It
was another opportunity, an instance to steer towards another destination, feel
the power of the long stretched road and the natural greenery of Bandipur
forest, for the first time drive through hairpin bends to Ooty and be back in 3
days’ time refreshed, and of having lived my life again! Well, most of it
happened; albeit, in an altered way. I just didn’t reach Bandipur. Got waylaid
at Mandya, offloaded to Mysore and then back piggy backed to Bangalore…..
So,
we started off on a Sunday morning, with the intent to spend three days amidst nature,
and of course doing what I love to do the most – driving!!!! The start was
good, a 100kms /hour on NICE road, and then down to a nice 50 till we get on to
Mysore road only to traffic anywhere between 60 and 80 till we reached Kadamba –
and this is where I sulked for the first time. At 10am, the restaurant didn’t
have my favorite breakfast! The beginning of a sulk is like testing quick sand.
Too much testing can only lead to being sucked into it. It’s an effort to
regain balance then. Having regained the much needed composure, I treaded back
towards the car to head straight now to Bandipur. A smooth road, a cool
interior, and a bright blue sky … what more could one ask for?! And then all of
a sudden, I felt the crash, splinters all across and the shocked faces of a
dozen or two around me. The love of my life had gone crashing into a Bolero and
what resulted was the shattering of the headlights, the engine going kaput, the
radiator burst, and the AC getting jammed. Not to miss the breakage of the
registration plate, the front bumper in pieces, and the left front door wedged.
The sight of the 6 footer sitting alongside me in the front seat struggling to
get out was enough to make someone grimace amidst the disaster that one was
surrounded by. The crash of multiple cars one into another had damaged enough
to ensure a business of close to INR 500,000 across some of the top brands in
India. Insurance or no, there was the assurance of a lot of work that
technicians would have in the country, thanks to the naïve skills of a young
woman exercising her driving dexterities (dare I say) in a Maruti 800, full of
kids. One wonders if the need to display her flair of urging her vehicle
between spaces that the naked eye could hardly discern was a reflection of her
belief in a super power. And if it was, I
wondered if she had turned an atheist!!!
So,
there I had met one more Mad Hatter in this strange Rabbit Hole that we all
live in – someone who believes in the red hot pursuit of an easy going empty
road, and in the bargain witnessing vanity overtake wisdom and finally plain
simple common sense!!!! Driving is like being in a place…
“….like no place on earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger!
Some say to survive it: You need to be as mad as Hatter”
Lord,
give me the strength to be as mad as mad can be. All the best people I have
known are bonkers, so, guess, it’s ok to be one! Here’s to going bonkers!!!!
The
journey then takes a twist and turn. Now, from leading, we are the led!!! A tow
truck lifts our dilapidated selves and we trudge along 30kms to the nearest
service station. The AC turned off, the heat turned on, the music shut off, all
of us were like a box full of frogs…. Jumping at the smallest and slightest
provocation! Now imagine this sight –the car wheels itself into the service
station and we are all allowed to step out. A bunch of frogs in self-imposed hibernation
leaping out to a frame directed by the wizard of Oz in technicolour! The
technician walks towards the car, surveys it, smiles, stifles it and then with
regained poise gives us the “I’ll be back” Terminator Schwarzenegger look and
disappears into the depths of his garage! This was the followed by an hour long
stop at the station and a revisit the next day to get a feel of the extent of
the damage. The minutes turned ‘’curiouser
and curiouser’’ (as Alice would say). Guess there is very little that one can
say or explain in situations like this.
“I can’t explain myself, I afraid Sir, because I’m not myself you see”
(Alice)
I
am waiting to get back to being myself, …. And so is my Innova…. We are both on
the bend and mend!!! I had wanted to
experience wildlife in Bandipur. I did, but not in Bandipur. Cats and monkeys,
monkeys and cats, all human life is here.
I can go on and on about the 3
days. I choose not to. Reliving it in any form is like participating in a cat and mouse never-ending battle. Signing off
with the understanding that I have joined the circus and I gotta live with the
acrobats and jokers!!!!
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