Good Times, Bad Times

Most people think that its just the two of us doing Living on the Edge and The Great Escape thats not true, its the entire team at work. We also do a lot of management as Miditechs grown bigger, there are more boring bureaucratic details to deal with so we get out less and less often.

Nikhil Alva: I get very crabby if I havent travelled for some time, even though when I do have time off, I spend it sleeping!

One experience Ill never forget was the first shoot we did for Off the Beaten Path, a Delhi Doordarshan production. They okayed the script in October 93, and we had just two days to organise everything financing, equipment, cameramen, the works. Wed decided to motor up the Manali-Leh road to Ladakh.

Now the passes shut by 20th October, so we were in a major hurry. We had a rickety, old diesel jeep and no one told us that diesel freezes in Ladakhs temperatures. As it was, there were the cameraperson, the sound recordist, the sound assistant and the equipment packed into the jeep.

It took us 1100 km in, and then the engine seized, just five days before we got to Manali. We knew we were in trouble, even though we got it working. By the time we got to Rohtang Pass, there was no one there except the army, which was moving down itself. When we got back in the jeep, it wouldnt start. The diesel had frozen, but we didnt know that. A passing army jeep enlightened us made us light the stove, open the pipes. We got it going through Bara Lacha and up to the army checkpoint at Zing Zing Bar.

The army warned us that if we got stuck, they wouldnt be able to get us down once the pass was shut. Well, we were exactly halfway between there and the last checkpoint, when the jeep says, sorry, no more. To make matters worse, Niret had started getting the first symptoms of high-altitude sickness. Thankfully, an Army jeep stopped, and took us down to the next checkpoint.

Naturally, the Army wasnt too thrilled to see us. But they sent Niret and one other person in a jeep that was going to Ladakh, and the equipment and the rest of the team moved on in another jeep some time later. There was just me, stuck there with the jeep, waiting for some sort of help.

It came in the form of the last bus that season from Dharamshala to Ladakh. One person got down in the wilderness a guy who was the Dalai Lamas driver. There were just the two of us, with no apparent means of getting out of there. In just 15 minutes, he got that machine started! We drove halfway to Leh and nothing went wrong. Then there, he said, Okay, Ive got to get some sleep. You sit in the jeep and turn the ignition on and off at five minute intervals so that the engine doesnt cut out.

I sat there the whole night, about six to eight hours, turning the damn thing on and off. And at 5 am, he was back and we got to Leh without incident. But I was very ill after that manic seven days driving to get there, finally I didnt get to see a thing apart from the hotel and the Air India office. Theres some sort of jinx, I think. Weve done a lot of stories out of Ladakh, but Ive never been able to go. Recently, I went again. And we were two days behind schedule, and once again, all I was able to see in Ladakh was the Air India office and the hotel.

Niret Alva: I consider myself a square I like nice, comfortable destinations. So when we did a Great Escape on Mauritius recently, it was the perfect destination for me. It was a Club Med holiday we all stayed in a village. Lovely rooms, but no television since the focus was on group activity. Breakfast and lunch were served at fixed hours, and the rest of the time was all organised.

What I loved was to feel that people were so crazy about India a lot of them spoke perfect Hindi, watched the film world carefully. You know, whos having an affair with whom.

I went there not expecting much, but it was mindblowing. Normally, holidays arent fun but work you wait for just the right light so that you can complete the shot, that sort of thing. And even if youre travelling to fabulous locations, its usually on a tight schedule. To all the people who think that travel reporting is glamorous, let me tell you that its just another day at the office youre always thinking about the next shot, the next problem.

But Mauritius was so different. Its a small place 60 km north to south and 50 km east to west. But we were shooting activities, not the place, and so I could relax. The food was awesome this island has all kinds of things, including ones that you think cant be cooked. Im a little conservative, so I just experimented a bit with seafood. No chicken feet for me. Maybe Im too staid... I should try more stuff! I did try the meats in different stages of cooking, but frankly I ate more salad than anything else.

The activities were specific to Club Med. Its chiefly aimed at single people, so there were a lot of games aimed at breaking the ice. Musical chairs, and something called body sculpting in the water... that was interesting. I noticed that Indians tend to be very embarrassed about this one!

It was very regimented: the emphasis was on coming out and meeting people. But the Club Med guys do manage to get you involved. Theres one exercise where youre blindfolded and you have to feed each other curd.

It was really a nice experience. When youre going to a phoren country, you expect it to be different, but here you wish you could transport Mauritius home. Its like India, but nicer cleaner, less polluted.

Of course, one of the fringe benefits of going as a reporter is that I could afford to do this. Otherwise, Id have had to think hard about the cost it is a pretty expensive place. I would love to go on my own, but I probably wouldnt be able to go for more than two or three days.

No, my ideal relaxation isnt travelling. The ideal is sleeping without a care in the world without phonecalls. Sleep is the perfect rejuvenation for me. Of course, I dont get nearly as much of it as Id like!

(Nikhil and Niret Alva are the founders of Miditech Films and produce several TV serials)