (07:16.731)

But some different people have different personalities and different kind of traveling would suit them. Right. So maybe for people like you or even someone for me like me would want to pick up like a spontaneous travel. But this is also the way we have evolved. Like I have evolved this way. Maybe. 


Nazneen Kachwala (07:40.411)

someone else who doesn't have that kind of personality would probably want to opt to travel the way he or she wants. Do you agree with it? How can travelling of any kind add a therapeutic value? 


Manish (07:55.658)

So it can be anything like you are not traveling only to see the place around, right? It could be anything. It could be any purpose. It could be any reason one wants to travel. Somebody wants to travel for the food. Somebody wants to travel for, you know, to look for the culture. Somebody wants to enjoy the festival. Somebody wants to enjoy the landscape. Somebody wants to enjoy the wildlife. And somebody just don't want to do anything but will just go and see it, right? To experience the wild. So, you know, travel can help to find whatever, you know, 


Manish (08:23.882)

you are looking for some, you know, the place or whatever, you know, hobby or whatever activities you are looking for. So definitely, you know, you have to travel like you say you want to see movie, right? For an example, you have to travel these days, you know, it's movies and those things are available, you know, just on the laptop or maybe on the screen. But just think 10 years back, it was not there. So you used to travel at least to the cinema, cinema hall or maybe you are multi -place. 


Manish (08:52.681)

That experience is also a travel experience. That's what I call it. It's not always a long distance. You might be walking, you might be taking bicycle, you might be taking motorbike, but you travel from one place to other place, right? And it can give the 10 minutes of travel or 15 minutes of travel from your place to a cinema hall. Can give you any kind of experience. 


Nazneen Kachwala (09:16.091)

Now, so there's something called the monotony of life, you know, whenever someone's probably in a corporate or running a business or maybe involved into the day to day activities of nurturing the family, the life after some point becomes monotonous. And to break this monotony, people tend to travel, go on vacations or just for experiential purposes, right. But for someone like you, who's always traveling, 


Nazneen Kachwala (09:45.307)

Doesn't traveling become monotonous to you? And then what do you do to take a break from traveling? What do you ever take a break from traveling? 


Manish (09:52.744)

Of course, anybody, you know, like when you talk about monotony, it's going to happen. So whenever I am at home, you know, I'm having my vacation time. 


Manish (10:01.961)

I can say that but definitely when you have a urge to see something new, you want to experience something, I don't think so it become like you know some tiresome activity. You love to experience something right. So you definitely keep going around here and there. So it's not like that you know travel travel because you know nobody is living with you know n numbers of source of income. So you have to do some kind of an activities. So definitely you have to find some balance around here and there. 


Manish (10:31.369)

where you know you are doing your financial activities, you are travelling, you do something like that. So there is always a space for improvement or taking a break kind of a thing. You also have a family, right? So you want to meet some family members, you want to see your parents, you want to see your brothers, you want to be a part of some family event. So there is always opportunities to take break in between. So it's not like that travelling means you keep travelling and you get tired at the end of the day. So any activity if you keep doing tirelessly, 


Manish (11:01.256)

This is what we say but there is always some limit to it. 


Nazneen Kachwala (11:08.027)

What is a good travel experience according to you? 


Manish (11:12.647)

Travel itself is an experience. 


Manish (11:16.457)

Am I right? Why you travel? You travel to experience something, correct? And travel is generally like, you know, it is completely unpredictable things can happen. And that's, and if something is like very predictable, then there is absolutely no fun. Something is unpredictable, then that helps you, you know, the element of surprise basically. That helps you and that motivates you to travel. If I know everything is going to happen on time, this is, you know, like you say you are getting a breakfast this morning 8 o 'clock. 


Nazneen Kachwala (11:18.715)

Yeah. 


Manish (11:46.664)

because it is there on the table at home or maybe you are staying in some hotel. But when you travel, try to see that those things are not there. You go and search for the breakfast, you go and search for some food, go and search for the location. That uncertainty makes your life more valuable than certain things. 


Manish (12:06.984)

So travel gives you that opportunity to have uncertainty in your life. 


Nazneen Kachwala (12:15.675)

And so of course you talk about uncertainties and then these uncertainties of course brings disappointments as well when you're traveling. And not just when you're traveling but also in life when you experience some uncertainties you become disappointed because there are always expectations, right? So while traveling or while you're not traveling, how do you overcome these disappointments and these challenges? Yes, disappointments are there everybody will you know go through that period or maybe you know they have incidences or events where you will feel that it's not happening the way you wanted but you know if you accept it then I don't think so you know that's a disappointment you just enjoy that moment like for an example as a photographer if I go for shooting for say you know as a beautiful somebody told me this place is a beautiful sunset place you should go and take photos that person might be showing me some photos also right 


Manish (13:10.183)

If I go there, there is like overcast day, there is no sun, it's raining and there is no beautiful sunset. So definitely as a photographer I might get disappointed. But as I travel I will not get disappointed because I am experiencing something else. Then what people generally you know, generally experience it. Because you know if you are at place where people are talking about beautiful sunset and sunrise every day. But when I go there, if it's raining with clouds around here and there. So I feel myself very lucky. 


Manish (13:39.718)

to experience that which is completely different than you know most people are experiencing that. If you take that thing as a positive definitely there are no disappointments. One has to enjoy the situation. 


Nazneen Kachwala (13:55.163)

Yeah and why do you think that these experiences are important and why does these experiences make you feel lucky? What does it do to your mind? 


Manish (14:07.687)

So it's very simple like you know everybody is as I said like when you see a sunrise you know sunrise everybody is looking at beautiful sunrise sunrise or sunset at one location and you go and feel your beautiful sunset but your sunrise then you know out of 100 people 90 people are seeing the same thing if there is a cloudy there is no good colors but you know it's very dramatic clouds are there so you are only among those 10 percent where you know you are lucky to see which is different. 


Manish (14:37.063)

It's not all about, you know, looking at beautiful colorful sunset, but something else is also there. That's another natural element which is giving you a surprise and you must enjoy it. And that as a photographer, it happens to multiple times. So, I'll give you an example. I was there once in Indonesia. I was shooting Mount Bromo. That night it was raining. So, I reached there around one o 'clock midnight. 


Manish (15:06.022)

because we wanted to have a beautiful sunset. And typical when you see that kind of a night or previous evening, the next day morning is the entire valley is like, you know, it's flooding with the clouds. So the Mount Bromo is a volcano in Indonesia. So you generally see a volcano up and the entire valley is full of clouds. That day surprisingly, there was absolutely no clouds. 


Manish (15:32.838)

Then people, you know, even I was disappointed saying, there is no cloud. What am I supposed to do now? When I came back with those pictures, a friend of mine just told me, you are so lucky. I said, what happened? I did not see a cloud. He said, you are the lucky because most people see only clouds. They don't see the rest of the things. So that's, you know, opened my eyes, saying that was not only one aspect. There's a different aspect in the life. It might be challenging, but it's a different experience, right? So I have the pictures of those places where, you know, 


Manish (16:02.278)

It's completely different than what other people have. So you know that's like a positive impact. Initially you might feel that it's not good but yeah it's good actually, it's completely different. 


Nazneen Kachwala (16:16.479)

So besides taking solo travels, I also know that you travel a lot with the groups and different teams and I'm sure it must have evolved you as a team player. Would you want to say something about it? 


Manish (16:33.286)

Yeah, because you know you have to be, I said earlier like you know you have to find some balance between either you have to be super rich or you have to be like you know you have to find a middle ground somewhere you also can you know fulfill your financial need. So I also do lots of solo travel alone also I'll go myself or maybe I go with the friends and everything but at the same time I you know take like -minded people with me on a trip where they wanted to learn photography or maybe they wanted to learn 


Manish (17:02.726)

you know how to travel kind of a thing on some kind of you know expeditions where we go for you know maybe a climbing or go for a hiking or maybe some kind of a trekking. So yeah I do take people along with me so we learn lot many things from each other if you are traveling with open -minded. So you know people everybody as an individual you are different. So whether I say you are like -minded I am like -minded you know with couple of other people that's not true everyone has a different habit right. So you 


Manish (17:32.517)

Sometimes you learn a lot in terms of saying what this guy is doing this way. It's easy way to do it. Or maybe sometimes you learn something, he has done something like this and it's not good to do it. So you have to be smart enough not to repeat the same mistake. So you know, it's group travel is its own advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes like you wanted to spend some more time at one place. But when you are in a group, you have to go with other people. So you have to go with the same vibe. So you have to be... 


Manish (18:01.637)

becoming more understanding about the people and what they want to do it. So basically you know it's not good to be alone all the time because group will teach you how to you know cooperate with other people because you are not going to be alone throughout the life, correct? So you are always with your friends or maybe with unknown people, maybe with the family. So that helps a lot in terms of you know balancing out things. 


Nazneen Kachwala (18:30.619)

So I would just share very briefly one of my travel experiences because I think it connects very well with this subject. It was my first travel that I took with an unknown group. So I was traveling completely solo from Baroda but I had to reach Delhi and meet a group there and then from there we were supposed to travel towards Manali and it was a little far from remote place from Manali. And on the first day of the trek I slipped on the ice layer. 


Nazneen Kachwala (18:59.803)

and I injured my arm very badly. Very badly and it was not, I was not able to move my arm and I was not able to eat, drink, not, I couldn't take any shower. It was very badly injured. And I was in the middle of complete strangers and people I had just met a few hours back. And there were some really, really helpful people, girls who volunteered not just to do my work, to wash my dishes, but there were people who were feeding me with their hands. 


Nazneen Kachwala (19:29.595)

And that brought to me a very, very different perspective towards strangers and towards life. And I think that is something I love about trekking especially and traveling in group and traveling out of comfort. Yeah. 


Manish (19:46.692)

So basically you know that's like when you are out of comfort you find ways to make your things comfortable right and that's the learning actually. Like if you travel by flight it is more organized way so you generally don't learn much because you generally know you know you have to reach to the airport, board the flight, you go and you know you reach another place right it's very simple way to travel. When you travel by a train, 


Manish (20:12.739)

That's a different way of travelling. You are experiencing so many things because train stops at many places. So if you have a longer period of journey, maybe 10 hours or maybe 12 hours or maybe 24 hours, you experience different food, different people. You make friends also on train, which is not possible on flight. Maybe it's less possibilities to make that kind of a friendship on a flight. So longer period of travel, this kind of a travel, you know, 


Manish (20:42.564)

the way of different travel, the mode of travel, transport and everything that helps a lot to you know build yourself as a strong human being because you also start you know talking with other people the way you got treated by other unknown people. Someone may be in the same situation you start helping them right away. 


Nazneen Kachwala (21:02.715)

Right. Sir, what is your theory of researching a travel destination before you decide to travel there? I know spontaneity is something that you love, but I'm sure there is some research that you do before going to a particular destination. 


Manish (21:20.835)

Of course I do that because you know I don't want to go there like completely blind and you know end up in the problems. Because if you know I will give you a simple example. For an example somebody wants to travel in Ladakh right. I have no research done about the place. I go there and you know I fall sick because I am on a high altitude I have no clue what has happened there. Then that place you know you feel that you are in summer in Baroda you are you know roasting yourself in 45 degree. You end up in layer nights are zero degree. 


Manish (21:49.698)

you don't have proper clothing. So that kind of preparation is a must for anyone who is travelling. If I am travelling to a place which is you are travelling for the first time or you know you are planning some adventure so you must do a preparation. What kind of weather, what kind of clothing, what kind of environment you are getting into it. So that will help you to overcome with you know some sudden problems or something like that. 


Manish (22:16.195)

Otherwise, if you go there completely unprepared and you curse yourself, you may not enjoy your travel. So I definitely believe in that kind of preparation. So whenever I travel, wherever I travel, I definitely make sure I have all the information in terms of weather and everything. Some element of surprise is always there, which I love. But you would never see me underprepared. So by default, whenever I am traveling in the mountains, you always find me with a down jacket. 


Manish (22:44.61)

down jacket which is like can help me in you know easily in sub -zero it's okay I'm just carrying a small jacket which is half a kg if it is a cold I'm not like you know saying my god what am I supposed to do because I am prepared with it right if I don't have it then where am I supposed to go and find it so I don't want to have that kind of a problem so research is must and always ready with you know or any kind of surprises I'm okay with that but I do a research and I'm always 


Manish (23:14.571)

So certain basic things are always there wherever I am travelling. You always find me with one swish like whether I am travelling in a city or you are travelling in the mountains because it is a multi utility tool right. You always be able to use something somewhere. 


Nazneen Kachwala (23:33.435)

So what has been your best travel, if you have to choose one travel experience, what would be that story? It could be with food, with people, with culture, with the destination, anything, but what is that story? 


Manish (23:47.426)

It's difficult actually. You are asking mother to choose which child you like the most. For me every travel is unique. Today morning I was travelling from Baroda to Ahmedabad. So I was travelling by bus. That is also unique. Like the next time when I travel in the same way, nothing is same. Even bus is not same. The driver is not same. The road is not same. Weather is not same. So it's very difficult for me to choose one travel saying this was the best one, this was the worst kind of a thing. So for me every travel is like... 


Manish (24:17.122)

I love it. So no matter what I do, wherever I go, cycle, maybe on a motorbike, maybe in the car, on the bus, on the flight, in the train, everything is good for me. So explaining one thing, this was the best one, best experience is difficult for me. I can't do 


Nazneen Kachwala (24:35.835)

Again, I think a few years back you were discussing about one of your travel experiences where you went to Nagaland and the north eastern part of India and stayed with a group of headhunters and explored their lifestyles and photographed with them and researched a lot about them. I think that was very interesting and very exciting to me particularly. Would you want to talk a little about that? 


Manish (25:00.098)

So definitely you know those things are completely different but you know similar thing if not only the head enters of Nagaland. But if I you know recently I was like last year I stayed four months in Kyrgyzstan. You know I was staying with nomads, traveling around in the mountains. That's completely a different experience correct. So I can't say that this was an experience you know it was the best experience or this one is a worst experience. Experience is experience right. Every experience will teach you something. 


Manish (25:30.049)

It always try to make you should learn something you always you know walk a little bit or maybe a step towards being a better human being So I don't think so, you know, only one experience can make me a better human being. It's a series of experience in your life That makes you a better human being if you learn something on it So one experience people tell you then you know, I'm not doing justice to other experiences 


Nazneen Kachwala (25:56.283)

Okay, I think I know the answer but still I would go ahead and ask you. Do you think that this traveling, the love for traveling has initiated a spiritual side in you and is spirituality important? What is spirituality to you? 


Manish (26:19.424)

I am not a spiritual person in that way. Generally I love travel and I want to be honest to myself. If I am not honest to someone else, it's fine. But I want to be honest to myself because what I think only I know, no other person can even get a clue out of it. So if I don't be honest to myself, if I am not honest about my own travel, I don't think so I am honest to anyone else. 


Manish (26:44.8)

Spiritual things are different. People keep asking me, you travel to Himalayas for so many years, you go to remote places, do you have that kind of experience? Do you meet some person who is like, you know, the way it is described in different scriptures and everything? I said, no, I never had that kind of experience. Then people get disappointed because people want to hear that I met somebody who gave me this kind of a Gyan and this and that. 


Manish (27:10.721)

It's not the nature itself. Mother nature gives you all kind of a knowledge if you want to accept it or if you want to learn from it. So it's very simple. I think travel makes you know and travel gives you all kind of things if you really want to absorb and learn from 


Manish (27:28.192)

So I don't have that kind of experiences where I can say, boss somebody has opened up my mind and that was very spiritual kind of thing. Never happened to me. 


Nazneen Kachwala (27:39.067)

Yeah, but I think the journey itself, okay, we cannot call it like spirituality in the conventional terms, the way it is looked upon. Yeah, but eventually it's a journey. 


Manish (27:48.576)

Yes, maybe. I think you know you can't explain those things in words. People might be using big words and buzzwords and everything to explain it. I don't have any words to explain those things. So I keep it say you know that's my way of learning things and my way of you know getting enlightened. I am having it and I am having fun with it. I may not say that you know I got peace and everything. Yes. I am finding you know myself calm when I travel in that way. I can be a calm even traveling in you know 


Manish (28:21.471)

bus line cities also. Now I am fine with it. 


Nazneen Kachwala (28:26.49)

So, what is the role of friends, family, relatives, children in supporting a person to pursue his or her passion and how important is it for one's mental health? 


Manish (28:43.423)

definitely you know when it's family is you know I call it's not like you cannot put them you know friends out of the family they are also extended part of your family right even a stranger who is helping you in your travel in whatever way that's also part of your family eventually a stranger but then you know that person will become your friend or as a part of family so basically you know dividing them in a different way saying that you know your kids and 


Manish (29:12.223)

your family and friends, I will put everybody in family. It could not be like close blood or something, but they are part of your family, right? They are extended family, but it's family is a one word. That's the reason, you know, even last year there was a theme when G20 was there like Vasundeyo Kutumbakam. Basically, you are a big part of a family. Maybe your family is small or maybe a big family, but definitely everyone plays very important role. 


Manish (29:38.142)

Somebody is talking negative about you when you travel or you decide to travel the way I decide, right? That person motivates me to do that thing more actually. So negative way also somebody is giving you impact to do what you want to do. So you know every person plays an important role. A negative person, some people they are positive, they will support. Some are neutral, they don't talk about anything. They are just okay whatever you are doing because they think whatever you are doing is not impacting their life so they are happy with it. So you need every... 


Manish (30:07.326)

you know creature in your life to support, to curse and everything in a balanced way to grow you. But same time it's up to you how you want to take it. If you take everything in a negative way definitely you are not going to go anywhere you are just you know collecting some negativity that's it. You have to be positive in every situation. It can be worse actually. I have seen that like if you have 


Manish (30:36.095)

Last year when I was traveling from Kyrgyzstan back to home, the way I started travel a month before, everything was going in like, you know, I wrote the entire story on my Facebook and people were starting like, you know, first when I went there, my first flight got canceled. The second flight I took it after three days. That flight delayed for four hours. Because of that, I missed my connection flight. 


Manish (31:04.254)

So three hours distance by road, it took me 24 hours to reach because I was in a different country. So I reached almost like after 48 hours. Then I was traveling with somebody for a month. Everything went haywire in the entire trip. Nothing was, you know, as per plan. Everything was, there was some problems and whatever you can call it. Once I was coming back home, same thing happened. Flight got delayed. 


Manish (31:33.726)

my luggage was not there. When I came in Delhi, my luggage was not there with me so I was waiting. I know nothing can happen. I was just enjoying that situation. I wrote the entire incident, you know, what was happening. People thought I am unhappy. I said, no, who said I am unhappy if I am writing something. It doesn't mean that I am unhappy. I am just enjoying whatever it is happening because I can't do anything here in this situation. So accept it. Just be fine with it. 


Manish (32:01.309)

and that was you know easiest way to deal with any kind of a problem if you accept it you start finding solution if you start blaming you never find solution am i right? it is very simple but as a human being we start blaming things rather than you know accepting it and then you know find for the solution you know run for the solution that's fine don't try to you know blame somebody and just you know accept it whatever it is happening and it is very easy your brain your is calm down 

your mind is really at peace and you start finding solutions easily. 

That's what I learned from travel. 


Nazneen Kachwala (32:40.443)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course, sir. Of course. And I think if you think it extrapolating your travel experiences and whatever you have said, I think it very well fixes into the frame of life of anybody's. That is what life eventually is about, right? 


Manish (32:55.741)

Correct. You know the flight experience what I had it can happen to you in say not in a flight maybe in the bus. It can happen in a train. It can happen in a family. Anything can happen right. And you know that you know I love one thing about Buddhism is there was a saying if you have a solution you are not supposed to worry about it. And if there is no solution what are you going to get after worrying. 


Manish (33:22.236)

So end of the day you are not supposed to worry about the problem, there is always a solution for it. So that's what I believe and I try to follow it religiously the way I can. Problem is there, it's a part of life, just accept me and it's very simple. 


Nazneen Kachwala (33:39.963)

Sir, is there anything that you would want to add to this conversation, anything that comes up to your mind with regards to this subject? 


Manish (33:49.436)

Not much, but I am really happy to see you again. If you come in Baroda, whenever you, it's nice to have a chai at the same place. Let's discuss something more about it. I really would like to hear your experiences. 


Nazneen Kachwala (34:07.643)

Thank you, sir, for sharing all your experiences, all the wisdom that you have gathered across these years with traveling, with photography, and various other topics that we discussed. Thanks a lot for your time. It's always a pleasure to talk with you, and we'll probably surely catch up again in person. Yeah. 


Manish (34:22.556)

Thank you so much. 





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