I wouldn’t call myself a rodie or even a long drive aficionado. I’m not much of a traveler either. So what am I doing here with a column like this, occupying precious bandwidth?
My idea of a holiday is a HOLIDAY! It needs to be easy… actually laid back would be more appropriate. Good food, good books, good beer mostly make up my holidays. I would love to move at a pace that snails consider top speed. So, again, what am I doing in a column on automobiles? Well, who ever said you have to explore highways and expressways at break neck speeds.
Last weekend, the stars, work, my boss, all coincidentally decided that I needed a break. This was akin to the three miracles needed to be christened Saint by the Vatican. Not very used to planning out my days, woke up late and decided to drive down to Pondicherry. I could see a large question mark in Helvetica 72 points, bold engraved on the faces my wife and our dog! Why Pondicherry, meekly they protested. Well I suppose such questions are better left to the philosopher or to Malcolm Gladwell and his theory of Blink.
We took off, waded through what seemed like endless chaos on the streets of Chennai. After 20 minutes of complete torture within the city we hit the ECR. For all those not from the most famous Dravidian metropolis, ECR is the scenic East Coast Road along the Bay of Bengal.
Once on ECR, life takes a complete U turn. One would have to be blind as a bat to miss the clear and loud traffic signs on the road. Very convenient for the average Indian driver! In spite of the fact that Pondicherry is a favorite tourist destination, the traffic on the ECR comes as a real surprise. Perhaps, people are more preoccupied with their superstars in Chennai.
With good music and the blue waters of the ocean for company, the ECR is a must for all Garfield lovers. Pack you favorite Lasagnes and don’t bother about the potholes. The drive is muskaa. For all those from the most famous Dravidian city muskaa means butter. For long stretches, the ocean gives you good company. The blue water adjacent to the ECR is indeed a very tempting site. No wonder, one sees a number of vehicles parked off the scenic highway.
Our leisurely drive continues, we do a small detour through the forgotten town of Mamallapuram. Still famous for its stone sculpting, Mamallapuram, is famous for its ancient rock cut temples, where the epics of Ramayan and Mahabharat are carved out of stones. Even today, stone carving is the bread, butter and jam if I may say so, of this sleepy little hamlet.
After meandering through the three and a half lanes of this small town, we hit ECR again. Passing through a few more small villages, the landscape soon starts turning white. This is salt country. Thousands of hectares of land now being used to harvest salt. Mounds of salt adorn the landscape. This is also where, one also begins to get a glimpse of what to expect in Pondicherry. Foreigners, on their 2 wheelers speeding down the road without a care. Nor do the locals bother. It almost looks like as if this has been happening for eons. ECR continues to meander in her pristine glory till we almost reach Pondicherry. You cross the tollgate, and suddenly things take a dramatic turn. Every bone, every phalange in the body is rudely reminded that there is something called gravity.
Thankfully this rock and roll session for us is short lived, as we reach our resort, which happened to be a good 13 kilometers before Pondicherry. Sipping, on some thirst quenching beer, reminiscing the drive, I dread to imagine what the rest of the journey into Pondicherry could have been like.
