OUR WHIRLWIND TRIP TO THE DESH OF “SHONDESH & ROSHOGOLLAS’---- KOLKATA

Till the evening of this trip, I wasn’t aware that I was to tag along with my husband VeeCee (Vijay) as a companion in the new Mercedes Benz “C” Class, to Kolkata, all the way from Chennai. One of VeeCee’s business associate residing in Kolkata had booked for a ‘C Class Mercedes Benz’ from Chennai. As VeeCee had to attend a Mega Seminar in Kolkata and since there were no air tickets available, it occurred to him to test-drive this magnificent machine on wheels. Under the circumstances, VeeCee thought of driving down to Kolkata, as it served the dual purpose of delivering the vehicle and attending the Seminar in 25 hrs flat!!

Since his boss Mr. Kana knew that he was taking up the driving option to reach Kolkata after a very hectic day’s work at office, he wanted me too to go along with VeeCee. As both of us had taken up so many trips earlier, I readily agreed.

VeeCee came home in a brand new metallic –green Mercedes Benz C Class with Tamilnadu registration at 8.00 pm. He had already told me to pack up the bags and be ready. I arranged for the children to be put up with our family friend for 2-3 days, as they had classes to attend. We set out around 9.00 pm after our dinner. VeeCee had informed me that it is going to be a non-stop trip as there wasn’t much time to loose for he had to be in Kolkata for the Seminar at any cost which was commencing at 11.00 am the day after. I had packed some snack packets, sandwiches, water and a flask full of hot black coffee, all for the road to have at regular intervals for the non-stop driver.

We filled up diesel and then we on a new driving experience driving one of the world’s best cars---the Mercedes Benz. It was quite a fantastic and thrilling experience. The pleasant scent of the leather upholstery was mystifying and the thought of travelling in one of the safest cars gave me a unique exhilarating feeling, beyond words---something to be experienced and enjoyed. We had some wonderful music to keep us going and we were on our way to Nellore. VeeCee had informed me that the route would be Chennai- Nellore -Vijayawada- Vizag- Berhampur- Bhubaneshwar- Cuttack- Balasore-Midnapore and then finally Kolkata, a distance of approximately 2400 kms., which he wanted to complete in 24hrs including break time for food and ablutions across the way. The highway was literally blocked with a never-ending convoy of trucks and lorries and unfortunately that night, there was an unusual checking of all vehicles by the police and customs officials, perhaps to catch some wanted criminal or smuggler! For quite sometime VeeCee stayed in the long Queue, but started getting restless, as he was loosing time. All of a sudden, we heard the siren of an approaching ambulance from the same way as we were. The ambulance did not stop behind the convoy of buses, trucks, lorries and cars, but just zoomed through. The moment the ambulance passed us; VeeCee steered through and followed the ambulance just 50ft behind!!

At first, I was quite anxious because I thought that the cops might stop us for following the ambulance. But the adventurous spirit in my dear husband took all the fear out of me. The convoy of the vehicles lined up for checking to be never ending and was there for more than 10kms. Finally at the check post the ambulance was set free and the cops came to our car, peered in and enquired as to where we were going. We told them that we were on our way to Kolkata for an important Seminar as air tickets were not available, we opted to go by road. Seeing the car and the occupants, they let us go without checking our baggage. Soon thereafter, VeeCee over took the ambulance and started cruising at around 140 Kmph. My job was to ensure that my husband is alert at all times and so I continued to engage him in witty exchanges. We reached Nellore at around midnight due to the time we had lost earlier at the check post.

We hit the National Highway to Vijayawada and since the road was fairly okay, VeeCee was going at 110-120 Kmph and reached Vijayawada at around 4.00 am via Ongole. In fact, this is supposed to be the most dangerous period …3.00 am to 5.00 am – where the maximum accidents take place, because the drivers tend to sleep off !! a Viayawada, we filled up gas, freshened up, washed our faces, sipped the coffee I had in the flask and proceeded to Kakinada. But the way was so lousy with shallow potholes all over, we had to reduce the speed out of no choice. Anyway we reached Kakinada, brushed our teeth on the roadside and got into a nearby hotel, where we had some tea and hot Masala Dosai and Idli-Sambar. We left there around 8 O’clock for Vizag. Fortunately, this stretch of road was excellent that we could reach Vizag by 10.00 am. We took a short break, filled up some gas, took some coffee as I was feeling terribly sleepy for being awake the whole night and I could see the signs of fatigue on VeeCee’s face too. He appeared to be very tired, but the fire and zeal in him took away the tiredness. At Vizag, we got to see a whole lot of ships lying anchored in the horizon, as we were cruising along the beach highway. At a rivulet, VeeCee suddenly pulled up the car and wanted to take a plunge in it to shake off his fatigue! He wanted his swimming trunk (he always carries it whenever he goes on trips) and there arose a heated argument between us, as I was against this idea as I feared there would be crocodiles or serpents in that water. He was so adamant about the swim, that I left it to God to protect him. This made all sleepy feeling in me vanish!! He swam for about half an hour and as he came out he appeared lively and bright as ever. He drank off the remaining coffee in the flask and was ready at the driving seat. But this break cost us about 45 minutes, but the confident VeeCee said he will make up in the good patches of road, that we may come across in the course of our journey. I sat nodding my head in agreement, musing at this incredible man for his guts, valour and courage.

Soon we touched Vizianagaram and then steered through the worst strip of road I had ever seen. It was even worse than the Bihar roads, full of deep craters with lots of ups and downs like waves in the sea. In some instances, we could hear the road scrapping the belly of the car. So VeeCee had to negotiate this rough terrain very carefully more so because the car was brand new. So, he started to go in a zig-zag manner and that way the bottom of the car does not get scrapped by the road. On the way, we saw a few breakdown cases of cars and trucks, some with puncture and some with broken axles. By God’s Grace, we finally got through this 5 km. patch in 2 1/2 hrs---a terrible waste of time. Once through this nasty stretch, after crossing the Orissa border, we were in for a surprise to see super smooth, broad NH Roads and VeeCee hit the gas pedal to the floor with renewed energy. He was just concentrating only on the highway after turning off the music. He told me to be awake and silent and he kept cruising at an unbelievable speed of 170 Kmph. He was not able to go faster than that, as later when he checked with the Benz showroom at Chennai, he was told that they had deliberately locked the speed limit to 170 Kmph., for safety purpose. I was astounded by the way my husband was negotiating the road, which had traffic, pedestrians, bullock-carts, stray dogs etc. For sudden drop in speed, he would shift the gears from 5^th to 3^rd to 2^nd in a matter of seconds and the car would slow down drastically. VeeCee had told me that at high speeds, one should never apply brake, but control the speed only through gears. According to him application of brake at very high speed could lead the car go out of control. So he always used the gear and then followed it up with brakes, when the car has slowed down considerably. The curves and bents were negotiated brilliantly without any tyre squealing----really an amazing car!!! Soon in a matter of time we crossed Berhampur, Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Balasore and crossed the 1 Km. by around 6.00pm, a notorious and dangerous stretch of Highway, where normally robbers waylay cars and buses at night. In fact we did not stop anywhere for lunch and I was feeding VeeCee with the items packed at Chennai after laying a sheet as napkin on his lap! This was necessary, as he didn’t want to take his eyes off the road even for a second. The only time we slowed down was, when we crossed some villages in between. There too he honked the horn continuously and drive at 80 Kmph------a very risky thing to do, but still made our way through by God’s Grace.

We reached Midnapore by 6.30 pm and after the gruelling high speed driving, VeeCee was not able to walk out of the car, as we had pulled up near a wayside Dhaba to have lunch cum dinner at one go. After we ordered the food I got the shock of my life-----VeeCee just passed off in his chair into what could have been a deep sleep, borne out of total fatigue, exertion and exhaustion. My heart missed a beat and then it started pounding so hard, that I could feel the sound of it coming out of my body! I nudged him, pinched him, shook him-----but to no effect. All this I was doing clandestinely, so as not to attract the attention of the other people there, mostly truck drivers and locals. I prayed fervently to all the deities, which came to my mind at that time; breaking coconuts and performing pooja etc. My mind was clogged with doubts, searching for solutions; How to deal with that situation? I was already turning cold and numb with fear, as to what had happened to my dear husband!!! My fear was that we were in he eyes of the outsiders, a wealthy couple in a brand new Benz car that too, in such an unknown place!!! Moreover, we were having some costly presents in the car, which we were taking for the presentation ceremony to be given at the Seminar. At this point, the server boy came to our table and put a jug of water and 2 glasses. He enquired whether “Saab soraha hai kya??”(Is sir sleeping) to which I just gestured. The moment the boy turned his back, I took out a glass of water and splashed vigorously onto VeeCee’s face, muttering God’s praise. And Lo!! He stirred in his seat and slowly opened his eyes. That shot of water on his face did the trick. He asked me what had happened seeing my worried face. I explained to him and asked him to splash some water on his face and have some hot tea. Due to all these tensions, I could not eat anything that was ordered, but to my amazement my hubby was gobbling up the food and ate most of my share too! He then had a ‘zarda paan’ and took to the wheels, as though nothing happened. Back in the car, I admonished him and made him promise that if he really loves me, he will never ever drive at that speed anymore; to which he said that he was doing so to reach Kolkata by 10.00 pm. We left the dhaba at 7.30 pm and soon again, as if out of habit, he was going at 150 Kmph and I kept on reminding him to lessen the speed and so he lowered it to 130 Kmph. His idea was to reach Kolkata by 10.00 pm, crossing Howrah bridge and check into The Calcutta Club, have a good sleep and be ready for the Seminar with an audience of more than 2500 at Uttama Manch hall —a make shift auditorium.

As if all the shocks and tensions were not over, we had yet another narrow escape from what could have been a major accident. Halfway down Midnapore and Kolkata, while we were cruising at 130 Kmph, a truck suddenly swerved from a side road straight into the highway about 200 feet away. My husband in a flash, shifted gears from 5^th to 2^nd to 1^st, amidst high revolution noise from the car engine, together with applying the breaks and we somehow narrowly missed colliding with that truck. Fortunately, the truck too was moving in the same direction, it helped to avoid a major collision. It was just VeeCee’s extraordinary skills with quick responsive mental abilities that saved us that day. I was trembling at all these happenings. We overtook that truck and stopped the car diagonally on the highway forcing the truck to stop. My husband was in a fit of fury and as he can converse in Bengali, he started off abusing the driver and pulled him out of the truck, slapped him a couple of times and before the truck driver realised what had happened, VeeCee was back at the wheels. I told VeeCee that he shouldn’t have done that, to which he retorted to me in the same fit of rage to shut up as he knew what he was doing. My cribbing went on for some more time, when he asked me to zip up my mouth and sleep off in the rear seat. I wiggled into the rear seat without him stopping the car. He then put the music on and soon I went off to sleep in the comfort of the back seat of the Benz, not feeling any jolt or rocking at all. VeeCee maintained the same speed of 120-130 Kmph and at around 10.00pm, we touched Howrah Bridge. My husband woke me up to show me the grand Howrah Bridge and after the tollgate, he took directions from passers by in Bengali, as to how he should reach The Calcutta Club. I came back to the front seat and it took us about 40 minutes to get to the club. Once in the club, VeeCee instructed the front office that the car needs to be washed thoroughly and kept ready. We then went into a grand double room and hit the sack at 11.00 pm, only to get up at 9.00 am the next morning . My hubby and I went through our ablutions and at 10.00 am, we were ready for breakfast. VeeCee called the rightful owner of the Benz to come to the Club. He came with his driver and then onwards his driver was at the wheels and they dropped us at the Uttama Manch.

We didn’t have any time for going around to see places, though I had been to Kolkata in the 80’s when my hubby’s parents were staying in Alipore. After a glittering Seminar, we went along with my husband’s boss Mr. Kana, his wife and other officials back to Chennai by night flight, but only after packing up some “Shondesh” and “Rashogollas”---the sweet delicacies from Bengal, for the people back home at Chennai. Once in the plane, my hubby went off to sleep and I kept chatting with Ms. Kana all the way through about our real life experiences.

Later we did have opportunities to travel in another ‘C Class & E Class Benz’ to trips to Bangalore, Kodaikanal, Madurai and Thanjavur. I should say that Benz has its own class, style and performance ---

What a car and what a journey it was!!

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN & FOLLOW EVERY STREAM

Our Incredible India has so much to offer us that we hardly have to go out of our country for exploring new vistas for adventure and fun. Mother Nature in her incessant love for her children, has given the vast green lands, plains, mountains and valleys that are so mystical, magical and spell-binding in her beauty, the forests, deserts, lakes, rivers, lagoons and long beaches, et all. What more can we ask for?? The only ‘mantra’ is to rejuvenate your exhausted mind and body, by turning to any one of these assorted destinations Mother Nature has gifted us, when, you want to break loose from those hectic life-styles in the cities



We as a family have travelled together, the maximum while we were staying in New Delhi. During the mid-term vacation, my sons and wife visited me along with her mother and brother, sister-in-law and their small son. My in-laws came down to Hyderabad from Thiruvananthapuram and collectively they all boarded the A.P Super Fast Express for New Delhi.



As usual, I was very much engrossed with my refrigeration project and so could not do any justice by taking them for site seeing around our Capital. I arranged for a driver named Fanta, who used to take them wherever they wanted to go. When one is thoroughly exhausted with grinding work hours, it is good to squeeze out some time away, from the monotonous life-style, by taking a small break in between, escaping to places that balm one’s senses!! I too decided that. Moreover, I wanted to spend some quality time with my folks, who had come all the way to be with me at least for some time. As my mother-in-law badly wanted to see the holy places of Rishikesh and Haridwar and due to the non-availability of Fanta, the trustworthy Sikh driver, I went along with them in our Contessa car.



We had to adjust a little with more number of folks in the car, but I swear we all had a memorable drive. Unlike in other trips, which we four used to take up at nights, here we started off from New Delhi, very early in the morning. We went through Meerut - Muzzafarnagar to Haridwar.



We were transformed into a state of ecstasy and spiritual reverence, as our bare feet touched the soil of the renounced Holy Place of the Hindus --- Haridwar. One may get lost in the chaos of the busy frenzied actions and rituals of the jostling devotees from all corners of India and the saffron-clad sanyasis, who throng the ghats, for a holy dip in the mighty Ganges (River Ganga, who the Hindus worship as a Goddess, who washes away all sins and liberates them from the cycle of birth and death) that flows gracefully in between the ghats. People were bathing in the pristine water, unmindful of the strong under-current. I got into the water and was taken off my cool, as the water was unbearably cold even for a person like me who can withstand extreme cold as compared to heat. To play a prank on the rest, I didn’t tell them about my experience with the cold water. My Mother-in-law got into the water and she almost shrieked !! The rest got a cue and they had to muster enough courage before plunging into the Holy Ganges, that was at almost freezing temperature and just couldn’t control sending out squeals !! But surprisingly once you are in, you don’t feel liking coming out. Since the current was strong enough to wash you away, there were long iron chains attached to the poles at the ghat for support. After changing the wet clothes at the small covered spaces provided , we went around to the nearby Goddess temple and we purchased a whole lot of lip-smacking pickles and murabaas, (chillies, mangoes, gooseberries, lime, lemon and what not) trinkets and the likes along with some small cans for collecting the Holy Ganges Water for my religious relatives. It is a scientifically proven fact that though Ganges looks so polluted by the filth and grime, the stored water you collect from her, remains so pure even after years together!!!



We went back to the parking lot where we had left our car, took rickshaws to get a feel of it. We thoroughly were enjoying all these little things in life that go unnoticed in the otherwise hectic life-style one leads in the cities. From there we went to the holy Shrine of Manasi Ma located at a hillock nearby, by means of a rope-car. My son Sandy had to be cajoled, as he was fascinated by the snake-charmer who garlanded him with a heavy python, that he badly wanted to bring back home as a pet by paying for it!!



After coming back to the foothill, we felt terribly hungry and the ladies badly needed a place for ablution. We could not find any decent place around, so, enroute to the next destination point Rishikesh, we encountered upon a roadside dhaba, which comes out as a relief spot for the travellers. This joint seemed to be busy with pilgrims shunting between Haridwar and Rishikesh. As our hunger got out of control, we ate whatever was hot, fresh and readily available, like people who were starving for ages. It was well over 3.30pm! By the time we reached Rishikesh it was nearing dusk. We went to the Shrine of the Lord Shiva to have a darshan of the mighty presiding deity, after washing our feet at the Paramarth ghat, where the three rivers Alagananda, Mandakini and Saraswathi flow through so calmly in a blissful Sangam (union). We were surprised to feel the warm water, which was in contrast to the chill water of river Ganga. From here we went to the Laxman Jhula, the hanging bridge across the Sangam.



We drove down to Dehradun from where we had bought some confectionery items, which that place is famous for. We had our dinner from a hotel where the ambience made us sway in with the melodious numbers from the live-ghazal singing show going on, while the dinner was served. Having come so close to Mussoorie, my temptation to drive further on was uncontrollable. So I proceeded to Mussoorie. My ever-ready wife and kids were supporting me to carry on with the drive into the mountains, but it was a tough time for us to tackle my mother-in-law, as she was satisfied with Haridwar and Rishikesh and wanted to reach back to New Delhi. It was around 9.00 pm, by then and I wanted a clear opinion as to whether the Mussoorie trip was on or not, since opportunities don’t come quite often. We pulled up the car at the roadside and there was a big clash of opinions between the mother and children about either going back to Delhi or proceed to Mussoorie ?? Finally we pretended to agree to her decision and asked her to sleep off peacefully behind. Since my M-I-L didn’t have much trust in me due to my past track-records, my B-I-L Suresh took the wheels to satisfy her and took a full round turn. In that pitch darkness, no one other than me knew which way he turned. Thus my M-I-L due to the day’s fatigue dozed off. Suresh being an ace driver, scaled through those sharp turns uphill very smoothly and so I too relaxed adjacent to the driver’s seat. Finally, as we reached Mussoorie at the middle of the night, we woke up everyone behind to alight. My M-I-L was flabbergasted, but now that the majority won the vote, she just kept quiet and threw all her ego to the blowing gusty, chill wind of the mountains. Now getting rooms at that part of the night was a big question mark, with the ladies and the children as most of the hotels had shut. Along with Suresh, I went and knocked at the gates of many a hotel. Most of them were full. My M-I-L was very sceptical about the whole hunt. So we went around trying until we found one place, where it was okay for a night’s stay. We woke up the man, who was in deep slumber and was too lazy to get up from his sleep. Being at the brink of loosing control, I almost shouted at him to wake up and answer as to whether he had a vacant room in his hotel. The man came to his senses and put on the tube lights and took out his register and asked, “Kithna”? (How many?). We were most relieved to hear that he had many rooms available. A little while ago, Suresh and myself were thinking of sleeping inside the car if incase only one single room was available for the ladies and children for managing that night alone. We took two rooms - one for the ladies and the little one and for the males. Then handing out the room keys, he vanished from there…maybe to catch up with his lost sleep! We readily got into the rooms and found that not even a jug of water was kept! Suresh’s son was only 2-3 years and was feeling so hungry that he kept crying for bottled milk, which got over while climbing uphill. Suresh’s wife Shyama, along with my wife Geeta went to the kitchen to find out if they had atleast some hot water to mix up the spray milk powder. The water that we carried had turned so chilled naturally, that the child was refusing to take a sip of it. Near the kitchen a young man was snoring away. He was least interested to attend to the ladies’ request. Finally, they fetched a vessel and some water and prepared the hot water themselves!! That was some experience, I swear! The little boy guzzled the full bottle in a jiffy and slept off. The tired and exhausted adults followed suit.



The sound from the doorbell woke us up the next day morning. My eyes were half shut as I scrambled to open the door. There stood the women folk ready to go for the sight –seeing!! I asked my wife to take her mother and Shyama to nearby shopping mall, while we men got ready to catch up with them. After the morning ablutions, we went in search of them after taking tea from a small teashop, as the tea served at the hotel we stayed in was lousy. There was no sign of the womenfolk in the nearby places. Finally we spotted them coming out of one shop and getting into the next !! It’s true that it’s said Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus ! Already the bags they were carrying indicated they already have ransacked half a dozen shops by then. These bags were stuffed in the boot of the car and we went to a small restaurant to have some breakfast after which we strolled for enjoying the visual beauty of the place around. The sunlight played hide and seek while we could feel the mist passing through us one after the other and all of a sudden the complete atmosphere changed. The heavy mists and cool wind blurred the vision. Luckily, we were wearing some warm clothing. It started snowing all of a sudden that lasted for hardly 5 minutes. All the people there behaved like kids with excitement .We were no better. After all these fun and frolic, we returned to the hotel room, packed up our luggage and checked out.



Leaving behind such lovely experiences with fond memories, we bid farewell to the beautiful mountains of Mussoorie. The next stop we took was at Dehradun to buy some more confectioneries, had tea and snacks from a hotel and left for New Delhi where we reached around noon the next day.

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Looking back today, my M-I-L muses at the trips to these places, which she says would never have been possible, if not for the spirit of the travel bug that had got into my DNA right from my childhood days, when I have seen my Dad, a 2nd World War veteran and later a Director in the G.S.I drive down along with the family to far-off destinations………… !!

THE TRIP FROM CHANDHIGARH TO SHIMLA, CHAIL AND KUFRI.

We visited our friend and my Raakhi brother Mr. Ashok Sharma, based in Chandigarh, the only planned city, along with the boys Sandeep and Rahul during the summer holidays of 1997. We could visit them as we were in New Delhi and my husband Vijay was responsible for erection and commissioning of a new refrigeration milk chilling plant project for Mother Dairy, where he had no specific working hours and was invariably on a 24 x 7 work schedule, a confirmed workaholic and a perfectionist that he was and still is !!! Since he had to attend to some related work regarding a vegetable cold storage factory at Karnal, my sons and I tagged along with him in the Contessa, making use of all given Opportunities to see places, which we have never ever seen before. Luckily for us, he had to go to also go to Chandigarh related to his work. Let me confess one thing here, which I had felt --- Travelling on Indian National Highway Roads, Contessa is the safest car than all other Indian made cars !!! We feel so secure because of the length of the car.

At Chandigarh, we had a lovely time with brother Sharmaji and his family. They took us around to see the well-planned city and the late Artist Mr. Nek Chand’s most creative “Rock Garden”, where he has used up all junk items and magically converted the same with his creativity into fantastic forms in a vast area. While we went around sight-seeing, Vijay dear, attended to his official work. Sharmaji, made a wonderful proposition - just out of the blue and that was for us to go to Shimla, Chail & Kufri, as we had not been to these places earlier and our eyes twinkled at the idea of spending the week-end on the hills. He went on to suggest that we leave the Contessa car at his place as it does not have the heating option in the A/C and carry on with the trip in his Ceilo to Shimla, Chail - Kufri. Though Vijay was initially scuffling with the thought of his work and a little ‘break’ from work; he finally gave the green signal, noticing the eagerness in our eyes to take up this trip.

Thus we started on our trip to Shimla in the Ceilo early next morning. We completed all our ablutions, had some tea that Ms. Sharma prepared with a mix of aniseed and black cardamom, which had an awesome flavour. We went to the petrol bunk, filled in the gas, checked the tyre air pressure, bought some fruit drinks and biscuits that was available from a nearby shop and started on with the journey. As we left the summer heat of Chandigarh behind and started on climbing the high ranges, there was suddenly such a change in the outside temperature, my elder son Sandeep and myself felt very chill. My younger son was wearing his sweater and he claimed that he like his dad - a polar bear !!! We had not taken any warm clothing with us except for the jerkins and a pair of gloves. As our trips are mostly undertaken at the spur of the moment as per my husband’s mood and availability, he couldn’t blame me for such shortcomings !!! I had packed up only clothing fit for summer wear. As Vijay can withstand very cold weather than heat, he gave his gloves and jacket to Sandy and me whose nose and ears turned so cold, that and I pleaded with Vijay to turn off the car AC, with my teeth chattering. In spite of the cool weather outside, he had put on the car AC that had a double impact. He finally switched the A/C to warm mode as we started scaling ghat section. Soon the temperature inside the car was bearable, but after sometime because of the heat inside and the chillness outside, condensation set on windshield, making visibility very poor. We had to then alternate between heating and cooling. All of us were craving for some good food. We located a Dhaba on the way and had a sumptuous Dhaba Khana, which consisted of Dhal Makhani, Sarson ka Saag, Aloo Paratha, Curd & Lassi. During all our road trips we freak out on Dhaba food, as that was the best available on the N.H roads, located in sprawling open areas, where we can take a stroll, while we get to see the owner of these Dhaba preparing the hot ‘rotis’ (Indian Bread) and some tasty side dishes skilfully at a very fast pace. Perhaps, they understand the starved traveller’s hunger better, I guess !!!

Due to the hairpin curves, one has to have a good control over the vehicle. Nature showed her supremacy, as we climbed to the higher levels. We reached Shimla at around noontime. There were too many tourists and our chances of getting a room in a decent hotel were bleak. Even then, to try our luck, we enquired at 2-3 places, but in vain. My husband being a resourceful person just called up his friend who suggested us to go to Kufri, which isn’t too far away, where he could arrange for some good accommodation. So we carried on with our journey and reached Kufri. Since we had heavy breakfast, we weren’t quite ready for the lunch. We managed with the snacks and fruit-juice we had with us. We were thoroughly enjoying the trip, what with the breath taking views, cool weather and listening to Jim Reeves, it was sheer magic moments. We never really bothered about the time frame for reaching Kufri. As the dusk gave way to night, it started becoming misty and the vision on the roads were becoming poor. Vijay being a seasoned driver, was navigating very carefully with the narrow road, especially when there was an on coming vehicle. To make things worse it started raining!! The boys, who were singing and cheering all through, were happily sleeping in the back seat, while I kept wiping up the wind screen and kept straining out for milestones to see how far we had to go. There was a small hotel on the way, where we pulled up to have some dinner. We were at a place called Chail. The hot tea was a treat in that chill weather. After having some rotis and the accompaniments, we gave our compliments to the hotel owner and he claimed that even VIPs like Kapil Dev and so on had tasted food from there. We left for Kufri and reached there at around 9.00 pm. As our friend had called up & arranged for the room, we checked in without any hassles, because it was the peak season at these hill resorts during summer. We freshened up in the hot water provided, changed and hit the bed for a good night’s sleep.

Sandy, Raul and myself were already dressed up and ready, as my tired hubby opened his eyes after a wonderful sleep. He too joined us soon after the ablutions and our morning breakfast in Continental style. We walked slowly, enjoying every inch of the place and went to a place that led us to a breath-taking view of the Himalayas in the horizon and it seems somewhere down there lies the Indo-Tibetan Border as well. As it rained the previous night, the place was quite slushy. We happily rode on the pony-sized horses & went to see that marvelous view. The horse – attenders took us to a temple too. It was so quiet and serene there. We climbed up to a very steep height and came to a beautiful place with some lone huts made with thin stones. Residents of that area told us that many Hindi movies were shot there.

After going around, drenching in the enchanting beauty of Nature and capturing it through the lens, which didn’t have the power of capturing the distant snow-caped ranges, we went back to our suite to rest for the day, but only after having a finger-licking lunch. We were hungry enough to swallow an elephant, after all those walk and trekking. I never fussed around with the food. I ate as long as I knew that it was made in a clean surrounding. To make myself doubly sure, I make it a point to personally go and inspect the kitchen areas under some pretext or the other. While my sons and Vijay retired for the day and enjoyed pampering themselves under the cosy blankets and quilts, watching the TV show, I sat out at the balcony making pencil sketches of the scenic natural beauty from that area. I had fallen madly in love with that place.

The next day after an early morning walk, and the usual ablutions, I went to the main dining room for having an elaborate breakfast. Later, we checked out around 10.00 am and started our downward journey back to Shimla. At Shimla, we went to the Mall and did some shopping – my dear hubby bought Pashmeera Shawl for me, some warm clothing for my sons & some gift items for friends & relatives.

We were so much merged in harmony with the Mother Nature, that we felt a pang of sadness as we started descending the mountains. The mountains are so serene, splendid and spiritually alluring that it evokes a feeling and an attitude of meditation in the aspirant. The wild flowers and greenery were enough to make me go insane, with their gorgeous shapes and colours. Even a person with no expertise in poems would be tempted to write some verses in praise of what dear Mother Nature has given for her children to enjoy and preserve for the future generations…We sang in chorus the beautiful songs from the movie “The Sound Of Music”…THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC…!!! promising to go back to her, whenever we needed her caressing touch to soothe us from the routine every day rat-race life in the cities. It was a memorable trip and we carried all those precious nostalgic memories along with us to Chandigarh and back to New Delhi.