Should I go back?

*Note: Photo copied from Space.com

Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a dog, a cat, and a wolf. After 10 years, due to a heavy storm, all of them disappeared and perished. Completely unrelated, unconnected, and unattached to them, on one weekend, I was in my home in Pune, sleeping on my bed. “How do I make the move?”, “How do I reach my destination”, I had to travel – Travel to attend my friends bachelor party; Travel to meet up my close friends; Travel to have a good time. This party had been planned to be in a farmhouse in Mahagaon – A village in Maharashtra. I was the only one from Pune while 9 other folks were making their way from Mumbai. After a lot of research, I ended up taking the Ola outstation ride. At that time, it seemed to be the cheapest and the most relaxing way to travel.

It was already 4 in the afternoon and I had to reach the destination by 5 PM IST. Obviously, I wasn’t going to make it on time. My friend also informed me that there would be no mobile signal in her place and after a point of time, I wouldn’t be able to reach any one of them. The Ola car was brand new, said the driver and it was his first outstation trip. He was really excited! However, just an hour after we began the ride,we could smell something burning. He stopped the car, inspected it, called up his mechanic who was also his girlfriend. The issue wasn’t resolved but we still moved ahead. Is this a signal to go back? Is there a point reaching 2 hours late? Should I go back? – I thought to myself.

The next stop was the toll plaza in the Mumbai Pune expressway and for some reason our lane wasn’t moving. There were 4 huge trucks ahead of us. After 20 minutes of waiting, we lost our patience, and got out of the car to see what was going on. Apparently, the truck driver and the toll booth personnel were having an argument. All of a sudden, things became violent. The toll guy along with a few friends began smashing the truck and broke the rear view mirror. Moreover the driver got out of the truck, and ran away. I had done the Art of living course and my current house is near the Osho ashram, but I still lost my patience. Should I go back? – I thought again.

A friend with weed is a friend indeed. Oops sorry, I meant a friend in need is a friend indeed but I think “Google Maps” does disappoint sometimes when you are in need. It was not working for some reason so we decided to ask someone on the road for directions. The man wearing a undervest on top, had long hair, and a rugged look – “Sir, there is no place called Mahagaon in this direction. In fact, you will reach Goa if you keep going straight”. Pointing to his left, he said, Mahagaon is in opposite direction. Two of his friends got up and started moving towards our cab. Having watched a lot of CID during my childhood, I could easily spot something fishy, so I asked the cab guy to drive straight as fast as he could. The thought process started again, what if those guys were right? what if there is no Mahagaon in the direction we are heading? Should I go back?

5 kms later, we came across some roads that were replete with deep pits and pot holes. It was as if folks had thrown huge quantities of stones on the roads. This bad patch never seemed to end. I was so glad that I was not alone. There seemed to be no confirmation of us moving in the correct direction. How would you feel when you get a brand new car and you have to drive them on roads which are not made of concrete but with stones? How would you feel if you drive on roads which are so small that as you drive past, the leaves of the trees and plants on the 2 sides scratch the surface of your brand new car?

The driver, rightly so was really irritated and I didn’t say a word to defend what was going on. “You should have told me this is how it is going to be? I bought this car 3 weeks back? I will never take an outstation drive again. You will have to pay me extra for this damage.” I wasn’t sure this bad patch of the roads will ever end. Since it is never too late, should we go back?

Like the ant, we never gave up, looked ahead, and stayed positive and somehow reached the destination by midnight. The party was undoubtedly amazing, breathtaking, and startling. However, what is more worthy of talking about was the travel to the place – A unique opportunity that was exploiting yet happening, an illumination yet tribulation, a torture yet an adventure. There were many occasions during the travel when I felt going back but for some reason we kept moving forward. There was hope in me and what I learnt from this travel was that if you keep your hope alive, you will reach your targets. Ending this with a quote from Shawshank Redemption – “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”