Today is the first day of our “dream drive” – drive to Leh starting from Pune. Day-zero was 17th May evening when we drove from Pune to Chinchani – north of Mumbai.
Lot of people asked me “but why drive all the way??” Honestly the simplest answer that comes to my mind is “I have to”! When I think little more, I think there are a few reasons. I come from a middle class family where car itself was a fantasy and my childhood fantasy about cars is still fresh. Another reason is my introvert nature – when I go on the long drive – its almost being left alone in your own private zone.
Today’s drive was up to Udaipur – by now it’s a standard drive as I have done this road twice before. It’s a lovely four-lane highway all the way from Mumbai to Udaipur. I just love driving on the highway as there is an ecosystem that exists on the highways. Apart from a few road maniacs, I just love the way people driving on highway co-exist and collaborate thru simple gestures. Slow moving trucks are always a pain but more often than not these gentle giants guide you about the right time to overtake them. When you travel on Indian roads, you get mixed feelings. While you enjoy the ride, you also see the basic struggle people have to go through. Our pathetic public transport system ensures that people travel hanging outside those private taxis risking their lives. While it can be a funny site to see so many people stuck on a vehicle, deep down I always feel worried about the safety of those unknown people. An incident happened today that almost stopped my heart. A man was riding bike with his kid in the scorching heat. The boy sitting behind the man may be hardly 7-8 years old. As we passed by the duo, I noticed that the little boy was almost dozing off and was on the verge of slipping anytime though he had held the man in front. We all just waived our hands to request the man to stop and told him to make the child sit in front of him rather than back. I guess he also realized the terrible thing that could have happened and thanked us. We moved on. This is what I mean by a lovely ecosystem that exists on our highways. I also have been the recipient of someone’s kindness so many times on the road – it could almost make a set of essays if I decide to write down all the incidents
Driving on the highway for hours is like Test match batting, you have to enjoy the stay on the pitch! There are times when you make up the distance fast, as the road is clear and there are times when you drive in slumber – though the vehicle and you are working in tandem you almost have periods of rest while in motion!
Tomorrow is another day as we explore one more day on road!
Lot of people asked me “but why drive all the way??” Honestly the simplest answer that comes to my mind is “I have to”! When I think little more, I think there are a few reasons. I come from a middle class family where car itself was a fantasy and my childhood fantasy about cars is still fresh. Another reason is my introvert nature – when I go on the long drive – its almost being left alone in your own private zone.
Today’s drive was up to Udaipur – by now it’s a standard drive as I have done this road twice before. It’s a lovely four-lane highway all the way from Mumbai to Udaipur. I just love driving on the highway as there is an ecosystem that exists on the highways. Apart from a few road maniacs, I just love the way people driving on highway co-exist and collaborate thru simple gestures. Slow moving trucks are always a pain but more often than not these gentle giants guide you about the right time to overtake them. When you travel on Indian roads, you get mixed feelings. While you enjoy the ride, you also see the basic struggle people have to go through. Our pathetic public transport system ensures that people travel hanging outside those private taxis risking their lives. While it can be a funny site to see so many people stuck on a vehicle, deep down I always feel worried about the safety of those unknown people. An incident happened today that almost stopped my heart. A man was riding bike with his kid in the scorching heat. The boy sitting behind the man may be hardly 7-8 years old. As we passed by the duo, I noticed that the little boy was almost dozing off and was on the verge of slipping anytime though he had held the man in front. We all just waived our hands to request the man to stop and told him to make the child sit in front of him rather than back. I guess he also realized the terrible thing that could have happened and thanked us. We moved on. This is what I mean by a lovely ecosystem that exists on our highways. I also have been the recipient of someone’s kindness so many times on the road – it could almost make a set of essays if I decide to write down all the incidents
Driving on the highway for hours is like Test match batting, you have to enjoy the stay on the pitch! There are times when you make up the distance fast, as the road is clear and there are times when you drive in slumber – though the vehicle and you are working in tandem you almost have periods of rest while in motion!
Tomorrow is another day as we explore one more day on road!
Hello Yogesh,
ReplyDeleteGlad to have stumbled on to your blog post and kind of got an opportunity to renew the communication.
For me, Zensar was the first company after my graduation from NIT,Trichy and was fascinated by the beauty of the place and our campus.
I joined Zensar in 2003 and those days we had our old office next to Eden Gardens and the lawns were a pleasure to walk during lunch hours.
Coming to the point, I remember you having a Bolero around that time and telling us about how much you love to drive. Dont know if you still have that one though.
But yeah, when you came to us for a talk during our induction, i told my batch mates that i wanted to be a HR guy like you, But fate has it that i am still a Techie :).
Great to see you back and is a pleasure to remember and recollect the wonderful days spent in Zensar! Hope its still the same wonderful place to be.
Keep travelling and keep rocking!
Vijay