Stuck in a minor traffic jam on the way from Jispa to Sarchu en-route to Ladakh, I found the sight of a road roller being carried on a pick-up truck very interesting. The truck was under contract with the Border Roads Organization (BRO) and was transporting the road roller to a road construction site. The BRO is a division of the Indian Army responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads along the country’s international borders.

The jam had started because another overloaded truck had got stuck in the soft wet ground and could not move around a steep bend on its own. A JCB construction loader was trying to pull it up. Not much progress was being seen till the truck with the road roller appeared. A tourist taxi driver standing next to me commented, “Now everything will get cleared fast. A BRO truck has to pass. The BRO rules in these parts and everybody has to make way for them.” Sure enough, within a few minutes we were all on our way.

A toast to BRO!!