A Road Trip from Delhi to Kolkata

It was a hot and humid July night, reeling under terrible power cuts in my Gurgaon apartment, the idea of making a road trip from Gurgaon to Kolkata crossed my mind…called up Sid immediately. You don’t plan for such an ambitious and adventurous road trip every day and it had to be shared and cultivated in the friend circle. Sid was skeptical, he wanted to reach home in just couple of hours. Mostly, it was a strange look followed by a ‘Why ?’ which I somehow championed myself to endure during the cultivation period.

In an August morning of 1888, Mrs. Bertha Benz driven a distance of 106 Kms with her teenage children to visit her mother. With a maximum speed of 10 mph, it took hours for them to reach the destination and the car broke down several times during the journey. Today that road trip is recorded as the first road trip ever made by the first patented motor car ‘The Benz-Patent Motorwagen’. The car was never meant for that long trip but generated a huge publicity pioneering the journey of the automobile industry. 124 years later sitting in a Volkswagen Polo 1.6, I was driven by none other than curiosity to be a part of the road saga where it tells you stories about the ‘river of life’ and the settlements alongside when a road ends to meet another. For next couple of days I dug deep into the travelogues and road trip forums, spent a couple of sleepless nights in impatience. I recall, that was the only time I studied the map seriously as by then I realized, to make a road trip from Delhi to Kolkata through the great Grand Trunk road you need to spend more time with history than geography !

16th Oct ’12 was a very busy day in office. Wanted to leave early but had an invitation and came back around midnight. Just a couple of hours of sleep and we were ready to hit the road. I struck a deal with Aakash to share the driving, he had to go for Durga Puja vacation as well. The main hurdle of the Delhi – Kolkata road trip is in Distance. Driving down 1500 Kms is a big deal, you shouldn’t plan to cover it in one day and a stop over is recommended. Benaras turned out to be a reasonable and finally the only choice. After a couple hours of discussion and debate we decided on a Hotel Siddharth near the cantt. area for the night halt.

We started from Gurgaon at 4:30 am. The traditional route from Gurgaon takes NH2 or the modern Grand Trunk Road through
Sohna and Palwal heading straight towards Agra City. But I wanted to try the famous Yamuna Expressway to avoid the congested Mathura stretch and of course to bypass Agra. But taking Yamuna Expressway from Gurgaon can be a task even in the early morning hours due to the early morning Okhla Mandi rush by the truckers. A 70 Kms drive through Gurgaon – Faridabad – Tughlaqabad – Noida finally met Yamuna Expressway and the morning sun popped up like a tennis ball over the distant fields.

The 6 lane Yamuna Expressway is a treat for the driving enthusiasts. You can easily pick up 180 Kmph in no time and for a few stretch I was actually driving constantly at 180 Kmph. There were a few cameras installed but in that early morning hours, I guess the cops were taking it easy. Taxing Rs. 320 to cover a 185 Kms stretch is actually highest compared to any other toll roads in India and I hope they keep up the excellent maintenance of it to do justice to the tax. Yamuna Expressway hands down is one of the finest State of the Art Expressway India has ever seen so far. But what I found disturbing is a couple of vehicles coming from the wrong side. There are almost no diversions in the entire stretch and I guess for those guys it was just another day in UP showcasing best practices !

The Toll road bypasses Agra city and meets NH2 somewhere in the suburbs. Soon after crossing Firozabad we stopped at a roadside restaurant to grab a quick breakfast and started heading towards Kanpur. For a fun ride to Kolkata it’s suggested that you get a driving partner and a good Car Audio system. The pact between me and Aakash was to swap place behind the wheels after every 250 Kms. Mark Knopfler was strumming ‘Sultan Of Swings’ from the iPod and the Polo was on Rock n’ Roll !

Kanpur challenged us with a nasty traffic on the highway. It seemed some big truck got stuck and there are no chances of getting it up and running in recent times. The fellow truck drivers who were also stuck ahead of us looked relaxed and completely poised in playing cards sitting on roads under the shadow of their mighty trucks ! A few hours late for us meant negotiating nasty traffic in the crowded Benaras streets where taking a car out is a big deal. Suddenly we realized a few private vehicles are actually returning from the one way stretch we were on and after taking a U- turn they are trying their luck on the wrong lane. Inspired and cautious, we tried our luck and for the first time acted like ‘romans when in rome’ ! Naturally we were stuck again as both sides of the highway are now chocked with the vehicles trying to escape Kanpur at any cost. When chaos starts automatically to fill the void various alternatives float. Someone had a brilliant idea of taking the parallel service lane through an accidental gap only couple of feet wide on the divider. Someone said to me once, no idea is great until it’s executed well. Suddenly there was a nasty sound of scratch followed by shouts and arguments. A poor Merc which was not ever meant to be suffered in such conditions was the first victim. People gathered around immediately and the chaos intensified further. Meanwhile the martyrdom of the Merc ended up in helping us. A few Police men arrived from nowhere and like a magic and somehow like a slow python the traffic started moving. A few minutes later I realized they are diverting the traffic through the Kanpur city and through the blinding Dust, Dirt and Animal Shits we navigated our ship to the shore. It took an hour to cover a couple of Kilometers stretch on the expressway in Kanpur.

Apart from the Kanpur mayhem the entire stretch of NH -2 is in good condition actually. All the major cities are bypassed and ideally there should not be any traffic jam unless a couple of great 16 wheelers get stuck in the middle of the road. Post Kanpur we were cruising ahead and crossed Fatehpur in no time. We thought we would take a break and refuel near Allahabad. While that sounded reasonable because Allahabad is the last major city en route Banaras. We realized our mistake pretty soon. A 90 Kms stretch of the swanky Allahabad bypass doesn’t have any eateries and worse, does not have any Petrol Pumps either. To add to our miseries, we had to switch off our Car Ac at last to save a few last drops of petrol. Our anxiety finally ended at a fueling station after crossing Allahabad and we suddenly felt hungry like monsters.

Picture Credit – Anjana Saha

Dhabas are the best part other than driving through the highways in North India. However, the entire stretch of NH -2 really lacks good dhabas and most of them are crowded by the truck drivers. So, if you are expecting Haveli like chains in Punjab, you would be disappointed. Not that I am complaining about the food qualities, which is almost at par or at times better than the ‘Haveli’s but in terms of facilities you mostly need to depend on the nature care ! We stopped a few Kilometers after the Allahabad bypass. The food was quite good compared to the look of the dhaba from outside. There were a few charpais which you can use for a quick siesta after a tiring drive !

Meanwhile our engine got some rest as well and we started again for Banaras. We had decided to enter Banaras through the state highway near Banaras Hindu University. This road is not taken by many as the Benaras station road was the most preferred one. We just wanted to avoid a crowded station road in the pick office closing hours. But we realized our mistake pretty soon, after entering a couple of kilometers in Banaras, the state road basically dissolves into the earth. The crowd mostly on Ricksaw, Bike or Cycle don’t really expect a car to be accompanying them; they give you a strange look and you feel like an idiot. You need to be patient in negotiating traffic in Benaras, always obey the basic rule of thumb while driving there, “you don’t make a move unless permitted by the pedestrians, bicycle riders, bikers, rickshaw pullers and traffic police” and we were hell tired after negotiating and ‘obeying traffic rules’ for an hour. We had a booking in a Hotel Siddharth in the Sigra area of Benaras but couldn’t reach there and settled in a shabby looking hotel Ashok in the same area. Later we realized we stopped just a couple of blocks away from our booked hotel and I murmured, ‘patience is virtue’ !

We reached Banaras at around 5 pm and didn’t have much time for the Aarti in the Dasashwamedh Ghat. I dropped that idea and moved on to the plan – B, which is, just roaming around the streets. Banaras is one of the oldest settlements in the world and it predates even the birth of Christ. This very city has seen the birth of Hinduism and almost every corner house of the dingy streets are full of history. While one should not miss the famous aarti on the ghats but you can just roam around the city to get a pulse of it. The name Banaras or Varanasi originates from the two ancient rivers used to flow there by the name of Varuna and Assi. While I don’t know what happened to the Varuna river, Assi has turned out to be a narrow canal and there is a ghat named Assi ghat there. This ghat remains relatively empty in the night and there are few restaurants I could spot selling burgers and pastas to attract foreigners. Benaras is one of the rare cities in India were Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity cohabit for ages.

Picture Credit – Anjana Saha

Before Varanasi, Banaras used to be known as the Kingdom of Kashi and as per the mythological beliefs Lord Shiva was born in this city itself. The royal family of Banaras are believed to be the descendants of Lord Shiva and still today it is the highest revered family in the town. While Banaras is famous for its Muslin Slilk fabrics, Perfumes, Ivory works and sculptures; this is also the place where one of the prominent sects of Indian Classical music originated, evolved and nurtured. I moved on to the crowded streets looking for history and gastronomical delights. A city is also known by its signature foods, and Banaras is famous for its Rabri, Lassi and Paan. At every street corner there would be a rabri shop and I couldn’t hold myself from trying it. Once asked, the shopkeeper would cut a neat slice of rabri from the pan with utmost care and sophistication before handing it over for you to experience a slice of ambrosia in the city of Gods.

We started at 5am in the next morning from Banaras. It was another 670 Kms to reach Kolkata, all set, I fastened my seatbelt and switched on the iPod. In no time we crossed Mughal Sarai and then UP-Bihar border. The road condition remained very good even in Bihar and we stopped for breakfast a few kilometers before crossing the mighty Son river. The bridge over Son connecting Dehri-on-Son and Sonnagar is the 2nd longest bridge in India covering a distance over 3 Kms. This 112 years old bridge witnessed many nasty floods even in recent times. The river from the bridge looked like a vast empty field full of Sand and occasional vegetations. The river though is nothing but a narrow stream now, which in no angle can be imagined to its true potential in the rains.

We kept on non stop driving for a few hundreds of kilometers, crossed Gaya and entered Jharkhand. The beautiful road runs through the breathtaking Chotanagpur plateau. With hardly any vehicles around and miles after miles of lush green forest over the hills, it can make you sleepy and we were taking power naps in between the drive. You can spot Parasnath Hill on your left near near Dumri. Parasnath hilltop is the highest peak in Chotanagpur plataeu and hosts the most important Jain shrine over there. You can even spot the temple too looking a little carefully. Recently I came to know, Jharkhand State tourism department is planning to develop the hills of Parasnath as prime locations for Paragliding and Parasailing as the natural contour makes them best sites in the country for such adventure sports.

River Damodar separates Jharkhand from West Bengal and is connected by a narrow bridge. After Kanpur this is the first time we faced a traffic jam. But the good part was it was moving. Finally, the river crossed and the Road sign read, “Welcome to West Bengal” ! Nah, still a couple of hundreds of Kilometers left before reaching Kolkata. We didn’t celebrate yet and kept on driving straight. The road condition was not so good entering a few kilometers into West Bengal but all the industrial towns like Asansol, Durgapur, Kulti had good roads with moderate traffic. Reaching West Bengal you will be facing traffic signals for the first time after leaving Delhi and it was good to see that every traffic signal was manned by the traffic police.

We stopped at Hindusthan Dhaba for lunch in Bardhaman and still a good 160 Kms away from Kolkata. Burdhaman is famous for its sweets and there are numerous sweet shop on the highway near Shaktigarh. If you have a sweet tooth, you should not be missing Langcha in Shaktigarh. All the shops are named after Langcha like Langcha Bhavan, Langcha Kuteer, Langcha Nivas etc etc. And of course I purchased a bag load of sweets for home.

Picture Credit – Anjana Saha

The road from Bardhaman to Kolkata is one of the finest expressways in India. While we were expecting another 2-3 hours of drive, to our surprise, we reached the Jessore road near Airport in just an hour. Hitting City roads, I could not help but mesmerized by taking the very ancient trade route existing for thousands of years connecting eastern part of the subcontinent to the west.

Before it became ‘The Grand Trunk’ Road, as the name given by the British Rulers, it was referred as ‘Uttarapatha’ (Northern High Road) by the then traders in 3rd Century BC during the Maurya rule in Northern India. ‘Uttarapatha’ used to have tremendous influence on the overland world trade due to increasing maritime contacts with the Tamluk seaport of West Bengal on the eastern coast of India during the Maurya rule. The road crossing Gangetic plain, ran through Punjab further to Hindukush in Afganisthan to Bactria in Central Asia to meet the famous Silk Route. The same route, due to its connectivity brought the invaders into India and introduced Islam in the subcontinent. In 16th Century AD Sher Shah Suri, his descendants and later Mughals built and rebuilt the road under the name of ‘Sadak-e-Azam’ (great road) connecting the Port City of Chittagong in Bangladesh to Kabul in Afganisthan. Today the Grand Trunk Road covers 2,500 Kms over four countries Afganisthan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. I was feeling proud of covering a humble 1,500 Kms stretch of ‘Uttarapatha’ accompanied by a fleet of modern day traders on the giant wheelers. Interestingly, NH – 2 is also part of the Great Asian Highway – 1 which is the longest route of the asian highway network covering 20,557 Kms. The mammoth stretch covers Istanbul to Tokyo while a drive from Delhi to Kolkata looks like a tiny patch onto it. In the entire stretch you can identify Green AH – 1 signboards certifying the same.

It takes around 21 to 23 hours of driving to commute between Delhi to Kolkata. While returning I took an audacious attempt of covering it in a day driving solo. A stretch of close to 500 kilometers from Allahabad to Agra in the Afternoon to Evening to Night seemed to be never-ending. At the end, on the empty Yamuna Expressway around midnight, I started hallucinating giant shadows crossing the great road over the dividers. Short tea breaks, quick body stretch to shake off the fatigue doesn’t work after covering a thousand of kilometers at one go. While it’s strictly non-advisable to drive down this distance without a night halt, the experience which remained as a precipitation was priceless and for once in a lifetime. Between waking up in the morning in Kolkata to going to bed in Gurgaon, there laid a vast route of “Uttarapatha” and it’s lost caravans, a few of them probably appeared in my hallucination near the end of the epic trip.

Routemap :
http://goo.gl/maps/JLrPw