From ‘The Living Road. A motorcycle journey to Bhutan’ by Ajit Harisinghani

Octobers are a good month to be riding a motorcycle across India for reasons of weather too. The blistering heat of the summer has been subdued by three months of rain. Its still hot but not uncomfortably so. Trees have fresh foliage so roads have grottos of shade, ideal for those short halts. The rivers and lakes are full. Harvests have been reaped and festivity and abundance is in the air. The major festivals of Durga Puja and Dussera are just around the corner and Diwali is coming up. October signals the beginning of the happy season in India.

I tell her that no one is really alone on the roads of India – at least on the ones I’ll be riding on this time. Experience has taught me, help is always available on an Indian highway, sometimes even when you don’t want it.

My first impression of modern day Nagpur is of friendliness. The people here are polite and helpful and seem to love their food.

He informs me that traditionally, hijras move in groups of six, the reason they are called ‘chakkas’ (‘sixes’)

I discover a PWD guest house – a government property built to house visiting engineers and staff of the Public Works Department. Such PWD guest houses dot the length and breadth of India and are usually located on the outskirts of a town. Many have been built in the early 1950s and possess the old-world charm of long gone times.

……..entered Kharagpur, which at first sight looks like an unkempt shabbily dressed child with a runny nose.

Indian currency is accepted all over Bhutan at par with their own Ngultrum.

Bhutanese people talk ever so softly with each other and their speech is punctuated by sounds of genuine mirth.

…….I ask him about tobacco and liquor laws in Bhutan. No one can sell tobacco, but alcohol? ‘No problem finding booze here. Very popular!’ he says………..

The immaculately dressed guards are polite and wish me a happy journey. Nobody seems to abuse their authority here.

….I walk over to them and say, ‘Hi’. Americans are easy people to talk to.

When I return to my bike I see it is surrounded by a group of men in the blue uniform of Bhutan police. They smile at me as I approach ……….They are not carrying guns. Not even batons. ……talk to me in broken Hindi. There is not even a hint of condescension or discourtesy in their manner. They seem happy to chit-chat.

No horns honk on the central street of Thimpu and traffic seems to move smoothly without a single traffic light. Only one crossing has a traffic island where a policeman……directs the flow of traffic with the grace of a music composer conducting his orchestra.

Like most people here, he too constantly ends each sentence with a laugh.

Bhutan is a biker’s paradise and the road I’m on today is picture postcard perfect.

There are only a few people around, and they are walking around as if they had all the time in the world. No one is rushing about in business suits and briefcases here. No advertising, no neon lights, no policemen, no designer shops, and no beggars.

‘We also meditate on playing with various feelings – because all feelings are fun to experience if we become their masters and they our slaves. If we don’t go overboard when we are happy, our sadnesses also don’t seem so sad. We learn how to be not-serious about emotions. Only then can one play with them and enjoy them’

I like the unabashed manner in which everyone in Bhutan asks me for a cigarette. From the policemen……..to these glamorous TV stars, they all seem to enjoy smoking…….

Like all of his countrymen that I have met……this giant of a man has an air of gentle pleasantness about him.

The Bhutanese are aware that they are a happy people. You can see it in their eyes. You can hear it in their speech. Compassion, laughter, empathy and gentleness pervade the air here. There is love and respect for their king. There is no strife between groups of any kind. They all seem to agree with each other and their king. There are no religion-oriented conflicts. Corruption doesn’t exist. There is no security-phobia in either the government or the people, no video cameras monitoring everyone. The Police are friendly and helpful. Crime is rare. Smiling seems to be everyone’s favourite activity.

On the roads in India one is always on guard against conmen and various other hazards, but in Bhutan there were no such challenges. …..I could leave the back-pack hanging from the handle of my unlocked bike as I walked the streets of Thimpu and Paro……….

Bhutan makes it easy to be happy and I basked in this liberating ambience for ten days……..