Driving all the way from the top of India to the bottom of
the country was a tough decision indeed. I had to drive alone throughout the
way and it was certainly lonely at times. Here I must admit that I am a
fiercely independent person and a self-governing traveler who does not like to
depend on anyone for anything. Even though I wished that I had company during
my road trip for a few moments, but if I compare the pros and cons of not
having a companion, the pros always win. The problem with driving with two or
more people is that you have to adjust with other people, which I cannot do all
the time. Therefore, I began and concluded my road trip on my own.
During the entire course of the solo drive, I would be in
the car from morning until evening. I would eat whenever I felt hungry. I would
stop whenever I felt tired and exhausted. I would pull over the car whenever I
wanted to click a picture. Had it been a bike ride, I would have certainly felt
more tired. However, since I had taken a Self-Drive Car Rental, the journey was indeed more convenient though expensive.
In Himachal
I met a traveler in a village in Himachal who was riding a
bike from there to Mumbai. He had already completed one side of his journey and
had already resumed his return trip. We talked endlessly for two hours, and
drove simultaneously the next day. Although the drive was interesting, it
became a little too much for me to adjust according to the stops he wanted to
take. Whenever he felt hungry, perhaps all I wanted was to drive. Whenever I
felt tired, he wanted to go for some sightseeing. Since we both were solo
travelers, we understood that we could not carry on our concurrent road trip.
We parted ways and I swooshed to continue my independent journey.
Know thyself
It is no hidden fact that a solo trip lets you know
yourself. While driving on this road trip, I got to know about a lot of my
weaknesses and strengths. I found out ways to improve as a person because every
day teaches something new when you meet so many people. I met an old lady in
her 70s who could not walk, but sold bananas every day to make her ends meet.
She had no one in the house to earn for her, so she would come out of the house
every day on her crutches and spend her day selling bananas.
When I bought a few bananas from her, I did not have change
money. Although I did not want to embarrass her, I had to tell her that I did
not have 50 INR change. She asked me about the rupee note that I had, to which
I replied that I had a 2000 INR note. She cheerfully said that a group of young
boys had handed over a 500 INR note in the morning itself, so she would manage
the rest of the money for me.
My heart broke when I saw that those clever fellows had
fooled her with the counterfeit 500 INR note. She gave it to me, I looked at
her, and I could not resist warning her. I secretly kept the note inside my
wallet and jokingly said that fake notes are exchanging hands in the market and
that she should be careful. She asked for more and I explained to her how she
could differentiate between real and fake notes.
No comments:
Post a Comment