A Meghalayan Road-Trail

Have you ever felt like the need for a little bit of adventure?

Well, if yes then you must be very much familiar with adventurous rides through never-ending roads. For me though, such adventures exist in my life by default. No pride intended.

Though my viability revolves around scooty rides, never have I ever crossed the city boundary, let alone state borders with it. That too, on a chilly January morning, when temperatures in Guwahati dropped to around 9 degrees celsius. And when a couple of genetically similar humans decide to explore the hilly areas during a random winter morning, little can I say no to such a courageous offer. With only breakfast filling our tummies and a little over a few litres of gasoline in our tanks, we set off for a Meghalayan odyssey. Though mornings and nights along with lazy evenings are unbearably cold during this time of the year, the afternoon sun can activate your sweat glands if you wear dark woolen clothes during noon within the populated city of Guwahati. The sun was blazing as expected. Only due to this peculiar reason, I ditched my thick clothes for a pair of light clothes. Temporary and momentary happiness can ruin long term sights of potential euphoria. Do commemorate this line for the next part.

The journey towards Shillong was a rather pleasant one. The delightfully frosty wind which blows across your face as you breeze through the refreshing Guwahati-Shillong Road is something which every person reeling in a polluted metropolitan road must yearn for. The glowing sun had little impact on the wintry gale which was constantly lowering our body temperatures. The road trail towards the Meghalayan region of North-East made us aware of the kind of impact winter has on two-wheeler riders. Along the way, we did make numerous short interval stoppages to feed the photographic eyes of my cousins who were ever-ready with their camera lenses to capture the scenic places. As we reached Umium Lake, which was the prime location for my budding companions, the antarctic weather and the half-cooked sun had already taken over the parochial weather. After a brief photographic session, some quick snacks and a little extra kilometers, we decided best to start our return journey as we didn't want the sun to disappear from the sky before we even escape Meghalaya.

Remember the little phrase about temporary and momentary happiness? The return journey felt like never-ending. The intensely chilled weather towards the dying part of the day, packed with the fast and furious speed of our wheelers, was too much to bear. Hypothermia wasn't just related to Bear Grylls. It was like we were driving through a thick and coagulated snowy layer of air. My barren hands weren't feeling the senses to even pump up the accelerator of my scooty. With my nervous system in temporary numbness, I felt frozen. Literally! I felt as if I was Jack and my scooty was Rose, both being absorbed by the invariably unendurable cold. My teeth were shaking like a dog chewing onto a piece of bone. Guwahati was near yet so far. After hours of freezing through sub-zero temperatures(nearly), traversing curvy roads without any protective gear, constantly breathing out dry ice and accumulating enough liquid nitrogen within our blood cells to explode North Korea, we crossed the imaginary Assam-Meghalaya border to enter our beloved state. We felt our souls rise as if it were mercury inside a thermometer. Never had I appreciated the weather of Guwahati before.

Hail Guwahati. Hail the heat.