#Roadtrip Notes (DEL-NDLS-JAT-CDG)
The memories of the week just past are fresh, if a bit jumbled or unpacked. So on a short hour-long flight to city #4, Jaipur, Alan attempts to make sense of six days that were in all senses WONDERFUL.
I write this as I fly Indigo’s little ATR 72 from Chandigarh to Jaipur. It is a look back at a wonderful week visiting three cities on the prep trip for Chefs Ride 2025.
The memories are fresh, if a bit jumbled or unpacked. So on this short hour-long flight to city #4, Jaipur, let me attempt to make sense of a week that was in all senses WONDERFUL.
Effort
This is the heart on sleeve type, the good type. Not the ‘medal for trying’ type. As I mentioned in my Insta reel last Saturday, the effort we are making for this ride pales in comparison to those of the people I met in Delhi, Jammu and Chandigarh. I see in them a spirit of ‘Can do, must do’. It is a higher calling, no other choice but to answer it.
This is for me the spirit of hospitality which I witnessed across all my interactions, from campus faculty, to hotel staff, the biker groups of Chandigarh and especially the Robins of the Robinhood Army. For our cause of fund raising for the Culinary Scholarship, no effort is too little for our partners across these cities.
You’ll know more details via our reels, posts and blogs as the days unwind.
Funny Stuff
Why is it that those who do the hardest work have a wry sense of humour? I’ve seen this among the military too. They call it military humour.
The most laughs I’ve had this week were at the team dinners with the Robins in Delhi and Jammu. The ribbing Arun endured at our dinner at Nehru Place Social (Delhi) is a lesson in biting off more than you can chew. The same with Sukhleen and Paru at the dinner with the Jammu Robins on 13 December at the Country Inns & Suites Radisson. These were a lot of inside jokes of course, at their expense, taken very well. They easily made our table the loudest and happiest that night.
The Chandigarh team & I had a very late lunch after a hectic day of meetings and even food distribution. Some humour but not much banter there and one of us was even borderline ‘hangry’ with no Snickers in sight. A hot chai and some pasta brought some of her smile back.
Train Travel
I’ve been travelling a lot this year, but all by air, none by rail. It has been that kind of a year. I took my first two train trips of 2024, NDLS-JAT and JAT-CDG. The second one was on a waitlist, so it gave me quite a heartburn till I got the confirmed message on Friday evening. This prep trip is so tightly packed that any delay or disruption will derail the whole thing and put next year’s ride in trouble. With direct flights unavailable at a convenient time, the only option on hand, if I had not made the confirmed list, was to take the overnight bus. Not a good prospect for me.
These two train trips re-awoke a sense of wonder in me. Writing this, I realise why I love travelling in India. The unexplained, boyish love for trains and the humbling experiences to travel with all of India. Just me and my backpack on the road. My tickets were 1A & 2A respectively but it was the times at the stations waiting for the trains that are the most memorable. The sheer enormity and therefore respect of the Indian railway network, the names of stations and places far beyond my routine; these are things of wonder for me.
A reason why I look forward to next week, when I spend three consecutive nights on trains, JP-BPL-NGP-KCG.
A bawarchi who rides, a rider who cooks. For me, a motorcycle is a tool to explore new lands, cultures and cuisines.
