Road trip Vignettes – Men in Black!

You suddenly notice something interesting and get down. It can be anything. A lovely landscape or a small water fall or life in rural india. We call these as “memorable moments” on the road.

We were driving through Jharkhand on our way home from Sikkim. The plan was to drive through Ranchi and reach Orissa for the night. The day had begun well when we left Bodh Gaya and the weather was perfect. We left foggy roads of Bihar and entered Jharkhand at Hazaribagh. To our luck, the road was not foggy as feared. After a tasty breakfast of Alu Parathas washed by excellent chai at the iconic Nanak Dhaba in Ramgarh, we headed towards Ranchi.  Fantastic landscape with sal forests flanking the road, small water bodies reflecting the rays of the morning sun welcomed us.. Though, winter, the sun was getting scorcher.

Suddenly, we saw men pushing their bicycles with sacks of coal. Men in black. Men covered in coal dust, impoverished. Men bent over the handles of their bikes. Men whose livelihoods depended on the coal they carry and sell. As we continued the journey, we saw many of them doing this rigour along the road. It was tough as the road was full of gradient. They had to really struggle to push their bicycle over the uphill.