Taking the scenic route inwards

A recent road trip with an uncle yielded unexpected lessons: for the road, for life

- Charles Assisi

There is an optimal speed at which effort, wear and progress align. Anything faster costs more than one may realise.

(SHUTTERSTOCK)

wee taken to long-distance road trips. That's why I chose to drive from Mumbai to Kochi, where my mother lives. On my return, Tasked Uncle Toney, my father’s younger brother, if he would like to drive back with me.

Uncle Toney is not a man who does things because someone wants him to. He does them because he decides to. At 77, he is also the last of my father’s siblings still standing; a living link to a time that shaped me without ever quite explaining itself.

So when he called to say he would ride with me, as far asa friend's home in Benga-luru, I understood the weight of the moment immediately.