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Wanderlust

A picturesque scenario of a foreign land overlapped with multiple icons of important files - I can bet that 1 in 20 people with desk jobs have a similar situation happening on their laptop wallpapers. Travelling the world tops most of our bucket lists. But just like charity, exploring too, should begin at home, right?

I quote Emerson -
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

Not among those who like to sleep in on the weekends, I came across two interesting apps to keep me occupied - EventsHigh and gamiFYI. gamiFYI has a rather appealing concept - Treasure Quests!

The first quest I picked to go on was Cubbon Gamifyi'd. For a fair price of Rs. 400, I registered myself and 3 others for the quest on EventsHigh and headed to Cubbon Park. The app gives you 3 choices to pick as your start location. Once the quest begins, there are various clues you receive to reach the final destination. But like always, the journey is the best incentive to get to the destination. Each clue when cracked gives you interesting facts about the history behind each spot. I had been to Cubbon Park multiple times before this but had never come across the wooden structures that are so alluring to the eye. I also ended up having a Sunday workout with this outing - I walked 8 km!

gamiFYI has a very attractive policy - you earn credits every time you play a quest. To redeem these credits, I took up two more quests - Malleshwaram Parisara Nodi (MPN) and Basavangudi Food Trail (BFT).

I decided to go solo to MPN and what an experience it was! I've always wanted to go out exploring the city by myself and this quest gave me the opportunity to do just that. Did you know that R.K. Narayan's fictional town Malgudi originates from the names of the areas Malleshwaram and Basavangudi? Having lived in Bangalore for over 14 years, I never really got the chance to roam around the city aimlessly. I cracked the clues, walked by old buildings, ate along the way and had a wonderful time!

The latest quest I took up was BFT. The trail is long and takes you to multiple prominent eateries like the New Modern Hotel and Mavalli Tiffin Room. The best feature of the app is that you can take up these quests on any day, at any time according to your convenience. You also don't have to necessarily complete the non-competitive quests like the BFT all in one day. I completed only 45% of BFT as I had eaten a lot by the time I reached the 5th location. I can take up the remaining 55% whenever I want!


The app is a great way to spend time on weekends that otherwise goes futile just laying on bed or watching a movie. I enjoy the independence of solitude among the crowd, how about you?
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