Down the memory lane! Drive from Visakhapatnam to Delhi in 1998 The urge to pen down and share about the first multi-day drive of my life has always been there. But as it was undertaken way back in 1998 and the absence of an appropriate forum to share it were dissuading me. As time progressed, the self doubt of utility of sharing something which might be of no interest to the reader about a yesteryears trip took over and shut out the urge itself. Then it happened! My request for entry into this forum was cleared and all hurdles including the self imposed ones vanished. Only thing holding me back now was the availability of time to pen down the events as they happened. That also cleared now thanks to a bout of Pneumonia which has forced me into a rest at home now.
As this trip took place roughly 22 years ago, I searched through all the stuff at home to get hold of any bill, receipt, logs etc to help narrate the journey. The fact that we have moved houses through multiple cities over these years did not help the cause. Luckily one handwritten log which I had separately tucked in to a diary showed up. That is the crystal around which this is being written.
Journey Details : Visakhapatnam to New Delhi
Distance Covered : 1988 Kms
Duration : 22 Apr 98 – 25 Apr 98
Vehicle : Premier Padmini DLX BE S1 Non A/c, Make 1995 Preparations for the Journey
As with many moves, the reason for this trip was my move to Delhi from Visakhapatnam a.k.a Vizag. Then again, the main prompt for driving down was the concern for safety of many breakables including collection of crystal ware. Plus of course the basic urge to drive which needs no special mention. Mr. Murphy was at its best once we decided to drive down. Due to certain official commitments, I had to be away from Vizag at the last moment. This, coupled with other family commitments, ruled out my wife’s journey together with me in the car to Delhi. Eventually it panned out like this – Self away on official tour, wife packing everything, locking up in ready-to-transport condition and leaving for her home in Kerala, self arriving at Vizag one week before the date of move. So within one week, I packed off the luggage through a transporter and looked around for a co-driver to Delhi. Thankfully my car dealer M/s Spectra Motors Vizag (not existing now, closed down after Premier shut down) offered one of their long distance drivers from Hyderabad.
In those days, mobiles had just started coming in and I did not have one. One had to depend upon a combination of All India Maps and individual state maps to chart out the route. My plan was to complete the journey in 4 days, limiting the daily drive to 550-650 kms with no night time drive. The route thus chalked out was: Vizag – Jeypore – Jagdalpur – Raipur – Bhilai – Nagpur – Narsinghpur – Gwalior – Mathura – Agra- Delhi. I had planned the start date to complete my journey on a Saturday, so as to have a day in hand prior joining office on Monday. With Murphy again, one day before the journey, I get a message from the dealer that the driver is stuck at Hyderabad and will not be able to make it. The last minute search ended with one mechanic (Raju) who claimed to have driven around a lot. The arrangement was that he was to be handed over return tickets from Delhi in addition to the food charges for the day. Due to my condition, I found this very attractive and did not bother to check his credentials much. This was to hound me thereafter!
The vehicle was less than 3 year old and had hardly run less than 9500 Kms (9472 Kms at the start of the journey). Had done all vehicle service checks with the service centre two days prior and filled up petrol and air the day before. The communication plan was to be in touch with wife over STD Calls from the halt point for the day. Other than the above, maybe due to ignorance, I had not bothered to gather anything else like spare fuses, petrol can, torchlight etc for this journey. Later, when I got to know about the preparations other people take for long road journeys through this forum, I realised how stupid I had been then. Journey Day 1 – 22 Apr 98. Self and my co driver Raju started the journey from Vizag at 0630hrs. Plan was to hand over the wheel to my co-driver during the second session. Shortly into the journey, I started discussing the route plan and halt details with Raju and queried him for suggestions. Promptly he takes the map, opens a page and seriously was looking into that. Only problem was that it was held upside down! It was enough to freak me out and realise that I will be the sole navigator for this journey.
After we crossed Salur, I decided to hand over the wheel to him thinking that at least he could share the driving part if not for navigation support. His take off made me scream and that was the end of his driving support too. On querying he admitted that he has never driven a car and the desire to see Delhi was his only qualification for this offer. Poor me! The rest of the drive for the day was uneventful except that I remember the serene drive through Bastar with forests on either side. Any mention of Bastar due to various other reasons for which the area used to figure in the news thereafter, used to trigger this memory in me. The lunch was from road side shop in Jagdalpur followed by the fuel fill. The recorded mileage can be seen from the log as 12.9 Kmpl. The day’s journey was halted at Raipur at around 1800 hrs, having clocked about 636 Kms for the day. I don’t remember the hotel name now. I only remember having to find one accommodation for him also in the hotel, which was over and above the agreed part of the contract. Since we were already enroute, I decided to play along and finish the journey. Day 2 – 23 Apr 98. Started from Raipur at 0645 hrs and crossed Bhilai and reached Rajnandgaon in time for the fuel filling. The mileage recorded is 14 Kmpl, which was fantastic for those days. Prior to Nagpur, for the first time I could witness the transformation taking place in Indian Highways, with a 4 lane flat highway being laid out. But alongside, the Indian Summer had started to take its toll on me. The year 1998 subsequently became famous for its severe summer and it had already started to set in by mid April. I have vivid memories of crossing Nagpur at around 1330hrs with a constantly wetted towel hanging around my neck. The non A/c car was not a great handicap those days in Vizag and this was the first day which made me realise this serious shortcoming of a non A/c Car while going up north India in summer. But one did not have to fear that much in those days to stop the car at any place and fill up water or ask for some help anytime. Generally, I remember it was much safer. After a lunch halt at Nagpur (remember taking a bye pass) and driving through Seoni and Lakhnadon, reached Narsinghpur at around 1930 hrs. I remember having checked the MP State map and identified Narsinghpur as a District HQ and therefore was not too worried about hotels. Well, there was no other means to confirm on short notice those days. To my horror, on reaching Narsinghpur, I could only see two lodges which had accommodation and had to decide on one of them. The time was not conducive for searching around too much as it was already dark by then. Well, I decided to rough it out on one of them and make up for it the next day. We had clocked 552 kms for the day and 1188 Kms ex Vizag. Day 3 – 24 Apr 98. Started at 0715 hrs. The major event I remember about this day is the drive from Jhansi to Gwalior (those days roughly about 105 Kms). I filled up the petrol tank at Jhansi, with a dream mileage of 14.97 Kmpl and started for Gwalior on the state highway. This was a plain two laned highway, but the best state highway that I came across in my journey so far. It was a breeze and I could make the distance to Gwalior in less than 1 ˝ hours. This is another memory which I still carry as I happened to read in this forum about the poor state of the Jhansi – Gwalior road for many years to come. Incidentally I crossed the same road in 2018 when I drove down to Delhi to Vizag a second time (but different route). The road condition in 2018 was no comparison to what I had seen in 1998. Reached Gwalior at around 1830 hrs and checked in to a decent looking hotel. I do not remember the name but only thing I remember was that it had air conditioned rooms with TVs. Why I mentioned TVs is that I could watch the epic innings of the great Sachin Tendulkar in which he whipped the Aussies. It was a nice come back for the previous day’s not so great stay at Narsinghpur. We had clocked 461 Kms for the day and 1647 Kms ex Vizag. Day 4 – 25 Apr 98. After a good rest and relaxed start of the day, we started the final leg of the journey to Delhi from Gwalior by around 0900 hrs. Before this, I was in Delhi for two years and was familiar with the roads and eateries. Since reaching Gwalior, the comfort feeling that the destination is almost within reach had already set in. On the drive to Delhi, I was on the lookout for nice eateries to taste the authentic Paranthas which the Dhabas on the old Agra-Delhi Road were famous for. At the first instance itself on reaching Agra by 1130 hrs, we ventured into one nice looking dhaba and did justice to the yearning for Paranthas!. The drive from Agra – Delhi was a breeze and I was in a very good mood and started explaining the landmarks to Raju who was wonderstruck with everything around. I realised that this was his first trip outside Andhra Pradesh. We reached our destination near Shahjahan Road New Delhi by around 1630 hrs. The first thing I did was to book a ticket for Raju’s journey back to Vizag (two days later to allow his Delhi sightseeing). We parted ways with good feelings even though the start was something which I cannot forget for other reasons. He was also very happy with the feeling of being in the Capital City and maybe the unexpected bonus tip. We clocked 339 Kms on that day and 1988 Kms from Vizag.
In hindsight, I thank the good condition of the vehicle (less than 9500 kms run when we started), roads and luck for an otherwise uneventful journey which I could finish as planned. |