Words of Roads

I’ve come to realize that I absolutely love late-night driving, especially on a heavyweight motorbike. If you’ve ever driven in the Indian traffic, you might be knowing the complete chaos that rules, the lack of basic civil courtesy, disregard for traffic rules, people become mindless zombies. Some say, animals, especially cows, possess safety hazards on Indian roads, I rather find careless people here as the most dangerous safety hazard, all of a sudden they appear out of nowhere (perhaps from the future), sometimes they pull the most bizarre moves even on the highways (known as NH), and you either have to be cautious or crash into them. In both cases, you can’t help but curse them with the most absurd curses of yours, it’s not funny, neither pleasant. It often feels utmost chaos, yet, there is something called traffic flow, which you might learn gradually, it’s similar to a wild river stream during monsoon, where every drop of water flow together in a rhythm, and all the non-water have to settle at the shore. You have to be in the flow rather than out of. However, when you drive for pleasure, you wanna drive for self, and thus the pleasure of driving get lost in the daytime when you have to be highly alarmed all the time for defensive driving. Then comes night, when it’s mostly peace and quiet and finally an unsettling order arrives. Certainly, heavy vehicles rule the roads at this time and they drive insanely fast but at the same time, they mostly follow the traffic rules and it becomes rather comforting, you can go as fast and as far you want to go. Recently I was singing at the top of my lungs while driving on NH-44 at over 100 Mph, the whole horizon of the lane was completely empty, dark, covered by forest on both sides, yet welcoming at the same time, the absolute pleasure I have thus far on this trip. Coming back to late-night driving, obviously, you still need to be alert, however, alertness doesn’t cause you exhaustion in a short while, continuous alarm-ness does. You feel more alone in the most comforting way, the moonlight illuminates the surroundings, the darkness envelopes everything around you except the road ahead, others can’t see you, you feel all alone in your own capsule. The distant village lights look like a shiny star, and when you cross their empty and dark streets, lit only be either moon or the odd street lights, it acquires a bit of hyperrealism. You know, next morning, these streets will again be full of possibilities, yet empty now, you cruise through the darkness in your own way, quietly and calmly, as if you don’t want to awake a sleeping friend. From time to time, I spy on the flickering lights coming out of their windows, sometimes the sound of raised voices, a song turned up loud, a woman‘s laughter, a baby crying, a man’s careful eyes starring at an unknown smoking his cigarette at the roadside. And then you move on. The cold breeze again greets your face, the engine heavy sound, the grip over the accelerator, the glide between gears, the vibration of the bike, everything feels calm, tranquil, and laidback. And as the night goes darker and darker, I feel an exhilarating wildness in my veins - like a swallow thrush, like a bird buffeted by the cold night air, like anything and everything.

P.S.: Be extremely cautious while driving on mountainous roads during night time, or if you are tired or not confident, hire a driver or take rest.
- written with phone -