Pegging Patiala- Part One

We knew we had to go. Being stuck in a plant site in a remote village on weekends is not exactly fun. You do that for for 3 weekends in a row, and somehow you know u've reached the tipping point. But where to? is the question that bothered us. For making it to Shimla or Delhi you definitely need more than a weekend, even Chandigarh with its added attraction of sophisticated civilisation (read malls!) was annoyingly slightly more than a day's journey away( four hours one way). But why Patiala? We kept asking ourselves. We didnt get any reasonable answers though. Its just another small sleepy town. Allright, maybe 30 ml more, but could we drink to that?

But then we didnt have much of an option and therefore set off late morning on a Sunday. It was a boring two hour ride through empty rice and paddy fields. Perhaps the only point of attraction in that journey was two varieties of structures which i can only classify as being punjabi architecturul marvels.

Let me introduce the first as being symbolic of punjabi foresight and vision. Circulars steel mesh boundary walls covering an empty area as large as a cricket stadium. Set amidst lush green rice fields culminating in large ornamental greek gates of intricate columns and gargoyles. The gates are fabulous structures in pristine white marble carved into cupids with pointed arrows on one side and greek godesses, shielding themselves with bare hands, on the other. With a huge signboards over them announcing, "Gaurson: Rural City" or "Dhillons: Countryside Town" or "Ravinder's: Village Appartments" or something equally ridiculous. Of course, the signboards and the elaborate intricacies in the gate design varied, but the consistent part was the stark emptyness inside those gates. Some of the most populated "townships" we saw, at best consisted of a merrily grazing goats. I guess the only real similarity these places had with the promised comfortable punjabi rural life were crooked land agents and Swades inspired Kannada returned NRI's rolling in cash.

The other structure, and one perhaps much more common, consisted of slick glass covered nursing and engineering colleges stretching the entire highway. We were there towards the end of May so it was holiday season for the schools. Juxtaposed as they were against numerous rural straw and bamboo hutments and townships, at first it elicited a snigger. In a green landscape, they resembled shining-square alien eggs. Most of them didnt even have their base cemeted structure nor visible pathways leading in from the highway. Viewed from a passing car, they just seem to be sitting there (waiting to take off to intergalactic worlds?) in the green fields. All glass emerging from the earth. Sadly, unlike the above"townships", this blot cannot be easily laughed away and is perhaps more harmful to more than just a few rich NRI's.

Anyways, this is just the story while I was on my way. Let me tell u what Patiala looks in my next blog.