Highway 44 Revisited - 1. Delhi

Conversation

It all started¹ when I got a drunken call from a much-married ENT specialist from Poona who wants to bang me. I usually don't answer his calls, because I do not reciprocate his affections, but in that moment of weakness, I talked to him. After the usual courtesies - where he talks about the quantity of alcohol consumed over the course of the weekend, Noel said "So how come you aren't going on the road trip?"

"What road trip?" I asked.

"The one Hari is going on, with Shobha and Debu. They're your friends too, no?"

"Hmm. Let me find out," I said and hung up.

This is the conversation that followed.

Haven't tried Ludwig's Holy Blade yet

A couple of weeks later, I get a text message from Bull.

"Fuck man. I cant believe we are doing this shit"

I can't believe it either.

There were moments during the run-up to that Friday afternoon where I had second thoughts. I wanted to send a mail begging off. That I had work (I didn't). That I was needed in the office because of election coverage (I wasn't). But then, there I was, sitting at the bar of Bangalore airport, listening to an 80s pop playlist and drinking horrifically overpriced whisky, waiting for the plane.

Delhi

My flight is Indigo, and it lands at Terminal 2, while Bull. Debu and Shobha are landing at Terminal 3. Bull shares his location with me on Google - and I notice that the map also tells me that his phone has 20% charge left, which I find vaguely disturbing. As I wait in the bustle, between pillars 14 and 15, in front of gate 5, I see Shobs, long and lanky, come striding through. And then there's , Debu, gentle and soft-spoken, and Bull, short, stocky and ebullient³ and we're bustling along in a cab to Dwarka, where Debu's brother-in-law, Air Commodore Ujjal Biswas.
Ujjalda's apartment is on the 4th floor, in what appears to be a quiet apartment block. The place is full of momentoes - the bric-a-brac accumulated by someone who has travelled quite a bit. The man himself is cheerful and bustles around, making sure that we are comfortable. In fact, it takes him so long to satisfy himself that he has done everything he can to make himself comfortable that its quite a while before he settles into his chair.

We talk, of course, of Abhinandan. And what comes across while Ujjalda talks is the fierce attachment to the forces - the use of words like "our boys". Bull and Debu are army brats, so this would probably be nothing new to them, but, for me, who has never been part of that culture, it's seems strangely heartwarming.

The food is fantastic, and the conversation flows easily, without embarassment or pause. There is lubrication, of course, and it helps, but you get the feeling that it wouldn't matter.

We have to leave early, to beat the Delhi traffic, and so everyone goes to bed early.

At dawn, were out, and Ujjalda introduces us to our transport, a black 2007 Honda City - the 10th anniversary edition. 8597, with a Chandigarh licence plate. He extracts a promise from Debu that the route will be shared via Google maps, and after one last selfie, the great Indian road trip begins.

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1. You remember the Nelvana cartoon series of Tintin adventures on TV? They usually begin with Colin O'Meara's Tintin saying "It all started with", and what's good enough for Tintin is good enough for me
2. Yes. It's a pretty horrendous pun. But I make no apologies