Chapter 1_The Sun, The Rain and The Wind

Chapter 1

The Sun, The Rain and The Wind

Thorappan was supposed to reach Pondicherry by 9 PM latest. We had to then fix the wind shield he was bringing from Bangalore onto my bike, get at least six hours of sleep and wake up by 4 AM the next day. Around 760 kilometers had to be covered on day 1, the most in a day in this trip. This meant that we had to start from Pondy at least by 5 AM. We had decided that we would wind up our ride by 6 PM latest on all days; in other words, before sunset. Well, Thorappan reached Pondy at around 11:30 PM. He had received quite a bit of rains on the Vellore-Tindivanam stretch, which slowed him down. While he was unpacking his bags in Sunharji’s car porch, Mahesh and I went about the task of fitting the wind shield on to my bike. We unscrewed the stock shield and tried to fit the new one. A chance was being taken and of course it wasn’t in our favour – the new shield wouldn’t suit my bike. As we were fixing the original shield back onto the bike, one of the screws went inside the headlamp console. Sabaash!

I went to bed soon after fixing the wind shield. (We failed to fix the problematic screw back on!) Thorappan and Mahesh were awake until 2 AM, apparently. The 6-hour rest plan went down the drain. Nevertheless, we woke up at 4 AM sharp. Mahesh had set around 10 alarms starting from 4 AM, at 5-minute intervals. Anyways, we woke up for the first one itself; of course we were very excited about the day. It took us two whole hours to get ready, wear our gears and load our bags onto the bikes. I just had a regular 30-liter backpack, but Mahesh and Thorappan had two humongous tail bags, Mahesh’s weighing at least 30 kilograms. Sunharji, half asleep, clicked a few photos for us and we hit the roads at around 6:15 AM. The plan was to stop at the first tea shop on the Tindivanam highway. Mahesh and Thorappan were quite disappointed to later realize that they had to ride around 40 kilometers before they could find a tea shop on that stretch. Me being a frequent rider on this route, knew this, but chose not to tell them at the start.

Sunharji, half asleep, clicked a few photos for us and we hit the roads at around 6:15 AM.

We cruised along the 6-lane roads of NH-45 towards Chennai. But for the inevitable traffic at Perungulathur, it was a good start for the trip. We stopped at Adayar Ananda Bhavan in Redhills for breakfast. The sun was up and we were already sweating terribly, with our gears on. We filled our stomachs with dosas and a few cups of coffee and tea. People were quite curious about our bikes with all the luggage and gadgets on. Many of them enquired about the trip as well. Mahesh’s Dominar was already getting quite a few fans. After breakfast, the plan was to ride 150 kilometers straight and take a break at Nellore. Mahesh whizzed past us and we (Thorappan and I) wouldn’t be seeing him any time soon. We would have covered less than 10 kilometers when Thorappan started honking from behind. He signaled me to stop and I knew something was wrong.

A metal piece was dangling from my chain cover and it was hitting against the chain, causing sparks. Of course, one shouldn’t expect a hassle free ride up to Sikkim, but I wasn’t quite expecting a challenge this soon! We had to find a mechanic and I moved ahead at around 30 km/h. Every now and then the metal piece would hit the chain and my heart would skip a beat. The accelerator cable too developed some issues, adding to my worry. We took a detour into a nearby village to find a mechanic.

After the repair, Thorappan and I continued together. I wasn’t feeling very confident about my bike. Thorappan kept assuring me that Yamaha was trustable. There was no news from Mahesh. Three hours later, we had crossed Nellore and gone another 50 kilometers ahead, before we met him waiting for us at a highway CCD. It was around 1:15 PM and Mahesh had reached there almost half an hour back. While we were at CCD, we were the only customers there and we had a very relaxed time.

As we left CCD at around 2:45 PM, the plan was to stop after the next 150 kilometers. The roads were quite free and we increased our speeds, covering almost 80 kilometers in the next one hour. However, things weren’t going to be that smooth all along. After covering around 130 kilometers from CCD, we got the first rains in the trip. Mahesh and Thorappan stopped to put on their rain gears. Mahesh stopped 50 meters ahead of Thorappan and interestingly it wasn’t raining where Thorappan was standing. It started pouring just 30-40 meters ahead of him, where poor Mahesh was standing.

While we were at CCD, we were the only customers there and we had a very relaxed time.

I made a wrong decision to stop only at the next petrol bunk. A few kilometers ahead, I felt my inners getting wet. I then stopped to put on my rain gears and got all the more wet in the process. A few more kilometers ahead, I started getting strong winds. I wasn’t quite sure whether Thorappan and Mahesh were ahead of me or behind. The wind was blowing from my left to the right and there were open fields on both sides. I slowed down; quite tensed. The wind got very strong that I was literally blown from the left lane to the right. Motorcyclists and a few cars were stopping on the sides. Was it a cyclone or something?! Fear crept into my confused mind…

(to be continued…)

[Well, the story actually starts a couple of years back. If you are interested to get a gist of it, read:

1. Prequel- Part 1_The Eight of Us

2. Prequel- Part 2_The (Backup) Plan]