“For Dreams and road trips are
beautiful…and Unreal”
Just like the steam from a hot cup of coffee, another road trip idea blend into the muggy august air of the hostel room as we all sat discussing the pros cons and the ultimate deal breaker of yet another college trip.
Just like the steam from a hot cup of coffee, another road trip idea blend into the muggy august air of the hostel room as we all sat discussing the pros cons and the ultimate deal breaker of yet another college trip.
Life was monotonous and drab and
even the idea of a road trip was enough to bring a smile to our faces, but be
it our moods or just the forever applicable Murphy’s law in our case it never
happened, and then just like that we all were back to our routines (or lack
thereof), that sleepless night spent discussing unmade plans and excited trip
talks all but forgotten in the hustle of the upcoming semester exams.
Autumn’s air turned into the
chilly and crisp winter wind, 2 weeks before the exams pouring over stacks of
notes and projects an unexpected email popped on my computer window, flat 50%
cash back reward of some content work done months ago on a trip to the land of
Rajputs, that’s what the subject read! I looked up and saw my friend dozing on
top of her laptop and screamed! We got a trip! And as if it was a natural
reaction, our ‘planner and finance head’ was in action, chaos and excited
murmurs filled the otherwise silent room, the trip itinerary traced the map
from Jodhpur to Udaipur and finally amidst the red sands of Jaisalmer.
With notes flinged aside all of
us settled on the spots nearest to my laptop and scanned the mail, it was just
what we needed perhaps, running low pocket money we had hit the jackpot with
the 50% off and this time nobody wasted time and worried their heads over
what’s and how’s, the offer was valid for another 2 weeks and with the exams
approaching, here and now seemed just about perfect, bags were packed, road and
bus maps traced as we found the least costly ways to travel, being a road trip
a car was booked, hotels were searched and the night was alive and bursting
with palpable excitement.
The best plans are random….or
maybe not! Because as soon as we reached the dealer to pick our car, we got the
first off the shocks that were coming for us in stacks, the car booking was
canceled, although determined we decided we weren’t quitting and then 6 girls
stuffed into a hatchback set on a trip of disasters, from a flat tire to empty
gas tank and then a night spent on the road, we experienced it all, because we
were a group of well planned and smart lads! (hah!)
Reaching Jodhpur was another
experience altogether though, standing on the hilly edge of the cliff, the
golden city was mesmerizing, as though it rose right out of the land that
stretched in front, the kila trek and numerous other places kept on adding to
the already surreal effect and after a day and half in the city we set upon our
next destination, un rested and continuously driving for more than 10 hours
took a toll on all of us and a little dhaba on the road side was our stop for
the evening, where there was a stay facility too! Cheers! Spending the night
smack in the middle of the desert was another noteworthy experience, and trust
me it was not a pleasant one, with just our hoodies and caps on our back we
spent the night shivering in cold under the light blankets that were provided
to us with the constant melodious hum of mosquitoes as our background, the
night passed somehow and we set on for yet another 5 hour drive over to
Jaisalmer, we reached the red sands camp on the outskirts of Jaisalmer where we
had our stay, the blistering noon sun soon gave way to the cool winds of the
evening which is when we set off to our camel rides further into the sands.
Its true when they say
“uninhabited is the best “ because as far as we could look, there lay the
beautiful red sands of Jaisalmer and once we had the urge to lift our eyes onto
the quickly darkening sky, we truly witnessed a miracle, the sun setting in all
its golden glory in the west and the shimmering moonlight emerging on the
horizon with gleaming stars so captive that we were in a state of trance, in
that moment with our backs stretched onto the cooling sand of Jaisalmer and our
eyes feasting on the rare beauty of the moment, I realized that, this is all it
took, a little spontaneity, a lot of silly mistakes and a leap of faith with
friends that were becoming family by the second to experience the “Road Trip” of your life that for sure
taught you so much more than just the maps and routes, this one changed my
opinion on the things that mattered and the ones that didn’t, how perfect was not
always perfect and how nor dreams and neither road trips were unreal!
