WEEKEND GETAWAY
We acquaint you with a few destinations not too far from the metros for a short trip.
At the cost of sounding narcissistic, I have to say I’m an excellent driver. I often get annoyed about traffic, but I don’t remember the last time I was flustered. So, when it came to driving to Gwalior Fort, I was fairly confident that I would get my mother, the car and myself safely up the hill. Nothing was to deter me—not the tryst with the Gwalior police who fined us for venturing into a one-way street, nor the sign at the foot of the fort that warned of a steep climb and recommended taking the rickshaw for learning drivers.
I suppose you know by now that this story doesn’t end well. Half way up the hill, just when I began gloating about my brilliant driving skills, we hit a sharp curve leading to the steepest climb I’ve ever seen (and I’m from the hills!). And right there, the car stalled. I vaguely remember trying to turn it on, it sliding back and my mother pulling the hand break. I sat frozen. To add to that, the hill
road to Gwalior Fort is also a one-way, and I had stopped all traffic. It could only have been a godly intervention that a delivery boy (who couldn’t have been more than 18) ran down and drove the car up.
One would think that I couldn’t have enjoyed the sprawling fort complex after, what I believe, was a near death experience. But I did. The golden facades of the 8th century fort, lined with gleaming blue stones, was instantly calming and cheering. And for the next eight hours—my mother is a history fanatic—I followed her around from building to building, taking in the intricately carved temples, and floor after floor of the palaces and wells, spread across kilometres. I have not seen marvelous craft in such scale.
Every trip you take has a highlight, mine was this. And even though we checked the numerous other historical sights that the travel guides ask you to see—the Jai Vilas Palace, the zoo—you could spend days here. The Jai Vilas Palace is a royal treat let me add.
That and the heavy, heavy breakfast at SS Kachoriwala of paneer jalebi and kachori, with a dose of overly sweet chai define Gwalior for me.