Sochata hoon Aksar
Kya wo tum thi
Wo jaal buna tha
Pyari baton ka
Meethe rishton ka
Khoobsoorat yaadon ka
Ya fitoor dimag ka
Dhokha Nazron ka
Wo chingari thi
Ya ke shola
Sochata hoon aksar
Wo tadap tum me bhi to thi
Wo aghaaz tha
Ye anjaam hai
-amitabh
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday, December 19, 2008
Foggy Night !
On the 17th of December I visited Moradabad for some official work. After work I attended a dinner invite and decided to leave for Nainital at about 11 in the night. My hosts tried to convince me to stay over but I was determined to get home. Its a 110 km drive which I usually do in about two hours. I knew I would reach Nainital latest by 1:30am. This was alright because I had done it before.
As I was driving back home I thought about the phone calls my daughter, Riddhima, had made which caused me to change my original plan, which was to stay back. Three year olds can be really persuasive! There was some fog on the road when I came from Nainital in the morning but it was clear around this time. I inserted my favourite CD in the car stereo and started off. It was a smooth drive with the speedo showing 120km an hour. With almost no traffic on the road I would reach Nainital well within my time limit, I thought. I took a right turn for the Tanda Road. This road passes through Tanda-Dardiyal-Bazpur-Kaladhungi to end at Nainital.
But nature wouldn't have it this way, I had driven for about a kilometre when I was hit by dense fog which enveloped everything outside the windshield. I brought the car to a sudden halt and toyed with the idea of driving back to Moradabad. It was a fued between the heart and the mind where the the heart won. I decided to go ahead. Brave men never look back and I loved to believe I was one!
I switched the lights to park mode and switched the blinkers and fog lights on. This was the only way I could get visibility up to 10 metres. I drove in the second gear with my foot almost off-the-pedal. I was leaning on the steering wheel to see the road. It felt like I was inside a room and there was white smoke all over the place. I passed a few vehicles which had parked on the side of the road. They had resigned to the fog unlike me. The thought of giving my daughter the pleasure of finding me by her side when she woke up in the morning kept me going. In the same state I managed to cover a distance of 12 kilometeres in about 2 hours. I enterd the town of Tanda without hitting a post or a tree and I thanked God the nth time!
Fog cover is much lighter in inhabited places, and it was quite a relief to be driving in the town without being subjected to the torturous conditions. I had made up my mind to take up whatever place that was available in the town and spend the night there. I spotted a small pan shop and pulled the car aside. The pan shop guy informed me that the nearest place where I would find even a half-decent place to live in would be Bazpur. That meant driving another 30 kms in the fog and I sunk in the driving seat !
As they say, experience makes you wiser, I knew now, I had to find a vehicle and follow it. Thanks to better luck, a mini-truck appeared after a while and I thrusted the car into 1st gear and followed it. It was much easier this time and I thanked God, this time to send me a guide. After I had driven for a few kilometers a Maruti Alto drove past and I lurched ahead to follow it. Its human nature, you are always looking for a better option and here was my friend driving at almost twice the speed. My second guide of the night was way faster than me and I lost him to the fog very soon. I regretted my decision to go after him. Stopping for another vehicle meant opening the risk of being hit by one so I kept going, leaning on the wheels again. In this state I managed to reach Dardiyal.
Dardiyal is a hamlet on the banks of a river. The only reason one remembers its name is for the toll post it has where drivers have to stop pay a toll-tax to use a river-bridge. I asked the guard as I paid the toll about the fog scene ahead and he assured me it was better than what I had driven through. His assurance gave me some relief which was short-lives as i soon discovered that he had spoken off his head! I was stuck again in dense fog as soon as I crossed the bridge. After a while, a car overtook me and I did not make any mistake this time. Immediately, I was following him close to his heels. My third guide of the night escorted me right up to Bazpur. As I enetered the town I saw a Mahindra Scorpio- Suv parked by a push-cart tea shop. I pulled the car aside and got off. Two men sipping tea at the cart congratulated me for having made it up to Bazpur- unscathed! To my relief, a few motorists had confirmed to them that the road was clear ahead. I ordered myself a cup of tea and made small talk with the other motorists and learnt one of them was going to Kaladhungi.
We left together with my car following his. I knew he was my guide up to Kaladhungi- fourth of the night. Their report was correct and we reached Kaladhungi in about 15 minutes from where I began my lone journey up in the hills of Kumaon. There is no fog in the hills in the winters. The phenomenon can be experienced in the monsoons because of temperature difference and humidity. It took me less than an hour to reach Nainital. I saw the time, it was 5:15 am. I had driven for the entire night.
What a drive it was!
As I was driving back home I thought about the phone calls my daughter, Riddhima, had made which caused me to change my original plan, which was to stay back. Three year olds can be really persuasive! There was some fog on the road when I came from Nainital in the morning but it was clear around this time. I inserted my favourite CD in the car stereo and started off. It was a smooth drive with the speedo showing 120km an hour. With almost no traffic on the road I would reach Nainital well within my time limit, I thought. I took a right turn for the Tanda Road. This road passes through Tanda-Dardiyal-Bazpur-Kaladhungi to end at Nainital.
But nature wouldn't have it this way, I had driven for about a kilometre when I was hit by dense fog which enveloped everything outside the windshield. I brought the car to a sudden halt and toyed with the idea of driving back to Moradabad. It was a fued between the heart and the mind where the the heart won. I decided to go ahead. Brave men never look back and I loved to believe I was one!
I switched the lights to park mode and switched the blinkers and fog lights on. This was the only way I could get visibility up to 10 metres. I drove in the second gear with my foot almost off-the-pedal. I was leaning on the steering wheel to see the road. It felt like I was inside a room and there was white smoke all over the place. I passed a few vehicles which had parked on the side of the road. They had resigned to the fog unlike me. The thought of giving my daughter the pleasure of finding me by her side when she woke up in the morning kept me going. In the same state I managed to cover a distance of 12 kilometeres in about 2 hours. I enterd the town of Tanda without hitting a post or a tree and I thanked God the nth time!
Fog cover is much lighter in inhabited places, and it was quite a relief to be driving in the town without being subjected to the torturous conditions. I had made up my mind to take up whatever place that was available in the town and spend the night there. I spotted a small pan shop and pulled the car aside. The pan shop guy informed me that the nearest place where I would find even a half-decent place to live in would be Bazpur. That meant driving another 30 kms in the fog and I sunk in the driving seat !
As they say, experience makes you wiser, I knew now, I had to find a vehicle and follow it. Thanks to better luck, a mini-truck appeared after a while and I thrusted the car into 1st gear and followed it. It was much easier this time and I thanked God, this time to send me a guide. After I had driven for a few kilometers a Maruti Alto drove past and I lurched ahead to follow it. Its human nature, you are always looking for a better option and here was my friend driving at almost twice the speed. My second guide of the night was way faster than me and I lost him to the fog very soon. I regretted my decision to go after him. Stopping for another vehicle meant opening the risk of being hit by one so I kept going, leaning on the wheels again. In this state I managed to reach Dardiyal.
Dardiyal is a hamlet on the banks of a river. The only reason one remembers its name is for the toll post it has where drivers have to stop pay a toll-tax to use a river-bridge. I asked the guard as I paid the toll about the fog scene ahead and he assured me it was better than what I had driven through. His assurance gave me some relief which was short-lives as i soon discovered that he had spoken off his head! I was stuck again in dense fog as soon as I crossed the bridge. After a while, a car overtook me and I did not make any mistake this time. Immediately, I was following him close to his heels. My third guide of the night escorted me right up to Bazpur. As I enetered the town I saw a Mahindra Scorpio- Suv parked by a push-cart tea shop. I pulled the car aside and got off. Two men sipping tea at the cart congratulated me for having made it up to Bazpur- unscathed! To my relief, a few motorists had confirmed to them that the road was clear ahead. I ordered myself a cup of tea and made small talk with the other motorists and learnt one of them was going to Kaladhungi.
We left together with my car following his. I knew he was my guide up to Kaladhungi- fourth of the night. Their report was correct and we reached Kaladhungi in about 15 minutes from where I began my lone journey up in the hills of Kumaon. There is no fog in the hills in the winters. The phenomenon can be experienced in the monsoons because of temperature difference and humidity. It took me less than an hour to reach Nainital. I saw the time, it was 5:15 am. I had driven for the entire night.
What a drive it was!
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