Day 4:
Back Breaking ride:
As planned covered Delhi entered Haryana and now heading to Chandigarh which is 220 km away from but my usual average is 80 – 100km per day.
Waking up had to cycle 10km bumpy village road to reach the main highway connecting Panipat , I should have taken the advice of locals rather than solely depending on Maps.
It was one hell of back breaking ride with super bumpy & dusty roads. Nonetheless came across multiple villages where people offered water and invited to have something though I dint make any pitstops but these sweet little chats in between kept me going.
Locals Invitation:
After cycling almost 50km on unbearably hot concrete found a tree shade to rest and luckily there’s a fruit stall under. After spending almost 30min chatting and eating in the company of this friend.
A local in his traditional Haryanvi dhoti came towards me asking If I’m doing okay and need anything & invited me over for lunch at his place but had to deny this offer as I have a longer route to cover and fruits to finish.
Regaining my energy before leaving asked where’s the trash bin , with a smiling face he signalled to throw it under the tree. For a moment I thought how could he be so ignorant but saw the birds coming flying one by one down the tree to feed on the fruit bits I threw , he looked at me and smiled back.
High time to Rethink our ways:
We humans are centre of all the problems but concurrently break hell loose to solve it, imagine there is no processing be it polythene anything else the Earth would have been better off.
In the tryst of making our life’s easier we are pushing nature one step closer to brink or who knows it’s other way around at some point in the near future. I mean imagine the kind of waste generated by the Ecommerce companies and Online delivery services all just to marginally satiate the human craving’s.
The Village Treatment:
Cycling 70 km took a diversion from highway to a small village searching for a public drinking water facility , one good thing I noticed in Haryana is refrigerated water filter almost after every few km.
Entering the village locals were so excited to see me they requested me to sit on a chair next to a fast food cart & brought a chilled water bottle & offered a desi burger which looked interesting but was already full and cant take any risk with diet now.
Dharmshala situation:
After spending some quality time with the locals cycled to reach Panipat one of the biggest city in Haryana and with the suggestion of locals found a Dharamshala near to railway station. (Dharmashala: budget lodge or a motel mostly in the name of a temple or a prominent personality)
A bed in Dormitory with locker for the night is 70rs which I have not yet payed but occupied , made two friends from this place & also had dinner together. Being a south Indian my taste buds were missing rice as for the past 3 days my diet was majorly roti.
After having tasty rajma chawal and boondi raita in the nearby hotel where I’ve spent 100rs, headed back to rest for the night.
While heading back one person among two I met suggested that I share room with other person as each room has two beds and they charge 200 per person for one room .
Common hall with several beds scattered across is dormitory whereas in a private room you just have two separate beds and guaranteed working fan & if we share should just cost 100 each so I was totally okay with the idea.
Moved my things to the room , made a deal that we would share the amount equally. Was almost asleep and out of the blue recalled the sun glasses and solar panel that I left outside , so ran out to pick them up.
Worriedly looked around as they are too damn expensive to loose , it was a relief after I saw they are carefully placed on the desk of manager with a sigh of relief went near to pick them up but this guy sitting Infront abruptly started shouting at me and told to get out .
The Ego Drama:
Main reason we sharing the room is not acceptable unless each of us pay the entire 200 else one will be expected to stay in the dormitory itself.
The manager was hell bent that we both leave the motel immediately as if he couldn’t bear the sight of us , I felt his ego overpowering him may be he couldn’t bare the thought we two among ourselves decided to share the room without his authorization.
Ofcourse his the boss for the day so like slaves we need to fall on his feet begging for forgiveness which we did not in the literal sense though but successfully satiated his ego. Moved my things back to the dormitory and the adventure for the day ends.
Dharamshala is an interesting place to spend time in where you get to observe diverse people from different occupations as people come to city once in a while to buy wholesale goods from here to run their business somewhere else. It’s mostly retailer owning a small fancy or grocery store or something in similar lines.
Next to me I see a person smoking his bidi incessantly almost on the verge of burning his lips while sorting the bangles color wise and another person standing for a while now staring the wall , Nonetheless I had feeling that they are no less than any entrepreneur fighting for livelihood in their own capacity.