The roads in Uttarakand are straight out of hell. The winter had just come to an end and the landslides had almost killed the roads. The lives of people using the road were hanging in some balance that swayed between death and life. But our driver was oblivious to this risk and had a whistle on his lips as his hands held the wheel casually. The tyres were flying by the edge and in some places the road was not underneath one of the back tyres. There were a number of messages exchanged and transactions made during the whole journey and not all of them seemed legal. Cans filled with Diesel got in at one place and the contents of the can got into the vehicle at other places.
Some where during the journey, a board on the side of the road screamed
But for a person born and brought up in that area, hills seemed silly. Our driver drove happily, oblivious of the traffic, the fallen rocks, the sheer drop running all along the road and all those overtaken drivers' abuses. He had total disdain for all those "fools from other states" anyway. Any non-UK or UA registered vehicle was honked right out of the road. Our driver honked and honked at an Innova with Delhi registration that had Congress emblems painted all across but got back no reaction. So he suddenly swerved the vehicle to the right, overtook the Innova and shoved our vehicle right in front of the Innova. The Congress-wala did not seem to be used to this kind of treatment. He ranted out phrases with the C-word and started chasing our vehicle. The silent and beautiful Bhagirathi valley turned into a dusty and noisy zone. The Dilli-congresswala was no match for our local daredevil though. Our man did not let the Congress guy overtake and continued overtaking vehicles in the most brazen manner. Soon the chaser gave up and some quietness sneaked into the valley again.
Just before the final leg of the journey, our driver suddenly stopped the car and got out. It was dark by now and our destination was only a few KMs away. A little later some one got in and we were all intoxicated with the smell of alcohol. A much older man sat on the driver's seat. Our good old but young driver was at the back of the vehicle. The old man started the vehicle, strained his neck, peered into the darkness and got the vehicle moving. The roads were empty but the driver kept honking continuously. As in the movie "Sixth Sense" maybe he "saw dead people". Soon the old and new driver started a loud conversation that ran diagonally across the vehicle. As it was in Garhwali, we only could understand a few words here and there but it seemed to be about some uncles, aunts and their neighbours. The old man on the wheel clearly had a lot of difficulty in keeping up with the conversation and driving but he plodded on bravely. Of course, most of us did not share the same amount of braveness and were all praying to all the Gods we were aware of. The Gods obviously heard us quite clearly after all we were so close to them at that height. A few meters from the destination the vehicle stopped and the drunk old driver got off.
The younger fellow got back in and we continued our journey. The old man was his uncle, a bus driver returning home. "Being a bus driver he has difficulty in driving these smaller vehicles. It must have been tough for him" said the driver. "Then why did you let him drive the vehicle?" I asked with a shiver. "Just like that" came the response with a big smile.
Some where during the journey, a board on the side of the road screamed
Road is hilly
Don't drive silly
But for a person born and brought up in that area, hills seemed silly. Our driver drove happily, oblivious of the traffic, the fallen rocks, the sheer drop running all along the road and all those overtaken drivers' abuses. He had total disdain for all those "fools from other states" anyway. Any non-UK or UA registered vehicle was honked right out of the road. Our driver honked and honked at an Innova with Delhi registration that had Congress emblems painted all across but got back no reaction. So he suddenly swerved the vehicle to the right, overtook the Innova and shoved our vehicle right in front of the Innova. The Congress-wala did not seem to be used to this kind of treatment. He ranted out phrases with the C-word and started chasing our vehicle. The silent and beautiful Bhagirathi valley turned into a dusty and noisy zone. The Dilli-congresswala was no match for our local daredevil though. Our man did not let the Congress guy overtake and continued overtaking vehicles in the most brazen manner. Soon the chaser gave up and some quietness sneaked into the valley again.
Just before the final leg of the journey, our driver suddenly stopped the car and got out. It was dark by now and our destination was only a few KMs away. A little later some one got in and we were all intoxicated with the smell of alcohol. A much older man sat on the driver's seat. Our good old but young driver was at the back of the vehicle. The old man started the vehicle, strained his neck, peered into the darkness and got the vehicle moving. The roads were empty but the driver kept honking continuously. As in the movie "Sixth Sense" maybe he "saw dead people". Soon the old and new driver started a loud conversation that ran diagonally across the vehicle. As it was in Garhwali, we only could understand a few words here and there but it seemed to be about some uncles, aunts and their neighbours. The old man on the wheel clearly had a lot of difficulty in keeping up with the conversation and driving but he plodded on bravely. Of course, most of us did not share the same amount of braveness and were all praying to all the Gods we were aware of. The Gods obviously heard us quite clearly after all we were so close to them at that height. A few meters from the destination the vehicle stopped and the drunk old driver got off.
The younger fellow got back in and we continued our journey. The old man was his uncle, a bus driver returning home. "Being a bus driver he has difficulty in driving these smaller vehicles. It must have been tough for him" said the driver. "Then why did you let him drive the vehicle?" I asked with a shiver. "Just like that" came the response with a big smile.
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