I am Vijaya Pratap, a documentary filmmaker turned travel journalist. When I thought filmmaking was my calling and saviour in life, travel came and knocked on my door and I switched gears. For the better? I don’t know- it just happened. I enjoy both-creating on the editing table and wondering at Nature’s creations. My filmmaking gave me immense satisfaction and joy and so does travel.
My most memorable moments in travel? Though it is difficult to pinpoint, few remain and recur, reminding me of the thrills of travel. One such is a cheetah standing on top of my open jeep in Masai Mara National Park in Kenya…the scariest, exciting and earth-shattering 40 minutes of my life! It was a mix of many feelings, difficult to recollect now. I have gone through the crisis in a daze but came out of it with my body intact and my soul cleansed. What I remember now is the cheetah’s torso and all that I did was to quickly capture it on my small camera.
Another bone chilling moment was my skydiving from 13,000 feet in New Zealand. The 57- second free fall again, was the most non-existent time of my life. When my life was suspended in space with no connection to the earth or sky. Till I hit the land again, I felt I lost my identity.
There were such defining moments in my filmmaking career too! When I was making a documentary on the sacrificial rituals of a tribe in Andhra Pradesh: when I had to not only witness, but also direct the shoot- a blood chilling sacrifice of 9 buffaloes- it was all over within two minutes. The day- long rituals that culminated in the animal sacrifice, followed by more animal sacrifice the next day. I was a mere witness- someone documenting the age-old traditions of a tribe that is steeped in animism, ancestral worship and appeasement. I was neither nor am someone to pass judgement or comment on his or her faith/belief. These are all like milestones that I crossed in this journey of life, trying to find my identity and my purpose in life.
When I lost my passport (it was stolen along with my handbag containing credit and debit cards, cash, mobile etc.) in Bremen, Germany, I became numb. Didn’t feel the pain till a thin, white, Emergency Certificate was put in my hands in the place of my passport with three books pinned together. My travel history erased, I felt robbed of what I earned over years…that part of my life’s journey, which I held close to my heart was snatched away!
The innumerable times I flitted in and out of India (more than 60 times, to be precise), every time I longed to come back home- to my nest, to my comfort zone. There is no place I can live permanently/ more than a couple of months- I start missing my dear homeland, my dearest hometown- Hyderabad. This is where I belong.
Each visit to a foreign land teaches me something precious- through the experiences, through interactions with people…every time I come back enriched, educated and enlightened: amused at times, irked never. Culture is my pet subject- wherever I go, I am too happy to know about people and their cultures. I am fascinated beyond measure to know their customs and traditions… lands and their histories; people and their cultures interest me. Yes, that is what fascinates me and makes me pick up my bags again.
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