Recession of thoughts

It's 8:30. The night has fallen in Pune. I zip my denim jacket thinking about the friend who had gifted it to me. I am no longer in touch with him but the jacket keeps reminding of him. The bike waits for me in the parking. There is a new scratch on the Princess. Pretty much visible and she tells me who might have done it. I dont know who has done it. May be the bastard who kept his bike besides me and who would have got dont-know-what-shit bike without even caring about mine? I grudgingly take the princess out of the stable and put my hand on the scar.. It might not heal her... but gives me a chance to feel it. "Ohh... I'll be fine.. don't worry" she tells me... and I give some half-kicks as if to awaken her from her sleep. Finally, the last one starts her up and I am on my way to home. It's only me and the princess now... for an hour of silent talks....
-
"Dont do anything after reaching home... Just enjoy your Taarak Mehta" She said... "Hmmm ..." I reply, planning to surprise her with the usual cooking of mine which invariably is some vegetable with a dish of rice, Pulaav mostly. It's a strange situation, I think. We got married 4 months back, and after our honeymoon, we have returned into the same rat-race. Well, Amrita likes to call us the Weekend Couple. For months, I have been working days and nights in the office. The Reason : The recession and my struggle to keep the project going and to increase it. Mostly I succeed, by sacrificing a part of the beautiful life that I have started enjoying thoroughly. and now, It's Amrita's turn to put long hours. I take a left turn towards Moshi village.

Its a small road towards the Moshi village. Stretches for 8kms till Moshi. The good thing is that, its devoid of any vehicle movement. A truck zooms past me giving me some additional accelaration. I change to the 5th gear. The crying sound of the nearby motorcycle which is wrongly into a lower gear, irritates me. It irrriates me, why most of the bikers dont know that you only change gear when you are accelarating. Some years back, a classmate of mine was the pillion when I was driving him in Hyderabad. I was driving at around 80, naturally he was shivering behind me. After some time, I decreased the speed of the bike not changing the gear immediately. He asked me why I am not changing the gears to 4th and then to 3rd every time the speed comes into that zone. I stay silent.

I touch the Moshi village. The next stretch is of 6kms. This is the best stretch in my journey and I usually test the prinecess here the most pushing her till 90 or 100. The 3 lane road for both the sides helps. The FM starts playing Tu Chupi Hai Kahaan from Navrang. I remember the discussions between Bhabha and Papa about the old films. I learned a lot about movies when I joined Nadiad for my MCA. But my training began at home at the age I dont remember now. I, however, distinctly remember, Sadhu Aur Shaitaan being played at Maroo Bhai's place. It reminds me I need to send the Kite Runner movie to dad. I just had a talk with him about the book and like me he was mesmerized by the book. I dont know who will help Bhabha watch some good movies in Junagadh. He has always wanted to see The Bicycle Thief. I think about the last scene of the movie... The boy looking at his father and the father trying to look on the road. They both understand, however, say nothing... How can one scene shot decades still remains the best scene till this day.. I get goose bumps.. they are interrupted by the phone. It's ringing. It's the new lad who has joined the team. I stop the bike..

"How are you"
"I am okay... How are you"
"Kuch Nahi Sir... mujhe puchhna tha Am I doing Okay?"
"Haan Haan tum acha kar rahe ho. Try to learn more... I am happy with your progress"

"Okay." ( I sense his relief)
and then he drops the shell.... "Sir... Le loge na Team me?"

I say nothing for a moment.

"Can I call you later... I am currently on my way home"

The question still hangs in there.... with me and the Princess....

I reach Bhosari. The last phase is of 14kms. From Bhosari to the flat. I dont like this part of the journey.... Heavy Traffic, shabbier road and the Heavy Question which is still unanswered !

Read more...

Half a Dream !!!

...and the alarm goes off. He was only half asleep thru out the night, it was very much similar to the days when he used to go to Rajkot to meet her in an unreserved coach from Mumbai. He couldnt stretch the legs more than a feet. People sitting besides almost falling down on you in sleep. "It is still the same", he thought. It was 5 am. Rahul was fast asleep. He wanted to wake Rahul up, and say bye to him. but then gave up the idea as both of them had come back from office at 1230 the earlier day. "He must be tired."

Most of the luggage was in the saddlebag. He had got the bike serviced two days back. Although, he still felt that the clutch wire might give some trouble. He again checked the list. Bike papers and the RC Book were in the right side of the saddlebag. He hadnt found the torch which, he thought, might be in Rahul's room. He put the geyser on and started brushing. Still thinking about the dream, the dream which once was a reality. It was the same train, same people trying to get more space even in their sleep, and ofcourse the same time, 5am, when she used to call. Her voice was so soft and even softer when she called early mornings trying to speak as low as possible so that nobody knows about it. It was enough to take away the strain off him. And they talked about the things they were supposed to do in whatever time they had to be with eachother.

He came out after taking the shower and looked at the room which was as messy as it could be being his room. The maid had not come for two days. He put a note for Rahul to clean the room whenever the maid comes. He put all the toiletries in the bag and packed it. The torch was in Rahul's room. "Why do you always have to forget the water bottle ?", "So that you can scold me" and he remembered hugging her. He took the water bottle and put in in the side pocket.

It was still dark. He decided to start at 6 am. Still had 15 minutes with him. He checked the toolkit and the other things he had bought when he got the bike serviced. The clutch wire, throttle wire, chain link, the head lamp, everything was in. She was so scared when he had decided to buy the Enfield Thunderbird. It had taken him a month to persuade her. "but... why this bike" she kept asking. "so that I can whisk you away some day... other bikes wont be useful when we are going for a longer distance... " he joked and started exlaining her the technicalities of the bike, the 350cc engine, the disk brakes which he was sure that she wouldnt understand.

He locked the house, came out and mounted the saddlebag on the bike. He had the maps and distance sheet in his pocket. Also made a note of places he would stop. It was a list they both had prepared for their first trip on the bike. The first was the scenic riverside, 180 kms, it was quiet and immensely beautiful site and so different from the crowded city. They had decided to spend the entire morning there on the Dhaba, which was on the banks of the river. Then there was the temple they were to visit. The horsley hills was 250 kms further where they would have stayed. He still remembered the dream they had both had. Just the thought of spending the entire day with eachother without anything else to think about, to worry about, thrilled them both.

He thought about their dream for a second and took the bike off the stand. Gave the choke and started the bike after a couple of tries... and he set off to the dream he had with her... and he set off to half the dream they both had.

Read more...

The Dream - Hyderabad to Bangalore

Prologue : The Trip

As this was our first looooong trip, had to plan in advance for the trip. Also had the list of things to be ready with.
Plan

Oct 7th, 2005 - Friday (Hyderabad to Kurnool : 210 KMs)
7:00 am - Wake up
8:00 am - Reach Rahul's place
8:15 am - Reach Office
12:00 - Leave office
12:45 pm - Reach service station and get the bike. (Which is some 15 kms from my office)
1:15 pm - Meet Rahul at Kondapur T point
2:00 pm - Hit the highway
4:00 pm - First break on road
6:30 pm - Reach at the APTDC's Punnami Resort at Kurnool

Oct 8th, 2005 - Saturday (Kurnool to Bangalore: 370 KMs)
5:00 am - Wake up
6:00 am - Get Ready
6:15 am - Hit the highway
9:15 am - First break ( After 150 kms)
9:45 am - Start again
11:45 am - Second break for lunch ( After 250 kms)
12:15 pm - Start
2:30 pm - Reach Bangalore

We decided to stay in Bangalore on Oct, 9th, 2005 (Sunday). The return plan was similar to this one. We will leave Bangalore on Monday morning at around 10 so that we can reach Kurnool at around 6:30 with the same breaks we had while going. And again will start Tuesday morning at 6:00am from Kurnool to Hyderabad so that we reach office by 11:30.

On my earlier trip to Warangal, I had decided/learnt that one cant go on a longer trip if you have to carry the luggage on your back. So saddlebag was necessary. I just bought a Saddlebag. before leaving for the trip from cramster.

Things to Carry

Personal
Jeans
T shirts (2)
Jacket - MUST
socks (2 pairs)
tracksuit
underwear (2)
hankies (3)
slippers/sandals

Toiletries
hand towel
bath towel
toothbrush
toothpaste
comb
hair oil
cream
soap (small medimix bars if possible)
deo

Food
mineral water bottles (1 for each bike)
cold drink
mint
chocolates/biscuits


Bike/Trip
Electrician Tape
Maps
Clutch Wire
Spark Plug
Bike Papers
Insurance papers
Driving license

Other
Notepad/pen
Torch
Camera
Plastic Bags


Day 1 : 7th Oct, 2005.
Chapter 1 : Hit the highway soon, maan.

I woke up at 7 am (bang on time !!!) and was ready by 7:45. My bike was at the service station so had brought Rahul's bike the day before. After packing and all, started for Rahul's place. Reached there at 8:15 (15 min. late). Took a rickshaw to office and was in office by 9 am. We are working on a tight schedule. Kept working for 3 hours, in between also made calls to the service station.

At 12:00 noon, left office. The service station is more than 15 kms from the office. I had to take a rickshaw, which took some 50 min to reach there. It has started getting hot in Hyderabad and is almost like summer. The temperature was high and infact, I was feeling a bit tired cuz I had woken up early and after than I had nothing for breakfast or lunch and had straight away gone to the service station. We were already behind the schedule by some half an hour. I was getting worried cuz we had to touch the highway by 2 pm. None of us wanted to drive at night. Well, what more can you expect, the bike was not ready, many of the mechanics had not turned up the same day I was going for the damn tour. The owner told me that It would take some 20 min to get the bike ready. I told him to forget it and give me the bike. He advised me against it as I was going for some 1400 kms. I had no choice but to agree with him. It took him 40 min. to get the bike ready. I paid him and bought the additional clutch wire, throttle wire, headlamp, chain part and left for Madhapur where Rahul was waiting for me.

Eventually, reached Madhapur at 1:20. Fixed the saddlebag on my bike, fuelled and started our bikes. We were late, I was hungry. But Still had to cover 210 kms before 6:30. I dont know what kept me going. May be, this was my first long trip, may be I was going to realize my dream, may be something else...

We still hadnt figured out what way was NH07 (National Highway 7) but had a rough idea that it starts somewhere from Mehdipattanam. Kept asking every couple of kms someone about the highway. At Madhapur, we had set our mile-o-meter reading to 0. At exactly 25 we touched the NH07. The highway starts from Attapur. At 3:00 pm we touched the highway. Bangalore is 555 kms and Kurnool 196 kms. We are still 1 hour late. Hope everything goes fine from now...


Chapter 2 : of Rahul's prayers , Rain-gods and the Sun

To our surprise, there is a 6-lane road. The highway looks good. We are driving at 60. Dont want to push the bike for initial 50 odd kms. We pass a couple of villages. We know that we are late by an hour and may have to travel half an hour in the night.

Suddenly, out of the blue, it starts raining. Its not so heavy so we continue to drive slowly at 40 towards kurnool. After 5 min, suddenly there is this storm. It starts raining cats and dogs. Its a storm and havent seen the force at which its raining, often in my life. We were not wet cuz of the rain for the last 10 min cuz both of us had jackets. But the 10 second of storm was enough for both of us to get completely wet. The traffic has come to a complete halt, even the cars are stopping at the road-side dhabas. We take a shelter at a small chay shop. Still some 145 kms are to be covered we have lost some 15 min more. It's around 3:45. For the first time, we really doubt whether we can really go ahead now or shall we postpone the trip. Had it rained half an hour ago. We definitely would have postponed the plans. To our relief, the rains recede and, we start our journey again. It's still drizzling a bit. We are going at the speed of around 50. Adding to our frustration, it again starts pouring... and we are again forced to stop at a Dhaba. The only thing in our mind is that we might have to drive at night. We decide that if at all, it stops raining, we'll drive till 6 and then stop for dinner (remember ??? I have not had my lunch) and then the last 70 kms will have to be driven at night. So we decide that, its better to keep driving after a truck, which is going at the speed not more than 60. One more thing we find discomforting is that after 25 kms, its a 2 lane road. Quite surprising for a national highway, forget about the dividers, It should at least be a 4 lane road.

Rahul prays for a completely reverse weather. Of a bright and sunny day. Its already 4:15 so we laugh at the thought/prayer. The intensity of the showers gets less so we start our journey again. There is a sizeable crowd in the Dhaba due to the rains and I see most of them looking at my bike. They know that we have started for a long ride cuz of the saddlebags laden bike. I feel proud and hope to reach Bangalore. We keep driving at the pace of 60 as its only drizzling by that time. We would only have gone 10 kms far and ... and ... and what do we see ? The skies have opened up and not only that It is bright and sunny. We thank all the gods and step on the accelerator. I am driving at around 80 and Rahul at around 90. The road is empty. We already have lost some 40 min cuz of the rains and have an hour before it starts getting dark. Kurnool is only 125 kms away.

At 6:15, we see the milestone, which shows us that Kurnool is 45 kms away. We have traveled quite a lot and more than that, I am feeling hungry as I only had a couple of biscuits and a dairy milk since y'day night's dinner. We stop by a roadside dhaba and order a Dalfry and Rotis. It has started getting dark. We could have gone some 15 kms ahead before it is night but decide to take rest instead.

We face our first challenge of the trip. At 7:00, Its completely dark and we are yet to cover some 45 kms. We are behind a truck. We find that the truck is driving too slowly so we overtake it and find another truck. Which is going even slower. One more overtake and finally we get our "dream truck", which is going at around 55. After 10 min.s the truck driver decides to increase the speed. We follow the same and are heading towards Kurnool at 75.

At 8:00 pm we finally reach our first milestone of the trip. Find out the Punnami Resort after the usual inquiries to localites. It has been a long day and both of us are quite tired, and thats when you find a hot shower like heaven. I enjoy being in heaven for 10 mins. The good thing about the government run resorts is that they are quite big with lots of open space. You will definitely find them not as clean as compared to the private-run resorts/hotels but still they are okay. We have our dinner and then head towards our room. Rahul is watching TV and I continue with my book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". We are tired has hell but having driven for 5 hours, it is difficult to sleep. Especially when you are in a mode of being utmost careful and always have a thought of a truck coming from the opposite side.

The alarm is set for 5am the next morning and we are finally able to sleep at 11:30.



Day 2 : 8th Oct, 2005.
Chapter 3 : Finally after 590 kms and 12 Hours

Well, both of us knew that it would not be possible to be ready by 6am. We felt that we hardly slept when the alarm started ringing. One more alarm was put in place for 5:30am. and We really slept for this half an hour.
We hit the highway at 7:40 and again are late by 1:30 hours. Bangalore is 370 kms away. If you are going for a long trip on a bike, the best way to cover the distance is to drive for as many hours as possible in the morning. For a single engine bikes like Bullets and CBZs ( I dont think in India, we have many V-twin engine bikes) the distance you should cover at a stretch should be 50 to 150 kms. It is good to stop the bike after 100 odd kms and take a 5 min break. If you go beyond 150 kms, there are chances of breaking down or stretching the engine too much. We decide to take our first break at 150 by which we will need to fuel ourselves as well as the bike. Both the bikes are giving pretty good average of more than 35.
The road is again almost empty, only some odd trucks coming and going. We are driving at a healthy speed of 70. At around 10:30 we take our first break after fuelling the bike. There is a good hotel and we have decided to have our lunch early. Instead of a half an hour break, it takes us 1:30 hours as we are the only customers and they are just not ready for us. It takes one hour and ten min.s for the food to get prepared and 20 mins more for us to get it finished. Its still okay as we still have enough time. If everything goes right we may reach Bangalore at 4:30. Two hours late than the scheduled time.
We'll take our next break when Bangalore is 120 kms away. One more thing to take care is that even if you drive at 80, your average speed will only be 50. There are a number of reasons for that. Firstly, its a two-lane road thru out. The road is also one of the busiest unless you travel in the morning. There are a number of villages you will pass by every 30 kms or so. Anyway, we are going at a good speed. and after a couple of hours of driving, Bangalore is 120 kms we decide to take rest at a Dhaba. We reach the Karnataka - AP border point where there are small Tea stalls. Bangalore is only 104 kms and we have driven the last 120 kms in only 110 mins. which has given us a lot to cheer about. Thru out the trip we have decided not take any risks. We seldom drive above 75. After having a cup of tea, we enter Karnataka.

Its 2:00pm and we are around 75 kms from Bangalore. I had called nimish that we'll be reaching Bangalore at 4:30. Looks as if we'll reach half an hour early. Nimish lives at Bellari Road, which is nearby the NH07. So we have decided to stay there.
We got surprised by seeing the Nandi Hills board 30 kms before Bangalore. Nandi Hills was my reason to start the trip in the first place. One thought of immediately going to Nandi Hills came to my mind. Which is some 22 kms inside so will just cost me 3 hours today instead of 5 hours tomorrow. But I decide to go with Nimish instead and we keep heading towards Bangalore.

At 3:30 we reach at Nimish's place. Only one and a half hours late from the original schedule. Both of us are happy and tired. Both of us have lied to our parents and havent told them that we are going to Bangalore by bike. We would probably go back and then tell them the truth. After 12 hours or driving we are in Bangalore. Call up nimish. He immediately picks me up from the CBI circle. Rahul decides to leave immediately for his friend's place.
I take a hot shower, have supper at 5:30. I am so tired that I can sleep straight away but as it will affect my schedule tomorrow, we decide to go to MG Road and have a couple of drinks in a pub.

After coming back, I go to sleep immediately. Tomorrow, me and nimish will go to Nandi Hills. Till then, adios. !!!


Day 3 : 9th Oct, 2005.
Chapter 4 : The Nandi Hills.

Nandi Hills is some 50 kms from Bangalore. Some 14 months back I had gone there with Jayesh-Purvi, Rankit and Prashant by a car. Its a beautiful place. Back then, I had decided to go there again on my bike. and here I am, on my brand new Thunderbird. While coming to Bangalore I had a look at the road so I knew It would take around 5 hours round trip to visit it.

Had a peg of brandy y'day night and slept at 1. Woke up at 11 had breakfast and got ready. We started at around 1 for Nandi Hills. Bikes condition is still good. Still have a feeling that the clutch wire might break down in the way going back. Nimish asks me to let him drive as I might be feeling tired cuz of 2 days of hard driving. Maan, Can I feel tired ? This is what I have come for... I decide to give him the bike while returning. Reach at around 3 and talk about a lot of things. He has almost settled down and is waiting for the next step of his life. His marriage.... !!!

We come back at 6. Rahul was at his friend's place from y'day. We are going to meet him at the Forum mall. He'll be staying with us and then tomorrow we'll start for Hyderabad. The good thing about Nimish's room is that its only 1 km from the national highway which probably will save us an hour or so.

Meet Rahul at 8.. We have a dinner and reach Nimish's place at 10. The original plan was to reach Kurnool by 6:30 so that we dont have to spend much time in Kurnool. While discussing the plan at night, we change our plan (which would have proved costly). We plan to start by 8 so that if at all we reach Kurnool by 4. We will run the entire distance in one day. If at all, everything goes smoothly...

Good night !!!



Day 4 : 10th Oct, 2005.
Chapter 5 : The dream ends... Back to the real world.

Dont know how can one get up so early when he is traveling. Rahul and me are ready by 7:30 and leave Bangalore.

Rahul is fasting today as its Monday. We buy a couple of mineral water bottles, fruits for Rahul, a couple of canned juices and biscuits. After fuelling Rahul's bike we start for the final and the longest stretch of our journey. We are going to ride for 590 kms (12 hours) today. Have been lying to my dad about the trip. I hope we reach there safely so that can call him up and tell the truth.

The NH07 starting from Bangalore is a very boring road. It's a 6 lane road for the first 25 kms or so. But still is in the phase of being built. You have to keep on changing the lane and drive in only one of the 3 lanes. So effectively, you have to face the vehicles coming from the opposite direction. There are at least 5 railway lines crossing the road where bridges are being built. The first village is Devanhalli. After which again the same story of a 2 lane national highway. It takes around 75 mins to drive the first 50 kms after then the road is fairly okay with less traffic. I accelerate the bike this time. Cross the 90 kmph barrier for the first time. There are many scenic places along with the road. We have decided to stop at the same places we stopped when he came here. The first being the AP-Karnataka border which is 120 kms. At around 9:45 we are at the border. Have a cup of tea. Both the bikes are in a fairly good condition.

We start again after a 15 min break. The next stop is the A1 Plaza hotel, which is 10 kms after Anantapur. This stretch will be of around 130 kms. A1 Plaza is a chain of highway motels run by Reliance Petrolium on NH07. You wont find the other hotels as clean as these ones. and this is what I find a bit strange about Andhra Pradesh. If you are traveling in Gujarat you will find good hotels and Dhabas every 10 kms. Here you may have to travel 100kms sometimes and still there are chances that you end up having food at a mediocre place. We are driving at a good speed and it looks as if we would be able to reach Hyderabad by 7:30 which will make us drive at night only for an hour out of which you can discard 25 kms of city driving and 25 kms of the 6-lane driving which means roughly a 20 kms drive at night. Sounds okay !!!

We reach A1 plaza at 1:15 and order lunch for me. It starts raining. We are not worrying as we already have a contingency plan. If at all we lose a couple of hours, we can stay at the APTDC Punnami Resort at Kurnool. We fuel the bikes and start off... Its raining but not heavily. We slow down a bit and are driving at 50. Well, this was the last pair of jeans I had. I am completely wet. My bum has started paining cuz of the 300 kms drive. We are still to drive for another 5 hours. We will stop at Kurnool and then decide whether to go ahead or to stay there.

After one and a half hours we have crossed Kurnool and are only 200 kms away from Hyderabad. Its 3:45. Our back is aching and so are our butts. We keep on driving for a couple of hours. We need to go as far as possible before 6:30. We take one short break of 5 mins and again start off. Its getting darker. And for the first time we feel that this is much more than what we should be traveling. Ideally you should not travel 400 kms in a day. You can stretch till 500. The last 50 kms have been tough on us and its only our rebellion more than anything which has kept us going. We stop at the Mamaji's Dhaba. Hyderabad is still 50 kms. We havent seen the 6-lane road yet. ( This was our miscalculation.... we end up touching the 6-lane road after 25 kms). The traffic gets heavier at night. As most of the buses which run from Hyd to Bang run at nights. and they are driving very rash. We have continued with our strategy to go behind a truck. Still have a feeling of committed a mistake by our decision to drive the entire stretch at one go. (Rahul's bike skidded when it was raining an hour ago. Thank god, we were passing thru a village and he was driving at a mere 20 when he fell down to save a woman who was crossing the road without looking at it)

at 8:00 we enter Hyderabad. Finally the dream is over.... I just cant feel any part of my body. Am completely tired. Reach home at 8:20. Call dad immediately and tell him about my lie. He doesnt sound too happy but always knew that I would go. I tell him that I will not take any risks from now onwards. Well, will I ?

Both the bikes are okay. My bike needs servicing. Nothing has gone wrong. Apart from the last 75 kms or so the journey was just fabulous. I hope I can travel more... I have read somewhere that people who go on long rides are usually escapists. Be it that way, I want to get tired, and I want to run away as long as the princess allows me... !!!

Long live bulleteers !!! Long live princess !!!


Epilogue

It all started with my dream... My dream of owning a bullet.. having someone with me... and going to Nandi Hills. So what if only half of it came true. So what if it took more than a year to come true. A dream is a dream.

Kabhi Jo Khwab Tha Woh Paa Liya Hai
Magar Jo Kho Gayee Woh Cheez Kya Thi

This was the first trip and will always remain a memorable one. It took me 1357 kms and 28 hours of driving to live my dream. Our planning was really good. We had a very comprehensive list with us. I wish I had a pair of biking gloves. Which I probably will have in the next trip, if at all I am allowed to go. It was really fun to go there with Rahul. We complemented each other very well in driving. It might not sound very important but believe me, it really is. When you are driving on the national highway, you have to be utmost alert. Cuz the vehicles are driving on the same road from both the directions. We kept on driving at a distance of 500 meters to 1 km. and alternatively one of us was ahead. And at all the times we kept on signaling each other of the coming vehicles from the opposite direction.

There were some friends who knew about the trip. I had kept on calling Alka and Soumya every couple of hours. These bike-trips are the other things they are against apart from my growing long hair. Called Jayesh-Purvi, Ketan-Priti, Nikhil-Vishruti who all were worried about me and Rahul.

We are back here... and busy with the office work. Planning for our next trip. Which can not happen before December.

Till then.... happy riding !!!!

Read more...

The princess in the city of the 1000 pillar temple

Well... I had to go somewhere on this 2nd Sep... Initially, the plan was to go to Bangalore... but that is now postponed till 17th of Sep. It has been more than 2 months since I got my T'Bird and still it has not run for a longer distance. Bangalore was not possible for numerous reasons. The bike has not completed the run-in period of 3000 kms, and hence the bike has not opened up, the top speed i had driven up was only 65. Rahul also wants come for the Bangalore trip and he was also not ready to drive till Bangalore as he is short of leaves. and Finally, I was also not feeling 100% as I am also having throat infection. But anyway, I was longing for a trip on my bike. So considering the weather (its monsoon ;-)), the condition of the bike and the risk, Bang-trip was postponed.


So, finally we decided to go on a relatively shorter trip. The first idea is always Nagarjunasagar but as we have already been to NS a month back, It didnt tempt us too much. So Warangal was decided as the spot. Which is some 150 kms from Hyderabad. Again, as can be expected, we ran into troubles because of the route and the weather. Warangal, and particularly the route to Warangal is a naxalite affected area... and is considered to be risky. We almost finalized the trip and on Friday, it started raining heavily. It looked as if the skies wont open up the next day, so till the last moment we were in a dilemma about the trip.

Anyways, I had loads n loads of work on Friday so went home at midnight and was tired as hell... and even forgot that we decided to get up at 5:45 am.

5:37 am: Rahul calls up... He is bloody awake so early. I am fuckin irritated and ofcourse sleepy
5:55 am: We decide to go for Chilkur Balaji, a temple which is 30 kms from Hyd
6:30 am: Now, out of the blue, Prash calls up and the trip is on, not only that we decide to meet up at 7:30
7:00 am: I get up have a quick shower, pack up my bag and am ready to roar at 7:30
7:40 am: I am waiting at the Hyderabad House, Road No. 2... Nobody turns up... Is the trip still on ????
7:45 am: Finally, Prash and Rahul reach there and we start off after fuelling the tank...

First things first... What about the directions.... I had casually asked a fellow biker about the way... and He had told me that the highway starts from Uppal. Uppal is near Tarnaka, where Prash has some of his relatives... So we are heading towards Tarnaka.... We keep on asking the way every 5 min as none of us has gone that way. Finally at 8:15 we hit the highway. One interesting thing I found was that none of the boards were showing Warangal, instead each of the boards were showing Hanamkonda which was enough for us to get more confused. Thank god, we were on the right track. Hanamkonda is the city where the 1000 pillar temple was constructed, Hanamkonda and Warangal are twin-cities.

Unlike Gujarat, if you are travelling in Andhra Pradesh, you wont find good motels or eateries on highways. We were hungry but decided to sacrifice on food as the weather was good and there was every chance that it might rain, we didnt want to take any risk !!! (And in any case, It was tougher on Prashant's part more than any of us )

I am not pushing the bike too hard and am driving on 60-70 as its the maiden trip on my Princess. Me and Prash are on my Princess (thats what I call my beast, quite unusual a name for T'Bird.. .but that is what I'll call her until I come up with a better one ) and Rahul is on his CBZ. Rahul is driving faster than me at around 80 but I continue to drive on 60-70. Its a good idea not to keep the bike on a steady speed for a longer time, I keep on varying the speed. I also learn some lessons the hard way. First one, It is very tough on the driver as well as the pillion if there are two people on the bike. Secondly, It is better to have Saddle bags ( Anyways, I am going for it before the Bang. trip... )

The road is good, the traffic is less. You will find the odd trucks coming your way... and thats it... There are patches of lush green fields alongwith the road. To our surprise, not only the skies have opened up, but even the weather is perfect for driving. Its somewhat cloudy and bright day. We decide to stop after completing 100 kms.

After 60 kms, Prash Asks, "My butts are paining big time, Can we take a break ?"... "Butt Naturally" I reply and we take our first 10 minute break.

We all meet up at Hotel Sudha in Jangaon which is some 100 kms from Uppal. Order by Idlis, Dosas, Cold Drink.... and before leaving, a cup of tea...

The last 50 kms are very cool... with empty roads and lush green fields.... We reach Hanamkonda at 11:45... We havent booked any hotels so start searching for hotels.... Basically, Hanamkonda-Kazipet-Warangal are group of 3 cities. The first one we find out is, APTDC (Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation)'s Punnami Resort... we ignore and go ahead. We are advised to stay in Hotel Ratna which is nearby the Warangal Railway Station. We face the first scare after reaching there. None of the AC rooms are available and the climate there is too hot. We rush to another Hotel, Ashoka.. again all the rooms are booked. We suddenly remember that there was one Punnami Resort. We step on the accelerator and rush to Punnami.... There are rooms available and we get a good AC room costing some 800 for 3 of us.
My back is aching.... and thats when you find the hot water shower like heaven.... We inquire about the places to go and have lunch. There are basically 3 places... The Warangal fort (or whatever is remained of it), The 1000 Pillar temple in Hanamkonda and then there is one more temple.

Again the bikes are ready to roar... and we are again having a hard time inquiring about the fort.... finally we reach there after an hour.... Have a usual photo session. We decide to go to the 1000 pillar temple the next day morning and so there is only one place left... The Kali temple... Rahul goes inside the temple and worshipping his god while Me and Prashant have a talk to our own resp. gods at our home...

We are damn tired... and getting desperate to go to the bed.... Finish off the dinner early.. have a small walk, watch the new show "The Lost" and all of of us are sound asleep...

The Next day...

7:30 Wake up
8:00 Ready for the last place on our list after having a good breakfast
8:50 Touched the doorsteps of the 1000 Pillar temple... the place we came to see
9:30 Check out... and back on the roads
10:00 This time we know quite a few things about the road... so without any break we are back in Hyderabd at 12:45

While coming back I also cross the first speed barrier and see the speedometer at 80kmph. This was the first trip and it went on very smoothly. Thunderbird is really a very good bike after a 350kms trip the condition of my bike is much better than the CBZ even if it had 2 people on it. The best think I found out was that the bike is steady as a rock. The mileage is very good at around 40kmpl.

Well.. There are a few learnings from this trip....
1: Get out of Hyderabad and hit the highway before 6:30
2: Saddle bags. It is a must.
3: Have water bottles and keep drinking the water
4: Always book the hotel before you reach the destination.

Well that was the the first trip... and I am waiting for the second one.. This one would be the real test. From Hyderabad to Bangalore.... !!!

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