WANCHU POINT – MADHYA PRADESH

          A holiday is more enjoyable when the journey is better than the destination, they say. Well, I never gave it much thought because, being what I am, I am always eager to reach my destination. I am always thinking ahead about the people there, what plans are in store for me, what new and exciting places I will visit there and so on!! Our picnic to Wanchu point one Sunday afternoon, changed my idea of a holiday altogether!

          Wanchu Point is approximately 40 kms from Mhow, which in turn is located near Indore, in Madhya Pradesh. Mhow, the erstwhile princely capital of the Holkars, is a typical army cantonment, with an interesting history behind it! In fact, the name in itself is an acronym, which stands for Military Headquarters of War! Very intimidating indeed, when I heard it for the first time, I could almost visualize a veritable “war” being planned here every day!

Mhow cantonment was founded by Sir John Malcolm in 1818; British troops were stationed here to keep a check on the princely states of central India and Rajputana. Mhow has a very temperate climate; since it is beautifully ensconced amidst verdant trees and lush greenery, approximately 20 kms from Indore on the Agra – Mumbai highway (NH 3). It gives an interesting contrast to the bustling industrial town of Indore, which is often referred to as “mini Bombay”. Another little known fact about Mhow is that it is also the birth place of Dr. B R Ambedkar, one of the main architects of our Indian Constitution. His father, a junior commissioned officer in the British Indian Army, was posted here at that time. There was talk about renaming Mhow as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar at some point of time, but it has not materialized till date.

Although simple outwardly as a cantonment, it is unusual in the sense that it is the only place which has droves of Army Officers coming and going every few months, due to the numerous short-term courses which are being held here throughout the year. One can find at least a couple of thousand officers here at any given point of time! Indeed, it is a “grooming ground” for Officers of all ages, to prepare them for their next step on the ladder of success. Mhow is also the base for the infantry of the Indian Army, since it houses “The Infantry School” established here in 1948, which is the oldest and largest training institution of the Army. Thousands of officers and others are trained here annually at Mhow. The Infantry Memorial, a tribute to these brave soldiers stands right in the centre of Mhow, portraying its glory for all to see.

Yes, we too were here making our mark in history, by attending one of the myriad courses, for a duration of three months. Coming back to our picnic, we started on a bumpy and coarse road from Mhow, heading for Wanchu Point on the road to Mandaleshwar. Little did we realize that the entire route till our destination was going to be just as rugged and bumpy.  Let me tell you, all roads in Madhya Pradesh leave a lot to be desired. Each and every road leading out of Mhow, especially during the monsoons, is replete with huge potholes and it is a nightmare driving on these roads during this season.

We drove past a couple of quaint villages, where people were busy hulling the husk from corn cobs. Beautiful wild flowers lined the roadside and we stopped in several places just to admire them. The villages soon gave way to open fields and green tree-topped mountains. It was beautiful indeed; there were small lakes throughout the landscape which looked like little pockets of water, due to the recent rainfall during the monsoon. Some also had a picturesque tree in the middle of the lake! All along the way, we noticed a huge pipeline going through the fields, the Narmada River water is being diverted here to provide for the villages. After the open space, we started climbing a mountain side, at the end of which, we came to a guest house, belonging to the officials of the Narmada River Project. They have three rooms and a small pantry here, which outsiders can also book for the weekend. A lot of visitors to Wanchu Point are locals from Indore, who spend a couple of days here, far from the madding crowd. This place is otherwise nondescript to the outside world. A lot of the Army get-togethers and picnics are also held here and on that day, a group of young officers had come all the way from Mhow on bicycles for a picnic lunch!

The exact “point” after which this place is named is nothing spectacular – just a vantage point from where one can see the landscape below. We hardly stood there for five minutes and promptly made our way to the grass alongside to spread our “picnic baskets”. We were two families out to make the most of our day! We all sat down, with our individual drinks in hand, to play some “Tambola” or “Housie”. We played a wonderful two rounds, with everyone winning some éclairs or Dairy Milk chocolates! The children too had a great time, collecting sticks and stones for their precious scrapbooks! We soon opened our packed lunch and devoured it hungrily, it seemed like the bumpy road did wonders for our digestive system! It was a balmy day and it seemed like a page out of a novel. There were other groups who had also come here for a picnic and everyone was enjoying the lazy weather.

On our way back, we stopped at several places to click some photographs. The view downhill was better than the one from the guesthouse itself. We also slowed down near the village huts to see if we could get some fresh corn-cobs for dinner, but they seemed to have disappeared into oblivion! The villagers must have transported the corn to the nearest marketplace for sale and unfortunately, we could not lay our hands on any! Sitting in our car, with our food getting nicely digested, we headed back home! When we looked back on the day, we felt it was worth visiting this place at least once. As I turned back to check on my son in the backseat, I found that he was fast asleep, holding on to a pink flower in one hand for memory! I think that was the best photograph I ever took till date!