[Pynummoottil]

Really enjoyed reading your account. Very well written and if I may add amusing, humorous and tongue in cheek.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by KPR

I noticed that never once you've written about your car . Let it be that way as it is nice and unique.
change.

Originally Posted by sureshkumar

You didn't mention the vehicle you drove, it seems. Or did I miss it in the avalanche of scientific terms?

Originally Posted by allinbalance,5148392

as is the fact that while it was a self-drive travel where the silent enabler - the car - stayed in the storyline and made its presence felt passively

Car is a linea Tjet.
A hippopotamus in the city, a gazelle on the highway

[Jaisalmeriya]

Wow, what an amazing write-up and the artistic and funny way of sharing the story venkyhere. Wish you share more of such masterpieces with us.

I will side with your better half though as my preparations for the trips during the pandemic have been at similar levels, if not more!

Cheers and Happy Motoring

[PrasannaDhana]

Ha! Lovely writing mate!

And description about my city was nice too

It's a beautiful place, with beautiful roads connecting it to various districts. But the traffic, road planning, parking areas all suck. The city has been the same for the past 3 decades, while the vehicle density must have become 10x.

Namakkal Trichy route is a blissful route to drive, that is, unless some idiot TNSTC bus driver/ lorry driver attempts to overtake at the numerous blind curves.

[autocrat]

That is a great story you have told us Venky, it felt like I watched a movie while I was reading! Thanks a lot for sharing and hope to see many more

[venkyhere]

Thank you to each of you who wrote in, for your kind words; they motivate to pen down more such experiences in the future.

[AppyS]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Thank you to each of you who wrote in, for your kind words; they motivate to pen down more such experiences in the future.

Wow! Felt like watching a movie, you spun some hilarious magic there. Keep writing and enthralling us indeed.

[mugen_pinaki27]

Reading your write-up made my day. I loved the entire travelogue thoroughly. Waiting for more such wordy jewels.

[sandeepmohan]

Never, ever deprive your wife of her mud pots. You know why your sambar tastes so good? It because of them.

We carried all our mud pots when we relocated to the Southern Hemisphere (They all got here intact). Anything from a lentil to a prawn or fish curry tastes different when prepared in a mud pot. Our new gora friends are in awe when they see food being cooked in it. They have only heard of such a thing so when they actually see one, they are left amazed on how a simple earthen mud pot can make such a difference.

On conversations with my boy in the car, its usually just one thing, Dad, is that car faster than ours. Fortunately we are faster than most. Its only when the occasional AMG or S5 passes by, I give in and spill the bad news to my son.

If there was a ranking system of the most fun and entertaining reads on this forum and that scale was 1 to 10, I'd give this one a 10+. Thanks heaps.

[Arun_S]

Really good writeup, had a good laugh

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Wife : Didn’t you hear me ? we lost the chance, we lost it. Why are you driving so recklessly ?
Me : What ? why ? didn’t you see, there was no way for me to stop. And look here, even here I can’t pull up by the side of the road, there is no proper shoulder. What can I do ?
Wife : You are always like this, will never bother about others’ needs.

Reminded me of the same dialogue used to hear from my better half. Not one trip gets completed without hearing this one.

[anirudh_85]

So here I was, casually browsing through TBHP, skimming through the headlines to check if any article catches my fancy. Usually I just glance through the text, fully loading the 'prepare summary' module in my brain. (Whether that is a working module or not is another question). But the thing is, I rarely "sign-in" to the forum unless I feel like I can really add something to the conversation...and cut-to today.

Your brilliant write up deserves all the kudos it is getting and more. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it and all the scientific references you put in there while the conversations with your wife and son reminded me what the line "all Indians are my brothers and sisters" meant in the pledge we all used to recite in school.

Wish to read many more such articles from you. May they be as tasty as the sambar cooked in your newly acquired earthen pots. Kudos, once again oh wordsmith of the south!

PS: My son is also 6 years old and I have been wanting to go on a long-ish (100-200 km one way) road trip around Mumbai for the past few weeks, while the monsoon still weaves its magic and covid cases remain suppressed. Hope I'm successful soon.

[Mechanto]

Amazing write up!! Enjoyed every bit of it!!

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Prologue

I immediately realized that standing 2km away from a traffic signal, doesn’t mean you are anywhere in the same pincode as the signal, thus mentally preparing for a long crawl until the time when we would cross it.



(silverback gorilla 2 , special forces 1 , Namma Bengaluru 100)

Best part of the entire story

[anumod]

Thank you Venky for spending so much time in curating this travelogue. I saw this travelogue couple of days back and as there were no photos, I skipped it. But you gave me a surprise . Like the book of Oru Deshathinte Kadha by S K Pottakkad , this travelogue gives us a lesson that , letters can also help you to dream . Continue writing and come up class items like this . Thank you once again

[Iksvaku]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Ha! Lovely writing mate!

And description about my city was nice too

It's a beautiful place, with beautiful roads connecting it to various districts. But the traffic, road planning, parking areas all suck. The city has been the same for the past 3 decades, while the vehicle density must have become 10x.

Namakkal Trichy route is a blissful route to drive, that is, unless some idiot TNSTC bus driver/ lorry driver attempts to overtake at the numerous blind curves.

Prior to the pandemic, I had to visit customers there. My colleagues took a flight out to Delhi, so I had the unique bliss of driving back alone to Bangalore. It was indeed a special experience and I enjoyed the scenic roads!

[dean5545]

What a wonderfully written Travelogue!
I read it on a boring work day and it cheered me up.

I had flash backs from my own trips down south from Mumbai. My mom will always want to buy something she sees on the road. She will expect me to stop immediately whenever she says to stop, no matter if I am doing 100kmph or there is a bus behind or any thing else!

I vaguely remember crossing Thoppur Ghat section on my way to Salem from Mumbai in January. It must have been around 10:30pm by the time I reached the Ghat section. I remember being scared the first time I heard the loudspeaker play in front of me, I was shell shocked!! All my fatigue of driving for 15 hours had vanished.

Here's wishing you many more Road trips with your family. These road trips really create fond memories, especially for your young son.