Day 240 of Indian places giving smiles – The border town of Raxaul
India in the early eighties was considered a developing economy. Without Internet and cable television, we hardly had any exposure to the international world. Whatever photographs we saw from our foreign return relatives made us open our jaws in amazement. Foreign travel was considered to be prohibitively expensive. So you can imagine my excitement when our family decided to go to our first foreign trip abroad- to Nepal.
We found ourselves at a relatively unknown border town called Raxaul. My dad told me that we were in the East Champaran district where Gandhiji had started the indigo movement, which was one of the first steps towards India’s struggle for freedom.
And my first foreign trip in 1984 did not start from some big plane in a big airport. Instead we went towards the border in a manual driven small cycle-rickshaw! We cycled past the customs building and went into the small room which was the Indian police check point. My father filled some forms there and then we were allowed to walk carrying our own luggage towards a gate on the other side of which was another country Nepal…
This short dusty bumpy cycle rickshaw ride was in complete contrast to my huge anticipation of my first foreign trip
This is one of the amusing memory that has got etched in my mind about the border town of Raxaul!
So which Indian city gave you smiles?
Please share your experience of an Indian city that gave you smiles
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