Reading maketh a man but travelling and expeditions contribute to overall development.
By Sanchit Raj Gupta
In books we read mostly ideas, thoughts and experiences of men. The knowledge thus acquired is theoretical. In day to day life, we cannot be successful with mere theoretical knowledge. We must also know about habits, manners and way others live. This could be done by coming into their contact. Travelling takes us from the field of bookish knowledge to the field of practical knowledge. From the realm of imagination, we come down to reality. The advantages of tourism are many…
A saying goes, ‘he is a well travelled and well read man’.
A man who has never gone out of home tends to be parochial . He feels his own way of living to be the best. He fails to understand the effect of environment on the life and thinking. But a well travelled man sees for himself the effect of environment on customs and ways of life. Why do people in cold countries mostly prefer meat and drink wine? When veggies comes into their contact they learn bitter cold makes it necessary for them to eat meat and drink wine. Thus they easily understand the point of view of others. Travelling also broadens mental horizon.
Within country it brings about feeling of national integration and oneness despite diversity in culture, language, caste and creed.
It brings people of different parts of the subcontinent closer together. Mutual understanding increases and causes of friction start fading.
One also encounters different varieties of food which may not be palatable. Then comes the problem of availability of suitable lodging and adjustment. On occasions, one comes into contact with people whose language he cannot understand. He feels helpless. When he has spent all his money and does not get more of it in time, he find himself in great difficulty. When he faces such difficulties, he begins to develop resourcefulness, initiative and drive. He finds out solution to every new difficulty. These are the lessons, far more valuable than that of lessons of books.
*Advantages*
That education is good which makes a man readily adjustable to change circumstances. We cannot acquire that ability from books. While travelling, we have to adjust ourselves to the new conditions. Plathora of problems one encounters but ultimately settles down. This is the greatest advantage of travelling.
*Expeditions*
The value of excursions, expeditions and tour for college students has immense advantages. Various topics which do not become clear in the classroom are learnt easily by travelling. In modern methods of teaching, great importance is attached to educational tours. Science, history, geography, economics, etc cannot be really understood without seeing different places. The living condition of slum dwellers can easily be studied by personal visit to some industrial city. The economic problem of rural areas become clear only when we go to villages. A visit to Agra, Delhi and Lucknow makes the history of Mughal period vivid.
A traveller must keep his mind open while on his tour. He must not imitate the fashions, manners and habits of other people. He must adapt from others only what is good and proper. He should avoid the habit of exaggeration. He must tell his experience in the realistic way. Travelling must be helpful for old and young person, if they keep their mind open.
In order to enhance tourism, government constituted a national committee of tourism in 1986 to study various issues related to tourism and development. The report of the committee on tourism submitted in 1988 laid emphasize on need for continued state participation. The government then evolved the national action plan for tourism in May 1992, to evaluate tourism. As a result of these intense efforts, tourism industry has also became the third biggest export industry during the year of 1997-98 and the foreign exchange earnings of this sector are likely to be 9186 crores.
Now tourism in India is booming.
(Sanchit Raj Gupta, recent inter pass out from GIC Allahabad, has made it to JEE mains)
