We were done with our first phase of the North India trip. The things that were pending was for GC and Lady GC to go back to Mumbai while I head towards the Holy City of Haridwar ( Gateway to Lord Vishnu ) or Hardwar ( Gateway to Lord Shiva ).
So after finishing off Qutub Minar , we collected our luggage and headed towards the New Delhi station . The ultra hot Delhi clime was turning pleasant. A cool breeze has started blowing. After seeing off their Rajdhani , I was limping over the foot over bridge towards the exit and it started raining. I realized, this was the first monsoons showers of the year 2010 for Delhi and I merrily clicked a few pictures .. The rains were over in a jiffy and I negotiated a rickshaw to the Old Delhi station from where I was supposed to catch my train to Haridwar.
I reached the Old Delhi Station 4 hours before my train , checked out the stuffs and the surroundings and the environment and decided , I can go for some local tourism in nearby bylanes and gallis. I checked with some locals and they suggested the Lal Qilla and the Jama Masid in walking distance. Since I was already done with Lal Qilla , I narrowed down on Jama Masjid and started walking with my backpack asking people for directions. The roads were similar to other parts of India crowded with people, cows , rickshaws , 4 wheelers and punctuated by open manholes . I would have walked for about 40 minutes or so absorbing the smells of Delhi Market when again the stupid cool breeze started blowing. I continued walking and was standing admiring the entrance of Jama Masjid. As I looked around, the wind picked up speed and the clouds started rolling over the horizon, the sky darkened and it started raining. I, in the right spirit of the adventure hurried to take pictures on my mobile cam and I realized that the rain’s transformation into downpour may affect other electronic items that I am carrying, rushed to the nearest enclosed area, rechecked all the zips , moved the electronic items into more secure pockets. With all these activities over, I checked the enclosed area where I was standing and realized it was a small eatery. The eatery owner was shouting at his aide to switch off the lights since he was afraid that somebody will get electrocuted. The downpour has now transformed itself to full-fledged storm. As the people grouped themselves closer to protect themselves from the rains, an auto went by. I was about to shout for it when the adventurer inside me shouted, why an auto is needed for a 40 minute walk and I let it go. The rain intensity increased and very soon the road in front of me was converted into an overflowing canal with water well above the knee. Our group was well tucked inside that snack’s shop. All the shops besides the roads were now full of passerby taking refuge from the rain.
After about 1 hour of tucking in business, I decided, enough was enough and started the walking business towards the railway station through footpath adjoining the shops. I would have crawled in for about 20 minutes when I reached a narrow lane from which water was coming out at a great speed. I realized that crossing the stream of gushing water will be very very risky with my leg. As I stood over there, I saw the water- speed though very fast near the entrance peter out by the time it reached the road. And so I took the main road itself. The water here was waist deep. I was the lone person staggering on the road with an aura like that of a gladiator walking back after winning the fight. After about 10 minutes of this staggering business on an empty water-logged street in the Old Delhi locality of the Indian Capital City of New Delhi, I remembered the open man-holes which I had seen on my walk towards Masjid close to 2 hour back. And most were present bang in the middle of the road. With this realization and the possibilities, I once again ran to the closest closed/crowded space where the chances of open man-holes and gutters will be miniscule.
I have been reading Paulo Coelho books for past 2-3 months. He had written about God giving minor indications/signals so that one can avoid problems/troubles. So I stood there waiting for rains to subside wondering whether this downpour is an indication for me to cancel my Haridwar trip and go back. As I recalled all the painful time I had spent in my bed not able to turn around because of my knee, I wonder what a slip in such flowing, twirling water will do. What If I am not able to get up or what If I get sucked into the open man-hole which I avoided 10 minutes back. What if the rain intensity does not decreases and this becomes July 26th of Delhi . With these thoughts making a whirlpool in my mind, I took the decision based on the old hindi proverb “ Jaan hai to jahaan hai” which pretty much means that one can enjoy the world and all its beauty only if one Is alive. And with this germ in back of my mind, I decided that my first priority will be to reach high /safe ground, probably the railway station. Depending on my arrival time in station and my condition, I will decide my future course of action.
With the decision made, the rains also started relenting. So I once again started the walking business and this time I was walking with a huge mass of humanity, making their way to various transit points, basically the metro stations. As I was crossing the road to the other side, one fellow shouted at me not to go too close to the electric pole .. It seems something had gone wrong with that pole people were getting electric shock in its vicinity. I changed my direction and once again followed the crowd. The rains had pretty much receded. The panic and the general confusion in the street had settled down into a comfortable chatter of sea of Indians out to have some fun on a rainy day. I got the directions to the Old Delhi station from a gentleman. Finally I reached the railway station which again was a sea of humanity. There was close to 30 minutes for the scheduled departure of my train. I collected some money from the ATM, walked over to the platform where the guard informed me that the train was late by 1 hour or so.
That 1 hour delay turned out to be 4 hour delay. I took the opportunity to clean myself in a soily public restroom made muddy by the flood by standing on a newspaper. My appetite for adventure had vanished, so was the appetite for dinner. I bought a couple of biscuit packets and went to the platform, occupied a box and started my biscuit dinner and the waiting business. Finally the train came at 2:00 am.I checked all my electronic items, somehow dozed off .
Next morning, I got down at Haridwar, I bought the morning newspaper . The headlines read - “Flashfloods in Delhi , 5 dead of electrocution, wall-collapse” . As I stared and realized the possibilities, I wondered whether the decisions you take have any role in deciding the God’s will for you?
So after finishing off Qutub Minar , we collected our luggage and headed towards the New Delhi station . The ultra hot Delhi clime was turning pleasant. A cool breeze has started blowing. After seeing off their Rajdhani , I was limping over the foot over bridge towards the exit and it started raining. I realized, this was the first monsoons showers of the year 2010 for Delhi and I merrily clicked a few pictures .. The rains were over in a jiffy and I negotiated a rickshaw to the Old Delhi station from where I was supposed to catch my train to Haridwar.
I reached the Old Delhi Station 4 hours before my train , checked out the stuffs and the surroundings and the environment and decided , I can go for some local tourism in nearby bylanes and gallis. I checked with some locals and they suggested the Lal Qilla and the Jama Masid in walking distance. Since I was already done with Lal Qilla , I narrowed down on Jama Masjid and started walking with my backpack asking people for directions. The roads were similar to other parts of India crowded with people, cows , rickshaws , 4 wheelers and punctuated by open manholes . I would have walked for about 40 minutes or so absorbing the smells of Delhi Market when again the stupid cool breeze started blowing. I continued walking and was standing admiring the entrance of Jama Masjid. As I looked around, the wind picked up speed and the clouds started rolling over the horizon, the sky darkened and it started raining. I, in the right spirit of the adventure hurried to take pictures on my mobile cam and I realized that the rain’s transformation into downpour may affect other electronic items that I am carrying, rushed to the nearest enclosed area, rechecked all the zips , moved the electronic items into more secure pockets. With all these activities over, I checked the enclosed area where I was standing and realized it was a small eatery. The eatery owner was shouting at his aide to switch off the lights since he was afraid that somebody will get electrocuted. The downpour has now transformed itself to full-fledged storm. As the people grouped themselves closer to protect themselves from the rains, an auto went by. I was about to shout for it when the adventurer inside me shouted, why an auto is needed for a 40 minute walk and I let it go. The rain intensity increased and very soon the road in front of me was converted into an overflowing canal with water well above the knee. Our group was well tucked inside that snack’s shop. All the shops besides the roads were now full of passerby taking refuge from the rain.
After about 1 hour of tucking in business, I decided, enough was enough and started the walking business towards the railway station through footpath adjoining the shops. I would have crawled in for about 20 minutes when I reached a narrow lane from which water was coming out at a great speed. I realized that crossing the stream of gushing water will be very very risky with my leg. As I stood over there, I saw the water- speed though very fast near the entrance peter out by the time it reached the road. And so I took the main road itself. The water here was waist deep. I was the lone person staggering on the road with an aura like that of a gladiator walking back after winning the fight. After about 10 minutes of this staggering business on an empty water-logged street in the Old Delhi locality of the Indian Capital City of New Delhi, I remembered the open man-holes which I had seen on my walk towards Masjid close to 2 hour back. And most were present bang in the middle of the road. With this realization and the possibilities, I once again ran to the closest closed/crowded space where the chances of open man-holes and gutters will be miniscule.
I have been reading Paulo Coelho books for past 2-3 months. He had written about God giving minor indications/signals so that one can avoid problems/troubles. So I stood there waiting for rains to subside wondering whether this downpour is an indication for me to cancel my Haridwar trip and go back. As I recalled all the painful time I had spent in my bed not able to turn around because of my knee, I wonder what a slip in such flowing, twirling water will do. What If I am not able to get up or what If I get sucked into the open man-hole which I avoided 10 minutes back. What if the rain intensity does not decreases and this becomes July 26th of Delhi . With these thoughts making a whirlpool in my mind, I took the decision based on the old hindi proverb “ Jaan hai to jahaan hai” which pretty much means that one can enjoy the world and all its beauty only if one Is alive. And with this germ in back of my mind, I decided that my first priority will be to reach high /safe ground, probably the railway station. Depending on my arrival time in station and my condition, I will decide my future course of action.
With the decision made, the rains also started relenting. So I once again started the walking business and this time I was walking with a huge mass of humanity, making their way to various transit points, basically the metro stations. As I was crossing the road to the other side, one fellow shouted at me not to go too close to the electric pole .. It seems something had gone wrong with that pole people were getting electric shock in its vicinity. I changed my direction and once again followed the crowd. The rains had pretty much receded. The panic and the general confusion in the street had settled down into a comfortable chatter of sea of Indians out to have some fun on a rainy day. I got the directions to the Old Delhi station from a gentleman. Finally I reached the railway station which again was a sea of humanity. There was close to 30 minutes for the scheduled departure of my train. I collected some money from the ATM, walked over to the platform where the guard informed me that the train was late by 1 hour or so.
That 1 hour delay turned out to be 4 hour delay. I took the opportunity to clean myself in a soily public restroom made muddy by the flood by standing on a newspaper. My appetite for adventure had vanished, so was the appetite for dinner. I bought a couple of biscuit packets and went to the platform, occupied a box and started my biscuit dinner and the waiting business. Finally the train came at 2:00 am.I checked all my electronic items, somehow dozed off .
Next morning, I got down at Haridwar, I bought the morning newspaper . The headlines read - “Flashfloods in Delhi , 5 dead of electrocution, wall-collapse” . As I stared and realized the possibilities, I wondered whether the decisions you take have any role in deciding the God’s will for you?
