I woke
up much later than I had intended to. Sleep deprivation owing to the excitement
of the past few days caught up that night in a comfortable bed. When I woke up
I was deluged by messages on social media – birthday greetings and overwhelming
wishes and prayers for the expedition. I normally respond to each and every
message personally. However, with the demands of the expedition on my time I
find it more than impossible to respond to the tremendous outpouring of care,
concern and good wishes. But I make it a point to read every message. Sadly
this morning I had to take a decision that responses will be selective, and
only when I find time after the normal chores are dealt with.
Breakfast
consisted of Dosa, onion chutney and sambar. The butter-like Dosas melted in
the mouth and a big bowl of onion chutney went down with it as an
accompaniment. I stopped counting after three of them had been disposed off. I
considered it indecent to the self if I did not!
Akash,
the IMU student, called last evening to say that his uncle is a special
correspondent of The Hindu in Visakhapatnam. He asked if it would be okay if
took details for press coverage. I spoke to Santosh Patnaik and requested him
to send a questionnaire so that I could respond at leisure. After breakfast I
sent the responses and a few photographs. In the meanwhile, Thulasiram had got
in touch with Venkat who covered news for Sakshi, the powerful Telugu
newspaper. He came to Thulasiram’s home at the appointed time. The interview
went on for more than an hour over tea and mango juice. Serious discussion was
peppered with light hearted banter. Venkat later told me that the editor had
allotted a full page for his story and that it would appear the next day.
After
the interview Thulasiram and I rushed to the service station to collect the car
before the lunch break. While waiting for the spares an AC mechanic showed me
how to change the AC filter, which was the only thing to be attended at 10,000
km. Once the spares were put into the car and payment made I bid farewell to
the staff of Neon Motors, who had done a competent job. As soon as we got back
to the house Thulasiram helped me to rearrange the luggage. I was stuffed with
the heavy breakfast followed by refreshments during the interview. Nandini and
Thulasiram would not heed my pleas to skip lunch. Once I sat down to it a
plateful of rice and a most delicious dal disappeared in an instant.
Before
taking leave of the wonderful and most hospitable couple Thulasiram confirmed
accommodation at the NTPC Farakka guest house. The itinerary had been changed,
almost at the last minute, and Farakka instead of Kolaghat became the halt
location for 15 May. This happened because I was told that the holdup at the
Farakka Barrage and thereafter up to Dalkola would be too much to handle if not
attempted early in the day. I had suffered between Dalkola and Farakka in
September 2015 while returning from the Trans Himalayan expedition. The 25 km
stretch between Malda and Farakka had set me back by 5 hours! Therefore, when
the change was suggested I readily absorbed it into the itinerary.
Traffic
was heavy almost up to Srikakulam, after which it was a smooth drive all the
way to Bhubaneswar. The only hold up was at the AP - Odisha border at Ichchapuram.
The long queues at both sides of the border called for deft management of the ‘wrong
side’ queue. I made it despite a few close calls. While driving into
Bhubaneswar I was amazed by the transformation. From one end to the other the
large city was connected by a network of flyovers. Traffic flowed smoothly as
against the nightmarish experiences of the past. I missed the turn to Hotel La
Franklin and had to return a fair distance.
I
checked into the relatively new hotel and was shown into a comfortable room.
After a light meal of vegetable soup I slept to accommodate the 5 am start the
next day. During the day I had done 446 km in 6 hours and 30 minutes on NH5
from Visakhapatnam to Bhubaneswar.
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