Water Woes

We left for Mercara  on an early Saturday morning for a wedding. As the previous day was the Bandh we expected   road blockages on the way. To our pleasant surprise even the usual traffic on the Mysore Road was absent and we made it to Mercara in a little over five hours. The next two days were all fun and rejoicing and bonding with friends. We presumed that our return journey too would be event free. How wrong we were.

The Monday morning drive till Mysore was quick and comfortable. Just as we were to turn onto the Bengaluru highway outside Mysore cops stopped us and asked us to take a diversion further up. The alternative road was pretty nice and when we crossed Malavalli we felt  happy as we knew that we would be home a little after lunch.

That was not to be. At Hadli village there was a traffic jam with farmers blocking  the road. Several policemen stood around looking bored. No one had a clue when the blockade would be lifted. I walked across to the demonstrators, several of whom were sitting on the road raising slogans. A few travelers on the road were heard telling the cops that they had a flight to catch. It didn’t cut any ice. By now over an hour had passed since we were stopped. We finished the biscuits and namkeens that were in the car. A nearby bakery supplied me with soft drinks. 

Another hour passed. Hunger pangs stuck us. There were no restaurants nearby. I spied one more bakery that seemed to have more stock. I asked him for sandwiches. He had no clue what I meant. Then I asked him for a loaf of bread. He did not stock any butter but he had sachets of jam. I guided his assistant on how to cut the loaf into thin slices. Spread the jam and and made him cut the edges. Lo, I had a whole lot of jam sandwiches. If anyone ever gets stuck at Hadli village remember that there is one bakery there who can supply you jam sandwiches. A little later the same bakery supplied us with hot tea and even provided a steel tray for me to carry the cups to the car.

Four hours had passed by then. I chitchatted with the demonstrators. The cops told me that it was fortunate that we were stuck here as the demonstrators were a friendly lot. One old man sitting on the road insisted on shaking hands with me. At 5.30 pm a gentleman came and addressed the demonstrators and thanked them for their support and said that the blockade was over for the day. All of us rushed back to our respective vehicles and began what we thought was our quick return home. We spoke too soon. Just a kilometer way there was another blockade and another wait for an hour. There seems to be some unwritten rule in bandhs that the agitation should stop by dusk, just like the battles of yore. Finally we were off.

 The journey till we reached the Bangalore portion of Kanakapura Road was uneventful. Then the nightmare began. At every crossing there were burning tyres and we were forced to take diversions to unknown roads . The last four kilometers to my home took me two hours.

We started from Mercara at 9.15 am. We reached home exactly twelve hours later. The jam sandwiches at Hadli village were our savior.