Friends,
It
was a day when the script failed. I was slated to cover 1120 kms today; Mumbai
to Mangalore. But, I knew that the drive would challenge me, for I had not
traveled most of the route before and I was warned that the roads would not be
in great shape. The early departure at 5.30 after attestation helped to beat
the crowded route to Alibaug. But somewhere along the way I lost the route to Alibaug
– the first mistake – and wasted close to a half hour. After reaching Alibaug I
had to hunt for someone to attest the log sheet. I spied a road sign of the
Radisson Blu Resort and Spa and decided to go there. While negotiating the dirt
track I took a wrong turn and had to come back some distance. In the process I
almost reversed into a drain. The shrill shriek of a lady, on her way to work,
stopped me on the brink of the drain. On reaching the Resort, I had to convince
the security at the gate that my arrival there was well-intentioned. The front
office executive was very co-operative and even came out with me to see the car
I was travelling in, after the attestation. The 50 km drive from Alibaug to
Murud was scenic. I rued the fact that I had not got in touch with
Balakrishnan, a former colleague in DP World Cochin who was now working for
Dighi Port. I got the attestation from the Golden Beach Resort in Murud (I later
realized that the executive at the resort had made a hash of the log sheet
entries) and I was well behind schedule. It was past 9 am and I had covered
only 170 kms in about 4 hours.
I
eased into Shrivardhan town at about 11 am and looked around for someone to
attest. This hunt for attesters was costing me time. I located a furniture shop
in Shrivardhan and explained my mission. The youngster, in front of the counter
appeared to be the owner, for he asked all the questions, and the elderly
gentleman behind the counter was the manager. As I was leaving the shop after
the attestation the manger asked for my age. I asked him to guess. He said that
I could be somewhere around 65 years of age! I had asked for the hammer and had
it right on my head. When I asked him how he had arrived at the age he said
that he had calculated the number of years I was retired and added it to the
retirement age of government servants in Maharashtra. I do not know who was
more relieved when I told him that I had taken voluntary retirement at the age
of 47!
By
the time I reached Ratnagiri it was 4.30 pm and I knew that I would not be able
to reach Mangalore this day, even if drove up to midnight. I quickly started
recalculating alternatives, all the time trying to remain focused on the road.
It was dark by the time I reached the outskirts of Vijayadurg. When I was
driving into the village I took the curve on the road and my headlights picked
up a small painted kerb stone at the edge of the road. I could not see anything
beyond as it was pitch dark. The torch light caught the waters of the village
pond to which I was headed! If it was not His Guardian Angel who had stopped me
there I wondered who had. At Vijayadurg I reached the Green Valley Fort View
Resort, at the foot of the Vijayadurg Fort established in 1205 by Raja Bhoja
II. The manager obliged in attesting the log sheet and wanted me to have dinner
there, which I politely declined. By the time I reached Malvan it was past 9
pm. The Hotel Saiba was full – it was also a beer bar and hence, the crowd!
Malvani cuisine is standard cuisine of the Konkan region. After the
owner/manager attested the log sheet I asked for rotis and dal. After wolfing
down the hot rotis and tasty dal I was ready to leave. When I asked for the
bill the owner came up to me and gave me a bottle of water and said that the
meal was his contribution to my expedition! You are never short of surprises,
at whatever time of day or night.
When
I left Panaji at about midnight I was awfully delayed. George of KRCL helped
find me accommodation in the GH in Margao. I reached the KRCL GH in Margao close
to 1 am. I had done only 850 kms against the targeted 1120 kms, after being on
the road for about 19 hours. The backlog was 270 kms and the plans had changed dramatically.
Had it not been for the timely assistance of George I would have had to spend a
night in the car! Before I turned in for the night I said a small prayer for my
daughter who clocked another year of joy for me and who would be home shortly
for her first confinement.
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