So I called up the Badshah & confirmed the trip. Laser finally got a pair of likeable frames & we went for tea to meet the Bong.. & thats how it began..
We met again post dinner - i picked up the Badshah who couldnt make up his mind whether to wear floaters or shoes. I told him I'm going to trek (though I was wearing floaters) irrespective of the general mood! So he got into his sports shoes & came down. We couldnt find a petrol pump at that hour, since the usual one was closed. So, we reluctantly went back towards Drive in & picked up Dimples & Laser. Enter another character - the Badshah's cousin - mr bell-the-cat... We picked him up after losing our way to his home about twice (in my mind atleast). & headed towards the highway. 20 kms down & we still hadnt encountered a petrol pump. Dimples looked at the fuel guage & declared he wouldnt be pushing the car at any costs.. Just then a petrol pump popped up in front of us, & we filled up ....
Finally the journey had started, a planned event for 12 am at about 12.45 ishh....
I got comfortable into the driver's seat of my black beauty (thats my esteem, or what's left of it!) and gulped down miles on the narrow two laner till Chiloda. Mr bell-the-cat by my side & rest of the gang chittering in the back, it was a fun beginning..
But the moment we hit the 4 lane expanse and i pushed the black beauty to a smooth 120, the noises in the back subsided to snores & occasional burps... They were fast asleep!! so it was me & bell-the-cat who was looking precariously at the speedo & the road, and then vehicles that i overtook... wondering whether i was awake or asleep!!!
We paced through Himmatnagar, Idar & then on towards Khedbrahma... where the surprises awaited us.. The road, although empty & clean was bumpy as hell!! The guys in the back growled, cried & groaned while I & bell-the-cat were laughing nervously.. There wasnt a thing we could do- the road was pitch black & the beauty couldn't light the path enough to show us the undulations. So we continued our jittery ride through Khedbrahma, on towards Ambaji. We started climbing, the turns became taxing & more interesting for the driver in me. By this time (about am) sleep was trying to push down my eyelids while i battled the bumps & bends.... Luckily, mr bell-the-cat kept a close watch, out of his own nervousness to stay alive i guess!! As for the rest, they passed between states of groaning, laughing, sleep & dreams. Ms Laser seemed oblivious of the whole drama, sleeping as if in a soundproof (& bump proof) cradle!
Mr Dimples was awake for some time & told us interesting stories of his earlier bike trip to abu & the anecdotes of his group on this road. It was quite good for keeping us awake & he drifted off to sleep again...
Finally we stopped at the other end of Ambaji, trying in vain to find a tea shop. While we got out & stretched, Ms Laser drifted back to earth trying to comprehend her surroundings! After a futile look around for anything edible, we sat back & continued towards our destination. Somewhere on the way we encountered a large flyover above us & Mr Dimples announced loudly: " Oye driver! we have taken a wrong turn somewhere & lost our way.... A dark expanse on the other side of the flyover showed a hand made board announcing the way to Mt Abu, but we were apprehensive of taking another wrong turn. So we used the service lane along the flyover to reach the main highway, wondering where it went. We read the words Abu Road GAIL colony somewhere & decided we werent too off the mark. I saw a police jeep checking vehicles ahead & thought of asking them. I couldnt have been stupider, but then they had seen us & i didnt have a choice either...
The moment we stopped they pulled us aside & started asking for papers, license & anything that they could incriminate us for. To their luck, the black beauty after its recent service was devoid of registration papers, insurance, the whole package missing except for photocopies! The cops relished at the smell of bakras & told us the fine would be high or we could let the car be impounded & visit the court on monday (there was still a sunday in between!) Knowing their attitude me & Dimples set up a drama by eye contact. I produced my student card & told them we would go back if they let us go.. The argument ensued with our sirjis & students haai pushing them out of their comfort zones. Finally the junior asked for a 1000 bucks! I promptly came up with 200 & he got hysterical... I again started ranting about students & all.. & declared myself out at 500.. So he was eyeing atleast 500 & I had another plan, which Dimples happily saw in my actions.. While mr bell-the-cat came up with a 500 which i slipped into my pocket in a jiffy, i fished out 100s, 50s, & whatever 10s i had to make up the 500. The cop was completely taken aback & i told him this was all i had! He reluctantly gave back the 10s, leaving 450 with him. His senior looked at him disapprovingly & he gave back another 50.. after which he happily showed us the way! We went on the main highway & stopped at the first tea shop to recharge ourselves after a sleepy bumpy drive and a good half hour of haggling over a stupid bribe...
Now Mr Dimples doesnt have tea or coffee, so he thought of trying the local cola (RC Cola) and chips... He was eating them awkwardly & i was wondering until the Badshah tasted the chips & spat them out!!! I was laughing my heart out & we tried to feed them to the dog, who sniffed at them & looked away...
The tea shop owner guided us towards Abu & we rattled our bones on narrow streets towards somewhere.. Suddenly we hit a small state highway & thankfully the Mt Abu hill could be seen in the background. I was recharged by the tea, but the backseat fell asleep again. The road was more torturous this time & Mr bell-the-cat between his spates of sleep & nervousness kept looking at me. I was fighting to keep my eyelids open & thankfully there was no traffic on the insanely narrow road. Somehow we reached the top & entered the town! Mr Bell-the-cat decided he could show us the way towards the lake (which is the town centre) but after a few confusing turns we tried using the insane signages which sprung up at the wrong places! Somehow we reached the city centre & parked into a lot & stretched ourselves, whereby the Badshah, fully charged after a good sleep sprung into action with his Rebel XTI!!! Sometimes i feel he can capture any animate, inanimate thing as long as it exists!!! But then he has the talent to make them look photogenic! Ms Laser quickly disappeared to freshen herself while Mr Dimples spread in the backseat to take a loong nap. I was smiling as i could see the sun come up & my dear black beauty particularly likes to heat herself up with his grace. Poor Mr Dimples would realize that in the middle of his dawn siesta.
Ms Laser was taking too long so we decided to explore the area. We went to the lake and the Badshah started snapping up the scenic moments... Suddenly we saw the famous toad rock and decided to go up there. While i waited for Ms Laser to catch up midway, the Badshah & mr bell-the-cat had found a mango tree to climb over. I was over-excited to see their antics & joined the fun, finally me being the only person to successfully climb the lowest branch... Alas there were no mangoes for the Badshah - who is a mango maniac!!!...
We continued upto the toad rock while I & Ms Laser chatted about the flora & the Badshah was wondering if we had another topic on earth to discuss. A most beautiful moment awaited us at the top, with the sun just breaking over the horizon & lighting up the waters of the lake. the Badshah was quick to spring into action with his rebel furiously documenting the surrounds. Mr Bell-the-cat tried to find a way up the toad rock but came back after some time deciding not to break his bones. While I & Ms Laser continued our chatter about the flora, our stomachs growled in unison. So we started back towards the sights & smells of food. Mr Bell-the-cat found a decent restaurant just in time for us to see black beauty showing her true colour to Mr Dimples who had jumped out due to the heat!!!! Slowly he trudged towards the small dinera and we had a hearty breakfast of yummy aloo parathas & upma and not so yummy other things.
Another moment of indecision swept us while we wondered what to do. Mr Bell-the-cat, the only person who knew something about the place told us about gurushikar & Delwada temples. So we drove towards Delwada with another set of confusing signages guiding us. Finally we reached delwada only to be told that the temples opened at 12. We had a good 2.5 hours to kill & Gurushikar was the only option. We decided to go there for the drive & started off through a scenic scrub forest, farmhouses & meandering roads. As we approached the hill hosting gurushikar I realized it was the home of the air force radar station too! I had seen it on an earlier trekking trip & wondering how it would be to look down from that height!
Another set of taxing roads faced us, but I was quite upto the task with the Badshah biting my ear at every wrong move! The moment we reached the base of the temple, a cool breeze (wind rather) hit us. Instinctively we headed to the nearest parapet & stretched out, taking in the coolness while looking at the scene around. We were almost on the verge of going back when Mr Dimples (to his later dismay) decided to take a walk till the steps of the temple. A few steps up had me & the Badshah hungry for more, so we slipped down the sides & tried to take up another route. In our excitement we hardly realized we had climbed up to the top! When we paused to take some photos i called up Dimples to inform him of our whereabouts. As expected they were looking for us at the base. Well the temple is not too high, only as much as a 20-30 storey building, but the climb is taxing enough as its continuous. So we reached the top & went over to the other side - the Badshah's rebel taking in views of the astronomical observatory & the landscape on the whole. While we were fooling around at the top in the cool gale of a wind, Dimples called to say it was getting hotter at the base. I & the badshah reluctantly went down to the base to face a heated up area. Ms Laser showed me her shopping while they (all but me) had lassi & chaas.
As i started making our way down the twisting roads, the badshah growled that the lassi had upset his stomach.... We reached the Delwada & the Badshah was in no mood to walk around. I warned them that we would have to come back quite a long distance to visit the temples again, while Mr bell-the-cat insisted we could give them a miss or see them right now. We even thought of visiting the wildlife sanctuary on the way, but the majority wanted to head to the lake. The moment we neared the lake a stream of cars came up behind us honking crazily. I was frustrated & tired, and tried to look for a parking space. In the ensuing confusion, i drove to the other side of the lake. When we were too far I thought i could make the complete round & come back to the main bazaar. But at one point the road was barricaded so that we could see the road on the other side but the car couldnt cross. We were all tired & there were quite a few families stretching on the benches by the lakeside. I told the gang that i had a carpet in the boot & we could lie down for some time before lunch. Everyone readily agreed & we lay down on a combination of the carpet, the parapet & some old newspapers. While the tree above us was not shady, the cool breeze brought respite. We fell asleep for some time until Mr bell-the-cat was hungry & bought some snacks from a vendor nearby. I was talking him into boating on the lake when a stupid urban family parked beside us & started drinking (hard) and playing loud insane songs from a byegone era. Again, Ms Laser seemed to be in a cocoon of her own, untouched by the sounds around her, while Mr Dimples & the Badshah were raised out of their slumber in a decidedly agitated state. They took off to test the rebel on some edible items armed with a macro lens while i chatted with Mr bell-the-cat. As hunger took over, Mr Dimples cautiously tried to wake up Ms Laser who kicked him repeatedly. Finally she woke up & looked around to see a patch of shade right beside her. "Alas" she said, " only if i had moved by a food" "Then we would have gone hungry today" said I, laughing away! So we made our way back to the bazaar & parking bang in the middle of a turn as i got a hunch that something bad would come up later. We relished on whatever was put before us, irrespective of its taste, and Mr Dimples' last order overfed us both.
As we came out Mr Bell-the-cat motioned me towards a traffic cop standing behind the car. My hunch was right & we were in trouble again. Mr Dimples had a bright plan & told me to sit in the car while the cop looked around the other side and drive away. That i did, half expecting a shouting cop in my rearview. Thankfully i reached out of his reach while the rest of the gang walked up to the car. As they sat, Mr Dimples said- "Driver! the way to the temple is still from where the cop is!!" How stupid of me i thought, i had driven in the wrong direction. After a futile attempt to find a way in the OTHER direction, i decided to face the cop as i doubled back. As we reached the junction, the cop was not to be found, and i pushed the accelerator to lead the black beauty away!!!
I parked right in front of the Delwada gate, as a cop blew his whistle & asked me to park in the alloted space. I trudged back up the slope in the 3 o clock heat, swearing at myself for being a lazy couch potato... Mr bell-the-cat had seen the temple enough times & volunteered to wait outside with our stuff while we took a tour of the temple in the crowds.
The temples were simply mindblowing with their intricate carvings & amazing geometry! As the guide rightly said, they were a mighty match to the Taj Mahal in terms of worksmanship! As we jostled through the five temples listening to stories about their construction & general events we were increasingly awed by the architecture. Im sure the Badshah was missing his rebel like hell!
As we came out, a bored looking Mr bell-the-cat was trying things with the rebel as Mr Badshah looked at it longingly... if only he could document the Delwada... Im sure we would have to leave him there for the entire day!!!!
So we dragged ourselves back to the parking lot & rested in the windy area for some time. Mr Dimples couldnt find a washroom & wanted to go back to the bazaar as i eyed the fuel guage with suspicion. We decided to head downhill to Abu Road & find a fuel pump before lest we needed to push the car halfway. As the Badshah took the wheel, the rest of us eyed the fuel guage nervously. Thankfully we reached the Abu road before we ran out of fuel. But the journey downhill & without the ac (since fuel was low) had taxed my head & Mr Dimple's stomach.
As we drove out after refuelling, Mr Dimples vomited. I was feeling groggy too, as i always feel in the backseat, & the Khedbrahma road increased my headaches. Somehow i lived through the bumpy ride through Ambaji & Khedbrahma.
Just as we crossed a railway crossing (with traffic cops fishing around again!) 2o kms from Idar, i heard a weird rumbling in the rear. I asked the Badshah to pull up on the side & walked around the car checking...
One tyre had gone fully burst with even the outer tire cut through!! The airconditioned inside & the bumpy road hadnt given a clue on the steering as the Badshah was battling the roads. We changed to the spare & found it was either low on air or punctured. So, Ms Laser & the badshah drove towards the town on the horizon while I, Mr Dimples & Mr bell-the-cat walked the way.
There was no electricity in the village to run the air pump, so we had tea & waited. Thankfully, the spare was just low on air & not punctured. We continued our journey & i was drifting between sleep & drowsy observations by this time.
Sometime at 9-9.30 we reached Gota chowkdy where we turned inside from the highway to drop Mr Bell-the-cat & had to retrace our steps due to a flyover in construction. Between dropping Mr Bell-the-cat, the Badshah, Mr Dimples & Ms Laser my mind was registering less & less. Somehow i reached home, had a bath & fell flat on my bed!!!!
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