Lubna Kably
BootsnAll Photojournalist
 |
|
Lubna & Poochie. |
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And perhaps having the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear…
Hi, I’m Lubna Kably, from Bangalore (at least it is my present address), India. I don’t know whether Robert Frost has influenced me in any way, but I sure like to walk on the road less traveled.
Chartered accountants are generally boring. They stick to their desk-jobs for what seems like eternity. Well, that is not for me. I began my career as a court reporter for a leading financial daily, hopped, skipped and jumped between jobs, then became an assistant editor in the same paper. After a stint in a law firm, I am currently working in one of the Big 4 accounting firms – wondering what my next job will be and where it will take me.
Variety is the spice of life. And job-hopping broadens the mind, as does traveling. The most amazing “relatively unknown” spots are found even in the most popular tourist spots. My aim is to find these spectacular places, to write about them and to share my experiences whether happy, sad or funny. A friend and I were headed to see the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad and we ended up seeing the replica of the Taj Mahal, also in Aurangabad, but not that famous – amazing isn’t it?
Poochie, my dog and I made a good inseparable traveling pair. Because of my four-legged companion I have had memorable experiences which I otherwise would have missed out on. Local kids flock to meet Poochie; traveling companions kept away, especially the ladies in the exclusive ladies compartment – they did not take kindly to a dog traveling with them (even if the dog was wearing a muzzle as per the Railway rules). At times, even the Railway authorities did not know that dogs were allowed to travel in the compartments, leading to a few unpleasant incidents.
Sometimes, because of Poochie, I also had to forgo a few trips. At Chopta (the base camp for the Valley of Flowers, Himalayan range), my poor doggie could not breathe in the rarified air, so we had to go back down in a hurry. At other times, Poochie helped me spot a couple of flamingos, in the heart of Bombay city. Incredible!
My doggie is no more, but I continue my walk on the path less traveled. And I hope to continue sharing my experiences with the readers and hopefully not bore them.
Lubna Kably can be contacted on dustyshoes2002 at yahoo.co.in. But as she says: “I don’t promise to reply promptly, I may be too busy traveling or too busy working. But I promise to definitely revert as soon as I can.” Also look to the left for links to all of Lubna’s BootsnAll articles.
