.Remember what did I say in the previous despatch? I was hungry. Yes.
Honestly, the previous night I did not sleep well. Though not a single shot was heard in the naxal-infested area and in the surcharged atmosphere due to Hindu-Muslim rift in Raongaon, the fear was pretty high. Added to it was the constant "thak-thak" sound of moving vehicles on NH33.
We did not proceed that night did not mean others didn't. Everyone made their own decisions. Those who felt safe to drive through the night, did not shelter till daybreak.
By 7.30 a.m., Anil Pandeyji sensing my hunger pangs halted at Ormani for breakfast. He chose a vegetarian dhaba on the roadside. Initially I thought his selection was because of me being a vegan. No. He himself is a strict UP brahmin and does not touch even eggs (I do).
Pandeyji's companion is a young Pervez, a Muslim and a meat-eater. Over the 1650 km journey, Pervez stayed away - wantonly or otherwise - from maas, machchi. All roadside dhabas are more or less the same.
On the sides of highside, a huge clearing of agricultural or barren land is cleared. Three walls and a thatched roof has come up. Several coired cots are laid out. Very few table and chair facilities. In one corner, there is an open kitchen. Plastic or ever silver jars filled with water. Tall steel tumblers.
Drivers go for paranthas (Indian bread made out of wheat stuffed with boiled vegetables) served with dal (thick lentil soup, spiced with masala), achar (pickle), a katore (small cup) of lime and lemony curd and a plate of salad of diced cucumber, onion, radish and yes lean and green mirchi (chillies).
At the first morning halt, one invariably watch drivers brush their teeth, wash faces and empty their bowels in the open fields. There is no proper toilet facility on the highways. Drivers walking with plastic Pepsi bottles filled with water in the morning is a sight to watch! It's their first communion with nature - almost daily!
By the way, their style of drinking water is interesting. Despite the presence of tumblers, they directly pour water from the huge jugs into their cupped palm and swig it from there. Why? "Adhat se majboor", (habits die hard) is the stock response.
They squat on the coired cots and the breakfast is laid out over a wooden plank of 1 feet width and 5 feet long. Obviously, the plates need a solid, unshaking surface to be placed.
The breakfast is washed off with a hot cuppa tea - very sugary and piping hot. A cigarette or bidi is smoken. Or raw or processed tobacco is stuffed into their mouth as a final passage of rite. All this happens in a span of 30 minutes.
As we glide down (a bit downhill) from Ormaji, we come across a rare spectacle of a constant battery of cyclists with heavy of coal cargo moving in the opposite direction.
Yes, we are passing through the coal rich Jharkhand area and small time merchants are carting coal for sale in their villages. You cannot miss small roadside retailers selling coal from makeshift, temporary tents. Illegally mined or not, no idea. There is always a complaint that Indian drivers cover hardly 350 km per day as against 700 km plus in matured economies. How can that happen? Take a look at this visual below:
If cattle - donkeys, cows and goats - are going to keep crossing the highways, how can drivers drive fast?
Or look here:
Bang in the middle of the highway, there is a tree. Why this particular tree near Ranchi on NH33 left untouched while expanding the road is a mystery. This is not the only tree blocking heavy duty trucks. There were many on this stretch.
Having crossed Ranchi, we halt at Hazaribagh outside a much larger dhaba - in front of the helipad (actually an empty ground, not the pucca airport which is nearby).
Tata trucks are returning to Jamshedpur after having unloaded axles for Ashok Leyland's new Rudrapur plant, explain Pandeyji. This is the first major halting centre after leaving Jamshedpur the previous night. A busy thoroughfare. Passenger vehicles, loaded with people inside and on top keep plying on this route. A lot of 'horses" (not to be mistaken for the four-legged animal, but the driving cabin of white Tata trucksi) are idling on the roadside while drivers tuck their rotis in. Road expansion is in full swing. Many decade-long trees have been cut and are carted in tempos to timber depots - auctioned by state government). Four-lane carriageway will be a reality in the next six months. It is still cool in the cabin. Soon we will be touching NH 2 - a proper 4-lane carriageway linking Kolkota with New Delhi, reminds Pandeyji. Half an hour later, I begin to notice movement of trucks and car-carriers (mostly OSL Logistics) at a distance. We have neared Barhi, the border town or village on Jharkhand side and Rasoi Dhanonti toll gate is seen.
"Would you like to bathe?" asks Pandeyji. Why not? I respond positively.
"Wait," says he with a smile.
I begin to wait....
(To be continued)
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