Caravan 2 25th May, Visakhapatnam: Caravan number two left Orissa yesterday for Andhra Pradesh. Thanks to unexpected delays on the road, we were running very late for our next halt at Visakhapatnam. Closer to the destination, however, one of the drivers of the caravan just stopped the vehicle and refused to budge any further. Guess why? The road was running parallel to the sea, something he had never ever seen before! He was spell bound by its sheer magnitude, and wanted to go to the shore and touch the waters. J Yet, since time was ticking by, and we were already rather late, he turned the ignition on, stepped on accelerator and drove on with a sad smile.

We reached our ‘night’ halt at 5.30 A.M. in the morning! After more than 10 hours of non-stop travel, we were achy, groggy and very tired. A quick nap and we were up and about at the Central Library at 10 A.M. for a public meeting.

The hall was packed beyond capacity with 200 people comprising members of AIDWA and NFIW as well as the general public. The hosts introduced caravan members, one-by-one, to the audience. A briefing on the Bill and its dynamics was conducted by a few members of the caravan. Journalists (as many as 29 of them) were full of eager questions and congratulated the caravan members on their courageous endeavour. Our exhibits proved popular too. 20-year old Priyanka’s solo performance of the skit Aurat was loved by the audience. She was also thrilled at giving her first-ever television interview today. Despite the exhaustion, we managed a good interface in Visakhapatnam.

Many firsts today, huhn…first glimpse of the sea, first TV interview?! If this is a sign of things to come, hope the Women’s Reservation Bill gets its ‘first’ soon too...perhaps the first reserved seat?

As we left Visakhapatnam, we were back on the road next to the sea. Our sleep-starved eyes could barely look at the vast expanse of the horizon. So long…