GLADIATORS OF LOVE!

WE LOOKED EACH OTHER SQUARE IN THE EYE. I WAS
a little nervous. When I looked at her, I knew she was nervous, too.
We were standing on the floor of the Taj, the epitome of love and romance, encircled by pristine, white marble walls _ two indentured slaves with a self-imposed sentence, serving up the punch line of a long-standing private joke. We'd come to Agra at a critical juncture of our relationship. A point at which the death match of romance either blossoms into the detente of love or folds into yet another cold war of battered egos and botched opportunities. And we were gladiators of love, both battle weary, and looking for some peace.
Romance, like war, creates two kinds of combatants. The first identifies with Robert E. Lee's remark at the Battle of Fredericksburg: "It is well that war is so terrible: We would grow too fond of it." This is the veteran who longs for another fight, who never feels so alive as when his neck is truly on the line. That bloodthirsty longing for conquest, that dangerous dance around the rim of rejection _ it gets you addicted to the adrenaline of adventure. And if you pursue this dance long enough, the notion of returning home, or of even having a home to return to, becomes foreign to you.
The second kind of combatant is more like Russell Crowe's Roman general in Gladiator: the guy who has nothing left to prove, who has conquered and been conquered, pillaged and been pillaged, for whom the end goal of any battle is the chance to return home at last.
I've always thought I was more like Lee, and _ to beat a metaphor to death _ that I wasn't ever going to be the swords-into-plowshares type, romance-wise. I felt like my love life was always going to be more like Serbia than Switzerland, always with the pleasures of peace outside my grasp. Yet there's been something here, at this monument of love, that's made me willing to discard the armour. to see if the hearts underneath still beat, to inch closer to that treaty that says war is over, and it's time to go home.
"I love you," I told her.
"I love you, too," she said.
Ah. That's so much better than, "At my signal, unleash hell."

LOVE IN THE TIME OF FOG!

ROMANCING THE STONE: STILL PREFER A MOONLIT NIGHT?
More on travelling to Agra soon...watch this space.

AMADER RANIKHETER CHHOBI!

WHAT IS IT? Holm Farm Heritage Hotel & Resort. In 1869, Norman Troupe, a 'restless' Brit Army officer landed in Ranikhet and instantly fell in love with the place. He set out to build that dream that had been haunting him all his life: a home for himself and a place where his friends would frequently love to come.
STILL WORTH A VISIT? Of course. Turned into a resort, the sprawling 13-acre Holf Farm Estate offers a magnificent view of the Himalayas. It's an incredible combination of the traditional and the modern.
WHERE TO STAY? The majestic bungalow has six comfortable suites and a museum like lobby with pinewood floor, ceiling, century old hand- painted wallpaper, an antique piano, old colonial furniture and much more which itself tells the remaining story of the bungalow. The adventurous could aslo stay at one of the several Swiss Cottages (read tents).
HOW FAR IS IT? From Ranikhet town, Holm Farm Heritage is a mere 10 minutes drive along a zigzag dirt road amid pine, cedar, oak and chestnut groves.
WHO GOES THERE? After Troupe`s death in 1890, this bunglow was sold to Mohd. Amin, then to F. C. Banyon from Ms Catherine Abbot (wife of Col. Abbot) and since independence, this property is being owned by Madan Mohan Upadhyaya, a veteran freedom fighter and a very close associate of the Nehrus. During his lifetime, many celebrated personalities like Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lady and Lord Mountbatten, Acharya Narendra Dev, Govind Ballabh Pant, Narayan Dutt Tewari, and several embassy-types have been here and appreciated the beauty of this place.



Delhi-based Weekend Warrior and Good Relations honcho, Sushmita, travelled to Holm Farm Heritage Resort, Ranikhet, along with hubby Rajat and son Shaon. A believer in 'Truth in Travel', she refused to play any PR tricks on the resort management and paid to stay at the Holm Farm!

ONE FOR THE ROAD!

...AND ANOTHER!

THIS FOGGING HIGHWAY!

Don’t be a tailgater! Many of us don’t see as far ahead as we should
because we follow too closely, and the vehicle ahead blocks our view.

On a bright morning, we would start at daybreak and land up at the oldies (in-laws) for lunch in Lucknow. Throw in half-hour break for sandwiches and tea at Bareilly, making it percisely eight hours from Noida covering exactly 500 km on NH-24. But as Luck (now) would have it this year-end, hit the foggy zone within an hour of starting out at 6.30. Things looked fine, so there was no reason to call off the trip. But who could imagine the weekend would turn out thus? While a Toyota Corolla met with a horrible head-on with a truck ahead killing the driver on the spot, had my share of killing, too! A pup! Shit!!! And let's not forget the anti-Bush protestors at Ferozabad, who won't stop banging Speedy until I nearly crushed some of them under the rear wheels. All in all, why do people drive to Luknow? Could someone tell me, please? Unless, of course, you missed the 6.20 a.m. Shatabadi Express from New Delhi Railway Station or the flight got delayed because there were too many politico-types boarding the same flight...

Now, why go to Lucknow at all?

ALL THE REASONS TILL LAST YEAR: Tunda's Kakori kebabs @ the Chowk! And, ahem, chikankari (avoid Sewa at all costs, too costly); old fellas, of course.
ALL THE REASONS THIS YEAR: Tunda's Kakori kebabs @ the Chowk! And, ahem, chikankari (avoid Sewa at all costs, too costly); old fellas, of course, and the Lucknow-Kanpur-Etawah-Ferozabad-Agra-Delhi highway! It rocks...all thanks to Mulayam Singh Yadav. Etawah is his constituency. The only rough patches you encounter are at Etawah that end at Makhanpur near Agra.

It also makes sense to take this route this time of the year because NH-24 runs through the sugarcane belt and this is harvest time. Back to fog, there aren't that many accidents when its foggy as opposed to when it's raining or when it's a fine day. But as soon as you link these to the number of days when it's foggy, raining or fine, you find that you are dozens of times more at risk. In fact, it is not putting it too strongly to say that if you do run into fog, you are in serious danger. Everything about fog is wrong - you can't do a thing, there's a fog code which everybody knows but not everyone obeys, and if an accident happens, it could be a pile up with dozens of vehicles crashing into each other and no way to avoid it.

No one is really quite sure what goes wrong in fog. Why do people drive at 60 kmph as if there's nothing in front of them? Is it because they become disorientated with no visual clues to let them assess their speed? Or are they assuming that because they can see other people driving fast they become frightened that they'll be rammed from behind? Even a person driving slowly according to the fog code will be pressured into speeding up when he/she sees cars zooming past them.

What is needed is some research to come up with answers - what happens when we drive into fog, why do we end up with one lot of drivers following the fog code and the other drivers not obeying it - which is a bit like traffic lights where one lot of drivers obey the rules and drive through on the green light and the others disobey the rules and drive through on the red light.

So what can we do if we do hit fog. Clearly we should obey the fog code but my own personal view is that there is a problem because not everyone is using the code - the pile up happens when a fast-moving vehicle hits a slow moving vehicle, i.e. the person obeying the code. It may need legislation so that you must drive at say 20 kmph. With modern speed cameras it would not be too difficult to deploy these and there's nothing like a fine to make people drop their speed. Until that happens, or we all have cars with infra-red imaging systems, my priorities would be:
1) Don't travel if there's fog
2) If you do get caught in fog, move to a quieter road and find a safe place to park
3) Use the fog code and resist the temptation to increase your speed. And in case you don't know your fog code, here it is:

THE FOG CODE
Before driving in fog, consider if your journey is essential. If it is, allow extra time. Make sure your windscreen, windows and lights are clean and that all your lights (including brake lights) are working.

When driving in fog:

(a) See and be seen. If you cannot see clearly use dipped headlights. Use front or rear fog lights if visibility is seriously reduced but switch them off when visibility improves. Use your windscreen wipers and demisters.

(b) Check your mirrors and slow down. Keep a safe distance behind the vehicle in front. You should always be able to pull up within the distance you can see clearly.

(c) Do not hang on to the tail lights of the vehicle in front: it gives a false sense of security. In thick fog, if you can see the vehicle in front you are probably too close unless you are travelling very slowly.

(d) Be aware of your speed. You may be going much faster than you think. Do not accelerate to get away from a vehicle which is too close behind you. When you slow down, use your brakes so that your brake lights warn drivers behind you.

(e) Fog can drift rapidly and is often patchy. Even if it seems to be clearing, you can suddenly find yourself back in thick fog.

On a lighter note, with modern cars we've all but forgotten the fog horn which of course was for use in fog. And in London, back in the 1930's they tied blow lamps to traffic lights in the fog partly to burn it away and partly for drivers to see.

SEASONS' GREETINGS!