Gurgaon to Indore - An interesting road journey

I had thought about driving to the Indore in my own car for my wedding but had kept the plan to myself for the fear of it raising unnecessary hue & cry within my family. My would-be-wife was in Delhi 2 days before I was scheduled to take up this road journey, all on my own this time, and we went around shopping for the whole day. I had convinced her (as well as my other family members) that one of my friends is accompanying me for this drive and thus they should not worry much. I knew in my heart that I'll have to be extra careful as this would be my first drive to Indore via NH-3 and also for the reason that I am going to be all alone this time.

Here is the quick route map of NH-3 that I had taken to reach Indore from Agra

Start early and reach Indore within safe time limits was something I had decided to stick to and thus I went to bed early but I must admit that I could not have a very sound sleep. However, what ever amount of sleep I had was enough for me to wake up at 4:30 AM, get ready and leave my apartment at around 5:30 AM in the morning. I withdrew some (read extra) money and once again checked all the four wheels to make sure nothing was signalling for an upcoming trouble and set off on Gurgaon - Faridabad road. Since it was still dark and the road was in a very good condition, it did not take much time before I hit Faridabad and with some efforts of trying to navigate my way around within Faridabad, I hit the Mathura Road at around 6:30 AM. I was enjoying the drive cruising at more-than-average speed as sun had just started illuminating the day and morning weather seemed so comforting. Traffic still not being bad added to my mood. I seriously hoped to cover Faridabad - Agra part of my journey in a zipping fashion - little did I know about what next 2-hours had in store for me.

After having driven for around 2 hours, I stopped at a dhaba for some breakfast and you may call it my adventurous instinct that I ordered for an aaloo paratha with curd and a chai. The paratha was not great but managed to dump half of it into my hungry-from-last-night stomach but tea was really good which I certainly relished. After settling the bill and buying a few bottles of packaged drinking water, I set off again for my journey ahead. I must have driven for 15-20 minutes or so when I started to feel fog in the air which kept getting denser with every kilo metre I drove. I could quite realized when it became so dense that my milo meter was showing that I was barely crawling at an speed of less than 20 KMH as opposed to what I was doing nearly an hour back. It was such a dense fog that I decided to turn off the music so that my 100% focus was to save myself from any untoward incident. At least twice, I applied breaks before just having rammed into the lorry ahead of me. There was a time when I started to feel that I should have taken the advice of travelling via train more seriously than I did.

After having driven in such a condition for almost 45 minutes, weather cleared up and things started to look better. I thanked god and pressing the throttle harder on the clearer stretch felt relieving. In no time I was very close to Agra and the city limits had started but I kept driving at a speed to cover up for the lost time. I looked at my watch and exclaimed - ohh my god!!! It's already 10:30 and I am yet to cross Agra. I must driver faster to cover up more - was the only thought that came to my mind. But yet again - within no time of having entered the Agra city, I was made to realize (rather re-realize) that road trips in our country can be so unpredictable
My car came to a halt at the end of a trail of many other vehicle with no sign of them moving in near future. Upon enquiry, I came to know that people were protesting for something and had blocked the road as part of their protest. Having born in India, one understands that such protests (read chakka-jaam) are part of life but I certainly did not it to be part of my this journey. Already running late on my schedule and the knowledge of possible anxiety that the delay in my arrival in Indore can cause back home, I was desperate to find an alternative route to get out of Agra and be on NH-3 as quickly possible. I asked a passer-by for help and explained him that I have to go a long distance, My SOS plea did not go waste and he seemed to be ready to help but not knowing instantaneously how, he first wanted me to take a U-turn and facilitate that by negotiating with other drivers on my behalf. I was amused at his leadership qualities and thanked my starts to have chosen the right man for seeking help. I was not sure as yet if it was his natural attitude of helping others or there is going to be cost for the same. Desperate I was, up to 100-200 Rupees would not have made the deal look bad. Anyways, I managed to take a U-turn and after consulting few other people around, this gentleman came to me and explained that I will have to drive towards the Delhi for around 15 Kilo Metres and then take Agra By-pass and keep driving on it until I hit NH-3. I also realized that he was truly trying to help me. I thanked him (and to my stars yet again) and set off for my search to locate the by-pass which I found after asking a few more times.

I kept driving on that by-pass which seemingly was a good road to start with though had many humps, speed breakers (and they truly were speed breakers with their massive size) as they are popularly known in India. Since I had already lost quite some time, I wanted to be 100% sure that I was on the right path and pulled my car in front of a person standing by the road side. He quickly grabbed the opportunity and requested that I gave him the lift as he was going the same route and he can guide me as well. I weighed my options and forced my mind (be positive was the theme) to think that it was win-win situation for both (I had no options too, I guess) and opened the door. He sat in and my real by-pass journey started thereafter. Within 15 minutes, the tar disappeared from the road and in another 15 minutes, the road itself. Yes - I am not overwhelmed with emotions but road (in urban language) ceased to exist. It did not take long for me to realize that I was in for some real roadie-like adventure ahead. I kept asking the guy about how long we'll have to drive on this stretch and his answer did not change for around good 30 minutes - "jyada nahi bacha hai" and all I kept thinking was that I (or my car) should not pass-out before the by-pass comes to an end. In all honesty, I can claim that it was worst stretch on which I have forced my car to prove it's worth so far. Just before I was about to lose all my hopes of making on time to Indore, I hit a highway which was NH-3 indeed and took the right turn and started cruising again. Except an under-construction fly-over, nothing else forced me to reduce my speed until Dholpur where I dropped the guy politely declining his offer to take the fare and a cup of tea.

In no time, I crossed Morena and only time I had to stop was for paying at toll booths. I could not locate the by-pass in Gwalior and thus had to traverse through the city of Gwalior which really proved to be very painful. Coming out of Gwalior was relief again but it was already 1:40 PM. I started to speed up and not-so-heavy traffic helped in doing so. I stopped for few minutes to have a quick chat with Shubhra and then continued with my drive. I kept driving enjoying the beauty of Chambal region. It was not very different from the picture that all bollywood movies had presented when I was a teenager. With ravines on both the sides and interesting bends on the road, drive was amusing. It was more so because my music player had lost it's FM connection and the only CD I had in the dashboard cabinet was not good enough to be heard on trip like this. I had started feeling hungry as the aaloo-paratha had given up it's resistance. A focused 1.5 hours drive made me hit Shivpuri where I pulled up my car at a dhaba yet again for a quick lunch. It was a not-so-busy-place and I thought I would be served quickly and thus would save some time. I had quick daal-fry and a couple of tandoori rotis with some salad and raita, paid the bill and set off yet again, thinking will only stop once now before Indore to get my car fuelled up again. I knew I had covered around 60% of the distance by then and will require focused driving to be home at a reasonable time.



Again empty stretches on the road helped me accelerate a bit and I covered around 192 KMs until Biora in around 2 and half hours and pulled up again to have a quick cup of tea. There was a baarat from the bheel community having break at the same tea shop and childish face of groom forced me to ask his age in casual chat while sipping my tea. He shyly replied - 14. I appreciated the difference of perspective yet again in life. The resemblance was that I was going to get married too but the age difference clearly made it look like two different schools of thought for the same mile stone in life, If I can put it that way.

I knew I still had around 180 Kilo Metres drive left and that did not give any more time for a further chat with groom or baarat and I was behind the wheels again and surely to stop just once before hitting home. It was on this stretch that I made my only mistake of this trip. I was trying to over-take a truck which refused to slow down and I mis-judges the speed of an oncoming truck from the opposite direction and in no time I realized that I can be in deep trouble. Breaking the speed and getting behind the truck I was trying to over-take was not an option anymore as that would have taken more time and thus decided to accelerate to car's limit and complete the over-take. Luckily, the driver of oncoming truck was more accommodating and slowed down a bit and I was past the truck in zip. I learnt my lesson but manage to be home with that being only mistake for a long drive of this kind. It made me feel happy, not that I discounted the error I had committed as errors like that may not leave anything to repent.
I was at home around 8:00 PM which could be considered a reasonable time. I felt satisfied by making it on time despite of the sequence of events that happened earlier in the day.
Ant bhala to sab bhala :-)

An adventurous trip amidst fog

Ringing alarm at 4:50 AM again reminded me that I have to wake up and start getting ready for the office. Coming out of quilt at this hour is no less than getting ready for a Kargil war. After having said to myself - "just two more minutes" a couple of times, I managed to leave the bed just the way Rohit Sharma left the crease unwillingly after having been given out in yesterday's match against Australia which he thought was incorrect. I got ready thanking the great person who invented geyser. Just when I was about to finish my cup of tea, intercom rang and the guard from the main gate informed me that my cab had arrived. I took the jacket and locked the door making as less noise as possible in order to not wake up others at home.


The moment I came out of my apartment, I realized that it was foggier than any other day and one could hardly see things barely 20 metres away. Anyways, I boarded the cab waiting outside the gate and sat off for my journey. The way driver was driving the car, It did not take me long to realize that I was in for some adventure. He almost hit the road divider giving me my first shiver. I was almost about to be convinced that my eyesight has gone bad as I was not able to see anything on the road though driver was cruising at a high speed. It was when he sped away on a hump making my head touch the roof, I was forced to ask him to slow down and drive 'peacefully'. I felt proud to know 'hanuman chalisa' by heart which comes very handy in such scenarios. After having held my breath for around 10 minutes, I felt relieved the moment I saw Sapient building hardly 200 metres. Even before I finished uttering "thank god I am saved", the driver took a sharp right turn from the traffic light in front of the future RBS office to avoid going all the way to NH-8 to take the U-turn. It's then I heard breaks of a truck screaming and it barely managed to stop, may be an inch or two away from the car. I could easily gather that the driver had all the plans to make all those premiums to various insurance policies yield results but for Bajrangbali, he failed. :-)

ps: This narration is just for fun and not to scare you people from taking such adventurous trips :-)

Feels so good to stand in your own balcony

Today I got my first snap clicked while standing in my own flat's balcony. It's probably not one of those "get it framed and hang it on the wall" kind of picture but am sure will certainly remain close to my heart by shear virtue of being my first snap clicked in this flat. It was raining heavily and I was kind of enjoying it standing in the balcony along with few laborers working to finish my flat for its interiors. To be honest, the feeling was overwhelming. Like any other individual on this earth, I, too, have had many dreams associated with this flat, many of which stand shattered today not to be fulfilled anytime in the life. However, few are still alive and active in the mind and heart and few more have taken shape and are struggling to find a place amongst the alive ones making the thought process a little more stable day by day.

I went through all the pains which a salaried person goes through if he dares to get into the process of realizing his dream of having his own home. It started with me deciding to buy a flat. Thinking of your own house in Gurgaon has already gone beyond the reach of people like me and for us - definition of "our own home" has transformed to a 2BHK/3BHK flat. After seeing many a flats, having spoken to numerous property brokers, after having participated in at least 10 futile meetings of final negotiations, I happened to find this flat. It was a little over my most stretchable budget but then with some encouragement from my brother, I decided to jump into it. I still remember those months of 2006 when I used to be left with Rs 6000 after paying my EMI.Going was indeed tough but then it kept going. I was promised to get the possession by October 2006. However, not getting the possession of your flat on time is almost a foregone conclusion in NCR and our builder made no efforts to be an exception either. Months passed by after October 2006 and his promised date of giving possession kept getting updated by each passing month. Finally, we got the possession of our flat in May 2007, though even layman could say that it will take at least 3-4 months before someone could physically shift-in. This was the time when I was in Singapore and thus lost the opportunity of getting interiors done and thus could only get it started once I was back from Singapore towards the end of August.

The second biggest hurdle is generally in bringing your flat to a state where you can shift in. This includes the woodwork, kitchen finishing, lighting, accessories, electrical fittings, paint of your choice etc.This is the worst state for the reason that you have already run out of the patience (and ofourse money as well) but you are still spending a good amount of money and to top it all, nothing seems to be moving at the pace you expect it to be. The feeling that you probably have hired the slowest workers/laborers on the earth frustrates you more.

My woodwork is almost finished [and it's been in the same state for last 4-5 days. Only my contractor can tell when the state will change from "almost finished" to "completely finished"] and so is the POP work. Painter has started doing the initial work of applying the primer on the walls and in wardrobes. Painting will be a big bottleneck as you can't get any accessories or for that matter electrical items fitted until painting is completely finished. I know I will have to get behind his life to make it fast as I am running out on time. I have 5 more days at hand before I fly out to Singapore again this weekend. Let us see in what state I will have to leave my flat before I travel to the Singapore. Going is indeed tough but it has to be kept going.

Jai Mata Dee! Trip to Vaishno Devi

We have made so many plans in the past to go for the darshan to Vaishno Devi as a family but all were nothing but futile. While I was in Singapore, I could sense that I will be not that busy after coming back and taking 2-3 days off would not be a problem. I decided firmly that this time the plan should be a success - come what may and started doing all the bookings for the pilgrimage. I chose 24-Aug as the date to leave Delhi, be in Vaishno Devi /Jammu for next two days and then be back to Delhi on by 28-August and got all my train tickets booked. However, here comes the very first hurdle. The Vaishno Devi Shrine Board's website was down and I could get my room reservations done. Once the site was up, there were no rooms available for the dates I had chosen. But then I was determined this time to make it happen. I first searched for the room availability and got confirmed bookings for 23-August. I got my train tickets re-booked keeping this date in mind.

So now plan was disclosed to family in Indore as a surprise and everyone was happy that this time it looks like we'll make it as a family. Just when everything looked set, my brother informed me that he would not be able to make it as his returned date from US was likely to be after the 23-August - Second hurdle in the family pilgrimage. I had to get his ticket cancelled but then his plans got re-scheduled and he returned back from US on 19th of August facilitating whole family to be part of the trip. I got him fresh tickets which I had to get confirmed through Manu Bhaiya. He was in a different bogie but that was still ok as we were finally starting for our long due and long pending family darshan of Mataji. We started in the evening from Gurgaon for the New Delhi railway station where I parked my car at manu bhaiya's place. Train journey was comfortable and on time. I really could not recall when did we travel as a whole family last.

We arrived in Jammu at around 7:00 in the morning and after getting fresh, we started our journey for the Katra. The road to Katra from Jammu makes you witness some breathtaking natural beauty which you generally don’t find in the plains. While driver was busy negotiating the steep curves on the road, we were engaged in photography and general chitchatting. It was raining as well which made the weather cool down and much pleasant to travel. We had our breakfast at a road side dhaaba on our way to Katra. We reached Katra taxi stand at around 10:00 AM from where we hired to two auto rickshaw to reach the Darshani Darwaja - the place where you start your uphill journey on Trikuta Parvat. Bhawan (the final destination where the holy temple is situated) is almost at a distance of 13.5 KMs from the Darshani Darwaja. We hired a helper [Pithoo in local language] to carry our luggage for our journey. After crossing the Darshani Darwaja and security checks, we reached Banganga [the holy river which is believed to have been created by Mataji on her way to the cave]. We touched the water and sprinkled it over ourselves conforming to the ritual of taking bath in river before one starts his/her journey for the darshan.

I asked Mummy and Papa to take a horse from thereon. Papa flatly refused where as mom did not resist too much. Mom was of course nervous initially but then very soon got comfortable. Rest of us i.e. myself, Papa, Rinku [my brother] and Priya [my sister] started our journey by foot enjoying our journey with "Jai Mata Dee Jai Mata Dee" being exchanged with the people passing by. Needless to say that valley looked so very beautiful and priya did not miss a single opportunity/place to click snaps on our way. It took us more close to 2.5 hours to reach ArdhKumari [the place which marks half way to Bhawan]. We were all tired but papa was visibly most tired of all. Not just because of his age, he decide to quit tobacco at the start of the journey and not having had tobacco for last 3 hours had more to contribute towards his tiring state. We spent around 45 minutes there and had light snacks. We got two tickets for Battery operated cars for Papa and Mummy for our onward journey to Bhawan while rest three of decided to continue our journey by foot. Believe me - it was great fun walking amidst such a dense fog where we were also greeted occasionally by mild showers. Everything looked like as if it has been pulled out from a story book having so many beautiful pictures. I can't explain that in words but all I can say is - you need to see it to believe it. My sister was specially amused with the monkeys around and busy nick-naming each one of them she spotted on our way. The fun was on.

We reached Bhawan at around 5:00 PM in the evening where Papa and Mummy were waiting for us in the Manokamana Bhawan. From there we went to Kalika Bhawan where we had our accommodation booked. It was a well done, nice and spacious room with all the facilities. After relaxing for a while, we all got ready for our Darshan and queued up at the entrance called Gate No.1 at 9:00 PM. Temple is closed for Darshan between 6:00 - 8:30 PM. It took us almost an hour to have done our darshan of holy Pindies - the form in which Maa Vaishno Devi appeared in the cave. There after we had our dinner and went to bed. Next morning we all woke up at around 6:00 AM after a sound sleep - much due to the fact that we were all tired last night. After having our morning tea, we all got ready for our next Darshan of Kaal Bhairav. It was raining heavily and weather was too cloudy studded with dense fog. I was not sure if helicopter service will resume today or not. Since the Deccan Aviation Ltd's [the company operating the helicopter service] was still not open, I decided to wait behind while others started for the Bhairav Nath.I waited for almost an hour but there was sign of office getting opened anytime soon and gave up. Since everyone was already there, I decide to take a horse in order to reach faster. Believe me - horse journey from Bhawan to Kaal Bhairav can be very adventurous - specially if your horse happened to be a bigger one and a little extra enthusiastic. Finally, I reached Bhairav Nath mandir and perfomed my darshan there.

Now the next destination was Sanjhi Chhat as we wanted to know if helicopter would be flying or not. After reaching the place, I realized that the helipad was quite far off from the Sanjhi Chhat. Instead of taking everyone along, I went there alone only to get a cancellation done as weather was not good enough. We then stared walking towards Ardhkumari which took us lot of time as mom was walking slowly. From Ardhkumari, we hired horse for Papa and mummy and three of started walking down. On our way, we were taking stairs most of the times to make the journey as quick as possible. We did kept eating and drinking so that we get some rest as well and not get completely exhausted. We reached the Darshani Darwaja at around 3:30 PM and from there we again too auto rickshaw to reach Katra taxi stand. We then started for Katra as driver instructed us that there has been a bad traffic jam on way to Jammu due to two road accidents. Though for us situation was not bad as the road was almost cleared of the wreckage but we could still imagine how bad things would have been had we it the spot 3-4 hours ago. We made it on time in Jammu and decided to visit Rangnath Temple as well since we had enough time at hand. After visiting Rangnath temple, we headed for railway station where we had our dinner after freshening up and boarded the train for Delhi. Again, train journey was comfortable and we were in Delhi by 7:00 AM in the morning and in Gurgaon by 8:00 AM. Finally, a sense of satisfaction of having done a comfortable and long pending trip as a family was evident on everyone's face.

Jai Mata dee!

A day in Sentosa island - Singapore

After postponing it once, this Sunday was reserved for touring Sentosa island [ http://www.sentosa.com.sg]. Rishi has given me a time of 9:30 to start the day for Sentosa. However, we both were late while leaving our respective places and reached Harbourfront station by 11:15 AM. You can board a bus or monorail from Harbourfront station for the Sentosa island. You also have a choice of landing at Sentosa via a cable car. The cable car passes very close by the Star Cruise liner and you can get a closer glimpse of it in case you think getting that otherwise would be a bit too costlier. We decided to take the monorail and bought our Sentosa entry cards from the ticket counter which included the monorail journey as well. The moment we three [myself, Rishi and his wife] entered the access gates to board the train, Rishi's wife realized that she left her wallet in the washroom. A panic button was pressed as it had few bank cards as well. We went running back to place but it could not be traced. Finally, respective Banks were called and cards were cancelled - and we made our second attempt to board the train.Ooops -- our entry card did not work this time as they were meant to be used just once. We could clearly see our few dollars having gone wasted when we decided to try our luck and explained the entire situation to a lady attendant who very kindly let us in.
We got off the train at Merlion. This was our first stop. We saw the Merlion closely and took some snaps. I guess people will not believe you that you have visited Singapore if you do not have a snap with Merlion. Now I have the proof of having been to Singapore :). From Merlion, we kept walking along the walk until we reached in from of the Beach station of the monorail. Clicked few snaps there and realized that it was too sunny and we were already hungry. We made our way to Impiah where you find few eating joints such as Subway, Pizzeria etc. We ordered Pizza for ourselves as that was the only vegetarian thing we could locate. After having our pizza and gulping the coke along with it, I was advised to take the LUGE. Its basically a bicycle like low-lying vehicle with three wheels. In other words, if you take an Indian Auto Rickshaw, make its base touch the ground and reduce its size so that only one person can be seated in it, you have made a LUGE. After getting a go ahead from your instructor, all your Luge does it to rush down on a nicely built up cement track. The only thing you need to do is manage the handle to keep your luge on the correct path. It was fun and kind of a new experience. After reaching at the end of the track, you are guided towards a cable way fitted with benches. You then are made to seat on the bench and cable takes you to the original place where you started from. This cable way provides you some good view from an altitude. Unfortunately, I had not taken my camera thinking it would be a risk while driving the luge.
After the Luge expedition, we boarded the bus for Underwater sea world. Again Rishi and his wife decided to wait outside as they already had seen this many times. It was quite costly ticket and a major disappointment as well. I could not find anything very amusing there. It was certainly overpriced. Anyways, we took the bus again for the Dolphin's Lagoon where I went inside, again leaving Rishi to wait for me outside, to witness much hyped Dolphin show. The show was ok types - nothing of sort that you will regret for ever in case you missed it.
Then we headed towards the Palawan beach. It was very small beach with people spread all over. Seemed to be a typical place where you get your food from home along with your family and just chill out. Interestingly enough, it was the southern-most point of Asia continent. We head our second round food here. Clicked few snaps and chilled out for sometime. By this time we were quite tired and we planned to head back and do some roaming around in the Harbourfront and Vivo City malls. I wanted to go far much talked-about Night Safari as well but then there was no way we could wait there until 7:00 for it to start. We took the monorail back and after roaming for around 30 minutes in the two malls, I bid bye to Rishi and his wife and headed for the hotel. Overall, it was a day well spent though in summary, I found Sentosa not having met the expectations. May be my expectations were a bit too high after having heard so much about it from people.

Playing cricket in Singapore

so here comes my second weekend in Singapore. Last week has been slightly hectic work wise and thus I had planned to take some rest on saturday and do some research on things I would want to take back. In summary, take it easy was the slogan for the Saturday. However, I woke up at 11 AM and after getting ready felt like having a hot cup of tea made in Indian style. This made me land up at Komala's [It's a vegetarian food chain serving south Indian food mainly]. I had a nice cup of tea there and then headed for the famous Funan digital mall to check on some of the electronics stuff which I intend to take back home from here.

I was busy checking on the prices and models of a plasma TVs when I got a call from one of my friend asking me if I would be interested in playing a cricket match. I hesistantly told him that I am not carrying any whites as such as to which he said we will try and manage something here - You just hop on to a cab and come to this place. I did exactly the same. I took a taxi and reached Singapore Indian Sports Club in 15 mins. Match has already started and one over was bowled. I was supposed to be on field after arranging a pair of whites. I bought one from the in-house shop of the club, put them on and was on field after the second over.

I was playing cricket after a long time and the impact of last few months' bad time was visible on my body language. But I was doing well and infact fielded some of nicely driven strokes saving runs for my team. It was good to see myself getting that good old touch in fielding. We were given a target of 179 runs in 30 overs which I initially thought was close to being toough.

when we went back to pavillion, people asked me if I would be interested in opening the batting. Despite of opening slot being my favourite position, I politely declined it telling them that I would be more keen on going one or two down. This was because of fear of not being able to adjust that quickly due to a long gap in having played my last game. I was then told to go one down and pad-up.

Now comes the twist to the story. I had just got ready for with pads etc when the first wicket fell for my team -- it was just the third ball of the game and I was walking in to face fourth ball thinking whether it would have been not good to just yes to the offer of opening the line.
Anyways, on my very first ball, I manage to drive it down to the point where a minor misfield helped me score my run off the very first ball I faced. I was indeed very shaky, slightly hungry [as it was a Saturday and I keep a fast on Saturday] and not very confident. However, after a few shots where my bat connected well with the ball, I gained some confidence and was more fluent. Though the start was shaky, I went on to share a 74-run partnership for the second wicket. It was exactly when I started to enjoy my batting, a bowling change put an end to my inning. The ball was flighted delivery with a pathetic slow pace. I could not judge the slowness and got out on it. While walking back, I was kind of satisfied with my game, considering that I was on for a game after at least 2.5 years.

Game had made me very tired and all the more hungry. after having showers and changing our cloths, we headed for Little India where I insisted on having an early dinner. We had dinner and am back to my hotel now - aaj neend achchi aayegi :). Good night.