Highway Vagabonds

Drifting on the unknown highways
yearning for new musical alleys
gypsy-fied and music-ised
we're cacoethes personified
Roving against the raging storms
We're the highway vagabonds

This spirit of vagabonding is merely the legacy of my father that runs in my blood and which is one of the countless things that make me feel proud of him. The rapture of exploration and drifting along the unknown highways is, one has to admit, matchless.

One of the initial clauses of the 'Life List' I wrote a couple of years back was to travel from Multan to Lahore on a bike and finally, after several set-backs and postponements, I managed to fulfill it - and I must confess, this wouldn't have been possible without the ardent company of my partner-in-vagabonding, Tariq.

So on the decided Sunday of 16th of January, 2011, we set out for Lahore, after initially receiving obstructions and finally listening instructions from our elders, in the company of our loyal bike. Unfortunately, the weather was not really favorable and Sun was constantly being eclipsed by the clouds, but we couldn't afford to delay the plan any more. Our first stop was Khanewal which was arrived at in almost an hour and the journey seemed like a piece of cake, which later proved to be not-really-the-case.



We were having a bit of a problem with the clouds because of their constantly forcing hide and seek with Sun, otherwise the conditions was quite smooth. Our next stop was Mian Channoon, the city famous for it's special 'burfi'. We smoked a couple of cigarettes there and after some 20 minutes, proceeded onwards. A resort that emerged in my mind on the road was Harappa, the ancient city which happens to be in ruins now, located in the suburbs of Chicha-Watni, after Mian Channoon. Tariq was a bit reluctant about that visit since it was neither initially included in the plan nor was allowed by time, but made up his mind after some consideration.

So, with all our eagerness we arrived at Harappa ruins, only to be disappointed. We had imaged some magnificent ancient curiosities to be found at that place, but it proved out to be quite insipid. The museum was also just a muse with nothing um about it. Photography, as usual, was not allowed inside the museum but it didn't bother us much since there wasn't much stuff worthy of being photographed (Nope, grapes are not sour; that was actually the case.) So, we decided that either this is a big and tasteless gag or most of the place hasn't been discovered yet. After departing Harappa, we tried out a short cut for Sahiwal. Now although it was a short cut but we are certainly misinformed by the guy at Harappa that the "road is newly constructed and very smooth" - another gag I'd say. What we were mighty glad about was that the bike survived the road without being punctured, otherwise we would've had to spend a night in some nearby village (not a bad idea, btw, is it?)

Another stop at Sahiwal and we were on the road again, by this time the Sun was near drowning and it was a pretty good sight. An idea the struck me late but still not-too-late was to take the photographs of the beauty surrounding us from both sides of the road while on the bike. Against my suspicion, this proved to be a pretty good idea and made some fine photographs. We made a stop at a petrol-pump after Okarah to capture further enchantment of the dying sun.

By the time we started, the sun had set and Winter evening was closing in it's chilly claws upon us. After continuing obstinately for another 45 minutes or so, we had to make another stop and warm ourselves up with some tea and dry fruit. It was some eight hours since we'd left Multan and Lahore was still some 50 to 60 km ahead and I now almost agreed with Tariq that spending more than an hour at Harappa was, after all, not a very good idea.

Anyways, with running noses and chilled bones and above all, with a sense of fulfillment, we continued with the adventure and after another hour or so, we entered Lahore and I don't think that the sight of Thokar Niaz bypass ever made us happier than now. The first thing after raiding the flat was, of course, to sip away hot coffee and narrate the cherished journey - finally undertaken.