Get your kicks on route 66........

I have just been back from yet another road trip.....been a good one yet again......its always a bit fulfilling to rev up the car n set the roads on fire. Road trips are also sources to some of the best entertainment around....sure, there is the weariness factor (obviously....after 12 hours of driving you sure as hell would be tired...). but then it isnt always drab to drive around..... all one has to do is look around for it. i am dedicating this blog as the 'Dummies Guide to Road Trips'

Step one would be to ensure that all the members goin on the road trip are safely secured and luggages are loaded into the vehicle (you will be amazed at the number of times people are left behind......serious!!). Next thing to do would be to chart the route you would wanna take as and when you go.......Ghats and winding roads especially preferred (try the snake hair-pin bends at good speeds and scare the shit outta the passengers......told ya it was fun didnt i?)..... Ok.. now comes the entertaining parts.... For one, there are the different species n sub-species of drivers that you would encounter..... there are the kings of the roads......... n then there are lesser mortals too. The kings of the roads would be, undisputedly, the Tourist Bus Drivers and the State funded busses.....actually both seem at par in the ranking anyway. The state busses dont have to worry about anything since they seem built tailormade for the scrapyard.....so if one of them tries to overtake you better step aside, unless you want half your vehicle to be scraped by the bus. Then in the hierarchy comes the truckers. A truck carrying no load is no match for any other vehicle.....better give way to them as well. The only logical way to overtake a trucker is on a hill slope (or you can act as a daredevil and overtake them anyway on an open road....but dont come cryin to me if they bump you off the road. Next comes the ordinary vehicles which are fun to drive around with. they are the easy ones to overtake depending on the power of the vehicle you are driving. Next and last on the list is the lower scum of the highways which would be cycles, 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers. they seem the easiest to overtake n move on but they are just as decieving and dangerous (cycles n bikes the most cos if u pass by them too close then you just might blow them off the road). So much for the vehicular grouping. Next on the entertainment lists are the state borders. the checkposts that flag you down to check whether you are smuggling any contraband or something without a permit ('Check' meaning askin trivial n inane questions like 'Are you carrying anything without a permit?'....yea... as if im gonna tell if i was carryin them....or 'so you are entering this state?'.......why the heck would i be at the border check post if i didnt wanna cross n enter another state territory???....not like i have an obssesive compulsive disorder of driving all the way to the border n turning back). After the gruelling interrogation (which also delays the precious travelling time and the speed), you would be free to proceed. While on the highway do not miss out the words from the wise that would be written on markers along the highway. Some wise ones include (off the top of my head)-

• This is a high way not a die way. (there actually was one that goes like that...no jokes).
• Safety on roads is Safe Tea at home. (real creative that one)
• The fast 'wasnt' last. (didnt make sense to the writer as well i guess.....n yes you read it right.... it was written just that way.....with typos et al... that too in a sentence with 4 words)
• Calm your nerves on curves.(didnt specify which one......imaginations run wild)

Something that you shouldnt trust on the roads would be the milestones or road markers...... the distances keep fluctuating. (102kms on one while further down the road the same place would have a marked distance of 115 kms.......einsteins at work probably).

Now that we have done with the basics in this Dummies guide, you are all set to go n drive...remember the words from the wise, put on some good music & feel the wind in your hair.. (do write in with your experiences on the road ....... no refunds if anything goes wrong...... n i already have a good lawyer, so dont even try to sue me)