bArFaNi bAbA

Cathedral Church of the Redemption

2010-10-22T22:44:00.001+05:30

Surely the Lord is in this place..this is none other then the house of God.

The story of the Cathedral Church of the Redemption India revolves around its journey from an Englishman's congregation to a multicultural one. In its diversity and its community work, the present Church has come to fulfil the founders' vision of a common home, a meeting place for all sects and creeds.

Tucked away from the bustle of New Delhi, in the quiet Church lane north of Jaipur Column and to the west of Parliament House at North Avenue, stands the Cathedral Church of the Redemption India. The Church's centralized plan blends neatly with Sir Edwin Lutyens city plan. With Viceroy Lord Irwin's keen support, the Church, built on Henry Alexander Medd?s (1892-1977) design, was opened for public worship on Sunday, 18 January 1931. H.A.N. Medd's design was inspired by the Palladio Church of Il Redentore in Venice as well as Lutyens, Hampstead church.

The Church, a witness to nearly eight decades of history, is a sanctuary of quiet meditation, prayer and generous giving. It is home to a vibrant parish and a wonderful tribute to Indian Christian life.

The linear plain exteriors of the church are in contrast with the high rounded arches inside. The spiritual aura of the church is enhanced by the light streaming through its crescent windows and a group of angels that look down from the curved roof above the altar. Regular mass takes place at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption on Sunday mornings. Apart from this, the cathedral also hosts religious concerts on festivals such as Christmas and Easter. It also maintains a personal choir, called the Capital City Minstrels. You can catch these concerts of choral music and carol singing on religious occasions and festivals

Jeet ke Bhalle - Raja Garden

2010-08-18T08:51:00.000+05:30

Jeet ke Bhalle - I heard this name several time from my father. And during his lst visit to my house before his death he brought the same Dahi-Bhalle for me. So somehow I have bit emotional attachment with this shop.

This little shop at Raja Garden is surely leaving its reputation since last 40 years. At 35 bucks a plate, its more than enough of one full meal. Finding the place isn't too hard. Its just close to Delhi metro pillar number 380 at Raja Garden.

Dahi Bhallas which have been selling like hot cakes since the past 40 years. Soft, creamy and scrumptious and spicy with red south and green chatni. Masala can be as per your choice. These are a must-have for every foodie like me :-)

Things changed, but not the taste of these Dahi-Bhalle which my father brought for me 4 years back.

Sultan Garhi - Country’s first tomb

2010-08-15T20:44:00.002+05:30

Country’s first tomb, Sultan Garhi built by Sultan Iltutmish in 1231 for his eldest son and Razia Sultana’s brother, Nasiruddin Mahmood, situated in the woodlands of Vasant Kunj [opposite Sector C, Pocket 9, Vasant Kunj in Delhi. At that time this place was known as Malkapur.

Iltumish was the first Sultan of the Slave Dynasty who ruled in Delhi from 1210 to 1236 A.D. The area where the Ghari (meaning: cave) tomb is situated, was part of the first city of medieval Delhi known as the Slave Dynasty that ruled during the period 1206 to 1290

It is noteworthy that people of neighbouring areas of Mahipalpur and Rangpur consider it as the tomb of saintly ‘peer’ and come here for worship. It is a venerable place of worship and prayers for both Hindus and Muslims. For new brides of these villages it is almost a must to visit this place for worship.

Satpula :The Bridge of Seven Openings

2010-04-05T23:03:00.009+05:30

On the main Press Enclave Road near Khirki Village, their is a interesting 14th century waterworks known as Satpula (`Seven Bridges’). Satpula, a weir about 65m high, was built by Mohammad bin Tughlaq in 1323. When Mohammad bin Tughlaq ascended the throne of Delhi, he built a new city for himself called Jahanpanah. Satpula or the weir is an impressive example of the waterworks projects carried out under the Tughlaq dynasty.

Satpula consisted of a solidly built stone dam with seven wooden sluices to regulate the flow of water from an artificial lake (filled with rainwater) to the fields outside the city.

Satpula itself, with its solid walls and seven arched openings, has recently been restored by the Archaeological Survey of India. You can climb up onto the wide parapet and see the structure for yourself, but don’t expect anyone to guide you around—there isn’t likely to be anyone there. Satpula can be visited any time, and there isn’t any entry fee.

Delhi War Cemetery

2010-03-27T19:36:00.039+05:30

3rd in the series of 'Things to do & see in Delhi before you die.

Deserted and lonely un-guarded entrance

How to reach there :

Proceed to Delhi Cantonment by taking the Ring Road in the direction of Naraina from Dhaula Kuan multi-level crossing and continue for 3 km to reach Brar Square traffic junction. There are roadside boards on both sides of this junction. Take a right turn over the railway crossing and after approximately 1km, you will find the cemetery on the right hand side of the road. Do not expect any one , not even a guard at this cemetery. Its totally deserted and a lonely place. Only crisp sound of birds will welcome you. And don't surprised in case you find Love Birds too in the cemetery. The gates are permanently locked. So you have to jump over to get inside. Don't' forget to remove your shoes before you step in on well maintained grassy lawn as a respect to brave soldiers. And remember, this place is not a picnic spot.

Historical Information:

Delhi War Cemetery was created in 1951 when graves from many cemeteries in northern India were moved into the site to ensure their permanent maintenance. Among them are graves from cantonment cemeteries in Allahabad, Kanpur, Dehra Dun and Lucknow. There are now 1,022 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War buried, or commemorated by special memorial, in this cemetery together with a number of war graves of other nationalities, mostly Dutch.

In 1966, 99 First World War burials were also moved into the cemetery from Nicholson Cemetery, Kashmir Gate, Delhi. This War Cemetery also contains the DELHI 1914-18 MEMORIAL, commemorating 153 casualties buried in Meerut Cantonment Cemetery where their graves could no longer be maintained.

More than 25,000 servicemen of the forces of undivided India died during the Second World War in non-operational zones.

Jashn-e-Khusrau (4th to 14th March 2010 )

2010-03-06T13:49:00.017+05:30

___(Meraj Ahmed Nizami & party) ___ (Ghaus Md Nasir Niazi, Pakistan)

Jashn-e-Khusrao celebrates the sufiana kalaam ( mystical poetry of Islam ) of Amir Khusrau(1253 -1325) rendered in the shrine of his beloved pir, Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya , the Kalaam has been kept alive for over 700 years by the Shrine qawawals. The tradition of qawwali as told by the qawwals, begin with Amir Khusrau who trained some chosen talented boys in the art.

The festival begins at the Basti’s Mughal-era Chaunsath Khambha. Lying next to Mirza Ghalib’s tomb, the white-marble monument will host qawwali concerts by artists from India and Pakistan.

Dates and time: 5th, 6th, 7th; all at 6.30 pm.

On 10th, 6.30 pm, the action moves to India International Center (IIC), with a poetry recital and a photo exhibition. From 12th to 14th, Qawwali sessions will be hosted in the IIC lawns

Agrasen ki Baoli

2010-03-03T15:24:00.008+05:30

Things to do and see in Delhi before you die.

Second in this series is Agrasen ki Baoli

Surrounded by business towers and posh residential buildings , Agrasen ki Baoli, a 14th century ancient step-well is a surprise for many. This baoli is a designated protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), is a 60 meter long and 15 meter wide with 104 stone steps descending into the well’s dried bottom . Its just close to Hailey Road near Connaught Place. Hardly 10 minutes walk from KG Marg.

Although there are no known historical records to prove who built Agrasen ki Baoli, it is believed that it was originally built by the legendary king Agrasen during the Mahabharat epic era and rebuilt in the 14th century by Agrawal community. Baoli or bawdi is a Hindi word for step well. Flanked on both sides by niches, chambers and passageways, have three levels.

As you enter, gurgling sound of hundreds of pigeons welcome you. Walk down the stairs and listen the silence. As you reach the bottom the skyline disappears and daylight fades.

Centuries ago, this was a reservoir as well as a summer refuge for heat-stricken citizens, living in pre-Lodhi times.

There is no ticket for entrance but you hardly sees any visitors, except some love couples or people like me who spend most of the time on road and always interested to explore something new.

Where: Hailey Road, near KG Marg, Connaught Place Time 9am-5pm

Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

2010-02-27T12:36:00.011+05:30

Things to do & see in Delhi before you die.

First in this series is Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, the shrine of the 14th century sufi saint.

Located at basti of the same name (Nizamuddin Basti), the Dargah is only accessible through narrow bylanes. In case you are coming here by car then park it on Mathura Road, next to Nizamuddin police station, and take a short walk. Normally crowded Basti streets are empty in the early morning.

Inside, candles are burning on a few unknown tombs jutting out from the floor. A pilgrim is sitting in meditative contemplation. The door to Hazrat Nizamuddin’s tomb is already open for the day. Sneak in to take a look (if you are a woman, peek through the stone jaalis for you will not be allowed in). Fresh roses are placed on the saint’s grave.

Built in the same courtyard and period, the Jamatkhana mosque, a few steps left to the Dargah, has a dozen odd people praying in front of its Western wall. Maybe it’s the pre-dawn darkness, or the moment’s sanctity, or the building’s historical worth or a mix of all, but the sights and sounds feel as illusionary as an early morning dream.

And when, the black sky above the Dargah’s Dome change to pale blue, the Dargah’s dome looks as heartbreakingly beautiful as my lover’s teardrop.

Samosa at Karol Bagh

2010-02-24T16:05:00.016+05:30

Today when I was driving thru the narrow lanes of Karol Bagh to avoid the main road rush, I spotted this small shop with lot of samosa ( my weakness ) and many customers sitting inside. Got curious to try it out since I visit Karol Bagh too often for work.
Actually this lane runs parallel to Pusa road. You can enter this lane from Jessa Ram Hospital side. There are only few shops there so you can easily make out where this shop is.

The shop is quite old .Only one old guy manage it. He said that samosas were being fried and I have to wait for 10 minutes. This old man enjoys customer loyalty so much so that people actually comes from as far as Trans Yamuna to eat his Samosas. One customer told me that he has came from Malka Ganj only to eat Samosa.

Now coming to the Samosa,s the main reason why it is famous is because they do not fill the mashed potatoes, but they cut them into small pieces, roast them and then fill them. Samosas are quite light with not much oil , the old man had taken his sweet time to fry them, this ensured that the crust was nice and crispy. The potatoes has subtle spices, nothing over powering the flavor, every bite and experience in itself.

After having smosas I start chatting with Old man , Pandit Ji who is basically from Rani Khet but came to Delhi in 1942. The shop war originally owned by his mama ji and he worked with them since the beginning. Mama Ji died 5 years back and now at the age of 86 he alone managing this shop. He also told me that Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel were the big fan of his samosas and visited this shop several times. Wife of Somnath Chatterji also visited this shop for his Sondesh ( Bengali sweet ). He has 5 daughters , one of them in US and another one working in Delhi Police.

He also offered me some Sandesh made from "Kajoor Ka Gud".

Rate :

Samosa - Rs 5/- per piece
Sondesh - Rs 5/- per piece

Delhi Radio Cabs

2010-02-22T22:38:00.005+05:30

Here are some advantage of availing services of Radio Cab:

- The cars are very new and well maintained.
- Maruti Esteems and Tata Indigo Marinas.
- Can be pre-booked.
- Air-conditioned.
- More comfortable than any other cab.
- Boot space is good, and you don't have to pay extra for piece of luggages.
- Drivers reliable and courteous
- They run by meter and will not overcharge.
- They are tracked by GPS by their companies and connected via radio sets.

If you are going by meter its only Rs.15 per Kilometer. Which is around 10% higher that other pathetic cabs. Night charges are extra, I guess 25-30% of the metered fair.

To Book , you can dial following helpline numbers :

Megacabs - 011-41414141
Easycabs - 011-43434343
Quickcabs - 011-45333333
Delhi Cabs - 011- 44333222, 44222222
Metro radio cabs - 011-29222000
Miles Travellers - 0124 – 2341545
Carz on rent - 011-41841212, 1800111212, 9971399308
Routes Car rentals - 011-44404440
Meru Cabs - 011-44224422
Smaart Cab - 011-46474647
Komfy Cabs - 0124-4777888

Delhi street Food vendors

2009-10-21T12:23:00.003+05:30

(Bombay Bhel poori to Mumbaia, Thakery effect )

(Pani-Puri wala )

Namkeen wala

Kachoris at Parivahan Bhavan

2009-05-29T19:31:00.002+05:30

( Me standing in front of Kachoris )

This shop seems to be favorite of all the offices around it. There is no name of the shop. But you ask any one around Parliament and he Will guide you.

His kachoris are damn good but I will give 6 out of 10 for aalu sabji. I often visit this shop when ever I visit that area to meet my clients. Normally I take Kachoris and Tea , but even Bread pakoras and samosas are also good.

Name of the owner : Pradeep , son of Late Giriraj Kishore who started this shop.
Location : Opp All India Radio, adj Ministry of Road & surface Transport office
Kachori Per plate : 16/-

Satpal ke Chole Bhaturey

2009-05-02T21:10:00.003+05:30

Satpal ke Chole Bhaturey is famous in Janak Puri. He does his business only during weekly market( Shani Bazar ) on Saturdays near C4-F block. I am eating his bhaturas since last two decades and still always wait for Saturdays to have it again.

He prepares Bhaturas in Desi Ghee which is his specialty. Chaoley are mouth watering and perfect blend of masalas and served with onion and seasonal pickle.

Price = Rs 25/- per plate

Lazy Days

2009-05-02T11:01:00.000+05:30

Small clip of Summer Holidays :-)

Gupta Ji Halwai

2009-04-29T09:29:00.003+05:30

Babu Lal Gupta Ji, our traditional Halwai since last 25 years. This man has done catering for all our family functions. He is also famous for his Kachoris which he prepares every day morning and evening with delicious Aalu sabji.Perfectly deep-fried with a mouth-watering stuffing.
He is running this shop since 1973.

Address : WZ-430/2 ,Possangi Pur Market
Telephone : 011-25553803
Land Mark : Behind A5-B Block, Janak Puri
Food Type : Vegetarian
Food Items : The Famous Gupta Ji ki Kachori
Per Plate : Rs. 10/-

UPSC Chatwallah

2008-08-24T22:20:00.002+05:30

The UPSC Chatwallah shot to fame when he disclosed his real income under the volutary disclosure scheme during the emergency. That was when the city woke up to his existence, although generations of young people taking the UPSC exams haven't missed his chat. For the discerning palate, though, his Bhalle Papri Chat won't taste any different from what's available elsewhere, but the crispy Gol Gappas will definitely impress you.

Address: Shahjahan Road, Delhi, India-110069
Land Mark : In the lane beside UPSC building
Food Type : Vegetarian
Food Items : Bhalla Papdi, Gol gappa, Aloo Tikki and Faluda Kulfi
Avg. Food Bill for 2 : Rs. 40/-
Timing : 1:00 PM-7:00 PM
Parking Facility : Easy.

Jugal Kishore Ramji Lal

2008-08-24T21:01:00.001+05:30

Amidst the sights and sounds of Chandni Chowk, this place is renowned for its refreshing fruit chaat.

Address: 13, Dujana House, Chawri Bazaar, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi.
Ph: 9811353076 (mobile).
Opening Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Cost: Around 60 rupees for two people.
What's Good: The fruit chaat (fruit salad with a twist) is the specialty here.

Prince's Paan Chaat Corner

2008-08-24T21:00:00.001+05:30

This up-market place is perfect for those who want to sample Delhi's delicious street food but aren't keen on venturing into the depths of Chandni Chowk. It's got a great following of expats owing to its posh residential and shopping location, and strict hygiene standards.

Address: 29, M Block Market, Greater Kailash I, New Delhi.
Ph: 29236364.
Opening Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Cost: Around 250 rupees for two people.
What's Good: The gol gappas (fried crispy shells filled with a watery mixture of potato, chilli, and tamarind), also known elsewhere India as pani puri.

Bishan Swaroop

2008-08-24T20:59:00.001+05:30

Bishan Swaroop can be challenging to find but is definitely worth the effort. It's hidden away in one of Chandni Chowk's unruly side streets, which helps it retain an old-world feel. There's only a few items on the menu, but what this place makes, it makes well.

Address: 1421, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi.
Ph: 9818364070 (mobile).
Opening Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Cost: Around 50 rupees for two people.
What's Good: The aloo kulla (boiled potato that's scooped out and filled with chickpeas and garnished with spices and lemon).

Shree Balaji Chaat Bhandar

2008-08-24T20:56:00.001+05:30

If the sign of a good place to eat is its popularity with the locals, then this shop has to be one of the best places for chaat in Old Delhi. Its decor is average but it serves up an incredible variety of delicious snacks. Adventurous eaters must try it.

Address: 1462, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi.
Ph: 23280579
Opening Hours: Midday until 10 p.m.
Cost: Around 80 rupees for two people.
What's Good: The papri chaat (crispy fried dough wafers, served with boiled potatoes, boiled chick peas, chilis, yoghurt and tamarind chutney).

Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar

2008-08-24T20:50:00.001+05:30

Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar dishes up an enticing selection of authentic chaat. The service is friendly and the food offers good value for money.

Address: 77, Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi (opposite McDonalds).
Ph: 23282806.
Opening Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Cost: Around 80 rupees for two people.
What's Good: The gobi muttar samosas (crispy pastries stuffed with cooked cauliflower, peas, and spices) are very popular.

Special Choley Bhaturey Corner

2008-08-22T13:24:00.001+05:30

This is at municipal market near the Super Bazaar in Connaught Place. The market is in a small lane right next to Super Bazaar, adjoining Shankar Market. If you are standing in front of Super Bazaar, facing it, it's to your right. Go down the lane, and you'll find the Special Chholey Bhaturey Corner, as it's called, at the very end.

The chholey came with a dollop of green chutney, with a green chilli pickle and a sour mango pickle on the side. The bhatureys were stuffed with paneer, giving the crispy bread a soft touch. One plate, consisting of a good helping of chholey and two hot bhaturey, comes for Rs.18.

Nand Di Hatti

2008-08-22T12:18:00.001+05:30

This pigeon-hole in a supremely unlikely, hard-to-find location serves some of the best Channa Bhature that you're likely to find in the city. Made with pure ghee, and served with a home-made pickle that varies from season to season, it's a treat. Be sure to carry your own bottled water along.

Location : 29, Pan Mandi, Sadar Bazar, Delhi

Chacha’s Chhole Bhature. - Kamla Nagar

2008-08-22T12:10:00.001+05:30

This is a small shop, with no sitting arrangement. A meal of surprisingly non-greasy Alu Bhature, with the lip-smackingly delicious chholey coupled with perfectly fried potatoes, fresh onions and green chillies, all without having to stand in a long line of drooling undergrads!

Chacha’s also sells his secret ingredient — the chana masala, something that is not advertised even at the shop

Nagpal’s Chhole Bhature

2008-08-22T11:09:00.001+05:30

Nagpal’s chhole are full-bodied and zesty, and his bhature are wonderfully soft and speckled with paneer inside. And Nagpal has just the thing to accompany a plate of his chhole bhature — a cold glass of sweet lassi, sourced from the shop next door. The two together will set you back by no more than Rs. 38

Location: As you come south on Josip Broz Tito Marg, don’t take the Moolchand flyover, but the slip road on the left of it. Proceed straight through the intersection with Ring Road, and then take the first left. After about 300m, you’ll see a market with a fruit juice stall on the corner. Nagpal’s is at the other corner of the same block. Or, just ask anyone around that area. Yes, anyone.

Timings: 7:30am - 2pm
everyday.

Sitaram Dewan Chand’s Chhole Bhature

2008-08-22T11:01:00.001+05:30

Sitaram Dewan Chand’s shop is a small affair, but with the facility of tables on the pavement outside, at which you can stand and eat.

Sitaram’s fresh bhature are quite as soft and fluffy as those at Nagpal's. But they certainly trump Nagpal in the taste department. For one, the bhature are even more liberally stippled with paneer shreds. But that is not all that makes them so special — it is also the fresh coriander, and the variety of spices (including fennel, pomegranate seeds, and others that I couldn’t unravel) that are mixed into the flour.

Of course, the zesty chhole, served with green chillies and onions, are a favourite in of themselves.

Location: The address is 2246, Chuna Mandi, Paharganj. This is on the street (technically, “Rajguru Marg”). The shop is on the ground floor of the building which houses Hotel Chanakya.

Timings: 8am to late afternoon

Frontier Samosa Shop

2008-08-21T09:22:00.001+05:30

Want to Eat Good Samosas, then you should try Frontier Samosa Shop on Punchkuiana Road, Near Lady Hardinge Medical College, Cannaught Place.

Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala

2008-08-21T08:54:00.001+05:30

Natraj Dahi Bhalle Wala- talk about a functional name! This little kiosk in Chandni Chowk is surely reaping the benefits of specialization. At 20 bucks a plate, I don't mind driving 50 kilometers and waiting in hour long queues for my fill of these blissful dahi bhalla's. Natraj is almost a landmark in Chandi Chowk, so, finding the place isn't too hard.

Dahi Bhallas which have been selling like hot cakes since the past 50 years. Soft, creamy and scrumptious, these are a must-have for every foodie.

You cant miss it, as you come out from the Chandni Chowk Metro Station, the narrow lane just passed thru in front of this shop. Things changed, but not at Natraj.

1396 , Chandni Chowk , Delhi- 110006
Near Central Bank

Japani samosa - Lajpat Rai market, Old Delhi

2008-08-21T00:18:00.001+05:30

Delhi's really unique samosa is not your regular triangular flour puffs. It is the Japani samosa found in an Old Delhi lane.

A Japani samosa is actually not a true-blue samosa. It certainly does not look, taste or behave like the conventional samosa. It's a big, layered puff pastry - something like a cheese puff - with a delicious filling of lightly spiced potatoes and peas. The samosa is doused with a layer of chholey - and the two together are like those unforgettable pairs of Hindi cinema - say, Raj Kapoor and Nargis, or Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. Or, if you insist, Govinda and Dilip Dhawan.

Walk up to Jama Masjid and then take a rickshaw to Moti Cinema Hall. After getting down at the mouth of Dariba, the old silversmiths' hub, take the road between Moti Cinema and Lajpat Rai Market. And right there is Manohar's Japani Samosa.

Poetic logic?
Nobody quite knows why the samosa is called Japani. Umesh, the friendly owner, doesn't know the reason, but knows that it has been called so since its very inception in 1949.

The crispy outside and the soft inside of the samosa sum up an interesting bite. The bland pastry goes well with the vegetable filling. And the chholey leaves its tangy taste behind.

Dhai Bhalley - Asaf Ali Road

2008-08-20T22:43:00.001+05:30

If you take the straight road, under the Minto Bridge, from Connaught Place to Asaf Ali Road, you will find the dahi bhalley man on the left immediately after a small roundabout. There is no signboard, and no glittering neon lights, but you know you are at the right spot because of the crowd around him. The dahi-bhalley wallah is surrounded by several earthenware pots, or matkas. One has curds in it, another has the sweet-and-sourwater that goes into golgappas.

What makes him different from the other papri-chaat that you get in different parts of the city is the lavish use of ginger in his chaat. My dahi-bhalla papari (Rs.15 for a plate) consisted of one large dahi bhalla. He had layered this with thin slivers of ginger. On top of that came a layer of papri. To this he added a fistful of boiled chickpeas and cubed potatoes. And then came the curds, followed by green and red chutneys.

Fateh Ki Kachori

2008-08-20T22:38:00.001+05:30

Outside 51 Xavier's School, Raj Niwas Marg, Ring Road, Delhi

Timings - 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Dinesh Kachoriwallah at Nai Sarak

2008-08-20T21:53:00.000+05:30

My favourite kachoriwalla is the one on Nai Sarak. For one, Dinesh Kachoriwallah makes some of the best kachoris in town. And two, he is there to be found - sitting at the mouth of Katra Jamun - through most of the day. You will find it easier to locate him if you approach Nai Sarak from Town Hall. The kachori stall is just 200 yards down the road.

Steady pricing
Dinesh has one tiny place and he sells kachori-sabzi there just like his father and grandfather did years ago. Happy to find that when the cost of everything around us is spiralling, two of his kachoris still come for a mere eight rupees. Dinesh hadn't failed me. His kachoris are still as good as they used to be: perfectly deep-fried with a mouth-watering stuffing. The outer skin is crunchy and crisp, and the vegetable that comes along with it is hot to the touch and taste.

Moth kachori from that little known shop in Multani Dhanda

2008-08-20T20:32:00.000+05:30

Moth - which is essentially a dal, a bit like moong - is something that challenges all those who think that street food in the city starts and ends with papri chaat. Moth, in fact, has over the years been added to Delhi's culinary tradition. The city's eating habits record the history of turmoil. The influx of refugees into Delhi after the Partition of India changed the food culture of the city forever. Since most of the refugees were from West Punjab, the cuisine began to change along with the city's own metamorphosis. The refugees were gutsy eaters from Punjab and the Frontier areas of today's Pakistan and left their mark on what is known as the food of Delhi.

Multani delight
The Multani moth is one such chapter. The place is tucked away in the heart of the city. The North End Road from Gole Market, across Panchkuian Road, connects to the Deshbandhu Gupta Road crossing, with the Paharganj police station on the left. A right turn on Deshbandhu Road - towards Sheila Cinema - and a left from The Kashmiri Sweet Shop lead to the Multani Moth Bhandar. The place is on the left in gali number six of Multani Dhanda.

It's a small, inconspicuous shop doing great business. There are artistes at work here, for each plate of moth is prepared lovingly and painstakingly. A huge patila opens up to give a tantalising vista of steaming moth. The dish goes like this: first, a layer of cooked rice is put in a donga, on top of which the moth dal is placed in another layer. A pinch of Multani masalas is sprinkled on top of the mound, and some slices of sour raw onions are placed around it. And instead of a spoon, you use two crisp kachoris to scoop out the moth.

The moth has a uniquely delicious taste - it's both crunchy and velvety like a good dal ought to be. It is spicy, but not chilly hot. And at Rs.10 a plate, it is real value for money.

May be Clouds Have Feelings, Too

2008-07-30T22:41:00.010+05:30

The evening starts out quiet As quiet as ever could be
But suddenly a stormy night Becomes a reality
The clouds dump out tons of rain And it falls so very fast
Then suddenly its clear again
And you see the moon at last

2008-07-28T21:40:00.006+05:30

It was a long and tiring day, but still able to capture some of the glimpse of the city.

Shanti Path - Chanakya Puri, New Delhi

Spotted these kids with big business promotion umbrella near Mahipal pur. He and his friends were playing some sort of game and which I hardly understood. But for a moment I forget all my driving tiredness and business tension.

Children-Of-The-Lesser-God

2008-07-27T18:18:00.003+05:30

Common scene on Delhi Roads. But you can easily make out that kid is least interested in begging. Instead he is more interested in the life or you can say the different world inside the car. Shot taken at Dhaula Kuan , New Delhi

Bonhomie Brigade : By Hirak Kanti Dutta

2008-07-14T10:25:00.002+05:30

12th July 2008

The sun didn’t settle properly, and G-8 families from different parts of the city (naah, correction, one came from pink Jaipur) was gearing up, for a simple gathering, a family reunion to be precise. The included – Shekhar Patil and Family, Barfani Baba and Family, Manav and Family, Priyank and Family, Mohit and Family, Me and Sangeeta, Vinod Aggrawal and Pritam Shitoot. The destination was Dilli Haat, a favored spot for families, shopalcholics and foodies. Weatherman’s monsoon predictions were taken by a pinch of salt, and nothing unusual about it. But for a change, the weatherman had the last laugh, so had Indra, the God of thunder and rain. But by the time the G-8 families realized the mistake of an open air dinner, everyone soaked to the bones. But hey, nobody complained.

Loads of dinner destination discourses later, the G-8 arrived at a majority to select Nirulas’ Potpourri in CP as the new venue, leaving Dilli Haat foodyards in a lurch for that is just not the ‘right’ place to be during rains or thunderstorms. Surprisingly, the parking wasn’t a problem in CP on a weekend evening, that too when we were pretty late. But again, we had to move to some other restaurant, owing to lack of space to accommodate such a star studded, high profile G-8 members, and a quick query for a place for 17 drenched VVIPs made us move into Amber Restaurant below the Potpourri.

The moment we were inside, men huddled to one corner, and women and children were given the free rein to order whatever they like. The fluids of influence have already been injected into each member, and they cheered for the cameras with ‘V’ signs and the brimming mugs .

New ‘concept’ names floated in the air, men gloated over the goat-meat and chicken, women and children frolicked with fresh stories, but one thing was clear, everyone was enjoying one step at a time, no rancour or feeling of animosity towards anyone, no protocols breached, everyone remembered all the good times together, earlier and now, and pledged friendship over everything else. No G-8 summit dinner meeting at any destination till date was ever so successful. The G-8 members expressed their solidarity towards the ‘free spirit’ (not alcohol, dumb) with which each man is born and pledged for regular G-8 summits each month and entertainment rides every two months. This pledge was taken over ice-creams on Rajpath after which each member bade each other adieu.

In conclusion, I must say, that the next meet will be more successful when we expect more friends who missed this meet join us.

Pushkar Family Reunion:June 28-29' 2008, by Paraj

2008-07-12T20:05:00.015+05:30

This was not something new to me. Short trips had often interrupted my priorities. And if it is a call from close friends, consent was doubtless, unless absolutely unreasonable. Visit to Sariska Tiger Reserve being a family trip, wife, Vandana and daughter, Reyvika, who's 4 year old, were enthusiastic and willing. They often recounted their sweet memories from the earlier visit to Siliserh lake near Alwar and how much fun they had there. Here was the chance to relive it again in a new setting – a forest reserve. Not to be. Twists, like every 'Sas-bahu' serial, blessed suspense and drama in our story. A phone-call to Vivek revealed our share.

"No Trip", announced Vivek, saying "The Reserve is closed for tourists owing to the rehabilitation of a feline family there from Ranthambore National Park".

It felt as if someone had put a period before the story wasn't even started. We needed a stronger reason to cancel the trip. At less than 300 km, touristy Kasauli suddenly seemed alluring. Can't say why I chose to hold back my opinion. But I abhor cancelling a trip.

I thought hard on it and came up with a two-liner. Hope you will agree.

If you have considerations, don't go on a trip.
If you are going on a trip, don't have considerations.

It seems my sentiments were echoed from other quarters. The phone rang.

"PUSHKAR it is", said Vivek, "Chalega?"
"Push-kar had pushed the destination 200 km further", I declared to Vandana.
"Never mind! I am still willing", she reassured.

We made an adventurous start early in the morning. Ride to Vivek's place through heavy drizzle and on water-logged roads was more exhilarating for the father-daughter duo. Vandana, on the contrary, had a hard time dodging the muddy water daubing her clothes with a hard-to-achieve fabulous paint-brush design. She was a sport and so was Neera bhabhiji, to allow three mud-covered creatures into her house. I blogged (my first ever) hasty post from Vivek's laptop to declare the start. Then the scene turned Total Filmy. We, six people – men, women and kids – walked into a Santro like some 'X-Men on a Vicious Voyage'.

Vishal, Vivek's son, now set to study in IX standard, is shy and often reserves his opinion unless probed. His real self hardly comes by. Still, I found him to be a quick learner. He curiously fiddled with camera controls and recognized some not so easily seen photo-opportunities. His images are promising and so is his mind.

Zip Drive helped ‘X-Men’ reach to the pick-up stopover. Visit to Jaipreet's residence happened to be my first. Gaurav soon joined us. "Dudes" saw each other for the first time. They hugged, No! Not like that…..you naughty boy….oh whatever, and rest is history. He is larger than my expectation, actually at heart as well. Eeshu, Jaipreet's son, an eighth standard boy, greeted us in with a sweet 'Hello' and a warm hand-shake. This gesture spoke of his mannered upbringing and extrovert nature and he never belied my perception throughout the trip. Chhavi, Eeshu's younger sister, is a very appealing kid, my favorite actually. I have all-praises for her. She is sort of a kid you can spend some quality time with, without getting bored for a minute, no matter how much an intellectual you might think of yourself. Yeah! Well, actually no. I don't know what intellectuality is. Believe me. Gaindaa kasam!!
Shekharji's car brought two surprises for me – a taller Tanu and a small RUKKMINEE jee. I mean, obviously Dude is a mammoth comparatively, isn't he?
Specsy beauty, "Akshita", was the only kid in the group who truly belonged to her age. No big talks, no extra-smart behaviour – just a lovely simple kid, period.
Parantha stop little beyond Toll naka was more than filler. Two couples, complete strangers for me till then, joined us on this LANDMARK Voyage. Let me take this opportunity to say Hi to Mohit. I never got time during the trip you see. Shaadi kaa woh pehlaa saal…..Hirak…yaad hai naa tujhe? Sorry Sangeeta. And You Bhailog! Before you say, "Hamari Koi Branch Nahin Hai", I say, "Khol Lo". Kahan kho gayey? Abbey 'Branch' kee baat kar raha hoon. Heck of your Pisa Tower thoughts.

And then something happened which went into annals – plz note a double there – of history. A Memory, to last forever, like Siliserh Trip. A group photograph, with the kind blessings of the almighty – actually it happened under the drizzle from heavens. So the trip started and so did our respective memory bank accounts, logging perceptions, ideas, appearances, activities, incidences, views, conversations, and the whole experience. And boy! Was it worth it? After all we drove over 400 kms……for what…..for that chlorinated dip. Kaptan! Ek baat toh pakkee hai…..every body in the group was excited to have a swim……Ek Swim Trip toh bantaa hai dear. We will title it – "Darnaa Manaa Hai". Dubkee lagaao aur khul jayegaa…..Kahan kho gayey? Abbey 'Dar' kee baat kar raha hoon.

Waise yaaron…..the name is masst' (+2Degree Hot Male). Thanks. My next post in a Yahoo! Chat room will say, "Anybody game to do a 'Loyee' to a [Hot +2Degree Male]. Sex no bar. Beware of Bear?"

You might be thinking what has happened to Paraj. Yeh aisaa toh nahin thaa! Actually hua yun kay kee one too-mini-skirt clad woman changed everything when she walked by the lane where I was having my share of Malpuas. I thought to rename them as just Pua because Mal was somewhere else. Then I thought, what Brahma jee, the creator, will think of me. I wasn't worried about apna 'dude' Brahma, Gaurav. He anyway was busy renaming his Malpuas.

The creator of the Universe – his land Pushkar – the land of creative activity. Our society has never objected to that. The world knows that we are bound to overtake China by 2020. Skin show and expression of the ingredients of creative-activity-turned-fun publicly is what really is objectionable here. How Pushkar is handling this cultural onslaught is a matter of research and debate but I enjoyed my Puas. Well, for the 'Mal', I am happy that beauty is just not skin-deep.

Thanks Vivek for the X-Men Voyage in the AC-comfort. We needed a break and for us Pushkar just happened because of you. Punya Teerth on an Ekadashi – Thanks.

Kaptan….Your choice of Pushkar and reinvention of the trip – I mean we were lucky you took the initiative. This is just not possible but if it ever happened lest I reached the Dhaba first, I will happily take your order on phone ;~))

Shekhar ji plays this game always. Game of majority. Three Ladies and a Man. Taraju nikalnaa pad jaata hai. 'Aaiee' aajaati hongee toh baap re baap. Koi nahin Sir…..kksh' jhadiyon mein hi sahi….par tol kar leejiyegaa :~))

Gaurav, Priyank and Mohit…..we met for the first time and I instantly related in that order, actually Gaurav being much ahead of you two – may be the 'Dude' factor !

Aman, Hirak, Manav, Shuja, Dallbir – Guys…..next time better fill up the respective lacunae. Otherwise, my memories are awesome. Siliserh, Pushkar, still counting!

Family reunion @ Pushkar (Day 1) : By Paraj Shukla

2008-06-28T06:14:00.010+05:30

Hi Friends,

Destination Sariska has morphed into Pushkar. From Tigers of the Goddess to Brahma's only abode on the earth. Happy riding and driving......I am excited as it gives me an opportunity to be with my friends after a hiatus of just more than a year....well year sounds like some bygone era....but I am here and now. Pushkar calling guyz.....

Dost Logo ki Meeting : 21st June 2008

2008-06-24T08:46:00.005+05:30

Rains, Dinner , Talk , Ride and photo shoot at Delh's Famous " Landmark", 11 Murthi

Paraj , Kaptan , me & Shuja

Now Hirak Da' in the Picutre

Delhi – Srinagar : Day 8 ( 4th June)

2008-06-05T21:29:00.003+05:30

Pahalgam-Aru-Srinagar

Aru - The nature in its bloom

Aru is just 12kms from Pahalgam. We started around 8.30 in the morning. The road from Pahalgam to Aru is very curvy and steep. Aru is also a Wild life park. As we were entering the Aru, we stopped by a toll tax collector. He warned us not to leave our car as lot of Bears are in the Jungle. He also showed us pictures on his mobile , and told us how last night Bear attacked some people in the village and one of them has lost his eye. We look at each other, what a perfect way to start a day. But we all decided to go further with doubts in the mind. We also find presence of CRPF there. They stopped us several times and enquired the purpose of our visit.

Aru is a grassland surrounded by a gorge on one side. Its a beautiful shaded valley of the Lidder river. Conifer spread mountains with occasional flash of high, snow-covered peaks rising against the blue sky. The one of the most beautiful hill resort of Kashmir is still, serene and idyllic. There are small hamlets of wood-and-stone houses, some of them in the typical Gujjar-shepherd style with flat roofs, squat and backed against the hillside.

Aru is on the shepherd's trail to the high Kashmiri meadows. While on our visit to Aru, we often encounter with the Biblical-looking Bakerwal or Gujjar herds people - lean, saturnine men, beautiful, dark-eyed women and children, fierce dogs with burning yellow eyes, living in their log huts with their flocks of sheep and goats, on way to the higher pastures for the summer. The melodious chirrup of birds, the gentle touch of the breeze, the blue sky, is all that one may find at Aru. A little stream also flows past in the green-gold grass.

On the way we saw a CRPF camp with several soldiers guarding it. Got some courage, we stopped our car and came out of it. Did some photography and spend some time in the open. We turned back only when told us by the CRPF men that the bridge after village is damaged and there is no way other way to go further.

We started back for Srinagar, took the same route , via Anantnag and the Jammu highway. Reached around 1.00 in the noon . Dropped Nitin at his office. Took some rest .

In the evening I called one of my relative, who works in Radio Kashmir at Srinagar as a Station in-charge. He came with his wife to meet us near Nathu’s Sweet shop at Dal Lake. Spend some time walking along the lake , had some Tikkis, Smaosas, Kachori, Jalabi , Pao Bhaji etc at Nathu’s and called off the day.

Love

Vivek

Delhi – Srinagar : Day 7 ( 3nd June)

2008-06-05T09:06:00.002+05:30

Srinagar-Pahalgam-Chandanwari

We started early around 8.30 in the morning. Pahalgam is around 95 kms from Srinagar, via Anantnag. The route is through Jammu highway till Anantnag. Road from there for around 10km is in bad shape. But as we crossed the town, the route becomes more pictures’ thru lush green valleys. Pahalgam is located on the banks of river Lidder at an altitude of 7200 ft. Pahalgam also serves as base camp for the famous Amarnath Ji Yatra. The Pahalgam Valley presents glamorous look due to its pine forests, snow clad mountains, healthy climate and vast meadows and pastures. Pahalgam skirts Lidder river and torrential flow of water in Lidder river enriches the awesome beauty of the Valley.

We reached around 12.30 in the noon , the rooms in hotel Regent were already booked by us. This hotel is situated just opposite the petrol pump, overlooking the Lidder river. Rooms were fairly good and the tariff was Rs. 500/- per day. Took rest for hour or so and decided to visit “Chandanwari”. Chandanwari is the starting point of famous Holy Amarnath Yatra. Its is around 16kms from the Pahalgam.

The road from Pahalgam to Chandanwari ( 9500 ft ) is the most beautiful road I have done ever. Water falls , dense forest and beautiful snow capped mountains. With one eye on the curves of the road and other on the beautiful landscape , I was driving very slow. We took several breaks for photography and many times we all sat and just enjoyed the beauty, which God spread all over there with full hands. Its really a heaven on the earth. After reaching Chandanwari, we parked our car and start walking. As the Yatra is due to start on 18th of June, this small village is almost taken over by the CRPF. We stopped by the CRPF guys at the last point of the village. As of now, no one is allowed beyond that point. I kneeled , touched the surface and offer a small prayer to the original “Barfani Baba”. The beauty and the atmosphere is so pure & Holy that it cant be described in words. To feel, one should visit the place.

Suddenly the climate changed, it becomes cloudy and chilly. We started back immediately, knowing the road is curvy and steep, I don’t want to take the risk. On the way back we spotted a board showing a way to “ Betab Valley”. Cant resist , we followed the road. Motion picture Betab was shot in that valley, hence the name. It’s a small valley.

As we reached the hotel , it start raining with chilly winds. Nitin was carrying the Induction Cooker. He just plugged it in the electric socket and prepare Tea and Maggi for us.

Ended our day with “Master Stroks”….

Love
Vivek

Delhi – Srinagar : Day 6 ( 2nd June)

2008-06-03T06:52:00.002+05:30

Srinagar Local

It was chilly with rains pouring all the day with cold winds. The power cut off and with no water in the taps , we spend half of the day in the room. Only after having lunch we decided to went out. Called Nitin and picked him from the office around 3 pm, we went to “Chashme Shahi”.
Chashme Shahi is one of the famous Mughal gardens of Kashmir. The place originally derives its name from the spring which is supposedly discovered by the great female saint of Kashmir, Rupa Bhawani. The family name of Rupa Bhawani was 'Sahib' and the spring was originally called 'Chashme Sahibi'. Over the years the name got corrupted and today the place is known as Chashme Shahi (the Royal Spring). Later a garden was created around the spring by the Mughal Governor Ali Mardan. And today it is one of the three major Mughal Gardens in Srinagar. Situated close to Rajbhawan (Governor House), the garden is situated at the foothills of Zabarwan range.
Did lot of photography and also filled up our bottles with the water of the Chashme Shahi. Nitin suggested us to get us photographed by local photographers in the traditional Kashmiri dress. We agreed and photographs comes out really well.

After this we went to “Pari Mahal “. Pari Mahal was initially a garden founded by Dara Shiko, Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan's eldest son for his Sufi teacher, Mulla Shah. Once dotted with numerous springs, which have dried up now, the Pari Mahal gardens are now the treasure possession of the state. Pari Mahal is bedazzling with radiant lights at night, and though located on the spur of a hill, can he seen from most places in Srinagar.
Pari Mahal, once a Buddhist monastery, was converted into a school of astrology by Dara Shikoh.

View of the Dal and the valley from here is fantastic. We spend more than 2 hours here, doing nothing but just sitting and looking at the Dal. You can also see the entire golf course from here.

Our last visit was at the temple of “Shankracharya”. The Shankaracharya temple is situated on the hill known as Takht-e-Suleiman. It is housed at a height of 1100 ft. above surface level of the main city on the hill. It is believed that Raja Gopadatya got the temple constructed in 371 BC, giving it the name of Gopadri. The Shankaracharya is supposed to have stayed here when he visited Kashmir to revive Sanatan Dharma. This incident, which took place ten centuries ago, led to the renaming of the temple as the Shankracharya temple. The Shankracharya Mandir is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is thought to be the oldest shrine in the Kashmir valley. The temple, as it stands today, has undergone many repairs throughout its life. The first repair is supposed to have been done under the rule of Lalitaditya. The second repairs were undertaken by Zain-ul-Abideen after the temple got damaged in an earthquake. These repairs were carried out during the Governorship of Sheikh Mohi-ud-Din. Maharaja Gulab Singh, a Dogra ruler.

So, this is how our day 6th in the Valley ends. Tomorrow we are planning to go to Pahalgam which is around 95 kms from Srinagar.

Till then

Love
Vivek

Delhi - Srinagar : DAY 5 ( 1st June )

2008-06-02T22:46:00.004+05:30

Sonmarg – Zozila

Today we left early in the morning. The original plan was to spend the day in Sonmarg. It is around 85 kms from Srinagar. The entire route is through beautiful valleys and villages. Paddy fields both sides and CRPF guarding the entire Highway. The forest of Pine and Chinar on hills are so dense, that it look like a wall of trees. The Sindh river is flowing all along with the road. The beauty is so magnetic that I found it difficult to concentrate on the driving. We took many breaks for photography and also went upto the banks of the Sindh River for a closer view. Wife and my son were enjoying so much, and for me its also a different experience doing this highway with family. Frankly, I enjoyed much more then when I did this route on bike. Feeling of seeing your loved ones happy is the best thing in the world.

We reached Sonmarg with much of expectations, but there was so much of tourist rush. We looked each other. With in seconds all heads nodded and we just bypassed the Sonmarg. But where ? Lets do Zozila, my Son announced. With some doubts in mind, I agreed. But as we were crossing the Sonmarg, J&K police stopped us and denied permission to go beyond the Sonmarg. They thought we are going towards Baltal. I explained them that we are just going to do Zozila, but they look at us with disbelief. Why one will do stony / barren Zozila ? With lot of argue they half heartily allowed us . We reached Baltal, took a small break and then started for Zozila. Landscpae and road conditions changed immediately. It was with full of pot holes filled with water and Machoi glacier almost coming upto the road. Road conditions was bad, and we were driving in 1st or 2nd gear only. Took almost 1 hour to cover the 15 kms. Sheer sight of Zozila can be a deterrent. Crossed Zozila pass and went upto “India Gate”. Yes the place there is called India Gate. It was 2.30 pm. We decided to turn back. But my son was insisting me hard to go upto Leh. It was very difficult for me to make him believe that its not as easy as he thinks. But for me its also an achievement that my Son has done Zozila at the age of 15 , where in I had done at the age of 33, eight years back.

While coming back, Nitin told me about another very famous and ancient temple “Kheer Bhawani”.
The temple of Kheer Bhawani is situated at a distance of 14 miles east of Srinagar against the background of natural sight near the village of Tula Mula. This temple, is located in the middle of a spring, around which there is a vast area whose floor has been covered with smooth and beautiful stones. In it exist large and old chinar trees beneath which the pilgrims sit or sleep on mats of grass. The colour of the spring goes on changing. While most of the colours do not have any particular significance, the colour black is taken as an indication for inauspicious times for Kashmir. Some people are of the opinion that there was a mulberry tree near holy spot of Kheer Bhawani which, in Kashmiri, is called Tul Mul. But Tul Mul is also derived from the Sanskrit phrase-Tul Muli-that is of great value. This means that all other pilgrim centres are of lesser value than this one. It is said that after Ravana finished the worship of the goddess he offered the kheer (rice pudding) to the goddess which she accepted and since then it is called Kheer Bhawani.

After doing Kheer Bhawani, we decided to take a round of Dal Lake. Weather was cloudy and pleasant winds by that time. ( around 7 pm ) . Suddenly winds becomes more wild and furious. And the calm Dal lake turns into deadly sea with furious waves. Throwing “Shikaras” into air. It was really hair raising experience. Saw many shikaras struggling for shore. The locals and CRPF with motor boats rescued tourists who were in the middle of Dal. Since then the weather is very chilly and wet. There was no power in the valley after that heavy storm for almost 12 hours.

I really want to upload the images and videos right now, but I am accessing the net thru my mobile phone।

Distance Covered : 237 kms
Toll paid : Rs 60/-

Delhi – Srinagar : Day 4 (31st May)

2008-05-31T22:28:00.003+05:30

Srinagar Local

Its vacation time। After very long time I took this break॥ and that too without mobile connectivity and net access. Woke up late . and spend half day sleeping and eating.

Only when Nitin came back from the office around 2 pm, we went out. As promised by him, he took us to some really isolated places. First visit was at “Jeshtha Mata manir” . Did some Puja . Surprisingly the mandir was neat and clean. The location of this mandir is Our next visit was at Nishat Garden.. did some photography but soon we all get fed up because of the tourist rush. So we all came out of the garden and did some off road drive.
We Stopped for a tea at Harvan. Suddenly Nitin spotted a challiwala with hookka. He suggested me to try hookka with challi. It was a deadly combination.

After driving without any plan we end up at Dachigam National Park. The weather was cloudy and it started raining soon with high velocity winds. Gates of the Dachigam was closed for the tourists, but “Gandhigiri” never fails. After lot of yes/No , “Gandhigiri” won. Guards allows us to enter the National park but warns us to remain in the car. It was raining and the beauty of the forest was amazing. We drove more then what was told by the guard. But soon stopped by CRPF men at check post. Here my salesmanship works. Chatted with CRPF men and soon they willingly allowed us to go further. We started again. The forest becomes more dense and beautiful . No tourists and lot of wildlife. Ignoring Guards and CRPF warning , we came out of our car and did lot of photography. But soon our luck ends when we reached another CRPF check post. No salesmanship worked there. So we decided to turn back. But before that, again we came out of car , had Kachories in rain and also offered some to CRPF men. Chatted with them for a while and came back.

While coming back, we took a round of Dal lake. After rain, the lake was looking more beautiful. Spend some time there and came back to room.

End of the day, obviously with “Master Strokes”.

Love
Vivek

Delhi – Srinagar : Day 3 ( 30th May )

2008-05-30T21:50:00.003+05:30

Srinagar : Badami Bagh Cantonment
The country of un-counted trucks and Army convoys

Y’day I was bit nervous due to car problem. So when I went last night for fillup the tank, I decided to test drive the car. So I went on Srinagar highway and did around 40 kms and satisfied my self.
Not able to sleep properly,[ hardly slept for 2 hours]so started early, sharp at 5 am for Srinagar. Drove the car easily and as soon as got my confidence back, picked up the speed.
Road conditions till Ramban was excellent. But there was lot of rush on this narrow highway [NH-1A] from Jammu to Srinagar. You will find army placed at both sides of the highway on each 50 mtrs. Bunkers every where, on the road and above the road. Struck many times in army convoys . Its very tough to cross them. They move at very low speeds and each convoy consisting of 20 to 30 trucks, buses and jeeps.
And when there is no convoy.. there are goods carriage trucks… and much more in numbers then army convoys. But anyway.. the beauty of Kashmir is always magnetic. I am doing this route 3rd time, but still excited like a kid.
Road from Ramban to Banihal is bit bumpy but still manageable. And who cares about the road conditions`! Its our style of holidaying. This is first visit of wife and kid to Kashmir, they were enjoying a lot and every thing was new to them. I was explaining every thing to them and when we entered the Jawahar Tunnel [2.5 km long] , my son filmed the entire tunnel.
Took our first long break at “First View of Kashmir Valley” point। Spend almost 45 minutes there. This place is few kilometers before Quazi Gund. Road from here to Srinagar is straight with thick treeline at both sides of the road.

Finally reached Srinagar at 2।30 pm । My loving brother-in-law ( Saala ) was there to receive us. Took us to his place.

We went to Dal Lake ( Chchali Point ) in the evening. It was cloudy and cold out there. Wander here and there like nothing . It was crowded with lot of tourists but being a local guy , my brother-in-law took us to some lovely but solitary places . He promised us to show all the local places & surroundings but still virgin /untouched by tourists.

Ending a day with Master’s Strokes J

For any query about Srinagar, you can contact my brother-in-law, Nitin Gupta on his mobile 09419021705.

Love
Vivek

Distance Covered : 290 Kms
Toll paid : NIL

Delhi - Srinagar : DAY 2 (29th May)

2008-05-30T16:28:00.005+05:30

Jammu, LIC Guest House

It was a leisure day। We woke up late in the morning. Had breakfast at Yellow Chili Restaurant of the Residency Hotel. And started around 11.45 am. Knowing we have to cover only 200 odd kms , I was in know hurry. Filled up the tank. Petrol here in Jallandhar is Rs. 50.07 per ltr.

It was hot and very dusty atmosphere thru out the way। Road from Padhankot to Kadhua is in very bad shape। NHAI is doing four laning the till Jammu। So lot of construction is going on.
Suddenly my car start giving me the problem. Although it was going smooth on high speed, but whenever I was slowing down , it start bubbling and vibrating a lot. It was worrying me. After Jammu its all hilly area and I was sure in this condition it will not reach Srinagar. So we dropped the idea of having lunch on the way. We want to reach the Jammu on time , so I can go to Hyundai workshop and get it checked.

We reached Jammu around 5 pm. Immediately I left to Hyundai workshop . The guy there guessing horrible things… problem in injector, Gear computer chip etc etc.. . He asked me to come in the morning and telling me it’s a whole day job. Once I thought its all over. But didn’t gave up. I argued him and request him to put the scanner and check the engine . By that time 3-4 mechanics surrounded the car and giving different versions. Scanner was showing every t thing working fine. Then whats the problem ? Suddenly there foreman came and shouted whats happening. I told him the problem. He asked me to open the bonnet again. Within seconds he solved my problem. It was just a naked electric wire which was touching the body of the car and giving all the problem. The wire was taped again properly and all the vibration and bubbling vanished.

Bacch gaye bAbA ji..

Tomorrow we will leave for Srinagar, planning to start as early as possible.

Till then Good Night.

Love
Vivek

Distance covered : 225 kms
Toll paid : Rs . 70 (at Kathua )

Delhi - Srinagar : Day 1 ( 28th May )

2008-05-29T08:36:00.005+05:30

Jallandhar, Hotel Residency : Room No 306

Actually we planned to start on 29^th of May. But due to Gujjar Movement , I pre-pond it by a day and finally started at 2.30 pm on 28th.

It was as usual rush and jam at Karnal bypass. We spend around 45 minutes in that. It took me more then 1.5 hours to cover first 40 KMs. Due to ongoing road construction at Delhi-Panipat section its not an enjoyable drive. But once you cross Panipat road conditions improves.

As we took diversion from Ambala towards Ludhiana, it’s a very pleasant drive with good roads and less traffic compare to Chandigarh Road. We took our first break after 240 kms of driving near Rajpura. It was 7 pm by that time. Had a quick tea with veg sandwich. Grabbed a bottle of whisky and some beer canes from nearby liquor shop. This the place where you can find the cheapest liquor in Punjab. Land mark : opp Motel Eagle.

There was some rush/jam at Ludhiana, took 15 minutes to cross the small 10 mt section. After that roads again were makhan – malai. Reached Jallandhar around 10 pm. The room at Hotel Residency was already booked for me , courtesy my childhood friend Ravi. He is a big hearted guy who is always there to help people.

Had a small peg of whiskey followed by lavish dinner. Checked the missed calls / sms and finally hit the sack.

Distance covered : 400 kms
Toll paid : Rs । 175 (70 + 40 + 65 )

Mystical, Magical Mukteshwar - by Hirak Dutta

2008-05-07T08:23:00.006+05:30

"A paradise for bird watchers, Mukteshwar is a sanctuary to over 400 species of birds."

Delhi’s sweltering heat is devil’s curse. Blame it on anyone, but believe me, the term ‘global warming’ is a passé in so far as North India (barring the hills) is concerned. I just coined this new terminology, it’s ‘Global Boiling’. Somewhere down the line, we all are to be blamed for this phenomenon. But we all have shortcuts to skip the ‘boiling’ – air-conditioned offices, cars, and homes and if not that, for bikers like us, a short weekend trip to nestle in the laps of the mighty Himalayas. This weekend ride came after a long, long while and in the best of company of Shekhar Patil, Pravin Rao, Saurav Singh and myself. After a long while I felt that zest (thank God for the time!) to break free from the chaos of the cubicle at work and the ennui of family melodramas. Thank God, for freedom. Thank God, again, for making me a biker! On 6th May 2006, Saturday, I was at the rendezvous at the appointed hour. At 3.30am, NH-24 IBP petrol bunk near Akshardham Bridge was abuzz with activities. I saw a morning walker, a Sikh gentleman, about 60 plus – walking erect in a tee and a short and a red sneaker with a short stick (looked like a baton). I saw Sahara Channel reporters sipping a cup of tea there. And I saw four guys snoring their time away on a single bedsheet on the footpath; their cycle-rickshaws parked besides them narrated to me their pain. It is just the beginning of another hard day before them, and here I was, escaping ‘Global Boiling’ syndrome. What a pity, but I guess, that’s what life is all about. Couple of phone calls to and fro and at about 4.15 am arrived Sobby aka Saurabh and Pravo aka Praveen Rao. They filled their tanks at the pump and we headed towards Gajraula’s most famous Giani selling paranthas. Shekhar joined us at Ghaziabad. And we were on our way to Mukteshwar. The ride to Mukteshwar was practically eventless; no hold on one second, it was actually. We took nearly 13 hours to complete the journey which should have been done in 6-7 hours. But slow and steady wins the race, right! You bet! Let me tell you some things about Mukteshwar before I tell you what we all did there. Mukteshwar gained prominence by the establishment of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute in 1898, which owns much of the land around the little town, including acres of dense virgin forest. We were told by the local PWD caretaker that the forests are home to tiger, leopard, Himalayan black bear, wild boar, langur, rhesus monkeys, deer, and a host of bird species. We doubted the authenticity of this guy’s statement but for the birds. The morning raga of so many mellifluous voices had put the local rooster at shame. Well maybe not, I guess we ate him up the night before! Didn’t we, guys? From the PWD guesthouse, one can get a direct glimpse of the range of peaks including Neelkantha (Blue-throated Shiva, 6596 m), Nandaghunti (the Veil of the Goddess, 6310 m), Trishul (the Trident of Shiva, 7120 m), Nandadevi (Goddess of Bliss, 7817 m), and the majestic Panchhuli peaks provided the skies are clear. We weren’t lucky. Situated at an altitude of 2286 meters on Bhowali Devidhura Road, Mukteshwar is a small hill station covered with a thick wooded forest and offers a majestic view of the Himalayas. Still a virgin hill station by many counts, tourists seldom venture here but unfortunately, those who do have literally turned some good forest parts into a garbage dump. I trekked inside the forest early in the morning and was welcomed by the singing birds nesting on treetops, soothing misty air which kissed my body and the litter of mineral water bottles, tetra packs, beer and whisky bottles, and plastic glasses which lay scattered almost everywhere. Near Mukteshwar is a stone hole of Chauli Ki Jali, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The legend has it that, if a woman who is unable to conceive passes through this tiny hole on the rocks, she will definitely gain pregnancy. But hey, hold on, don’t take it on face value, for on the other side of the hole is a freefall of more than 1200 feet! The Chauli Ki Jali, from a distance looked like a remarkable sperm head though. Some esoteric significance (or should I say coincidence) here! The other places to see at Mukteshwar are the Mukteshwar Mahadev temple, a quaint little British bungalow now converted into a post office, some very old and well maintained cottages now converted into tourist hotels, but its not what you get to see here. The abundance of freedom, indolence, respite and peace Mukteshwar offers is a non-peril. It was in Mukteshwar that Jim Corbett came to kill a man-eating ‘bagh’ but fell in love with the hill station instead. Mesmerizing, right? Rabindranath Tagore composed his Geetanjali here which also won him the Nobel Prize for Literature. This was the first Nobel Prize to be given to an Asian! Inspiring and well worth visiting now, I guess! A paradise for bird watchers, Mukteshwar is a sanctuary to over 400 species of birds. Unfortunately, we had just 16 hours to pitch the tents, cook food, have drinks while enjoying the romantic whiffs of fresh air before hitting the NH and be back in 44.5 degrees Celsius from a mere 15 degrees Celsius. I could only see some variants of the hill sparrows, the differently textured babblers, heard the ‘Koyal’ sing and spotted just one unmistakable crow! Inside the forest floor, there was a fancy dress competition amongst butterflies. There was a riot of colors as they draped the green; this mesmerizing moment couldn’t be captured by me on camera. As I left the forest floor, I knew soon there would be many more of them, for their season has just commenced. I never felt so good after a long time and wished I had more time at hand. The gilded cages of our office spaces beckoned and we slowly bade adieu to Mukteshwar. I know, like many other places that I have visited, I would be back here again. The next time will be for sloth and pure relaxation and no hurrying at all. Everyone did their bit to make these 16 hours their most memorable – no please deduct 6 hours of sleep – Sobby continued his filming saga, never saw Praveen perform antics before like he did it here at Mukteshwar and Shekhar was mesmerized by his adopted child – a doggy – which was later chased off by two other doggies as Shekhar rushed to beat their behinds. Oh emotion, where in the grey cells is thy residence? (Sorry Vijayaji, this breaking news was to happen sometimes, it just came early). En route home, two more doggies dropped by to say hello to him – one looked like the ‘adopted child’s’ mama (maternal uncle) and another a distant cousin! Only the biker community understands the ‘fun-is-a-stress-reliever’ concept on long rides. Leaving what you love is always painful and pained we all were as we sped down towards Delhi. We took a shortcut to Bhimtal, taking a village dirt track, saved about 15 kms and the ride was well worth it. We drove down the Himalayas and the weather God told us what to expect in Delhi. At 1am on Monday the 9th of May 2006, we reached home, tired and broken, but not shaken. God, when will it be a four-day office week?

The 1000 KMs Ride - By Gaurav Jani

2008-05-03T21:39:00.003+05:30

Day –1 Bombay to Baroda I started at 11pm from house to cover 370-380 Kms। To Baroda from where the next day I was to the 1,000 Km ride। I had wrote to many people, all techies to advice me about the do's and don'ts about this ride and no one had the time to answer, what was most surprising and annoying was some of them were people from Royal Enfield। I decided to do the ride regardless। After crossing the Bombay traffic and reaching the highway, I kept a constant speed of 85 Kms। In hot weather just to see how the bike would react to it in a longer run। The bike ran fine for 45 minutes and than gurrrrr, it lost power and died. I touched the crank for heat and it was not that hot for the bike to stop. Same problem occurred when I was doing high speeds while doing test runs in night for this ride. The problem was petrol filter, it was not sending enough petrol to the carb. I had removed that filter and put a huge maruti esteem petrol filter which used to get so heavy when filled with petrol that it had to be tied to the chassis. Not so technically sound with bullets I waited for sometime and started the bike, it came to life but was not performing well, nevertheless I started riding it but had to reduce the speed. After riding 40 odd kms. The bike was again running well, I entered Gujarat from where the roads get pathetic so you got to be a moron to speed on this roads. Bombay- Ahmedabad being the busiest highway in whole Asia traffic is endless. I took the first stop at Vapi from where I had to call Mandeep, our first member from Gujarat who was meeting me at Valsad. Valsad was another 25 Kms. so started ahead to take rest while chatting up with Mandep. The traffic was bad and the road conditions a shame. Reached Valsad and waited for Mandeep to come and he arrived a few minutes after on his 500 c.c. Chatted him for a while when I noticed major scars on his right elbow. He had multiple fractures when he had a flat in his front wheel while riding to give his exams, he lost one and half year to get the whole thing rectified and still has metal plates in his elbows. It was perfect, the next day I was to do 1,000 Kms. and this was the perfect time to see what carelessness can do to you. Bid goodbye to Mandeep and moved ahead, moved slowly and steadily when after a few hours the same problem occurred and it was getting dark. I started the bike and again after a few kilometers the bike died. I pulled up to a dhaba and cleaned the spark plug and carb but the problem kept on occurring. To rectify the problem I entered Bharuch City and went to P.U & Co. Enfield's dealers there but they had closed their workshop as it was already past eight. The dealers recognized me from my picture in RE's dealer magazine The Beat. He told me about kalubhai, a bullet mechanic who loved working in night. I made my way through the city traffic and finally reached Kaubhai's garage and indeed he was working on a bullet under tong lights in his big workshop. He immediately knew what the problem was, actually two. The battery was overcharged so the bike would loose ignition on high speed, the second dirt had blocked the flow of petrol in the carb. Kalubhai also modify bullets, he took me to a bullet which he modified and told me to start it, upon doing so, it made one of the sweetest sounds, he makes mufflers which have an incredible sound. You have to listen to it to believe me. He didn't charge me anything, very nice guy and I left for Baroda. Reached Baroda at 10.30 and checked in Royal guesthouse just opposite to the station for Rs. 65 for a single room. Called Vivek and Subbu, told them I would start at 4 a.m in the morning when the owner told me he will not wake me up and I would have to wake up on my own at 3 a.m. I decided to change the place when he told me he would give me an alarm clock, which will wake me up. Went out to a stall and had some eggs and hit the bed at 11 p.m. after 12 hours of riding .

Day-2 Baroda to Delhi The alarm rang, it seemed like I had just fallen off to sleep, checked the time in my watch and it was 2 a।m. and it was showing 4 a.m in the alarm clock, I trusted my watch and went back to sleep. By miracle I woke up again and looked at my watch, it was 4 a.m sharp. Once I sleep than it is history, it was definitely a miracle. I hastily packed everything and wore lots of warm clothing and woke the owner up. He opened the shutters of the hotel, while I called up Vivek and Subbu at 4.45 and woke the poor guys up to inform them that I was about to start. Packed up all my bags and hope that the bike would co-operate with me this day and started at 5 a.m.Speedo reading - 29,470 Sped on the empty street of Baroda and was on NH- 8 after 12 Kms. from there another 36 Kms to Vasad toll point from where I had to take left for Delhi via Modasa. I missed the left turn and went ahead a few kilometers towards Ahmedabad, returned back and saw no signboard, asked some tuck drivers and they showed me the way. The roads were fairly good with very less traffic, which meant that I could ride with my visor down in that chilling cold weather. The route doesn't have any sign boards. So on every intersection I had to turn back and ask for directions. I was not riding above 80-85 kph as there were two options to complete this ride. Either ride very fast and take longer and frequent breaks for the bike to cool down or ride at 70-80 and take less breaks with lesser time. I choose the second option as I found it more safer for the bike, I didn't want anything going wrong with my bike, I love this bike, seen a lot of places from it's saddle and 1,000 Kms was not the priority, my bike was. Riding for long periods on good speeds was only possible in the morning as the bike wouldn't heat up. I was maintaining 80-85, got some very bad patches of road, trucks coming on high beam would blind me as the visor and my glasses would scatter the light. The clod came to more tolerable limits after sunrise but nevertheless it was still very cold. Took the first fuel stop after 210 Kms. at Shamlaji, topped up 2T and engine oil and moved ahead. Shamlaji is on the Gujarat- Rajasthan border. After a few kilometers I entered Rajasthan from here the intensity of the traffic increased. Road widening work is also going on, that meant edges of the tar road don't have a small strip of dirt track but a four feet deep trench which is dug up to lay the foundation for the new road. Lot of trucks carrying stones and other building material were moving at very slow speeds and there was no way to overtake them so my speed reduced drastically here and the bike was also heating up as it was moving on lower gears and the ghats didn't help the cause either. After crossing the ghats at 9 a.m after four hours and 240 Kms I took my first stop. It was a village Bijhwada I think, called up Subbu and Vivek, subbu's mobile kept on ringing, thankfully Vivek answered the call and I registered my status to him. Had a light breakfast of poha and tea and after a 15-minute break was riding again. The sun was out but the air was still very cold so gloves and warm clothing was still on and the cold from the morning was till in the bones, it is still giving me Goosebumps while writing about it . The traffic was much less from here onwards, I reduced the speed o 70- 75kph to avoid overheating. After riding continuously for two hours, bike started to how signs of fatigue, it had to it had done a run of 6 hours with only a 15 minute break. I stopped immediately before Udaipur s I didn't want to aggravate the situation as there was another 600 odd kilometers to be done. Another 15 minutes break an the bike was running fine, crossed Nathdwara, Udaipur where I got some traffic and finally made it to Bhim, covering 500 Kms in 8 and half hours. where I took a fuel stop. Called up Subbu and Vivek, this time did finally mange to talk to Subbu. During the 20 minute stop I would hardly get time to relax as most of he time would go in filling up gas topping 2T checking the bike, topping Engine Oil, cleaning the visor, glasses. It was strange how difficult it was to cross 20 minutes on the bike and they flew by in one second once you are off the bike. After doing 50 Kms. from Bhim, my concentration was not there. I didn't feel like speeding, it took me around one hour to finally realize that I had to put a rush on things otherwise I would not be able to complete the 1,000 Kms. My speed drastically fell here, I only did 50 Kms. in that hour. Once I started speeding Ajmer happened and suddenly from nowhere hundreds of trucks came, being a two lane road there was no way to overtake and the dirt track besides the road had sand so steering the bike was a problem. It was getting irritating, was following the trucks at 40-45kph, had no other choice and a train junction took another 10 minutes. Here I had totally lost it, I didn't know where I was, what I was doing. Jut to get out of the groove I started speeding and had couple of close calls here. The sense of judgment was not there, overlooking that I speed more and than the bike gave up, gurrrrrrrr happened and I had to pull over, immediately cleaned the spark plug and left the lights and indicator on for the battery to decharge. Rode for a few kilometers and stopped at a dhaba to wash my face and recompose my self as there was another 300 Kms to be done. Here I fell into a cot and five minutes went past in a zip, was feeling fresh after a tea and started again. Bike was not running well, but decided to have a look after I would cross the traffic in Jaipur. After Jaipur I just removed the petrol filter and pulled another pipe straight from the tank to the carb. I had banked upon the four-lane road from Jaipur to Delhi where I would do the maximum speed, but the bike and me were not in a good shape by than an more 250 Kms to go. But the bypass before the four-lane expressway had a flip side to it, the 38-km bypass to reach it was the worst patch of road I had got until now. The road was beyond worse or it seemed like in that state. The tar had melted and taken the form of vertical speed breakers, trucks were countless and tons of dust. It took me more than one hour to complete the stretch, but it helped me in one way, my concentration was back and all the fatigue was gone after seeing all those trucks with high beams coming towards u. Now I was determined to complete the ride no matter what. Reached the highway and tanked up for the last time, 210 Kms from Delhi. Here I opened up the throttle again to 80-85, it was again getting chilly but not as much as mornings, I guess the dew factor must be responsible for that. After one hour and 140 Kms from Delhi I called up Vivek and Subbu, where I got words of encouragement from both to complete the ride safely. That helped, thanks guys. The straight road has its advantages and disadvantages. You can speed but continuously siting on the bike and doing nothing gets u in a trance. Here I felt a very funny feeling that the seat of the bike was shifting right and was about to fall off, I kept checking the seat and it was fixed to the bike, I guess it was the mind playing games. It looks funny now but it wasn't when there was no concentration and I was riding at 80kph. Around 60kms before Delhi, called up Vivek again and told him not to come and pick me up, Vivek told me where I could find hotels. From there I started riding slowly for the last leg of the trip, traffic increased as Delhi was coming near. After 40 Kms. I entered Delhi and saw the hotels Vivek told me about. Now a funny thing happened, I had entered Delhi but was short by 17 Kms. So I rode around in Delhi for the rest of the distance, went to Vasant Vihar I think, now Delhi has a lot to learn regarding traffic rules. So after riding for 18 and half-hours the magic figure of 1,000 Kms was attained. All the fatigue went on seeing the Speedo on 30,470. All the credit goes to the bike, I don't know how much time Rajdhani takes from Baroda to Delhi, but it doesn't get trucks coming from opposite end and three motormen are changed for the entire journey, so I think I can take little credit in that. I have to thank all of you for all the support you have given, THANK YOU GUYS. More to come in second part, that is after reaching Delhi, but I am tired now of typing this and I guess you all are also tired after reading this. Thanks & Regards Gaurav

My Trip to LeH - by Gaurav Dhupar

2008-05-01T16:40:00.003+05:30

Rides or no rides a Royal Enfield a.k.a BULLET is the best friend one can ever have on the lonely roads, in the crowded streets. It makes you feel that you are always with a buddy with whom you can share your pains, your agony, your distress, and your happiness. It never lets you be gloomy, with a simple twist of the throttle it takes you to the wondrous world of speed and pumps in the adrenal.

What do you want from a friend, a shoulder to lean on, and the promise of the world where you are who you are, no inhibitions, no dilutions. “Bull” gets you more than that; it gives you the experience that takes care of the mundane hap hazards of the lay world. It makes you the king of the moment. You have no pain , no quality scores , no targets, nothing to beat, just your own craving for adventure, your desire for action and your spirit to do what you really want to do .

My discovery started one year ago when I met my friend a 2005 thunderbird now rechristened to Dirty (like me...). It was just love at first sight, no other machine promised me so much…I had been with this dream of traveling to places on a two wheeler what best then to do it on the legend Royal Enfield. I wanted some this good looking and some thing legendry and I zeroed down to a thunderbird.

This story begins with my ride to LEH on my BULL two months ago in July. Finding the date and fixing it was a pain in the A@@ as everyone had different days offs and now one wanted to sacrifice on the bonus with missing on one or two days. So we selected July 21, 2006.

Beasts (bullets) were mended and prepared for the LONG journey to the Himalayan kingdom Little Tibet (LEH). We were four with three Beasts. Saurabh and Probir were on there second ride to LEH(so we had experience riders) having said that we were pretty new riders me and Frank.

However we were hell raisers as know by our fellow bikers and we wanted to stamp it by gliding our ways to Manali in one day…..oh! Boy it was an easy task for a regular rider but for novice like us it was tough… we were determined to do it and we actually did it with couple of pit stops and sutta breaks….

The actual learning things were the two accidents what we had on the way to Manali. The first one was a near death experience and the second one a side effect of heavy food and no sleep….

Were we hurt? Yah we were I had bruised legs and swollen arm so did frank. However we determined to reach manali with a positive note, and we reached Manali in the wee hours of the morning at 3 am. The rain gods were happy from us and blessed us with thunderous rains. It was the experience that cannot be forgotten. My body all bruised and bloody, tired to the core, with a hurting as@. I still was happy and contended. Why and how you will ask me yah it was the drug called Adrenalin which was pumped to the MAX.

We stayed in manali for two days and planned to move on 23^rd July to LEH. I was still in pain so was Frank his right arm was swallow like a pumpkin and he still wanted to ride to the trenchers way to LEH. I was not so convinced with this idea so we advised him to go back to Delhi and see a doctor.

Now out of four souls only three were left. With heavy hearts of missing a fellow rider we packed our beats and started our journey to LEH.

The roads were good till rohtang pass weather was also amazing we reached rohtang in 1 hour. What to say I was pretty amazed to see the world from such a height. I did what everyone does clicked snaps.

Our destination for that day was darcha which was a small settlement beyond kylong. Night was spend in a nepali tent. It was cold and wet because of rains. But it was a scenic wonder. We started from there at 9 am and were suppose to cross Sarchu and reach pang. However luck was not with us. After the Gata loops Saurabhs bike started giving us troubles and we had to tow it back on a truck from Nakila pass.

Before we could find a truck I was asked to go to Pang and get a truck from there. This ride was just approximately 40-50 km however it proved to be more on me. I was not carrying water as the high altitude sickness took a toll on me and I has to stop on couple of places for catching up a breath. I was in pang in 3 hours, the distance which I cover in couple of minutes.

Probir followed me in few in few minutes and apprised me that saurabhs bike had been towed back to manali. It was a sad moment for us as we had already missed two fellow riders. I was in physical and emotional pain.

The next started with a bright new sunshine and a promise that we will reach LEH without any tragedy. We roared our beasts to Baralacha-la and then took a breath. LEH was just around the corner and I had already stated becoming nostalgic. I was missing frank and Saurabh the preparations what we had gone through and still we meet with such an unexpected tragedies.

LEH, the promise land, the Buddha’s backdoor. It was such a peaceful and pleasant view all brown mountains and a black road running between them with Satluj River running next to you. This road promised you speed it was better than any other road in Delhi. I was already doing 120km/p and still wanted more speed. Probir was enjoying his sutta and it was a pleasant view I felt like an easy rider.

Finding a house was a pain all the guest houses were either full or were reserved for the foreign travelers. We took two hours to find a room near Shanti Stupa and that was a sheer luck that we found such a beautiful location with such a hospitable people. Our window opened to shanty stupa in the morning and we were blessed by the holy thus come then (Buddha).

We now wanted to look around in LEH. Permits were procured and the destination was set one day we were going to khardungla, then peongon, shonmorery and then back.

We started with khardungla which was just like a delhi-gurgaon journey. In the ride I saw oil leaking from my bike and discovered that the clutch box was damaged from bottom and the oil was coming from there. The mechanic fixed it with M-Seal however that was also waste. I some how managed the next three days.

We now were on our ways to pengong the salted lake or the blue lagoon. To reach there we had to cross chang-la the riding and was more painful than reaching khardungla it was -2 Celsius temperature was dropping with every minute. Ride was tough but amazing with equal thrill and excitement.

We reached pengong stayed there for few hours and then back to LEH this whole 300km journey was completed in 10 hours. And we were happy with our accomplishment and wanted to do sonmorery. However my bikes oil was not stopping. Now we decided that we will tow the bike back to manali and meet Saurabh there and do Kaza as by then both our bikes will be mended.

We met a transporter and fixed our ride back home, it was a mixed feeling as we were there to ride and now the bikes gone we were no more bikers. The happy feeling was that we don’t have to go on that Leh/Manali road. We got along the truck driver Sanju and his cleaner Chotu for the next two days they were our drivers and navigators.

Some how we reached Manali with a huge care we took our bikes out and planned to get then services the next day. The next days started with rains and they brought pain to our souls as mechanic did not have the spares and they were only available in Delhi. We had to come down to a conclusion that we were going back to Delhi.

On 2 august 2006 we started from manali with huge bag of memories and a 20kg box of apples….famous manali apples.

The ride was so pleasant as it was raining all through till Ropar we were drenched till our bares. We reached Chandigarh at 7 took some rest and again started for Delhi. Everyone was excited to back from such a long journey.

How ever I wanted some more and promised my self of next year when the preparation will be better and I will be a more mature rider.

I reached home at 6 am and my mom refused to recognize me. When I had left I was neatly dressed and clean shaved delhwala now I was looking like a zombie with unshaven and tired face I welcomes the morning.

I wish I could stay more in LEH.

My first bike ride to Chakrata - by Dallbir

2008-04-07T18:08:00.005+05:30

Chakrata has always been my favorite place. It’s like I can never have enough of it, whenever I get a chance, it is the first place to cross my mind for a quick getaway. Been there 5 times last year only, still can’t resist the idea of a holiday there. But the most memorable trip to Chakrata was the second trip, which I did on a bike in 2006.
My first trip to Chakrata was in August 2005, when I planned to visit Deoban as well. But couldn’t make it to Deoban as rains had made it next to impossible to cover the 18 km dirt track. It gave me all the more reasons to come back.
But next time I had already decided to go on a bike, only then you can do justice to the beauty of this place. Couldn’t afford to miss Deoban at any cost specially after hearing about its unsurpassed beauty from the locals last time. But my bike ride didn’t seem to materialize as none of the guys was ready to ride so far, couldn’t find words to explain that. But I stuck to my decision and I am glad I did. Plan was simple, six people, one car & one bike. We started early around 6’o clock in the morning, wanted to catch the 12’o clock gate from Kalsi. Only one way traffic moves at a time from Kalsi to Chakrata due to various reasons and narrow road. The gate opens for traffic after every two hours for 20 minutes. If you miss the gate even by minutes, you’ll have to wait for two hours. Pillion kept on changing throughout the way. Everything was going smooth till I crossed the Delhi border. My beloved Bullet developed some problem in the engine. At around 90kph, heard a terrible sound in the engine and it went flat soon. As I was new to Bullet, didn’t know exactly what went wrong. We stood there for a while, and thought of taking it to the nearby mechanic. As we kick started it again, there was no sound, nothing and it was smooth as always. Couldn’t figure out what went wrong, but thankfully everything was back on track.
It was next to impossible to move together with the car, so we decided to meet midway after some distance. Others were waiting for us for breakfast at Panipat; we finished up quickly as we had to make it to Kalsi gate in time. Soon it became a race against time. After crossing the maddening traffic at Yamunanagar, we were in the green country surrounded by green fields. Soon we got our first glance of hills and company of Yamuna. The road was amazing, through the hilly forest, up and down, smooth curves, with very little traffic. We reached the holy city of Poanta Sahib on time and took a 10 minute break on Yamuna Bridge. The clock was ticking and it already seemed little unrealistic to catch the gate. From there, we traveled to Kalsi in fast forward mode and made it there just on time at 12’o clock. Think we were the last ones to cross the gate at that point of time. There is another catch to this gate system. There is one catch to gate system, to ensure that one doesn’t stop any where on the way, they have one more gate midway at Sahiya.
We completed the most beautiful part of journey in next two hours and entered Chakrata through the last army gate. This town is completed controlled by army, think that is the reason, why Chakrata hasn’t lost its charm even today. We had booked our stay in Hotel Himalayan Paradise, which has a very scenic location and is approx 6 kms ahead of the town. After a long journey we were quite tired but it was all gone once we were there. We kicked off our shoes, relaxed, ate and just sat there doing nothing. But, there was something on the back of my mind, Deoban. Asked the hotel guys about the road situation, but could not get a satisfactory answer, some said road is under construction, some said, work has finished. More I asked, more I became impatient to explore the area. Decided to enquire about it from the locals in town. The plan was to hire a jeep next day from the local market and go to Deoban, as the car was incompatible for the terrain. But we needed to know whether it was worth the effort. We sat off on bike to know more about the route. We climbed slowly towards the Forest Rest House, avoided the left turn and reached the forest check post. After chatting up with the locals for while, the desperation was building up and wanted to confirm the way.
We carried on straight towards Kanasar and took a less traveled road on our right after 3-4kms and we were on our way to DeobanJ. There was no road, just a path which took us to paradise. We rode for a while just to check out the condition but after a while it was becoming impossible for us to stop. It was like a love at first sight, further we went, more we wanted to see. Haven’t seen such a beauty before in my life, the setting was all so magical and no sign of human existence so far. It was like a forgotten land we were exploring, could not see wildlife (yet) around us but there were many signs of their existence. Little ahead was army mountaineering training school and beyond that, sight was something completely indescribable in words. Never intended to go to Deoban that same day, but could not resist the beauty. Just wanted to see what was there beyond the next curve. We reached Deoban around 6’o clock, when it was about to get dark. As I mentioned we never intended to go to Deoban that day, we were wearing only t-shirts and it got chilly as soon as sun went down. We started our backward journey, we were there in that jungle for the first time, without any mobile signal, without toolkit and spares, without informing anyone, and to top it all low fuel. We were 10% scared and 90% overwhelmed about being to Deoban.
Back in Chakrata, everybody was worried about us as ‘we never intended to go to Deoban’. They started looking for us, from forest check post to Chakrata Bazaar, they looked everywhere. After long, dark, cold ride, we made it back to our hotel in Chakrata safely.
It was a stupid decision going there without any support whatsoever, but till date that was the best ride I ever had to Deoban.

Bhangarh – An inexplicable experience by Shekhar Patil

2008-04-07T08:47:00.011+05:30

Put the word ‘Bhangarh’ in Google search and the first result you get is ‘Bhangarh is known for its ruins where nobody dares to stay after…’ you eagerly want to know Stay after…। What? Well the second result to your query makes it simpler॥’ Thats Bhangarh in Rajasthan, which is the most, haunted Place in India as per Archeological Survey Of India। “STAYING HERE AFTER SUNSET IS STRICTLY ...’ What did you say? Come again। Yeah you read it right. The most haunted place in India and according to ASI board put up there you can’t stay here after the sunset. When it comes from the ASI and not the hearsay, you tend to agree with the statement. Yet the curiosity in you wants to know more. Why can’t I stay there after the sunset! And what’s this ‘most haunted place in India, C’mon, you must be kidding. This is 21st century and you are talking about Ghosts’!

My reaction was no different when my friend Ashwani Khanna, popularly known as ‘Ash’ in our bikers group mentioned this place to me. Not only this, he was too keen to visit this place and stay there as well. The biker in me, always looking for some excitement and new places, immediately fell for this one. I immediately booked my place with him. Now there were two of us and soon the word was circulated in our group (60kph) that when living for Bhangarh, twelve of us were ready to vroom on our bikes to the most haunted place in India.

On further research on the net we learnt that the place is somewhere on the way to Jaipur via Alwar. It sounded better since we were all from Delhi and it could be done on a weekend. On the set D day we started our exciting journey with a bit of qualm. Everyone was chirping yet somewhere the hesitation and uncertainty persisted in our minds. Thinking that the place is not far off, we started late and with leisure halts we kept on riding on a slow pace on the single lane state highways after crossing Alwar via sariska. By the time we made it to Bhangarh it was already dark. Finally we were there. The most haunted place in India. The next task was to spend the night there and get to the truth. As per the notice board of ASI, they would not allow us to stay there for the whole night. Since our primary reason to this place was to meet the ghosts and secondary to see the Bhangarh ruins. If we have to pass the night than why not amongst the ghosts, if they do exists. Immediately a plan of action was charted out. We had come prepared with three tents for the night stay. We divided ourselves into two groups. The first will go and look for the place to pitch the tents inside the ruins and second to go and arrange the food from the nearby dhaba (approx. 1 km from the ruins).

The first group went on and reached the main entrance of the Bhangarh ruins. It was pitch dark and not soul around. We went near the gate and saw a shadow walking towards us. Oh my, was that a Ghost? We were getting ready for the any eventuality and waited patiently for the shadow, which turned out to be a Guard from the ASI. Soon another shadow, I mean the second guard also joined him and after the usual pleasantries both flatly refused to entertain us at that hour of the night informing us about the rule of entry restriction after the sunset. Now was the time to get the facts right. Are there any ghosts living here? Had they come across any such experience? Is it true that people who stays here do not go back alive? All these and many of other thoughts of ours going on in our mind were drowned with the buckets of cold water when both of them announced nothing such happened or happens. All these are rumours. But then why there is restriction on the entry after the sunset? Well, he announced very casually that it is because of the wild animals who probably comes to drink the water from the ‘kund’ within the ruins. Plus this rule applies to most of the places under ASI, isn’t it. How stupid of us! Why we didn’t ever thought on this angle. Now what. Somewhere in our mind we were still not ready to understand their point. After all we ripped off the whole world wide web to know if someone had stayed at Bhangarh ruins for the night and could not come across one single person claiming so and these guards are saying there are no ghosts. We ought to find that out ourselves. The next on the agenda became to pitch our tents there, which the guards had already politely refused. After much buttering and persuasion they agreed to allow us to pitch our tents near the gates to which we gladly agreed.

Everyone was relieved and with full throttle we starting inflating our tents and by the time the food arrived, the tents were up. It was already past 9 in the evening. We had our dinner and the group started discussing the ghostly world. All this went on till 2.30 am before we said goodnight to each other and also taking a good look towards the ruins in that faint hope of some hallucinate effects. Alas… nothing.

It was six in the morning and I heard some hollowing noise. Came out of the tent and it was our dear Langur running towards the ruins. I had the opportunity to have the glimpse of the ruins with the first ray of the sun and it was wow. The next couple of hours were spent clicking the early morning ruins of Bhangarh. It is about 34 kms from Dausa via Sainthal Mod, and 47 kms from Sariska, this place was once a flourishing town of 10,000 homes. According to legend, it was built in the 17th century by Raja Madho Singh, the younger brother of illustrious Man Singh (one of the nine gems of Akbar’s court). A quick look at the surrounding is enough to conclude that it definitely had a prosperous past. With a well planned bazaar and the famous Randiyon ka Mahal (Palace of Prostitutes) in the backdrop makes it a very fascinating sight. The palace in fact seems to be cross between a palace and a fort has definitely been built tastefully overlooking the green lawns and the temples. The temples are a treat to the eyes but seems to have been badly ripped off by the thieves till it came under the supervision of ASI.

Ghosts or no ghosts, a visit to Bhangarh is a must for every traveller. The route from Delhi is via Bhiwadi-Alwar-Rajgarh-Tehla-Bhangarh and the road is excellent.

Jambughoda - A Ride To Remember - by Mandeep Kalsy

2008-04-01T22:17:00.004+05:30

Sleep never eludes me whenever I have to ride the next day. Infact it is sounder than the usual sleep. Maybe it is because my mind, heart and body is relaxing that we'll finally be on the roads once again after a very long time.But this time it was different. I tossed and turned throughout the night swatting mosquitoes even though goodnight was burning at full throttle. After ages it was 8 am and I finally couldn't take it any more and got out of the bed. The packing was still pending and after a quick visit to the bathroom I started collecting all the things I'd need for the trip to Jambughoda.Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Halol and Jambughoda talukas of Panchmahals district and Sankheda taluka of Vadodara district. Originally the area was a reserve forest having extent of 130.38 sq. km, which was constituted as Sanctuary in 1990. After commencement of Wildlife (Protection) Act amendment in 1991, the area is deemed to be declared as a Sanctuary under Section 26 (A). Forest and revenue villages surround area of the Sanctuary. Terrain of the Sanctuary is hilly and undulating.This is one of the good forest areas in Chhotaudepur division. It is also an important area for nature education and environmental awareness camps. The forest plays important ecological and hydrological roles of constituting catchments of small rivers, preventing soil erosion and maintaining health of the watershed. It also plays socio-economic role by satisfying basic needs of tribal communities living in and around the Sanctuary. Local tribals collect minor forest produce from the area for their livelihood.I had been trying CP's phone since the last two days but I couldn't get through. I was confident that he would be at Valsad at the time we had to leave. But 11 o'clock and no CP. So I called up my mechanic to ask him if CP had come in for a final checkup of his bike. Pankaj said he hadn't seen CP since the last 10 days. Throwing caution to the wind I packed my stuff in Amol's Cramsters and took a bath. After refreshing myself and having a hearty breakfast I collected my luggage and climbed down the stairs to load it on Epicenter, my 500 cc Enfield, which has given me 35000 untroubled and wonderful kilometers.A quick wave to mom and I was off to the petrol bunk to top up. The attendant asked if Saab was going somewhere. I said Saab was going to Ahmedabad. He looked like somebody had hit him where it hurt the most. I paid him, kicked the bike to life and roared off to join the traffic and madness of the national highway no.8. As I checked my cellular (I don't wear a watch), it was exactly 12 in the noon. I didn't have a shadow to follow. It would go with me for some time before I had to start chasing it. The temperature was pleasant. It always is at Valsad because of the seacoast. I rolled forward slowly taking stock of my stuff, thinking if I had forgotten anything. Home was just 3 kilometers away and it wouldn't be a trouble to go back and get it. But everything seemed in order and I sped up gradually twisting the throttle till I was at my most comfortable speeds, neither stressing the bike, nor myself. Surat passed by in a blur of trucks and busses and rickshaws, a melee of confused traffic at the crossroads, unsure where to head. I had crossed the busiest part of the highway and now the roads would be comparatively better as there were no diversions or construction work in progress. My first stop was at Baroda, 110 kilometers from Ahmedabad. The heat was hot here and even at 4 in the evening it was like riding in a furnace. I don't wear windcheaters and neither do I use sunscreen lotions so when I finally got off the motorcycle for a small halt to refresh myself, I observed that my skin had gone a deep red. Sunburn. Terrible. My mom was going to yell bloody murder. Munda kaala hoke aaya hai. At a small restaurant nearby I bought a couple of bottles of mineral water and washed my face with the chilled water and soaked my bandanna with it. I still had a full bottle and a half bottle. So I sat down to finish them off slowly and let the sun go down a bit more so that it would cool down a little and make it more comfortable to ride.Anshuman called up in the meanwhile to ask where I had reached. I said Baroda and it would take me another 90 minutes to reach Ahmedabad. He promised he would be there at Narol to pick me up. These big cities are always a nuisance to me. I can never make out what road I have to take to reach some place except my mechanic, Ketan's place and that too because it is on the way to Ahmedabad city. Aviral also called up to know where I was and when I said I was near Nadiad, he asked me if I was flying a helicopter. After a small laugh session with him I started for Ahmedabad again. As I entered Ahmedabad and was looking for a place to stop and call up Anshuman when I heard my name being shouted from the other side. It was Anshuman on Saadi, his Enfield 350. That's what I call timing. We shook hands and headed off to my uncle's place but not before the mandatory visit to Ketan's garage where I ogled his Triumph Speed Twin.Ahmedabad even at 6 in the evening was like a pressure cooker. Full of heat emanating from everywhere around you. It felt as if one was literally burning. It was then when I realized that I was indeed burning. My skin had turned a ghastly red in color due to the constant exposure to the sun for such a long time in such heat. I couldn't wait for the cool water from the shower to hit my body. Anshuman left me at my uncle's place where I met my aunt and nephews, while he went to get the number printed on his number plate promising to be back in a little while. Aunty prepared the always-refreshing tea while I dominated the bathroom for a half wonderful hour. The water took away the heat and restored some of the moisture I had lost along the way. After a change of clothes and a cup of tea followed by two bottles of water, Anshuman, Aviral, who had come over to my uncle's and I started for Rituraj, the weekly meeting point of the Gujarat bullets.As Anshuman had some work, Aviral and I decided to head to Rituraj and wait for the others and Anshu would join us there itself. Aviral and I were the first ones and within 10 minutes, the other members came roaring in. I met Ouseph, Xavier, Samip, Ashish, Tejasbhai, Parikshit, Avinash, Kaviraj, Joy and Jassi. It was a wonderful feeling to be back with the gang after a long time. We bickered and exchanged ride stories and road experiences and some jokes over chai and bread butter. The time and rendezvous point for the Jambughoda ride was discussed and finalized. While others left some of us decided to go to Shivshakti dhaba for dinner. We left for Kaviraj's house where we parked our bikes, loaded up in his Gypsy and left for Shivshakti. Amol called up to ask our whereabouts and when we told him where we were headed he promised to be there in some time but it would be late by then. I said we'd wait for him no matter what the time. So we reached Shivshakti, ordered the mandatory daal bati and attacked it as soon as it was served. The plates were empty within minutes and after Aviral's brief performance of raag dakaar, we settled down to wait for Amol. It didn't take him long to arrive and after the customary hug session, we ordered chai. Then the group dispersed and I decided to ride pillion with Amol as it had been a long time since we'd met properly while the others headed off in the Gypsy. After reaching Kaviraj's house, we picked up our bikes and as Anshu and I were riding the Epicenter, I told him to drop me at my uncle's while he could take the bike to his place and come back to pick me up tomorrow morning. Then we would go to Tejasbhai's place and pick up Anshu's bike and Tejasbhai. After promising to pick me up at 5.30 sharp, Anshu left, the Epicenter's thump echoing along the walls of the Shastrinagar complex.That night for the second time in a row, sleep eluded me. By the time I managed to doze off there was a message from Anshuman asking me to get ready. Damn., it was already 5 am. Brushing my teeth and using the toilet took me 10 minutes and another 10 minutes for packing my stuff and getting ready. By the time I hauled my bags out in the balcony Anshuman thumped in and revved a little to get my attention. We loaded the stuff onto the bike and left for Tejasbhai's place. He was already down from his apartment and waiting anxiously for us. We distributed the luggage on both the bikes and I took Tejasbhai pillion with me. Then we headed off to Fun Republic to link up with the others. Anshuman had confirmed earlier that another good friend, Pushkar would also be joining in. so as we reached Fun Republic, we saw that some of us had already reached there and the others were on their ways. Tushar was the last to come and after a brief photo session and road manner instructions by road captain Aviral, we started for Narol and then to Baroda.The bikes and riders looked pretty good, strung out on the left side of the highway. When we overtook, there were 10 indicators indicating the left or right and when we braked there were 10 brake lights illuminating one after another, like some kind of a pre programmed circuit with a fixed interval. It was truly a sight to behold. It was on the national highway that the traffic really hit us. Even though it was 7.30 in the morning the traffic was like it is in the peak hours. But thanks to Aviral's skillful road captaincy, we maintained the line throughout till we reached Dabhan and stopped for breakfast.Breakfast started with the usual leg pulling. We decided, jokingly of course, that as Aviral was the road captain of the ride; we would eat whatever he could afford. Lots of discussion on this and lots of fun later, everyone ordered whatever he felt like. A hearty and fulfilling breakfast and a very refreshing cup of chai later, we headed off for Baroda where we had to meet Dhruv who would take over from Aviral in terms of leading the group as he was more familiar with the routes. We made good time and within a very short time thumped our way into the parking lot of Blitz Auto, a Skoda dealership in Baroda. Aviral called Dhruv for his whereabouts and we were relieved to know that he had already started. And so had the heat. We had almost exhausted our water supply we had taken from Ahmedabad and now were waiting for Dhruv to come, so that we could start and purchase some bottled water from some hotel. Dhruv joined us and after a brief session of hellos and his, we headed off with Dhruv leading the pack. We took a left turn at the GSFC cross roads and within no time found ourselves heading for the Baroda Halol expressway. I doubted that we would have an entry to the expressway but Dhruv said we could ride on it if we paid the toll of 5 bucks. Everyone readily agreed and Ouseph shelled out the necessary 50 bucks for all the bikes. The race began. Tejasbhai wanted to take a lineup photo of the group on a curve and so we sped off to tell the others about the idea. But some miscommunication was bound to happen and as we stopped at a vantage point and Tejasbhai was setting the camera all the 9 other bullets roared past us on full throttle. An opportunity wasted. But there were other places to take photos, so we headed off, this time riding tail to the group. As we reached Halol, we had to take a right and since Ouseph and Xavier were waiting at the junction with Samip, we also stopped. Someone asked where Anshu and Parikshit were and I assumed that they were ahead with Aviral and group, but when we called up Aviral to ask his whereabouts and enquired about Anshuman and Parikshit we came to know that we had left them behind. So we decided to wait for them. About 20 minutes later they reached us and we headed off to join Aviral and gang at the reliance petrol pump where they were waiting for us. Some of us needed to top up our tanks so after getting the fuel we set off for Jambughoda.The road now changed to soft ghats with lazy turns and no extreme hairpins or climbs. We took our time cruising at a sedate pace, looking like a giant mechanical python zigzagging its way after a hugely satisfying lunch. The temperature in the meanwhile had also soared a bit and all of us were scorched with the heat. As we reached Shivrajpur and were about to ask for the forest rest house, Mr. Nepali, who was the person we had contacted for the stay met us and asked us if we were the group that was coming from Ahmedabad. When we replied in the affirmative, he asked us to follow him to the rest house where all the arrangements had been made for us. We set off after him and a kilometer or so later, we left the main road and took a dirt track. Aviral, Ouseph and Xavier had been lagging behind, so Pushkar, Parikshit and I decided to wait for them at the turning to the dirt track. They came into view about 20 minutes later and we headed off after the group. There were a couple of small roads heading off from the dirt track but we managed to look for motorcycle tracks and finally found our way to the campsite where the others were already waiting for us.Some went off to look around in the small forest while some of us decided to rest a bit in the cool shade of trees and then unpack our bags from the bikes. Aviral in the meanwhile waited under a mango tree for mangoes to fall down by themselves. Avinash hit everything but the mangoes. But finally we had 4 mangoes to pass some time. They were quite light and we discussed the possibility of them being made of thermocol. None of us had seen where our sleeping quarters were. So when we saw the small thatched huts, we thought this was where we were going to stay. As we unloaded our motorcycles and headed off towards the huts, Avinash and Joy informed us that we were to stay in the rest house on the top of the small hillock, at the bottom of which we were sitting. So carrying our loads we headed that way. Little did we know what a nice surprise we had waiting for us at the top. As we rounded the small turn on the hillock we saw a path leading to our right. We realized a little sluggishly that it was the wall of the Kada dam. But this was half of it. There were stairs leading to somewhere on the left and as we mounted the stairs; a well maintained building came into view. This was the rest house, where we would stay. As we finally reached the top and looked outwards, we had a splendid view of the reservoir, now 90 percent dry and the villages near it. The whole area was surrounded by rocky hills and was set up in a sort of bottom of a bowl. More surprises, the rest house had double beds, attached bathrooms, electricity, and a boon for summers, a working fridge, with bottles of chilled water, waiting just for us. As we ooohed and aahed our way through the various rooms and dropped our luggage on the floor, we realized that we were in for a lot of fun. It was almost 4 in the evening when we made ourselves at home and breakfast was served. We were to be there at 10 in the morning at the latest. But what is a ride if everything goes according to the time?? So here we were sitting and talking while the caretaker Natubhai prepared delicious poha for us. Two bowlfuls of poha vanished like magic and there were still four people left who hadn't had any of it. So a second round was requested which was graciously served by Natubhai. The same thing happened again but this time everyone got a helping. This was followed by the ever-refreshing chai. Some of us went to bathe while some went to sleep. Some went to explore the reservoir while some sat outside in the small but neat garden taking in the nice view of the surroundings.After all of us had refreshed ourselves and were ready to go for a small walk, we first decided to fix our dinner menu. A lot of deliberation later it was decided and we gave the money to the caretaker to get the things and prepare the dinner. Ouseph and the caretaker went to get the necessary things and also got kukkad and desi daru with it. The walk along the reservoir was good fun. While we were headed towards the village, Aviral and some of us who had already left earlier were returning. Talking, joking and passing comments, we had a small photo session taking in all the scenes that surrounded us. It was still too hot.We returned to the rest house after a nice walk and some talking with the villagers there. Preparations for dinner were well under way by the time we settled down on the comfortable sofas and chairs of the rest house. While some took baths again, Avinash and Dhruv opened the customary bar. Although I don't drink at all we cheered for each other and the drinking session was officially opened. Aviral went outside to and announced that it was definitely much cooler there than inside the rest house. We all decided to see if he was drunk or saying the truth. He was saying the truth. As darkness fell, the wind cooled down and picked up speed. It rustled through the small plants and trees around us. Maybe because we were at some height, the gusts were very strong. Almost like announcing the beginning of the monsoons. But the skies were clear, the moon shown and the Milky Way cut across the sky like a huge highway. Maybe there were some aliens enjoying in some distant galaxy like we were enjoying it here. Who could tell? But then who wanted to know? Ouseph acted as chef for chicken and a little while later, when everyone was hungry enough to tackle a grizzly with one's bare hands, someone announced that dinner was served. There was a mad rush to the table like it was the last day on earth for us and within seconds all emerged out in the verandah with plates heaped with food like they hadn't eaten for almost a week and wouldn't eat for a week thereafter. It was the long ride, coupled with the atmosphere that had made us all so hungry. Dinner was delicious. Not too spicy, neither too oily and nor too salty. Just right for everybody. All ate praising Natubhai with every bite of roti we took. Chicken was still pending. Ouseph said it'd take a little longer. We agreed to wait and eventually when it was served everyone agreed that indeed the wait was worth it.After dinner, Aviral wanted to bring his bike up to the rest house. Soon everybody wanted their bikes at the top. So one after the other, everyone went down and got the bikes up. Aviral and Avinash went to the terrace and within a few minutes were off to sleep. The others sat around talking about many things in general, nothing in particular. Dhruv was the last to arrive back at the rest house. He had somehow got lost and couldn't find the way back up. Although none of us knew each other very well, never for a moment we found that we didn't understand each other or our views didn't match on a particular subject. Everything was in harmony, one to the other and all to nature. It was a wonderful feeling. I'd finally sleep that night. We decided to sleep on the terrace. It was midnight but the rest house was still warm and uncomfortable to sleep in. So we took our sleeping bags to the terrace and prepared to sleep. Here too Samip and Joy gave us a nice comedy show and we all drifted off to sleep, some laughing and some smiling. The wind kept its relentless volley blowing. Like an angry god breathing hard. But we slept.Dawn came with a sudden change in temperature. Tejasbhai and I were the first ones to get up. The benefit of getting up earlier than the others is that you can use the bathrooms at your own leisure before everyone else starts banging on the doors. And we did exactly the same. We were the first to get ready and soon everybody was down waiting uneasily to use the bathrooms. Within a short time everyone was ready to go to Jhand Hanuman, Bhim Ki Ghanti and Hidamba Van, about 12 kilometers from the rest house. Natubhai served chai and after two cups and biscuits later the photo session started. The lineups and close-ups were taken and finally at 10 we started for Jhand Hanuman. As soon as we had gone about 5 kilometers we realized that we were missing two bikes. Parikshit and Ouseph. Waiting for them, we saw that Samip's bike had a flat. Joy and Samip helped me to remove the wheel, which Anshu and I took to patch up. When we returned, everyone was there and we started again. The road now stopped being a road and turned into a dirt track. I hung at the tail and well behind everyone so that the dust settled and I could move freely. Some more kilometers later, the convoy came to an abrupt halt. Another puncture. This time in Joy's bike. Again the same routine, but this time Dhruv and Joy went to get it repaired. We waited for them to return but when they didn't come even after half an hour and our water supply had exhausted, half of the group decided to leave for Jhand Hanuman and the rest decided to wait. Finally after waiting some more, Aviral, Ashish and Samip decided to wait while Pushkar, Parikshit and I decided to go ahead. The dirt track was beautiful and it reminded me of how Gaurav loves to ride the dirt tracks. Finally we reached Jhand Hanuman and found the others waiting for us. There was chai for Prasad and after a cup for each we headed to see Bhim Ki Ghanti. As myth had it this was the grinding mill where Bhim had ground flour for his wife, Hidamba to make idli dosa…hehe. As we reached the approach to the place we were speculating on whether to take the bikes to the top or go on foot. A majority of people were climbing the route on foot so we were a bit apprehensive at first. The vacationers having lunch in the parking were snickering that the bikes wont be able to reach the top. We decided to take the bikes with us. So we shifted into the first gear and started to the top. The road. a dirt track actually, at first was a bit smooth though undulating but soon it turned to small rocks and stone and sand. But like all good and sincere bulleteers who go where nobody dares to, we didn't lose heart and went the whole hog. Finally after slow and careful riding for about 10 minutes and maneuvering the bikes around small boulders and such we were on the top. It was a good feeling that washed over us. We had done a difficult road without anyone falling or injuring himself and without any bike having any problem. When we finally parked the bikes under a huge tree and turned around to look what actually Bhim Ki Ghanti was, we were spell bound. There was this grinding mill and all around it were stacks of stones, one over the other, five in number for the Pandavas. There were different colors to stones and the whole landscape looked out of the world. We stood there mesmerized for about 10 minutes. It was the silent whirring of Anshuman's camera that brought us back to our senses. We all started talking at once. After some photos and poses, while Avinash stacked his set of stones we headed downwards. At the bottom while we took stock of all the bikes and whether anyone was having any problem the people who had snickered at us looked at us with some respect. We headed back for the rest house. It was already two in the afternoon and officially we should have started for Ahmedabad by now.While heading back we were met by Aviral, Dhruv and Joy who had fixed the tire and were going to Jhand Hanuman for a quick dekko. We waved to them and went off our way. Strangely Samip and Ashish were not with them. We put bad thoughts aside and headed for the rest house, negotiating the magnificent dirt track once again. As soon as we came to the Pucca Street, Samip and Ashish greeted us there. When we asked why they hadn't come with us, Samip explained that they were looking for dahi to make some chhas, which Samip claimed he was a master at. We reached the rest house and started packing our stuff while Natubhai prepared lunch for us. We had decided to leave immediately after lunch, so everyone was hurrying up. Samip in the meanwhile got busy with his chhas project. Eventually, Aviral, Joy and Dhruv arrived and we discussed what all we had seen and whether the ride was worth it. Everybody agreed equally volubly that yes the trip was worth every single paisa. Natubhai announced lunch and Samip presented his chhas. Lunch was delicious, rice and daal. The chhas, exceptional. All had so much of chhas that, coupled with rice it made everybody drowsy and lazy and reluctant to move. Avinash in the meanwhile hit upon an idea to have a quick, cool, refreshing bath at the point where the water from the dam entered into a farming canal. Some were reluctant to go while Aviral and Dhruv were game for it. So they headed off for the canal while we digested the rice and chhas sitting and talking on the sofas in the drawing room of the rest house. Soon I had a feeling that maybe I should also take a dip in the canal. In the meanwhile Avinash and company were back from there and were full of praises for the wonders of sitting in a canal in this sweltering heat. That was it and Tejasbhai, Samip, Joy and I headed off to try out the water. We found a still better place to relax and took our time sitting in the water letting the heat dissipate and the coolness seep into our pores. It was truly relaxing and wonderful. Ashish came just as we were about to leave. Soon we reached the rest house and after a quick change of clothes we were ready to leave. In the meanwhile Natubhai announced his irresistible chai. We had to drink it. Soon we packed everything on our bikes and were ready to move when we realized that we had forgotten the most important thing. Paying Natubhai off for all the food we had consumed. When the accounting was done and the final figure reached at, everyone was surprised to see that for two days and one night of almost non stop eating all one had to pay was 60 bucks per head. Everyone readily shelled out the money and we added a hundred and fifty bucks for Natubhai and his assistant for the wonderful service they had provided. Thanks to Joy's uncle Mr. P. K. Patel who is the RFO at Jambughoda that we didn't have to pay for the rest house stay and permission and entry charges.As soon as we started our bikes and were about to move, Joy went crazy. We realized he had a flat. Again. So we removed the tire and Anshuman, Joy and Pushkar headed off to get the tire done. I asked Anshuman to call up Sandeep and let him know that I would be home by dawn. The rest of us just plonked our butts into the grass and started having a good time. A good half an hour later Anshuman and Joy arrived with the tire. While I was fitting the tire Anshuman told me that I had to come back to Ahmedabad as I had to get something from there for Sandeep. I agreed. So it was 6.30 when we finally left Jambughoda. We decided to take it real slow because it was getting dark and we didn't want any mishap to occur due to speed or recklessness. Everyone agreed and the convoy started with Pushkar and I tailing them. It was a beautiful sight to behold. 9 motorcycles in front of me, their silent chuffing filling the air and their taillights like some wild fireflies in wild surroundings. It was a spell binding sight. Almost hypnotizing. But we didn't get hypnotized and before we knew we were in Halol. Here calamity struck again. Ashish had a front tire puncture. We decided to remove the tire and get it done up but then we realized that we had a foot pump and it was a slow puncture so we pumped it up good and headed off to the puncture guy whom Avinash had already looked for and located. Here again we were in for the shock of our lives. The puncture wala didn't know how to remove the tire and insisted that it wasn't his job to remove the tire; it was the mechanic's responsibility. Controlling our frustration and anger, we removed the front wheel, got the puncture done up and headed for Baroda. But we had one more surprise waiting for us on the expressway. While Samip and I tailed, Tejasbhai went camera crazy and took a lot of night shots. Suddenly we saw Ashish getting airborne for a couple of seconds and coming down again. Aviral stopped immediately after ensuring that everyone was safe. Samip and I dodged a couple of broken boulders bang in the middle of the road and stopped a little ahead of the group. Aviral in the meanwhile had gone out of his mind and was shouting and pointing ahead. When we finally got our eyes in the direction he was pointing, we realized that a bus was zigzagging in the middle of the highway and headed towards Baroda without its lights and apparently no driver. That is when we realized that Aviral was telling us the same thing that the bus was without a driver. Pushkar and I raced ahead to stop and board the bus and then get it to stop. But suddenly the headlights on the bus went up. We thought that maybe the bus was haunted when suddenly the driver poked his head out of his window and asked us what the matter was. We lambasted him and threatened him to pick up the boulders he had left on the highway and if he didn't do it we would cause a serious traffic jam and report him to the authorities. In the meanwhile, the highway patrol ambulance also reached us thinking that there was an emergency. We notified the ambulance guys about what had happened, took a couple of photos and headed off again to Baroda. At Baroda we regrouped and discussed about dinner. It was already past 9 and everyone was hungry. Dhruv suggested a restaurant at Vasad where we could have good food and he could head back to Baroda after the dinner. We agreed. Dinner was delicious and after dinner we all said goodbye to Dhruv and headed for Ahmedabad. The highways were reasonably empty and we made good speeds. Suddenly I realized that only Joy and I were ahead and there was nobody behind us. So we slowed down while others caught up with us. We stopped at Dabhan for tea, as everyone was feeling sleepy. It was almost 2.30 when we reached Narol. Ouseph's bike had conked out and Aviral was pushing it since the last 20 kilometers. They passed us while all of us gathered at Narol to say final goodbyes to each other. Then we headed off for Anshuman's place where I would spend the night, finish off Sandeep's job and head for Valsad that day. We dropped off Tejasbhai at his place. Anshuman's bike had burnt valves and a dead piston. But we were lucky that it didn't give us even an ounce of trouble during the whole ride. We finally reached Anshu's place and were asleep even before our heads hit the pillows. Two days of fun and heat had tired us so badly that we didn't even feel the stifling heat in the room. We just slept like logs until it was 9 am in the morning and time to get up.I got ready and we took Anshu's bike to Ketan's garage for repairs. My bike also needed minor attention. We reached there, and when Jayanti kaka, Ketan's father was through with my bike, we asked him to start and see what was wrong with Anshu's bike. He started it and said that the valves were kaput and maybe even the piston. It would take a couple of days. We put the bike in for repairs, I said goodbye to Jayanti kaka and thanked him for taking care of my bike and headed for Anshu's office. Tejasbhai had already developed one roll of photos and even Samip had his cd ready. We saw the photos and recalled all the fun we had. Finally it was time to leave. I shook hands with Tejasbhai, went with Anshuman to finish off Sandeep's work and came back to Anshu's place. It was 3.45 in the afternoon and burning hot. But I had to leave. So I packed my luggage and Anshuman came to see me off till the highway. We said bye and parted ways. I picked up speed and started for Narol. It as 5 when I turned right and faced my bike towards Valsad. 6 hours later, at exactly 11 pm I was at home.My mom went crazy looking at the sun burnt face and hands. My dad was shaking with laughter while I listened to my mom rant about how careless I am. Finally Sandeep ordered pizzas and we had dinner. I took a bath, fell into bed and went to sleep, dreaming of Jambughoda.

Ride to Pabbar Valley - by Dallbir

2008-04-01T19:47:00.006+05:30

Since my last ride six months back, desperation was building up. My office was doing a great job keeping me busy, consuming most of my Saturdays. Finally, there was a hope for a ride in late December during Christmas. Thought of riding towards Rajasthan but couldn’t resist the idea of witnessing a snowfall. Started looking for various options and zeroed on Pabbar Valley. Route plan was simple: Delhi – Pipli – Yamunanagar – Poanta Sahib – Shillai – Tiuni – Rohru – Chargaon – Shiladesh – Rohru – Sungri – Baggi – Narkanda – Shimla – Delhi; duration 4-5 days. Roped in couple of my friends and after some preparation, countdown started.
On 21st December, five of us left on four bikes around 7:30 am, one more friend was supposed to join us from Kurukshetra. Our plan was already delayed by hour and a half. We took our first halt around 9.30 at Murthal for parantha breakfast. After a quick break of 30 minutes we were on road again, trying to cover up the lost time. We rode without any break till Pipli, where we met Aman who was eagerly waiting for us. But before we can start again, I had a flat tyre and some broken spokes. Got it fixed and now we were way behind our schedule. On our way between Kalesar and Poanta Sahib, Rishi’s bullet started facing problems on the ascents. He was riding with a pillion and lot of luggage, transferred some on to my bike and it was smooth again. By the time when we reached the holy city of Poanta Sahib, it was already 4:30pm. All of us were hungry as a beast and we freaked on the local tikki burgers and chai. Enquired about the route further, since we were way beyond our schedule decided to ride as far as possible that day. After a long days ride, finally we were in the mountains, climbing further with every kilometer. This is a dusty mining area with lot of truck traffic. Reached the silent own of Shillai around 8:30 pm and took shelter in Govt. PWD guesthouse around 9.30 p.m after dinner.
22nd December, 2007
Shillai is not a picture perfect town with barren mountains, but has one of the most amazing sunrises I have ever witnessed. Woke up early, don’t remember the time, it was freezing cold but couldn’t resist the idea of a sunrise, got the camera, all wrapped stepped out for a surprisingly awesome sunrise. Soon, ruined everybody else’s sleep, meanwhile tea was ready. It was a beautiful sunny winter morning, could see little bit of snow on distant mountains. Soon everybody was ready for exciting day ahead. It was descend from Shillai, the ride was just amazing, with occasional pine forest. Soon we reached the confluence of Tons & Pabbar river and the sight was amazing. The sight reminded me of Spiti, with barren rocky mountains in the background, crystal clear water. During all this, we never refueled. Around 20 kms short of Tiuni, Rishi’s bike ran out of petrol. Other had enough to lend him some petrol and we made it to Tiuni. With a quick fill up and little brunch, we rode on some of the most scenic roads to Hatkoti, visited the ancient Hatu Mata Temple. Our next stop was at Rohru, the headquarters Pabbar valley, we negotiated through heavily crowded streets, once out of town the valley was amazingly beautiful, the snow clad mountain ahead of us looked so close but yet too far. After crossing the town, we proceeded at a low speed consuming the beauty as much as possible. Pabbar River giving us company throughout, little ahead crossed Chargaon silent hill town. This was the last town on this route and the population decreased further down the road. Spotted a beautiful spot along the bank of the river and stopped for a break. There we had the most relaxing 30-40 minutes break of the whole ride. The sight was simply awe, with crystal clear water flowing and beautiful mountains all around with thick vegetation. Ahead of the road was snow-clad mighty white sparkling Chansal peak. Not wasting further time we all headed towards Shiladesh as we knew that the sun will come down fast in few hours. Initially it was easy climbing on slopes with a little mud but soon it was mud and snow which made it really hard to keep the balance. As we climbed further, tougher it got to ride. 3 kms before Shiladesh, had to take a tough decision to turn back to the valley. It was tough but a sensible situation, with sun going down fast and no grip on the road; we climbed back just to come back again sometime. According to locals the scenery beyond these mountains are comparable to none and the remotest, all the more reasons to try it again. Everybody had their own share of skidding and falling which was fun, everybody got down safely. We started looking for a place to camp and found an ideal spot just opposite the river bank where we stopped earlier. Since it was already dark and everybody was hungry and we have to pitch tents also, we didn’t’ had an option for ‘fine dining’. Two guys were sent off to Chargaon to get some food and drinking water and rest of us stayed back to pitch tents and collect firewood. Within half an hour tents were pitched and fire was burning. Guys came back with food, but couldn’t get drinking water as none of the shop keepers kept either bottled water or soft drink and rest were closed. I along with Rishi decided to go the other end of the road to nearby village for water, could have used river water, but our water purifying pills had expired. And to our luck it was too late for the village to be awake at 8:00 pm;-). On our way back, had some dogs chasing us, which was a boon is disguise; as soon we stopped we noticed a small tea stall. Requested the guy for some water, after little while he agreed to give us a big container of water without any charge. That night was cold, after dinner went to our tents to call it a day.
23rd December, 2007
After a long night sleep, we woke up early, as our journey back home was supposed to start. The morning was icy cold with wind picking up. And it was time for nature’s call. After attending to the call, all of us knew what they call ‘third degree torture’, with no toilet paper around and icy cold river water aaaaghhh aaaagghhh. Later discovered various animal skeletons behind the tents and later a local told us that last year they had shot a leopard just opposite that site. That was very informative after we have camped there last night. Decided to take a dip in cold water, no matter what but again the local warned us – ‘Iss mausam main nadi ke paani se hum nahin nahate, aap nahoge to bimaar ho jaoge’. Packed up the stuff, returned the water container and returned back to Rohru. Refueled and asked for directions to Sungri. We could have taken a safer route to Shimpla via Theog but ehehehe. From Sungri, you can either take left turn for Narkanda or right turn to Rampur. It was a beautiful road to Sungri with very less traffic, from 1400 meters, we climbed up to around 2200 meters. Soon, we got to see small patches of snow along the way which really excited us and proceeded further with more enthusiasm (kya pata tha aage pungi bajegi). Took a halt at Sungri, had breakfast and tea and spoke to locals there about the road to Narkanda. As usual, we rely on local guidance more then anything else, so the guys told us that jeeps have been coming from the other side, so bikes wouldn’t be problem. That’s all we needed, packed up and got on to the Sungri-Narkanda road. It was 12:30 pm and Baggi was 40 kms away. So we planned to stay little ahead of Narkanda that day (ehehe wishful thinking).
As we started to ride, we got a first patch of snow on the road - excitement meter-99%, got to see another one round the corner - excitement meter-95%, got another one and another one and another one. After traveling (or should I say balancing and walking through snow) 18 kms, we reached Khadrala, where bikes just stood in snow without any support. Locals suggested us to turn back and not proceed further as the road was blocked with snow. But we smart asses decided that now we have managed 18kms of snow patches, ‘we will manage’ rest 22 also. Now we know why roads get close, how do people get stranded, why do they warn you. By the time we reached Baggi, it was 8’o clock. Midway, one of the guy had a flat tire, snow was all around us, never saw so much of snow at one place. We divided the group in two parts, send three bikers to check the rest of the way and acquire any accommodation closest. Had a time of our lives fixing that puncture, tires got stiff, fingers won’t move in snow, it took us an hour just fix it up. It was about to get dark and the worst was yet to come, guys ahead informed us bout a ice patch ahead (not a snow patch) and a long mud-snow patch. Everybody had their own share of falls. At one point of time we were finding it hard to stand on our feet and as I write, couldn’t believe we rode on that patch. Won’t do it again for million rupees, well if you make it two might take up the challenge. Finally we crossed all the patches and it was dark. We met a local who scared the hell out of us; he was like a chowkidaar from Zee Horror Show who told us that we shouldn’t be there at that point of time. Soon we reached Baggi, our shoes were wet, clothes were dirty, hands were freezing, and all we wanted was bed. This day we covered 40 kms in about 7 hours, you can imagine how tough it would have been. Dividing the team in two parts was a smart decision, coz by the time we reached everything was closed, but these guys were waiting for us. We unloaded the bikes and took shelter in PWD rest house. It was a long hard day. The rooms were warm and nice with a fireplace which we later used to dry our wet shoes and clothes. After little chitchat, all of us went off to sleep as nobody had any energy left. Won’t be able to forget about that day, it was a stupid decision to continue down that road. As per our plan we were supposed to reach Narkanda via Baggi, and after witnessing the day, nobody could figure next day, nobody wanted to think about it.
24th December, 2007
Hoping to reach home this day, we woke early and packed our stuff on time. After enquiring about the road ahead, was glad to know that little ahead, a road bifurcates towards Theog which is all clear of snow. We couldn’t have been happier. We checked our bikes and started our journey with a cup of tea. Decided to stop for breakfast nearby Theog. It was fourth day without shower and we were sure that we won’t get entry at our home without id proof ;-). Spirits were high and clear road got us to enjoy the ride. This place is known as Baggi coz this area is surrounded by apple orchards, people there don’t know anything else apart from growing apples. It is beautiful country side surrounded by apple orchards. We took a short break at Chaila and proceeded towards Theog. It had been quite sometime since we had nice food, so decided to eat at the famous ‘Giani da dhaba’ at Dharampur. Crossed maddening Shimla and pushed ourselves to Dharampur, reached their around 2 pm, as hungry and dirty as a pig, we hogged on as we haven’t eaten in days. Since we had covered a long distance, decided to cover up the rest of distance to Delhi and as they say, journey back home is always the longest. Reached home at around 1am, covered around 450 kms in a day. Woke up next morning and it all seemed like a dream, a dream which got over too quickly.
Till then, waiting to return to Pabbar valley again, to scale the heights which I couldn’t do this time.

Weekend Pushkar and Sambhar Lake - by Hirak

2008-04-01T10:36:00.003+05:30

It was a very interesting Saturday (22.10.2005). Must be about 0030 hours in the night and I was contemplating to hit the road. Its been a while since I got a full weekend off. I started packing. One bag, two Ts, one denim jacket, toiletries, bike spares bag. Went to my sis's room and whispered, I am off to Pushkar tomorrow. She didn’t give me that blank look this time, a perfect sis of a riding bulleteer. At 4.30am, I got up, got ready and tiptoed to the balcony. It was horribly cold for October! I was back under the quilt. At 0615 hours I was out again and I knew it’s now or never. Picked up my bag, woke up my sis and gave her a hug and asked her to lock the door behind me. 0630 hrs: Odometer Reading: 13912. I was cruising slowly and NH-8 was so enticing. It told me what 'Freedom to Speed' is applicable here. The result was a surprise. I was at my Pushkar Hotel, had taken my bath, enroute scouted for a suitable haveli type guest house, got my bike kick repaired (the kick spring had broken!!) and it was only 11.50am when Manas called to enquire about my well being. From my Challenge point of view of doing Delhi-Mumbai in record time on my Royal Enfield Electra 2004 - which I propose to do in less than 20 hours (subject to some corporate sponsorship though) without any modifications on my bike. I sat down by the Pushkar Lake and the soothing kirtan of 'Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare' pacified my mind. After spending an hour, I went around the great Pushkar Market, colorful, full of energy and vitality, choking me with the aroma of its famous mithais - and a bong can't resist them you know - and innumerable Royal Enfields of various shapes and designs and thumps ferrying mostly Israeli and Swedish hunks and honeys, the ghats of the lake, each had its own story to tell. But I missed the greatest show, which the newspapers in Delhi carried that week - of a Finnish lady walking naked in the streets of Pushkar!! (Awww.. now that's a missed scoop for a travelogue-writer-cum-photojournalist in the making.. the pic could have been my clubz wallpaper of the decade !!). Thankfully again, since that didn’t happen, I headed for Dargah Sharif, and paid my tributes there with complete peace of mind. I felt so calm and relaxed there, and it was my lucky day - 'Kheer' was prepared in the smaller of the two huge cauldrons there and I got to partake that, thanks to my friend and Khadim at the Holy Shrine - Kamli Bhai. The food is prepared in the two cauldrons only on important occasions like Ids, the annual Urs, and during the holy month of Ramadan. I wished him well too, its the auspicious month of Ramadan, and took leave and headed back to my Pushkar hotel. I missed the sunset at Pushkar, which they say is quite a sight. But there is always a next time for a biker... The evening serenity of the lake was amazing. As darkness enveloped the lake, reflections of the night-lights dancing slowly in the water, in harmony with the kirtan that was on, the pleasant breeze kissed the soul and the mortal body remained glued to the cemented stairs of the ghats oblivious of the worldly transactions around. I headed for the market for some snacks, mingled with some of the foreigners and locals, had Kashmiri biriyani, enjoyed the night of high pitched kirtan, traditional style, and it was indeed mesmerizing, not just for me but for each passerby, and then called Pritam in Jaipur to reconfirm the ride to the Great Sambhar Lake - Asia's largest Salt Water Lake. He was Game, a true 60kphr! The Sunday morning chill prevented me to start early. Pritam laughed at me, and said, I have weathered the Ladakh's inhospitable cold on a bike and I am shivering in Pushkar. Guess that was the joke of the day but a biker knows better, prevention is always better than 'cold'. Thankfully, the joke was applicable on Pritam too, since he too was shocked to feel the chill outside, he confessed. At 7am I was ripping the Ajmer Highway and driving towards Dudu from where the road leads to Sambhar Lake. The trucks carrying tonnes of uncut marble rocks slowed the traffic down and then there were those usual accidents. Pritam reached early, almost by 25 minutes. I missed the cut and went over the flyover at Dudu, but that wasn't my mistake. The Jaipur - Kishangarh expressway is anytime a biker's delight and my bike touched an unbelievable 108kmph ... for me that was like Mach3... I came back to the Bharat Petroleum pump at Dudu under that flyover where my travelmate and good buddy Pritam was waiting so very patiently and we had a great 'jaduu ki jhappi', it had to be; we were meeting after almost two months. Soon, we were on the move, stopping and taking pics, joking, our bikes rollicking and frolicking through the vast arid landscape - habited though - and suddenly there was this vast white expanse of space-the dry salt lake bed, and where there was water in the lake bed, there were flamingos - white and pink, dancing and prancing - they made an awesome site. I clicked on and on unceasingly, then I zipped my bike across the salt bed, it was rock solid, and what a pleasure it was. Unfortunately we had very less time and to see the entire lake - its huge and unending coving hundreds of square miles - we need at least a week's time. So I guess I have to go back there, again.... We headed towards Jaipur for a quick lunch. Then, I bade goodbye to Pritam at the NH-8 dhaba where we had lunch and soon was cruising towards Delhi. Each time I have passed this NH, it had been a different experience altogether. The bike and the rider on it, that’s me, gets transformed into something rebellious, something unwarrantingly macho, the result is just one - the highway burns and people, whether pedestrians, dhaba-walas, truck-walas, car-walas, tempo-walas, all heads turns in appreciation of the majesty of the Royal Beast. Though I drove real slow, but still was at my garage at 7.30pm. The Odometer reading at my garage was 14842.2. Total distance covered in two days was 930 kms. A weekend trip that I will remember for the years to come.

Dhanaulti - by Manav Singh

2008-03-30T12:15:00.005+05:30

It has not been a even a month that I have touched base in Delhi and I couldn’t resist riding to the Himalayas. As soon as an extended weekend presented itself, the opportunity was grabbed without much ado. Mayuresh was riding pillion with me.

The plan was to leave early in the morning so that we could reach the hills before noon. However, this was not to be. Mayuresh was expected to land at my place by 11 PM, which got extended to 1 AM. We kept chatting for a while and it must have been 2 O clock by the time we went to sleep. Obviously, we got up late and it was around 10 that we could get moving.

The first stop was a nearby filling station. The tank was filled upto the brim and the ride was on. As expected, traffic was pretty heavy and till we crossed Ghaziabad, we couldn’t gather much pace. Traffic on Ghaziabad to Modinagar route was a bit light and we were able to ride pretty fast on this track. After crossing Modinagar, we felt that it would be better if we satisfy our hunger pangs first and then move on. So, we stopped at a dhaba for a supposedly quick breakfast which turned into a brunch. It was well beyond 40 minutes that we were back on the roads.

The traffic was again back to its worst, the real trouble being with sugarcane carrying vehicles (all kinds of them – trucks, tractors & bullock carts). Still, we managed to keep good pace till Muzzafarnagar where we got stuck in a jam right in middle of the city. It was well beyond half an hour before we could get out of the city. We took a small break at Muzzafarnagar-Saharanpur-Roorke trisection, and thank God that we took the Roorke route. Saharanpur route is a real killer as we realized on our return trip. From now onwards, the traffic was not that heavy, and the ride was pretty comforting. It was around 4’ O Clock that we reached the outskirts of Dehradun and were stopped at a police outpost. All the documents were in order and in no time we were on again, but not before we got few comments on riding such a long distance from the policemen.

Once in Dehradun, city traffic caught up with us. We got stuck in a Dussera procession (folks, seems Ravan is still there to bother us mortals) it was only by 5: 30 that we could get onto the road to Mussorie. The clutch wire had gone a bit loose which was tightened and we were on again. However, our plan to do Sahastradhara today itself went for a toss and we decided to go to Mussorie straight. Riding on the ghats with the sun setting down was ultimate and the ride progressed like a dream. There were couple of stops en-route, and I remember our stopping next to a rustic, charming house. This place looked very serene and we wondered whether we could stay here itself. But then, better sense prevailed and we went on towards Mussorie, and ran into a huge jam at the outskirts. It really felt bad to be in such a situation after such a wonderful ride up the hills. It took around half an hour to get out of the jam. We checked into a hotel at a good distance from the Mall road. Good thing was that our room provided a fascinating view of the valley below, there was 9 storey temple next to the hotel and we got to park the bike right next to the room.

It was 8 O’ clock now and was getting pretty chilly. We were in the mood to have something hot and we got to have a piping hot and real thick hot chocolate drink. Having the drink sitting alone in the dining lounge of the hotel, we decided our future course. As we didn’t want to spend much time in crowded Mussorie, it was decided that we would take a early morning trip to Kempty Falls and later continue our ride to Dhanaulti. This way, we would also be able to avoid the rush at the falls.

After finishing our drink, we went for a walk around the town. It was pretty surprising to see that the place was not as crowded as it seemed to be. Around half an hour of leisurely stroll around the town, we were feeling cold again and in we went into “Gulab Vasihnav Dhaba”. Tandoori parathas, a thali and daal fry was ordered. Tandoori parathas were amazing and so was having “garam-garam daal” in this weather. Mayuresh took fancy to the parathas and daal and made me commit that we would be coming to this place again in the morning. I was too willing to do the same as the food tasted good. After dinner, I was in the mood to have a “paan” and the dhaba owner directed us to a nearby “Paan Corner”. Mayuresh asked him whether he could make “Jalta hua paan” and the man shook his head vigorously. But then, I was a bit curious about this “Jalta hua paan” and asked Mayuresh to describe it in detail. It turned out that just placing a lighted “clove (long)” in the paan made it “jalta hua paan”. The paanwala also seemed to get this, and obliged us by making jalta hua paan. Folks, those who haven’t had this, do try it out – burnt “clove” gives a different flavour to the pan.

We made a couple of calls and it tuned out that we will have to come again to some STD booth as Mayuresh had to again call up his girl friend back in Mumbai after 10 O Clock. So we walked back to the hotel with me hoping that probably the chill will force Mayuresh to let go of his plans to call his girlfriend.

We got back into the room, and while chatting, we also switched on the tele. Star Movies was showing “Miss Congeniality”. We were dead tired by this time and getting under a blanket was the only thing we could think of. Much sooner than later, Mayuresh asked for the time (this man had left his watch and cellphone at home- seemed he was in real mood to escape), and I knew that we were going out for a walk. Mayuresh pulled me out of the warm bed and we were again loitering on the deserted roads at 10:15 PM looking out for some STD booth. Though there were few of them on out way to the Mall, all were closed and we had to go upto Gandhi Chowk to catch the one open. While Mayuresh made the call, I entered into conversation with some local people there. The topic of conversation was Dhanaulti and other areas nearby which were worth visiting. Soon Mayuresh finished his call and joined us. By this time, one chap got a bit philosophical and described Dhanaulti as “Wasie to wahaan kuch nahin hai, par agar dekho to sab kuch hai”. By now, it was getting pretty chilly, and we wanted to get back to the cozy warmth of the hotel. Once inside the room, Miss Congeniality caught up with us again, and it was well beyond 12 that we dozed off.

I woke up at around 7 in the morning. The sun was shining bright, and everything looked so fresh. Mayuresh was woken up from his deep slumber, and by 7:45, we were off towards Kempty Falls. The road leading to the falls was deserted and the ride was also a bit tough with both the slopes and the climb being pretty steep and narrow at times. The early morning wind chill factor, especially on the sides where there was no sun for good enough stretches, further compounded this. But then the pleasure of riding all alone amidst the enchanting mountains with the only sound being the thump of the bike made the ride a delightful.

The falls were only at a distance of 16 Kms from Mussorie, but the ride took us nearly an hour. It was good to see that there was absolutely no crowd at the falls (only a group of 5 people was present). Before climbing down to the falls, we stooped for a break at a tea stall that was in the process of opening up. After consuming 3 cups of elaichi tea (1 by me and 2 by Mayuresh), we got the directions to the falls and reached there in no time. Again, no crowds there, but then the stalls all around were a big spoilsport. A couple of snaps were taken and we started our climb up, back to what we liked best – the bike and the roads. However, the climb up was not as easy and we stopped to have lemon Soda midway, which was really refreshing. Mayuresh also bought a pair of goggles from here, and we were off again towards Mussorie. On our way back, we couldn’t help feeling elated when we saw sundry vehicles rushing towards the falls. Soon the place will be crowded like hell.

On our way back, we got a very good view of sun shining on snow-capped peaks. The bike was stopped to capture the same in the lens, but then, I am sure it will be nowhere near the splendid view we got.

We were back at the hotel by 10:15 and while Mayuresh took bath, I spent a few moments alone basking in the Sun. By 11, we both were ready to hit the roads again, but then, after our pre-decided stop at “Gulab Vaishno Dhaba”. Mayuresh was a bit dejected to find out that tandoori parathas won’t be available and we’ll be getting only normal tawa parathas. No “garam” daal also now and we had to do with curd and raita. So after a filling brunch, we got back to the ride again. Also, while on our way up to Mussorie, the clutch wire had to be loosened a bit as it was extra tight. Same was also taken care off, and we set off on the road towards Dhanaulti. We passed right through the town and were lucky enough not to get stuck in some jam. Riding on these roads is tough as the roads are pretty narrow with shops on both the sides, the curves are pretty steep and at times it could get pretty scary to see some heavy vehicle hurtling down towards you the next moment you have negotiated the turn. Then again, that’s what gives the excitement of the ride, isn’t it?

The road to Dhanaulti is not in a very good shape. Some curves were pretty narrow and were also in bad condition, maybe due to the rains. The skyline had also turned cloudy and we were afraid that it might rain. Thankfully, it didn’t otherwise it would have been a real difficult ride as we were not carrying any raincoats etc.

Once at Dhanaulti, few enquiries were made to check out the hotels, and after narrowing down on one, we continued our ride. The idea was to visit a temple at around 5 Kms from Dhanaulti (goes by the name of “Surkanda Devi Temple”) and then get back to Dhanaulti. On our way towards the temple, around a Km from Dhanaulti, we spotted a board announcing the presence of some Apple Orchard resort with a kutcha path leading to it. The resort offered cottage and tent accommodation. Unanimously, we decided to explore it. The bike was now doing some off-roading. The path was very narrow, and the slope very steep. It was very careful and slightly slippery riding here. However, even after riding for a Km or so, we couldn’t locate the resort. The stretch was becoming even trickier and we decided to get back to the mettled roads.

Once at the temple, the bike was parked and we began our 2 Km trek to the temple. We were at 6000 feet above sea level, and the temple was at 10000 ft. As expected, the climb was very steep and at one time, Mayuresh said -“Doordarshan kar lete hain aur wapas chalte hain”. But then, that was just a thought and we continued our climb. As we kept going up, the view around kept bettering itself. We took numerous stops en-route to catch our breath, and made it to the top within 40 minutes, and yes, the view from the top was a sight to behold. After paying our obeisance to the deity, we sat outside the mandir on the stairs to spend few quite moments taking in the magnificent view around. As Mayuresh put it – it was a humbling experience. After taking few snaps here, we started our descent down, which we did in just 20 minutes. It was 4 by the clock, Chamba was only 25 Kms from here, and I felt like doing it. However, as I didn’t want to ride in the freezing cold night (it was already getting a bit misty now), the idea was dropped and we went back to Dhanaulti. On our way back, we also checked out GMVN resthouse, but the hotel that we had identified was much better and came at just Rs 50 more than the GMVN resthouse. So, it was back to the hotel and it was by 4:30 PM that we were settled in the comfortable and spacious room.

15 minutes in the room, and we were again ready to venture out, this time on foot for a leisurely walk around the place. Dhanaulti is a picture perfect place with its numerous pine and deodar trees. Thanks to Shekhar and Lalit who advise me to go to Dhanaulti as I was not at all aware of this charming place. Dhanaulti as such is a very small establishment. There are 3 or maybe 4 hotels, and around 10 odd shops alongside the road. In effect, we can call it a quaint little town with its own out of world charm. Hot coffee for me and lemon tea for Mayuresh on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking a sort of park with dense outgrowth of pine trees got back some warmth into us and we again continued our walk around the place. I had to call up Aviral as he had called me up on my cell while we were trekking up to the temple. This place has only one place where you can make STD/ISD calls. The owner is very talkative and a good salesman too, especially for “BDM” Litchi drinks. He was canvassing the drink to each and every person coming down to his place and looking at the empty bottles amassed beside his shop, one could easily guess the quantum of his sales. Few calls were made and we were back to loitering. It was only 5:30 and a heavy mist was closing in which gave the place a peculiar rustic look. Those who are fond of reading classics by Thomas Hardy can actually feel that this place comes quite near to lot of places that he has described in his novels. Magical is the only word I can think of to describe the ambience that we were in right now.

We got back to the hotel for some time, but as expected, couldn’t stay in for long, more so that Mayuresh had to make one more call and we had decided to have food at the place where we had coffee and that too on the terrace (madness…). So off we went, and while Mayuresh got back to his long phone call, I sat all alone in the magical ambience for good 20 minutes when Mayuresh finished his call and we had hot tea again to get back the warmth. Once finished, we went to the restaurant to have food. The plans to have food at the terrace were dropped (I insisted on this as both of us were shivering even within the four walls) and we sat all alone in the cozy little restaurant. Other than our favorite “garam dal fry”, we had a paneer dish too this time. By the time we finished, it was 8:30 and we went back to the hotel to retire for the night. We kept the curtains open to let the moonlight seep into our room while we talked over a lot of things. It must have been more than an hour before we dozed off.

We woke up early in the morning and after having a glass of hot chocolate each, we were on the road back to Dehradun (Sahastradhara actually). The wind chill factor made us ride very slowly, especially on the sides where the mountains were acting as sun-shade. Am sure temperature must have been below 50C. We reached Sahastradahara by 10 AM, and had a light breakfast of tea and bread pakoras besides the waterfall. The place was a big disappointment, more so that I had seen the fall in its pristine glory some 10 years back. Now, the place was also very much crowded due to numerous stalls out there and lots of people were also pouring in by the minute. We got bored of the place soon and decided to start our journey back to Delhi.

The bike was also given some “food” and we were on our ride back। The ride progressed uneventfully till Saharanpur when we realized that we had taken a wrong route and should have gone via Roorkee। The road conditions (if we can call them roads) were pathetic and we had to go through this hell for about 50 Kms and good 2 hours. We saw at least 10 vehicles stranded enroute due to some or the other problem. I was sure that I would have to give my bike a thorough check-up once I was back in Delhi. With all the bones acing, we reached Muzzafarnagar and took a real long break. As we wanted to get back to Delhi before dark, we decided to skip lunch and keep on to the roads. Heavy traffic jams in Muzzafarnagar and Modinagar further delayed our progress and it was not before 7 O Clock that we touched base in Delhi. This was Mayuresh’s first long ride on the bike, and the chap was sporting enough to book the pillion seat for the next one I would go on.

Delhi Dhanaulti: October 22, 2004 – October 24, 2004

The First Ride - by Manav Singh

2008-03-30T12:10:00.003+05:30

Ahmedabad – Mumbai – Pune - Mahabaleshwar

24th August 2004 has been a long day for me. Other than the regular daily grind, the evening was spent at one of my colleagues place celebrating the birthday of his 3 year old kid. I get into my flat and have a look at the watch: its 11 O’ clock, and after a delicious lunch and a long day, I want to just hit the sack and sleep off. However, this night is different because tomorrow is the d’day when I have to begin my ride to Goa. Sleep is nowhere near me and I get into packing my bags for the trip. It’s around 12 O’ clock when I am through and deicide to force my self to sleep. The mobile alarm has been set to 5:30 AM…

The alarm buzzed and I was up at the next instant. Finally, the D-day has arrived and I get into final preparations. By 6:30 AM, I am all set. I wake up my flat-mate and ask him to help me tie the knapsack on the Humming Bird. He willingly obliges and by 7 O’ clock the fun is set to begin. I message Gautam who will be joining me from Mumbai and he immediately calls back asking me to wear helmet and ride safely. I also give a ring to my folks back at home in Lucknow and they too repeat the same thing. The next instant, I kick start the bird, idle it for a minute and push off towards Baroda highway. Due to the morning, traffic in the city is light and by about 7:15 I see a board announcing – “Ahmedabad – Baroda expressway – 4 Kms”. Though I had my reservations on two-wheelers being allowed on the expressway, I still decide to take a call and pushed off towards the expressway. However, the guard at the curve towards the expressway politely said no to my bike, and I am back towards hitting NH 8. The traffic is now heavy and it’s around 7:45 by the time I reach NH8. The traffic has now trickled down to a couple of vehicles now and then (there are no lorries due to the ongoing strike) and in no time the bike is smoothly doing 70 Kph. Occasional potholes (some were really elephantine) play spoilsport but I am able to avoid them. It’s around 8:45 that I cross Nadiad. The ride’s going great and there’s no stopping. I intend to make a stop after crossing Vadodara. Soon I am nearing the Anand cross section. Somewhere before the cross section an ST bus overtook me and the next second I saw a huge pothole before me. I slam the breaks hard, the bird slows down but the front wheel takes the plunge into the pothole. However, due to the slow speed, the bird escapes from being “hurt” and the next instant, I am on again. However, from now onwards, I intend to keep a distance of at least 10 meters from any vehicle, especially buses and lorries. Next time, I may not be so lucky. The ride progresses and by around 10 I am nearing Baroda. The trip-meter reading shows 129 Kms.

By now, I am feeling slightly hungry. However, I intend to take a break once I cross Baroda. So the ride continues, and after around 15 minutes, I am again away from habitat and riding in the midst of lush green fields. However, now I am riding a bit slowly and am on the lookout for a dhaba (it seemed that I had left all of them behind and there was none to be found now). By God’s grace, I spot a gathering of trucks at some distance, and yes, a board announces the presence of “Nutan Hotel & Guest House”. The bird was brought to a halt. The tripmeter reading was 153 and the clock showed 10:30. I was pretty happy at my progress and decided to treat myself to aloo paratha and tuar daal (incidentally, this was the only stuff available). While eating, I gave smses to few people informing them of my progress and got back few calls in return.

By 11, I get onto my cruiser again and the ride begins afresh. The potholes were growing bigger and more numerous now. Also, certain patches of the road were in pretty bad shape and it was much more careful riding, more so now that the traffic was also getting slightly heavy, mostly comprising cars and ST buses. At this point of time, the skyline started to turn dark and a few raindrops on my helmet visor made me think of stopping and putting on the raincoat. However, the rain gods were not too willing and neither was I interested in riding wet, and after 5 minutes, the rain-drops simply went away. So it was a win-win situation and the ride progressed. I was able to manage a speed of around 50 – 60 here due to the poor road conditions, but then the pleasant weather and lush green surroundings made riding slow even more enjoyable. In no time I crossed Bharuch with next major establishment being Ankeleshwar. I was happy with my progress and intended to take a short break after Ankeleshwar. The road conditions bettered slightly and I was able to do 70 plus from here onwards. Just before Ankeleshwar, I stopped for a while for a swig of water. I took stock of the situation here and was pleased to note that I will be able to reach Navsari by 1:30. I had initially planned to take lunch break at Navsari and it seemed that I will be able to keep up to that.

The bird was kick started again, and it was like getting back to life. Next destination was Surat, which actually lies at nearly half the distance between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The road conditions were bettering, the sun was at its full, and it was getting hotter by the moment. I was able to ride at 80 plus from here onwards. The bird also took fancy to the roads now and in no time touched three digits. However, I felt more comfortable driving at 80-85 and so the reins were pulled till we were again doing 80 – 85 kph. After riding for some time, I felt like taking another short break and pulled the bird into a petrol pump. I remembered that my PUC had expired and before getting into Mumbai, I wanted to be perfect as far as all the papers were concerned. Now, a very good example of rules being thrown to the winds was observed while getting the PUC done – no checks, just 20 bucks had to be given to the filling station assistant, and I had the PUC certificate in my hand. On asking whether no check was required, the attendant smiled and told matter of factly that it was not required for petrol vehicles. So, now my bird was officially pronounced non-polluting and I took it back to the roads.

It was uneventful riding till Navsari where I stopped at “Gurukrupa” restaurant for lunch. The clock showed 1:45 PM and I was riding on my schedule. The trip meter reading was 352 Kms.

After a hearty Punjabi lunch (no Gujju food was available..sigh) the ride began afresh at 2:15 PM. As I had a good rest, I wanted to do around 100 Kms before taking another break. However, poor road conditions (at lot of places, construction work was in full swing) and slow moving traffic made the ride difficult and tiring. This continued till Valsad and I had to take a short break just after crossing Valsad.

Once I crossed Valsad, I was delighted to hit the 6 lane road which tapered to 4. The road was riders delight (Mandeep, you were very right about this) and it was in no time that the bird was doing 80 plus. Hey wait, what’s this familiar thump, and yes, there was the reason, another red coloured thunderbird riding besides me. However, the guy was in a mood to race which was a strictly no-no for me. We kept riding side by side for around 15 minutes when the counterpart bird moved out of the highway, and it was riding solo again. The sun was going down and the weather was getting pleasant by the minute. This stretch was turning to be the best till now. I was able to ride at 80 plus without any hitches and soon I crossed Gujarat and entered Maharashtra. The roads became undulating now and it was like riding on waves, especially as you could see dark, beckoning roads till the end of the horizon. At this point, I spotted a nice location where some good snaps were possible. So, the bird was forced to a halt, and couple of photographs were taken, the first one being of the majestic “Humming Bird” standing solo. The photograph adorns the desktop of my notebook pc now. After spending around 15 minutes here and taking in the beautiful scenic surroundings, we got back to the roads. However, the scenic surroundings made it a task to resist stopping and basking in the nature’s glory.

After riding for half an hour (or maybe even less), I couldn’t help stopping again. The bird was given a pose on the side stand, and my, the undulating road with the bird parked on the side was a wonderful sight. The same was captured by the camera to some extent, but take my word; it’s nowhere near the real experience. The signboard here showed Mumbai to be 117 Kms. I wanted to reach the outskirts of Mumbai before dark, so we were back on the roads, and the ride now progressed with average speed of 85 plus. Good road conditions and pleasant breeze made the last leg of the ride really enjoyable. It was around 6:45 that I crossed Virar cross section, stopped for 5 minutes and gave a sms to Gautam. He called back immediately and asked me to come straight to Mahim. So we got back on the road to take a plunge into Mumbai’s city traffic. As it was already dark, it was pretty slow and careful riding now, also now that the road and traffic conditions were worsening. Soon I was negotiating heavy two and four-wheeler traffic and it was really a tiring experience, especially as the road conditions were pathetic. The ride was very tiresome now and I wanted to reach Mahim as fast as possible (was getting a bit fatigued by this time). It was around 8:15 that I took the turn towards Mahim and stopped at the junction which led to Raheja’s hospital (I hope I remember the name right). A call was placed to Gautam and it was decided to meet behind Mahim Church. I was there in 5 minutes. The trip meter showed 567. Gautam reached the place in another 5 minutes and we were off to his place. Gautam’s parents had to leave the same night and we had to go to Dadar station to see them off. So after dropping the rucksack at Gautam’s cosy house, we went straight to Dadar station. Gautam went into the station and joined his sister in seeing his parents off and I and the bird took rest after a really long drive. The feeling of completing first leg of the ride, that too on schedule and without single hitch is really something that cannot be described in words.

Gautam came back at around 9:40 and we pushed off towards some good place to eat, drink and be merry. We stopped at “Culture Curry”, and in we went after duly parking the bird right in front of the main entrance of “Culture Curry” under the watchful eyes of the guard. The place was quite as desired and we began our small celebration by ordering beer and some snacks. Chilled beer was a welcome experience and so was the food and the peaceful ambience.

We were nearly through with our drinks that a gathering started taking place right next to our table. It seemed that a parsi family was celebrating the birthday of someone amongst them. Amongst them was a familiar face, and Gautam identified him in no time – he was Bomman Irani (remember the Principal of medical college in Munnabhai MBBS…). Few Goan songs transformed the tranquil atmosphere into a lively one; however, we were not very comfortable with the transformation so we quickly finished our dinner and pushed off towards Gautam’s place once again.

The day had still something in store for us and as we were negotiating a turn at Shivaji Park crossing, one lunatic from nowhere in particular just rammed into the bike with full force, even though I was able to stop the bike. The left side handle bar took the brunt and the rear view mirror along with the cables got twisted. Still, I was thankful that we got away without any major incident. The protagonist of the incident didn’t even stop and kept on to his run (God knows whom he was running from or after…). The mirror bar was straightened and we again got back to riding. In 10 minutes, we reached our destination. Now we had to do some planning for the second leg of our ride. Gautam was not able to manage leave for Friday and was in a mood to do night driving. However, I was not very comfortable with the idea, especially as I had experienced the road conditions and moreover, Dips had informed that the roads were in a pretty bad shape due to heavy monsoon rains. Still, we left the things open and as I had to attend one meeting tomorrow afternoon and I needed to call it a day.

The morning came and Gautam was in a mood to ride to his office (which was at Worli) on the bird. I decided to accompany him and off we went. One look at the speedometer and I was surprised to see that it wasn’t working. Ditto with the tripmeter. Things needed to be checked out. Once we reached Gautam’s office, we saw that the leg guard was also turned at an angle, and the speedometer cable was hanging out. Efforts to set right the guard didn’t yield any result as it was pretty tight and we were left wondering what might be the degree of injury caused to the person who banged into the bird yesterday night. Whatever, we decided to take the bike to some mechanic in the evening and left it safely parked.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as I had planned and I had to be in Mumbai for one more day. It seems that Goa is jinxed for me as this was the third time that I had planned for the place and had to cancel it at the last moment. Whatever, I went to Gautam’s office in the evening and we decided to visit couple of our mutual friends. So few calls were placed and it was decided to have dinner at “Howrah Bridge”, a bong restaurant near Church Gate. For the uninitiated, all other three except me were bong and relished fish like anything. So I had to play ball and go along. So off we went to “Howrah Bridge” and spent couple of heavenly hours together. Once Gautam and I got back to home, a new destination was planned (the ride had to continue no?). So we narrowed down on Mahabaleshwar. A quick consultation of the road map, and the route was all set – Mumbai – Lonavala/Khandala – Pune – Panchgani – Mahabaleshwar. So instead of this being a ride besides beaches, it was turning out to be a ride amidst the mountains.

Next day was pretty busy for both of us. Gautam got back at around 7 PM and we decided to at least give the bird a glimpse of the beaches. So off we went to Band Stand, spent around an hour there and later on we rode to Worli sea face. It was by 9 O clock that we decided to head back. As we were returning, suddenly, the indicators, horn and parking light stopped working altogether. My guess was that some connection with the battery had gone loose due to our small mishap day before yesterday at Shivaji Park crossing. However, I wasn’t much bothered as this was a minor issue that could be fixed easily and we continued towards Mahim. Everything was going fine when suddenly the accelerator went free. The bike was brought to a halt and I opened the right side handle bar cap to check out the damage. My fears came true when I saw that the accelerator wire had given away at the very joint to the handle bar. The spare wire was kept at Gautam’s place in Mahim, which was around 5 Kms from the place we were stranded. The first thought was to drag the bird till Mahim (what a stupid idea), but then, the real adventure bug struck. I pulled out the broken wire from the cap, tested it, and my, was I glad when I heard the familiar thump. So from now on, it was riding the bike on wire (ghode ki lagaam jaisa lag raha tha). Initially, it was a bit tough with the wire cutting into the fingers, but it was definitely better than pulling the bird for 5 odd Kms. It was around 10 that we touched base at Mahim. Over chinese dinner, we contemplated whether we need to slightly delay our move tomorrow and get the bike in prime condition. However, I was looking forward to get out of crowded Mumbai early in the morning and we decided to stick to the plan and be on the roads positively by 7.

Needles to say, it felt as if the alarm started humming (ringing would have been a better word, but somehow, I now prefer the word “humming”, any guesses why?) at 6 and by 6:45 we were ready to go. A look at the fuel indicator and we were off to the nearest Bharat Petroleum filling station (please note that the bike was being “pulled” by the wire). Humming bird could not even take Rs 400 worth of petrol and this surprised me as it appeared that I was just going to hit the reserve. Just one minute on the road, and I realized that a few additional things were amiss. Tachometer and fuel indicator were not working. Whatever, once on the road, the ride had to continue. We were on the look-out for some mechanic who could fix the accelerator with the spare cable I was carrying. Lady luck was with us and soon we spotted a place where sundry vehicles like trucks, autos, taxis etc were parked. Gautam had a feeling that we would surely get somebody here who could fix up the wire and right he was. A supposedly truck mechanic agreed to take a look and 10 minutes later and lighter by 10 bucks in our pocket, we were off to Panvel with the accelerator working fine. The traffic was light and soon we were doing 80 plus. Gautam felt like riding and I handed over the reins to him. It was in no time that we crossed Panvel and touched the highway. The plan was to ride till 10 and the take a halt for breakfast. The ride progressed like a dream till we spotted a nice cozy restaurant beside the highway and decided to halt for breakfast. The menu announced availability of all kinds of stuff ranging from butter toast to dosa. However, only thing we were able to get out from the cook was puri bhaji, which was really good and stuffing. With our tummies full, once again we were again on the road. Riding for ten minutes brought us to a milestone which announced that Lonavala was only 8 Kms. We were on the ghats next minute, and after driving for few minutes, we hit that section of the expressway on which two wheelers are allowed. The sky was cloudy and the mountain peaks were covered with mist. The view was absolutely heavenly and we felt like stopping and clicking some photographs. However, “No Stops” on the expressway signs were numerous and we continued to ride. Soon we saw Lonavala intersection and in we went towards Lonavala.

Once in Lonavala, we rode around the town stopping at couple of places. However, we couldn’t get the kind of spectacular view we got to see while driving on the expressway. Later we rode towards Khandala and took a break at Shooting Point. We clicked couple of photographs here, sat there for around half an hour, but then the view was not very enchanting. So we were off again to romancing the roads, as the idea was to reach Mahabaleshwar by evening. The road conditions from here were not very good and it was cautious driving all the way. Around 10 Kms from Pune, we saw couple of bullets parked at a small workshop and a mechanic working on them. I felt like getting the bike checked and see if we could make the non-functional parts working. The trouble was explained to the mechanic and soon he was working on the bird. In 5 minutes the check-up was over, and the doctor announced that the battery was totally out (I was totally bewildered how this could happen) and it will have to be re-charged. The diagnosis fee was 10 bucks only and still a bit surprised, we once again set-off towards Pune. However, before that, Gautam remembered that one of our mutual friends was based at Pune. Next instant, I gave him a ring from Gautam’s cell. The chap (people call him Devender Hooda, a pucca JAT from Harayana) was surprised to hear my voice from a Mumbai number, which doubled when I informed him that I was only 10 Kms from Pune, Gautam was with me and we intended to have lunch with him (obviously, he would have to foot the bill as we were his guests). The chap smsed his location to us and it was well beyond half an hour and 2:30 by the clock that we reached his office and called him downstairs. The bird was parked in his office parking lot and we were off to a nearby restaurant for lunch. However, our Mr. Hooda had entirely different plans and by the time Gautam and I returned from washroom, a pitcher of beer and some really inviting snacks were waiting for us on the table. Tell you what folks, a mug (Reviewed) of beer after a long ride is really refreshing. Further plans were detailed to Hooda and we asked him to arrange a bike for himself and join us. This was good enough for a couple of choicest abuses to be directed towards us of informing him at the last moment. However, Hooda soon started making inquiries for arranging a bike and charting out the route and schedule. Now this is really wonderful – while making inquiries, one of Mr. Hooda’s acquaintances asked him how come the sudden plan to go to Mahabaleshwar, and Mr. Hooda replied in his typical Harayanvi ishtyle, “Arre hamare kuch saathi aayen hain ek “khatarnak” si bike lekar Ahmedabad se, aur wo Mahabaleshwar jaa rahe hain. Ab hamen bhi unke saath jaane ke liye bike leni hai na”. Heard lot of comments about my dear Humming Bird, but “Khatarnak” was something new. Ok chalta hai…

Our sumptuous lunch was over by 3 O’ Clock and by that time Hooda was able to convince us to postpone our ride to Mahabaleshwar for tomorrow and take a night halt in Pune so that he could also join us. In the meanwhile, we could drive down to Sihanghad which was around 35 Kms from Pune, supposedly a nice place and spend the evening there. Gautam also vouched for the place as he had been there for his outbound training during his induction with BASF and the plan was sealed.

After paying a short visit to Mr. Hooda’s office, we were once on the road again. Road conditions were pretty bad, especially after Khadakvasla. However, it was good to see lot of people riding to Sihanghad on variety of two-wheelers. It is around 15 Kms ride on the Ghats to Sihanghad and the roads were pretty narrow. It really gave me sadistic pleasure to hear other two-wheelers and even some four-wheelers groaning while taking the steep climb while the bird was able to do the heights smoothly. We took a number of stopovers en-route and a good number of photographs were clicked.. The weather gods were keeping us in good humour and misty peaks greeted us once we reached the top. The ride took 1.5 hours with all the stops included.

The bike was parked and up we went up into the Sihanghad fort. Soon we were walking in the clouds, and my, it was a bit cold here. So, we decided to have a cup of hot tea. It was around 5:45 that we moved towards “Wind Point”. While walking towards the point, we saw a water body formed due to excessive rains and the camera went click again. At this point of time, a burst of strong winds made the mist move in and soon the waterbody was covered with clouds. The view was really fantastic and I wish I had a handycam to capture it. We were at the wind point for nearly 20 mins, but the mist had moved in and nothing of the valley down was visible. So I had to return without getting a good shoot here, and by the way, we had only few snaps remaining now.

It was around 6 O’ clock that we decided to head back to Pune. From a distance, I saw the bird parked, but something was amiss. There were no saddlebags on it. I ran upto the bike, and my heart missed a beat, both the bags weren’t there. The bags contained spares (clutch wire, chain lock, a tube and air filter) and my raincoat. Nothing much, but still …however, Gautam observed that the bike looked pretty different (in fact, quite clean). I also realized the same and yes it was actually a different bike. My Humming Bird was parked a few feet away with both the saddlebags very much there…phew, what a relief.

A single kick brought the bird back to life and we were off once again. There were couple of stops down the slope to take in the excellent view given by the setting sun, especially as it gave a different hue to the skyline. By 7 O clock we reached Khadakvasla Lake. I took the bike off the road and parked it just beside the water body. The twilight gave the water body a different look altogether, but pardon me, I couldn’t capture it as I had already exhausted all the snaps and was not carrying any extra roll. After spending a good 20 minutes here, and talking over a lot of things, we rode back into the Pune crowd (it felt really bad to be in the crowd after such a serene ride on the ghats). Soon we met Hooda and headed back to his flat. Man, he had already arranged a bike, and was all set for Mahabaleshwar. One more thing, there was a 10 year old kid riding with Hooda, and on seeing us riding an RE, he timidly asked for a ride; and our dear Gautam got off the pillion, and the kid was on the pillion seat in no time. We rode to Hooda’s flat and the kid announced, “Wah, mazza aa gaya, mujhe bullet bahut acchi lagti hai” (folks do we see another rider in making?).

In we went into Hooda’s flat and dumped our luggage in the first corner we could spot. Hooda and I once again went out to do some shopping (I was out of camera roll). We got back at around 9:30 and once again, Mr. Hooda was in a mood to celebrate the evening with Jhonny Walker whisky, which he had carried from duty free while he was returning from Singapore recently. Though I am very selective in drinking and take only white spirits, on Hooda’s insistence, I took a peg, and take my word for it, the stuff was really good. Gautam was looking pretty tired by now and we decided to call it a day. The plan was to get going again by 7 AM. Things were all set for a ride on the ghats.

The morning came, and brought it’s own share of surprises. Gautam was not feeling well, and announced that he won’t be riding further (remember, the bugger was planning to do night riding to Goa). So now it was I and Hooda and the bird, and off we went. A cool breeze was blowing and I felt like taking some jacket as it was a bit chilly. In about 15 minutes, we were on the Satara highway. The roads were not in their best shape, but we were able cruise along at around 60 Kph. We got onto the ghats and went into a pitch dark tunnel. Initially, it felt a bit scary, especially with the headlights of the oncoming traffic dazzling one’s eyes. The roads were wider here we could see few lorries here. It felt great to see them groaning while negotiating the steep curves (sadistic pleasure again) while the bird smoothly rode up the hills. The ghats finished up fast and we were on flat grounds once again. The roads here again were 4 laned but at places, reconstruction was going on. Mahabaleshwar is around 130 Kms from Pune and I wanted to do at least 70 – 80 Kms before we took a break. However, Hooda was not used to riding for long distances and hence, we took at break once we touched 60 Kms at a decent looking restaurant. One more reason for stopping was that I saw another RE parked there. It was around 8:30 AM and we decided to have some breakfast here. Unfortunately, only tea was available and we had no option but to go for it. However, the tea also felt like salted boiled water, so after taking down half a glass of it, we gave up. The cost of boiled water called tea was 10 bucks per cup. Hooda was just going to launch his tirade, but I was in no mood to enter into an argument here and was able to restrain him. Off we went again on the roads, the conditions of which were pretty fine now. We were able to do 80 plus from here. Soon we saw an intersection that announced Mahabaleshwar to be about 52 Kms. In we went and searched again for some hotel to have breakfast, but then again nothing was available. So we decided to have breakfast on the hills itself. Just before the beginning of the Ghats, we again took a break as Hooda felt like having a fag. Mahabaleshwar was 35 Kms from here, and I also wanted the bird to take long look at the Ghats before negotiating them. Hooda had apparently forgotten to carry a matchbox and went to search for it while I took rest lying down beside the bird on a mound. Hooda soon returned emitting smoke from his lips and sat besides me. The best thing about this man is that he adapts to any condition pretty fast and can be a very enjoyable company provided he wants to. Luck was on my side and Hooda was in a mood to make the best of the short break he was getting.

After 10 minutes, we were again on, negotiating the ghats. The good thing was that the roads were a rider’s delight and they were also pretty wide. Negotiating the steep turns and taking in the marvelous view of the valley down was an ultimate experience. This was my first ride on the ghats and I was enjoying every moment of it. The bird was riding smoothly and was enjoying all the attention of the people around. We reached Panchgani by around 10 AM. This place was a bit crowded though the view of the valley down was spectacular. However, we decided to keep going and reach Mahabaleshwar first. Panchagni was left for the return trip. Beyond Panchgani, the traffic was also lighter. We could see lot of small waterfalls and the white water flowing amidst the lush greenery was a welcome sight. We were enjoying every moment of it. There were lot of stops enroute and we kept capturing the nature’s beauty in the lens.

By around 11:30, we reached Mahabaleshwar “town” (read as crossed the bus station). The city looked deserted and wet roads gave inkling that maybe the rain gods had visited the place in the morning. We decided to take a slightly long break here and also get some grub. So the bird was brought to a halt next to a restaurant right in the middle of the town. We were feeling very hungry and were sure to get something here. However, inquires about the stuff available gave us the shock of our life – nothing. Lunch will be available only from 1 PM. We were the only persons in the restaurant and the area outside was also pretty deserted. Enquiries from the people around revealed that it was off-season that was compounded by incessant rains for past 15 days which stopped only a couple of days back. That way, we had been pretty lucky as we didn’t ride wet even for a single minute. Thankfully, tea and coffee were available and I managed to get a pack of coconut biscuits from a nearby general store. While having our “breakfast”, we also gathered some info on the places to see and narrowed down on few points. The Sun was out now and the mist was closing in. It was also getting a bit cold now. Hooda was wearing a windsheater, but I was in a cotton shirt and as I was in the front seat, I was feeling the wind more. But then, I was not carrying my jacket here. So I had to make do with my rain coat jacket which thankfully did the job. The weather had grown pretty misty now and I was afraid that it may rain. However, there wasn’t any but it was very careful riding now on as the roads were wet due to the condensing mist. But then, the misty atmosphere was a welcome delight and cruising in the same felt eternal. Our ride was soon interrupted by few people who asked that whether we had paid the corporation charges for taking this road to some God forsaken point. Obviously, we hadn’t. So we were asked to cough up Rs 10 each for both of us and Rs 30 for the bike (the bird was one-up here too). However, firmly believing in the view that the best things if life come for free, and having actually seen lot of beautiful places for which there was no charge, we made the decision of not to pay a single buck. The next instant, we were on our way back, more so that we were more concerned with the ride than the place.

We were on our way back to Panchgani. While on our way up, we had identified few points which offered a good view of a mountain river flowing across the valley. It was like taking a break after every 10 minute of the ride, taking in the magnificent view of the lush greenery & mist covered Mountain River and capturing whatever we could in the camera.

We touched Panchgani by 1:30. Both of us were feeling pretty hungry by now, and a “Hotel Ravines” looked inviting by its looks and the name too. So in we went straight into the restaurant. Once inside the hotel, we could realize why it was named “Ravines”. This hotel offers a magnificient view of the valley and we sat right next to the window opening into the valley, both of us not wanting to miss the view for even a single moment. The glass doors of the window were closed tight which were a hindrance to the view. So we asked the waiter to open the same. We were informed that the winds always remain heavy at this time of the season so the doors are kept shut. We still wanted to sit with open windows and the waiter obliged by slightly opening the doors, and the next instant we were hit by a blast of ice-cold winds that were making ear-shattering noise. We had to close the windows the very next instant.

After a leisurely lunch, we were back to what we liked best – the ride. The clock showed 2 O’ clock and we wanted to touch Pune by 4. While on our way back, we noticed a mud track leading to a jutty into the valley. It looked lonely and inviting, and the next instant the bird had taken the route. We rode till the point we could without rolling down into the valley. As a matter of fact, the place offered the most magnificent view of the mountains and the valley below. It was here that my “Humming Bird” got the best compliment till now– a family took liking to the bike, and asked for taking a snap with their two little kids on the bike. Obviously, I obliged. While the kid’s mom was taking the photograph, their dad insisted – “Bike ka photo pura aana chahiye, bacchon ki to phir lete rahenge”. Man, this was one of the greatest moments for my Humming Bird.

We were getting late now and got back to the road to Pune. Couple of water breaks en-route and we reached Hooda’s house by 5 PM. Gautam was ready to move and at 5:30, we got on the road to Mumbai. Gautam was riding now and I was on the pillion. We stopped to refuel after 15 minutes and decided to ride without a break till the horizon turned dark. We touched Lonavala at 7 and took a break at the outskirts. It was getting cold here and as I do not prefer riding in the night, I suggested that maybe we should take a break here itself. However, Gautam had to attend office next day, so we shelved that plan and were on the road again by 7:30. At this point, another Thunderbird with Delhi registration overtook us. Whoever was riding that bike, I confess that he was hell of a rider. I tried to keep pace with him, but gave up soon as he was going too fast for my comfort. Still, it once again felt nice to have the company of another RE, though for just a few moments. Just as we got out of the Lonavala, suddenly, the engine went dead. With all kinds of doubts, I brought it to halt. But then, the engine came back to life in one kick and we were on again. We had a magnificent view of the valley below, now that the lights were on. Felt like stopping and taking a snap, but then, we kept going. Riding on the ghats in the night, though for a short distance will remain a memorable experience till I do a longer stretch of this sort. Couple of breaks en-route and we were in Mahim by 11 (got stuck in a Jam near Sion). The best part of the ride was over and tomorrow I ride back to Ahmedabad.

The ride back to Ahmedabad was uneventful except for few issues:
¨ I planned to spend one night in Daman, but once I saw the place, after being to such beautiful places, I couldn’t really tolerate the muddy sea and the smell of the booze. So the plan to take a halt at Daman was shelved and the ride to Ahmedabad continued. Moreover, I had got a call (work had caught up with me) which made it imperative for me to be in Mumbai couple of days later and hence all the more good that I reached Ahmedabad at the earliest.
¨ The ride was much slower now, thanks to the heavy lorry traffic, which I suppose was on the higher side as the strike recently got over,
¨ I rode till11:30 in the night and took a break at Anand at one on my colleague’s place who was really delighted to have me, even though at this hour of the night.

I reached Ahmedbad and my abode next day by 11 AM. Total distance covered was 1903.6 Kms. The ride began on 25th August and got over on 31st August. Taking out the two days which were spent in Mumbai, average distance covered per day works out to 380.6 Kms.

God, when do I get the chance to go on the next ride?

The nostalgic thump - by Jaipreet Joshi

2008-03-28T13:35:00.006+05:30

The spirits were high and so were we, naturally so, my wife and I had planned a short & sweet ride to Ajmer & Pushkar. The bag had been stuffed with the barest minimum stuff we would require for the next two days of our itinerary. The Bull was sparkling as I polished it a bit extra that day as a rider messages his charger before the race. Ma & pa thought that we had gone berserk; they kept telling us as to why we were not taking our luxury car for this journey. Confused were they, as much as we were in explaining to them, the 'Zen of riding' which only a few of us could comprehend or I should say 'feel' it. Kids, who were told to behave at their grandparents home bid us adieu and we thumped off from Delhi in the midst of a perfect early morning with clear skies and pleasant breeze. The Bull was warmed for the 400km ride ahead; the engine was in perfect harmony with the weather. The macho thump and the wind through the helmet visor made a perfect orchestra which we passionately devoured on board. The first halt happened near Amber Fort, Jaipur - a quick cup of tea with a parantha each did a magic in rejuvenating us for the rest of the leg. The road was wide and inviting but I self-restrained from revving beyond 60-70 kph. While we rode I kept thinking what was it that gave us the thrill in riding and not in driving? Was it a mere representation of an idea of being energetic and young, a mere passion, or a show off or what was it? Whatever it might be, it is a great feeling and one has to live it to feel it, so said Charu, my wife! We were nearing Pushkar! The setting was perfect, a narrow by pass from Ajmer with small cluster of houses or 'deras' unevenly spread out in the wide expanse of 'kikar' and sand.

Children waved at us while running behind the Bull while we reciprocated with smiles and waving hands too. We were away from home, yet everything seemed so dear and nice. The Bull was thumping in the holy town of 'Pushkar' - the 'holy thump' it was! The echo of the thump against the walled town made several eyes turn at us in a welcoming manner. Pink Floyd, well that was the name of the Hotel where we checked in. The walls were meticulously done with classic bikes and, bikers and varied albums of Pink Floyd - the rock group. The room where we stayed was - 'the other side of the midnight' - one of the many Pink Floyd's albums. It was a time for something to eat and to have a good nap. So we walked up the hotel's terrace top restaurant. The setting was amazing - floor seating, with rarest of rare posters and curios of Pink Floyd. We were just craving for the grub and hurriedly opted for some Italian stuff. The few minutes wait, for the order was killing. Wow! The food was exotic - really luscious, pasta & lasagnas (hope I spelled it correct). It was beyond our belief to have access to such exotic food in a small town which could give a run for its money to any of big restaurateur in Delhi or Mumbai for that matter. The next day's dawn happened amidst the thump of the Bull and we groomed off to Ajmer. We paid our homage at Khwaja Saab's Dargah and steered towards Delhi. We hit Delhi by evening, covering 400kms .The welcome was planned and elaborate, as if we had scaled the Everest, but to be honest the feeling was amazing - that of achievement! The 'holy thump' still sounds nostalgic!

Baptism on the road - by Jaipreet Joshi

2008-03-28T13:00:00.004+05:30

The bungee net was pulled over the luggage cramped on the panniers, a last minute check of the loading was carried out, everything seemed impeccable. Being a connoisseur of a couple of rides in the past did help us to take plan the itinerary and stuff, but the name Ladakh itself is good enough to send shivers down the spine of most seasoned of the riders. The ride finally precipitated after months of exchanging information from fellow riders of our Mecca - 60 Kph - a motorcycle travel club. Counseling at times, preparations and deliberations all jumbled up to ensemble. The Last Shangri La 2007 (name of the ride), not in absolute terms but because Ladakh was once under the influence of erstwhile Chinese rulers. Since China is better known as Shangri La. When the Chinese retreated this little piece of jewel stayed with India and came to be known as the Last Shangri La in the local parlance. Tees with the Last Shangri La printed on the front were pulled over with pride by the team:

Jaipreet aka Kaptan

Rajdeep aka Raj

Vijay aka Viju

Ashutosh aka (dare we!)

Day 1

My cell phone alarm buzzed uninterruptedly at 3:00 am on 11th Sep 07, I woke up with a certain freshness and zeal. Next thing I did was to give a wake up call to Ashutosh, who thanked in a hoarse voice, must've been cramped in his bed then! Charu bid me adieu with a seemingly heavy heart as I was moving away for 14 days, the longest period of voluntary separation after those forced ones we had during the stint with army. I reached the rendezvous - the flyover on the NH-8 near Gurgaon at 5:15 am sharp but kept pacing up and down as neither Ashutosh nor his bike's headlights made an appearance till 5:45 am when I saw a small figure mounted on an overtly loaded Bullet. We wasted no time in exchanging pleasantries and kicked off to the next rendezvous which was Karnal Bye Pass, where the other fellow riders were to assemble. We were behind scheduled so we revved up at 70 kph and beyond in the fresh morning breeze. To our dismay, the ring road near Azad Pur vegetable market was crisscrossed with rickety trucks which had lined up in a haphazard manner in an endeavor to gain quick access to the 'mandi' as soon as its gate opened. There was not a single traffic cop to prevent this mayhem, we somehow snailed ahead but were forced to stall after some time. With some support from local volunteers and others who were in a similar hurry, we waded our way through the jam. But by this time the other two impatient birds had flown further towards the destination. I got a call from Raj that they were heading to Murthal and shall wait for us over breakfast there. The troubles did not seem to seize here, next was the turn of my throttle cable which snapped and gave away. But I decided not to be cowed down and kept riding, pulling the broken cable with my fingers, with slight difficulty though. The unison finally happened near Murthal, where we had grub and the cable got changed in the mean time. The journey resumed soon, though we were 2 hours behind schedule by now. The going was perfect till Ambala when suddenly my bike succumbed to a piston seizure. "What on earth was happening?" I murmured to myself. 'Babla ustaad' was where we were directed to in Ambala town. The customers lined up near his workshop and did not mix words to call him a Royal Enfield wizard and true it was. He repaired the bike in a record time and put it back vrooming. Thereafter, there was no stopping till we reached Ropar and halted for the night. Since we were a day behind the schedule and had initially planned to hit Manali the first day, we pulled up our Bulls and had a long day on 12th Aug 07 when we finally reached Manali but not before the last light. It had rained big cats and dogs whole day and made us no different from wet snails working hard on the road, layers of rain suits failed to keep us dry. We were drenched to the hilt but nowhere in our determination did we feel soggy. Even at one point of time, I got stuck in a land slide. The traffic from both sides had come to a grinding halt as big boulders continued to fall amidst heavy down-pour near Mandi. I had everything in my mind but to stop and wait, so I waded through knee deep slush and over the rocks helped by some local drivers who pushed my bike as I kept looking overhead for more rocks to come. God seemed to be happy with me and my stars helped me out of this catch. It was a relief to have a much awaited and snuggy clip of sleep at Hotel Sahil (recommended by Baba Barfanai - one of our biking pals, officially known as Vivek Sharma) at Ropar a.k.a. Roopnagar, though frequent whistles of the passing trains could do nothing to break our composure. A repeat of the morning chores took a couple of minutes and we were back on the road; where we were destined to be. Day 2

The stretch from Roopnagar onwards was simply splendid; the fresh spell of rains had further freshened up the greenery on either side which was a treat to the eyes. Continuous splash of rains did its best to dampen our spirits but fell face down against our grit, till we could see clouds dispersing by late evening. The evening numbness and silence of Manali town was disoriented by our over-heated bulls which needed a respite desperately. The lamps had glowed, which added to the beauty of this mountain town, we checked into a small budget hotel. Dinner followed, which was simple though a very native affair ¬- momos and thukpa. Raj & Viju gave me company but Ashu decided to refrain from so called adventure and had juices to the hilt of his gob. We retired back to our yet another abode and fell like rocks on the bed.

Day 3

As decided we had to acclimatize our bodies to the new heights so we called it a day in the sunny town. All our stuff, shoes, clothes and all had drenched completely, so the next few hours saw us spreading out our stuff in the sun. In fact, I had a severe head-ache, may be due to riding wet for almost 2 days. Raj's medicine did wonder and I felt better very soon. A bout of complete body massage by local masseurs squeezed the pain out of our aching joints and muscles. We felt much fresher and rejuvenated, ready to take on the next on the itinerary. After a sumptuous breakfast, we decided to get across Rohtang at Khoksar before night. So off we started, log, stock and barrel for Rohtang. After clocking a few kilometers I could see none except Raj, so we decided to take an egg bhurji and tea break but still there was no thump to hear. So we decided to move ahead, the road was hardly there, whatever remained was bad, slippery and slushy piece of track. We worked hard and intercepted the obstacles with some efforts, soon Raj realized that both the tent, his and mine, which he was carrying seem to have been dropped, so a hunt for it began and I decided to wait for him at Marrhi. After a couple of hours Raj came back along with the other two with a long face as he could not trace the stuff he went looking for. We held our heads down but little could now be done. Ashu's dream of camping by Pangong Tso seemed to fade, but we carried on with same grit. Viju's bike came to a royal halt 7 kms short of Rotang La and refused to budge. Thanks to the instincts of Ashu, who fiddled with the carburetor and the bike fired. How? We still don't know! "Wow!" Exclaimed all of us and resumed our already troubled ride. It was 1915 hrs and we were atop Rohtang La, with not a sight of a human but a herd of grazing horses surely gave us company, which I captured through my lenses. With darkness taking its toll, we decided to move ahead and night halt at Khoksar, which was a cool 25 kms away. It was now 2100 hrs and we were hunting for a hide out at Khoksar, suddenly a bright idea came from Ashu who found out a hotel at Sissu, just 12 kms away. Though I was hungry like a pig, we took the call and moved ahead. The road was pretty bad and to add to our woes 'Pagal Nallah' had literally turned mad causing a flood like situation on the causeway. With the help of locals we discovered another route through the village, uphill. It was now 2200 hrs and we were squashed too by the time we hit the hotel, had some dal and roti to eat and stretched out in oblivion.

Day 4

It was a bright sunny day with no sight of clouds or rains, which had already caused enough predicament. Ashu got his pannier welded which had ripped off as a result of his impeccable riding skill (little pun intended)! The journey seemed to be taking us on a higher plane every day, the open meadows with smiling faces of locals which almost squeezed their eyes added to the excitement. At Tandi we got our tanks topped up and also the jerry-cans which were empty till now as the next filling station was in Leh, good 365 kms away. The day was long but exciting as we kept riding through the spiraled roads. It was getting noon and we were crossing Jispa, where a pretty young girl cried “Lift”! Someone missed a beat when with a heavy heart she was denied the call. The memoirs of that brief incident still linger in the minds and shall I say hearts of some of us. Lunch break happened at Darcha, which is a picturesque spot by the wide span of river Chandra Bhaga, several shutters opened capturing the elegance and splendor of nature in its truest form. We kept riding that day over - Baralach La at 16,500 ft. Baralach La means big pass where river Chandra & Bhaga originate and form river Chandrabhag at Tandi and assumes the status of Chenab in Doda dist. of J&K. Having ridden through nallas, small villages and gata loops we finally reached Sarchu. Wow! What a splendor of nature one witnesses here with huge meadows and artistic chisel in the rocky mountains, gracefully securing the environs of Sarchu. We decided to camp it out here and hired 2 tents from one Mr. Dorjee for Rs. 200/ each. The night was cold, very very cold, the wind chill made it worst but we stretched in the warm kitchen tent of Dorjee where we met some Israeli and a French guy (though he sounded more like a Briton). The French guy had guzzled couple of beers and had a puff of 'chilam' from the very hospitable Israelis who offered the same to us but were reciprocated with a negative. The spirits were high, so a French song of soliloquy was a treat, but only that we could not make a fig out of it. We retired in our tents and kept tossing over on the bed as we could now feel the heat oops cold, or the high altitude effect.

Day 5

The day was bright and sunny but Ashu was on the contrary. I found him puking badly in the wee hours, though he was uncomfortable the previous night too and we had given him our share of medicines which I & Raj had carried but we found him deteriorating. So I rushed him to the nearest Army Medical unit at Sarchu where he was attended by a nursing assistant, in the meantime Raj & Viju made use of the time capturing nature in it prettiest form. Day 5 was presumably the toughest so far, we crossed 3 more passes - Naki La, Lachung La and Tanglang La. Before the quest for Tanglang La began, a request came in from all 3 to take a break at Pang but I pestered them all to pull a bit more and cross over the pass and halt the other side. What I had in the back of my mind was a day by which we were behind the schedule and the need to compensate for that. Whether the decision was right or wrong still hovers in my sub-conscious. To add to all the psychological and physiological misery, my bike got flat 5 kms short of Tanglang La with Raj & Viju nowhere in sight, the only help which was available was in the form of wounded soldier - Ashu. The removal of the wheel and the replacement of the tube followed by pumping air in it at a height of almost 16000+ feet, still sends shivers down my spine to this day. Ashu put in his best in assisting me, without him I probably could have not done it… thanks buddy! After riding 5 kms beyond Pang we were welcomed by the mighty Morre Plains. Scenic and simply awesome, heaven on earth, and I mean it. A mix of sandy hills, rocky vertical cliffs, roads through sand dunes, sleet, wind chill, sun burn all combined into orgasmic beauty, absolutely untouched and unheard of. There was no stopping thereafter till Rumtse where we decided to take a night break. Raj too took a brief break atop Tanglang La for reasons best known to the foursome! Raj now speaks with authority on the medicinal values of wild herbs of Himalayas for the valuable time he spent atop Tanglang La. The spine chilling bends and curves of the road from Tanglang La finally brought us to Rumtse, a small sleepy hamlet amidst the mighty Himalayas with a couple of houses which welcome guests. The night halt was a luxury as we slept on proper wooden beds followed by a brief round of rum in hot water. We also wished Charu (my wife) happy birthday as that was the best we could do sans telephones, cells or any other sort of communication whatsoever. Though we were far away from civilization the feeling of achievement kept us going all through out.

Day 6

The morning breeze was fresh and revitalizing. The homely atmosphere of our guest house was magnetic and we felt like stretching ourselves a bit more. The local kids gathered around us when we tied our luggage and giggled innocently. They seemed to be absolutely untouched by cunning and astuteness as prevalent from where we come from; all in all it was a treat. Viju bought some sweets from a small shop and distributed it amongst crackles of smiles and dimple cheeks. The warm sun elevated our energy levels as we rode our way to Leh. The first sight of civilization happened at Upshi, where we saw scores of defence establishments and personnel. As we rode along the river Indus, which is the origin of our civilisation, we found heading to Karoo, one of the biggest military stations in the country. It was a strange feeling to see such a beautiful terrain smeared with very cosmetic military green huts and barracks, what a pity! But except for feeling bad there was little we could do, so we decided to concentrate on the generous garnish of beauty bestowed upon by nature on Ladakh. Our average riding speeds had now revved upto phenomenal 45-50 kmph which was exhilarating after clocking 12-15 kmph in the past 2 days. Entry to Leh was marked by giant Photangs and Thiksey, majestically standing along the national highway. Though none of us had faint knowledge of the architecture it was a treat to the eyes to see the very pragmatic and exquisite designs undaunted by the sands of time. Soon we were thumping up the Old Leh road, where after brief hunting; we decided to spend the next few days at Hotel Kang-La, which we later realized was actually 'Kangla' (impoverished) hotel. The owner, Saleem Bhai, was a peculiar character, a smart young man of about 30 yrs of age who would not know when to stop once he would start yapping. His narration of the horrors of Jozilla Pass still echo in our ears - "Jozilla bahut khatranak hai, thik hai na! Bhaut oonchi pahadi hai, par itni oonchi bhi nahin, thik hai na. Wahan, baap bete ka nahin aur beta baap ka nhin. Agar gir gaya to haddi nahin milta, thik hai na"? 'Thik hai na' was a jargon which he would make use of unhindered in all his conversations. The mouth watering helpings of butter chicken, dal, naan and papad made us hog like pigs. It was a treat to devour a delicacy called 'roti' after morning to night rounds of noodles or rice. A chilled bottle of beer each, acted like a wonderful appetizer. We retired to our rooms after the lavish extravaganza to soothe our spines and all those bones which moaned. Evening was spent leisurely strolling thought the streets of Leh, curiously picking and appreciating various artifacts exhibited on the road side. The night was a welcome retreat and we gave it the honor it deserved by sleeping till late the next day.

Day 7

The bikes moved fast and furious in the vicinity of Leh without our trademark - luggage, tank bags and rickety tarpaulins. Our bulls never felt so light and energetic riding in the plain roads of Leh. The day was spent visiting Himis Gonpa near Kaaru – the biggest Gonpa in the whole of Ladakh which houses more then 500 monks, Thiksey, Zoravar Fort near the airport (hardly a fort, its more of a decaying stable for famished horses), Shey Palace and host of other not so conspicuous places of interest. A part of the previous day was spent with Juma (the bike wizard) who inspected our bikes and carried out minor repairs/ adjustments etc.

Day 8

After a lavish breakfast at Garden Café, we vroomed our way upto Kardung La. The road was a treat till we were 10 kms short; thereafter our machines were put under terrible grind and test. But, none could hold us back, because this was what we were there for, atop Khardung La. Various rounds of photography, frames after frames till we finally decided to venture into the other side of the pass into the Nubra valley. There was a certain amount of elusiveness and mysticism in the air, something which pulled us faster into the exotic Nubra valley. After getting our permit checked at North Pillu we rode upto Khardung village where we decided to halt for meal - hot magi complimented with a cup of tea. The ride resumed after a 45 minutes of well deserved break. The night halt happened at Hunder - a sleepy hamlet where the sand dunes and Bactrian camels were a sure treat to the eyes. Viju & Raj spent time angling various subjects in the splendid environs.

Day 9

It was time to return and we crossed over the mighty Khardung La standing tall at 18,350 feet and reached back to our Kangla hotel by afternoon. The evening was spent picking up things for our near and dear ones and finally retiring to our rooms.

Day 10

Till the previous night we thought Pangong Tso was ruled out as self and Raj were not feeling sort of well. But as luck would have it, things turned out fine and we finally started off for Pangong Tso. The entire length of journey was interspersed with meetings with hosts of military personnel who offered lot of hospitality on knowing my antecedents, rest of the gang would surely have felt bored for those brief durations of meeting I am sure? If there is a heaven which you could see here on earth then it is Pangong! It was simply mesmerizing and awesome - in fact is a very small word to define Pangong. The icy blue waters which turned green and kept changing colors with passing time, was awe inspiring. The boat ride was a welcome change from the bulls. The jawan from the Corps of Engineers - 235 Regmt took us 6 kms into the river, what a ride it was! Sea gulls quacked at us in amusement and chased us as we returned to the banks of this mighty river at a height of 4403 mtrs, 145 kms long, with as deep as 205 mtrs at some places. This salt water lake at this mammoth height is an absolute wonder of nature, why should it not be include in one of the natural wonders of the world? With heavy hearts we bid adieu to the army detachment who offered us dal, sabzi, rice and rotis. We reached back to Leh by evening and started preparing ourselves for the descent which was to come the next day.

Day 11

Leh to Drass was a long ride. We crossed Kargil, a beautiful town set along the river bustling with activities. The left over bunkers and fire walls reminded us of Operation Vijay in Kargil sector where our troops vehemently threw out the adversaries from our motherland. We reached Drass, 2nd coldest inhabited place in the world by night. Raj was offered a stay in the army camp but we decided against the same considering the liberty we would have to lose. So we checked in hotel Hotel Hill View and retired to freshen ourselves for the next day.

Day 12

Crossing Jozilla was a little tough (as guided by Salim Bhai) due to the bad road and slippery descent into Sonamarg. We had a nice hot cup of tea and halwa at a small time dhaba in the picturesque town of Sonamarg - it was awesome, but the only grudge was that we could not enjoy its beauty beyond our breakfast. Our machines had also gotten a well-deserved halt and we were thumping again on the roads. Reaching Srinagar happened without anyone realizing so as the average riding speed was 60kph. Viju was to stay at Srinagar for a couple of day as he had his train from Jammu on the 28th. So we hugged him and took leave from him after a lunch near the famous Dal Lake. Infact, Srinagar is no parallel to the beauty of Ladakh and surely Pangong beats Dal by 100%, so there was no inkling to see Srinagar. By 1900 hrs we were at Ramban, a small place 35 kms ahead of Banihal where we decided to night halt.

Day 13

Now it was three of us, and the volume of thump had obviously mellowed down a bit. Now everybody wanted to be home as quickly as possibly, there was no attraction left in the ride now after having crossed over J&K. We kept riding and finally reached Ludhiana. Ashu caught us a little later as his bike had gone bad and he had stopped near Udhampur for repairs. A hot water bath was a treat to the tired frame and after a lavish dinner we retired to our beds with dreams of being in the arms of our beloveds.

Day 14

We kicked off from Ludhina at 0830 hrs and after cruising comfortably re-entered the environs of Delhi at around 2:00 pm. It was back to madness but this is where we belong. The ride was amazing and nothing short of being superbly awesome. Though I have ridden before this too, the real baptism into riding happened during this ride to Ladakh. The enlightenment which ushered on to me after this nostalgic ride may be bulleted as:

~ If you love riding - ride through Ladkah, there can't be a more pious baptism as a rider than this.

~ No plan is best plan - though prepare for all eventualities meticulously.

~ Welcome COPs - Change of Plans, because in hills that is one thing which works.

~ Last but not the hills - ride without inhibitions, ride tough!

Memoirs of a Wandering Nomad - Part 3 - By Shreekant Vijaykar

2008-03-28T10:30:00.003+05:30

Here's to the third absolutely crazy madcap bike ride of the three Nomads. This time, the distance is the greatest ever. The terrain we scaled is equally great in beauty and the fun, unimaginable...

There's nothing like unplanned trips. Correction, there's nothing like trips planned for one thing and which materialize into something totally different.

This is about a trip planned to Mussoorie, which went right out of the window the night before, because of one bright idea. The idea is that we'll go to Chail (near Shimla) rather than Mussoorie. Reason? Just like that. So we leave Noida Saturday morning 17 August 2002, 7:15am. The weather is pleasant, rather sunny. We travel 30-odd km through Delhi, passing Rajghat, Red Fort and ISBT. We come out of Delhi. The road turns to the right and slowly the signs of the metropolis fade into the background. We cross Sonipat (50 km) and then Panipat (another 50 km). Only a Maratha knows what happens to him with the mention of the word "Panipat". The Panipat of the actual world is however too crowded and urbanized to be even compared with the Panipat of Imagination. I keep the Panipat of Imagination untouched and move on.

The road to Chandigarh (NH-1) is huge, sometimes three lanes wide. There are lush green fields on both sides almost all throughout. The road is marked with signs of Chow Devi Lal and slogans of Chautala. I hardly had any sleep and the roads with their wide and straight stretches are highly soporific. I find it hard to keep my eyes open. Ambala is 200 km from Delhi. We notice the huge railway yard to the left of the road and the Ambala Cantt to the right. The road gets narrower, has tall trees on both sides and has some character (i.e. some curves!). It is customary that a bee stings Imran every time we go biking. This time it’s even better as two bees bite him at the same time. He screams with agony. We halt at Verka milk outlet, have flavoured milk and ice creams. Imran keeps modulating the screams. We are now 15 km away from Chandigarh. We turn right for Shimla, planning to visit Chandigarh while coming back. We halt at a dhaba on the outskirts of Chandigarh. Bad food, but anything's good for a hungry stomach. The road takes a slight inclination and we reach Kalka, the base of Shimla hills. The main road through Kalka market is steep uphill and by the time we come out on the other side of Kalka; we see a deep green wall of mountains facing us. The fog on the hilltops makes them look more towering.

The journey here on is beyond description, with the smooth blue road zigzagging upwards and deep valleys on both sides. We pass through Parvanu, a small industrial town. Further up, we see the base of the mountain trolley called Timber Trail. 1.5 hrs on this road and we reach Khandaghat. We leave the main road that goes to Shimla, and take the right turn to Chail. The road gets narrower and more winding. Chail is 37 km from here and the road is simply superb. It winds its way through cedar forests and the chill in the weather suddenly jumps on us, like a white kitten hiding behind a door. Some 2.5 km before Chail, I notice that Imran's rear tyre is flattened. Thankfully, there is a hotel on the other side of the road, on one side of the valley. The owner of the hotel is a kind old man. He calls up a mechanic in Chail market to find out if the shops are open. We remove the tyre with one collective effort and Imran and Lalit go to the market to get the puncture undone.

I sit in the veranda facing the valley with the hotel owner, with a cup of hot tea in one hand and my sketchbook in the other. The hotel owner, G B Verma, is a retired army chap and has a lot of stories up his sleeves. We talk about life, universe and everything else. He offers me some apples plucked from his own apple orchids. I invite him to Delhi. He smiles and declines. Says he is better off away from the clamour of the metro. Once the two are back, we resume our journey to Chail. It is 5pm by now and positively chilly. There needs alteration to our initial plans of reaching Kufri by evening. Anyway, Chail is so beautiful that it is difficult to let it go behind so easily. Also, Verma has told me that the road to Kufri is very beautiful and if we scale it at night, we'll lose the fun. We decide to spend the time in Chail. Wise decision in retrospect.

There is a steep uphill road starting from the main mall of Chail and going up in deep green forest, which has a good "road closed" board placed at its beginning. But the sight of the road is so stunning that we cannot resist ourselves and push our machines through the opening. This is perhaps the steepest our bikes have ever scaled. Once on top, we find ourselves near the 75-year old Military school of Chail. Some further steepness takes us to the world's highest cricket ground (7500 ft). The ground is Military area and properly fenced. But you can see the ground through the barbed door. There is a football ground and a basketball court too. There are a few people playing football and few dogs playing their usual games. We travel back down to the market and then to the famous palace of Chail. It is getting dark by now. There are quite a few visitors strolling the lawns of the palace. The palace is well lit, since it is quite dark by now and fog is setting in the area. The managers mistake us for NRIs, with our bikes and trekking sacks. They are very sorry that it is a busy weekend and they do not have any rooms available. We make sorry faces, make them feel miserable and then walk out, trying hard not to burst out laughing. The tariffs are in the range of Rs. 4000/- per room.

We climb down once again to the market, hunt for a hotel, get a room for Rs. 250/- (this is called really climbing down from the palace!) and then have grub at a decent place and hit the sack. The next I know is Imran calling out my name, for it is 7:30am in the morning. I am positively annoyed at Imran for waking me up so early, but keeping in mind the long day ahead, I know he's right. So we pack our stuff and get out of the room. The hotel owner is busy in his daily pooja and does not notice us taking our bikes out. I wait for him to finish his pooja and then ask him what he would have done if I had gone off without paying. He smiles and asks me, "How much can you take from me?". I feel better about life already. I pay him happily and wish him well.

The road from Chail to Kufri (26 km) is heavenly. The cedars are tall and huge. The road is old and unattended. It has patches all over and looks like an old ragged mattress. There is very little conversation among us, for the scenery and the bad road keep us sufficiently pre-occupied. I am filled with unbounded joy and peace. We come across a huge resort at Shilonbagh. We plan to have tea and park our bikes in the porche. The place has a full-fledged buffet breakfast and the managers are ill at ease having three vagabonds asking just for tea. We curse them and they give their well-practiced sugar-coated smiles (meant specially for irate customers). We, in turn, have good fun at nobody's expense. A five-star hotel that does not even have tea! Bah! (It is a different story that the breakfast, inclusive of tea, along with juices, omelettes and what not, is for 200 bucks).

We near Kufri, just before Kufri, we pass through a wildlife park. The road follows the raised & barbed fences of the park. This part is at 8500 ft, the highest motorable road in this region. I have a strange pressing feeling in my ears. Soon we start the downhill and I feel better. At Kufri, we halt near a small joint, order omelettes and tea. The omelettes take long, but are very good. The bread is especially soft. And the weather is just right for tea. We eat silently sitting on the bikes, facing a valley and the apple orchids in it. The downhill road to Shimla is wider than the road we've been travelling since morning. Kufri to Shimla is 16 km and the road is quite pleasant. It scales one mountain range to another and we see the entire loop we've covered since yesterday. The first sight of Shimla is obscene and unattractive. Shimla is a city. That too, it is the state capital. So it is as filthy and populated as any other. Only it is built on hills, and so the roads are inclined. There is hardly anything beautiful in Shimla (apart from the native girls, of course). So we speed through the city, drop the idea of visiting the mall as vehicles are not allowed and take the road back to Khandaghat. This road is wide, yet winding. It is fun riding. It is also the scariest part, since the traffic is quite thick here. We reach Khandaghat by 12:30pm and resume the road to Kalka and then Chandigarh.

We reach Chandigarh by 2:30pm. We have a tiny rendezvous with the Chandigarh traffic police. The friendly chat mainly revolves around the fact that we had broken a signal and gone the wrong way of the road. We pose as college students, bail out our sad story and somehow come out of the conversation. No monetary loss, thankfully. We celebrate the success of the trip with some coffee in the Chandigarh Barista. There is hardly any reason for me to mention about the Chandigarh girls, for their fame is well spread. We leave Chandigarh by 3:30pm, with our minds and bodies rejuvenated. Some 10 km before Ambala, we get caught in a torrential rain. The visibility is next to nil and our bikes shake with the heavy wind. We are drenched and as wet as one can be. We ride cautiously at 15-20 kmph. With Ambala behind, the furry of the rain subsides. Another 10-15 mins and the rain stops completely. We have a new problem though… the wind. I am pretty sure by now that all three of us are going to go down with pneumonia by the time we reach Delhi.

We halt at a dhaba where I change into some warm clothes. We have "garam garam" pakodas, daal makhani, rotis and chai. Life is much better now. Dusk sets in soon as we resume our journey. The road, as mentioned before, is wide and straight and therefore rather boring. It is the last lapse that is most tiring in any journey. It is so here too. Kurukshetra – Karnal - Panipat – Sonipat… Problem.

Just after Sonipat, some 30 km before Delhi, Imran's bike does a jigg at 80 kmph in the middle of the road. Our souls come out of our bodies for a moment and then feeling the cold get back inside. The rear tube burst. We were lucky to find a mechanic just across the road. Another half an hour goes. We reach Noida by 11:30pm on Sunday 18 August 2002, safe and in one piece each. People ask me what our next plans are. They are surely joking. Right now, I just want to sleep… sleep like there is no tomorrow. But I also know that by the time the next weekend comes, the Northern wind will blow once again in our ears and we will be once again out on the roads.

- Shreekant

The AP Triangle - by Ajay Sharma

2008-03-27T23:32:00.009+05:30

The AP Triangle:

Well this ride isn’t about a sail in the Bermuda triangle, but still it wasn’t a bit less interesting than that. We have our own AP triangle to travel in Andhra pradesh from Hyderabad. Hyderabad – Nagarjuna Sagar - Srisalem – Hyderabad. A journey in a triangle.

The Preparations:
This ride just happened, like a jiff. My friend was visiting me from Delhi, who is as crazy and as keen on traveling as me, so he wanted me to take him for a ride. Well at that time I had Medak in mind to go, but Anand suggested me to go for a Sagar – Srisalem ride. As it turned out to be, a fellow wanderer Stephen Jhonson also wanted to ride out there. So we decided to hit the road on Saturday, 28th Feb, 2004.

The riders: Ajay, Nishant (pillion) and Stephen Jhonson.

Before We Ride:
Well we all had some work to catch up satruday morning so we had decided to leave by 12.00 noon. But it wasn’t supposed to be that. I had a test cropped up at last minute in college, so I called Stephen that we have to postpone the ride by two hours and we decided to start by 2. But than Jhonny calls up and says he has some work so can make it by 2.30 pm only and finally we both met at the Panjagutta at 3.00 pm. All set to go, as I kicked start my bike, something very strange happened. My 6 years old CAT Shoe gave up. The whole sole came apart turning my shoes into air conditioned and I felt the ground through it. So thus started the great shoe hunt in Hyderabad. As I had just enough dough for the ride, I didn’t wanted to spend on an expensive shoes, so after a lot of searching, finally got a good deal on a bata sports shoes at secenderabad. But this made us awfully late and finally we were able to start from Secunderabad at 4.30 PM.

Way to SAGAR:
As soon as we left behind the crazy traffic of the city, it was fun. I had never been to sagar or salem before. So was quite excited about it as lots of wanderers have done this route and had lots of story to tell. Little did I knew that after this ride I will have my own story to tell, a different one though. We took our first stop 100 kms out of Hyderabad, it was dusk time and I never like to ride at that time as its neither dark nor there is enough light to ride, and its quite irritating to ride with few vehicles with there lights on and few without them. So we decided to have a break and eat at a road side dhaba. We all had a hearty lunch cum snack, though that place had nothing much to offer, but they made excellent egg bhurji, so we just hogged on to Parantha’s and Egg Bhurji. After the dark we resumed again towards sagar, and on the way there was this Honda Passion guy, who over took us both and was quite happy about it. He had his kid behind him as pillion. Me and Jhonny decided to Have some fun with him. We started taking turns to over take him and wait for him to let him overtake us again and lots of time he was in middle of the both the bikes. Sagar road is quite lonely at night and it’s quite scary for a normal person experiencing this, so that guy slowed down or maybe stopped until both of us have disappeared out of sight. Soon we hit the ghats section just before the sagar and boy what fun it is to maneuver through the ghats in night. We thumped into Nagarjuna Sagar at around 9.00 pm and tried to get accommodation in the couple of hotels, but being a weekend all non ac rooms were full and we didn’t wanted to waste our money on an ac room. So we decided to check out one more Hotel on the other side of the dam. But there also, all non ac rooms were full, but we were able to talk that guy into giving us a 100 Rs Student discount ;) for an ac room.

There was the Moon in the Sky:
After having dinner and freshening up, we all were supposed to sleep as we were a bit tired driving in the night and we wanted to get up early and look around and see the dam. But I had another plan in the mind. There was a lovely moon in the sky and I wanted to see it in the water at the dam. I told Nishant and Jhonny that I m going to the dam, and both of them said “ At this time? Paagal hai tu”. It was around 11.30 in the night at that time. I said I wanna go and enjoy. Well but while I was preparing to leave, they both also got tempted and before we knew all three of us were standing on the dam. It was such a clear and calm water, with the reflection of the moon that it got me spell bounded. I wanted to take my bike down to the water level, but as I didn’t knew the way around that place and really dark couldn’t find a way to go that low, though we tried few of the off roading which lead us to a grave yard, and also asked a guy there about going to the water and he got scared and ran away. Than even tried to go and have a look at that power station but ended up being chased by the security. Took loads of pictures of my bike and jhonny’s TB under the moon, in the night at the dam. We freaked out on the dam till around 1.30 am, and than we decided to head back to room and sleep.

No water and the Water Fall:
I was the last one to wake up the Sunday morning and found, both Nishant and Jhonny all ready and dressed up. I told them to go order for break fast while I take bath and get ready. But as soon as I had applied the soap, the water ran out and there was no water, I had to shout and scream for the hotel people to get some water, while waiting for it, I saw out side the window and was quite irritated to see a huge dam filled with so much water and still there was water problem here. Soon we ate our breakfast and headed for the Ethipothola – the water fall. Its an AP tourism maintained sited with a commanding view of the water fall. A nice place to sit, but a bit commercial for my taste. Jhonny and Nishant wanted to get down in the water ;) but a certain guy’s advice (crocodiles in water) changed there mind.

Jaana Hai:
It was already 11.00 pm and we were still at Ethipothala. So we decided to hurry up and try to reach sri salem as soon as possible. The stretch from N. Sagar to Srisalem is a very good stretch (though roads are not that good) but they are interior roads and I love interior roads. Lots of small ghati sections. At certain place we found lots and lots of red chillies drying at the fields. So we all stopped for some photo shoots, but jhonny and nishant were more interested in some fresh chillies right from the field. So I think they got around 2 kgs of dried red chillies. Around 85 kms before Sri Salem comes a Hillock very peculiar in shape, like a gumbat of a temple or something. From the road only one can get a commanding view of it. A small photo stop. On the way Jhonny also gave a life to a localite, who lived around 40 kms before Sir – Salem. It sure was hot and I could feel the heat burning my head, but didn’tknew what was store for me next.

The fall of the warrior:
Just 80 kms before the Sri – Salem, we were ripping like hell, as we were in hurry to reach Salem, but suddenly I felt a sharp sting on my right hands thumb. It pained so acutely that while riding only I had to tear open my driving gloves in order to rub it. The bikes came to halt, Jhonny asked what happened, but all I could see on my hand was a large around half inch long sting, I thought it might be a honey bee, maybe with an extra large sting, so I had just put some water and continued again. We reached at kinda foot hill of sri – salem, the place from where the ghat sections start, for next 50 kms till Sri – Salem. This was the place where the localite to whom jhonny gave lift, wanted to get off, it was his village. So he was just bidding good bye and was maybe asking something and nishant was with him, at that time I had to get off my bike, and just had to lie down on the road side. After this, till evening 6 pm I only remember in bits and pieces, later jhonny and nishant told me
about what I had been doing all this while. Well I was asked to lie down in shade; the sting of that insect was quite poisonous. I had rashes and marks all over my arms and chest. They asked me to drink loads of cold water. Later somehow I gathered enough strength to get on my feet and got on my bike. Once on my bike I was feeling comfortable and safe. From here was the ghat section, and well my pillion nishant later told me, that it was the most scariest ride of his life. I was not in my senses and could hardly see or think. He told me I was swaying my bike from left to right and he had to tap me on my shoulder every 30 seconds to ask if I m awake if I m feeling good. This went on till he suddenly jerked my shoulder and I applied my brakes full on, only to see feets away from a drop. I was totally zonked out. I just got off the bike and slept off there at road side. Jhonny and nishant waited for me to get up, they did some walk in the jungle it was around 3.00 pm at that time and later I just remember waking up at a punnami hotel room at 6.00 pm. Nishant told me from that point onwards he drove my bike till all the way to sri salem, and as I wasn’t feeling good they took up the room and I just fell asleep, they had also given me some medicines which I dunno.

Back to Senses:
I woke up at around 6.00 pm, surprised to find myself in a hotel room and jhonny and nishant watching tv. They told me whatever had happened, and I still had this severe head ache. I again slept off for another half an hour, meanwhile I asked jhonny to call up Anand, as he was the only person who knew we were on this ride. After hearing all this anand was at the tenter hook, all worried about us. It was already getting dark, and we were told lots of time earlier not to cross dindi after 9.00 pm in any. Its not safe to do those ghats in night and the naxals roaming that area. So I propsed jhonny and nishant to ride ahead as I m in no state to drive rite now and will come back to hyd next day morning, but they didn’t wanted to leave me back, and nishant had a train early next morning to catch and jhonny office, so well we finally decided to leave by 8.30 pm from sri salem, after I had another bath and some snacks.

A Night at Ghats:
I never knew ghats could be so majestic and commanding at night. Me and Jhonny were riding real close to each other, a small stop over at the sri salem dam was amazing. It was well lit up, and no one was there, it was quite a place to be in night. From here we wanted to go fast till dindi, as we were told that the gate there gets closed after 10.30 pm and it was already 9.30 pm, so we rushed and rushed, but I also wanted to enjoy the jungles and the ghats at night. So we did stopped at some places, and man what a remoteness, it was so quite that once we shut off our bull’s engines, I could here every voice of the jungle. And to add to it, it was kinda spooky too. All in all I cant describe how a night ride to sri salem is. It just amazing.

Back Home:

Untill we crossed dhindi, anand and lison were at the edge of there seats, quite worried. I called them up from dhindi and than they were relieved and assured we gonna make it back alive, and I guess they even popped a bear to celebrate;). We reached back to Hyderabad at 12.45 am, and rushed straight to Bashar restaurant to munch on some biryanis as we had not eaten anything substaintial since breakfast. It
was just amazing, the ride through the AP Triangle – enchanting, thrilling, dangerous and for me lil bad luck. But still I loved that experience.

Jalori Pass over weekend - by Shekhar Patil

2008-03-27T17:51:00.008+05:30

Frankly, having read so much about Jalori yet never bothered know at what height it was. I always compared Jalori to Rohtang or other passes on Leh route but less in height. To me a pass meant barren landscape at a height of 3500 mtrs plus. All these myths were broken once I reached Jalori Jot. This is a pass where there is a lots of greenery around you. You are amidst trees through out and except its steep hike (probably steeper than Rohtang) its is easier and very enjoyable. There is something about Jalori which attracts and you want to visit this place again and again. No doubt it is amongst the few rare places left in Himachal untouched by the city revelers visiting the hills in their air-conditioned vehicles. Jalori is still the old world what probably Shimla might have been a century ago. So whoever is reading this and if he /she has not been to Jalori, I strongly recommend to visit it as early as possible, simply because the wind of economic development may reach this part of the world sooner than you can imagine and we will have added another Hill station cum resort in Himalaya.
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With over six months without a ride it was mandatory to go somewhere on Holi Weekend that was 22nd and 23rd March 2008. Making sure that my absence for two days is not going to bother any one I decided to go somewhere. Jalori? The thought itself was so exciting but had that apprehension that in two days it surely cannot be done on Bike when a distance was approximately 600km from Noida. Dropped the idea of doing Jalori all together made an alternate plan with the help of dear friend Barfani Baba aka Vivek Sharma who suggested to do Delhi- Solan-Rajgarh-Renuka -Delhi which was doable in two days. Friday was as usual at the office but was free by 4'o'Clock and at home by 4.30. Jalori thoughts were still struggling to overpower the alternate plan. Quickly calculated that if we leave now, at least some time can be saved for the next day ride and it was possible to do Jalori over weekend.A call was made to my 60kph fellow member Shuja (he too wanted desperately to get lost in the hills over weekend) who was taking a good afternoon nap, checked with him if he was ready to start now and he was more than willing. One hour later we were zooming towards the hills on our respective Enfields. By 10.30 at night we had done roughly 200 km which was a good pace. Now that for the next day only 300-450 km was left to do, we decided to take halt for the day. The nearest place where we could find a Hotel was Kurukshetra.
Saturday, 6.30 am we were again on the road and by 10.30 after crossing Solan took our first break for break fast. Almost sure that we can make it to Jalori, decided to go straight towards Shimla rather than taking a right turn towards Rajgarh. The next halt was at Naldehra, no lunch, just the tea and few photographs and we started again.

Before I write further , let me tell you that I didn't check any map and my knowledge of Jalori was limited to the fact that it lies between Shimla and Manali. I was sure that we will find our way out. While discussing the plan with Baba some how was misunderstood that we have to go via Tattapani so we made our pilgrimage to tattapani, still no lunch but few photos later we were enquiring about the route and no one knew where Jalori was. The road was directing us towards Mandi, we decided to continue and another 50km ride and we attempted for another enquiry at Dharmor and were shocked to know that we have missed the route to Jalori all together. From Naldehra we should have taken the road to Sainz. Ab Kya Karein. Shuja was looking at me as if wanted to eat me alive. Again Baba came to our rescue and offered us another route via Karsog. He informed usthere is a route to Jalori if we take the Rampur Road from Karsog and via Behna,

we can go to Ani and Khanag. It was supposed to be 80-90 km from Kasog. The time was 2.30 pm, Jalori to jaana hai. The plan was changed ,we will ride till we can. Make a halt and next day early morning-do Jalori. By 4.45 pm we were at Ani, 40 km short of Jalori. Checked about Jalori, the tea stall guy showed a mountain quite far away saying at the top of it is Jalori and we can still make it till khanag which has a rest house. Distance to Khanag is 32km. By the time both of us decided to make it to top. Quickly we had our tea (still no lunch) and we were again riding. It was climb all through till khanag and by the time we reached it was already 7 pm. Finally reached the rest house and after lots of buttering the keeper cum chef cum attendant allowed us to stay for the night. Till now I don't know what height we were at. A casual glance at Rest house plate informed us that we were at 2440 mtr ASL.

Since the original plan was to cross Jalori during day time and stay on the lower side, we didn't bother to carry any woollen with us except the riding Jackets. I had 3 Tees with me and wore all of them and topped it with Jacket. The buttering and some tip made the trick. Chain Ram ji became very friendly and served us with hot fulkas straight from the angithi and we had our dinner served hot.

Didn't kept any count but both of us must have finished over 20 chapaties. Next day (Sunday) we were at Jalori after a 5 km very steep and phadu ride. And it was worth all the pain we took to reach there. Spent sometime at the top with lots of snow around.

The time was to start our return journey and target was to reach home by late evening. We started our descent via Banjar-mandi towards Delhi. After riding 575 kms through out the day we were finally at home by 11.00 in the night same day.

Ride dates: 21st-23rd March 2008
Riders: Shekhar and Shuja
Route: Delhi-Kalka-Solan-Shimla-Naldehra-Tattapani-Ani-Khanag-Jalori-Banjar-Mandi-Delhi
Total distance covered: 1175 kms
Total Expenses incurred per head: Rs. 1900/- including Petrol

Your link to photographs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shekharpatil/sets/72157604260161463

Romancing my Cinderella - by Amandeep Saini

2008-03-27T12:25:00.003+05:30

Right from the day I brought home Cinderella, I've had an undying urge to take her on long rides. I had done the anniversary ride with the RoyalBeasts, which was a 200 kms ride for me as I stay in one corner of Delhi and the party was on the other end of the metro. Anyways, on the 1st of October, I finally decided to go on a long ride on Bapu's anniversary the next day. That was the day when the other RoyalBeasts were to head for Kinnaur on a 4-day ride. I had to sacrifice that ride on the alter of family commitments. So I decided on a ride all alone. On the eve of my ride, I checked the bike, topped up the oil and then tried hard to sleep. I couldn’t untill almost midnight, as I was too excited about my first long ride alone. All alone!

I got up at 4:30 in the morning all excited and in about half an hour I was all set to go. A 5:10 a.m. I left home wearing a windcheater as it had become a bit cold in the mornings recently. Till Faridabad I maintained a constant speed of 60-65 and by the time I reached Ballabgarh, the sun was already shining down on me.

I had thought of taking my Discman along but then dropped the idea. I told myself that instead I’d just listen to Cinderella. Believe me, this babe sure has a bewitching voice. And it’s all you want to hear on the road, every note, every tenor thrilling you no end. I recalled the very first ride with Cinderella when I was quite new to the Royal Enfield family and the immense delight that transported me to a world of my own.

NH 2 is beautiful, simple and straight. I maintained a constant speed of 80-85 and in between hit 100 too. There wasn't much traffic on the highway. I had done this strip a number of times by car before. But believe me, it's a different story doing it on Cinderella. I was amazed when I hit the highway, the endless stretch of road, the green fields on either side…and the voice of Cinderella cutting through…it was magical.

The last time when I went to Agra in my car, I had to pay a toll at Palwal. Keeping this in mind, I kept money handy in my shirt pocket and stopped at Palwal tollgate only to be told that the toll was for four-wheelers alone. Hurrah!

At the Haryana-U.P. border, there was a long traffic jam with numerous trucks and cars waiting impatiently. I found that I could negotiate through the gaps between cars and trucks. Soon, Cinderella was again ahead of all the traffic after manoeuvring through the jam with ease. From the border till about Kosi, there was nobody on the road thanks to that pileup I’d left behind. Even as I write this, I remember doing that stretch vividly... it was simply amazing.

I reached Vrindavan at 7:35 am and promptly went to ISKCON first and then on to Bihari ji's mandir. I came back to the ISKCON restaurant for my breakfast and left Vrindavan at 9:00 am. On my way back I did not halt in between at any dhaba. I entered Faridabad by 10:30 am and from there it took me one hour in the usual Delhi traffic to get back home.

That was a real good ride, my first one alone. It revved up my confidence in Cinderella. I’m sure I’ll be doing much longer rides on this babe soon.

Route: Delhi - Vrindavan – Delhi.
Odo reading at start: 7890 kms.
Odo reading at end: 8181 kms.
Total distance covered: 291 kms.
Starting time: 05.10 IST.
End Time: 11.30 IST.
Total riding time: 5 hours.
Time spent off the bike: 1.5 hours.