Day 15. A Flavour of Rajasthan in UP. A Stormy welcome! But not before we finally had the Lassi!

TOYOTA Leh Jayenge
Day 15. A Flavour of Rajasthan in UP. A Stormy welcome! But not before we finally had the Lassi!
29th May 2010, Saturday.
Route : Chandigarh to Hodal via Ambala, Karnal and Delhi. Distance 250 kms.
We had decided to start early. Reason being the dense traffic at Delhi and the time to be spent with Nikon. And how could we go back without the Lassi! Nisheeth would never forgive us.
We were ready and set at 7.30. For a change, skipped breakfast and Shekhar was diligently getting the luggage in place, chilled drinks in the ice box, et all. Nisheeth was first at the wheel and we decided to ask the lady on the GPS to help us out of town, which she did. As we hit the highway, we agreed to stop in a couple of hours for breakfast, when the driver would change too. Two hours on the highway and looking forward to the last halt tonight, kinda gave a mixed feeling. One of delight to be back with family and the comfort of home and the other of being deprived of days of fun, food and masti. But that’s when we started to talk of the next trip which could be the East of India or Rajasthan or even the South!
It was 9.30, we’d suffered enough and were ready for breakfast for sure. The Dhaba watch started in good time and although we crossed many, settled for one with shaded parking and a ‘breakfast’ sign. Dosa and parathas it was with some lassi which did not meet with Nisheeth’s approval so we were where we started! I had now taken over from Nisheeth. We were just on our way when we spotted a ‘Haveli’ and despite a full tank, the Lassi had to be acquired. Nisheeth and Vijay ran in to pick up some chilled sweet lassi in earthenware glasses and it was more than worth it as it tasted out of this world indeed! And a bonus for Nisheeth………….the Haveli was strewn with eye candy! What a great start for the day!
Although we were not destined to return via Manali as originally scheduled, we had to retrace this leg anyways and soon were through Ambala. The Lassi had done the trick as Nisheeth eased into his seat and drifted into a little nap……..tank showing ‘FULL’!
Soon we were passing Karnal and at a convenient spot, eased ourselves and switched turns, with Shekhar at the wheel. Delhi was not far………..and the heat outside, blended with some lilting FM music and jingles from Nisheet’s by now famous phone, got us into Delhi pretty quick.
We committed the cardinal mistake of listening to Ms GPS and ended up in some side streets of North Delhi, in the vicinity of the University area. And we were headed for Ashram! Somehow, a cop helped us head in the right direction and as Shekhar struggled with the organized chaos that is Delhi, we finally made it to Ashram. Thereafter we had to locate the Nikon service centre in Okhla Phase 3 which we finally managed to locate after a struggle. Vijay’s camera was an expensive one so the repair was not cheap either. Anyway, having figured things out, we were on our way again and Vijay refused to take over from Shekhar citing Delhi blues. Shekhar, the sporting guy that he is, held on and hit the Mathura road, on our way to Hodal. It was almost 2 pm and we thought of stopping for a bite than decided otherwise as the Lassi still had its presence felt. As we headed for Hodal, I seemed to have dozed off too, until I was woken up by a lot of conversation about a storm outside. Sure enough, the entire stretch was affected. A dust storm of intensity that uprooted trees and hoardings had left its telltale marks. The little rain that followed seemed to cool down the temperature though.
Before sunset, we entered this compound on the main road, just short of Mathura, that housed this magnificent Rajasthani building called Rajasthan Motels. Owned by a friend of Shekhar’s, Mr Ajit Singh, it was a relief to get our feet back on the ground. The temperature had dropped almost 10 deg C so it had become bearable. The landscaped surroundings with curated gardens, Lotus ponds, fountains, piped music and a little fish pond on the side, gave it a very royal feel. As we moved to our rooms and eased out of our shoes, we realized we were famished and collected in the dining hall, for some tea and snacks. No prizes for guessing that the star attraction was onion pakoras!
Very soon, Ajit and his family and some common friends of Shekhar’s from Delhi also joined us and we were soon sharing our little adventure with all of them.
Ajit had specially got the swimming pool cleaned and refilled with fresh water from the gushing tubewell and we were looking forward to just jump in. However the storm had had other ideas and the pool was strewn with petals and muck that would now require the entire process to be redone. But with the weather becoming pleasant as were the surroundings, we chose to just relax in the midst of the vast expanse of greenery and enjoy the gracious hospitality of the hosts in the form of cocktails and snacks followed by a very typical and delicious Rajasthani dinner. Dal Bati and an array that was all different flavors for some of us. It had been a long day again and although we had relaxed for the evening, the last stretch seemed to be something we all wanted to get on to.
We retired to our respective rooms and were in no hurry to get up the next morning as we had time on hand. It was a 250 km drive and we would be Lucknow in good light, irrespective.