By Kulbhushan Kain
Recently, I was driving from Delhi to Dehradun. Nowadays, travelling by road, for me, is becoming rare. Why rare? Because of more travel options. Dehradun is well connected by train and the Railway Station is just about 10 minutes’ drive from my home. Vande Bharat and Shatabdi Express get me into the heart of Delhi in about 5 hours. If I want to get into Delhi faster – I board a flight, which gets me to Delhi in 45 minutes. However, I still prefer to travel by road, because it takes me through terrain which reminds me of my youth. I start thinking of the roads which took me away from the place I grew up in – Dehradun!
Memories come flooding back…
Many years ago, I used to travel to Delhi for various reasons. As a young boy I used to go to spend holidays with my Chacha, Tauji and grandparents. My father sent us there every summer – first, to make sure that the family ties were strengthened and I got to know members of my lineage. Secondly, he sent us so that we got exposed to the big city life – Delhi was a city which pulsated more rapidly and loudly than Dehradun. My relatives used to stay near Gol Dak Khana in government quarters in a colony called Dalhousie Square. Dalhousie Square consisted of single storied houses built around a green square, where everyone seemed to only play cricket. I loved going to Delhi because I could show off my superior cricketing skills vis a vis my cousins! I even made it into the Dalhousie Square Cricket Eleven when they played cricket matches with other squares. I loved the matches – in particular with the arch-rivals, Cornwallis Square!
Over the years, I have seen Delhi change drastically. I am not going to get into the debate whether the change has been for the good or bad. All I know is that I can’t find my way around it now. I have to depend on Google Maps. That is saying a lot – I spent 6 years in Delhi University studying and teaching. There was a time when I could walk around it blindfolded – I knew it like the back of my hand.
It is but natural that the road that led into and out of Delhi has also undergone a huge change. The last time I traveled on it was via Akshardham and the swank highway. Our car was engulfed by tall buildings and serpentine flyovers. I could not see people walking – all I saw were vehicles jostling for space on the roads….
As a young boy I used to travel via what was the Shahdara Bridge. We used to stop over at Shahdara where my uncle Chhotey Lal used to live. He was a very magnanimous host and we loved what he used to feed us. All his neighbours would pour out from their houses to meet us. I haven’t been to Shahdara now for nearly 50 years. Chhotey Lal Uncle migrated to America (he is still alive). I am told that his Shahdara house was “eaten” up a big flyover. For me, Shahdara died long ago.
The road to Dehradun from Delhi was like a country road. It was difficult to travel on it at high speed. It was single, dusty, and had a lot of potholes. But therein lay its beauty. It compelled one to drive slowly and look around. The road cut through the sugarcane belt of Muzaffarnagar. It usually took about 8 hours (with stoppages) to reach Clement Town.
No travel was complete without stopovers in Modinagar, Meerut, Khatauli, Roorkee and Biharigarh. Sometimes we would stop at Purkazi to buy hot roasted “moongfalis”. They were kept warm by a handi, in which were kept small pieces of burning wood.
We usually stopped for shikanji at the then very small town of Modinagar. It was a must stop for all travelers. Jain Shikanji was founded in the year 1957 by Parmatma Sharan and his wife Shakuntala Jain. Soon the taste of shikanji masala had captured the imagination of thousands. Now, as one travels one sees Jain Shikanji outlets every 10 miles or so. I saw one on the Mussoorie Road in Dehradun a few days ago.
At Meerut, we always stopped at the Caltex Petrol Station. There was a twin purpose – the primary being to have omelets and coffee, and the secondary being to refuel. What was so special about the omelets and coffee?
Back in 1962, KC Agarwal started serving cold drinks, coffee and omelets to the travelers and vacationers who drove past his outlet in their Ambassadors, Fiats and Impalas on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. Those were pre-bypass days. It is said that, sometimes, the stars of Bollywood, on a holiday or a shooting schedule, would saunter in. Yash Chopra, Feroz Khan, Johnny Walker, Bappi Lahiri, Rameshwari, Tom Alter – they all came. In those pre-selfie times, they sometimes wrote one- liners. Dharmendra’s note read, “I enjoyed a very delicious cup of coffee.”
But it was the omelets that gave the eatery its name and identity. They were fresh, fluffy and varied – cheese, tomato, onion or plain. The eatery was called Caltex, the name being borrowed from the adjacent petrol pump of what was then a US-owned company. Though Caltex is long gone from India, the restaurant continues to carry the very unusual name, “Caltex of Omelet Fame”.
Driving further we would reach Khatauli and stop at Cheetal. It was a small one-room outlet set among trees, by the side of the Ganga Canal. The enterprising owner brought in a few deer, rabbits, and ducks and named it Cheetal Deer Park. It sold amazing samosas and bread pakoras – and at throwaway prices. Cheetal was to later become such a big brand that even the Beatles stopped over for a snack here in 1968!
Sometimes we would detour a little from the main road in Roorkee and stop at Polaris. Unlike the other stopovers Polaris was slightly upper end. It was rumored to be India’s first 3-star Motel which was founded in 1960 by Yudhister Singh. It favoured western snacks – we would gorge on excellent egg sandwiches, cake slices and Polaris ice cream.
Just before the climb up the hills of the Shivaliks – we would stop at Biharigarh. Biharigarh in those days consisted of about 5 thatched huts selling excellent pakoras. It is said that about 50 families settled in Biharigarh due to poverty and, to subsist, they started selling pakoras which became so famous that even celebrities like actors and politicians stopped for a bite – Sharmila Tagore and Saif Ali Khan being among them.
All the landmarks have vanished or metamorphosed into ones I can’t recognise.
But memories won’t let go of the past. Every time I drive past places that were once “have beens”, I always remember what John Denver wrote and sang –
“Almost heaven, West Virginia,
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenendoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains,
Growing like a breeze
Country Roads, take me home,
To the place, I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama,
Take me home, country roads
All my memories gather round her,
Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky …
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eye…
Substitute West Virginia with Dehradun, Blue Ridge Mountains with the Shivaliks, and Shenandoah River with the Yamuna or the Ganga River…
Sadly – the country roads have disappeared.
And I never seem to reach home!
(Kulbhushan Kain is an award winning educationist with more than 4 decades of working
in schools in India and abroad. He is a prolific writer who loves cricket, travelling and cooking. He can be reached at kulbhushan.kain@gmail.com)
