Putting all the necessary gears for a tour in a backpack, taking out your car or a bike, and hitting the road for your ‘have to do before dying’ trip is the dream of everyone. But for getting paid for these trips is part of being lucky with your life. Rishad Saam Mehta is this lucky chap who is telling his stories from those roads which he tamed sometimes on two wheels and sometimes on four.
Traveling and Tea sounds best companions just like, book and coffee. This ‘T&T’ love of Rishad made him write all the memories of those companions in his book “Hot Tea Across India”. ‘Kindle Unlimited’ has gifted me the opportunity to grab plenty of books, and I found this treasure of memories in that pile.
Those magnificent Himalayan memories about its beauty, weather, outdoor camping, some incidents which makes you feel measly in-front of mother nature’s forces if you neglect them, made my dream of visiting mighty mountain king stronger by every page I turned. After giving chance to enjoy chilling Himalayan weather, he takes us to have some fun in Rann of Katcha in his chase of a herd of wild asses. The excitement, speed and a battle with treacherous bogs with quicksands in dessert make adrenaline rush through your body.
He also makes us believe that anything can and will happen when hitting the road, some local thug can make you run away with fear of losing your bike to his son in so-called ‘fair trade’ offer, or some anarchist trying to prove their point in local ‘bandh’ by asking you ‘Please can we burn your car?’. But there are many good people out there who make your trip memorable. He found interesting persons to show him around magnificent temples of Khajuraho, or to take in the times of Rana’s of Jaisalmer.
Sometimes, your travels make you acquainted whit some not so famous and posh looking food joints which serves food which can truly be labeled as delicacies. Then let it be in some houseboat in Kashmir or some roadside ‘dhaba’ on legendary Grand Trunk Road. Or even some native nomads ask you to join them for a meal or help you to cook some of their traditional recipes.
In-short your craving for food, fun, drive/ride and photography is increased tenfold when you put down the book after reaching an end. Grab your copy and have some fun with Rishabh’s memories.