From
Delhi my wife, me along with my younger brother and his wife drove down to
Almora in his Maruti 800.Half the distance was covered by each of the two brothers.
The gnat road was my responsibility.
This adventure was under taken after my brother in law
Brudaban Mishra invited us to his place-Almora. He was with Tatas, sent to this
beautiful hill station to close down a mining industry which was in
red.Brudanban Mishra a mining engineer with years of experience instead of
closing down the industry revived it by talking with the workers and union leaders.
This is called motivation and managerial capacity. Since then Tata company has
not allowed him to leave the organization, he remained as a consultant. He was
staying at the hill top in a huge bungalow at Almora, few kilometers from the
main Bazaar.
He provided us with a car and a driver to visit places of
tourist interest. Very few people go to this beautiful hill station which is hardly
fifty kilometers from Nainital. Evening we used to share imported scotch whiskey
and enjoy the cool nights in deafening silence.
A very interesting incident reminds me of his personality.
All of us were sitting in his drawing room wrapped in heavy winter cloths.
After some discussions on different topics my B-in-l asked me “if outside would
be better and more comfortable?”
“I said, I am comfortable inside, why to sit under the sky
and catch cold.”
After few minutes later, he again asked the same question to
my professor brother. He could pick the meaning behind that ‘out side’.
Actually Mishra babu did not know whether we drink or not, that’s why that
twisted idea of sitting outside, away from ladies. The moment both the brothers
agreed he called his helping hands and was served with choicest whiskey. We
spent a nice time there and saw all the tourist spots and few of the spots where
Hindi films were shot.
In the meanwhile twelve years have passed and those nostalgic
days in that remote sleepy Uttarkhand town comes in my dream frequently very
frequently.The nightmare of falling from the cliffs would disturb my sleep but
not anymore, as more and more layers of exciting events have gathered over it.
When I remember those Ghats roads it reminds me of the adventure we brothers
took driving in those dangerous terrains of North India. Now Mishra babu leads
a peaceful life as a consultant for environment, at Sundargarh with his wife.
Those were the days.
Sanjoy Satpathy
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