Washing Sins - The Maha Kumbh Dip

He took a small leaf of betel (Piper Betle or PAN) and applied Chuna-Katha mix (Slaked Lime-Catechu; pre-mixed) on it; placed one chunk of areca nut (supaari) on it and handed it over to the man waiting in front of me. Before the customer could settle the little Pan in his mouth, the vendor repeated the process but dipped a part of the leaf in katha before offering it to the man again. So, here was the Jodi of Paan! But wait, the vendor then poured some tobacco on the palm of the man, (as if it were some sacred offering), before handing over some raw and wet chuna on a small piece of another leaf. The customer, after sifting through the tobacco, placed a portion of it inside his lips and repeated the same process with lime..... must be a great paan but definitely a perfect recipe for mouth cancer! I, however, asked for Saada Meetha, the one we love and he did not disaapoint us either. That was Banarasi Paan vendor at Allahabad..... would follow a bit later!

Hi guys, just back from a weekend drive to Allahabad and back...... the declared motive was a Holy Pilgrimage and the undeclared one was to TRY and wash off some of the more washable sins. For Czia, however, it was a journey to some place where people congregate like anything, where pa-ma's hands should not be left for own safety and where three rivers meet but only two are seen! And added attraction for Czia was the possibilty of visiting something called Taj Mahal. So, after a hectic week, on Friday (15 Feb 13), we took off at 1600h from Dwarka. Aim was to hit Agra before nightfall (Being a Friday, Taj was out of bounds in any case!)

Weather God had slightly different plans...... before we could hit Yamuna Expressway


Yamuna Expressway looked fabulous with cool breeze, light drizzle and its sheer dimensions

Driving on YE (Yamuna Expressway) was a fun but soon it got a bit boring. With the max speed of 100 Kmph (permissible) and tendency to follow rules actually did us in. As one does not get the idea of the real speed of an aircraft while it is high up in the air, one gets no idea of speed of a humble car when one is driving on a road like this. So, very soon, eyes started feeling drowsy but in the company of a chatterbox, I managed to keep awake till our destination for the night, ie, Agra! We decided to hit our favourite area (when Taj is closed) in Agra, ie, Sadar before checking in....

Sadar looked changed (for good) since our last visit

After Taj, Agra is known for two more things.......

First ...Many international brands have their lines at Agra


This is reason-de-fame No 2... Petha! Panchi is one of the oldest and most authentic brands and this outlet at Sadar has been great since years. Watch out for fakes like Pakshi, Old Panchi, Real Panchi, Original Panchi and so on

And then this chat street is always so tempeting....

This street has grown too

We woke up to a light drizzle the next morning but we hit the road at 0600h. Some packed stuff that we had picked up the previous evening, enabled us to continue non-stop right till a place some 150 Kms short of Allahabad. It kept on raining throughout the journey and water on the road added to the uncertainity factor. With consistent rain and water logged roads, tyres tend to lose grip when breaks are applied suddenly. No wonder then that we saw many accidents, many dead dogs and lot of poor road discipline all along the route. Having done this route a number of times before 2002, it was a nice change. Unlike those days, it is four lane all the way from Agra to Allahabad with some intelligent bye-passes and long bridges/ flyovers but somehow, the road does not give you much peace.... wonder why!

The stretch also lacks joints and eating places worth any mention. The highway has retaining walls that isolate population centres and any facilities thereof. The first decent place that we found was this dhaabha, some 150 Kms short of Allahabad...

Khao, Khilao, Khush Ho Jao.... Czia's smile justifies it all

The road was pretty slippery due to consistent rain that did not take a break throughout the day

We reached Allahabad (the last 35 Kms, after your leave the bye-pass, were not very pleasant with muck lying on the road due to blocked drains) at around 1300h. A local friend, thereafter, guided us through the maze to OD Fort (Killa, as it is known) that is located bang on banks of Sangam itself. A great place in the sense that it had all the security and safety and one does not need a vehicle to reach Sangam. But the sights enroute were pretty depressing. The arrangements and systems had been undone by the rain and resultant flooding and all camps were virtually empty....

Rains, in the meanwhile, gave us no break at all. Even inside the complex that has its own touch of military methodology and systematic way of life, there was water all around and it started getting dark by 1600h itself.

We had to take a call now and had to decide whether we would wait out the rains or take a plunge and do the thing for which we were there in the first place. We, therefore, opted for the obvious choice.....'lets do it'! The staff posted there told us that because of consistent rains, there has been no huge rush that day and we would be able to take our car right till the banks of the river at Sangam without any issues. We took to the internal road and emerged from the other end of the fort only to find a very thin crowd in the area below us (the road emerges from a vantage point where the fort is located).

We had been briefed to hit for the VIP ghat but as we drove down, we found a managable crowd on the bank. And in the given setting, we decided to forego the privilege of taking a dip in isolation and opt for being where everyone else had been. So, we just took a turn and reached the ghat. The boats (including Army streamers) had been locked up due to rough weather (negative effect of rains) but we could drive up to the ghat itself and there was some healthy crowd (plus side). And as I reversed the Grizzly to park it properly, suddenly the rain stopped and sun came out. Czia, more than anyone else, was thrilled since Sun God had eventually beaten the Rain God in the ongoing battle.

No rainbow but a streak of sun to indicate the victory

The scene looked too great to be true for long. So, we decided to take a dip straightway.... wooho, the water was ice-cold and it freshened us up in no time! We are not classical believers; when it comes to rituals, we are actually atheists. So, it was a dip, some water collection and before we could really change, rains were back, this time with full force. The 20-odd minutes long spell had been good enough and now we had to rush before the steep climb would get jammed due to slippery surface. We did make it through the unmetalled patch and hit the road before climbing back further (it is an interesting climb with two gates where you got to stop at an awkward angle before moving on) into the fort.

A cup of tea, some more change and we had nothing left to do at 1730h itself. It was getting darker and rain was pouring outside.... an ideal time to get into a quilt and enjoy a drink or two.

But we were low on diesel and since Czia had already decided to take us to Taj Mahal, we had no option but to start early next morning so as to be back home by last light (next day was a working day!). So, we went out to take a fill and pay a visit to Civil Lines for an evening meal. As we landed at Civil Lines, the ferocity of the rain increased suddenly and we had no option left but to rush into Atlantis, the only mall of the city...

In Czia's perception about a Mela, ethnic works like Henna painting were something indispensable. Though rain affected mela had disaapointed her a bit, she was thrilled to find a Mehndi Artist sitting right at the entry to the mall. Rest needs no explanation...

...................And the usual thanksgiving..... 

After an hour and a half, rain stopped again and we took a stroll along the road. We found this place and decided to check it out....

Good food and reasonably priced and even though there was some flap with the order (my fault, the food did not disappoint.

We called it a day after a visit to the paan vendor (as described above) and after enjoying the paan that literally melted in our mouths. It had been quite an eventful day wherein we had witnessed some fresh accidents, had driven through the rains and slippery roads and had tried to wash off our sins too!

............continues!