Don't fast..Tiger Zinda hai

Today I was travelling to Delhi from Sonipat in a Maruti Suzuki Ritz. The road which connects to the Highway is always crowded by freight trucks which ply to and fro from Sonipat and Rohtak to Delhi and beyond. All trucks and other small carriers have something written on them. It will be interesting to know the writer who comes out with the lines. One of the first trucks I saw had written on it ‘Don’t fast…Tiger Zinda hai’. I hope the writer meant to convey to the vehicles trailing them not to drive fast. Still can’t get the significance of Tiger Zinda hai but my guess is the writer or the owner of the truck would be a fan of Salman Khan.

After getting on the National Highway, it’s a long road to Delhi. Recently I read a novella titled ‘Delhi is not far’. There is also a saying in Hindi ‘Dilli abhi door hai’. This kept coming into my head even though we were around half an hour from Delhi in the traffic.

There were a plethora of colors on the road. White and grey cars, green tempos, orange buses, red maruti’s, brick colored trucks, black motorbikes and so on. India is a colorful country and our roads do not disappoint us.

The truck owners or the writers seem to be deeply religious. I could make out prayers to different Hindu gods inscribed on them. A lot of them had ‘Use dippers in the night’ written on them. Some of the trucks were not only carrying white sacks, they also had bored looking men sitting on them. The driver, it seems was making money transporting both the living and the non living.

The Google maps of my Uber driver stopped working in between. He asked me to show him the directions on my mobile. He did not realize how technologically disinterested I am until I told him clearly my mobile does not have the google maps app. Rationally speaking as well, I do not need it.

My car was making a continuous ‘oooo…’ sound, the intensity of which increased with speed and decreased when brakes were applied. Looking out of the window, one could see the road, the vehicles and the development happening around. So many buildings and societies are coming up or are already allotted on the National Highway. It is clear that houses here are in demand. There are also many dhabas on the road. Smiling pictures of dhaba owner welcome you have a meal at their place. There is no guarantee though that the consumer will come out smiling when we have had our food.

While returning back in the same car, I noticed the driver of a green tempo lighting a cigarette. He was a young man about 20 year’s age. For once, he took both his hands of the steering wheel to light the match. The cigarette was lighted and he smoked it like a king sitting on a throne. In one of the other big cars, there was only one person who was driving the car. I tried to reason out if he owned the car or was an employed driver. He was wearing a white shirt and had a turban and a full moustache. There was no watch on the hand. Initially I assumed he was just the driver, but had to change my mind later after careful look at him.

Aur kuchh mile na mile, roasted corn (called Chhali) is available in abundance on the National Highway here. After every minute of ride, one can come across the boards of Chhali. Sometimes Salman Khan and Aishwarya smile out of the paintings. I am sure many travelers on the highway would love them. I have not had any of these Chhalis, even though they entice me.