Sitting on my bed, with a tired body but a deeply satisfied heart, I go on typing this travelogue (which Alankrita Di will double cross check later). No place to check-in. No proper sleep. No stopping. Our story for 3 nights.
Vikalp claims ‘Chalo Amritsar’ as his own. But, the seeds for this trip were sown by Di and me. After some long worthless discussions(...like really worthless) it was finally decided that we’ll spend Valentine’s day in Amritsar. Vikla refuses to join. Tickets booked (return waale). Done deal. Vikalp decides to join. Wow.
The culprits in this crime; Alankrita (#alalala #alelele #lelele), Me (#theRapist ex-heavyweight champion group ka), Vikla (#vikla #viklu #viklululu #lululu ex-actual design head, ex-actual ed head, ex-actual president of GG), Vishal (#auntyOnTrip ex-apprentice of Tarla Dalal, ex-intern at Hastinapur under Kunti), Bawal (#baavlaa ex-mera naam joker, ex-hahahahahaha), Divyen (#dibonjen, ex-akela non circuit branch dude, ex-supposedly vice president of GG) and Himanshu (#greaterNoida #TDC ex-Roy fanboy, ex-"tum mein se koi kuch peene ke liye le rahe ho kya?"-wala partner)
Plan was,“Araam se raat ko niklenge, subah Amritsar pahunch jayenge.” Nope. All of a sudden at 1, it’s decided we start at 2. We wait near at the bus stand, at the beginning for an Amritsari, but the only thing we find is Muzaffarnagar, Muzaffarnagar and effing Muzaffarnagar as if it was India’s NYC. And all this time Himanshu was whining about watching ‘Roy’. Luckily we found a bus to Ambala and the 5 hour long journey was all about tagging me as a Rapist (this is where it all began), cornering Alankrita & grilling her and little discussions on Vishal’s mamta. Reached Ambala at dinner time and headed straight for Puran ka Dhaba of H.O.M.P. and Zaika India Ka fame.
Food was muuaah! and burrraaaah! Kya dal makhni thi woh! Hearty meal I must say. Next in plan, a bus to Amritsar. Ambala thanks for the dinner, you marked the beginning of a journey with awesome food ahead!
A night journey where Alankrita sat between Divyen and me, and we set up our ‘tambu’ because of some really disturbing lights. These small buses were never meant for me. Nothing much happened except for some ghazal-ing inside the bus at a Dhaba and the frequent bus lights switching on. Frustrated by the lights and the small space we three were. Baaki sabko dekhke lag rha tha jaise piye hue hai. Main Alankrita ka kandha todh diya apna sar rakhke, and Divyen managed a decent enough head rest on Alankrita’s lap. Isi beech, ek hault pe, thand ke beech (I still had a t-shirt on #bond) we decided that sirf Amritsar hi kyun, Shimla bhi ho aate hai! Aur main ekdum sansanaate hue Amrtisar se return tickets cancel bhi karwa diye. Haan toh ab back to bus, bas neend aa hi gayi thi .. “Oye mote uth! Utarna hai.” WTF.
The bus to Amritsar stopped and Jalandhar and we’d to catch another one. Old, broken bus with missing sliders on windows. Vikalp and I tried out a ‘tambu’ again, but in vain. This Jalandhar to Amritsar was the worst of the lot in the entire trip. Frozen to death, we find ourselves at Amritsar at 4 in the morning.
Keeping things short, darshan had already begun. We freshened up at the free and clean washrooms outside the temple complex. The atmosphere inside was cool and calm. We could hear the faint chanting of holy song in the mics all around. The crowd was less and hence it was easy to walk around. I’ll leave you with the shots.
After the darshan, outside the complex, there was a small area where people were serving bread, thodi si sabji and masala chai. Time toh bahut hai, ATM chalte hai paise nikaalne. Aahista aahista we stroll to the ATM. Someone got the idea of having breakfast at the langar (originally we were saving the langar for lunch). Asked for directions, headed for the langar only to find that we were again having tea and some rusk. Lazying around, we managed to clock 7.30 and Jalianwala Bagh opens!
Little did we realise in the dark that Jalianwala would be so close to the Golden Temple. I’ve seen it in pictures, but walking in person through that narrow street towards the Bagh makes you realise how sad the situation was. The bullet marks on walls, hmmm. The Martyr’s well, a sad sight. Himanshu ko mooseum dekhna tha, unfortunately mooseum bandh tha. A little casual chat and I manage this ..
.. and then of course Alankrita’s morning exercise, trying to push me till the exit.
Outside, an auto driver got in touch with us who offered us a complete package till Wagah border for the entire day for a thousand bucks. The best deal in town!
After Jalianwala we came across the best breakfast of our trip at ‘Badhe Bhaiyya ka big brother’s dhaba’.
Unfortunately for Alankrita and me, we were the mosht besht not-so-well-dressed tired people and we slept over other guys’ entire breakfast. So kind of Vikla & co., hum logo ko jagaake thoda taste karwaye. Hugs&Kisses XOXOXO. The parathe and kulcha were truly divine! The best I’ve ever tasted anywhere!
“Kabhi Amritsar jaao, is restaurant ko bhi ek tourist spot bana lena! - me”
OK. Now what? Himanshu : “Abe, Roy dekhne chalte hai na. Timepass ho jayega lunch tak.” Isi mauke par main apne darshako ko batana chahunga ki, Himanshu jo Roorkee se Roy ke liye rona shuru kiya tha woh pure waqt tak barkaraar rakha tha. Ohkay, fine. Chalte hai Roy dekhne.
AlphaOne mall. 200/- tickets. Movie, Roy. Audience, valentines couples. I, slept after seeing the dog in the movie and woke up when the end credits had begun. Others claim to have enjoyed the other movie happening in the row before us. *Smooch* *Smack* *muuuah*. Valentines day tha .. I love you bolte toh shaadi karwa dete, easy life!
Summarising things, 200/- worth sleep on cozy chairs and Vishal Singh, being the most intelligent mammal on earth, answered all sorts of calls during the movie intermission. Kudos! Gaali toh sabhi de rahe the Himanshu ko, abhi bhi dete hai. Koi nahi, neend achchi aayi par.
Our auto motored through the Amritsari roads, onto the NH-1, the Grand Trunk Road. Slowly, population started becoming scarce. All we could see on both side of the road was DDLJ sarson ka khet stretching miles and miles away, dotted with settlements. A 45 minutes ride and we reach a dhaba. Mast khatiya tha, bagal mein sarson ka khet bhi tha aur khaana toh Burrraaaah! Thoda sa DDLJ hua and bahut saara khaana.
I’ve tasted nectar for once, and that’s lassi at this Dhaba. Thodi si rest and we set off for the border.
Wagah can have a really detailed description but let’s keep things short. Youtube the ceremony for HD videos. But being so close to arch-rivals Pakistan, the #deshbhakti in you goes to a whole new level! However, the spirit that both sides showed during the retreating ceremony was as if everyone knew the outcome of #PakvsInd match the next day. Ladies and gentlemen, here are the match highlights.
We were now to decide if our sudden plan of Shimla was still viable. It was to be decided at Amritsar ISBT. Few disagreed but slowly everything was settled and Shimla was a yes. At this moment I would take the opportunity to express my deepest of gratitudes to Sir Vikalp for sticking to the plan of Shimla all throughout, tum nahi hote toh is baar Shimla nahi ho pata. Incidentally, we met the three celestial elements on our mobile networks, we’d a weird photoshoot, Alankrita tried setting a ‘coffee time out’ for me with Purva and we head towards Chandigarh!
Same story repeats. People slept but I couldn’t. Bus made a stoppage at a really cold and foggy place, which made me wonder “Pahaad pe chadd gaye kya Chandigarh ke pehle hi?” .Reached Chandigarh at around 2.30.
The one and half hour wait didn’t seem long. Vikla and Bawal toured the entire city searching for a working ATM only to find out that SBI servers were down. It was Himanshu’s non-SBI card and Punjab Sindh bank that saved us. Meanwhile I groaned about my lack of sleep, Alankrita struggled with a sore throat and Dibonjen was fascinated by a litter of puppies outside the fast food joint we were waiting in. Vishal Singh roamed around in search for charging points.
News of a bus to Shimla arriving in another 15 made us rush out only to find out that it was a ‘Ek-aur-aadmi-hi-aayega’ bus. Sad. Our wait extends further, though it wasn’t that cold. Finally one of those mini luxury buses arrive. Again, these buses aren’t meant for my legs. Aaand, dead tired, we doze of to sleep immediately. Good night Punjab.
Morning morning rise and shine. I was the first to wake up to witness yet another majestic sunrise. Looking around, Vishal Singh was sound asleep, Vikla looked little awake, Bawla-Divyen sleeping partnership continued unshaken, Himanshu mouth open and Alankrita’s posture of a complete 90 deg. bent neck was scary to watch. Bus stops at the ISBT, a really well planned ISBT. None escape the morning chills. Di freshens up, Dibonjen and Himanshu set out to book our return ticket, Vikla, Bawla and I enjoy the morning sunshine. OK, we’ve got a return bus direct to Roorkee (awesome!) and that’s at 8.30 in the night.
Lovely! We’ve 12 hours to spend in Shimla. Vikla, lovely plan! From ISBT to purana bus adda and a walk to the mall road (during which we realised that not all shops open on Sunday. Hmmm...), we land up in front of Indian Coffee House. Freshened up, decent breakfast, all set for the day.
From ICH, IIAS would be around 2-3 km. “Koi nahi be! Itna time hai .. tahalke chalte hai.” and we set out on foot. Dheere dheere, aahista aahista. Vidhan Sabha. AIR station. Prasar Bharti. Few army buildings. And finally we reach IIAS, with Divyen trying to literally 'Push' the dustbin ..
The structure of the building reminded of the Tower of London. Great historic significance this grand building’s got. Indian partition decide hua tha yaar yahan pe mazaak thodi hai. A short guided tour and then we were on our own.
And some truly awesome ones in Fire house cafe!
“Mast hai! Kahan brush kiye ? ICH. Kahan haggke aaye? IIAS. Machaau! - Bawla”
On our way back to the mall road, we naturally split up. The mosht fittesht ones; Vikla, Bawla and Dibonjen, waaaaay waaaaay ahead of the mosht layji ones; Vishal Singh, Di, Himanshu and Me. Tried out a lunch at HP tourism restaurant .. our eyeballs fell off seeing the prices. Isi beech Himanshu apna ankle kahin todh liya. Vikla and Dibonjen ventured back to the mall road for something more economical. And hence had our lunch at Vikla’s own Gupta‘Jee’ hotel.
Last two wickets of #PakvsInd also fell during our lunch. Great! Indian makes it 10-0.
CM residence and the evening
After lunch we split up. Vikla, Alankrita and I head off for a looooooong stroll. The others head off to Lakkar bazar for shopping. Vikla planned to take us to the circuit house and CM residence. Nice and calm little walk. Slow and steady.
Seeing the CM’s residence, one can undoubtedly say that Himachal Pradesh CM is one of the luckiest man on earth. What a house and what a place to have his residence at! Mauka mile toh Himachal Pradesh ka hi CM banunga!
Meanwhile, Himanshu and Vishal Singh parted ways from the other group and were in constant touch of our whereabouts but strangely never crossed our path. Really strange. Maybe they were baffled and confused because of my new monkey cap (significance of this cap is that I bargained for it first time ever!) Quite possible.
Evening darkness set it in. We three returned to the Scandal Point and found Bawla and Divyen with their new jackets on. Andhere mein sab ordinary hi lag rha tha .. baad mein light mein bhi ordinary hi laga .. Pata nahi kya khareedke laaye ye dono. Loitered around for sometime until we decided to make our return to purana bus adda. From there bus to ISBT and we wait for our to-Roorkee bus.
To our mosht utteresht of surprises, the bus was ekdum brand new and in the best possible condition. Iska matlab, return ke 9-10 ghante achche neend mein beetne waale hai. Alankrita and Divyen strategically placed me in between them. Huge body of mine. Pura weight bhi daal denge dono mere upar kuch nahi hona. Alankrita rested on my shoulder throughout and Divyen tried everything .. right from sleeping on my lap, to resting on my back, to trying out something on his with the window.
Behind me there was an avalanche. Bawla had his ‘tambu’ on, Bawal on Vikla and Himanshu on both of them (not to mention mouth open). Vishal Singh was pro of us all, bagal mein kaun hai, pehechanta hun ya nahi, pharak nahi padhta. Soyenge toh pura gir jayenge dusre bande par! Awesome. And me .. nnope, even this brand new bus was not meant for me. Didn’t sleep until we stopped at a Dhaba after Chandigarh. Had a nice solid power nap though at that stoppage! Di ke lap pe apna sar rakha .. aur so gaya. Bus starts and even my nap gets broken. #SadBusLife
Last hour of the bus journey, Di and I couldn’t sleep. We’d a wonderful discussion instead! Last 10-15 minutes, we get to see familiar old Roorkee sights. And almost in 8 hours (yes! 8 hours) we find ourselves at the same very place where we began this I-cant-afford-to-think-of-even-forgetting-it journey. Alankrita boards an eRic, we walk back to Govind and with tired bodies but deeply satisfied hearts, we retire to our rooms.
I doze off to sleep only to wake up at 2 in the afternoon. Body still shaking, shoulder still aching (Alankrita’s got a really heavy head), I decide to have a bath. Sitting on my bed, with a tired body but a deeply satisfied heart, I go on typing this travelogue. No place to check-in. No proper sleep. No stopping. Our story for 3 nights.
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