I went out to discover the new face of the National Highways of India along with my wife Divya, and came back very pleasantly surprised. Delhi to Kolkata (1500 km) was a fast, uneventful run on the NH-2 in 29 hours (Approx) Solo driving with constant chitchat of my wife and planned stoppages, for breakfast, lunch, dinner and loo breaks. Left Delhi at 10 PM, running overnight to reach Allahabad at 6:30 AM. Refuelled. Crossed the UP-Bihar border at 10:30 AM, and - glory to God - what a surprise!!! I've travelled the NH2 in Bihar over the years at average speeds of 20 km/h all these years, and here I was doing 120 km/h constantly!!! Slowed down only when I realised that everything - from trucks to bicycles - comes at you on the high-speed lane travelling on the wrong side, and the devil be damned! Some Biharis haven't woken up to the fact that there are two sides to the highway, they consider their side of the road to be the only one, and consider building "two roads side by side" as a colossal waste of money (Sorry Guys). The only major problem faced by me was that I couldn't locate a decent restaurant anywhere in Jharkhand or Bihar area where I can enter with my Wife. Crossed the Bihar-West Bengal border at 8 PM.Crazy truckers in West Bengal race each other at a speed diffferential of 2 km/h, and both lanes of the highway are blocked for minutes on end, with me sitting behind these smoke-belching behemoths at 55 km/h. Two stretches of NH-2 are not yet converted to expressway. One is a 70 km stretch at Allahabad (35 km on either side of the city) where a completely new road will bypass the city altogether. For the time being, it's into the city and out, a few level crossings, and stretches of horrible cobblestoned road for a few km - even early morning, clearing this stretch took us about 1-1/2 hours. On the way back, in dense fog on the night of 3-4 January, it took us 5 hours!!! The other stretch is at Chouparan & Isri Bazar in Jharkhand, for about 30 km. Daytime traffic jam in Isri Bazar held us up for over an hour, and the level crossing there can dissect the underbelly of a low-slung heavily laden car. Trucks frequently break down here too, adding to the chaos. Traffis in Kolkata is much better managed now than I ever remember. Never held up in hour-long traffic jams. You Will Enjoy True India While Driving (My Wife Always Says).