Last week, took the Old Madras Road yet again….this road is evolving, and yet, at most places, retains its old-world charm, and manages at the same time to be one of the better-maintained highways I have travelled. This time, the heat was intense, but the upside was that, in the Kolar-Wallajah stretch, both sides of the road were ablaze with Gulmohar blooms in all shades of flaming red to pale orange….the Tamil Nadu stretches have beeen widened, and though they lack the beauty and picturesqueness of the old-style road, one can really zip on the new multilanes. Leave Chennai or Bangalore on a Sunday morning, at around 7 am, and one will be in the other city by abou 1pm….it would be shorter except for the bottlenecks after one hits the city.

The desolate part of the Chittoor Palamner road also has its own beauty…it was surprisingly green this time, given that we were travelling in high summer.

One of my favourite roads….long may it last, and long may we be able to afford driving!