How I Met Wonderful Travelers in my Hometown

When you are there in your hometown after a long stint in the metropolitans, your main focus is to enjoy and have homemade food as much as possible. I was doing the same thing when I went to my home town in Alwar last month. I had to stay there for three weeks, which meant I was going to put up a lot of weight. However, I am in a serious business of social media promotions, which means I cannot afford to gain a lot of fat at this point of my life. Therefore, I joined a gym where I would just go and mind my own business for most of the time. I had this wrong perception in my mind that I would not get along well with people, so I barely bothered to talk to them.

I was entirely wrong in my preconceived notions as it turned out that a few people were actually had interesting lives. I took off my earphones one day and decided to run on the treadmill like that. It was unusual for me to do that, so it took me a few minutes to adjust to the noise of the gym, the atmosphere of which was certainly not very gym-like. However, I happened to overhear the talks of a group. Three guys were talking about their biking trip to the Spiti Valley.

Now that’s what caught my attention. After a long time, I had found my soul brothers in Alwar. I went closer, hopped on to another machine and listened to their tales of adventure. For some reason, they also noticed that I was smiling hearing them. Unlike Delhi, where people often take offense at such acts, these guys invited me to join them.

The first thing they asked me was about my city of residence. I was not surprised about their judgment because I look evidently different from people in Rajasthan. After I introduced myself, I told them that I also want to go to the Spiti Valley next year, and if they could suggest things. Naveen was the guy who got along particularly well with me. I shared my contact details with him and asked me to join them for a bike ride the next morning. They all were going to see the local historical monuments and have food at exotic restaurants.

I would have been a fool to say no to them!

A Yes immediately came out of my mouth, and I joined them at 5 am the next morning. While exploring the local wonders, we had great moments of laughter and deep discussions. I suggested that we can look for cheap car rentals for our road trip to the mountains, which was a naïve idea to them, but they happily agreed to it.  

It was a wonderful day indeed, and I had an amazing time. I hope to meet them soon when I will go to Alwar again, which is not too far for sure. Home calling!

How Did I Spend My Weekend in Mumbai

When I have nothing to do at times, I try to spend time with myself. I just take out my car or bike, and just go for a road trip to enjoy the company of my own self. It is oddly satisfying to be on your own sometimes, even if not too frequently. So this time, I was there at home on a long weekend, and I could not decide on what to do. I thought of watching a movie, but rejected the idea. I often get too restless watching a movie at home. I have got a smart TV and a heavy-duty speaker attached to it. Still, the idea of sitting glued to a thing as useless as a TV seems bizarre to me. I prefer studying or reading something, but I was not in a mood to do that either. The next idea I had was to go and fetch a Domioes pizza and devour it shamelessly at home. But again, sitting at home was not a good idea that day and eating a pizza with cheese dripping from it doesn’t seem fun in a public place, at least to me.

Finally, I thought of spending some money on myself. I looked for Self-Drive Cars online and chose a Hyundai Creta for my road trip as I was too bored of driving my hatchback for so many years.  I immediately left for Khandala as soon as I received my car around six the next morning. Since it was a long weekend, I had all the time in the world to spend on myself.

I stopped my car at a tea seller, fetched a samosa and a cup of tea from him, and sat down leaning on my car. While enjoying my lovely snack and tea, I had random thoughts about the people wandering around there. Many people had come from far-off places to witness the beauty of Khandala. Even though it is just like other hill stations, the Bollywood movies have made this place utterly famous. I heard a kid saying, “Aati kya Khandala?” [Will you come to Khandala with me?

He must have heard this line from a famous song from a Hindi movie. Another couple, who seemed to have come from North India, was very excited about being in Mumbai. I think they belonged to a small town somewhere in the North, where the girl might not have lived the modern life. She was delighted to be with her family, and was having fun getting her pictures clicked in newly bought clothes.

I heard an elderly couple talking about their young age; they were discussing about the shy time they used to spend in the early years of their life. Since I could hear their conversation clearly, I smiled at one point of time and they smiled back as they realized that I was overhearing them. I immediately moved from there and drove ahead to carry on my journey- a solo trip!

How the Mumbai Rains Messed with Me Driving a Car

Whenever it rains in Mumbai, the entire metropolitan becomes a massive swimming pool, at least most of the times. I have been to Delhi as well, and it is no fun to admit that our national capital also comes to halt whenever we experience heavy rains in the country. However, I have, sort of, made peace with such situations and I just tackle my car rather than lecturing around everyone. The first thing that I do is to get my car serviced and have the brakes in immaculate condition so that they do not fall flat whenever there is an emergency.

I try to drive at a modest speed rather than speeding too much because no matter how perfectly my car works, the car may skid on wet roads. It has happened with me once when I was in my early twenties. I was driving at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, and I had to apply the brakes immediately to escape hitting a kid on the road. I did not hurt that child, but the car skidded, and I banged into an electricity tower. After that day, I made a mental note never to race with anyone when it is raining.

Since I am fond of road trips, I rarely avoid driving when it rains. However, I prefer not to drive after dark while the water is still pouring from the sky. I have driven once or twice during heavy rains during the night time, and it feels scary as hell. I have realized that it is no use driving at a speed of 20-30 kilometers per hour just to reach a place, which I might never do at all in case something worse happens. The truck drivers in India are infamous for their notorious driving skills. Even if I give my best efforts to drive carefully, I have seen these guys driving without caring for anyone else’s life. That is why; it is better to stay away from them, especially during rains and foggy winters.

I also prefer to use headlights and taillights to keep my car as visible as possible during rains. I had hired cheap car rentals once to go for a road trip to Goa. However, I ended up paying a lot of money on repairs of the car because it did not perform well on the slippery roads. It is another story that the company reimbursed my bills following their policies.

The last thing to keep in mind while bearing heavy rains is that I never park my car under a tree or near electric wires looming over. Both these things can fall over the car, and the wires may even electrocute the car in the worst circumstance. I have seen this happening with someone’s car in front of a Mumbai mall, and I took a lesson from that incident. Better be safe than sorry. I don’t want to die in a car, at least, even in my worst nightmare.

My Experience of Trying New Foods in India

During my entire life in Israel, whenever I thought of visiting India, I had never thought of skipping the Indian street food. However, when it came to actually visiting India, I went through the articles online, and they literally scared me out. Almost every article about tips to visit India talked about not trying the street food, and it was a huge disappointment for me. However, I went deeper into the details, asked a few friends, and finally decided that I would surely devour these delicacies, but from the trusted sellers.

So, here I was in Mumbai as my first stop in India. After I dropped my bags in my hotel, I straightaway asked the hotel reception for the nearby seller where I can get batata-wada, wada-pao and pani-puri. He stared at me as if I had come from Mars. I could understand this poor guy’s confusion and I told him that I had already researched well about the Indian food and that I wanted to try every possible thing.

He guided me to locate a few outlets, and also suggested me to try things like Bombay sandwich, paav bhaji, sev puri, kandha pohe, thaali peeth, and aamras. I felt grateful to him for the information that he gave me, and just rushed out of the place to see places and stuff my tummy with the delicacies of Mumbai.

My next stop was in Bangalore and the food traveler in me wanted to explore the foods of this city as well. There is no one stopping me when it comes to sniffing out foods. Now I had my list of target cuisines ready with me, but I needed a car to travel around since the public transport is not so great in the city. I hired a Self Drive Car Rental Bangalore Innova from a mobile app, and rushed to find out what I wanted. I tried the famous masala dosa, apple pie, Andouille Sausage on Sourdough Toast, mangalore buns, dal obattu, idla vada, sambhar vada, bhaji and filet kaapi, rolls and kebabs.

By the end of my four days of stint in Bangalore, I was stuffed badly and I took rest for a day while eating only salads and drinking juices. It was relaxing for sure. Eating so much can be pure bliss, but it messes with the body weight for sure. I could not follow my passion for food for the next two days, and sufficed with eating only light foods at a friend’s place. Her mother made me eat khichdi and daliya on my special request because Indians never treat their guests with such foods that are meant for patients. She wanted to cook butter paneer and chicken biryani for me as she is a brilliant cook. However, it was amusing to see disappointment on her face as she had to feed a foreigner guest at her home with plain khichdi. Her dialogues were priceless! And my journey as well!

How I Embarrassed Myself on My Trip to Bangalore

I would have almost ended up in a jail if the authorities in Bangalore were not kind enough. I had to travel to different places during my stint in South India because my office had assigned me the duty to attend a few conferences in different cities. I, along with my team, would hire car hire in Bangalore and travel to different locations for the trainings. However, we preferred taking flights whenever we had to travel for a long distance.  

So here we were at the Bangalore airport, sitting on a chair, reading a book, and waiting for the boarding time to begin. Eventually, my colleagues had got seats quite far away from me because of our stupidities while booking the tickets. When we boarded the airplane, we grabbed our seats. Kunal, my friend, looked at me with concern and asked, “Where is your carry-on luggage?”

I immediately fell numb, and realized that I had left it near my chair while waiting to board. I pushed aside a few people, said sorry’s and excuse me’s quickly, and ran outside the plane to grab my luggage. I had left the luggage there for just five minutes, but someone from the security staff was already about to check it.

I told him that it was my bag, and that I had accidentally left it there. A grave look came on his face and he said, “Ma’am, it is illegal to leave any luggage unattended in an airport. You cannot have it now. We will have to get it checked.”

I froze as he said that because getting the luggage checked again meant that I would miss my flight, as well as, training. My manager would kill me over this stupidity and she was sitting right inside the plane. I apologized to the guard a zillion times and pleaded him to hand over the bag to me. He finally agreed to do it if I told him the contents of my bag correctly. That was the exam I had to pass in two minutes, and I finally did.

I ran into my airplane as quickly as I could, but the amount of misery I would bear was yet to end. An air hostess stopped at the gate of the plane, and asked me to show the ticket. I, obviously, did not had it with me; it was there in my bag. I told her the entire story, and tried to make her understand. The words she said blew out my mind, “Ma’am, it is illegal to exit the plane once you have boarded it.

She might not have noticed it when I was going out, but was there at the gate when I returned. Again a series of sorry’s followed through and she finally allowed me in.

All of my colleagues stared at me, and Kunal was laughing out loud without caring for other passengers. I thanked God that I had a separate seat for that journey!

How I Go for Safe and Happy Family Road Trips

Indian roads are infamous for ranking among the most dangerous ones in the world. Just drive on a highway or an inner street once to realize what I am talking about. However, despite every danger lurking on the Indian roads, I cannot sit at home for the fear of encountering a car crash. I just take care of a few things whenever I am traveling with family since I am highly fond of extended road trips.

The speed breakers and road bumps even on the national highways are highly unpredictable. That is why; I make sure that I wear a seat belt and make the fellow passengers do so as well. The rear seats in my car also have the seat belts, so there is no scope for the people sitting in the backseat to make any excuse. It is uncomfortable indeed, but I don’t listen to any excuses if there is anyone from outside the family who does not want to comply.

I prefer to have one more driver in the car on extended road trips who can drive if I feel tired or sick. Either ways, I can enjoy driving as well as enjoy the roadside scenery. However, there have been a couple of chances when I or someone else forgot the key in the car. It had become a messy situation to recover the key when I was in Alwar.

When we are traveling for more than 500 kilometers, the journey becomes very hectic. Therefore, keeping the car clean becomes even more important. We always carry a few rags, a few days of newspaper to clean the windows. The newspapers also help whenever it is raining, and we can spread them on the car floor to avoid making the car dirty.

I never forget to keep the papers of the car with me, especially when we have to cross the borders. Moreover, many toll booths come on the way, and it really helps to deal with the state police when I have the toll receipts with me. Some policemen might create an issue for the people coming from other states. I don’t want to hide the fact that most of them are looking for bribe on the pretext of missing papers. I don’t want to bribe them for anything that I have not done, so I prefer to be prepared.

The most important thing while traveling on the hills is fuel. I have faced an instance when I was stranded in the middle of nowhere when the fuel in my Fortuner Self Drive Rental finished too quickly than I had thought. I had to wait for a long time for help to come, and I never want to face such a situation again. Therefore, as soon as the needle crosses the halfway mark, I get the tank refueled to the top. It is always better to be on the safer side than to be sorry for any situation later. I love to make fond memories, not the unpleasant ones, so I travel with a good preparation.

How I Learned More about Tigers and Lions in Rajasthan

I had always thought that the staff members in national parks befriend the wild animals, no matter the species. I always wondered that since people in these places spend time with wild cats since their birth, they must have a special bond with them. However, having a word with my guide at the Ranthambore National Park completely changed my perspective.

I planned to visit a few places in Rajasthan with my family. We took a car on rent in Noida and left for a memorable road trip. The journey was not too long, and hence, we did not feel much tired. After visiting a few monuments and historical places, we were excited to meet the wild animals.

Our guide, Ramesh, was a nice fellow and he had many stories to tell us. Needless to say that he had spent a great deal of time in Ranthambore National Park, and had befriended many animals including tigers, hennas, and monkeys. It was fun watching him playing with his friends, who would appear so scary to us. I asked Ramesh if it was possible for him or any other person to be friends with a wild animal just like we are good with domestic animals. I wanted to know if the wild animals could be as loyal to the humans as dogs or cats.

Ramesh gave a straight answer, “No!”

I was astonished hearing him say that because he was playing with a tigress moments ago. As my kids and wife were busy watching other animals and birds, I tried to explore more from Ramesh. He said that no matter how kindly we behave with the wild cats, or vice versa, they can never be loyal to the humans. He narrated the tale of his friendship with Krishna, the male lion.

As Ramesh told, “the lion was almost etched on my life as we both played for hours together. Even when Krishna grew three years old, he did not stop being playful with me. We bonded really well together. For some time, I felt that this huge lion is my best friend in the jungle, and that he would protect me, just in case. But no, I was wrong. Being predacious is the basic instinct of any lion, and he could become aggressive even if I make slightest mistake. He could have killed me any day, and I stopped meeting him beyond a distance.”

As he said those words, my heart felt like it had stopped beating. The words coming out from Ramesh’s mouth had a seriousness attached to them, and I could tell it from his eyes that he was not lying. He also talked about a tigress, who had become his friend since her birth in the jungle. When she became a mother, he even helped her nurse her cubs. Even then, she can become aggressive whenever any guide or friend makes a mistake. One lesson that I learned from this trip to Ranthambore National Park is that whatever I see in the internet videos is not true. I need to view everything with a pinch of salt. An unforgettable road trip indeed.