Basar by road

Shantanu:

Basar, the abode of godess Saraswati on the banks of river Godavari, was on my radar for quite some time. Therefore we set off on a Saturday morning after completing my initial research. From Gachibowli, we took the road to Bowenpally and on the way we picked up my parents-in-lawwho accompanied us. The four of us then proceeded towards Medchal Highway or NH7 in my car, a 2007 model Zen Estillo. Morning traffic was thin, but once we hit NH7, it was smooth ride all along and I pressed hard on the accelerator. The road is fabulous, except for the fact that errant pedestrians step on to the highway without any fear of their lives, bullock carts occasionally create problems, esp. while coming from wrong side and a few intrepid cyclists occupy the high speed lanes. Any way, on most stretches I could manage a speed of 120 kmph to 130 kmph, which is the highest speed I have driven since my first driving lesson on a German Autobahn. We reached the toll plaza in no time and paid Rs. 115 for the two way travel (Rs 75 for one way for a car). After that villages and small towns zoomed past. I must say this part of NH7 is very well planned, with exit roads, parking spots, bus bays, shoulders, lanes for cyclists and other privileges like emergency telephone (Luckily I did not have the misfortune of using these to see if they actually work). But I must say that roadside facilities like rest rooms are not aplenty.

By 8.30 Am we reached Kamareddy, about 120 Km from Hyderabad, where we encountered a Haritha (APTDC inn). It was a good opportunity for all passengers to stretch the legs a bit. We had idly, vada and dosa for breakfast with homemade coffee. Thus refueled, we set on for the next bit of travel.

After sometime, the good NH7 gave way to a bad NH7, a single lane on either side with overloaded trucks and buses plying on the same route. The transition was so sudden that we doubted if we had made a wrong turn...and then we read the signboard - Nagpur 384 Km. We "are" on NH7 still, but what a metamorphosis! Even Kafka could not have imagined it.

Anyway, the rural scenery made up for the bad road. We passed through immaculate villages and wherever we saw a nice looking pakka house, Devmitra quipped - "this must be belonging to the Sarpanch or the village head!" It can well be the case; the vast amounts of money pumped into the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana, is meant to build good village roads. However these pass through the hands of village heads and other political figures and we could see very little evidence of roads being constructed.

Nizamabad was another 50 odd Km away. We took a left from a place called Dichpalli on the highway and the railway track came to our left. This road, a state highway which goes to Nizamabad and then to Bodhan, is like almost all state highways, in a dilapidated state, but not yet completely broken as to draw attention from the authorities. We passed a big lake on our left side called Ashok Sagar which was there on the mapmyindia map I carried. There is a statue of godess Saraswati in the middle of the lake, which we saw on our way back.

After sometime we came almost near Nizamabad town where we had to ask for directions multiple times before getting on to the right road. In a land where navigation is mostly carried out through landmarks rather than well-defined street names & numbers, here are the directions for you - drive through Nizamabad town until you come to a junction where there is a statue of probably Indira Gandhi (too difficult to make out while driving), take a right turn, go through a market place, come to another junction (again with a statue) and take a left where you hit the Bodhan highway. After about 20 Km on this, you need to take a right turn, cross another level crossing and hit the road towards Basar. You will cross Navipet from where Basar is another 22 Km. The railway line will again come to left side after crisscrossing the roads several times. By the time we navigated this myriad and crossed Godavari it was almost 10.30 AM. We could see the temple and the Ghat but could not identify the right road, so we asked at a petrol station employee who showed us a "kaccha rasta" which meets a "pakka rasta". In another 15 min we reached the temple. Later we realized that we could have avoided the kaccha rasta and taken the main road only to reach the temple.

Darshan in the temple was swift and short, the temple attendants ensure that discipline is maintained even if that eats into the time that you desire to spend with the deity. We then decided to visit the Vyas Guha or cave where sage Veda Vyasa purportedly carried out his penance. This is reached by navigating a long flight of stairs behind the temple. The cave itself is very narrow which opens into a wider space. Excellent ambiance for meditation!

The Godavari ghat is not worth visiting because it is too dirty. Why do we destroy our own natural resources is beyond me! May be because of absymal lack of education, or may be because we lack the mentality to maintain anything good for the sake of community.

We started our return journey at around 12.30 Pm and took the pakka road all along. Despite initial confusion, we managed to take the right roads. We got caught at a level crossing for about 10 min but fortunately it was a passenger train. We decided to have lunch at Haritha (the same one at which we had breakfast in the morning) and reached there at around 2.30 PM, after I refuelled my car. By 3.15 PM we started and reached Hyderabad by 5 PM. Devmitra drove the last 50 Km stretch.