Chandy

Mr. C was going to Delhi (from Bombay). My children and I wanted to go too. So Mr. C was persuaded to go by car and we, my children, my niece and I, took a ride. Mr. C had to attend a meeting in Delhi the next day and it was very kind of him to go by car instead of by plane.

We started out in the early morning with our Rajasthani driver—a very competent and handsome man. My youngest child was about 3 years old and her older brother about 6 years old. My niece, who was doing her post-graduation in Biology in Bombay, was also with us.

We went along happily, singing and munching away on snacks. We entered a road which ran through a forest. It was shady and cool. But we had heard of dacoits and hold-ups in this area. So we were a little worried. Suddenly Devi Singh, our driver, said that we had a puncture.

So Mr. C and Devi Singh got out and started changing the tyre. Just then a jeep passed us with a lot of policemen and 2 masked men in their middle. After sometime we heard the putt, putt of a motorbike approaching. Devi Singh suddenly said in Hindi “Daku mafi dekta hai” (They look like dacoits). We adults were very tense and held our breaths. The bike passed us, the riders looked into the car and after a few yards drove into the forest.

As soon as the car was ready, we started out again. It was afternoon by then. There was very little traffic on the road. We were almost at Gwalior, when a second tyre burst. We were STUCK. The tyre had to be patched up. (Remember, there were no mobile phones 47 years ago, not even an STD booth). Although there were very few cars on the road, Mr. C was able to stop a driver and get him to take Devi Singh to Gwalior with the tyre. (Amazingly, this man dropped Devi Singh back with the patched tyre!)

In the meanwhile, when Devi Singh was gone, a Jeep approached. He stopped and was willing to take the ladies and children to Gwalior. He was returning after a shikaar (hunt).

By the time Mr. C reached Gwalior, it was late in the evening about 8 p.m. Mr. C was determined to continue the journey to Delhi to be in time for his meeting at 9 a.m. He was warned that the road to Delhi was unsafe, especially at night. But he decided to go on. No vehicle would travel through the Chambal Valley at night.

The children promptly went to sleep as they felt safe. They had not heard of Chambal Valley and dacoits. The elders sat upright with wide open eyes. I am sure we were all praying hard.

We reached Delhi by 2 a.m., glad to have reached safely. The next day Mr. C went for his meeting and we spent time sight seeing and shopping. The next morning we drove back to Bombay. We passed through the beautiful Chambal Valley. All we saw were some peahens strutting around on the hillocks! We reached Bombay with no incidents.

# posted by R C @ 4:50 pm