Chagda!

Alright, finally home and settled in after two hours. Had my dinner (bread butter and apple), changed into pjs and checked my email. Now I can blog. Today I went to a village called Kenedipur, about 25-30 km away from Keshod. On my way there we went through car, chagda and a bus and on my way back I came by truck, bus and chagda.
Now as promised earlier, I finally managed to click some pics of what a chagda is like. As you can see, it is basically a motor cycle pulling along a lorry in which people and goods sit. 15-20 people can be stuffed in it. Some sit on the metal planks sticking out on the side, some sit on the floor of the lorry and others hang out the lorry holding on to the bar. In the pics, you can see I am sitting on one of the metal planks, holding on tight to the bar above me. It is a hell of a ride. The first time I sat in a chagda, the floor was stuffed with bags of goods, and we were sitting cross legged on top of it. But today, I sat on the metal planks the entire time (about 2 hours at a stretch, yes it took us 2 hours to cover 25-30 km). The thing about chagda is, you need to be very strategic in how you position yourself. For instance, just in 3 rides I have realized I like sitting right up in the front where I can see the driver. More importantly, where I can see the road coming up and watch out for the potholes. When I see a pothole coming up, I lift my body off the metal planks to minimize the effect of a sore bum. I also like to sit in the front, slightly tilted so that I can shift my body inwards incase I see tree branches coming up to strike me (the drivers usually ride along the side of the road, close to the trees) and also I can see if we are passing by a cow and its tail is about to whack me. Thus, I can shift my body back and forth and look out for these things. Needless to say, chagda is not exactly a mode of transportation in which you can fall asleep. Also, I realized chagda is definitely one of the best ways to see the countryside. My hair gets messy like madness (as evident from the pics), you get covered in dust when a truck passes you by, you end up with a sore bum and definitely sore legs, your hands get covered in rust holding on to the bar above so tightly, and you are usually crammed in. But, you also feel the wind in your hair, this lovely lovely fresh wind that I think you can only find here, you really get to feel the physical environment around you, undergo the experiences with all the senses, see the fresh greenery, feel the wind, hear the sounds of the roads and the people, touch the rust on the bars and smell the air (and the occasional road kill too – dogs, sometimes pigs and dead birds/lizards). Going on a chagda just gives you an entirely different but a lovely in its own way type feel for experiencing rural India. So long as you are ok with messy messy hair, and a sore body afterwards, are you up for it?? :p

there are many more things I wanted to discuss from today's trip, but am absolutely exhausted right now and my legs are killing me. But I will do a follow up on this one soon. In the meanwhile, enjoy these pics :)