A month on the road……………
There is more wisdom in a mile of walking than in one hundred books.....
There is more wisdom in a mile of walking than in one hundred books.....
Well, going by that, I should be a pundit exuding knowledge from every pore of my body. The month of December was crazy! I walked, drove and rode thousands of kilometers across the length and breadth of the country finally to land back at my perch here at room 73.
It all began when I boarded a train at Banaras with 50 other ghanchakkars bound for Agra. Now traveling with 50 people can be quite an experience because there is never a dull moment. We did it all, from playing antakshari, singing bhajans, reciting Kabeer ke dohe, enacting Shakespere to conducting elaborate weddings! At Agra, we stayed in the cheapest of hotels, ate the most awful food, but had a blast visiting the Taj and Fatehpur Sikri. The monument of love did not inspire any awe because the moment was lost with thousands of tourists pushing and pulling to get their picture taken in front of it. At Agra fort, we got mesmerized by the shayaree our senile guide presented rather than the monument. Arz kiya hai……” shamma bekar hai agar ujaala na ho……husn bekaar hai agar chahnewala na ho”.
Next stop was Jaipur. We saw it all, from the world’s largest canon to the palace of nine queens. Watching a movie at Rajmandir was an experience as the hall has no equals when it comes to creating ‘movie magic’. Chauki Dhani, a resort village in the outskirts of Jaipur was where we had hukka, ate a 22course Rajasthani meal, feasted on chooran and had a jyotish whisper in my ear,”you’ll never settle in life!”(damn!shud have listened to him).
Then our troupe’ made a long journey to Jaisalmer, the far off desolate desert city. From there on a speeding Sumo (driven by yours truly!) we went to Sam, a village 40km from Jaisalmer. The camel safari was good, albeit a bit shaky! Then we joined in with the locals for a night of dance and music. Driving back from Sam, on the isolated desert road, is something none of is going to forget in a hurry.
At Jaisalmer, we also visited the only living fort in India, puffed some more hukka and spent a long evening shopping in the by-lanes.
By now, Rajasthan was getting to us, so for a change, we went off to Ahmedabad! Remembering that we were after all on a study tour, we went to CEPT, IIM, Apollo and finally Sangath, B.V Doshi’s office.
Not that we did not have fun. Mornings were spent munching on dhokla and the evenings roaming in the malls.
We re-entered Rajasthan to visit Udaipur. The beauty of its lake and palaces left us spellbound! We would have stayed longer but we were out of money so we decided to head home…..
At Delhi, where we broke our journey, guys and girls sat together and sobbed to Tare Zzameen Pe and later in the evening got lost in Chandani Chauk.
For most the journey ended there, they could rest their tired feet at home before joining in for the next semester. But for me, there was still a lot more to come!
When I got down at Banaras, my parents said that I had to join them for a week in the hills. So began the road journey to Almora. We met up with Gullu, Smira and her parents. The journey did not stop here. Our final destination was Munshiari, 270km from Almora. The twists and turns of the road took us two days to reach there. Yes, I saw snow after a long time. Gullu made us trek to far off places, up…up….up….we cursed him but there is nothing like the view from the top!!!
The high of this trip was probably seeing two naked sadhus, sitting amidst snow and smoking chillum!!!!
Alas! I had to break the journey and return to B.I.T. after all, it had been a month. So, after four days of traveling I was back. Its around one in the morning now and I am sitting hunched over my comp, googling out the next trip…..this time its gonna be spring fest at IIT, Kharagpur!!!!!
It all began when I boarded a train at Banaras with 50 other ghanchakkars bound for Agra. Now traveling with 50 people can be quite an experience because there is never a dull moment. We did it all, from playing antakshari, singing bhajans, reciting Kabeer ke dohe, enacting Shakespere to conducting elaborate weddings! At Agra, we stayed in the cheapest of hotels, ate the most awful food, but had a blast visiting the Taj and Fatehpur Sikri. The monument of love did not inspire any awe because the moment was lost with thousands of tourists pushing and pulling to get their picture taken in front of it. At Agra fort, we got mesmerized by the shayaree our senile guide presented rather than the monument. Arz kiya hai……” shamma bekar hai agar ujaala na ho……husn bekaar hai agar chahnewala na ho”.
Next stop was Jaipur. We saw it all, from the world’s largest canon to the palace of nine queens. Watching a movie at Rajmandir was an experience as the hall has no equals when it comes to creating ‘movie magic’. Chauki Dhani, a resort village in the outskirts of Jaipur was where we had hukka, ate a 22course Rajasthani meal, feasted on chooran and had a jyotish whisper in my ear,”you’ll never settle in life!”(damn!shud have listened to him).
Then our troupe’ made a long journey to Jaisalmer, the far off desolate desert city. From there on a speeding Sumo (driven by yours truly!) we went to Sam, a village 40km from Jaisalmer. The camel safari was good, albeit a bit shaky! Then we joined in with the locals for a night of dance and music. Driving back from Sam, on the isolated desert road, is something none of is going to forget in a hurry.
At Jaisalmer, we also visited the only living fort in India, puffed some more hukka and spent a long evening shopping in the by-lanes.
By now, Rajasthan was getting to us, so for a change, we went off to Ahmedabad! Remembering that we were after all on a study tour, we went to CEPT, IIM, Apollo and finally Sangath, B.V Doshi’s office.
Not that we did not have fun. Mornings were spent munching on dhokla and the evenings roaming in the malls.
We re-entered Rajasthan to visit Udaipur. The beauty of its lake and palaces left us spellbound! We would have stayed longer but we were out of money so we decided to head home…..
At Delhi, where we broke our journey, guys and girls sat together and sobbed to Tare Zzameen Pe and later in the evening got lost in Chandani Chauk.
For most the journey ended there, they could rest their tired feet at home before joining in for the next semester. But for me, there was still a lot more to come!
When I got down at Banaras, my parents said that I had to join them for a week in the hills. So began the road journey to Almora. We met up with Gullu, Smira and her parents. The journey did not stop here. Our final destination was Munshiari, 270km from Almora. The twists and turns of the road took us two days to reach there. Yes, I saw snow after a long time. Gullu made us trek to far off places, up…up….up….we cursed him but there is nothing like the view from the top!!!
The high of this trip was probably seeing two naked sadhus, sitting amidst snow and smoking chillum!!!!
Alas! I had to break the journey and return to B.I.T. after all, it had been a month. So, after four days of traveling I was back. Its around one in the morning now and I am sitting hunched over my comp, googling out the next trip…..this time its gonna be spring fest at IIT, Kharagpur!!!!!
2 comments:
Hey - thanks for the update. Sounds amazing. looking forward to the pictures.
chauki-dhani was really amazing.,. da way de derv food,. da magician, . da dancers.,. swit tobacco-hukka., it ws lk a small vilg wd ful sors of entrtnmnt,.
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