Chapter Two: A Casual Weekend Drive

12’ and some odd minutes had past and Mr. Sunshine was at his best. Lazing around with a cup of cold coffee in my hands, I murmured to myself....is this my idea of Saturday ...the day of the week that is anticipated and waited for throughout the whole mundane scheduled white collar-blue collar-without collar week....I picked up man’s greatest invention and for people like us , our soul mate in all times... “The telephone” and as a default reaction, dialled the number of the one and only person in the whole wide world, who cannot, I know, say no to me(though most of the times...it’s not by choice)!!!My married better half...who as I would have guessed was super busy doing some super important do not disturb kind of stuff at his recent or rather is only address of habitat...his office and naturally did not enjoy the call...at all.

“Guess what ...we should go somewhere...lets drive around...I mean let’s do something interesting....what do you say?”...A long pause...and from  the sound of it, I, could most definitely make out that, my married better half was not in the slightest mood to enter into any further dialogue...thus said...”done deal”...

Some great friends to set the mood and we hit off for an escapade nearby. Some 80-90 odd kms from our home in Gurgaon, a drive through the Highway and we reach Murthal...well nothing is breathtakingly great about the place but the drive welcomes you with abundant farmhouses renting out for “pocket conditioned” functions for the common  as well as celebrated man! Once we get past those marriage halls we come across a host of “dhaba(s)”....though they are all “vaishno dhabas”...meaning the vegetarian counterpart, one cannot just stop licking one’s fingers ...soul satisfying food at a reasonable price with unparalleled though typical dhaba-feel. 

Thus for all of us for whom the great sense of adventure sometimes gets limited to just few kms drive...good food....great company and a not a super hectic weekend...This most definitely seems an option worth experiencing.

Welcome to the “Good times Club”...

Chapter one:The Birthday Song

Aryan, our son was stealthily tiptoeing towards another year of abundant mischief and impishness and we thought what better way to celebrate the beginning than to go out and spray some adventure into our mundane life and give in to our wild side!!!Sipping over a cup of coffee ,a pen and few tit-bits of paper (taken from my son’s sketching pad)....we chalked out a road trip through the Karnataka, though we have to admit Mr. Google did help us in shaping our  juvenile dream into a walking reality.

We, started out our escapade from “Hubballi” which in normal parlance is known as”Hubli”, meaning flowering creeper in Kannada. Standing some 425 kms from Bangalore, the city breathed a certain amount of warmth and serenity. A quintessential road trip has to entail a vehicle and in India  ,unlike the west...Chauffeurs come as part of the deal... thus ,we were introduced to Mr.Manju....our “wahan-chalak”...meaning driver for our road trip.

On the 2^nd of September, after having a heavy all South-Indian breakfast, we headed towards Karwar, via Jog falls. Majestic is the only word that describes the cascade. It took about some odd 8 and half hours to reach Karwar. A motor boat patiently awaited us at the jetty point to take us to Devbagh Beach Resort, a small island which was our home for the next 2 -3 days. The confluence of Kali River and the sea and being thrown into the laps of nature, truly takes away any amount of weariness, our suited booted lifestyle entices us with. Rabindranath Tagore, known  as Gurudev, India’s first Nobel Laureate was very fascinated by the beach and the abounding sea and it was during his stay in Karwar that he wrote his first dramatic play, “Prakritir Protishoota” or  “Nature’s Revenge”. Located not more that 70 kms from Panjim, Goa-calling was bound to happen...

On the 5^th of September, feeling rejuvenated we started for the Orange County, in Coorg, Madikeri .The drive from Karwar to Coorg  via Murudeshwar and Mangalore took about 14 odd hours and a tired, exhausted ...desperate for a goodnight-sleep body reached the County. Unlike the evening, when we woke up ...our eyes witnessed nature’s glory at its prime. The scenic opulence was just breathtaking. Known for the loose jacket oranges and aromatic coffee, the plantation experience and the luxurious retreat in the laps of magnificence, definitely left us craving for more.

Our Son-shine on his birthday was driven to Dubare, a jungle resort on the banks of river Cauvery, a 50-60 km drive from Madikeri. An enthralling experience of elephant interaction...where one can spend a whole day with them, play with them, give them shower...make them have food ...coracle ride and an audacious white water rafting, jungle safari spotting pug marks and listening to the screeching owl....an enveloped exploit of Mother nature’s splendour and glory.

Bidding adieu to this amazing journey as we boarded our flight from Bengaluru airport to Indira Gandhi International Airport, leaving with a heavy heart though with a renewed body and soul, a wandering thought just caught us unaware...this high paced...Stressful, hectic and erratic life with no work life balance...is it all worth anything??...well, looking at a much lighter note...maybe it does...it most definitely pays for all those hotel bills and itinerary costs.