They say to ask and you shall receive. I asked for a four foot long lathe machine. All I received was a request to go get lost. In this day and age, it's almost impossible to get lost. Even if the GPS or the cell phone networks don't find you, the bloody telemarketers certainly will. Just when you think you've left it all behind, you get a call, 'Saar, I'm calling up from SDFT bank and yours is the lucky number we have chosen from 1.5 billion entries, and we have an interest free.....'
So when my pockets jingled with the keys to the Thar, and with the blessings of a week off bestowed upon me by the gods of HR, it was time to actually get lost. The destination? Why, the Timbuktu of India, of course! Jhumri Talaiya, here we come! The cast consisted of Joshua Crasto (ardent Motoring readers know him well), Suraj (a good friend of mine) and yours truly.
On the map, the road leading to the place is designated by a big thick line - national highway! Seems quite straightforward. And the map guys were very honest as well, because the road was literally as thick as it was on the map. Okay, I'd be lying if I said that it was like this all through - sometimes, it was worse! It's no fun driving on roads where the potholes have thriving ecosystems of their own, trust me. In Varanasi, where we spent the night, there's chaos everywhere but in the air, there's a sense of calm. Must have something to do with those puffs of smoke coming out of the noses and mouths of those meditating sadhus, I reckon.
Anyway, we got to Jhumri Talaiya in one piece, to find out that the place has quite the history. It was poor, then got filthy rich and as soon as that happened, the rich part sank away. Jhumri Talaiya is filled with old bungalows built during the town's heyday. You can almost picture the place as it must have been 50 years ago - prim and proper ladies being driven about in fancy cars, while their husbands sipped on the finest scotch and shot clay pigeons from finely crafted double-barrelled shotguns.
Mica is where the money came from, and mica was the reason why the money went away. You see, when the British discovered mica here, the demand for the mineral was huge. The electrical industry just couldn't get enough of the stuff, all thanks to mica's insulation properties. Because of its glitter, the cosmetics industry needed it as well. Then, some smarty pants concocted something in a test tube in some laboratory and that was the beginning of the end for the demand of mica. Besides, the USSR's huge appetite for mica waned when the country began to crumble. With the nosediving demand for mica, the town's fortunes began to go south as well. So I guess the saying 'mine is better than yours' doesn't really hold good for Jhumri Telaiya, at least not as of now.
Oh, and if any one of you have a lathe lying around, with all the bells and whistles, give me a shout, because I sure as hell want one and I even got lost trying. Ha!
- Look out for Kyle’s full story about his journey to Jhumri Talaiya in the June issue of BSM, on stands soon! -
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