My greatest longing ever since my childhood days is to be a space traveller. I have now been selected as  the first space tourist from India for the space tourism project organized by Virgin Galactic led by Sir Richard Branson. The relentless urge for travel and visual media has enabled me to attain this rare achievements.
 

When I ruminate over my first journey, what comes to my mind instantly is a swollen river and a few boats gliding past in it. It was only a short tour conducted to Malayattoor along with my family members. I was only four or five years old then. I have only a faint memory of my mother or my father mentioning that the bridge we were moving on was the Kalady Bridge and the river that was flowing below was Periyar.

Nevertheless, travelling was an instinct that was there in my blood since my childhood. Perhaps, it was my home and the surroundings that had awakened the traveller in me. Travelling, no matter how short or long it was, was always encouraged by anyone in the family, especially my father. My father was of the opinion that seeing unknown places would help one develop one’s outlook on life. Hence my family ensured that I took part in all the study tours conducted by the schools.

My childhood memories of travelling was interesting and wonderful. In those days my father V.J. George Kulangara was running a parallel educational institution by name ‘Arts College’ in Marangattupilly, a small village then. Every year during November-December a banner appeared in front of the college. It read somewhat thus: ‘‘A tour led by the principal of Arts College V.J. George Kulangara to Madurai and Kodaikanal from the 20th of this month. Book your seats soon.’’

The banner used to thrill me and my sisters the most. The reason was, our seats were assured in the tour party. The touring party usually included the students of the Arts College and some prominent personalities of Marangattupilly. We, the children used to have our seats over the battery box to the left of the driver’s seat. Wearing clothes of the same colour and with an air as if we were just about to conquer the world, we were proud on our seats.
 

Those were obviously study tours. Any of my father’s former students used to be present either in Madurai, Ooty or in Goa. My father would write to them about our trip in advance before we embarked on our journey. Those students would be waiting in the respective cities ready to receive us. They would be our guides thenceforth. They would explain the sights to us. I wonder how many buses with the banner of the Arts College displayed on them have run past the roads of Goa, Mysore and Madurai.

It was on our journey back that the study tours became rather torture tours to us, children. My father would ask questions on the sights we had seen. We were subjected to answer them correctly. We also had to write a note on the trip as soon as we reached home.

It was then that the travel sights used to become a serious matter of remembering and writing about, beyond childish wonderment. Though I felt it annoying in those days, this practice benefited me later on. It was through this practice that I had made it a habit to make notes on the places I visit. The `Arts College Tours’ continued until I was in the fifth standard- one or two inter-state tours were there every year. In the months of November -December, as we walked past the Arts College on our way to St. Thomas School, Marangattupilly, we used to glance around expecting the banner to have come up.

The last of the Arts College Tours was an 8- day trip around Goa and Thirupati. By this time my father had established a printing press and busied himself with its work. As the new establishment moved towards acute financial problems and huge liabilities, our tour programmes were grounded for a long interval.

After that the thrill of journeys was provided by my uncle who was a priest; my mother’s brother, Father Mathew Marangattupilly. He was then a missionary in Brazil. It was a time when priests were reluctant to go to places like Brazil. As he was an adventurist, he chose Brazil where, in those days priests were welcomed with enthusiasm. My uncle had to shoulder responsibilities of about ten parishes. He had to visit the churches on Sundays at intervals to offer service.

A priest’s arrival in the remote villages of Brazil was an occasion of celebration. The priest reached every church once in two months or so. It used to be a festive occasion on that day with the church decorated and feasts arranged.
 

Father Mathew was a talented writer. After each visit to a church in a village he made lucid texts about his journey from wayside scenes to the villagers who came to church. Everything he came across, he recorded in words.
 

Once every fortnight a letter from my uncle in Brazil reached our home in Marangattupilly. Each letter consisted of 3 to 4 sheets of paper. One sheet each was addressed to each member of our family.
The main sheet was meant for the head of the family- my father. It contained business matters and advice on running the press.
 

The second sheet was addressed to my mother. It dealt with the household affairs, marriages in the family, agriculture, illness, etc.
 

The third sheet was for us, kids. It was in fact a complete travelogue - descriptions about the journeys through the Brazilian villages to churches, the people and the natural environs there. He wrote about his adventures in Brazil in gripping narrations. Occasionally he used to send pictures too.
As an upper primary school student these descriptions greatly excited me. In those days my dream was to travel through places like Brazil by becoming a missionary priest.
 

By the time I became a high school student, travelogues were my passion. The books available then were only of S.K. Pottekkattu and some others. The main task then was making journeys of fancy by immersing myself into those books several times.
 

Travelling was hardly possible for me when I was in the tenth standard and during the pre-degree level. It was a period when Labour India Publications was in the path of steady growth. It was during the pre-degree level that visual media was becoming a hit with the masses. My thoughts were then centred on presenting a telefilm on Doordarshan. It was a period when the `traveller’ in me was in mild slumber. After completing the script of a telefilm titled `Shakunthalam’, I knocked at the doors of Doordarshan several times, but in vain. Who would care for the script of a lad?
 

While studying for the degree and postgraduation courses, television was there deep in my mind. Training in the outstanding south Indian studios during my studies for postgraduation and mingling with talented technical experts of the film field like B. Lenin, S.P. Muthuraman, etc, were extremely beneficial to me. For a first-hand experience in technical aspects, I produced a television programme on my own named `Samayam’. It was prepared by the noted director, Shivaprasad. Although it was a good piece of work, it yielded no great results.
Thus I learnt the lessson that one would suffer losses if one entered the television field without caution. At this time a stark desire to make a good documentary dawned on me.
 

I needed money to make a documentary. The money invested on `Samayam’ could not be recovered either. Now what?
 

At the end, I found a way to earn money. I took the contracts of printing magazines of the major colleges in Kottayam. I travelled regularly to Shivakashi in Tamil Nadu for getting the magazines printed. The business earned me more money than I expected. I produced a documentary and directed it. This documentary about the `Acharya’ of Vagamon Kurishumala Ashram was one that provided me with self-satisfaction.

Thereafter I directed the telefilm `Krishnagatha’ which was widely appreciated. With this I gained confidence in making television programmes. Further, serials like `Maluvinte Lokam’, `Chithirapurathe Visheshangal’, `Kerala Vishesham’, etc. were made for Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram.
 

By then Malayalam television field was flooded with serials. Telefilm and serial production could be seen anywhere. Directors were in plenty. Proposals for serials piled up in the offices of the television channels.
This situation made me depart from the telefilm- serial scenario. A programme should be made, that any Malayalee who maintains his/her identity would be remembered for ever. It should be a programme that finds a place in the media history as well.
 

This was the occasion when the sleeping traveller in me sprang up. The strong desire to travel kept making ripples in my heart.
 

It was then that a thought to make a television travelogue programme by travelling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari sprouted in me.
 

With clear outlines, I submitted a proposal named `Yathra’ to Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram. Then I waited for a reply. Ten long years passed. The reply did not reach me. I decided to make a series of travelogues anyway, even if I got no prior permission for that from the channels.
 

A part of my earning was kept for the purpose of travelling. One day an advertisement of Vivekananda Travels in Calicut appeared in the newspaper, saying that they were facilitating travels to Nepal. The budget was Rs. 6,500.
 

I contacted Vivekandnada Travels immediately. As they explained the details of the journey, they booked the hotel rooms for my stay also.
 

Thus, with my boarding the train at Kochi to Gorakhpur one bright afternoon, began the history of my foreign tours. From the bordering village of Sunoli I crossed over to Nepal on foot.
 

What followed was a multitude of journeys. In the beginning my journeys were to the neighbouring countries like Maldives. The excitement increased with every journey. As of now 69 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa have been visited.
 

The Asianet News Channel began telecasting `Sancharam’; after four years since I had started my foreign travels.
 

The countries I travelled were shown as exactly as they were to the Malayalee community. This fact renders full satisfaction in me while looking back after ten years since I started my world journey.
When we see the world, our outlook on life expands. It is my belief that my journeys have borne fruit and become meaningful as they have, I presume, touched and woken up at least to a certain extent the conscious mind of the people around the world.

 

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