A memorable rickshaw ride

Have you ever experienced a time when you were looking for a rickshaw or a particular bus and there wasn’t one to be found? Well, that happens to me almost everyday… but I can recall a particular incident, that happened during the last part of July this year, that makes me both wince in pain as well as laugh out loud.

It was a pleasant day (which is quite rare in those months) and I was going to meet one of my friends at her home. Rituparna or Ritu (as I call her) was scheduled to return to Tezpur University (where she’s studying presently) after a few days so we had to meet on that particular day.

After having a scrumplicious (scrumptious+delicious) lunch at her home, which aunty and aita had painstakingly prepared for us, we decided to put on our explorer shoes and go somewhere.

Destination: unknown

Time duration: not decided

First stop: Barwari

We started walking to the Panbazar bus stop, hoping to get up on a bus to Barwari but as luck would have it, all the buses that seemed to arrive there were the ones which did not go anywhere near that area. We decided to walk as long as we could. So, there we were, trying to walk our way, fighting against out stuffed stomachs which urged us to sit and rest for awhile.

Kachari came and went… and so did the Uzanbazar field (we cringed at the sight of the Four Seasons restaurant as we were already full). We huffed and puffed all the way to Barwari (normally, it isn’t much of a distance but as we both had spent one month being couch potatoes… it hurt a lot).

First base covered… what next? There were four roads to choose from, three of which seemed the most likely and the fourth was out of question as it would lead back to Panbazar. We decided to go to Kachari Ghaat as nothing else came to mind.

Mid-base: Kachari Ghaat

And then began the frantic search for a rickshaw. There were plenty of them standing in the sun with their hoods down, the rickshaw-wallahs laying on them, busy chatting with one another. None of them complied with our request and we grew very angry (really, what was Guwahati coming to? I wondered). It wasn’t that we weren’t willing to pay… it was that they were too lazy to even listen to what we were saying. After asking around for sometime, we finally found someone who agreed to take us there.

I have to tell you… after walking for so long and standing under the sun… sitting on that rickshaw felt like bliss. Both of us were silenced as we saw the beautiful scenery on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra River, felt the wind in our hair and a light, cool breeze on our faces. Soon, our ride came to an end. The best ride in a very long time.

Final base: well, that's another story!!