Random thoughts on the highway

Last week i had the good fortune of travelling through the heartland of Central India. Drove down from Delhi to Bhopal. The route decided was Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Babina-Lalitpur-Sagar-Bhopal. Plan was to reach Babina cantt the first day and cover the rest till Bhopal on the second. One could have taken the road from Gwalior to Shivpuri-Guna-Rajgarh-Biaora-Bhopal. But my regiment is currently there at Babina and i would not let an opportunity to visit them pass.
Started from Delhi at 6 in the morning. Was crossing Faridabad by 6.30. The children were on their way to schools in droves. Was trying to overtake a school bus for quite sometime. A kid sitting at the back started waving. I waved back. He smiled and poked his friend. The friend also looked back, smiled and waved. I waved back again and gave up trying to overtake.
I knew i was out of Delhi.
It was a pleasure driving on NH-2. All through to Agra one crossed hordes of children off to school. Neatly dressed, ties worn straight and shoes polished. On the stretch between Agra and Jhansi, the children were in school and one did not find any on the road or dhabas. As we approached Jhansi, they were happily skipping home in their bright green and white, white and red and checked blue dresses. Satchels swinging from their shoulders, kicking a pebble here and jumping into a puddle there. It was really heartwarming to see this sight being replicated at village after village that i crossed.
A very warm welcome awaited me at Babina Cantt. It is always a touching moment going back to an organisation where one has grown professionally and personally. The bonds are enduring and go beyond the understanding of anyone who is not an army man. The officers now at the helm of affairs were youngsters in my time. It is with a deep sense of pride that one sees them in charge now. I was sitting out in the verandah when i noticed a white-bearded Sikh JCO coming across the field. I realised it was Kulbir Singh. He is a Subedar now. I remember him as a lanky and agile basketball player. " Kulbir, yeh itne chitte baal kab se ho gaye?", i remarked. " Saab, tussi bhi to itne motey ho gaye ho." Time for introspection!!
Next day when i started, the clouds were playing catch-me-if-you-can with the winds. The branches were swaying and the children were headed back to school. First stop was Sagar.
Sagar is about 180km from Babina. The North-South corridor of the NHDP is under construction. One fact which stared me in the face was the criticality of state government support towards central government sponsored development schemes. The progress in UP was pretty tardy and slow. The alternate route was also bad. Moment one crossed over to MP, short of Sagar, the conditions changed. One could see that this state government is serious about road connectivity. Driving again was sheer pleasure right through till Bhopal.
This trip has filled me with a lot of hope. I had the opportunity to experience first hand two imperatives for nation-building. Firstly,children going to school even in the interior regions. I also did not find any children serving tea or food at numerous dhabas that dot the national highways. And secondly, promising signs of improved road-connectivity are apparent.
Three cheers for a resurgent Bharat.