And the Bus Breaks Down in Punjab!!!

Through the night, travelling in the bus was to be quite a harrowing experience. The driver had gone insane and was driving the bus as if he were flying a supersonic jet plane. The bus swayed from side to side and with it our wits to its extremes of angst and anxiety. While some prayed for their/our safety and others cursed the driver, still others requested him to slow down but he drove as was his wont.

And as was expected, the vehicle could not keep up to the man's intolerance and broke down at a godammit 4ish, 12th morning, in the middle of nowhere (as we knew of of then in total darkness). Some had no idea what had actually happened as they somehow managed to sleep through this ordeal (lucky em! ), while others barely had a wink, and still others, half-asleep as myself thought it was just a halt to answer nature's call (so I thought it was for a couple of girls).

Anyway, I did not actually know what had happened when I finally woke up sometime when it was bright. I searched for my sandals but it had made a disappearing act.  The sometimes swaying, lurching at other times bus' momentum had scooted my sandals a few seats up front. Others' footwear were similarly misplaced.

In the course of that early morning, as we woke up, we were told by a GHA Member of a place ahead nearby to the right where we could go and have a wash, and a little up ahead to the left near the Gurudwara where we could do the same, even have a bath and were served tea and a chewda-like edible by the affable Sardar n Sardarni.

                               This old kisan couple were so understanding 
                   They allowed us to have a wash, and use their bathroom too

                           Jai Kisan - Feeling a lot refreshed after a wash 

                                       At the friendly Sikhs' near the Gurudwara 
                   They were more than just kind enough to offer us something to have
                   and kept us asking us if we wanted more 

Aaram se on the cot sipping my chai with something like Chewda in front of me

Sharing a lil Chewda-like edible with the Sardarji's rather shy canine whom I got to love 

The wonderful Sikh couple (with their canine) who relieved our agony of the bus breakdown 

                                              With the affable Sardar 

We were at least fortunate that our bus breakdown happened at not an isolated place but a lovely area of a village called Brahmpur in Punjab where the people were hospitable, and understandable to our predicament. With the experience, I had here, I said to myself that if I were to marry what better a bride than a Punjabi kudi. 

Dinner Halt in Haryana

That night (11th May), our bus halted for dinner at a rather plush looking Hotel Kuber in Murthal, between Delhi & Panipat, Haryana. Before making my way to the restaurant of the hotel, I was taken in awe of the well-lit grotto-like structure of Lord Shiva and had my pic taken. 

                                At the intricate grotto-like structure of Lord Shiva

At the hotel, we were welcomed by a typical Punjabi-clad usher at the entrance. All looked nice up to this point until we were seated in the restaurant section. The service was questionable but at least the food was good. And it was to be the last sumptuous meal that I would have for several days to come. Dum Aloo was what appetized my palate at a glance of the menu. 

                                Pic Courtesy: Mukesh Naik, Vasco, GHA Member

                             With my good ol' trek buddy, Devang Metha 

                               With the Punjabi-clad usher at the entrance

                   With one of our bus drivers who was keen to have this pic :) 

Dinner had, it was time to continue our journey into the night to Dharmashala but it was to be one hecka ordeal to say the least. 

Time to make a move on ....

An hour-and-a--half after being at Delhi and cooling it off at the Cafe, it was time to beat it and head to Dharmashala where our base camp was situated. Eight of our group members had left sometime earlier in a smaller vehicle, and to some, they were very lucky, while to others, not as much, as they did have the unique opportunity to experience what the rest of us did mid-way through our bus journey. Anyway, more on that you will come to know as you read on.

In the meanwhile, seated besides the window, I had the opportunity to glimpse the historic Lal Qila (Red Fort) and the CWG 2011 stadium. I was quite at awe at the road network too and did take a pic or two of the same.

What I would also like to mention here was that there was this Pakistani bus passing by with another vehicle upfront with a  police siren taking the attention of all and sundry in our bus. It was just not myself who became hyper seeing a Paki vehicle and hollering out, but many around me were likewise.

        CWG 2011 Stadium                              

               
                             Lady Biker zooming on the Delhi streets

                                             

                                                    See that Green Bus ? 
                                         Had our bus occupants in a frenzy

                                                                                                   
                                         An eg. of the Road Network in Delhi 
                                    How would you compare it to that of Goa ? 

Delhi - FINALLLYYYYYYY - Pheweyyy !!!

One of the places, I always wanted to visit was Delhi and why not? Our country's capital, of course, and to add to its historical splendour was all the more reason. But exploring the city had to wait !! Roughly 29 hours into our train journey -  the longest at a stretch I have travelled that I can recall we reached the HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN Railway Station at 5.20 pm, the following day, 11th May, and our group of of 50 odd, assembled outside the station for a breather before we decide to lug our baggage to the Comesum 24 hours Cafe a short walk nearby. After a day odd forcing ourselves through unhygienic pantry food service and other eatables that came our way in the train, we took our every opportunity to eat healthy and drink well to prime our energy levels up to abate ourselves from the heat and the strenuous days that lay ahead. 

                Our Group making their way out from HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN Railway Station in Delhi 

                         
                           Yours Truly outside the HAZRAT NIZAMUDDIN Railway Station, Delhi 

            Our bunch - lugging their poor selves along with their carry stuff to the nearest eating hole 

                     Don't exactly recall what I had, but definitely that juice was really refreshin' 

               And that's Comesum Cafe 24 Hours - that saved our day, our throats and our tummies :) 

Travelling in the train to Delhi was quite something

Travelling to Goa-Delhi and across six states, viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is quite something you have to fathom while travelling in a Sleeper Class train bogey.

Along the journey late that evening, peeping outside the window, I came across a major fire wolfing its fiery teeth across the greens which was a sorry sight. I quickly pulled out my digicam from my pouch and took a click - the first of many on the trip. 

               Denudation of a lovely landscape - nature's wrath or a moron's moment of madness ?

Patience and Tolerance of the samples you encounter is one thing, and the distance is another.More on the latter, a a tad later. Here, I would like to relate about the kinna harrowing experience I had with an eunuch who was moving with another collecting money. When I realized these types were making their way to our compartment, I turned facing the window where I was seated, but the eunuch with the plunging neck-line turned his/her attention towards me. Like I cared what s/he wore or how titillating s/he may look (if eunuchs ever looked so), s/he was like give me a tenner or I will throw your specs out of the window, and then adds, 'mujhse pyaar ki nazar se dekh rahe ho ....' I did not argue as is my wont, and knowing that the situation was hopeless gave the uncouth cross person with whom I was cross with a fiver.

That unsavoury incident aside, the approach to the Capital City was both telling and unbearable as you are soon to encounter a fiery blast of the sun rays as your train chugs through the tunnels and across the countryside as it nears Delhi. 

Himalayas - Here I come

Having regretfully missed out on the Goa Hiking Association organised National Trekking Expedition to the Himalayas last May which a few of my friends attended, I was all the more keen and counting the months, that turned to weeks and later days, that would eventually lead to fulfilling my own dream to the conquest of the snow-capped mountains. In the run-up to what would be my most arduous trekking programme, through the monsoons I completed a record 13 one-day treks - a record in itself - braving the searing heat to the torrential downpour, crossing monstrous streams with strong undercurrents, inching my way down steep, winding slopes while reaching out for outcroppings in the slushy mud and relentless rain et all.

And this day was soon to arrive on 10th May, 2011, when I left home around tennish in the morn for the Margao Railway Stn. to catch my Delhi-bound 11.20am train with several others, some boarding the train at Karmali and Thivim respectively,  looking ahead with bundles of ceaseless excitement at the quest of their Himalayan adventure.

                  The wait is not too far off, when an unfulfilled Himalayan Dream is to be achieved !!