Shimla... Pt1

You can’t really win a battle of words against your partner of the fairer sex. I found it out the hard way. Statement turned argument turned madness and then silence. The perfect way to start a Sunday morning? Hardly. But I was greeted by this lovely day in this very manner. Lovely day or lethal instead, by the looks of it, you’ll ask. Let’s see…Desperate to go and unwind after the lost round of an argument, I wanted to just go and drive my heart out. My lady surely wanted to mend things and offered to hop on with me. Oh, for the uninformed, here ‘offered’ is basically ‘declared’. Puttering about in the city confines we were when she cropped up the idea of going up-hills and we decided to head northwards thereon. Deep inside I know I was happy. I was grinning!A few kays into the drive and the green over-head board marked Shimla straight ahead. I murmured casually “why don’t we push off to Shimla?” Kid me not coz I ain’t a kid no more. The reply “Ok” sounded as cacophony of sweet tones. I confirmed but the answer didn’t change. She-said-yes! Yippee! The grin graduated to an un-stoppable laugh! What followed was a much needed drive of relief marked by some ‘crapped-my-pants’ instances. Before I start sharing the experience with you all, let me introduce the two companions of mine. One in the human form (the one responsible for this drive) and the other of the mechanical kind (er.. also responsible for the drive!). I can write a million words about my lady and it still won’t suffice, so more about her at some later occasion.

As for the machine I was driving, it may just cause quite a stir. Sporting a heart with a capacity of eight hundred cee cees and belting out a modest 47 horses, the Alto would perhaps be the last car of choice for any enthusiast. But I didn’t have a choice. Take it or leave it situation it was, and took it gladly I did. Barely 45 minutes on the tarmac and the twisty stuff began. A little after a town called Panchkula that is. It’s pretty much a straight road, not in the literal sense, but direction wise. All you have to do is point the car ahead and follow the road till you reach the bifurcation of Solan from where you carry on left. Then the next fork comes when you reach the junction of Chail. One side takes you to the serene and the much virgin hill town (compared to Shimla) of Chail while carrying on straight takes you to Shimla. So straight it was for us. The very fact that this trip happened at the spur of the moment (hence the title) makes it all that more exciting. Not much to talk about the route then, but quite a bit about the journey.

Beyond belief was the tarmac surface. My heartfelt gratitude to the government for maintaining the roads. I took my time to take it all in, but the traffic brought me back to mother earth and slapped me with a note “don’t dream so much, these are no Alps. You’re still in India.” The huge number of vehicles I can handle, in fact living in Delhi most of my life, I’ve come to accept the average of two hours it takes to travel about 30km (mostly caused due to huge traffic jams tendered by the ever increasing number of motorists). What I can’t handle is the way people drive/ride over here. You have to hold a candle to them for their courage I must say. And while you are at it, hold it for a little longer as you might need to place it in the nearby grave-yard to wish them a happy after-life! Yes, as crude and harsh as it may sound, but this is how it is. People here have no road decorum. They drive and ride with a suicidal bent of mind. Oh wait, I am in India. This is only but a second nature for motorists. So here I am, again, accepting it as it is. I wanted to enjoy my outing, so I was driving like my pants were on fire. Challenging corners only egged me harder to push beyond my and the car’s limit. So much so that it seemed like I was fighting a battle against my saner self, and winning it.

The Alto, you must understand, is not really a car for sliding around and stunts and not many take it for long distance touring. It got a little irritating ‘coz of the lack of power. We stopped four times in the 4-hour stint while heading north to gape at and gather the beauty our country has on offer. The blind corners were ever-so-inviting and the smooth road only made sure that this trip had all the elements of an epic drive! Were I alone, I am sure I would be perfecting my oversteer and power-slide activities regularly, but since my lady was sitting as a passenger, I did not let my instincts get the better of my senses. I still did let the car lose its tail once, to see what was it capable of, round a flowing left-hander and mademoiselle shouted the F-word for the first of the innumerable times. Soaking in the breathtaking view en-route and while on our halts, you could hear some more of the f**k(s) with different sound modulation for different emotions. A versatile word that!  Going uphill was a straight forward affair with not many hair-raising instances. We were going for it and reached Shimla in good time. It was not as pretty as the journey this long. Overcrowded as it has become, this little hill station has been robbed off its sheen. Commercial aspect has increased, killing the very essence of Shimla. 

We parked near the inter-state bus terminal and headed off for the much famous Mall Road. It’s a steep climb that took us the better side of 20 minutes to reach the rear of the above mentioned shopping street. Stationed ourselves in the good ol’ Indian Coffee House which sure sparks nostalgic feelings for some or many, I am certain. What my lady likes about this place is that the menu remains unchanged all throughout the country. And as I found out, the taste too! We sated on butter dosa, vada and cold coffee and basked in the glorious hilly surrounds. Piss I wanted to and the ‘latrine’ painted at the coffee house was enough for me to on hold for that much longer that it took to find a decent loo. Lo and behold, as there is a Coffee Day right around the corner. We dropped in, and lest I feel embarrassed to have come in only to take a leak, I ordered a Chocolate Fantasy to feast upon. Not that either of us complained! Did my ‘stuff’, ate the luscious quiche, lightened my wallet further by sixty bucks and headed off towards our Maruti. U-turn then we took, to head back. With the fear of being unable to drive with droopy eyes (I’d not slept well for a couple of days before this), I wanted to clear the hill section with still some sunlight remaining. And the return was what made it a drive worth recalling every time when sitting with a group of friends and halfway already into getting pissed drunk! Pulsar rider with a pillion as a liability was just in front and I overtook him after seeing a clear path ahead.

I was in no mood of racing with him and was just driving the way I did the whole way till now. He took it otherwise and thought of it as war, it seemed! Some frenzied riding saw him at my tail after a while and he did everything not in the rule book to overtake me. I let him, lest we both go down a thousand meters! This done, I stopped and saw him shoot off into a distance. Convinced that he was far ahead we started again. But we were wrong, again. Not far enough he went and we soon caught up with him. It was the same procedure. Overtook him, he went mad, rode even wilder and whoosh he went ahead. Having just taken a breather, I was in no mood of stopping again and didn’t care a dime for that barmy rider. Went on, caught up with him and made sure I teach him a thing or two (with much satisfaction I must add), wishing he realized that he was riding dangerously. But if wishes were horses, I would be driving an Aston Martin! With no sense at all, this guy attacked, again. Allowed him to go and stuck behind him for the better part of 45 minutes! Then we stopped, gulped some water, chit-chatted a bit and were back in the car. Thankfully this time round we did not encounter that manic guy and peacefully carried on. Close to Panchkula, things get a lot crowded, especially near the Pinjaur Gardens. Barely averaging 15kmph, we reached Panchkula and headed straight to Chandigarh. Dropped my lady to her hostel, got back to my room, and crashed on the bed only to recall the things that happened during the course of the day. Maybe I should argue with my lady on regular basis then! Just kidding! It kind of was reminiscent of the 24-hour ride I did some months prior to this.

Just that this time, there was a crumple zone in front to prevent us if anything went wrong, rather than being the crumple zone that you are on a bike! When you are with yourself and are thinking of such ‘close-to-my-heart’ things, you tend to say to yourself – “yeah, you just drove an Alto on some challenging roads. For close to 300km, and did a good time. Drove it well too. It’s quite an accomplishment. Hmmm.. life’s good.”  

dear ashish ,very nice thread and i hope more people would share their experiences of travels

Ashish... i just LUV the way u write man !!!... i mean i've sed that thousand times but i just cant help it !!!..... u got magical fingers or wat ???...... gr8 work !!!.... i think i m still between the mountains.... wud've luvd to ask a alot of questions..but unfortunately i gotta rush.... so i m gonna read it again wid full peace of mind.... be ready for my Questions..hehe.... very well written !!!... cheers......

ashish i agree with karan ,u got flair for writing !!!!!!!!! , i expect you to write for your visits to other places too ,s that we all are enlightened !!!!!!!