While the job fills my pocket, it is travel that enthralls and elevates my soul. Since 2010 I have made it a habit to travel for two months a year, at the very least. Whenever I sit down for a job negotiation I put this forth as a ‘non-negotiable’; that I shall work for 10 months and take a break for 2 months. “Work, Save, Travel, Repeat” is what I have been doing over the past dozen or so years of my life. At this stage of my career, this is one thing I can insist upon and get away with it. I must say that I have been truly blessed to find employers who have acceded to my, maybe, impossible ‘demand’.
The greatest regrets in life, I strongly feel, are the chances one has not taken. It is often that we look back at life wryly wondering how the years have passed by and interests have remained unfulfilled. A chance reading of “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by Robin Sharma in 2005 helped me meditate on life’s priorities and even navigated me towards voluntary retirement from Indian Railways. It was a huge chance to take with a career in the Government of India. Since then I have never regretted the chances I have taken till now. I have learnt to dream, unfettered dreams, big dreams. Dreams are free and they have a habit of coalescing when they are thought through. All my car expeditions have been an outcome of passionately following up on seemingly impossible dreams. Living your dreams is the biggest adventure of them all.
As usual, the thrill of an impending adventure keeps sleep far away from me. I could have started much before 4 am, when I chose to engage gears and set forth from House of Hiranandani complex in Chennai. Google Maps indicated that the 860 km drive to Belgaum Railway Station would consume nearly 14 hours. Add to that a couple of pit stops for bio and gastronomic requirements besides just wanting to stretch ones limbs, I anticipated an arrival b 7 pm to the Officers’ Rest House in Belgaum. Merging on to NH48 at Sriperumbadur I maintained a steady pace to bypass Bangalore within four hours. That was a strong start and I gained more than one hour from the anticipated travel time in that leg.
The experience with Fastag along the NH48 and 44 stretches was pretty alright. At a couple of places I had to reverse and pare on to another lane due to equipment malfunction. But what surprised me the most was that the NICE expressway still has not enable Fastag payment leading some congestion. For such a high profile infra this is truly pathetic. Besides, the toll charge is over the moon. For a 40 km drive I had to fork out Rs. 180, which is Rs. 4.50 per km! Fastag must be enabled here at the earliest. Overall, for the 860 km drive this day I paid out Rs. 1085, of which Rs. 180 was for 40 km. There were no toll charges for the first 120 kms from Chennai. Thus, minus the NICE road, the toll was Rs. 885 for 700 km, which is acceptable.
One imponderable along the way is for negative RTPCR test result. I am not sure which states have mandated this. I was told by Rajiv Shah in Surat that I would be asked for the test result on entry into the city. However, despite the double vaccination I have got done I took an RTPCR test yesterday. The Government of India must mandate free movement for double vaccinated citizens within the country, albeit observing social distancing and mask norms. The movement from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka posed no problems either at the Attibelle border or anywhere on the way to Belgaum.
Back to the anticipated arrival time of 7 pm in Belgaum. Bypassing Bangalore with such ease, so early in the morning, made me strive additional sinews. I did not stop for breakfast, making do with the jam and cheese sandwiches, an apple and some dry fruits. Even though I missed a cup of coffee I downed plenty of water. Except for ‘slowing down’ in Bangalore area to avoid cop harassment, I kept a steady pace of over 100 kph. I did not stop anywhere en-route and the strain showed on the AC of the car. I had to switch it off for some time before it started cooling again. During the 860 km drive I got an average fuel consumption of 13.5 km on the XUV500. I was mightily pleased to reach the Railway Officers’ Rest House at 2.20 pm; clearly four and half hours ahead of the anticipated time. When I parked the car and got down my legs almost buckled as they had become totally numb!
I was posted as Chief Commercial Manager, South Western Railway in Hubbali when I sought voluntary retirement from the Indian Railways. When I firmed up my halt in Belgaum on Day 1 of the Spiti Valley Exploration I called up R. Shastri, Chief Freight Transportation Manager of SWR for a reservation in the ORH in Belgaum. He readily obliged and quickly confirmed Suite Amboli. It is a spacious accommodation with a living cum dining, a large bedroom, dressing and bathroom. ORH charges vary based on the grade of the officer concerned. For the overnight halt I paid Rs. 200
I had some time on hand to do a bit of sightseeing. All what I wanted to see were in close proximity to the ORH. I first went to the Military Mahadev Temple. As is to be surmised, the temple is within the Cantonment and maintained by the military and hence, the name of the Shiva Temple. The premises are maintained neatly and the temple was closed for sprucing and sanitisation at the time of my visit. It is an immensely popular temple and Pooja is conducted at 6 am and 6 pm every day. The temple complex has a Shivaji Maharaj statue with short write ups and scale models of the various forts he had occupied during his time in the region.
When I passed through the city towards the Belagavi Fort I was surprised to see all shops closed and shuttered. Even a couple of fuel stations were closed. In one of the fuel stations I was told that there is lockdown in the city on Saturdays and Sundays owing to the pandemic. This restriction has affected the two places I wanted to visit inside the Fort, namely the Kamal Basti Jain Temple and the Ramakrishna Mission Temple. Both were under lock and key.
The Fort itself was built in the early 13th century and passed through many hands before coming under British control in the 19th century. The Fort Lake, which looked quite clean with a nice walkway around it, was also closed to the public. That was the end of the short sightseeing trip and end of Day 1.
