Under a bus shelter
It was the third night since I left Delhi on my roadtrip and Driver Vikram Singh carrying 10 Tata Ace HT tempos valued at Rs.2.5 million for Bangalore decided to halt at Dimapura after we exited Rajasthan at Shamlaji Border checkpost and entered Gujarat.
As usual, we found a huge parking lot of a roadside eatery (dhaba) near Dimapura and called it halt. It was past 11 p.m. and the traffic on NH 8 was thinning with more trucks deciding to halt and dine. Vikram was bone tried because he was stretched on the coir-matted cot even after the basic roti-dal (Indian bread and cooked pulses) arrived. Quickly we finished and Vikram decided to gulp down some hot milk before going to bed. We have been driving since 10 in the morning after leaving Bhim.
While I took the lower berth inside driver’s cabin, Vikram opted for the upper berth. Raju, his younger brother and co-driver, decided to sleep on top of the carrier. Yes, on the roof of the carrier under which 10 Tata ACE tempos are decked in two tiers of five each. I had no idea about this sleeping till the next morning when Raju revealed the truth.
In my earlier trips, the third guy in the crew invariably slept over the two seats in the front by putting a wooden plank and soft blanket over the engine hood inside the cabin.
May is usually a hot month and the heat was unbearable. I was sweating. The TR 10 model Tata truck had no fans inside the cabin. Surprising that the previous version TR 8 had.
Around 3 in the morning, bladder pressure was building up and I got out of the cabin. I could hear Vikram’s snoring from the upper berth. After easing out, when I returned, to my horror I found I could not open the cabin door from outside. It was pitch dark. There were more than a dozen trucks of various sizes were parked and am sure drivers were in deep sleep due to the hard living they lead on a daily basis. Despite the best highway stretch in Rajasthan after we crossed Udaipur and entered Gujarat, the ghat section was strenuous.
What to do when you are locked out? I tried to knock on the shut glass window. Vikram was unmoveable. The self appointed watchman of the yard – who gets paid by the drivers for keeping a watch on their vehicles when they are dead asleep when they leave the next morning – noticed my predicament and could not help much except suggesting that I go and sleep in the dhaba where there were several empty cots.
I quietly walked to the dhaba where the TV set was running Dharam Veer – an action drama set in a periodic era with costumes of royalty featuring the He-man Dharmendra and jumping Jack Jitendra. Except the person manning the cash counter, no one was awake. And no one was watching the movie except the man at the counter!
I pulled up a Neel Kamal plastic chair and sat down. Feeling thirsty, I gulped down water from a plastic jug. Remembered my wife’s admonition to drink only “bottled mineral water”! Watched the movie in silence for how long I don’t know. The movie did not end by the time I decided to revisit the truck and try my luck with the cabin door. The self appointed watchman was sitting next to our truck. I tried to climb to the highrise cabin window and knock in vain. Oh My God!
I looked at the watch: 3.12 it showed. Oh. What to do?
There was absolutely no steady flow of trucks on the highway, but at intervals I heard and saw some passing by without halting in both directions. I stood on the highway. When was the last time I had this misfortune? Never, I consoled.
What to do? I can’t be standing on the highway the whole night. I was feeling sleepy. One truck going towards Baroda halted and enquired whether I was stranded and looking for a ride. I said ‘no’ and moved away.
Why not walk a bit like a early morning walk? I am used to waking up at 4 in the morning for morning walks over the past several years : at home (Delhi) or in Muscat, Dubai or Bahrain. The only difference this time would be I would be walking on unlit highways as against well lit thoroughfares in far off offices and Delhi. Nothing wrong in trying out.
I began walking towards Rajasthan side. Due to darkness on a moonless night, I was a bit apprehensive. Plus worried about the possibility of getting mugged on the highway. Abruptly I turned back after 20 minutes. May be a kilometer away from truck parking lot I could have walked.
One more try at the cabin door in vain.
Suddenly I noticed a concrete bus shelter on the other side of the road. I crossed over and found just only one person sleeping in the spacious shelter on the rised platform. It was neat and clean. That person was also snoring. I don’t care a fig. All I need a place to give space for my back on a solid surface and shut my eyes for a while. Spreading the gamcha (a soft and light towel, usually worn by drivers) on the rised platform, I grabbed Dame Sleep.
I woke up when some voices were heard. I got up to notice the person who was asleep when I entered this bus shelter was wearing his Nike shoes and ready to go with someone who had come to pick him up. The day has broken out. There was a lot of sunlight. Maybe I slept for over an hour.
I got up and crossed the highway. That’s when I saw Raju was climbing down from the roof of our carrier. I did not narrate my predicament to him and look silly in his eyes. Deftly he opened the cabin door. My foot! I could not do that.
By then, Driver Vikram who was sleeping in the upper berth inside cabin also got up and we marched towards the dhaba for the morning cuppa.
The previous night, I slept under the open sky in Vikram’s village on the hills. Tonight it was in a bus shelter. What next? I had no idea. But I was game and adventurous enough.
Honestly, the next two nights were spent in an airconditioned 3-star Hotel Rama Residence in Anand, hardly a kilometer away from the world famous Amul plant is situated.
It was fate. Just go with the wind is what I learnt.
What more is in store over the next few weeks before I return home, I have no idea. No fear as well.
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