Oh! There are so many! Let me share one.
I have done two Bharath Darshans, one as part of IAAS training and the second as party of IRS training. In IRS, we are split into 4 groups and sent to 4 different zones. I had chosen the North East, because everytime I visit there, I’m left mesmerised by the beauty of the place.
One of the days was scheduled to be spent in Guwahati and we had reached there by evening. The entire night was free time and we were free to do whatever we wanted. I was aware of this and my friends and I decided to go to some exciting place. I had already booked a zoomcar before we reached Guwahati.
After some thorough research, we decided to go to Mayong, about 30–35 Kilometres from Guwahati. Mayong, is famous as the black magic place of India. Apparently really dark magic used to take place there and this piqued my curiosity. Although all websites say that nowadays these kind of practices are not there, I wanted to really go there at night to see if we can see some clandestine practice.
Once I uttered that the place is famous for black magic, all the bravehearts and thrillophiles backed off. Finally my friend Mithun and I were left. We decided to brave it. In my mind already some villain who looked like Amrish Puri had started a fire in Mayong waiting for us. A beauty was waiting there for us to arrive and rescue her.
I had booked a Scorpio through Zoomcar. Right before we started the vehicle, Mithun asked me whether the brakes are good. I was surprised why he asked me that. I told him they are in excellent condition. We kept riding. After riding for some 20–24 kms, we reached a place called Chandrapur. We stopped by to enquire the locals about Mayong and also to have chai-sutta. The locals told us not to expect anything in Mayong even though it was nearby, but told us of some big mela happening nearby. We still decided to go ahead and rescue the girl. These locals must be villains posted there by Mr. Puri.
Once we had the tea and hopped back into the car, and started riding, I realised something amiss. There was a vehicle coming from the other side and I pressed the brakes. Alas! The brakes were gone. I am damn sure that they were perfectly fine until then. Since I have dealt with cars for a long time, I knew to gear brake and I did that and brought the vehicle to a halt safely.
This stunned the two of us. We couldn’t help wonder how coincidental it was that such roadblocks kept coming. First our friends backed off, then there was a delay in getting the car from zoomcar and this! And that too as we were so near the destination! The villain must have played his hand in stopping us from going there, we joked.
We slowly drove the car back to the shop we had stopped at. I was using a combination of hand braking and gear braking to control it. This happened at a place called Chandrapur and at night the only shop was the one where we had tea.
There were total 4 gentlemen there, one being the shop keeper and the other three, locals whom we alleged to be Amrish Puri’s accomplises. It was night around 11 and we were two south Indians in an unknown land.
From that moment, Assam opened her hands for us and the night really turned awesome for us. The hospitality that was accorded to us by the shopkeeper and the three gentlemen will stay with me till time come. They decided that until our issue is resolved they will be there to help us. The shopkeeper didn’t close his shop, the three gentlemen decided not to go home, but to stay with us till assistance was at hand.
They tried their level best to arrange a mechanic, but to no avail. Meanwhile they were offering us drinks, food, tea and what not. And all free of cost. They wouldn’t take a single penny. Meanwhile I had called zoomcar for Road side assistance since lot mechanic couldn’t be arranged late at night.
As we insisted on payment, the shop owner told me something. “ You guys are in trouble in our land, and therefore I am your host now. If you want to pay me back, next time you find some Assamese in trouble at your place, you do for him what I have done for you.” Leave all the hate mongering you hear in the media. My entire Bharat was there for me to experience. The virtue that makes our country great. Amrish Puri’s villains had turned heroes!
The Road Side Assistance guys would take 2 hours to come. Therefore we decided to slowly drive the car to the nearest police station which was barely 500 metres away. This we decided because we felt uncomfortable troubling these gentlemen anymore. They just wouldn’t leave us alone.
The events that precipitated at the police station was even more dramatic. But that is a story for another time. The hospitality that Assam accorded to two stranded South Indian’s was one of the coolest experiences I had in my Bharath Darshan.
The next time I visit Mayong, I’ve decided that I’m having tea at the same place.
( The place name from memory is Chandrapur. It was maybe 5 Kilometres from Pobitora I think. If I’ve gotten it wrong, excuse my poor memory)