Every Road Trip should start with a Selfie…and no particular destination.
Thanks to my Dad, I’ve been Road Tripping from birth and have driven through every state in the country except Kashmir. This habit of just getting into the car and driving off in some direction or the other is an inherited one, and one I think I’ve have passed on to my children.
For a few years though, my adventurous instincts have had to be curbed due to serious health issues. But now that I am recovering, thanks to God, and to many of my friends and family using their influence with him to give me a new lease of life, I’ve started taking to the road once again.
A few weeks back I managed a half trip to Hampii (with some significant help from my daughter). Yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, I decided that I was going to be attempting a small independent Road Trip.
I told my wife not to get into her usual picnic basket mode. I just wanted to fill in gas and drive off towards destinations unknown and eat off the street wherever and whenever possible…of course she didn’t take me seriously and smuggled in a few biscuits, some lime juice and 6 or 7 bottles of water…and we were off.
Lazy birthday breakfasts meant a late start and it was noon by the time we left. I wanted to head anywhere where the ORR could be part of my itinerary. I so love to speed on that stretch. But as I was reaching Madhapur, demands were made to be specific about what was on the cards. And where were we planning to lunch.
So I called a couple of friends and got a couple of suggestions. Ideas ranged from Nagpur to Yadgirigutta to Medchal, but then we froze on Vikarabad and Anantagiri Hills.
And then, as a result of sheer idiocy, we landed up on the service/slip roads of the ORR, but decided to ‘Bash on Regardless’. The 54 Infantry Div’s motto that I’d grown up admiring at the Secunderabad Club.
The drive was nice. Pee stops few. And I had the luxury of choosing ‘pee’kcheresque spots for answering nature’s not so frequent calls.
The landscape was a bit depressing at 
times, especially when we passed several scenes of mass tree cutting.
But then I guess that was inevitable. And we allowed the beautiful day to drive away morbid thoughts.
By this time we were discovering the benefits of Google Maps whose driving instructions meant we had to shut off the music. But that was alright…how else would we have known that there were places like ChayVela and WhyCarAbad?
A recent convert, I was so impressed with the accuracy of the maps that I wondered why they did not feature speed breakers on them…
By this time we were hungry and looked around for a dhaba kind of place. Unfortunately there were none and fortunately we saw a board pointing us to a Telangana Tourism place. But when we reached it, the place had been locked down.
Or so I thought.
The wife insisted that she check it out and of course found out that the lock on the door was a false flag operation. The restaurant was indeed open for business and served us a decent buffet. 
And the parking lot was cute enough to allow us destination selfies.
And just before the car objected to being left out of the picture I managed to click one of hers
Lunched. And rested, we decided that some sight seeing was in order. (Okay, okay I resisted…but lost the argument 2:1).
Take a look at a small video clip and you’ll see that I refused to get down and walk around but I did enjoy the view.
On our way back towards civilisation we stumbled onto a wide open space of just red earth. And I saw the opportunity to do some good old hee-haw kind of driving and kick up some serious dust. I do have a video clip you can watch but I must tell you that inside the car, it seemed we were going much faster. And behind us there was only a curtain of dust.
The drive down from Anantagiri is a straight drop. Not as steep as the Darjeeling-Bagdogra stretch that I had done in a Maruti Van many years ago…but still good for a cheap thrill or two.
Lessons learnt from the drive…put a family into a car, and crazy conversations will happen.
A small paper cup of tea from a roadside vendor is enough to drench a whole dress.
What’sApp, G-Mail, Facebook and SMS notifications can be irritating, especially on a birthday when you are flooded with wishes and greetings. The sound I mean…not the sentiment.
If you’re coming home, cold and tired, there’s nothing as gracious as a Mother in Law who cooks you up a Vangi Bhath meal…
It was a fun day indeed.
Oh yes, another lesson taught by my friend Murphy. 3G, 4G, wi-fi signals always work when you don’t need them….couldn’t speak to my older daughter who’s in Australia for a visit.
No connectivity.
All else is fine.
Ok. Six hours or so of driving. Felt good. I can see that I’m far away from my Hyderabad-Bangalore-Hyderabad 18 hour nonstop driving days…just as I am far away from ‘can’t drive at all’ period.
Conversations without purpose. Laughter without reason. Love and Affection without respite.
Not a bad recipe at all.
Did I have fun? Absolutely. Loved every moment of it.
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