When: December 1999
Co-victims: Doorva, Rajan and Meenakshi
The Journey: Delhi-Bhopal-Pipariya-Pachmarhi
A freezing overnight train to Bhopal. Breakfast and shower at Doorva's friend's place. A long long long... long bus journey on MP State Roadways bus to Pachmarhi sitting on our luggage... on roads (is it any better now?) which would put Moon craters to shame... ouch! And I wonder how I ended up with back trouble... huh.
Bus driver decides on a dinner break at Pipariya... it's at 9 pm. Ever been a girl in the Indian hinterlands... in winter... at 9 pm... file that under 'what not to do'. The break is for an hour.... predicament... this means we can't expect to reach Pachmarhi before midnight.... if we're lucky... hmmm. None of us had ever been to Pachmarhi; don't know where the guest house is; can't reasonably expect public transportation at midnight in a small town... Brain wave... let's get a taxi. First thought... can we afford it? Safety wins over wallet and Rajan finds us a broken down Maruti van whose windows refuse to shut.... brrrr.
The two hour journey begins. Pipariya is at the foothills and it's 2-3 hour journey through hills and jungles to get to Pachmarhi... with no lights except from passing traffic every 10 minutes or so. Teeth chattering we huddle under a shared shawl. Rajan sitting in the front passenger seat is not so lucky, poor chap. We tell jokes and stories to pass the time... lean towards ghost stories. The driver keeps praying throughout the journey... we wonder... what is he psyching himself up for? Slasher movies run through our heads. Vivid imagination turns into a film in our heads... kidnapped by psycho and perhaps his evil friends... no one worries about us for atleast 48 hours and won't know how to reach us (cell phones were available but still out of middle class budget)... are we doomed? Then the taxi driver stops in the jungle... literally in the middle of nowhere... to top up water in the carburetor... really!?! This is it... the end is near... all we can do is laugh... hysterically... I say I'm hungry... incredulous friends... more hysterical laughter... but seriously it was 10.30 pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast!
Our man comes back with water and the journey resumes. Heartbeats slow down and we heave a sigh of relief. We reach Panchmarhi and are stopped at the police chowki. The constables ask for car papers... voila... the praying was because the driver had none! Negotiation follows... Rajan joins the fray... points to three shivering hungry girls... the constables give in... tell the driver to drop us off and come back for his deliverance! Storm in a teacup for us! Guest house directions are sought and reached. Now the big question... will they have kept dinner for us? No, but thank heavens for Maggi!
The rest of the holiday was lovely... walking, cycling, badminton, boating, hiking (i.e. me huffing and puffing behind the others), long chats. See the Pachmarhi link above for what to do there.
... unless you count minor disagreements about how to plan our time. Hmmm... perhaps I'll write about holiday stress next time.
P.S. For another perspective on the region, look up Surajit Sarkar's Ring of Blue project.
Co-victims: Doorva, Rajan and Meenakshi
The Journey: Delhi-Bhopal-Pipariya-Pachmarhi
A freezing overnight train to Bhopal. Breakfast and shower at Doorva's friend's place. A long long long... long bus journey on MP State Roadways bus to Pachmarhi sitting on our luggage... on roads (is it any better now?) which would put Moon craters to shame... ouch! And I wonder how I ended up with back trouble... huh.
Bus driver decides on a dinner break at Pipariya... it's at 9 pm. Ever been a girl in the Indian hinterlands... in winter... at 9 pm... file that under 'what not to do'. The break is for an hour.... predicament... this means we can't expect to reach Pachmarhi before midnight.... if we're lucky... hmmm. None of us had ever been to Pachmarhi; don't know where the guest house is; can't reasonably expect public transportation at midnight in a small town... Brain wave... let's get a taxi. First thought... can we afford it? Safety wins over wallet and Rajan finds us a broken down Maruti van whose windows refuse to shut.... brrrr.
The two hour journey begins. Pipariya is at the foothills and it's 2-3 hour journey through hills and jungles to get to Pachmarhi... with no lights except from passing traffic every 10 minutes or so. Teeth chattering we huddle under a shared shawl. Rajan sitting in the front passenger seat is not so lucky, poor chap. We tell jokes and stories to pass the time... lean towards ghost stories. The driver keeps praying throughout the journey... we wonder... what is he psyching himself up for? Slasher movies run through our heads. Vivid imagination turns into a film in our heads... kidnapped by psycho and perhaps his evil friends... no one worries about us for atleast 48 hours and won't know how to reach us (cell phones were available but still out of middle class budget)... are we doomed? Then the taxi driver stops in the jungle... literally in the middle of nowhere... to top up water in the carburetor... really!?! This is it... the end is near... all we can do is laugh... hysterically... I say I'm hungry... incredulous friends... more hysterical laughter... but seriously it was 10.30 pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast!
Our man comes back with water and the journey resumes. Heartbeats slow down and we heave a sigh of relief. We reach Panchmarhi and are stopped at the police chowki. The constables ask for car papers... voila... the praying was because the driver had none! Negotiation follows... Rajan joins the fray... points to three shivering hungry girls... the constables give in... tell the driver to drop us off and come back for his deliverance! Storm in a teacup for us! Guest house directions are sought and reached. Now the big question... will they have kept dinner for us? No, but thank heavens for Maggi!
The rest of the holiday was lovely... walking, cycling, badminton, boating, hiking (i.e. me huffing and puffing behind the others), long chats. See the Pachmarhi link above for what to do there.
... unless you count minor disagreements about how to plan our time. Hmmm... perhaps I'll write about holiday stress next time.
P.S. For another perspective on the region, look up Surajit Sarkar's Ring of Blue project.
