A long drive can get tedious if there is no adventure. The drive to Lahore has its fair share of surprises and excitement. Here are some examples.

Road tales
Buying petrol from grocers and lubricating oil from standalone shops was normal in 1933, when our group of travellers set out from Kolkata on an April morning to drive to Lahore. The four Mukherjee brothers – Anildev, Gourdev, Sudhindramohan and Soumendramohan – claim they drove at speeds up to 50 miles per hour, or 80 kmph. Their car, a Fiat 522 with a 6-cylinder engine, 4-speed gearbox, good brakes and lights; so this claim is quite believable.

One problem was finding spares for the car. One tie rod failed in Bagodar, forcing them to stop at every major town to look for a replacement for the spare part fitted. But cities like Varanasi, Allahabad or Agra did not have the part and it was available only in Delhi. Tyres posed a similar problem.

The Grand Trunk Road was a non metalled highway beyond 216 miles, so dust was a problem. Dust created demand for water, and for this, the group had to stop again and again at roadside wells. Older readers will remember that the old G.T. Road had wells at regular intervals. The radiator gave trouble often, so it was tedious.

There were also long stretches of thick forests. The area now occupied by Durgapur town was dense forest. The road close to Gaya was another forest (some of it survives today). The trees were mostly sal and mahua. Extra care was needed to avoid cattle. The glades offered welcome relief on the highway.

In addition, most rivers had low causeways instead of bridges. As it was dry season, the causeways were above water. Big rivers like Sone had trains to carry cars across. The group spent the first night at a beautiful bungalow on the Sone's bank, now lost to time.
Some rivers had a more dangerous service – the track was shared by trains and cars, and vehicles crossed only when the bridge staff showed a green flag! Varanasi had a pontoon bridge, which has been replaced with a concrete bridge (at Ramnagar) only recently. Allahabad had a pontoon bridge too.

Hospitality
The Mukherjee family was spread all over India. Some relatives pleaded with them to stay over at Varanasi but they spent the second night at Allahabad.

Relatives aside, they were charmed by the warm reception they received. The Calcutta to Peshawar board on the car attracted more friends. One shopkeeper in Kanpur sold them three pure leather whips for Rs 10. However, they had to bribe the government dak bungalow staff near Kanpur to allow them to stay the night.

The Mukherjees were impressed by the beauty of the Aligarh Muslim University campus. A local student showed them around AMU and invited them to his house for lunch. They refused the invitation and soon regretted it – they had to eat a third rate and very expensive lunch at the Kellner restaurant. They warned readers to stay away from Kellners!

Another set of relatives put them up at Meerut (near the canal gate). This served as the base to explore Delhi and beyond.
The brothers did a major good deed near Delhi. They rescued two seriously injured victims from a Tonga crash on the G.T. Road and took them to the nearest big hospital. This service probably saved their lives.

Problems
Some things don’t change. In contrast to the friendliness of common people, the travellers had to bribe the government dak bungalow staff near Kanpur to allow them to stay for the night. Near Delhi, the car was stopped and searched by police.

In addition, the dust problem got worse the more they travelled to the north. This resulted in repeated choking of the radiator and air cleaner. The car had to be halted at short intervals to cool down.