Drivers.
We once were on our way to Recong Peo – in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh – in the middle of July of the year 96.. the roads were in a pretty bad shape due to the incessant rain.. and to add to that we reached a makeshift bridge – the original one having been washed away by a cloudburst. Since the bridge was weak the BRO workers made all the passengers get off the bus, except ofcourse the driver.. He was to take the bus across that bridge.
As we were all getting off the bus I heard the driver comment – ‘sawarion ki jaan jaan hai aur hamari jaan kuch nahi’ and that was something that I couldn’t ignore.. ..so even though I was dead scared..I remained seated on the bus alongwith the conductor as the driver drove the thing across that creaky structure.. ..and once we were on the other side I felt good about the whole thing, about my conduct.. wouldn’t have felt the same had I gotten off that bus after having heard the comment that the driver had made..
three cheers to all the drivers of the Himachal State Roadways fleet.
Raman
Three cheers indeed for you Raman and the drivers, both.
Another comment that has stayed with me till date has been made by Rajeev. If I ever manage to take even six months off, it would be because I became conscious of the fact only after reading your comment. It goes like this:
… guess it will take some more time for us as a society to reach the point where we will be comfortable with taking a couple of years off to travel :). Thanks to Mridula and her ilk, we are waking up to life.
Word!
Dear Mridula,Loved the radio interview. What does ‘sawarion ki jaan jaan hai aur hamari jaan kuch nahi’ mean?
thank you Mridula.. now guys are going to comment and i’ll lovehatelove them for that
Sanjay, when we say ‘Word’ what do we mean?Dear Steve, thanks a lot for tuning in to the show. The line means ‘the life of the passengers is important but is it that the life of the driver has no worth?’ Sorry I didn’t translate it earlier.Manu, you will get used to it, I am sure 🙂
@Mridula:I have been to those places and truly Kudos to those guys fr taking us there all one-piece!…
Akira, I entirely agree.
I am honoured that you associate that thought with me though I think i just happened to pen down something that you had known and felt already, but hadn’t yet fully acknowledged.Whatever! if it leads to more travel tales from you, everyone would be happier. have you decided abt the Feb destination? I find Shimla to be really facinating even though it is so much maligned for its rapid growth into a ‘city’. Myabe you could do a trek in the chail- kufri area, and write abt the beautiful unspoilt Deodar forests there. Even areas around Narkanda would be lovely at this time, but may not fit into the 4-5 day timeframe.