Here’s some about them long drives.

Sitting in the back or on the wheel in full control of your destination, there’s a certain sense of freedom in long drives. No traffic gives me the opportunity to clear the chaos in my head. There is nothing to think about except the long un-ending road, the scenery that moves and yet surrounds me, music that’s ambient and yet not constant. The winds, the breezes and the crisp freshness they bring with them, are enough to make me forget the worst of my worries. Yes, I like them long drives.

Whether I am talking or not, whether I am singing or not, I am simply much more involved in the present at that moment in that drive than I am at any other place. Yes it is sort of like being in that exact moment, not too far ahead nor too far back and that excites me. It liberates me from the past and the future for a few good moments.

Starting off, there is a certain sense of excitement, anticipation, more so about the journey most of the times than the destination. There are people you look forward to travel with and make sure you travel with them and them alone. Pleasant company is what makes you look forward to it more. You look forward to what interesting chats you’d have – and you remember them for a longer time than say, a chat over a coffee. Because you are with them at that moment of time, with them and with no one else. That’s the beauty of a long drive.

There are stops in between, I look forward to them too. You get out of the car or off the bike. Stretch your legs, pause, take a look at the journey that has been undertaken so far and plan the course further ahead. Refresh yourself with a small snack, walk around a bit and breathe in and out. The pause gives makes space for some interesting stories to be told or even better – to be made.

Towards the end, you get a bit tired, look forward to reaching your destination at the earliest. It seems like a long wait no matter how long the long drive has actually been. But when you do reach the destination, get fresh, get rested and look back – you’d think that the journey was not that bad, in fact, it was the most fun part about reaching the destination, more so than the destination itself – for the destination has always been there, the journey is what you made of it. In some ways, the journey is more like you’d want your life to be.