After a nice night service by the people at the small, dingy hotel manned by very nice people, I left at around 10 am. There was a Maulvi saab to take me to the Dargah of Khwaja Salim Chisti (I hope I got the name right) but I said I will do it when I come back. Partly because I wanted to leave fast and partly because I wanted to leave it as a reason to come back to the town. I think I will love the town.
Highway out of Ajmer was pretty nice. Very dusty but so arrow straight that you can see for miles on end. Made overtaking much easier. Met a few Army-wallahs on the way. Kept feeling incredibly thirsty and drinking constantly.
The route is so incredibly boring in the sense of scenery around is that after a while it becomes difficult to keep concentrating. More than once I drifted off in thoughts and had a few close calls with 18 wheelers. Had to sing to myself songs of Himesh Reshammiya loudly to keep the mind on the road. This was also the time when I most sorely felt the need of a partner.
Crossed Jaipur in a few hours and the roads became horrible. I was hoping this would the case for only the next few kilometers. I had heard too many good stories about the Delhi Jaipur highway to believe it. But it didn’t. There were way too many potholes. And very very strategically placed on the road. Just couldn’t avoid any more than 30% of them. Bad bad experience.
It never improved really. I was approaching Gurgaon and nothing changed. It just went on and on. Upon reaching Gurgaon, the potholes went away and traffic took over. For the first time in life, I knew what Delhi traffic is to someone who is conditioned to something else. I have lived three years in Delhi and I still couldn’t handle it. It was bad.
Anyway, got to Lajpat Nagar and stayed the night at my brother’s place. Had a chat with Hitanshu Gandhi (fellow BNer) about a foot pump. As luck would have it, it was not going to happen.
Lessons:
#1 Keep you friends close, your enemies closer and Himesh Reshammiya closest. It will save your life.
#2 Don’t ask car drivers how a particular road is. They have a completely different point of view. Hand them a handle instead of steering and they will forget their first names.
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