A Trip To Saharanpur

I had the opportunity to have a closer look at a town in Northern India this summer. Saharanpur is a small town situated at a distance of around 180 kms from Delhi. Its a town famous for its awe striking wood carving craftsmanship, ITC paper mill , its fondness for crime ,mangoes , sugarcane ,language & certainly many more things which I am ignoring safely.
The language is rough & outsiders have a hard time adjusting. The climate is hot but a few of my close friends always disagree on this. I'll leave it to the readers good judgment.

I flew to Delhi & decided to board a bus to Saharanpur .I was warned against it by a friend but I decided to give it a try. The distance of 180 kms was covered in four & a half hours . The warm air was making the distance longer . But the flora & fauna around was something which I miss down south. Was surprised to find that at each halt a group of volunteers boarded the bus & were administering polio drops with a lot of vigour. It might be normal in well fed nations but a phenomenon like this in
a developing nation like ours does raise eyebrows.

The dust around reminded me of my village & I was happy to let it stick on my face .I turned brown by the time I left the bus. I reached the town at around 4pm . The heat was there to welcome me but the joy of meeting my old friend Vivek was making me forget the hostile climate.
Vivek's elder brother was getting married & marriage in India are always celebrated with a lot of vigour . The canopy outside helped me recognize his house. Vivek was there smiling , working hard & trying his level best to hide the depleting energy levels in his body with his sharp smile.
Friends to me have always been precious , they come very high on priority & I feel I've been a lucky man to have quite few of this dying race.
Cold water from the hand pump provided me solace from the parching heat , a bath just made my day. Vivek's father is a doctor cum farmer.Its a rare combination but this certainly adds to his enigmatic personality. I tried hard convincing my friend to involve me in some activity but since its almost a sin to make a visitor work he didn't agree.
Marriage means a lot of commotion , children running around , scores of relatives need special attention , food & may more things need to be administered at all times.
The next day was more friendlier, two of my other friends arrived . We were meeting after two years & the growing age had not effecton our memories. We were back in the old days where running on the football field was the order of the day. Dinner at seven was a ritual with our group. “Roti”(Indian bread) with a lot of “ghee” was something we all enjoyed.

The marriage was a simple affair .The food was good & after a long time I had loads of icecream. There were villagers (mostly farmers). Their khadi clothes & a big smile on their face proved that money cannot buy you everything in life .They were all there to bless their friends son , a friend who had left the village a long time ago but since bonds are for ever they were all there to share his happiness .
The groom & the bride dazzled in their clothes .The ceremony got over at around 2 am. (I generally sleep at 9:30 pm ). Ravi , Vivek & myself decide to keep awake & a little persuasion & coaxing made Pankaj join the group. We talked & laughed , remembering the old days is the best thing one can do at times. Hot tea which had all milk & no water & prepared by Vivek's father just made our day.

We greeted the morning sun with a long brisk walk .
Three days of fun & frolic came to an end & it was time to leave. A big packet of sweets was tied to me . We were given a royal farewell & everybody including the groom was out there waving his hand.
Friends are rare & meeting them has become rarer. I wanted to stay much longer for I knew it would be a many more months probably years before I meet them again. Frosts poem always come handy at times “ The woods are lovely dark & deep but I have promises to keep & miles to go ...”

Ravi & I took a train back to Delhi. I discovered that I had been pick pocketed. Had lost all the money in my pocket .Keeping the wallet away from me helps at times & that's the precise reason I lost a part of my belongings. I had kept a few hundreds in my front pocket & had advised the same to Ravi & he cheerfully ignored my advice. The wallet rested peacefully in my bag & I was unable to decide as to whether I should rejoice Or appear gloomy.

Ravi helped me with two twenty rupee notes & that helped me reach my village. The story has a lot more still , keep hanging.

Parents greeted me with a smile as usual & my Mother made it a point to fill half of my plate with ghee .
It was time to leave for Banglore. I left almost two hours before the departure but a jam ensured that I miss my flight. Yes,I missed my flight & wanted to scratch a pole , pull my hair & shout but all this would have had added to my woes.
Wanted to buy a ticket for the next flight but there were no empty seats.

I sat down on a railing near the booking counters , sipped water , dazed the skies & tried again. A cancellation from a passenger made my day. Re-booked my tickets & flew back to Bangalore.

The trip made my wallet poorer by almost twenty thousand bucks but the joy of meeting old friends just didn't allow the sadness to take over me. Friends are precious & all precious things are costly. Thats the way I look at it & that the way its always gonna be till the date I roam the lands.

A trip to Saharanpur needs to end before I miss by office bus.