The car is not racing yet, says the speedometer. The pulse is, says the smartwatch.
It is a regular weekday morning, and we are headed to Jaipur. This, however, is a journey that is as important, perhaps more, than the destination. We will stretch our SUV's legs on the spanking new expressway that has just opened.
We are talking about the Sohna-Dausa segment of the National Expressway 4 (NE4) – better known as the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. It is expected to reduce the travel time from Delhi to Jaipur drastically. Roads and highways minister Nitin Gadkari says it will come down to two hours, but it is early days.
Anticipation builds up as we worm our way past the usual morning traffic snarl between Mahipalpur in Delhi and Udyog Vihar in Gurgaon, and it is time to take Exit 10 towards Sohna before we get on to the new superhighway.
We have heard much about it. Apparently, it is a slice of the developed world. Will it live up to the hype?
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Where manual is automatic
It is a smooth beginning, a phase of absorbing the signage, soaking up the surroundings, and getting a feel of the tyres on the shiny new tarmac. The finesse of the concrete below is so overwhelming you do not feel anything until you hit 100 kmph. The manual transmission feels like automatic. We are quickly into the sixth gear. The foot on the accelerator is still light.
The Palwal exit comes in no time. We are in no hurry, so we decide on a tea break. Better to rouse the senses that are in danger of being dulled by the creamy smoothness of the drive.
Back on the expressway, the scenery starts to change as the Aravalli Hills begin to rise on both sides, picturesque yet foreboding. This is an eight-lane highway, four on each side. There is an additional fifth on both sides to serve as the shoulder of the expressway in case one needs to pause for a bit.
Reports say the NE4 can be expanded to 12 lanes – six on each side. At present, the divider area between these sets is green in a few stretches. In other stretches, the planting is yet to be done. There are solar panels for lighting up the expressway and security cameras.
We decide on another break at a cafeteria near the village, Ujar Ka Baas. For now, it serves only coffee, tea and biscuits. The complex that houses this café is not complete, but the washroom is functional.
Heart vs mind
Back on the road, we enjoy the surroundings, barely noticing that the speedo needle is nudging 120 kmph. The exit for Alwar is approaching. It is a welcome relief that the toll plazas at the exits are located on the descent rather than on the expressway itself. The first plaza charges Rs 115.
Dausa is not far now. But the expressway has already grown on us. It is unlike the Eastern Peripheral road or the Taj Expressway, which have stretches going up and down slightly, perhaps to avoid overspeeding. The NE4 is silken smooth.
A little more pressure on the throttle takes our South Korean SUV, with a 1353cc engine and a peak power output of 138 horses, without hesitation through 130 and 140 right up to 150 kmph. But you still haven't hit the limit as you feel substantial reserves of revs are left to tap.
The tussle between the heart and mind plays out in full. You nudge the accelerator a bit more. We are doing 165 kmph. The brain begins to issue warnings. The heart calms it down. We did do 175 kmph on the Taj Expressway not too long ago, didn't we!
It is not long before we touch 175 kmph. Great, but hardly a first. A little more nudge, and we race beyond 175 and past 180 kmph. It is within half a minute of doing 185 that the brain kicks back into total control, restoring sanity and putting the foot on the throttle back in the light mode.
Thankfully, no speed police swooped down on us, though, given our speeds, they would have had a tough time catching us unless they also chose to violate the speed limit of 120 kmph. More importantly, safety matters even if the best road in the country silently challenges you to push the boundaries.
Speaking of potential safety issues, we did notice youngsters parking their two-wheelers on the side to take selfies. Some people crossed the road on foot, perhaps going into the fields alongside the expressway to earn their daily bread. Some areas are earmarked for safely crossing the road, but those are not the closest to the fields the people are headed for. On a sombre note, there were also animal carcasses on the road – a familiar sight on roads across the country - even though the expressway is protected with crash barriers on both sides.
Jaipur is not far
Before we realise it, we have reached the Dausa exit. The sign directs us to take the exit for Jaipur after paying another Rs 395 as toll, taking the total to Rs 510.
That is a small price to pay for what we just did. We made it from Vasant Kunj in Delhi to the Pink City of Jaipur in 3.5 hours. As we come to our stop in Jaipur, the speed needle quietly settles at zero. But the smartwatch shows the pulse is still racing.
PS: For the return journey, we chose the old highway, the old NH8. It took us 5.5 hours without a single break for tea or anything else.