Strangers become friends - Kurukshetra

In a bid to cover Kurukshetra, we were woken from deep slumber on 30/12/2016 to brace ourselves for our journey from Delhi. The previous day had already been tiring, as we had travelled from Agra to Delhi.

Continuous travel had taken a toll on our sleep. To add to our woes, there were multiple train cancellations due to fog and a lower frequency of transport services between Agra and Delhi.

Around 11 A.M., we boarded a private bus to Kurukshetra from Delhi. En route, the bus halted near a dhaba in Karnal, Haryana. The food there was pathetic. It seemed as though the dhaba was fleecing passengers with overpriced food that was neither tasty nor sufficient in quantity. Typically, roadside dhabas are affordable and serve delicious meals, but this turned out to be quite an offbeat experience for us.

After a brief halt for lunch, the bus resumed its journey towards Kurukshetra.

It was around 2:30 P.M. when we finally reached Kurukshetra. Unsure of where to begin, we approached the Haryana Tourism office situated near the entrance to the city. The staff there was humble and helpful. He guided us regarding the important places to visit, but also informed us that due to the paucity of time, we might not be able to cover many sites.

Kurukshetra has always been close to my heart because of the immense spiritual significance it holds in Hindu epics. Visiting Kurukshetra had been a long cherished dream.

After obtaining a roadmap from the tourism office, we headed towards a nearby auto stand to visit our first destination, Shri Krishna Museum.

It was a shared auto with three passengers already seated inside, two siblings travelling with their mother. The boy appeared to be the elder one, accompanied by his younger sister.

Given the limited time we had, covering all the important places seemed nothing short of a miracle. Akhil and I were wondering whether it would even be possible at all.

Casually, we began asking the passengers about the places that could be covered within three hours, as we had to return to Delhi the very same day.

The young man patiently explained the places we could visit within the available time. Then, with a little hesitation, he asked if he could join us. We were more than happy to have him along.

That was how we met Shubham, a native of Kurukshetra.

Loads of memories to treasure.

The struggle to reach Amritsar from Delhi during the wintry days of December 2016

It was around 6.30 pm when me and Akhil reached Old Delhi railway station after taking a stroll around the Chandni Chowk. Amritsar was our first destination from Delhi. We were unaware of the foggy situations there. Announcements were made about few trains getting cancelled/delayed due to dense fog. 

However, our train did not find its mention, so, we were still thrilled to board the train eagerly waiting for its arrival.The train was scheduled to depart at 09.50 P.M.  After waiting for an hour, the first announcement was made about the train that we were supposed to board that, the train was running late by 2 hours from its scheduled time of departure, this did dent our excitement to some extent, but 2 hours was still kinda ok. After few minutes, next announcement was made that the train would arrive only around 5 A.M of the next day, this totally dashed our hopes, as, our further plans of visiting the next destinations would have got ruined if we did not reach Amritsar and that we would have to rework our entire itinerary.

Dilly dallying for few minutes, we then decided to explore options of boarding a bus. Many buses were already running full. Somehow, we managed to book a bus though a web aggregator. It was already 10.20 P.M by then. The bus was scheduled to depart at 10.45 P.M with the pickup point being near Red Fort, gulping down whatever little we found in the restaurant in Old Delhi railway station and rushed towards our boarding point.

In the chilly winds, armed with Google maps on the one hand, duffle bag on the another with a huge backpack hung to our back, we walked through the roads of Old Delhi. With the barking sound of dogs echoing through the isolated streets, treading on the path became more scarier. Around 10.35 P.M, we reached our boarding point i.e, Red Fort. 

We were in for a surprise when the Bus operator informed that the bus that we were supposed to board had already departed. We were neither contacted nor informed about the departure of the bus and how could it depart even before the time of its scheduled departure. 

After a lot of arguments over that, the operator argued to accommodate us in another bus. The aggregator was informed about the high handedness of the bus operator. We both were accommodated in a seat, which otherwise is meant for a single passenger, that congested and narrow the seats were. Around 11.15 P.M, the bus left for Amritsar. 

The tiresome journey had already drained our energy and made us extremely drowsy. We soon fell asleep. Hazy sunshine in the dawn next day welcomed us. It was around 7 A.M, we reached Amritsar.The struggle ended there.