There are two main reasons why these elaborate tours were enabled
1)We need to thank the largest bank of India which blessed it's officers with the LTA concept (definitely way better than the LTA pittance in the private sector). For the uninitiated, the LTA in the Public sector is granted every 4 years and covers the expenses of the entire family(no limit on the number of dependents; as long as they are dependent). There is no cap on the expense amount as long as we are visiting a place anywhere in India. This meant we could even visit Andaman Islands or Wagah border (both of which we did btw) and the travel expenses(tickets only) would be covered. Brilliant ain't it!
2)The enthusiasm and energy of my parents in meticulous planning and execution of these trips. While all bankers have this privilege, it takes a lot of energy to actually utilize it extensively(of course in a legit fashion) which most fail to or just choose not to.
Therefore, growing up as kids, we were used to big trips every summer (either a drive to our native village) or a full blown trip to an unseen territory in India. I feel blessed when I realize that I have traveled to way more destinations in India than MOST of the folks in my social circle. All the memories of these trips lie in the form of the 24 roll camera prints bound in huge albums stored in a bag at home but are very vivid to me even now. I therefore want to recount these experiences in installments of blog posts.
To begin with, here is a summary of the tours we have taken as a family -
1986: Calcutta(yea! it was called the same then),Sunderbans, Darjeeling, Bhubaneshwar, Jagannath Puri, Konark, NadanKan Zoo
1988 : Pune, Nashik
1989 : Delhi, Agra, Mathura, Mumbai
1990 : Ooty, Bandipur
1991 : Delhi, Shimla, Chandigarh
1992: Delhi, Agra, Mathura, Ayodhya, Allahabad, Gaya, Varanasi, Rishikesh, Hardwar, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Gaurikund, Kedarnath, Badrinath,
1993: Chennai, Mahabalipuram, Trichy, Kumbhakonam, Chidambaram,Madurai,Kanchipuram Thanjavur, Palani, Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram, Trivandrum
1995 : Mumbai, Pune, Shirdi
1997 : Calcutta, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kathmandu
2001 : Delhi, Jammu,Vaishnodevi, Amritsar, Wagah, Kulu, Manali, Rohtang, Chandigarh
2003: Andaman Islands
Post 2003, I began working and started having my own plans leading to 'family trips'. Additionally, the touring has gone global since then, with my parents having covered the European and American continents along with South east Asia.
Will follow up the next blog by turning the clock back to1986 based on some sparse memories supported by b/w photos!
