ON THE ROAD TO ANANTAPUR

NIGHT TRIP ON THE ROAD



Out there where I was headed to, the day before, on Wednesday, people settle scores with their rivals by hurling home made bombs which their followers carry in satchels hung around their shoulders. I was on a day’s trip to Anantapur- Headquarters of the faction territory known as Rayalaseema which covers Anantapur, Cuddapah, Kurnool and neighboring districts in Andhra Pradesh. But no such things happen at marriages. I was there to attend a marriage at Anantapur on Thursday.


A LATE DINNER


We had left Hyderabad on Wednesday evening in two vehicles- a Mahindra Bolero and a Tavera. I was in the Bolero that trailed behind the faster and powerful Tavera. We left at seven and arrived at Kurnool at half past eleven. I hadn’t dinner at that unearthly hour for a long time but I was hungry and tucked into the food eagerly. We had another two and half to three hours of traveling left to reach Anantapur. The highway between Hyderbad and Bangalore was being widened into a four-lane one so there was work going on with earthmovers, dumper trucks and barriers visible all over. It might take another two years for the work to be completed.




GANDHI THE DRIVER


Traveling by road during the night is a lonely affair. The people traveling with me were asleep in their seats and I chatted with the driver beside me more to keep him awake than to find out more about him. When I asked his name it turned out he was born on the second of October hence his name- Gandhi. But this Gandhi was young and ate gutkha. I listened to old songs on the stereo and watched the headlights bearing down on us all through. I don’t feel sleepy on the road but I manage to fall asleep in trains. We reached Anantapur at three in the morning after eight hours on the road Everyone was asleep in the lodge which we found after asking around in the deserted streets of Anantapur.