The road was clear…the weather was all windy. May be a
perfect mix of emotions dominated my dawn that day!
Years of happiness showered by my role models made me
restless each day, each moment to make them feel at the top of the world. I
planned for no destination but wanted to make the journey blissful for the
furious four of my life!
My first cousin, two years elder to me, stood like a pillar
through the thick and thin episodes of life.
My aunt, Dad’s elder sister, taught us how daughters are
daughters throughout their lives.
My mother, a fighter against real life troubles, an epitome
of confidence and courage.
My granny the practical lady who is the best mother I have
ever met and who gifted me my mom.
And I, 21 years old newly employed who shall remain indebted
to these ladies all my life!
I and my sister knew to drive and we said a big NO to hire a
diver. I booked an AUDI, a white one for the trip. Silent phones were allowed
and watches were exempted. We decided the sun and the wind to guide us that
day.
The AUDI was classy and so were the five ladies (including
me), pun intended. However the white king was loaded with all kind of desi cuisines to accompany our
mom-called picnic. And before the summer sun would have a toll over this stuff
we had to gulp them, we sisters thought!
And there began our
journey….with excitement….with uncertainty but with curiosity to have a perfect
day out. No men to guide and rule. A desire to live it on and break free!
Driving lavish cars seem to be cool but once you have that
you realize women have never loved diamonds and money over family and freedom.
They say if you lock two women in a room for a year and open the door after 365
days, they would ask you for another five minutes to complete their chit chat.
And when our journey began it all started with words like ‘relieved’, ‘free’,
‘thank god’, ‘peace’, to name a few. And gradually it extended to anything and
everything under the sky!
It was the GS Road…..and
may be the subconscious mind drove us from G (Guwahati) to S (Shillong).
Shillong, a frequently visited
vacation destination, yet that day the locally named Scotland of East was real
peace!
And once the car reached Jagiroad….the
wild trees enraptured us with its silent lush greenery. The turns and twists of
the road make us drive up an intrinsic low volt roller coaster. The sky was
blue with little shades of haunted black clouds. May be we did want a drizzle.
May be we wanted to get charged up with the summer sun. And in one hour thirty
minutes amidst stories of past, we reached Nongpoh!
You take three hours to reach Shillong from Guwahati by
road. But your real journey begins from Nongpoh.
A ‘feel good’ milieu is going to chill your senses. Nature at its best!
My sister was not just driving the car but she was literally
racing it against the odds of time. The car had insurance, we were at stake
though. Yet the three elderly young ladies at the back were mesmerized with the
speedy wind kissing their faces and letting their hair go unfettered. They
loved the Mother Nature and we loved them!
The strange yellow spiny fruit with a green crown-like top
jammed the Step Farming of the hills. The little Khasi unknown hands waved us
with happy eyes. And our mothers would go crazy on their insanely cute faces.
At times we were quiet at the ravishing time we were blessed
with and at times we were chatting of the men we left behind at home. And may
be freedom wasn’t walking alone but to be free with each other by side.
We reached Umiam Lake
or Barapani, the movie starring
Shahrukh Khan, Dil Se, has scenes at
its hydroelectric project. But for us people it’s like get down the car and let
the clouds thrill you with its exotic fair beauty.
I clicked a lot of snaps and may be for the first time it
was for my personal collection and not for updating my Facebook account. I
realized that good minds give great captures even in the absence of DSLR.
A lot of tourists were merrily exaggerating the geography of
the place and we were leaning on the railings and enjoying the puri sabji which travelled two and a
half hours with us. Company matters in journeys like nothing else. I know a
very humble person who has been travelling India alone but at the end of the
day he meets new local strangers and explores the place with them. And this
makes his journeys perfect…I guess so!
We got up and restarted our journey. Travel another half an
hour and we were to reach Shillong, the
capital city of Meghalaya. But we
urged for a spontaneous journey and not a planned destination. My sister
stopped the car abruptly and gave me the keys. Our eyes glittered with mischief
and another three pairs of eyes dazed with suspicion.
We never reached Shillong.
The AUDI u-turned hoping the road would take us to another stunning location, Diphu at Karbi Anglong in Assam
and the journey continued!
