The catcher of African dreams

I am a believer of dreams. There is something magical about them and its meaning certainly can’t be derived in logic. Dreams are the visions of the soul. They have been the sole reason for every journey of mine. It was a starry night at Mcleodganj. The moonlit sky had put up for me; the grandest show of stars. My bags were packed and heart surrendered. The warmth of my home in Mcleodganj had been preserved in my heart. The Goodbyes were bid. It was time to move from a place that was home to me to another home where I grew up. The herbal tea was brewed. The memories in my heart rose.  In the rise of night, I wished upon a shooting star for a journey full of life, positivity, healing, art and travel. Little did I know what was yet to come. To me, Mcleodganj is one place that has been a blessing every time I arrived, stayed and left. I was back in Bombay, building the foundation for manifesting my South American dream. What followed next, were a series of synchronicities. On one of these days, I was seeking information on visas to Peru. The next minute a banner flashed on my screen signaling me to grab my dream. A force within urged me to uncover what it is. I am lead to a page that offers to fulfil a travel adventure in exchange for sharing my travel experiences and most importantly, who you really are. Intrigued by it, I move on to the destinations on offer, only to discover a trip to the Amazonas. At that very moment, it made perfect sense. And all I could hear inside, is my heart whispering “It’s a sign!” So without expectation, resistance or rejection, I embraced the opportunity without lamenting on the outcome. Two months later, I was to know if my experiences and stories made it to the interview round from a bunch of roughly 15,000 applicants across India. In the next few days, I received a mail from the GYD team that I have a special invite for the interview round and have made it to the Fab50. My day was made. I land up for the interview at their fort office to share my travel stories with them, signing off with Lakota and Pali Buddhist songs. In all my working years, I had never been interviewed this way. The best part; we were appreciated for being real.

A few weeks after the interview, the verdict was to be out. The feeling that I was closer to my dream had started lingering. And the feeling sustained itself. It was a beautiful night in February when twelve dreams were lit in the universe. Twelve hearts were filled with joy. Twelve journeys were waiting to be lived. So it was all mapped. I was to travel to South Africa. That very moment, my heart was still calling out to Amazonas. The signs were there. The next beat whispered “Embrace the blessing.” And I did. I was filled with gratitude. I had never imagined travelling to Africa. But the South American signs kept appearing in my life; they were floating like clouds in my heart. It was a week later that my personal dream projects were falling in place. I had started my healing arts and dream catcher venture Iktomi. Meanwhile I was preparing for my South African journey. I was to document my journey experiences in exchange for an all-expenses paid South African dream adventure. Deep within, I constantly felt that something was missing. I can say that over the years my perspective on travel had changed for good. Throughout my travels, I have been blessed with so much unconditional love from people and places. In the past few years, I had started to feel that travel ought to be meaningful. Beyond seeing a place and ticking off a bucket list. It was now about giving back to these journeys in the smallest but fullest possible ways. I meditated over it for days. In the following days, the beautiful moment was felt. The dots connected itself. What felt missing, now felt fulfilling. The South American clouds in my heart burst into love. And new dreams were woven into thirty pieces of love. A love that wove me into a dream catcher.I was ready for a journey to collect dreams and share my energized Iktomi dream catchers with the beautiful souls I meet on the road. I was carrying South America to South Africa. The dream catchers were to spread its light and magic in Africa. They were to shine in the lives and homes of South Africa.All for the grace of been blessed with a dream journey and lovingly supported by the universe. And more than anything, I felt happy to share parts of me and give back to my African journey.

The day I awaited most had come. I began my journey across South Africa sharing my dream catchers with the beautiful and humble souls who made my journey truly meaningful. Through the lush roads, jungles and mountains, I grew rich as a soul filling up myself with dreams of many. Dreams of travel; of love. Dreams of having a paper to write on; to read. Dreams of joy; of meals to share and a roof above their head. Dreams of children; innocence and wishes for toys to play with.  And dreams of all that Africa truly is. Above all, dreams of love and hope. In the simplest of ways, that is what Africa is made of. Scattered and gathered up at once, sculpted into stories, by dreams of love and hope. Don’t believe what you hear about Africa and its people till you experience it for yourself. Be prepared to be moved, loved, amazed, transformed and surprised by Africa.It was an adventurous journey full of nature, safaris and camping in the jungles, but the fondest memories in my heart will always be the African dreams that I carried back home. There’s a reason to trust that dreams are magical.  At least it’s a bigger reason for me. Those dreams sleeping within, pinned up on your boards, inked inside your diary, as voices growing in your heart. Those dreams are communicating with you. They are your wake up calls to awaken the cosmos within you. Focus your energy and love towards them. Nurture them with patience. They are waiting to be awakened within you; through you. Be grateful that they are living within you. For gratitude is the greatest blessing. My journey in Africa has been so much more. It has been one of those experiences that restored my faith in everything love, light, gratitude, miracles and dreams. I am thankful to each one of them who helped me weave and manifest this dream. I am truly grateful to be blessed by this dream.

My heartfelt gratitude and special thanks to G Adventures, Cox and Kings India and Ezeego1 for making this dream possible. 🙂