Road Trip: Chandigarh to Bombay – A Journey to Remember

“You are not a tree.
You are not bound to the ground you walk on.
You have wings and dreams and a heart full of wonder.
So pick up your feet and go.”

Rewind Time: Time helps one forget they say; it also gives us unforgettable memories to cherish experiences extraordinaire which are etched in one’s minds forever and one such event of my life is a road trip I undertook from Chandigarh to Bombay (now Mumbai) by car in 1974 with my mamaji Mr. Ramesh Sarup Mathur (Ramesh Mama) .

In 1973-74,senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officer, my Mamaji (Dr. Jagdish Sarup Galgotia) was posted at Chandigarh for a short stint. On his posting back, he moved to Mumbai via Sohana (Gurgaon) and left behind his light green colour ambassador car with a colleague in Chandigarh.

At that time I was also posted as Senior Auditor in the Accountant General’s office at Chandigarh.

To transfer his car to Bombay, Jagdish Mama tied up with his younger brother Ramesh Sarup Mathur, (my Ramesh Mama) at Bhopal and asked him to bring back the car he had left at Chandigarh and also sent a driver Shahid to undertake the long journey. Ramesh Mama, myself and driver first went to Chandigarh to drive back the car and after a night’s halt at Ambala next morning, we started the road journey.

I was asked to accompany Mamaji because me and Sudha (now my wife) were frequently dating in those days and to distract me, the Mother wanted me to be away for some time hoping that the attachment may fade away, in vain.

Remember, in those times there were barely proper roads let alone highways or expressways, hence the drive was through dusty and broken roads, making it all the more adventurous for a young adult like me.

I think it is an interesting to mention that enroute I visited all my Mamas (maternal uncles) and Mausies (maternal aunts) in one go. It was sheer coincidence that at the time all brothers and sisters (progeny of Dwarka Parshad Mathur and Kalindi Devi – my nanaji and Naniji) were living along the same route in Ambala, Agra, Gwalior, Bhopal, Thane and Bombay situated on the national highway from Ambala to Mumbai so it was a straight road drive.

By the afternoon, we reached at the civil lines Agra residence of my eldest Mausi (Parag Mathur) and Mausaji (Major K.P.Mathur) and had lunch. Teddy Dada, Prabhat Dada, Rakesh Dada were not in the house then but Suman Bhabhi was there.

After lunch, we left for Gwalior and reached the residence of my second Mausiji (Kamla Mathur) and Mausaji (Jagdish Sahay Mangoderia) at   Daulat Gunj near Bara around 8 p.m. and   stayed for the night . Chandan aka Alka was there but Latajiji was not.

During those days there was no bridge on river Chambal and for crossing the river, a small streamer had ferried the car across on payment of a princely sum of Rs 100.

Next morning, we left for Bhopal on the way mamaji asked Shahid to drive to Shivpuri and took me to the house where I was born.

Mamaji told the then occupants of the house that he had lived in the house in forties- fifties and pointing towards me said this guy was born here and I want to show him the room of his birth.

On the day of my birth, Naniji had pierced my left ear and inserted a gold pin to wish long life for me, my ear still has the mark a reminder of her blessings.

Chadhas were hospitable,after tea we left for Bhopal and reached there by the night where I stayed for a week.The stay was a  lot of fun with Rajneesh (Raj) and Manish (Titu) , every day there were outings and Mainji (Dr.Sarla Mathur) was very caring and warm towards me.

Next day in the same commodious car, all of us including Mainji, Raj and Titu set out for Thane (Maharashtra) and after staying overnight in some Dak Bungalow near the river Narmada reached a day after.

At Thane we were welcomed by Mausaji (Rajinder Shanker. Mathur), Mausi (Ambey Mathur )  Sunil, Akhil and Ashutosh ,we all stayed there for the night.

Next day by noon, we had reached  Jagdsih Mama’s residence at RBI Colony, Santa Cruz (West) where Mainji (Sudha Galgotia) ,Poonam, Neelam, Ashok and Alok greeted us.

The trio of Ashok , Raj and me had lot of masti during the Bombay stay of over 20 days. There was lot of  local bus hopping, taxis and local trains to visit Bandra, Band Stand, Flora Fountain, Fort, Marine Drive, Nariman Point, Chaupati, Juhu Beach, Hanging Garden at Malabar Hills, Jahangir art gallery and many more places.

Ashok took us to various film studios to watch the film shootings and I saw Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bahaduri shooting for film Mili, Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy gossiping , Hrikesh Mukerjee and Ashok Kumar playing chess , it was a great experience.

We went to watch films ‘Roti’ and ‘Rajnigandha’ in the trinity of theatres Galaxy, Gaiety and Gemini at Dadar. Joined Diwali celebrations at RBI Colony where long card sessions were held.

Loaded with sweet memories and pleasant experiences, finally I boarded the Frontier Mail for Ambala from Mumbai Central.

As I started to pen down this memory, there was a deluge of events in my mind even after 47 years. Things can be obliterated but can never forgotten.

My father used to say there is one ‘ Ma’ in mother but two ‘Mas’ in Mama and I think it is because of this that Ramesh Mama was very keen on ‘ Bhatijas – Bhanjas’ get together.