Che Guevara on the Road

First things First…BOP (Bulls on Parade), my Royal Enfield Motorcycle Club has completed its first anniversary…it is a big occasion and we always wanted to celebrate it with an obvious event…yes…A BIKE RIDE!!! and this is how the plan started…November was the anniversary month plus the month when the Annual Pushkar Mela is held so we didn’t waste any time in deciding our destination and straight away went ahead to get the members to accept !!! Dips was my partner-in-crime for the planning…

Pushkar was one place I had always dreamt of going to since my childhood days as long back in 1984 I had gone there as a 4 years old kid with my entire family but obviously I don’t remember anything about that trip and I had heard innumerable stories from everybody around while growing up !!! When I started biking in March 08, I had decided that in November 08 I would definitely ride to Pushkar and things fell perfectly into their place gradually…really want to thank my BOP buddies, my boss (for approving my leave!!!) and God for the same…

Totally we received 8 confirmations for the ride but Puneet Chauhan dropped out one day before the ride due to some office commitments & Kamikaze dropped out due to the worst possible reason which is not even worth mentioning here…I hate both of them for them dropping out…so finally we had 7 riders:
1. Rajiv Sir
2. Sunny Bhai
3. Dips
4. Chaddha Paaji
5. Topgun
6. Che
7. Sunny’s cousin (a mystery to be solved later)

So then the starting point was decided, it was the Leisure Valley Park in Gurgaon, the same place where the erstwhile Gurgaon Cruisers (later renamed to BOP) met for the first time in November 07 as a group…and for nostalgic reasons we decided to start & end our ride from the same place!!! See even Bikers have their emotions & feelings to whom they cling on to…we are not heartless crazy fools which so many people around think us as!!! The time was 5 AM sharp…

Day 1 (7th November 2008): Gurgaon – Ajmer – Pushkar

As always Dips was the first one to reach the venue…this guy is Mr. Perfect when it comes to punctuality and I appreciate him so much for this amazing habit…Chaddha Paaji stayed at my home overnight and we got late due to him as he got stuck in his early morning chores !!! and we reached 15 minutes late…though Dips didn’t yell at me but I felt bad at turning up late which I have never done before on any of BOP Rides/Meets…soon everybody else followed…Topgun called me up and told me that he woke up late and asked us to start and that he would catch up at the breakfast pit-stop…he is one chilled out rider you would ever meet…no worries about any damn thing…always game for everything and one rider which I truly admire…also for his sheer guts as well !!! As he rides a bullet which looks totally unfit for even city riding leave alone a long ride!!! But somehow he manages it…Topgun Bhai…hail your biking spirit!!!

We kept on waiting for Sunny Bhai’s cousin who was delaying our start with every passing minute…but then we heard the unmistakable bullet thump & we were shocked/surprised to see Kamikaze riding his bike!!! He had planned a story with Sunny that he would throw a surprise…but being him he could not digest it for long and spilled the beans to Dips as well!!! We all were happy to see him and soon my anger wavered away!!! And finally we started our ride…30 minutes behind schedule…would never forgive Kamikaze for that!!!

Soon we were blasting on NH-8 in complete pitch darkness which slowly moved to the early morning hues!!! With the Sun trying its best to break away from his sleep!!! The wind was extremely chilly and it was complete fun to ride in such weather and scenes!!! Our tummies soon started to grumble for some Hot Paranthas & Tea!!! and we decided to stop for our breakfast pit-stop…a small little joint named “Rao Restaurant”…the cooks were gradually coming out of their sleep and naturally took lot of time to dish out the breakfast but we didn’t mind that as it gave us a great opportunity for some much needed bak !!! Of course Chaddha Paaji was getting agitated as he hates wasting time waiting for the food to come!!! We started gobbling up the Paranthas without Butter which made Kamikaze quite angry to say the least and he ate just one…but Dips & Sunny were not in any kind of mood to stop and continued their binge for long!!!

After satisfying our tummies we started the blast on NH-8…I was leading the ride all the way to Pushkar…though Sunny didn’t like my way of riding alone and not as a group!!! we had to make an early lunch stop at 12:15 as Rajiv Sir had an official conference call to attend and we utilized that time perfectly…Kamikaze took a small power nap…and we also ordered for a Rajasthani Lunch…with Gatte ki Subzi & Baajre ki Roti…both of which tasted yummy…all this while Sunnny & Topgun had gone ahead and had lunch at the highway CCD…just lounging there in the open…we met them after our lunch and then started the final leg of our journey towards Pushkar…

All this while Sunny Bhai was making Live Videos of all the riders burning the roads on his Handycam and the results came out superbly…all of us are anxiously waiting to get hold of the DVD as promised by Sunny !!! just before Pushkar; me, Sunny, Topgun & Dips halted for the first & last Beer Pit-Stop of our ride to replenish ourselves in the sweltering dry Rajasthan Heat…I have quit alcohol so just had plain water !!! but Dips & Topgun enjoyed chilled beer and an interesting Bak session also took place !!! (as expected) where there is beer how can Bak stay far behind !!! post the beer session Pushkar was just 25 kms away and we reached our Hotel Oasis after some frantic searching…this Hotel was booked by Chaddha Paaji and the place was extremely cozy…had a swimming pool as well & for such a small hotel it was quite surprising…also we were quite close to the Pushkar Sarovar, Gurudwara & the market as well…we couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay at…

The group decided to rest for a bit, get freshened up and head straight for the Mela Ground & the Sarovar after roaming through the ornately dressed-up shops…enroute me & Dips also tasted the famous Rabri Malpua which is a Pushkar delicacy going strong for the last 50 odd years !!! My Dad was born & brought up in Ajmer and he used to come there with his grandfather and he had told me not to miss the Malpuas and like an obedient son I didn’t miss his advice and tasted one of the most delicious dessert I ever had in my entire life !!!

The scenes amidst the Sarovar were simply amazing…the hundreds of Diyas which were lit on the periphery of the Lake made the scenes quite beautiful …after the Lake sojourn our next stop was the Mela Ground to witness the Rajasthani Dance competition which was extremely boring and monotonous with all the groups presenting almost the similar kind of dances on similar kind of tunes…we didn’t spend much time there and headed straight back to the hotel for a Rum session !!! which was an extreme fun session loaded with unlimited Bak & snacks or snakes(as spelt in the menu card) literally forced on to us by our ever helpful attendant Sattu (Satpal) who used to speak broken English which was extremely hilarious even after telling that we were very much Indians and could understand even chaste Hindi but he never budged….his funny one-liners were quite memorable & fun…I enjoyed the delicious Israeli Dinner which was quite decent…Chaddha Paaji quietly had his dinner and went straight to the bed and had none of our non-sense !!! the drinking gang’s alcohol affair went quite late into the night and we all called it a day at 2 AM in the night after a really long day…all of us were awake since almost 5 in the morning…riding through the day and roaming around through the evening….

Day 2 (8th November 2008): A Relaxed day in Pushkar

Saturday started on a sad note when we came to know that Kamikaze had to leave all of us for Gurgaon due to some unavoidable work back home…we all bid him goodbye and started the day on a sad & lazy note…we all got decked up for the Camel & Horse dance competition which was to start at 10 AM at the Mela Ground…me & Chaddha left after a quick breakfast to catch the fun but sadly missed the Camel Race…after some time the entire gang joined us except Topgun who stayed on at the hotel as he had to finish some work…the wait for the events to start was excruciatingly difficult as the heat was painful…plus the large crowd didn’t help us at all…we witnessed all the camel dances and some of the horse dances…but then the heat got all of and we decided to leave…but surely the animal dances were really interesting and something which none of us had ever seen…also the organizers were very strict towards any horse owner caning the animal…one was even disqualified from the contest !!! Maneka Gandhi would have been so happy to see that exit…me & Chaddha had chilled Shreekhand and then went to the Hotel to enjoy in the Pool…and the weather was just about perfect for a splash…me, Sunny & Chaddha had a great time with Dips giving us company and clicking away pics…all this while Topgun was busy finishing his work so that the rest of his trip was not affected & Rajiv Sir was resting in his room…we got out of the pool after almost an hour of watery fun and got ready for our Lunch Adventure…

After some searching we reached the famous Rainbow Rooftop Restaurant which gives an amazing over-the-top view of the Sarovar and supposedly serves great food…apart from the cozy atmosphere & the great scenery the quality of food & service quality was pathetic to say the least…maybe the owner got complacent after getting listed in all Pushkar Websites and forgot that without good food & service everything else in a restaurant becomes secondary after a while…after this disappointing experience we thought of giving our tummies some good stuff to enjoy and what better than another round of Malpuas, Jalebi & Rabri !!! This time everybody joined in and feasted…the next POA was to see the world famous Brahma Temple which is the only temple of its kind in the world !!! as we have Shiva & Vishnu temples but no Brahma temples anywhere else which makes the Pushkar experience even more unique !!! Due to the mad crowds we didn’t go inside the temple but paid our obeisance from outside itself & then did some shopping …after all it was much needed…so many shops finally lured us!!! I bought a Chinese Kung-Fu Fighter Kurta in blazing fiery Red colour!!! And Rajiv Sir shopped for his wife…after that the group divided into two…me, Chaddha & Dips went to the Gurudwara and then planned for another visit towards the Mela Grounds…rest of the gang went back to the hotel and then ventured out for an Off-road-Biking adventure to witness the famous Pushkar Sunset from a view point…
The 3 of us then went back to the Sarovar Ghat & saw one of the most memorable scenes of the Ride…the sunset from the lakeside…and then Dips thought of having a power nap for a while and then meet us again…me & Chaddha decided to head straight to watch the Circus & Maut-Ka-Kuan!!! The scenes there were simply amazing with a mad rush of people enjoying themselves…some enjoying rides, some shopping and some simply roaming around!!! But still the crowd was quite manageable due to the awesome arrangements which the Rajasthan Government had planned for the Mela…the Circus time was quite decent fun with both of us watching one for the first time in our life…but the main adventure was reserved for the Maut-Ka-Kuan which was exhilarating fun…2 bikes & 2 cars speeding like mad-demons in the dome…a heart stopping feat…very dangerous but good fun…after our heart beats almost stopped we headed back to the hotel where another Bak & Sharaab session had already started !!! Once again Sattu was behind our life to order food & snakes as their busy cook used to leave the hotel at 10:30 PM sharp and after that their was no other option than to stay hungry through the night!!! We had a light dinner that night and also slept early as the next day we had to start the return journey at 7 AM…but the adventure streak in Sunny, Dips & Topgun had not finished so they took their bikes out and went to have late night tea and blast the peaceful Pushkar with their Bullet Throttle noise!!! Some crazy guys they are…and the main point to notice is that only these 3 guys had alcohol that night and the 3 sane guys (me, Chaddha & Rajiv Sir) slept peacefully!!! As they say, the bad effects of Alcohol!!! But luckily the 3 of them returned peacefully and slept off after their crazy late-night adventure.

Day 3 (9th November 2008): Pushkar – Ajmer – Gurgaon

All of us were up & running by 7 AM when we got out of the hotel and moved to another famous eating joint…the Garden Restaurant of Hotel Om but sadly only British Breakfast was available so we decided to give it a miss and decided to find a good Dhaba on the highway…so our Pushkar Sojourn finally ended…the magical city was indeed good fun and all of us had an amazing time together…soon the beasts were roaring but the tummies were empty so I slowed down and stopped at a highway Dhaba right in the middle of nowhere and not expecting anything good but atleast something to eat !!! the scene was amazing…the bulls resting before the long journey ahead and we sitting out in the open and waiting for the Paranthas to make an appearance !!! the scene was almost straight out of a Bollywood Movie and once the hot Paranthas finally arrived we were all pleasantly surprised…they were amazingly delicious & fresh…even the Dhaba was just one month old…amidst all this Chaddha was busy calculating the expenses of the ride as he was the treasurer and after his impeccable job he has been officially designated as the BOP Treasurer for time to come !!! I am sure he would do an amazing job unlike our former Navigator Dips who was unceremoniously fired from his job after his Chail Ride Misadventure!!!During this ride also he committed 2 navigating blunders…on the first evening he showed us the wrong way in the Pushkar Market and after walking for some 30 minutes we reached the same spot again!!! And for the second time, he actually took us to the wrong breakfast place…it was actually Hotel Hari Om & not Hotel Om where he took us to!!! I could make out the blunders both the time but saved Dips’ A$$ being a good friend as I knew that he won’t be spared any physical or emotional abuse by our fellow riders!!!

After another great eating experience we moved on and started the blast towards Gurgaon with me leading the pack and firing on all cylinders…I stopped numerous times to click pics of the great views around…there was lots of confusion amongst all of us as we were riding in 3 different groups and calling each other to find each others’ location…but we failed each time…Chaddha was riding alone…Topgun was riding alone…I was riding alone…only Rajiv Sir, Dips & Sunny were together!!! finally some sense prevailed & Sunny, me, Dips & Rajiv Sir met and had lunch together…but Topgun was some 60 kms ahead and kept on waiting for 2 hours for all of us to reach his location…Chaddha was some 80 kms ahead…and I told him to move on alone & reach Delhi as he hates riding in the dark so he was more than happy to move ahead…at around 5:30 we finally reached the place where Topgun was waiting for almost 2.5 hours for us!!! He spent his time sleeping and waiting for some hot babes to come!!! Which never happened and only 4 dirty riders came to him!!! After enjoying Sutta & Tea together we started the last leg of our ride amidst darkness hitting us and traffic slowly thickening up…Chaddha sent me an SMS that he reached home safely & we were quite happy for him as he reached home before sunset...

We finally reached Gurgaon at 7:20 PM at the same spot where the ride started…we hugged each other and wished each other on another ride completed successfully!!! BOP had completed the 1st anniversary celebration together and all of us bid goodbye hoping that more rides would follow & all of us would be together again in November 2009 for the 2nd Anniversary Ride!!!

It was 811 kms of unadulterated fun filled with loads of masti & fun times…and I can safely say that after my Ladakh Ride this would be my next most memorable ride…the presence of Topgun, Sunny & Rajiv Sir surely helped as I had never rode with them in the past and they are real hard riders!!!

BOP has just been one year old and I have already completed 6 rides since March 2008 inspite of 2 of our riders leaving us for further education and I am sure there are more rides to follow in 2009 with more fun and even more adrenaline rush !!!

I would like to mention here that Deepak & Ankur (from RODS Group) wanted badly to ride with us but this being an anniversary ride but we cudn’t allow them to accompany us as we only wanted Bullet Riders to ride with us…I would love to ride with them in the future on another of our rides for sure…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then, Ride safe & enjoy safe sex…
Videos Link: http://www.4shared.com/dir/10335980/7d3e59c4/Anniversary_Ride_Videos.html
Pics Link : http://www.4shared.com/dir/10336738/883a8ad9/Anniversary_Ride_Pics.html

The Jhaag Lake had fascinated me & Dips a lot and we had planned a second ride to the Lake for sure…so the Planning started…I floated a mail to the group and then it began !!! a total of 116 mails…replies, replies and more replies to the extent that Sunny & Viks were shouting at us for fucking around with their already sloth-bear type Internet Bandwidth…Poor souls, but still me and Dips didn’t show them any mercy and continued to merrily replying to each other’s mails…in between Negi also contributed…

So then the Date, Meeting point and Time was decided…31st May 2008 at 6 AM infront of the DT Mega Mall, Gurgaon, surprisingly Dips was the first one to reach !!! followed by Chaddha and me…and then slowly but surely all of the other guys trickled in…the most striking was Sunny in his little-long Beige coloured Undies…proudly showing his legs and also with a very rugged unshaved look…maybe he hasn’t shaved for a month…Inflation is hitting him really hard I guess…its high time the Indian Government did something for him and other hapless Indians…there were 3 first timers as well…Sheriyar, Manpreet and Tsering aka Top Gun…so in total we were 10 guys on our 10 bulls….

And then tragedy struck…just 10 metres post we started I realized I had a flat tyre…it was a heart-shattering moment for me which can’t be expressed in words her…the grief was so much that my spine shivered…my legs tweaked and my eyes were almost watering !!! the Mighty One was struck by a 2 inches screw… in short…I WAS SCREWED !!! I parked my bike and then hopped on to Negi`s beast and utilized the pillion opportunity to click snaps of fellow riders and the inviting Gurgaon – Faridabad Road….

The weather was extremely good for a ride and having watery fun at the Lake !!! we all reached the lake soon and then after 5 minutes of blabbering…Dips shouted…”Pull out the beers Yaar” !!! this sardaar is a Beer Maniac for sure… then everybody pulled out their beer Bottles and Cans in case of Filthy Rich Negi and soon we were gobbling up beer at 7 AM in the morning with bikes, buddies and good weather around !!! it was pure bliss…amidst all this alcoholic revelry Sunny pulled out his Milk Bottle specially packed by his loving wife !!! eyeballs came out…silence struck and birds also went still !!! I mean it was a fuckin Beer Ride and not some Gurgaon Milk Festival…but then Sunny sadly explained the reason and got himself inducted in the Cheers session with a snap to boot !!! we showed our mute sympathy to him and continued sipping beer straight from the bottles…

Then the love for water inside me shook me from inside and I decided to take a plunge in the water…soon I was in my undies and in the water…this initiated others (see I can be inspiration as well to others !!!)…Negi, Tsering, Sunny, Doeger and then Dips followed and we started having beer in the water and going for short swims and underwater Dips… everybody was speaking at the same time and one had to shout to make himself heard !!! believe me having beer in the middle of lake is a kind of fun which has to be experienced for sure…the water at the lake is clean and cold and triples the fun !!! and if you have a certain human being named Negi with you then its just out of this world…his non-sense humour is surely fun and taking his trip is awesome !!! I started to play pranks with him and pulling his leg (yes literally)…

Chaddha, Sheriyar, Viks, Manpreet and Chaddha were cheerful spectators and also part-time photographers whilst we all were havin fun in the water and yes also the transporters of beer to us !!! we all started to shout at them to come and join us… suddenly we saw Chaddha and Sheriyar removing their clothes !!! And joining us for a dip…but 5 minutes later they were out…I guess they missed their respective wives !!! ha ha ha… but Sunny was oblivious of this Married Truth I guess !!! Manpreet and Viks were still to move their ass and come inside… I am sure Viks was in no mood to give us a free show of his impressive Arnold type of physique…so he decided not to take proverbial plunge !!!

The temperature started to heat up and our tummies were empty after working hard in the water and we decided to come out of the water, finish the remaining beers and leave for our next destination, Chaudhary Dhaba for some Butter-Dripping Paranthas and Milky Tea !!! when we reached the Dhaba I don’t know who spotted a empty alcohol bottles junkyard and we got ourselves clicked in front of thousands of empty alcohol bottles…I guess all the bottles emptied by the alcohol guzzling Gurgaon residents comes there !!! there were all brands available…ranging from Jack Daniels, Chivas Regal, Absolut to Blenders Pride, Old Monk and Royal Challenge !!! we also contributed and kept our 10 empty beer bottles in the stack !!! we are never to be left behind in any kind of Community Service !!!

Then the breakfast and the Bakar session followed…with loads of cold drinks to boot…we started to plan the next long ride and the next gang meet…but no concrete conclusion was reached…we all are waiting to start another looooooooooong chain mail extravaganza and troubling the bandwidth again !!! so much for the Internet Revolution !!!

This way the Jhaag Lake Ride ended…it had everything in it…Tragedy…Drama…Emotions…Alcohol…Milk… Water…Cigarettes…Paranthas…Tea…Endless Bakar…it surely had the makings of a Bollywood Movie !!!with so many heroes vying for Screen Space !!! and yes who can forget the Beasts !!! 10 of them…actually 9 if you count out the punctured Mighty One !!!

So here I end my blog with a promise that CHE WOULD BE BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN…

Pics of the ride can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/jha.nishant/BOPJhaagLakeReVisited?authkey=l8Go1fBUj28

“One never forgets his/her first love/kiss/sex/bike ride/tattoo”…I made up this one to make my opening line eye-catching…having bought my Royal Enfield Electra on 15th March 2008 was so eager to get a taste of riding it on the National Highways of India…soon started searching on the net for places around Delhi off NH-8 and Bingo!!!...hit a golden jackpot (Google Zindabad!!!)…BHANGARH…Yes that was the place I wanted to go…a haunted town in the middle of nowhere…some 180 kms away from Gurgaon(that myth got shattered when we finally reached…more details later)…lets continue with the opening paragraph !!!OK I cut the crap and start with the real story now…

The Heroes of this trip were me, Nitin Negi and Pravin Kora…the two props were 2 Royal Enfields both embellished with Che Guevara stickers. Infact I call my Bike “The Mighty One” inspired from the Norton 500 which Che and Alberto Granado rode during their famous South American Motorcycle Diaries…Pravin was a pillion rider and I am sure he is never gonna repeat this mistake ever if he is sane (which I have my doubts about !!!)

We met at 6:45 AM on Friday the 21st March 2008 at the Iffco Chowk and started our trip…soon we hit the biggest fu@#$ Traffic Jam we had ever seen…almost 8-10 kms of Mess due to a fu@#$ huge trailer falling right in the middle of the Highway and blocking roads on the both sides…but our navigator Kora was perfect in his job finding a way out of the mess for me & Nitin and soon we hit an open patch and were roaring again…we stopped on Dhaba to satisfy our empty tummies and soon finished 5-6 stuffed paranthas in no time…had cigarettes and tea and obviously loads of BAK about our careers and some global shit and started again…

Then it was an amazing ride on the Toll Road on NH-8 which we enjoyed a lot overtaking some slow cars and giving way to the faster ones…it went on and on till we hit the Sariska Road and suddenly Negi decided to stop for Pravin (the official photographer of our ride) to take some pics and absorb in the yellow & dry natural beauty surrounding us…we took our bikes towards a hill and started taking snaps…clicking snaps in front of our beasts and taking turns to click (we wanted all 3 to be in focus!!!)…then we started again and then after some time we found a Theka on the road and then some silent looks towards each other and we stopped and enjoyed the not-so-chilled Kingfisher Beers in a makeshift shed cum bar (obviously free of cost !!!) and again the Bak session followed with Negi discussing his College Glory Days and Pravin with his global bull-shitting and me just feeding them with words…as I was getting soaked in the beer (mentally…don’t imagine me bathed in beer)…we started again after asking for the way towards Bhangarh and got to hear the same old 6 words line: “aage hi hai isi road pe”…

On the way Negi’s bike had a minor issue but the master engineer found a way out with a screw driver he got from a roadside shop…its another point that I could not understand a single fu@#$ word coming out of the Local mechanic’s mouth!!!Pravin was at it again…clicking some “Real-Life” pics of innocent Rajasthanis enjoying Hukka and Tea…I guess the “The Getting Clicked Obsession” is a Pan-Indian one and not just restricted to fair damsels…

We hit the road again and then Negi was at it again…he said lets have some more beer…lucky guys we were….found a Theka right in a middle of a sleepy village…picked up this time very chilled Kingfishers…hats off to Mr. Vijay Mallya’s distribution reach…Kudos to the Debonair Business-Man !!! there was this guy drinking Bonnie Scot whiskey at 3 pm on a hot afternoon quite merrily…maybe gulping down his parental or marital woes but was OK talking to 3 nerds who had come all the way from Delhi to visit a Haunted Fort…yes that’s the kind of looks and glares we got from people each time we asked for directions…I missed my good-old college days of Bonnie Scot and gulped some 3-4 shots right from the bottle…with Pravin also joining in…and Negi advising me to chill and don’t go overboard…and me always a good guy agreed and didn’t drink much…we wished the people there good bye and headed towards the last road towards the “Holy Grail” we were looking for…The Bhangarh Fort…some 280 kms from Gurgaon and not 180 as we had thought initially)…

We parked our bikes outside the main gate and entered with company of Langurs and Monkeys (they were so happy to find their 3 lost friends)…believe me people it’s a fu@#$ amazing place and the feeling is seriously pretty strange…Negi was at his best…imaging how the people lived there and all…the normal nostalgia which hits people when they see some old fort…Kora started clicking snaps again merrily and both of us were admiring the place…there are I guess 5-6 temples there…with beautiful carvings and stone murals…but without any statue…I guess some bugger stole them away to Sotheby’s or Christie’s to auction them off to some rich white a$$hole…we had picked 3 beers and went to the top of the fort and started sipping and once again “BAK” followed…and plans of staying overnight or not…where to have food…remember nothing to eat since 9 in the morning…just alcohol residing in our hapless tummies….and it was almost 6 PM…

Moved out of the Fort finally against our wishes as there is a strict warning board which says that nobody can stay inside the Fort after Sunset due to some superstition shit…we followed that Dictum and started to thump again…soon we were in a hustling-bustling Village market…not much hope of food there so thought of moving on and finding a decent dhaba to eat….then the first oh-so-near mishap of the trip…a small helpless goat came running toward my bike and I could not brake in time and I ran over it…fu@#$ all sorts of things started moving in my mind…people beating the hell out of me and me paying them to save my a$$…but that small yet fu@#$ strong goat just got up and ran away…as if saying “F@#$ this speckie guy”…I can take trucks in my stride…what’s this black bullet got to do with me !!! We heaved a sigh of relief and moved on…on an endless road which never seemed to end…on the way saw 4-5 Holika Dahan Fires and people dancing away to glory…kept riding…and then Negi’s masterpiece…this DCE engineer thought that in a Village Petrol Pump they would accept his Credit Card…I mean for them, Visa is an Airport thingy and not some plastic card…as a good Samaritan & a buddy helped him out and for him rolled out crisp Gandhis and got his beast filled…we kept moving on and on without any luck of hitting the highway…soon it became pitch dark and not surprisingly no village had any thing remotely like Electrical power…just some tiny flames flickering slowly…the roads were desolate and we were really feeling damn hungry…it was almost 8 PM.Finally Lady Luck smiled on us and we found “Fouji Da Dhaba”….which “Negi the Genius” renamed “The 10 kms from Highway Dhaba”…had the most amazing dinners of our lives…just not in terms of the flavour and the amount of red-chilly thrown in the food but also in terms of the love with which the guy served us, the speed of making rotis and the satisfaction levels it took us to…almost equal to Mt. Everest in terms of height…the bill amount was a huge surprise…just fu@#$ 84 bucks…I almost fell down laughing from the comforts of the Khaat or Chaar-Paai…we paid that guy a heavy amount of tip which he quickly slipped in his pocket to avoid his owner gorging a share out of it…rested there…had tea…had a Bak session with some villagers about Life in general…Negi enjoyed “Chillam” with them and the villagers were so proud of his smoking prowess wrt the chillam…Negi didn’t show off but I am sure he would have felt proud in his mind !!!

We left the Dhaba with our tummies filled…satisfaction and happiness levels sky-high and with a hope that the NH-8 is just 10 kms away…believe me that was a fu@#$ big kick…soon we saw the 8 lane highway…and off we zoomed…it was extremely chilly…never imagined in our wildest dreams about the cold winds which would hit us from left-right and centre…and we 3 in our half sleeves t-shirts and jeans…but we had to move on and face the menacing traffic on the highway with valor so forgot about the chill anyway…after around 80 kms of non-stop biking stopped on a dhaba again to take a break and have tea…there was this shitty Mithun movie playing and the volume was painfully loud and some people laughing as if they are watching Tom and Jerry cartoon but our Negi was not to be left far behind…he also started watching the movie…I was like what the f@#$…has this guy gone bonkers…but finally the very very loud Altaf Raja song finally moved our rock-music buff away from the scene…and we started again to reach our homes without stopping on the way and reaching our final destination…

It was almost 1 AM in the night when we reached Gurgaon…waited for Negi to show up but I guess he moved directly towards his home in Delhi…I dropped Kora and reached my home…the last stretch of around 80 kms was extremely tough for me…my hands were shivering…my reflexes had gone almost dead…my thighs were paining crazily but the man himself Che Guevara was egging me on from up above to move on like him…I was wearing his tee to get inspiration as well…(not that I need it…he is always in my mind anyways)…and poor old Kora’s a$$ was on fire anyway after a loooooong trip of 570 odd kms on the thick stone-like pillion seat of my bike…

But when I finally reached my home and saw my odo meter the feeling got over me…570 kms on the road…20 hours of non-stop crazy biking exhilaration…it was a feeling I won’t be able to forget in time to come…

The trip had a majority of ups and with the exception of that strong goat our ride was without any mishap…God is Great!!!

Thanks a lot to Negi and Kora for being a part of my first biking extravaganza and I am sure there are lots and lots of such rides to follow and I would be back with another Ride Story…till then Ciao…

Check out the pics of the ride at http://picasaweb.google.com/jha.nishant/TheHauntedSpookies?authkey=QKzFL4BmzMg

41 Hours of Fun, 12 Hours of Biking Madness, 600 Kms clocked, 2 new buddies, Beer at 3 different places, riding on 2 most famous bridges of India, convincing a boy who had ran away from his home to go back and the River Side Peace & Tranquility….I could not have asked for more from our Rishikesh Ride !!!

The Ride started at 5:30 AM on Saturday 19th April from Delhi and ended at 10:30 PM on Sunday 20th April 2008…4 Bikes…5 buddies with 1 very very happy pillion !!! The heroes of the ride were Me, Negi, Dips, Chaddha and TJ(the Pillion)…We started from South Extension on a pleasant morning at 5:30 AM and soon were up and running, picked TJ (Dips’ Buddy) en-route and stopped at a Highway Dhaba for breakfast which included Butter-Dripping Paranthas, Hot Tea and loads of slow service to boot !!! The guy serving us had still not woken up from his deep slumber and we had to shout at him to serve food to we hungry souls !!! The best part was the guy cleaning the chairs in a very very slow motion, I lost my patience and jumped in-between to show him how to do it !!! but sadly he was least interested and nonchalantly walked away to my utter disbelief…

We started again with a promise that we would stop again at the next beer joint to refresh ourselves…there was a huge Traffic Jam on the way due to a Railway Crossing but we smart riders cleared it quite quickly and stopped at a beer joint but sadly there was no beer available…we didn’t lose heart and trusted the Government of India and the Beer Companies to clear the Liquor Licenses and to stock the joints with Beer respectively and soon our beliefs turned into reality and we saw a shop serving Chilled Beer and we hounded the shop and impatiently asked him to give us poor thirsty souls some chilled beer and he obliged quite happily and also giving us some Namkeen to eat it with the Beer !!! What amazing service in the middle of the Highway !!! we were soon done, our tummies flowing with beer and decided to go straight to Rishikesh without any long stops to save time…

By 1 PM we were in Rishikesh and headed straight to Shivpuri for Rafting…sadly due to some medical thingy I have been advised by my Doctor not to do Rafting but I was happy being a part of the Gang…clicking snaps and doing my non-stop blabbering !!! the guys soon finished with the haggling for the rates and started our descent towards the River Bank to get dressed up in their Helmets and Life Jackets and after loads of time wasting by the Rafting Organizers were soon rowing away to Glory !!! I picked up my excitement levels and soon headed to the riverside to sit on the rocks and do some soul-searching with the relaxing Water Sounds and cigarettes to help me concentrate !!! after relaxing for around 45 minutes I headed straight back to Rishikesh to eat a very late lunch at 5:30 PM and also to sit by the riverside again…I landed at the extremely famous “Chotiwala Dhaba” for a sumptuous lunch of a Deluxe Vegetarian Thali which consisted of 12 Food Varieties !!! Quite cheap at just 100 bucks…I met a old British Couple and chatted with them for another hour or so discussing myriad topics ranging from the Traffic & Pollution in India, Bike Rides, How British Tea is made and also the amazing food which we get here !!! it was a great time we spent and bid farewell and then I headed straight to the River side to observe the hundreds of people who come to the city and enjoy in their own different ways…there were so many emotions around me of devotion, despair, happiness and the bliss of newly wed couples…and amongst them was a kid sitting on the stairs crying profusely with his head covered up in a towel for some good 10-15 minutes…I just could not control myself and walked straight upto him to talk to him and to know what made such a young kid so sad…and the thing which rattled me was a bag lying next to him through which I suspected that he had possibly ran away from his home…it was tough convincing him to talk to me…but slowly he opened up and I got to know that he had a major fight with his Dad over his performance in an engineering entrance test to the most elite Engineering Institutes of India and he was so depressed and broken up that he decided to run away with just 130 bucks in his pocket and few of his clothes…I tried all means to convince him and cheer him up…at times throwing imaginary stories of people succeeding even after so many failures !!! he slowly and surely got interested and I succeeded in getting his Dad’s Mobile Number and was lucky coz he was in Rishikesh looking frantically for his son and had rushed from Haridwar for him…talked to his dad and broke the happy news to him and soon they met again…they both thanked me and I wished the Kid the very best of luck…felt really good to be a part of a happy ending !!! then to enjoy even further I took a Boat Ride on the River Ganges with so many cheerful kids around me playing with water and eating candies and soon got lost in the Irony of life !!! one kid so sad and a host of others playing away to Glory !!!
Then I was joined by the rest of the Gang who had a ball of a time while Rafting and they were also dead hungry and we were again back to the Dhaba where I had amazing noodles and the rest of the Gang gobbled up the filled-to-the brim Thalis in no time at all…Chaddha enjoyed his Lassi gleefully and all of us were on seventh heaven after the satisfying meal…then we started the task of finding a very cheap hotel for our night halt and succeeded in finding a decent room at 350 bucks each with Negi sacrificing himself to sleep on the floor !!! what an amazing guy…I would not be able to pay up for his sacrifice ever…Negi if you are reading this…YOU ROCK MATE !!! then me and Negi went to search for beer but our bad luck…it was the day of some meaningless elections it was a Dry Day so we decided to sleep without beers in our belly but me and Negi still had a drink !!! so what it was cane sugar juice…we still enjoyed our drinks for the night !!! then it was all the way TJ’s show for the next 1 hour before we slept !!! he was all over us with stories from the US about the good times he had at Mardi Gras in New Orleans and his other adventures undertaken whilst exploring some interesting aspects of the American Way of Life !!! all of us really got excited and while this was taking place Dips was fast asleep least interested in the lousy erotic shit we were raving about and soon we also decided to hit the beds to have a nice sleep before starting the day ahead refreshed for a long ride back home !!!

Morning was the usual…we slowly leaving our beds and getting ready before heading to another Dhaba to enjoy another bout of Paranthas and Lassi !!! then we picked up our bikes and headed straight to the Laxman Jhoola to ride our beasts on the bridge and scare people away !!! then we had a good long round of the city and seeing people all around ogling at our bikes !!! after riding on the Ram Jhoola and clicking snaps we headed back to the Hotel to pay the bills and picked up our stuff and hit the highway to start the ride back home…TJ bid us goodbye as he headed to Dehradun to meet his cousin there…once again our next stop was a beer joint only !!! we met inform of IIT. Roorkee and enjoyed street shop juice and snacks and went to a dingy bar for our share our beer and then a nice little cozy restaurant for our lunch…the fist non-vegetarian meal in 2 days…really enjoyed the food and started again…the heat was bad…and especially the dust on the UP roads made the ride quite arduous…but still the whole experience of riding drives all the troubles away anyway…and we all care little about the quality of roads and the dust…atleast I do !!! after that I again wanted to have some more beer and stopped at a highway beer joint but we were disappointed as the Beer was flat and warm…drank just half bottle each…Negi was really sad and agitated !!!

Then we had a long 100 kms ride and stopped at a Dhaba for tea and chips…the crowd at the Dhaba was so loud and boisterous that we could not even talk…the moment they left we were so relieved not to hear the cries and shouts of so many people at the same time !!!after that the first and the last mishap of the trip…my bike’s petrol got over without any warning and my bike was just dead...Negi the Great again obliged with some fuel from his bike and we started again towards Delhi amidst maddening Traffic…honking of vehicles and zillions of Marriage Functions on the way !!!

By 10 we hit the Delhi Border after a an extremely satisfying Trip…the trips had all highs and no lows to talk about…I got 2 new buddies in Dips and TJ…and lest I forget…Chaddha is my MBA junior and he has had a Bullet since year 2000 and this was his first Bike Ride !!! and I am damn sure he wont forget this in years to come…

The next ride which I would plan would be most probably to Jim Corbett National Park and I really expect atleast 7-8 riders the next time to multiply the fun and interact and make new friends !!!

You can view the pics of the ride at http://picasaweb.google.com/jha.nishant/TheSpiritualJunkies?authkey=To8K1b4_JKg and http://picasaweb.google.com/diptinder.chhabra/BullsOnParadeToRishikesh

Till then…Cheers & Safe Riding…Enjoy Life & Take Care….

Che would be back again on the road !!!