I’ve been fascinated with the theory of time travel since forever. and i have it so bad that if someone told me tomorrow that scientists cracked it, I’d be the first one packing my metaphorical bags (probably forgetting the charger, as usual). Watching documentaries about time travel is my guilty pleasure, when i can’t find a good rom com, I unwind by watching physicists argue about wormholes and paradoxes. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, time slows down as you move faster, technically, astronauts on the ISS are already time-travelling a few milliseconds into the future, now how cool is that!
Also a few physicists say time travel to the future is theoretically possible, it’s the past that gets messy, thanks to paradoxes like meeting your own grandfather, well trust a human to mess things up :/
I often talk about it (sometimes too much). Recently, during one of these excited monologues, my dear but annoying friend pointed out that I had just written an entire blog about how I’m not into travelling and yet, here I am, yapping about travelling through time. I had to roll my eyes at her. (She just doesn’t get it)
(If you’re a regular reader, you already know, I roll my eyes at pretty much everything. And I also tend to give unnecessary information about myself, like I just did. Anyway, enough wandering…)
back to the topic, So yes, I want to time travel. But not to see places, I want to see the history in its present.
Imagine seeing Princess Diana in all her glory, waving to the crowd in that iconic black dress.
Witnessing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as he built his empire with courage and wit that could outsmart armies twice his size. Maybe I’d peek into Maharani Gayatri Devi’s royal soirées, the pearls, the poise, the power. Or perhaps I’d stand quietly in a studio corner, watching Leonardo da Vinci paint the first strokes of the Mona Lisa, and check for myself if she actually smiled at him that way. And yes, I’d absolutely sneak into ancient Egypt to finally see how those pyramids were built, were aliens really involved, or were humans just that good.
And its not just us handful of crazy people who are fascinated by the idea of time travel, every era has tried to imagine time travel, from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine in 1895, to Back to the Future, Interstellar, and even Avengers: Endgame. Clearly, we’ve been obsessed with fixing or reliving time since… forever.” Personally, I’m less of a ‘save the universe’ traveler and more of a ‘sip tea in the past and eavesdrop on poets’ traveler..hehe!
Born in the Wrong Era
Growing up, I was obsessed with stories of kings, queens, and India’s golden eras. Sometimes I genuinely wished I was born back then, minus the inconvenient parts, of course. No Wi-Fi, no plumbing(essential), and the constant threat of dying from a mild fever? No, thank you. But the grandeur, the artistry, the sheer magic of those times? yes please.
I’d trade a few modern comforts just to witness that once. Imagine, the palaces that glittered under oil lamps, handwoven silks that took months to make, poets who could break your heart with a single verse. We’ve traded that for instant noodles and autocorrect. People once traveled for months across oceans to see new lands. I scroll through reels for five minutes and get travel fatigue.
And not just Indian history, have you watched Bridgerton, Pride and Prejudice or Downtown Abbey or anything from back then?
The gowns, the candlelit balls, the subtle glances across the room, the carriages, the grace… it’s all mesmerising. And my favourite part the language.
No brain-rotting slang like “delulu” or “rizz.”
Just beautiful, “complete” sentences filled with wit, charm, and poetry. Even a casual “Good evening, Miss Bennet” sounded like a love letter. Sometimes I truly believe we’ve lost more than we’re gaining in the name of modernity. (You can read my blog about how I don’t think technology equals progress)
the thing that gets me every single time is time travel isn’t just about where we’d go, but how tiny we are in the grand timeline of existence. Think about it: the Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, humans have existed for barely 300,000 of those, and yet we walk around like we invented the concept of time. Every generation believes it’s the most evolved, the most aware but maybe, just maybe, someone centuries ahead will look back at us and think, “Oh, those poor primitive souls with their smartphones and matcha.
Time travel, to me, is a reminder that life is a flicker, and that’s what makes it so spectacular. Until someone finally invents a working time machine (come on, sciencey people, hurry up!), I’ll keep living vicariously through documentaries and historical dramas, dreaming of corsets, crowns, and courtrooms filled with poetry.
I sometimes imagine where I’d go if I could time-travel for a day. Would I sip tea with Mr. Darcy in 18th-century England? Watch Tansen perform under a moonlit sky in Akbar’s court? Or stroll through 1920s Bombay jazz floating through the air, the city alive with stories? ohh there is so much i want to know.
Tell me if you could time travel for one day, which era would you go to? what would you like to see
Drop your answer below; I’ll be over here, waiting for my DeLorean to arrive 😉
Love & Ice creams
Sneha Singhvi
