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The Supper Before the First Light.

by Soumiya D S
(Chennai,India)

The kullu drives

I have a special memory to share. This incident took place four years ago, yet it holds a special place in my heart. Me and my family were travelling from Delhi to Kullu and Manali. The travel from Delhi to Kullu is like 11 hrs. I was travelling with my family like every year we plan some or the other hill stations to visit, it has become a thing regularly. We love travelling. That summer we travelled by car, it was a fun on-road experience. We frequented dhabas to consume our meals for breakfasts, lunches and had evening snacks at fancy high-way dhabas.

The whole ride though it was tiring and boring as we were on road for 11 hours, we kept ourselves engaged with stories of my school and my sister's, narrating such arbitrary that my parents usually my parents didn't care for. Even my parents later got on the bandwagon of narrating funny tales from their everyday life. There were lots of fun revelations. Me and my sister began to see them in different eyes, for us they were always the know-it-all parents. But it was delightful to see that they are too prone to commit errors just like us younglings.

If you have ever seen Kullu Manali you will realize it's worth all the travel to have the blessing of those majestic hills. People like me who live the day-in and day-out at city's traffic and pollution, those hills are treat to us. I know though I have seen plenty of hills every year, every trip, and every summer, it never gets tiring! The greenery, the fresh air to breathe, the poetic smell of fresh hills and trees are just like those waxed out words of the poets and authors who never failed to capture the essence of the nature. But to experience all this that summer I had my first dinner by 2am!

Well the health freak in me would have never had it today. But four years ago after the long hours of travelling passing all those bewitching trees, rivers, magical nature. But all the ride 'til we made it to the hotel was tiring and made us terribly hungry. At night the driver advised us to not stop by anywhere so that we can reach the hotel ASAP. We all grew hungry and sleepy as the night grew darker our vehicle and the passing vehicles became hazy figures to my eyes. After a plenty of time we reached the area where our hotel was located. My dad woke me up my from my deep sleep, I took a look at the time and it was around 1.45 am. Well blip! I have never been up that late, Like ever! I have a curated wake-up sleep cycle that I don't ever disturb.

As we approached the hotel we were going to stay for the rest of the trip, it was an up-hill staycation. The employees there had prepared us a delicious supper. And I became terribly hungry as the aroma of the hot food wafted in the air! I was too touched by the employees who stayed up all night for us and were prepared to serve us a piping hot meal, even at the brink of dawn! I don't think if I would ever be that gracious of a host.

Though this trip didn't wreck us any bad, we made it a point to never fail to hold any food for emergency.

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