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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 18 (IANS) Travel, it seems, is as much about discovering oneself as it is about discovering the world – a sentiment echoed at the inaugural session of ‘Yanam 2025’, India’s first travel literature festival organized by the Kerala Tourism Department.
Booker Prize-winning Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunathilaka, in conversation with Malayalam writer KR Meera and journalist Pallavi Iyer, reflects on how travel writing extends beyond destinations to illuminate the writer’s inner landscape.
“Travel writing can be political, intensely personal or even whimsical. Often, it shows who the writer is, rather than where they have been,” Karunathilaka said while sharing anecdotes from his travels.
Moderated by festival curator Sabin Iqbal, the session set the tone for a festival that promises to transcend continents, cultures and consciousness.
Karunathilaka talked about his attraction to writers like AA Gill, whose sharp criticism of the places he visited revealed both intelligence and audacity.
On his own work, he observed that moving away from Sri Lanka gave him a clearer perspective, saying: “I became more passionate about my country when I was outside of it, more so than when I was living there.”
KR Mira, recounting her travels in Kazakhstan, noted striking similarities between distant cultures.
He said, “Some of the shamanic practices there resemble the rituals of Kerala. It made me think about the shared origins of humanity.”
For Mira, travel is inseparable from creativity; His acclaimed novel ‘Aarachar’ derives from a trip to Calcutta, and all his stories, he said, begin on the road.
Pallavi Iyer echoed the universality of human experiences.
“From Japan to Europe, people share daily concerns like traffic, food, routines,” he said.
Traveling is a process of self-revelation, he added: “Ventures abroad have taught me what it means to be an Indian.”
Nevertheless, they reflected differences in travel experiences, noting that fleeing conflict as a refugee is very different from backpacking through Europe.
The three-day festival, which began on Friday evening in Varkala, will host around 50 speakers from India and abroad who will mix personal stories with reflections on identity, culture and the art of observation.
As participants traveled from far-flung countries and interior landscapes alike, Yanam emerged as not just a festival of places, but of people, their histories, stories and the threads that connect us all.
–IANS
SG/KHz