Amravati/Prayagraj: Travelling together keeps us young at heart, says a jubilant 75-year-old Dhruvlal Regami who has journeyed all the way with his retired friends from Nepal to visit famous Indian heritage sites, and participate in the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj before culminating their trip at Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Seven teachers, all in the age group of 70-78 years, once worked together in the Tribhuvan Secondary School in Buddhashanti village of Jhapa district in the Koshi province of Nepal. All of them are retired now but they have maintained the friendship even after retirement. The group comprises Gadadhar Kaple who retired 15 years ago, Basant Kumar Timamsena (who retired 12 years ago), Madhav Prasad Adhikari, Leelaprasad Satyapal, Dhruvlal Regami, Narendra Kumar Baral, and Prem Prasad Salkota.
Basant Kumar Timamsena's joy knew no bounds when he spoke to ETV Bharat narrating his experience during this trip. "All of us were together like friends in the school, we are now enjoying our post-retirement life together," he said.
"Although Prayagraj is closer to Nepal, we started from Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) as we wanted to see some unique places before visiting Kumbh Mela. Since Nepal is not surrounded by sea, we had never seen a ship. We enjoyed our first sailing in the sea at Visakhapatnam. Then we visited Hyderabad to explore the historic Charminar and Golconda Fort. From there, we went to Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and saw the beautiful Ajanta and Ellora caves. We are truly amazed by the engineering marvels. Khajuraho's sculptures are equally stunning," Timamsena expressed.
After taking a holy dip at Kumbh Mela, the group will visit Ram Mandir in Ayodhya before returning to Nepal. "Our trip is centered around Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, from where we will head to Ayodhya for darshan of Shri Ram Lalla. After that we will head straight to Nepal," said Timamsena.
Retired School Teachers From Nepal On Indian Pilgrimage (ETV Bharat) Notably, this group of retired teachers had also come to Nashik 12 years ago to attend the Simhastha Kumbh Mela. But back then, the team had five members as two were yet to retire from the job.
"Now in 12 years, two more have joined this team post retirement. Since we do not have much work to do, we give importance to travelling rather than sitting at home. Travelling to India has been very pleasant experience so far. India feels like our second home because we share almost similar traditions and culture," said Regami, beaming with happiness.
