Journeys & Jerseys

– Sidharth Mishra

The title of this piece is inspired by the cult song Take Me Home, Country Roads, written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. Inspiration for the title line of the song had come while Taffy Nivert and Bill Danoff, who were married, were driving along Clopper Road in Montgomery County, Maryland, to a gathering of Nivert’s family in Gaithersburg, with Nivert behind the wheel while Danoff played his guitar. So here I narrate to you a similar experience, inspired by the great song.

In Uttar Pradesh, the transfer people once dreaded most was from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur. The two towns sit at opposite ends of the state – Ghaziabad on the western edge bordering the National Capital Region, and Ghazipur far to the east, close to Bihar. Not long ago, a road journey between them could take anywhere between 16 to 18 hours, making it an option best avoided.

That perception began to change in July 2022. A family emergency required me to travel to Ara, about 125 kilometres east of Ghazipur and 52 kilometres west of Patna. With train schedules and flight options proving impractical, a friend who runs a school in Buxar suggested we attempt the journey by road, taking advantage of the newly operational Poorvanchal Expressway.

We set out from Ghaziabad, driving through Noida, onto the Yamuna Expressway towards Agra, then onward via the Agra–Lucknow Expressway, and finally the Poorvanchal Expressway to Ghazipur, before crossing into Bihar. Google Maps estimated a 10–11 hour drive to Buxar, where we planned to halt for the night. To our surprise, we completed the journey in just nine hours, travelling in a Mahindra Marazzo. The return trip, slowed somewhat by evening traffic in Noida, took around ten hours.

There was one anxious moment – a front tyre burst en route. Thankfully, Satyam Singh, my driver and companion on countless journeys over the past two decades, handled the situation with calm precision, guiding the vehicle safely to a stop. It was a timely reminder: before embarking on high-speed expressways, ensure your tyres are in good condition.

What makes this journey memorable is not just the speed, but the changing landscape. The lush green fields of western Uttar Pradesh gradually give way to the textures of central UP, and then to the distinctive terrain of Poorvanchal. The drive becomes a visual narrative of the state’s diversity.

The next trip followed in March 2023, during the wedding season in Bihar. Our rural stay outside Buxar brought with it the simple yet profound pleasure of listening to traditional wedding songs sung by women through the night—a cultural experience no expressway can compress. On that occasion, I began the return journey from Ara at 1:30 pm and reached Ghaziabad well past midnight, reaffirming how dramatically travel times had reduced.

My most recent journey, in December 2025, presented a different challenge: navigating the notorious winter fog of North India. The stretch from Patna to Ghaziabad—over 1,000 kilometres—demands careful timing in winter months. While Bihar’s mornings tend to be only mildly misty, the fog thickens considerably closer to the NCR.

This time, we drove a Maruti XL6, and the route had become even smoother with the addition of a Lucknow bypass connecting the Poorvanchal Expressway directly to the Agra–Lucknow Expressway. We set out from Patna at 6:30 am, carrying a wicker basket filled with freshly made parathas and a thermos of tea—essentials for any long Indian road trip.

We minimised stops, pausing only briefly when necessary and once for a quick roadside lunch. Driving duties were shared thoughtfully. Satyam navigated the initial Bihar stretch, expertly manoeuvring through long lines of sand-laden trucks. I took over near Ghazipur, enjoying nearly four uninterrupted hours at the wheel, crossing Lucknow and continuing beyond before we paused.

The experience of driving a well-engineered vehicle on world-class expressways was unmatched – smooth, efficient, and deeply satisfying.

From there, Satyam resumed driving while I monitored weather updates, particularly the fog conditions near Agra. The stretch between Agra and Noida is often the most treacherous during winter evenings. We reached Agra around 4 pm and decided to push ahead, racing daylight and the impending fog. As dusk settled on the shortest day of the year, December 21, we were already approaching Greater Noida. By 6:20 pm, we had reached Kaushambi, on the Delhi–Ghaziabad border—completing the journey in under 12 hours.

In doing so, we had effectively outpaced the Delhi–Patna Rajdhani Express. But the road had the last word. Soon after, two messages arrived on my phone—traffic challans for over speeding, each costing ₹2,000. A final lesson from the journey: while the roads may tempt you to push the limits, discipline must keep pace with speed.