KOCHI: With her car wheels stuck deep in slush, right in the middle of nowhere, Dr Mitra Satheesh could barely shout in frustration or weep in despair.
Her 11-yearold son, sitting beside her in the side-seat, was already showing signs of panic.
In front of them was a road, slushy and under repair, and they were on the way from Tripura to Silchar in Assam, a five-hour drive.
“The slush had gotten into the wheels and the car wouldn’t move.
In the middle of what should have been a busy road.
Not a soul in sight.
No vehicles or signs of humanity.
I could not move the car and the scenario appeared to stretch to no end,” Dr Mitra recalls the horror.
“My son, who had enjoyed the journey till then with a never-say-die spirit, was suddenly scared.
I was terrified.
No amount of trying to start the vehicle helped.
Suddenly, like a godsend, a mini truck came from behind.
I ran out of the car and made the driver stop.
He helped start the car and took it out of the slush.
Advising me to go further on my journey rather than turning back, he led the way and every time we were stuck, he would take his vehicle ahead, park it and then drive us to that point.” Recounting a few ‘nightmarish’ experiences of her ‘Oru desi drive’ across 28 states, covering 16,800 km in 51 days — from March 17, 2021 to May 6 — Dr Mitra, terms it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“Due to Covid-19, the road journey was smooth because of lack of traffic.
But being stuck in the middle of a road with no one to help made one wish otherwise.” For somebody who has never done long travels, nothing beyond a 100 km in a day, Mitra, during this period, drove almost 14-17 hours at a stretch, starting early in the day and winding up at some place by evening.
“I was looking for a cultural experience and wanted to visit only villages across the country.
While the initial idea was to go with a group of women who were keen on driving, Covid-19 saw everybody drop out.” However Mitra refused to give up.
Travel, she would, even if it was alone.
Her family was supportive.
Her husband, an IT entrepreneur, and mother offered to take care of the children.
She contacted other long-distance solo and professional travelers.
“They were encouraging but wanted me to do small trips for a full day to get a feel of driving long hours.
So, I did a one-day trip from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram last year when the inter-district borders were opened as a start.” This was followed by a series of solo trips month after month.
First was a trip to Hampi– an 800 km drive in 13 hours.
In October, it was the Nilgiris to get a feel of hilly and cold terrain accompanied by her son Narayan.
After these 2-3-day trips, she made an 8-day trip to Karnataka which gave her immense confidence.
Mitra who works as an assistant professor with government Ayurveda college, Tripunithura, then started her intense planning for the trip.
“I approached the tourism ministry with a proposal of a “Dekhi apna desh’ travel by a single woman across Indian villages.
I didn’t get much response but finally after several rounds of mails and calls, they agreed to give me a travel permission letter.
They also gave me a couple of banners of Incredible India.
While they offered an introductory letter for stay in tourism hotels, I refused.
Because I was planning an uncharted route in which I planned to stay in villages,” she adds.
She worked out a plan to stay in one tribal or ethnic village in each state.
The several days’ effort paid off as she could get contacts in villages that she wanted to visit.
During the planning, she realized her son was showing a lot of interest in her travel itinerary.
“I asked him if he wanted to come.
He jumped at the chance and then refused to back out.
Until then, I had no tension.
But taking a child, especially on such a long trip and without vaccination was a risk.
However, he refused to back out.
My mother and husband encouraged me to take him along.
My mother agreed to look after my daughter, a special-needs child, and hence can’t make such a long trip.
She prefers a planned, laid-back travel.” When the mom-son duo started off, the Covid-19 curve across the country was flattening and everything was opening, and life was slowly coming back to a new normal.
Taking off from Kochi in the early morning hours on March 17, in a Maruti S Cross, they travelled to Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and to Odisha, West Bengal to Assam and further North East.
They would start early in the day, food would be in their village stops.
They carried water, refilling it at various points.
She recalls the unplanned trip to Vaishnodevi temple.
“It is just two hours by helicopter.
We parked our car near the shopping area and went to take the helicopter trip…
After finishing the darshan, when we returned to the helipad, we were told that the trip was cancelled! The realization dawned on us that what was supposed to be a two-hour affair had already crossed 6-8 hours and we were yet to come down.
All our money, laptop, and several other valuables were in the car which was parked in a public place near a shop which would close soon.
We took a horse ride, a three-hour journey back,” she reminisces.
Mitra says that one of the apprehensions of travelling alone was vehicle trouble at odd hours and places.
“My son and I took some training on basic repairs and knowledge of the vehicle before we set off”.
Looking back, Mitra says, “That trip was more about fulfilling a dream and a passion of travelling.
But after coming back home, I shudder when I think of some of the experiences and wonder how I made it so far.
Yet, I will do it again.
Maybe breakup and do it a little more slowly.” DRIVING THE DISTANCE: Dr Mitra’s initial idea was to travel with a group of women but all of them dropped out due to the pandemic.
She then set out on the journey with her 11-year-old son