Most of my travel by road throughout my life has mainly been for work. I know many in Indian Roadie and associated forums whose purpose of travel matches mine.
Spotting road/ vehicle signages, billboards screaming something that's unusual, people engaged in 'out of the box' businesses/ professions, out of the box happenings on every kilometre of road, etc, etc, etc possibly gives me a far bigger kick than getting a glimpse of a snow capped mountain peak or the ocean or the jungles or deserts.
More than three decades ago while I was with Castrol India, I used to visit the sprawling highly mechanized manufacturing unit of matchstick manufacturer WIMCO near Dakhineswar in North Kolkata. It used to be a thoroughbred blue chip MNC those days.
The drive on a dug up CR Avenue followed by the indefinite wait at Shyambazar and then a seemingly never ending narrow B.T.Road upto Dunlop Bridge and PWD Road upto Alambazar used to be a whole day's assignment.
The officials used to serve me wonderful food and beverages. They were so friendly. In one of my official trips to the factory, I happened to meet the head of HR who was there on a factory visit. Some chit-chat followed over coffee and he straight away offered me a lucrative job offer. However, I declined the offer after almost 2 months of negotiations because I wanted to be posted in Mumbai while the offer was for Kolkata.
The ugly head of communism had already crept in with inciting posters and banners screaming at everyone from every corners of the factory. Within the next few years the heavily overstaffed company closed down thanks to Jyoti Basu's militancy policies and Indira Gandhi's policies of reservation of matchstick manufacturing for the SME sector.
Those tiring drives in mid/ late 1980s made me an even more confident roadie on the bumpy roads of Kolkata in yesteryears.
The attached video of matchstick manufacturing in some small unit somewhere in India is far more relevant for me than any photos, reels and videos depicting a setting sun along a riverfront.
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* Indian Roadie Is Travel Plus Plus
* Indian Roadie Is Automobiles Plus Plus
* Indian Roadie Travel For Work
* Indian Roadie Drive For Work
* Indian Roadie Recollections
