10 in 10

THE PSYCHO TRIP

Mode of Transport: Road

Distance: 5934 kms

Days: 10

States: Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (8)

Union Territories: Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli (2)

The Psychos:

1) VAMSI

2) UDAYAN

3) SRIKANTH

4) MADHU

'I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain'.

Not really. It was the start of a really, really long journey alright. And the conclusion was most certainly uncertain. But I am not too sure about the excitement part. And I had my reasons. Well, I didn't get a wink of sleep for the previous 21 hours, was tired as hell and it was bloody cold.

After the last of the bags were loaded into the boot of the 'White Diamond' (that's what we named Vamsi's Swift for the trip), we were good to go. We got into the car.

Srikanth was contemplating adding more places into the already watertight schedule. (Srikanth is never ever satisfied).

Vamsi was complaining about my excessive luggage. (Despite our long association, my idiosyncrasies still continue to deeply annoy as well as amuse Vamsi).

Udayan was charged up and raring to go. (Although he doesn't accept it, we feel that it doesn't take too much to get Udayan enthusiastic).

I was cribbing about how I didn't get a wink of sleep for the previous 21 hours and how I was tired as hell and how it was bloody cold. (Cribbing comes as naturally as sleep to me).

It was classic us.

The thought of going on a trip originated as early as October. Consulting with travel agents, googling of places, toying with maps, flipping through holiday guides were some of the activities which went into the planning. Ideas as frivolous as driving down to Thailand and as normal as holidaying in Rajasthan were extensively explored with feasibility analyses (an extremely high level of tolerance was afforded) and detailed estimates of time and resources. Trekking in Uttaranchal, skiing in Himachal Pradesh, relaxing in Kerala, exploring the North East were all considered in isolation and in various combinations. Countless hours of discussions didn't get us any closer in finalising the trip. Everyone had a different agenda, a different set of conditions and constraints, different preferences. What we had in common - impatience, inflated egos and insanity (what we would like to call 'psychoness'). We weren't even sure of whether we would go on a trip till the last minute, let alone where would we be going and what we would be doing.

The car was brought to life, the music was blasted on and at 4:19 am on the 25th of December 2009, it began.

To be continued.....................