wandering adventurers: A trip anywhere can become a memoir

?I got no bags nor baggage to slow me down/ Well, I?m travelling so fast my feet ain?t touching the ground/Travelling light/Travelling light??

These lines from a popular Cliff Richard number might just well be the theme song of Travel Writers Forum (TWF) ? probably Calcutta?s answer to the British Guild of Travel Writers, founded in 1960. The brainchild of Balaram Bose, an ace trekker and a well-known travel writer, TWF came into being on September 11 this year, boasting of 15 members and famous Bengali travel writer Narayan Sanyal as its chief patron.

Says Bose, who is also the secretary of TWF, ? Travelling has been an important aspect of our lives since time immemorial. And with the advent of globalisation and the era of easy money, travel packages within the country and abroad became even more popular. Soon, the media joined the race and now every publication and TV channel devotes time to travel. However, those of us who are associated with translating our experiences onto paper feel that travel writing has become information-based ? most travel pieces read more like brochures. Hence, they have lost their literary value and shelf life.?

And in a bid to recreate the genre, when travel writing in Bengal flourished under writers like Shanku Maharaj and Narayan Sanyal, amongst others, the members of TWF meet once a month not only to redefine travel writing but also to come up with schemes that will give travel and tourism, including eco- and adventure tourism, a jab in the arm.

Significantly, after its inception, the Travel Writers Forum held its first large-scale official meeting on September 27 ? World Tourism Day. According to an estimate given by TWF, there exist about 30-40 regular travel writers and the number comes to a 100 or more with the addition of occasional writers. ?Even 10-15 years back, travel writing or travel-based programmes had not become a regular feature. For most of us avid travellers, writing was merely a hobby ? we would write for various trekking club souvenirs. But with the arrival of various travel-based magazines in the early Nineties, things started to look up. Whether you are a veteran traveller or one who has just returned from your first trek, there are publications to take your story. Hence, the number of writers are on the rise.? asserts Bose.

However, one of the biggest problems that travel writers (like any other authors) face is the lack of adequate feedback. The acceptance by the masses and also by one?s own fraternity can indeed make or break a writer. The ?F? of TWF could also be read as ?feedback? as the members wish to tell their own kind whether they have arrived (literally and figuratively) or not.

And this is not all. Keeping their social role in mind, the members of TWF have formulated some more agenda ? pointing out and rectifying any misinformation that has been published time and time again to the non-inclusion of travel/ tourism specialists in the committee that aids the state government in drawing up the budget for tourism development.

The forum also plans to invite publishers to their meeting in order to aid writers publish their books. But is TWF all about veterans and will it cater only to those writing in the vernacular? ?Not at all, on the contrary, we want newcomers in this field to come and join us. Language is no issue here ? if you love to travel and sincerely wish to make a difference in the way travel writing is perceived today, then the club is the platform you are looking for. ? adds TWF?s president and veteran travel writer Ratan Lal Biswas.

From discovering new talent to telling the world that there is more to travel than just recreation ? it is about rejuvenation, about widening your horizon and broadening your mind ? Travel Writers Forum is all set to become the new Travelling Light with a pocketful of dreams, a heartful of love. And they weigh nothing at all??

(Travel Writers Forum: 32/1E, Govinda Bose Lane, Calcutta 700 025, phone: (033) 2455 1445)