Nostalgia: A Cross Country Roadtrip

(This article was written in my diary in 2013, typed now...)

Yesterday I had one of the most wonderful experiences. I and my friend went to Indore by bike (Can't reveal the exact reason behind our going to Indore; probably to meet someone special??), he was driving. While returning home, time must be around 11 PM, instead of taking the road going to Ujjain, we unknowingly took the road going to Dewas. Holy shit!!! (For those who don't know what Ujjain, Indore, and Dewas are...These are cities in Madhya Pradesh, from where I have done my Engineering.)

Let's continue, so it was like having the technology but no connectivity. Guess what happened? We were moving in the exact opposite direction. Till the time we realized this, it was too late. We had almost moved some 15-20 km. We had just 2 options, first, to take a U-turn, go back to Indore and take the actual way to Ujjain, Or second No U-turn, continue going to Dewas, then Dewas to Ujjain. So, we stopped at the tea stall and asked a few people about which place is near (Indore or Dewas) to which they replied: Dewas. We discussed, I chose the second option, opposing my friend's choice of first. That was the wrong choice but proved to be a really memorable one.

So, we started moving ahead towards Dewas but it took about 2 hours to reach the cross-road to Ujjain in Dewas, contrary to what people said. One more mistake, we took a comparatively longer route unknowingly. What all on the way? thick dark jungle, complete darkness, no vehicle on the jungle road, bone-wrecking cold, mild shower, giant hungry dogs and to add to the fear his bike's headlight was blinking and the petrol tank pointed just above empty, with no petrol pump anywhere near. What else we could have asked for?

We knew that this trip could have gone anywhere, the experience could have been sweet or screwed. We both were shivering with chilly winds blowing all around our bodies. I kept motivating him to drive in such cruel weather with his eyes watering continuously. Meanwhile, the wind started making really terrifying sounds which gave us panic attacks. The scene was really scary. What else could have happened? A thought came to mind that a White sari lady with open hair maybe following us in the midst of the jungle. Big panic, Indeed! You may be an Atheist but when fear strikes, the first thing you do is ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’.

Hats off to the truck drivers. They have a soul of steel. I wondered how brave they are to travel at any time of the night, any place, any weather, without many complaints. They were our constant accompany on our path. I never missed Ujjain until that day. Ujjain has its serenity and composure and keeps you away from danger (The city of Mahakal). Nature has its ways to make realize something’s worth. You value when something goes away from you. Now we really valued going home. On the way, we also encountered villages with annoying names. God knows who keeps such names! Got a life's good feeling when we crossed the MIT college. A sigh of relief to see that we crossed the jungle area and the danger zone. We realized that we had to cover just a 15 km distance which was nothing as compared to what we covered till that point. We crossed the ALPINE college to realize we were just inside the city area. An almost half feet deep pothole on the way was really going to make the bike disbalance but my friend’s driving skills saved us. Governments come and go but the sad state of the roads remain the same, really dreadful. There I understood the importance of helmets and life insurance. My love for music helped to make the journey absolutely fun-filled. We sang a lot of Rock, Metal and Bollywood numbers. There was enormous support that we also delivered to each other on the trip which strengthened our friendship bond.

Mere 5 minutes were left for us to reach. Our chants of 'Mahakal Baba Ki Jai' were loud and direct from our hearts. Journeys are totally fun when we are with friends. Matter of meters from my room. The fun we had in this Cross-Country experience was unforgettable. He dropped me home and went to his. No one could have ever imagined that an unplanned, unintentional mistake could turn into an unforgettable experience. A Ujjain -Indore -Ujjain journey turned into a U-I-U via Dewas journey. Indore, as well as Dewas, looked beautiful at night as well. Posh life of Indore and nature-essence life of Dewas was worth remembering but my Ujjain is unbeatable, a sober beauty. This experience also came due to my extreme curiosity to explore new avenues, new paths, new opportunities. So, a wonderful journey was completed with a desire to have many more such experiences really worth remembering. Thanks, god, for the support you gave in the long journey making us reach safely. Such was a worth sharing exp. "A Cross Country Mistake! fun!!".

Read it, have fun, enjoy. ;) Do like and give your views if you liked our short road trip...