Upper Lip Wrinkles

It is a pleasant drive from Dehradun to Rishikesh via Jolly grant.  Barring few chaotic clusters it is an amiable route.  We took the bypass before Rishikesh to reach the edge of Laxman Jhula,  This bypass further connects to Tehri through well known Ananda Spas.  Once I drove some of my friends from Tehri Dam to Rishikesh from this route.  The road is splendid and well maintained.  I feel the u s p of Ananda also includes its smooth drive from Jolly grant to the spa.  Well coming back to point.  Poor man’s luxury the Omni was proving well beyond her expectations not just because it drove us from Delhi to my village near Pauri but she proved her mettle when she drove us to Badrinath in 2004.  Lata and Ravi had come through this way for the first time and were enjoying the scenic beauty spread all over upto the horizon of sight.  Though the mountains are barren till Dev prayag but the openness and unending sight captivates the travelers.  The Ganga flowing downstreams gives an amazing soothness to the eyes. Air was cleaner and breaths were refreshing, this is the first amorous change a person finds after stepping on to mountains.  We were driving leisurely stopping at regular intervals to appreciate the bounties of nature.  Patches of small villages far away reflecting beautiful sunshine, innumerous terraced fields, pleasant sounds of bells hung on cattles come floating with gentle breeze, the song of leaves and yet a courteous silence.  These things make each visit to garhwal memorable and ever welcoming.  I feel I have developed a kind of infatuation towards this place.  I am attached to this place just by virtue of my parents being born here but the lure I have developed for this place is unexplainable for me. 

We passed through Shivpuri (first point from where river rafting starts towards Rishikesh), Kudiyala and had a quick halt at byasi.  The lime drink at teendhara is so refreshing that I never forget to have one whenever I pass through this place.  The guy makes it with fresh water, which comes from a perennial source unknown from mountains.  The taste and coolness of this water is so natural that it takes off the tiredness out of your body.  Moving ahead we reached a point from where we could see the confluence of river Bhagirathi and Alaknanda at Dev Prayag.  From this point onwards the river is baptized as Ganga ‘the life giving river’ till Bangladesh where it is known as Padma.  Folklore goes that the Bhagirathi is mother-in-law of Alaknanda that is why the Bhagirathi comes clamoring through mountain ravines of Tehri where as the Alaknanda is a calm and composed river and merges without any complaint.  It is an amazing sight.  One could easily differentiate the colour of two rivers even after point of confluence for few hundred meters.

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