Delhi - Mussoorie - Dhanaulti - Lansdowne - Delhi

Guys, meet –

Anand Swami – An Andhraite by lineage, Bihari by heart!! Equally Loves “Thekuan” and Hyderabadi biryani...though he never admits but I have a feeling that he secretly loves his “Dudhauri” most when served with Original Hyderabadi Biryani. Anand’s favorite timepass is playing psychoanalyst and understanding the actions that resulted in reactions!! He has invented a language, which has an unmistakable stamp of his own (primarily a mixture of typical bihari words like uhan, ehan, garda etc, laced with bengauli accented grammatical mistakes and somewhat slightly-hard-to-be-noticed Telgu touch). Those of you who have read my Rally blog will recall Anand as my navigator in Desert Storm around Rajasthan. Well, other than that he has been my traveling companion for most of my trips.

Nitin Sabarwal – the most eligible bachelor in town, a hunk from outside, soft as a teddy bear from inside!! Stretches his caring nature to an extent that you feel like putting up a bill board proclaiming – Keep in touch but please don’t keep touching ;)

Shipra Dutta – A childhood friend... warm, intelligent and witty are the words that best describe her!! Shipra can talk nonstop, except when she is not puking or singing… and both she did in enormous quantities during the trip. Shipra also has lovely hair, they are so curly and fluffy that many a times I got tempted (but somehow resisted!!) into picking up a fight with her for a sole intention of having the pleasure of pulling it all apart. I am sure every sparrow in the world will die for to call it its home!! Among Shipra’s many talents probably her singing is one of the most outstanding. She has an awesome voice and no inhibitions!! Unlike others, you do not need to cajole her into showcasing her talent. And this is possible only with people who do not need any external endorsements but understand and equally appreciate how good they actually are!! In short, Shipra is her favorite…

With the introduction over, let me share one of the most memorable trips I recently had.

With me on the driving seat and rest of them scattered all around the Innova we started our journey towards Mussoorie on 5th of Sept 2009 around 9:30 AM. The plan was to visit Dhanaulti, stay the night in Mussoorie and leave for Valley of Flowers and/or Badrinath. Within five minutes of the start we were sure how fun this whole trip was going to be. Although Anand, Shipra and Nitin were meeting for the first time, the clumsiness of unfamiliarity was somehow absent and everyone got along equally well with everyone. Shipra, being the only lady in the group was obviously centre of attraction and the butt of every joke, which ofcourse she took very sportingly and did not complain once.

En route, we halted once in Cheetal Grand to have our breakfast. Cheetal is a great joint, almost midway between Delhi and Haridwar at a place called Khatauli, to have a break and get fresh. I have stopped at this place many times between my Delhi – Mussoorie trips. It’s a beautifully maintained property surrounded by lush garden full of exotic flowers and birds. Moresoever it offers a vast choice of food including regular and junk items. Food, as expected, was good. Atleast Tandoori chicken and Naan were good. Anand, in a fit of something that only he can explain, ordered Muglai Parantha for himself and then kept moaning about some missing eggs from the recipe. Meanwhile Shipra Dutta gorged on a multicourse breakfast of Tandoori Chicken, Naan and Muglai Parantha. We watched like orphaned refugees while she plumped her cheeks with food and enlightened us as to our short-comings with regard to diet, road trips, English pronunciations and general mannerism.

Then we moved on.

We were running right on schedule and almost reached Rishikesh when suddenly my inner voice suggested and compelled me to take a road to the left instead of the much obvious tried and tested straight road. No doubt it was a pleasant drive, with the sun low, cool air and very less traffic. Tall thick woods pressed in on the road from both the sides. Everything was perfect except we were travelling in the wrong direction. And this I realized after cruising for 15 odd minutes. Shipra surprised us all by proving to be smart enough to sense that within next 1 hour.

“Are you sure this is the road” said she.

“Well… this could also be…” I answered meekly.

“If you are not so sure why don’t you ask someone?”

Now how do I explain her that like any other self-respecting man I cannot stop to ask for directions!! even when I am certain we are lost. Girls simply do not think where we would be today if Christopher Columbus had stopped and asked for directions? This instinct of exploring has been honed ever since evolution and it further gets compounded with the modern knowledge that the mother earth is round and it doesn’t matter what route you take!!

But since it has been scientifically proven and well established that extended exposures to constant nagging and whining destroys the cilia in the cochlea of your ear, which in short is responsible for hearing, we decided to pay attention to what Shipra was saying.

A boorish looking road side slob confirmed our worst fear.

Still we had our pride and we three of men unanimously decided NOT to take a U Turn, come what may. We were even ready to change our destination but not to compromise on our instincts… However after a lot of discussion and persuasion Anand suggested that we take two “L” turns instead of a “U”. This was a brilliant idea which, technically speaking, forbade us from taking a “U” turn and at the same time was capable enough of putting us back on the track.

However, we did not need to take two “L” turns, as someone else suggested that if we keep on going straight for next 5 kilometers we can take a right turn which in effect will put us back on the course. This we did and were finally able to be on the road destined to take us to Dhanaulti. Only trouble was… we were late by almost an hour and a half!!

(to be contd..)