Into the August Rains…

If you live in India, you’ll know that the month of August is filled with religious and cultural occasions and thus there are holidays galore, in both; offices as well as educational institutes.  I believe it was during one of these August holidays that the five of us had gathered in our apartment.

It was about twelve in the afternoon and we had just been awakened by PD and NG banging on the door. We let them in and they promptly passed smokes all around as a good morning gesture. How thoughtful! But since we were already awake and there was no point thrashing them, we lit up and ordered tea from downstairs. We settled in for a lazy day and were wondering what to do. JJ was just flipping channels on the TV, hoping for a good Malayalam or Telugu movie to be aired. I was about to get my laptop out and start working and RW was still in his blanket, half sleeping and half muttering obscenities at being woken up so early on a holiday.

Five hours later we were still deciding what to do when PD proclaimed that he could “borrow” his father’s Honda City for the day, since his Dad was on a trip to the friendly, neighbourhood dragon-country. That got our attention and we all sat looking at him with the expectation of puppies hankering for another bone. He then suggested that we take a cruise to the next city and visit a place that served killer milkshakes, and by killer, I mean Killer.

Now you might think, “Another city for a milkshake?” “That’s crazy!”

But that’s only because you might not have tasted that particular milkshake nor might have you experienced the joy of driving miles on an open highway with the four guys you trust with your life.

So the plan was made, the car was “borrowed”, the shorts were worn, the shirts were put on, the wallets were checked for inklings of cash, the car was checked for inklings of petrol… and we were off!

As soon as we were clear of the city and clear on to the highway, we rolled down the windows to a slight welcome drizzle, which added to the flowery fragrance in the car. The mixture of the two was like the fragrance of the soil that is experienced in open fields during rains. It was heavenly! And, it also helped ward off the smell of the cigarette smoke that was being puffed out by the ton inside the vehicle.

PD then put on the music system that had a CD of all our favourite sound tracks that included, “Pyaar hume kis mod pe le aaya”, “You are my Cinema”, “Californication”, “Rain over me” and so on. The loud music, along with the smoke and the fragrance of wet earth in the car took us higher than the ‘Empire State’, (if you know what I mean). We were in and remained in a ‘State of Trance’ till we reached our destination and then we only came to our senses when we piled out of the car and got drenched in the downpour that had begun.

As we ran into the milkshake parlour, I exclaimed, “That was the best road trip, EVER!”

This post is written as part of the Ambipur "Perfect Road Trip" Competition.