The target for next halt was Satara. It was just eighty kilometres away. Given the long and tiring journey completed yesterday, it would have been impossible to travel more than that. It was about noon, when we reached Umbraj, and turned left towards Pune. At that time the Mumbai Bangalore highway was only two lanes, and we faced a lot more traffic. Most of it was trucks.
I remember counting down every kilometre as we crossed a milestone.
Based on the experience yesterday, we caught up with a rickshaw driver near the ST stand. We were asking for a place like a temple where we can stay overnight.
“You will not be able to stay in a temple. This is a city full of temples, but they will not let you stay.”
We had a key that could open many doors, we showed our I Cards.
“Oh you are from COEP? Engineers? Take this small road on the left and go straight to the district collector’s office. Many engineers visit that office, they will help you.”
He had logic, and he was confident. But we were not convinced.
“Why would the collector office help students on the road?” I said to Sandesh.
We thought for a few minutes.
“Anyway it’s worth trying. My father is a government servant. We can use that connection if required. Maybe we can find someone to help.”
We went straight to the collectors office, we showed our I Cards to the peon, and told him we want to meet the collector sahib. He asked us the reason. We waited for about fifteen minutes, and then were called inside. The officer inside was not the collector, but must be someone with authority. We explained to him about the trip and the reason for the trip as an educational excursion.
“You cannot stay in the government rest house. Satara is a central place and the rest houses are always full.”
He did not sound like he was showing us the door, so we had a ray of hope.
“There is another place, where revenue officers visiting the collector office for office work stay overnight. It is not a government rest house. It is run by the revenue officers club. Everybody staying overnight contributes rupees ten per night. I will send someone along with you, so that they will allow you in.”
“This will be better than the rest house, sir. Thank you for your help.”
We couldn’t believe our luck. The place was very nicely maintained. There were a couple of others staying there, they did not bother much about us, they were busy with their own plans of entertainment.
The fun will be over tomorrow. We thought as we slid into our beds for a good night's sleep.
By now we had got into the habit of getting up very early. Like a routine we started. The road was mostly flat, the ghats were pleasant as it involved sliding down. Around two pm, we reached Pune and somewhere before Swargate, stopped at a south Indian restaurant for lunch.
“It’s finally over.” was the thought as we gulped idli and dosa.
“Bye. Bye. Don’t expect to see me in college, at least for a week. I will need that much time to recover. I hope Anil and Ajay have reached safely by now.”
I turned left toward my room and Sandesh turned right towards Hadapasar.
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