Chapter 20_Discovering Heaven

Chapter 20

Discovering Heaven

Indeed, it was an ambitious target – 985 kilometers in a day. But, when the roads are in your favour and you partner has the same ‘wavelength’ as you, Herculean tasks can become a cakewalk. That sums up the last day on road for our guys – Thorappan and Khan. By 2 PM, they were in Hyderabad. They had only one commitment in the ‘World Capital of Biriyani’ – eat biriyani. However, the roads had got them high and all they wanted to do was keep riding. That the ‘outer ring road’ could not be accessed by bikes, they had to make their way through the city traffic. But when they exited the city and entered the highway to Bangalore, they were to taste the icing on the cake – the best road ever. After a quick snack from Udupi Hotel, that included a special chocolate coffee which seemed to have impressed the both of them, they entered the last leg of their 7000 kilometer trip. Keeping a constant of 100-120 kilometers per hour, they were in Bangalore before night life began there. After a cup of sulaimaani at ‘Thalassery Biriyani Restaurant’ in Electronic City, they shook hands, hugged each other and parted ways, to their respective rooms. Adios brothers!

Khan and Thorappan on the Hyderabad-Bangalore Expressway…

That same day, at around 10 PM, the Aronai Express reached Ernakulum Junction, a few hours later than the scheduled time. In fact, it is not for us to expect the train to reach a station at the expected time; Indian Railways are beyond our expectations! Mahesh was picked up by his friends, who then drove him home. A week later, he would be picking up his bike from this very same station. How the bike reached there so soon and on which train, is still a mystery unsolved.

That same day, at around 3 PM, the New Jalpaiguri-Chennai Express reached Chennai Central station. After forty-two hours of ‘eat-sleep-repeat’, I stepped out of the train. There was task at hand – to get Batman on road – one that wasn’t going to be an easy one. The luggage compartment was locked and there wasn’t anyone around. The parcel office was about a 100 meters across the platform. I walked to the office, carrying all my luggage. It was a dingy room with only an officer in there. I informed him that my bike was there on the train that had just arrived. Unlike the nasty guys in Siliguri, this man was a straightforward one. He told me to get the bike to his office, without involving anyone else. He warned me that I would have to encounter quite a few individuals, whose intention would be to extort money out of me, rather than help. He allowed me to leave my luggage in his office as well. I walked back to the train. The luggage compartment was open and two men were unloading stuff on to the platform. I showed them the Batman’s documents and requested them to unload the bike from the train. They did so without any reluctance. They offered the same piece of advice that the officer at the parcel office had given – “don’t let anyone touch your vehicle”. They then asked me to pay them for unloading the bike and I paid 100 bucks.

I took Batman to the parcel office. The 100 meters to the office had railway lines going hither and thither, line those veins on your hand – around six tracks coming from Basin Bridge side split into fifteen or more ones as they went into the station. I had to cross all of them. But for some curious glances, no one approached me. I parked the bike outside and finished all the formalities at the office. A guy appeared out of nowhere and the officer told me that he would help me unpack the bike. As we walked towards the exit gate, another guy came towards me and whispered in my ear that I shouldn’t pay the other guy anything more than fifty. I felt like being in an alien world – there were people around me engaged in some work or the other and every now and then, they were giving me looks; I was being guided by a stranger whom I had no option but to trust; and then there were strangers giving me strange advises!

Outside the station, the guy helped me remove the packing of my bike. I paid him fifty bucks and he was happy. While I was googling where the nearest petrol bunk was, he offered to help me. I gave him hundred bucks and he took a ‘share auto’ to the nearest petrol bunk. He was back in another 10 minutes with a liter of petrol, but I had started Batman by then (the porters at Siliguri hadn’t burned out the entire fuel). The rear view mirrors had to be fixed and I asked him where the nearest mechanic shop was. He told me that he could fix it himself and did so. He asked me to pay him another thirty bucks. I smiled, paid, and thanked him for all his help. Finally, we were back on the road, for our last leg of the trip – Chennai to Pondy, 160 kilometers!

The initial few kilometers through the Chennai roads were hectic. I suddenly became conscious that Batman was handicapped owing to his bent handlebar. One of the rear view mirrors kept coming loose as well. I did not feel very comfortable riding Batman through the city in such conditions. And therefore, I was relieved when we entered the East Coast Road.

I rode cautiously, as I didn’t want any mishaps to come my way right at the end of an otherwise eventful trip. At an average of 60 kilometers per hour, we cut through the sea breeze blowing in from the east coast. The customary tea break was taken at Kalpakkam. The next seventy kilometers would take no more than ninety minutes.

The last leg…

At 7:30 PM, on the twenty-ninth day of September 2019, after 3670 kilometers on road, I was back home after my dream trip. As I unloaded the luggage from my bike, I felt very tired – physically. However, within myself, I felt that I had grown a little stronger. Sixteen days back, while loading the luggage onto Batman, I had been full of apprehensions. And it was never a cakewalk all day long either. The weather had been harsh at times, the plan had to be changed many a times, there were plenty of nightmares on the road, OYO and the Indian Railways had given us quite a bit of trouble and so on. On the other side, we had made beautiful memories that would stay with us the rest of our lives – times spent with all those lovely families in Siliguri and Lachung, exploring the Himalayas, off-roading, seeing snow for the first time in our lives and so on. And in the end, it was all those bits and pieces put together – the highs and lows – that made this dream a worthy one to chase. And every successful dream is a call for a bigger one!

On the way to Pondy, about forty kilometers from Kalpakkam, you could see a vast stretch of white desert on your right – the Marakkanam salt pans. That day, I passed the area at around 6 PM. The sun was setting, and the view was mind-blowing. The salt pans and the sky blended together to form a huge canvas. And the artist had made gentle strokes of different colours – red, orange, yellow, blue, grey and white. I just stood there, imbibing the beauty. Nature is beautiful, everywhere – up there in the Himalayas and down here in the east coast. One just needs to open his eyes and see. Needless to say, “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

And that’s the truth that trips like these validate for you. That heaven is here. You just need to explore and enjoy it as much as possible. And that’s what I believe too – that,

‘The world is a better place, if you keep exploring…’

-         The Curious Kid

(The End)

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Chapter 19_The Endurance Ride

Chapter 19

The Endurance Ride

“No…”

I replied, as the train chugged out of the station. As I walked back to the dreaded room - the cloak room - on platform number one, I met the railway officer who had helped us in the morning. I narrated to him the unfortunate turn of events. He then accompanied me to the office of the arrogant guy, to enquire about it. After a brief conversation with the arrogant guy, the officer assured me that Mahesh’s bike would be sent home on the next train, the following week.

I walked to the godown. My bike was still there. And what would be its fate? I would know in another couple of hours. With very little energy left and a terribly aching head, I walked to the ‘waiting room’. At around 8:45 PM, my train came to the platform – platform number three. I ran to the godown. Luckily the porters who had packed my bike in the morning were there. They were busy loading stuff onto a trolley. I asked one of them whether he could load the bike onto the train. He ignored my question, as well as my presence. I asked again. This time, without looking at me, he replied: “we asked you guys to pay us in the morning; you didn’t; why do you come to us now?” So that was it. You either bribe 100% or you don’t bribe at all and face the consequences. 99.9% bribing is as good as not bribing. I pleaded and he said that I would have to pay 200 bucks for it. I readily agreed.

The bike was taken from the godown to platform number three. The luggage van was already open and other stuff were being loaded into it. Batman too was loaded. I breathed. I paid the porter his money and thanked him. I clicked a couple of pictures of Batman inside the luggage van. Getting him to the Himalayas or the Zero Point was an achievement; but getting him inside this coach was an even greater one!

Batman inside the luggage compartment…

I walked to my coach. It was adjacent to the luggage van. I had a side lower berth to myself. I stuffed my belongings below the seat and sat down to remove my shoes. Right across, through the window, I could see the luggage office. The train started on time – at 9 PM. The luggage office slid out of my view and I prayed that I would never have to see that place again.

Adios New Jalpaiguri Luggage Office –never again!

I ate the snacks that I had bought for dinner and went off to sleep. And this was what I would be doing for the next few days – eat, sleep, repeat.

Khan and Thorappan halted at Malhar in Madhya Pradesh on day 2. After the terrible roads of Patna, an expressway welcomed them as they entered MP. They rode another 150 kilometers on that highway to reach Malhar. While the Himalayan roads had ‘water crossings’ intermittently, the plain roads had ‘cattle crossings’ once in a while. They got a decent hotel to stay in Malhar. It had a secure garage and the boys left their luggage on the bikes itself for the night.

After a tough ride (day 2) …

The destination for day 3 was Nagpur. After a quick breakfast from a roadside dhaba, they cruised along the highway. It drizzled once in a while, but the roads were too good for Goddess Rain to cause any trouble. But for those water breaks and fuel stops, they rode continuously during the day. When they had just around 60 kilometers to Nagpur, things took a turn. Of course, no day on the road has ended without a twist in the ‘tail’. There was a block on the main highway and they had to take a deviation, adding an extra 60 kilometers to Nagpur – 120 in all. This alternate route was a ghat road. Khan’s Himalayan had been facing some issues for a while and was due for service. Apparently, when the chains were tightened in Gangtok, it was done disproportionately, which meant that the rear tire wobbled. As Thorappan arched a curve, he saw Khan sitting on the road, with the bike lying a little away from him. The back tire had slid and they had gone down. Luckily, he had been riding slowly and the fall hadn’t caused much damage. The knuckle guard and the center stand had broken. They continued to ride and got the damages repaired at a road side workshop.

The roadside dhaba where our guys had breakfast on day 3…

As they entered outer Nagpur, there was a Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra integrated police check post. For the first time on this trip, the police wanted to check the luggage and Khan and Thorappan had a tough time untying the luggage for the police.

At around 4 PM, the boys reached Nagpur city. The revised plan was to get the bikes serviced and ride for another 100 kilometers or so before they called it a day. They received a warm welcome at the Royal Enfield service center. The manager of the place himself took care of the proceedings and Khan’s bike was given a priority service. They didn’t even want the luggage to be removed from the vehicle during the service. The riders returning from Sikkim were being treated royally!

Entering Nagpur…

As the bike was being serviced, Khan and Thorappan refilled their tummies with the local delicacy ‘chole batture’. The welcome was no different at the Duke service center. In a matter of two hours, both the bikes had been serviced. Both of them had to get their brake pads replaced. They resumed their ride at 6:30 PM and took the Hyderabad road. After riding almost 150 kilometers, their bodies were low on battery and they stopped at a highway hotel. However, as always, the first hotel is not our hotel. This one was too expensive. A stranger approached them and told them that he knew a hotel that was affordable and decent. The boys followed him and true to his word, the hotel was indeed a good one. They were in Pandharkawada, Maharashtra, at the end of day 3.

The hotel owner’s son was a member of the local ‘Avenger Riders Group’. This meant that Khan and Thorappan couldn’t sleep until they heard out all his adventure stories. Two other riders from Karnataka, who were on their way to Ladakh, too stayed the night in that hotel. One of them rode a Duke 390, while the other an Apache 200. Khan, who had already done Ladakh a couple of years back, gave them some useful tips. When they woke up the next morning, the guys had already left.

The plan for day 4 was a bit ambitious, to the extent that there wasn’t a day 5 in the plan! They decided to ride the remaining 985 kilometers to Bangalore in a single day – an endurance ride.

(to be continued…)