Bangalore - Kolar -Palamner-Chitoor-Ranipet-Chennai (Approx.700Km).
Return:Chennai-NewECR-Mahabalipuram-Kanchipuram-vellore-Bangalore highway NH46,NH7 Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore)A trip for my MOM !Great sportspersons are always worth emulating often in their approach towards life .Their quotes in a lot of ways reflect the individual's attitude, character.Some of my favourite quotes are by legends who've struggled in life to be where they are.
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying - "Michael Jordan"
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life - "Mohammad Ali"
Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything - "Mohammad Ali"
This was my first ever solo ride and is quite close to my heart.I've tried to pen down every moment of the ride
Why did I ride?-------------------------------------------------------
In 25 years i must admit, i've always been close to my friends than with any cousin of mine.There's hardly been any proximity or the much needed connectivity specially with the one's on my dad's side.So much so that its been almost 10-11 years since i bumped into some.Probably it was mutual, but i never regret that.Fortunately i've always been around with friends, had the best moments of life and the best of relations.At any given point, i'd prefer the latter without an element of doubt.To be honest, for me having good friend is the best thing to happen than a obligated relation.
I guess the absense of the "Bangalore cousins" resulted the elderly relatives (Uncle's/aunt's) who eventually began bombarding my parents with this question of "Why don't you get your sons along for wedding,upanayam's etc..?".I've been quite adamant in not travelling to a few places in the South because i simply hated being there.To attend a fucntion and meet a few people i didn't connect with was the last thing on my mind and was simply not possible.Over a period of time this got to my mother who insisted that i attend a cousin's wedding in chennai on June 1st.My reply was a simple "NO" and explained my reasons for refraining from such occasions.Before giving up on me she said "Just try making it once and henceforth i shall not pester you in future".
The Ride...... NH4(Hoskote-Kolar-Palamner-Ranipet-Sriperambudur
-Chennai)After a nice heavy buffet at Harsha's housewarming party,Vegan Shake,coffee and pastry at the coffee day with Ameet the previous night, i woke up late in the morning to answer my mom's "last effort call" in persuading me to come over and the response from me was no different.As i sat reading the newspaper with tea in hand, i just wondered if i could make it to chennai to fulfill my mother's request and if so what was the best way i could do it? I really did't fancy going by train, Bus or even by flight.On the other hand i'd been wanting to do a long ride on my bullet to Badami and Hampi.Call it lack of likeminded compananions willing to travel by bike or procrastination, it never happened but i was so desperate to make the ride happen one day.I just said to myself that if i rode to chennai, attend the wedding for 2 hours and drive back i'd be a happy man! The next moment i called up my mom to inform her that i'd be coming, only to be told i had to be there before 09.00 a.m.
It was 1.00 p.m and the drive to chennai would take atleast 6 hours (approx.330-350 Kms depending on the route) and driving in the night would be hard.Googled a few best routes before i decided upon NH4-the Old Madras route through Kolar, Chitoor, Ranipet, Sriperambudur.Packed my bag, showed up my bullet with the mechanic for a checkup,filled up some engine oil, fuel and finally kicked off at about 3 p.m.All along i thought i had to cover the maximum distance in day light.Having spent the day without breakfast and lunch, my first stop was at Kamat near Hoskote.Ordered for Raagi Dosa, cool drinks and took off.As i enjoyed the thump on NH4 with a great sense of satisfaction little did i realise that the worst was yet to come.Kolar welcomed me with rains, luckily didn't last long.Briefly stopped at a Dhaba where i heard a guy telling his friend "hey alli nodo Jinke marigalu" (metaphorical to chicks)refering to a group of young girls who seemed to be enjoying their weekend!.The reason i say worst was because my helmet didn't have a wiser which would have helped me from the rain falling over my face.And little did i know my jacket would give in to the rains.
After the brief stoppage there was no looking back.I said to myself that the next break would be possibly after 150km.Was a bit harsh on myself but i had to do it if i had to escape from the rains and avoid the night drive.The road on NH4 was just splendid and with the thump reverberating alongside a few songs by Bryan Adams, at no point did i feel like stopping the bike.All the way i maintained a good speed hovering about 90-100 while at times i couldn't resist raising the throttle till 110-120.It was magical to be speeding along for hours together with the breeze straight on the face not having to worry about the traffic, roads, crowd or anything else that you hate in the city.
As i crossed Palamner,Chitoor and entered Ranipet there was a downpour for a while.I was relentless thumping along while i said a bad rhyming joke("PJ") to myself- "I think this place should be called "Rainpet" instead of Ranipet".Probably even the gods felt embarrassed with that when the rains stopped 0.5kms further.
My next much needed "pee" but no "tea" break was during sunset 153kms away from Chennai.Stretched a bit, clicked some pictures and started off.The nightmare was turning out to be true 120 kms to chennai when it rained like crazy.The precipitous rain hit my face like a sting, the eyeshades were wet almost blinding me, my jacket was soaked, the legs were getting heavy with water inside the shoes.I was running against time and there was hardly any place where i could stop for long in the incessant rain.It was instinctive at most times as i drove alongside the white marking in the middle of the road looking through the corner of my eyes.Risky it was, but after a while i was comfortable as i drove for another 40kms.Despite the rains i maintained a good speed zooming past few vehicles almost matching the lightning in the sky.I was nearing Chennai and just when i thought the ride ahead would be smooth, the bike ran out of fuel.I was confident enough of using up a little close to a litre(30 kms) but not more than that.I stopped at the petrol bunk only to be told there was no fuel.It made me worry a bit if there was some sort of a strike with the fuel price expected to increase.The next bunk was 1 km away and to make matters worse there was no fuel again.Drenched completely there was no way i could push the bike if it gave away mid way.Now i couldn't help but curse myself for not filling up the tank in bangalore.Since i'd filled up the tank a few days ago and with not much of travelling in between i thought filling up for 350Rs should be good enough as against an entire 500Rs.Anyway things were better ahead as i found a fuel station and made sure the tank was full this time around.
Chennai beckoned in typical style with a small road side food stall that read "FOOD READY- BAROTTA(read Parota),Chappatai and Dosai".I was extremely pleased for having made so far.My next major task was to navigate through Chennai to reach the wedding hall.Every alternate person i passed through was a "GPS" till i found my way out and must appreciate i was guided in the right direction.Finally reached the destination, parked my bike, called my mom downstairs.She wouldn't stop smiling and told anyone she met that i'd come all the way by bike.I met this kid who was not kiddish called Balaji who'd come down and was amazed when his dad told him that i'd driven all the way.While everyone was fast asleep, alone in the dining hall i was belting away some Uthappam and sweets and belched before catching up with some good sleep.If not for the ride which happened unexpectedly, i had plans of catching up with my friend Ravi Bellur from U.K, whom i'd no chance of meeting up with and also go around the school with Ameet, all of which i missed out on.
Day2:At the wedding Hall:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to sleep till 8 a.m the next morning and with the function ending at 10.30 a.m, thought i would end up spending less time getting bored! I woke up to the sound&beat of the "Nadaswaram and Thavil" as early as 4.30 but managed to get some sleep till 7 when my mom woke me saying "get up u are the only one still sleeping in the entire hall" as some curious guests waked past the corridor staring.I dragged on for half an hour when my mom finally decided i had to get up.She was looking great in those "yards" saree.The first thing i asked her was "How long would i need to be here?" since i decided to travel to Mahabalipuram on the famous "ECR"(East coast road)".My presence was required for 15 mins where i had to perform a small procedure of placing rice pops(read puri),flowers etc.in my cousin's(bride) palm thrice.As my mom took me down to the main hall for breakfast expectedly some stared at me moreso for the "pony" and i even overheard some asking their neighbour - "Who's this guy and who's son is he?".Call it public relation or personal relation it was all happening.I finally met my cousins, some who said they couldn't recognize me in this look.10 years isn't a short span and the last 2 years were simply great!.And then each one introduced me to their respective other halves and every relation of their's who'd heard about me but never seen before asking me about the U.K, Europe trips and the cricket stories.All's well and the renewal finally happened!
Interview by kids!!---------------------------------------------------------
I decided to call up Mani who's from Chennai to enquire about the ECR route which helped me and caught with the day's IPL action.The kid balaji sat next to me asking me a myriad of curious queries he had.He told me he was in the 6th standard studying in a Delhi school.Frankly i enjoyed speaking to the small boy than the rest for he didn't show typical childish traits.His mother came over and said her son was kind of hero worshipping "me" after the bike trip and was thrilled to know i'd been alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid.He was a topper in maths, a chess champion at school and aspired to be a doctor.His joy manifolded when i showed him my picture with Sachin.The questions to me ranged from my favorite cricketers, IPL teams, chelsea players, soccer to Ronaldinho.The kid wasn't the only one curious to speak to me but there were two small girls who came up to me asking for how long i'd grown my hair and how i had maintained it for two years with a word of advice. I was called up on the stage to carry out the small procedure which ended even before i'd realized with the pundit handing over a plate with coconut and 1001Rs saying "Son,the money is for you!" and the rest of the plate had to be given back to the bride.I joked to the pundit asking him if i could do that procedure again and the crowd on the stage burst into laughter.It was a win-win situation having spent just 2 hrs at the wedding, made everyone happy with my attendance and had my expenditure almost reimbursed :-)
Towards ECR - Mahabalipuram & the identity crisis...again !!----------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom at last.Changed my attire, packed up my bag and bid adieu to all the maami's,maama's and the rest in the hall.The weather was good and i was all set to head to the ECR enroute Mahabalipuram.Mani was spot on with his inputs and all i had to do was ask a few people for ECR.East Coast Road (ECR) is an express highway built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Chennai to Cuddalore via Pondicherry. A trip along the East Coast Road gives rise to a spectacular scenic beauty with beaches and fishermen hamlets.On reaching Mahabalipuram i decided to visit the world heritage temple and the beach.
For the past few months i've been experiencing an "identity crisis" of sorts because of my pony, i guess!.After being questioned at the Red fort and Qutub minar during my trip to Delhi in February i found myself in a similar situation at the temple's entrance when the security asked me for my passport.He said "U r from India?".I replied "Sir, Bangalore-25 years!".He smiled at me saying "Aaapko Hindi maalum hai" to which i replied back in my broken Hindi saying "Haan sir maalum hai!".The last time i'd been there was on a school trip in 1998.
It was past 1 p.m and with the heat getting unbearable i wanted to make my way back to Bangalore.With no sense of direction i stopped to speak to a cab driver to decide upon the most viable routes.The driver said it would be 350km to Bangalore through Chengalpettu,Kanchipuram(Outskirts) and vellore.The road leading to NH46 was good and my next stop was at the Silk city-Kanchipuram.Had some good food at the Saravana Bhavan Hotel near the bus stand kicked off at3.15 p.m and in no time was on the Bangalore Highway.To say the the national highway(NH46) was outstanding would be an understatement.The last time i was witness to such magnificient roads and landscape was during my trip to Ireland in 2007.The NH46 along with NH7 and NH4 is part of the golden qualdilateral project initiated by Atal Behari Vajpayee.Filled up the tank, plugged in my ipod and what better way to kick-start the remaining 250kms with "Yeh jo Des" from Swades.Taking frequent breaks in between was imperative but with such great roads, the thump which was like music to the ears, scenic landscape breaking was not an option unless i really needed one.
A nightmare's nighmare & Lance armstrong's Maillot Jaune !-----------------------------------------------------------
There was a loud thunder followed by lightning and things didn't seem to look good with grey clouds all over.All i had in mind was to cover as much distance possible before i got snarled in the rains.It rained like there was no tomorrow and even if i'd wanted to stop the rains wouldn't in the next 1-2 hours.I had to move.The final 150kms was the worst ride i've had.My hopes of the rains stopping after a while vanished.A helmet sans wiser, an incomplete raincoat - it was like a blind person driving at full speed.With no place to stop on the highway i was soaked and without a break i had a terrible back spasm with my legs begining to ache.I was determined to move on for i realised stopping and getting back in the rain was even painful when i did once.All along i hit 90-100 kmph.It was frightening at times as i saw the signboards marked "Do not drive to hell", "Know Safety No injury,No Safety know injury"!
All through the pain two thoughts came up my mind.I don't know why!.The first was how 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in his autobiography "Its not about the Bike,My journey back to life" details about his struggle with a life threatning Testicular cancer, the death of his team mate on the tour, the flicking in the peloton and ended up winning the Tour de France getting to wear the "Maillot Jaune" (Yello Jersey).The second thought was about this crazy guy called Bear Grylls who presents a survivor series on Discovery channel called "Man Versus Wild".I reached home with a great sense of relief and accomplishment at 20.15.
Final word:---------------------------------------------
Looking back i would have liked to
1) do better in terms of planning,preparation
2) Write better hopefully in future when i really feel like again .......
In the end my bike the - "Bullet 350" was the winner.All i could do was marvel at how this piece of automobile engineering worked.The bike i'd have with me forever and hopefully take me to places in future.Like every bullet enthusiast my dream is to make it to Leh-Ladakh and Bhutan some day!.
This is for you Maa....
Cheers,
Karthik.
