Having had our fill of Kurukshetra, we set off towards Punjab and the small town of Pathankot which made for a convenient rest-stop for the night before we ventured back out on to the highway towards Jammu the next day. The road to Pathankot follows the aforementioned Grand Trunk Road and even spills over on to NH1 during the latter stages. We had to bypass Chandigarh as part of the route, and decided to stop for lunch at one of the Haveli Heritage chain of restaurants just past Chandigarh. After a scrumptious meal of Punjabi delicacies like chhola bhatura and sweet lassi along with ice-cream for dessert, it was back to the highway, and the Santa Fe was given a chance to show off another one of its excellent features.
It started to drizzle and, as the first few droplets hit the windscreen, the wipers started of their own accord, and as the rain began to intensify, the wipers’ speed matched up to it, making my life that much easier. With all the technological wizardry packed under the hood like traction control, 4WD assistance and brake assist, I didn’t even have to worry about the slick roads throwing me off my game, meaning our average speed didn’t suffer as a result of the downpour.
While crossing the Roopnagar region, we also happened upon a gorgeously built gurudwara just off the highway. As soon as I turned the car in, a feeling of peace and tranquillity stole over me, the blistering afternoon sun, the blaring traffic, the distance we had covered and the long way still to go, all these thoughts that had been swirling in my head just dissipated as a measure of calm stole over me. I wish I could have lingered a little longer in this temple of serenity, but the call of the road was too strong, it was time to leave.
As we passed through Punjab, we were living the stereotype – first the food, then the gurudwara, and now, the corn fields. It was like a scene out of a Bollywood film, only the hero was a 197-PS behemoth travelling on 18-inch diamond cut alloys. I’m not one to resist a good cliché, so we turned the car off the highway and into an actual corn field, or at least I think it was corn, but then again I never claimed to be a botanist so don’t sue me! Regardless, once the Santa Fe was done frolicking about in the farm, it was back to the highway, with Pathankot inching ever closer.
