A few days before the start of this
expedition Rajiv Mondkar surfaced on FB messenger with a request to visit his
farm house in case I would be travelling on the Surat highway. I do not
normally make unplanned detours from a daily schedule unless an emergency
warranted it. Besides breaking the momentum it also disturbs the schedule. But
Rajiv was persuasive. The warmth of his invitation and the insistence paid off.
He agreed to call me up during the course of the expedition to finalise the
arrangement to visit his farm, which was on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border. He
got in touch when I was on the way to Thane and gave me detailed instructions.
I set off early from Thane after goodbyes to a wonderful
couple, Chakochan and Anupa. Within a few minutes of leaving the Thane
neighbourhood I encountered heavy rain and the effect of the car wash didn’t
even show! I stayed in constant touch with Rajiv and was told that he would
wait near the border checkpost. With sparse traffic during the early morning
hours I reached the appointed spot slightly ahead of time. Rajiv came there and
piloted me to the lovely farmhouse, which was just a few km from the highway.
In the hour that I spent with the family in the sylvan surroundings in Bhilad
we went from complete strangers to warm friends with Rajeev, his wife and
toddler
son, Ayan, father Ashok and mother. Rajiv and his pretty wife are
inveterate travel enthusiasts and Rajiv intends to ‘acclimatise’ his son early
into the travel habit. He told me about his plan to travel to Leh with his wife
and son! Rajiv has also pre-decided the career of his son, whom he fondly
refers to as Col. Ayan! Coffee and cookies and many photos later I reluctantly
took leave of the family. We agreed to stay in touch over social media.

The next stop had to be Daman where
Seju Kuruvilla IPS was currently posted along with his wife Megha IPS. They had
been posted in Arunachal Pradesh, where I got a lot of assistance from Seju,
when he was Superintendent of Police, Lohit district, headquartered in Tezu.
Megha was holding a similar charge of the adjoining district during my visit to
Tezu in 2013. Between then and now their loving family has been blessed with
the arrival of Meera Rose Kuruvilla. It was not difficult
to reach the VIP guest house in Daman. I met up with the
affectionate family over tea and snacks. With a brightly decked up car photo
sessions are a must before taking leave. So it was in the VIP guest house too.
Besides, Seju promised all assistance in Tezu on the final leg of the Trans
Himalayan Expedition, which included the Inner Line Permit, River crossing and
rest house accommodation.
Hetal and Rajiv Shah had connected with me on
Facebook in April 2015 when I was on the return trip of the
Cochin-Singapore-Cochin expedition. Rajiv runs an extremely successful travel
agency in Surat (Network Tours and Travels). He is the first agent in India to
successfully arrange a packaged road trip from India (Surat) to London, which
he did in April 2015 for a group of four persons. When I visited Ahmedabad on
work in June the lovely couple visited me there from Surat and we became good
friends. It is fate that brings such friends into your fold, nothing more can
be said. Therefore, it was only natural that I would spend an evening in Surat
at their wonderful home during the current expedition.
Before I went to their home Rajiv took me to the clinic
of his brother, Dr. Sanjiv Shah, to consult about a bothersome orthopaedic
problem, spondylosis. Thereafter, it was a memorable evening with Hetal, Rajiv
and his Mummy, whose blessings I took for the expedition, the amazing Upendra
Sehgal and informative exchanges with Atulbhai and Dr Rajen Desai, one of the
four who had done the London trip from Surat. Sehgal Uncle is a face reader and
astrologer. His many observations left me open mouthed and in utter amazement.
Atulbhai gave me a hamper of things required for high altitudes like special lubricants
and additives. Rajiv presented me with a copy of “With Cyclists Around The
World”, the adventure of six people who ventured out in 1923 on cycles to
circumnavigate the globe! Truly inspiring for a tough journey like the Trans
Himalayan Expedition, indeed.
Hetal is an amazing cook. I only felt bad
that I could not do full justice to the superb desi fare she had laid out so
elegantly on the dining table. The loving hospitality and the effortless ease
with which she makes visitors comfortable is her wonderful nature. The dessert,
which consisted of almond cake and chocolate sauce, typified the evening –
sweet and most enjoyable.

Once the meal was done with we all decided to go for a
spin in the car. All of them took turns behind the wheel. The surprise item of
that late evening drive was the manner in which Hetal handled the car. She
turned out to be an absolute natural behind the Ford Endeavour, which surprised
all. To cap the evening she even reversed the car for me to get back to the
hotel from their colony! Amazing and astounding, are all I could say. An
evening well spent and friendships better bonded.
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