Bhaji on the bypass

We’re on our way to peace, quiet and stupendous views of the Himalayas in the distant hill station of Kausani in Uttaranchal. Barely an hour out of Delhi, and the cow belt hits you, literally. Ambling senior citizens, regurgitating a late munch on some roadside grass provide ample experience in zig-zag driving. Cow on the right, swing to the left; tractor approaching on the wrong side, swing to the right; pothole ahoy, bump thump, oops too late, speeding Indica zooming up to kiss its maker, and a truck, swerve to avoid being spread like jam between them. Before the calm environs of Kausani can bring our BP down, the roads of UP and Uttaranchal are honour-bound to do everything to bring our BP up.

Beyond the concrete crush of East Delhi’s “flat”land, and the continuing urban spread in Ghaziabad (malls, flat, water parks et al), lies “dehaat”, the countryside. Miles and miles of flat wheat fields, interspersed with sugarcane patches, railway lines, slums, foul-looking and smelling industrial monstrosities and patchwork village huts outside which look vaguely ruminative buffaloes with expressions that say, “What’s the rush?” (more at the new blog site…)