6A - Pardeee time at Coorg

29th Sept
Almost couldn't sleep the whole of last night, the excitement was way too much for me to handle. Darn! I didn't feel that excited even the night before we left for Khardung La.. All I could keep thinking, while asleep (is that possible?), was - "Pardee! pardee! pardee!" or "100 bikes, 100 bikes", with the characteristic bullet "thump thump thump" echoing in the background.

The initial insomniac tendency was soon overshadowed by Kumbakarnatites, and I "Snoozed" my alarm (set for 5:30 am) at least five times before I realized I was running late. Off late, I seem to have been bitten by Shenoy's time bug - i.e. my time management skills have stepped into a bottomless abyss, achieving newer depths every passing day. 5 minutes magically stretches to 20, and 20 becomes an hour and so on, so forth... Anyways, I tried to redeem myself by hurriedly getting ready. Did things like never pealing my eyes off the 100m water proof wrist watch while in the shower, reading only one article while on the throne, giving each molar just two quick swipes etc, etc, etc...

At 6:30 I left my hall, hoping to be at town hall by 6:35; cursing Puttanchetti for having donated so much of his wealth to build a structure, where I, of all people, would arrive late; wondering whether the folks would take the NICE road or Mysore road to reach SH-17, if I didn't find them where they would have been 5 minutes earlier. With this mental trauma raging in his orange juice fed brain, his highness ties his gloves to his jacket and sets off at 80kph to town hall.

I was elated to see so many bikers still at town hall. Long live IST. Sim-simply and all I had taken off tension, very much against my "Tension leneka nahi, khali dene ka" motto. After a brief round of hellos, I decided that it was time to zip up. The jacket. Zip up the jacket and glove the hands.

The glove retrieve function was returning error. Nah, some thing wrong with function call I decided. Checked again. Shoot! I was one glove short. I was 110 percent sure I had Velcro-ed both the gloves to the jacket before leaving home. Tooblight! I had dropped one glove on the road. Somewhere. The loss of a glove woke up the dormant miser in me, inspired by recent readings of "The Undercover Economist" and "Blink". One glove wouldn't do anybody any good, unless they had only one arm. That too only the left arm - it was the left glove that had un-Velcroed itself. The finder of my fallen glove would have to
1) be a right arm amputee (good left arm)
2) know a person who was a right arm amputee in need of a glove, or confident of selling to a right arm amputee
3) have a single (matching) right glove,
to be compelled to keep it. Very slim probability, the orange juice fed brain concluded was blitzkrieg speed. Go get it!

So, I went looking for my lost glove. Should I retrace my path all the way home? or should I make educated guesses? Educated guess was the gut feel. Now, should I check after Canara Bank, or after Minerva Circle or after Krumbigal Road, or after RV teachers college? The gut spoke again. More like screamed out loud! "RV teachers college, RV teachers college". So I went with the flow, RV teacher's college it was. And, and, ya, ok you win. I am predictable, I did find that darn glove near Lalbagh. It was on the road, waiting patiently to be reunited with its beloved hand and yada yada yada. Yeh janam janam ka bandhan hai.. Bladdy saved 800 smakaroos, my gut feel and ultra smart thinking. Oops forgot ultra quick.

I headed back towards town hall. Late, but hand firmly in the glove. I reach, only to see that there are only a hand full left. Mahesh a.k.a. "Bra"*, was looking for an elastic a.k.a. bungee chord, to hold his bags firmly in place. I was sure I was carrying a spare bungee, so I momentarily got his hopes up. Only "chur chur ho gaya"...

* RTMC guys have funny nicknames

Nothing spectacular happened till Kamath's, the first regroup point. I took the customary Pee stop after Bidadi. Didn't pee though, just sipped on some Litchi twirl, waved at a few passing bikes, blew kisses at all the girls waving at me and waited for a train to pass me by. Then, chased it till Chennapatna, where it unfortunately stopped.

At Kamath's I met Toothpick, Sai, Lokesh, Manan, Sajan and Jispa. A few rounds of Tottu, Vada, Chai/Coffee and Rava masala dosa later, we left for the 2nd regroup point - the U - a couple of kilometers ahead of Srirangapatna towards Hunsur. And, this is where things picked up on the interesting scale. I tagged along with my new breakfast buddies, and we set, what I thought was, a blistering pace on the busy dual carriageway. Somewhere near Maddur, I spotted a very familiar figure walking away from a bike - it was Conrad a.k.a. Con-Rod and slightly ahead was Sushil Mishra. "Cool! More people from the Bheemeshwari ride!", I thought as I rode on.

After a boring and rather surprisingly quick passage of 2 hours, during which a bus tried to run me over, which culminated in me giving him the biker salute, we reached the next via point - the U-turn Mysore bypass. Here, I was reunited with my dear old friend - the train.



I also met the other guys from the Ealagiri ride (not chronicled) - Biscuit, Bhupinder and Haren. We were one of the last guys to arrive at this spot, and we made a habit of it ;)

From then on the narrow bypass road was full of surprises - a pothole here, a pothole there; a little bit of loose sand strewn on the road; the odd cyclist attempting to emulate Johnny Walker; the bewildered dog; and the paddy spread on the road in the hope that some passing vehicle will de-husk it. The good times unfortunately didn't last long enough, for we were soon on yet another dual carriage way - the new Mysore - Madikeri state highway.

I had at some point separated from the group and was coasting along at 80kph on the sparsely populated road, quite contently. Then, somewhere in the distance, far far behind me I spotted a yellow dot in my rear view mirror. We ride with the head lights on, so that we can differentiate who is riding with us and who isn't. So, I figured it was some body just chilling on the road like me, so I throttled up and found a new rhythm at 90kph. The single yellow dot became bigger, and two more appeared. A giant sun and two planets. Then I heard them. Yoops! I was about to be overtaken. Its fun riding in a group, so I decided to keep pace with these folks and maxed the throttle. My thunderbird reached its vibrating crescendo at 110 kph and insisted that I just wouldn't go any faster. Fair enough, because I wasn't lagging behind this time ;)

The vibrating reverie didn't last long. Mechanical limitations of our bikes hooted it. Literally. Jispa's horn detached itself and did a few cartwheels on the road. That is, till I ran over it! hehehe... I slowed down to inspect any possible damages, luckily nothing much had occurred. What am I talking! Nothing had happened. So I started back again, and sighted them ahead halting for a pee + sutta break. I slowed down to appraise Jispa of his missing hooter :P, he was in the know and also in the process of disposing his rear crash guard which was threatening to unfasten itself any moment. So much for the "continuous high speed" that RE insists we will enjoy with our bikes. hehehe... Quite a few bikes passed us, plenty of TN bikes - Mad Bulls passed us by. These guys ride hard, real hard...

After the slight elevation, at the base of which we stopped was the third via point. So again, we were one of the last fellas to arrive :D

And the estori will continue I say... break ke baad...

6A - Pardeee time at Coorg

Back to the Koorgee!! PardeeMC's 6A meet

The discerning reader will remember that Paapi Yak, Howda Tatti, Super Fast Charger and Shaart Cirkit had painted the southern tip of Coorg yellow (the color of you know what) around the same time last year, on their yet to be chronicled, super duper ass numbing ride through Coorg and Kerala.

This time one of the four... a.k.a. me (no.. no... don't do that enky pinky ponky to figure what i call myself) is heading back to Coorg!! Woohoo... ain't I lucky? Sadly, neither of my other three comrades are joining me, rather willingly not joining perhaps... muhuhaha. evil weevil ;)

But, what the heck. This will be my first big ride with the RTMC guys... Yipee! The well informed will know that RTMC, also known as PardeeeMC thanks to their superior party arranging abilities and even more extraordinary partying skills, is having its sixth anniversary (6A) celebrations at a classified top secret location in Coorg this weekend.

To indulge in the aforementioned kickass festivities we are all heading out to Coorg very very early tomorrow morning.... err 6:30 am to be precise... looking forward to a pleasant ride and a rocking pardee!!! In the pardeeMC parlance - Caman the pardee, caman the enjaiment!

Back to the Koorgee!! PardeeMC's 6A meet

Snaps from Leh on picasa....

The Leh snaps..

Snaps from Leh on picasa....

Leh 2007 - part II - Of leaking vents and a bored freshie...

Day 2 - 13th July 2007 (Friday the thirteenth)

Nothing much to report about this day... we sat in the train, and sat in the train, and sat in the train - while Googie was in Bangalore, enjoying I guess. Lemme get my hands around his neck...

Paddy had sent an SMS the previous day - "Dude if u r awake at 5 am and ther is range gimme a call". Paddy had to catch the Rajdhani from Mangalore at 6 am, so I assumed that was supposed to be reminder of sorts. Being a man down already, I took this task seriously (like everything else hehe) and set a alarm for 5 am. So, I woke up at 5 am. But, no range! I just prayed that Paddy would be up and at the station... A little later, I did get range and called up Paddy, who confirmed that he was indeed up and about and on the way to the railway station.

At 6.07 am, I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I read another of Paddy status update SMS's - "Gulz the trains the boards! Clap clap! Kini nahi hu main!"

So, the next questionable characters were Kinimaam and V-the-M-the-K, lovingly called - Pyscho or weew-a-a-ake (depending on Ojha's frame of mind)

Rajdhani trains, have a habit of waking up people at 6 am to feed them some butt ugly tea and so, the entire compartment was up and running to the loo. Early early in the morning 60 odd people vying for 4 loos, hehehe..... This was one time, when I wondered how long Kookee would have lasted. Anyways, Paddy's alarm was good enough pressure for me, so I used the fabled Rajdhani loos. Luckily for me there was toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper on an Indian railways train! So, I did not have to worry about the mug not reaching the right place and you know... hehe...

That done, and waiting for breakfast while approaching the Hussian Sagar Lake, I got talking to the other "youngster" in our compartment. Shamboo was traveling to Delhi after attending his counseling at Manipal. Small world.

In the mean while Googie, after some amount of detective work, sent out an SMS - "Clap clap! Clap clap! Ojha's cell got stolen. Contact him through .... or at his home number ....". Things got more interesting huh...

We spent most of the day, boring the daylights out of the freshie from our Alma matter. We were doling out advice by the bucket loads, something I am sure he had enough and more of.
During the afternoon, we noticed a huge Indian Ocean near the toilet. Yes boys, we had named this one the Indian Ocean, days before we encountered them again :D... Apparently the AC of our bogie had developed a leak, and there was nothing the on board maintainence crew could do about it, so much for the Rajdhani tag. The train was so freaking rotten, I have not seen a more dilapidated and F-ed up train than this one.

Anyways after lunch, comprised of rubber rotis and uncooked paneer, we tried visiting la la land. But, our assault on the unsuspecting freshie was relentless... hehe...

Some time around 2.30 pm we received a message from Googie - "Oj's addr - .... Kalkaji he said he'll be coming to pick you yo at the stn". Reassuring. Ojha had left Bangalore in one piece and was in New Delhi, again in one piece... "Phew! The trip is still on", I thought to myself.

By evening, I think even Paddy was bored of the Rajdhani. We got a message from him - "Inside maharashtra, ratnagiri, jai konkan rly ! But rajdhani is sad , tea also we ve to only make !". The never ending train journey was getting on my nerves as was the infinite loop conversations making the rounds in the compartment. Then I guess, the loneliness of the journey got to Paddy. I got a concerned SMS from him - "Sus , oj in dilli or blore ? Did u speak to him ? Is he pickin u guys ?" After answering all his queries, we readied our selves for the gastronomical delight called dinner that is served by the great IRCTC, in Agri Gold sponsored trays on board the Rajdhani express.

Dinner, or whatever it is called, commences when a waiter in red uniform brings you a Styrofoam cup fillied with red liquid - soup. If you notice something spongy floating in the liquid, then you know you do not need to wait for the bread sticks and butter to arrive. After the soup, comes the main course - one sabji, invariably with Panner as an ingredient; one container of dal, which is half cooked; two rubbery roties; some dirty sliced vegetables pass off as salad; and some very very hard rice; and a bowl of very sour curd. All placed on a tray, that won't sit on you lap even if you join you legs at the knees. So, of course, things tend to jump about and fall on the floor, where it dilutes in the vast Indian Ocean... Anways, after a day and a half in this environment, I was an expert at eating, so this dinner was quite uneventful, except that I didn't get my spoons.

The first time I noticed I was without a spoon, I called out to our food guy... "Bhaiya... spoon dena"
"Ji... deta hun", he cried out from the other end of the bogie.
After what seemed like an eternity he returned with a bottle of water, "Saab aapne paani manga tha..."
I corrected him, "Tch tch... spoon boss spoon... chamach, vaise paani bhi de do.. lagega.:
"Acha ji.. abhi le aatha hun..."
Again, he disappeared for another eternity. When he did return, he had a packet of rubbry roties. "Yeh lejiye... do roti", he said thriumpantly.
As much as I hate to dampn peoples spirits, I had to remind my self that I had some rice to eat, so I gently broke the news to the waiter - I had asked for a chamach and not roties. The dejected waiter dejectedly agreed to bring me a spoon.
When I did get the spoon, the guy sheepishly said, "Ji, khatam ho gaye thae. Aap ke liye naya wala laya hun..."
True to his word, it look all new - with sticker and everything. Of course by this time, I was in no mood to eat any rice or curd or dal, but to stick to the code I accepted the spoon and took a courteous dig at the rice plate. The significance of the gesture was not lost on the waiter, who promptly asked, "Saab.... chai paani".
"Nahi nahi... abhi nahi chahiye".
"Nahi saab... khane ka chai paani".
"Han han.... vohi.. nahi chahiye".
"Jo maan mei aaye, de dijye saab", he said. And thats when it sank in my thick skull, the dude wanted tips!
"Kal subhe aa jao...", I said.
"Nahi saab, hum log abhi collect kar lethe hain..."
"Teek hai", I said (grumbling internally, why the F should I tip this lousy waiter...) and gave him 10 rupees.

We did some math, if these fellows made 3 trips in a week, then in a month, they'd make 12 trips a month. If in each trip he colleceted an average of 5 rupees from 60 passengers (in one bogie), then he'd make 3600 rupees per month over and above his salary from the railways...

Shortly later, at 10 pm, we were in Bhopal, and I calld up my parents to let them know that I could have been home, if they hadn't moved... hehe...

I decided to stay up a bit, and charge the cell phone... yes they have an outlet near the sink where only one phone may be charged at a time, that too trickle charged. So charging cell phones was like the Indian govt's 5 year plan... at around two am, I received two messages. The first from Paddy - "Kini vmk boarded"; the second from Kini - "We guys on de train..... sooparaashile"

"Cool... six birdies in the hand one to go", I thought and as curled as much as I could on the middle berth and drifted off to sleep all excited about the adventure we were about to embark upon. Paddy words - "Jai Khardung La!" was echoing in the sleepy brain....

Leh 2007 - part II - Of leaking vents and a bored freshie...

Leh 2007 - Part I - Of missed trains

Day 1 - 12th July 2007

"The big day is here. I am going to go away for three, maybe four weeks!", I thought gleefully, "But first, get all the packing done, buy a camera bag for the handycam, get some money out for the trip, and...."

Anyways, all the small forest fires were put out rather smoothly and my bags were packed - one huge bag to hold the saddle bag, the riding jacket and my clothes and a smaller bag to hold the helmet. I was all set to go.

At around 4 in the afternoon I called up Googie, and reminded him that the train would leave from the Bangalore Main Railway station at 8.20 in the night. He said, "Cool, no problem. That is near Majestic, isn't it?"
"Ooops", I thought and said, "Yeah. yeah. Thats the one."
"But, where do we meet dude?"
"Why don't you come over to my place by around 6 - 6.30, and we can leave for the station by 7.15?"
"Hey, thats a good idea. I'll do that", Googie said.

One in the basket, one more to go. In the mean while, I get a call from Vatsa -
"Namaskara! finished packing?", he asked.
"Yeah dude. All done. Thanks for that Camera Point tip, I got the bag after a little bit of bargaining for 600."
"Cool... that is that original price anyway!"
"So, you done with your packing?", I asked, changing the topic.
"No, not yet, I'll go home and then do it. Are you taking a big bag?"
"Yes, I am taking a big bag."
"Do you have space for a big helmet?"
"Nah dude, no space of another helmet..."
"Hmm ok... so what time is the train?"
"The train leaves at 8.20 pm, but be there at the station by 7.45"
"Ok, which platfrom?"
"The Rajdhani leaves from platform number 8, so you can enter from the old entrance".
"Ok, see you at the station then", and he rang off.

Both birdies in the basket, Papa Bear was a relieved man. Not for long. It was 6 pm and there was no sign of Googie, so I called him up.
"Dude, where are you?"
"Man I am still at home, I still have to clean up."
"What? Clean up? what it iz?"
"You won't understand dude... I really really have to clean up this place before leaving. It won't look good otherwise", he whined. Yeah Googie really really whined.
"Ok, so whats the plan?"
"I'll meet you at the station directly", he said.
"Hmm.. fine... but remember, the train leaves at 8.20 from platfrom number 8, so plan to be at the station by 7.45".
"Ok dude, it is near majestic right?"
"Yes yes... it is the station near majestic", I confirmed.
"Ok dude, I'll see you there."

Papa Bear, feels a little uncomfortable, but dismisses it as mere speculation.
I just left home, and I get a call from Paddax - "Namaskara! Hortra saar?" "Hello, did you leave?"
"Yes boss! just left", I said.
"So, you have taken everything right?", he queried.
"Yes, yes, everything is all packed in the bags!!!"
"Drivers License, Identity card etc....?"
"Yes, yes... everything... I have my company id card... I hope that is ok.."
"No voters ID or something..."
"No yaar... why take all that chuma?"
"RighRight.. So I am leaving for Mangalore now, I have some shopping to do there and then I'll catch the train next morning... "
"Yeggzalento...!!"
"See you in Delhi then... Jai Khardung La!", he said and rang off.

I reached the station as per my plan i.e. by 7.45 and dragged my 25 kg luggage for almost a kilometer on platfrom 8 to find my elusive bogie - AS5. I found an old couple sitting in our compartment. "This is going to be fun", I thought and stuffed my bags under the lower berth. One birdy in the hand, two more to go!

I called up Vathsa - no response. Then I called up Googie - "Dude where are you?" I asked.
"On my way dude, on my way. How much time do you think it will take to get from Lifestyle to the railway station?"
"In this traffic... hmmm around three quarters of a hour... why?"
"I am just outside Lifestyle... I don't think i can make it...."
"Haha... just pray Kookeeee", I chuckled.

Then Vathsa called up, "Hey where are you?"
"I am at the station, where are you?", I asked.
"Almost there man.. sure, we don't have to go to the new entrance right?"
"Yes boss... platform number 8."
"Ok, I'll be there"

By 8.10 Vatsha was at the station, closely follwed by his friends and Rommies, who had come to see him off. Was to make sure that he really really did board the train to New Delhi? hehe... only Vathsa knows :D

There was no sign of Googie still, and we received a message from him, "Dude delay the train somehow... I'm sure I'm not making it. But the trip is definitely on.I'll catch a flight and come".
So we called him up again - "Dude! Where are you?"
"Man I don't think I can make it... We are stuck.. the traffic isn't moving an inch...", he whined. Yes, yes... our Googie actually whined.
"Dude, just try maadi... maybe you'll make it in time..."
"Hey dude... try talking to the TC, he may stop the train..."
"Hehe... magga I'll tell him, he can expect a reward from Googie if he delays the train... hehe", I chuckled.
"Man, pull the chain! Do something dude... ", he said desperately.
"Relax dude, try to make to the station." I tried to smoothen he frayed nerves.
"Ok dude", he sighed and cut the call.

It was 8.12 and there was no hope, so I told Vathsa... "Looks like its going to be just you and me on this train to Delhi".

At exactly 8.20 the train began to roll from the platfrom, and no sign of Googie. Yet. The bogie had just rolled out of sight from the platfrom, when I got an sms from him- "Has it left yet?"

So I called him again - "We just left... where are you?"
"I am just outside the station... did it leave?"
"Ya dude, it just left..."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes... it really really left..."
"Can't you pull the chain?"
"Nah... that I can't do... you are good fella... but I won't go to jail for you...". Poor Googie... I felt for him. But really, when you have friends like me, who needs enemies... :D
"Ok dude... I'll ask the auto walla to go to take me home...... man he is laughing at me dude!!!"
"Sigh... what it is to be done dude... what it is to be done..."
"Can you cancel my tickets with the TC??"
"Yes dude... you don't worry about that... we'll take care of that.. Tension nahi leneka..."

I was pretty peeved, it was for Googie's sake that we had booked train tickets. So that, in case of a cancellation we would get full refund. And now the moron was flying, while I would be cooking in a train... tchk tchk... tchk tchk... and would be like James Bond's drink when I get off at Delhi - shaken, but not stirred. Hehe... Pretty pretty peeved.

Equally strange, was that Ojha was not answering his phone. There were a million questions in our minds - "Did he leave Bangalore?"; "Did he get leave?"; "What about the bikes?"; "What will we do once we reach Nizzamuddin station early on Saturday morning?"

That pretty much sums up the first day of our, as the Ancient Chinese would put it - interesting trip. Full of action, suspense and drama.

Leh 2007 - Part I - Of missed trains

Skull caps / Balaclava

Another on the list of essentials for a biker... again, something I've been trying to lay my hands on from a very long time, but was too lazy to go search :)

The Skull cap, is something that you wear over your head, before putting on a helmet. Think of a monkey cap.... right... the exact same thing, but in cotton. Balaclava is the term....

The plus points of this underestimated fella are

1. It absorbs all the perspiration, keeping the helmet a little cleaner
2. The back of the neck, which is exposed in most helmets gets covered, so no more nasty sun burns there ;)
3. If you are riding in the cold, it keeps the face a little bit warm

As usual, they are available in a few shops on Lalbagh Rd. Click here to see the location on google maps.

Skull caps / Balaclava

Bungee cords in Bangalore

So, I had been looking all over the world for bungee cords... I confess, my search was quite myopic :-(

All I had to do, was search on Lalbagh road. The first shop I got into, had these cords. How convinent! My goldfish memory has ensured that I have forgotten the name within 2 hours of visiting the shop, so the only useful information is

a) The shop is opposite Urvashi... Look at the google maps link.
b) It sells for Rs 50. Haggle a bit and it will magically come down to Rs 30. I didn't haggle much, so I paid Rs 160 for four chords
c) They are available as in mesh, single or double cord variety.
d) The shop keeper will not understand bungee, he'll use the word "elastic" ;)

Happy shoppin..

Bungee cords in Bangalore

Bheemeshwari - My 1st RTMC announce ride

Bheemeshwari is a sweet little place nestled in the hills bordering Cauvery, or what ever is left of her, as she meanders downstream from Shivanasamudra. There are quite a few trekking trails to explore, if one has the inclination. I am quite certain, camping is possible here, given the proximity to water and blah blah. Alternately, one could book with the Jungle Lodges. Catch the Masheer, or get snapped at by a Maggar. Not that we did either, but we could have, but we didn't... get the drift? ;) Anyways...

Route - Bangalore - Kanakpura (NH 202) - Sathnur - Muthathi - Bheemeshwari
Distance : <100 kms
Road Quality Index : 6 on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the Mumbai-Pune express way and 1 being the Shiradi Ghats - Sakleshpur to Uppinaangadi


View Larger Map

Vatsa and I were planning a short ride before the Leh trip. At around the same time I received a mail from the RTMC announce list about their ride to Bheemeshwari. In the few years that I have been doing my trips, I have never been on one with a club. So, I did the 1 + 1 = 3 calculation and we joined the RTMC folks. First time with these folks, and hopefully not going to be the last :)

Although, bumpy and windy, the route is quite scenic. Water tanks abut the road at many sections. Where there are no tanks, the road is lined with Gulmohar tree. They were in bloom! The red petals were strewn alongside all along. As if nature had rolled out a red carpet welcome to all those who cared to travel. A very Royal treatment indeed for the RTMC riders! There is something with red that makes me... hmm... well... feel good... must be the red carpet... hahaha...

Then, there were the assortment of fauna that crossed our paths. Swooping kites, rummaging dumping grounds near Kanakpura. Green parrots darting from one Gulmohar to another. Mongoose scampering across the road. Confused looking jungle quail scurrying into the sanctuary of thick bushes. Herds of cattle and sheep. We actually drove through at least three different herds of Hallikar Cows. Imagine floating amongst a sea of horns - each 2 feet long, and quite capable of disemboweling you with a quick flick. Hehehe...





The forest department, or whoever, has done a neat job by erecting watch towers - which incidentally, are not accessible to the general public. We were trespassing. We weren't aware of this transgression until a few weeks later, where one from the group was chased away by forest guards.

To reach the watch tower we had to do some off-road riding :) It is actually quite a (short) trek from the main road. Once up in the watch tower, we could see the rains lashing Shivanasamudra, upstream. A constant reminder of the wretched ride back from Badravathi. That apart, the watch tower provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding hillocks - which anyways isn't much of a deviation from the purpose for which it was built!

After a round of intros etc etc... we headed back to Kanakpura for lunch... then to good ol Bengaluru...



At 198 kms, this has to be the shortest weekend trip ever. Nobody was complaining though, except for the pillion riders... lolz... The Thunderbird pillion seat is just not designed to carry an adult body!

Bheemeshwari - My 1st RTMC announce ride

Time out!

For the past few months, I have been meaning to update my blog, about the trip to ooty and the one to coorg/wynad... Too darn lazy... too darn busy... take your pick...

Yennyways... I had been to this bike show last weekend... and didn't take my camera! How daft. How typical. Took a few shots with the cell phone camera. Have to download it and then... blah blah...

I felt sorry for myself and all others who ride toys... saw an ancient 1950 Triumph. Had the exact same engine as our Enfield! I must ride one of these Harley Davidsons before coming back...

Time out!

Whimsical bunch of fools (Work in progress.... )

Bangalore - Balmuri - Nagarhole - Gonikoppal - Irupu - Kalpetta - Banasura Dam - Edakkal - Sultan Bathery - Muthanga - Gundulpet - Chamrajnagar - B.R. Hills - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Bangalore

Distance: 847 kms

Duration : 4 days and 3 nights

Bikes
One Royal Enfield Thunderbird
One Bajaj Discover

How To? and the what to...
If you take a map and plot our progress you'll notice that we have moved in a lollipop like fashion. Such a plan is actually quite fun, there is no onward leg and there is no return leg, well almost. The only part where we felt this onward and return leg fatigue was on the Bangalore - Mysore state highway.

Balmuri - Just after Srirangapatinam (if you are heading towards Mysore) take a right turn, towards KRS. This turn is almost 20 kms before the Mysore outer ring road. On this road at the Belagola village take another right turn and 3 kms on you will be at Balmuri.

Balmuri is 7 kms downstream from the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam( built by the legendary Sir M. Vishveshwariyah). It is the perfect location to relax, swim or take a boat ride for a few hours, especially in the mornings, when the place isn't crowded. The place doesn't start seeing the usual tourist action till 11:30 am. There are plenty of places to eat, which open only at noon.

Nagarhole - At Hunsur (on the way to Madikiri from Mysore) you'll need to take the road towards H.D. Kote. Nagarhole, 50 kms from Hunsur, is a beautiful national park infested with rouge elephants and man eating tigers, or so the forest guard claimed when he turned us back from the national park gates. Sadly this mistake cost us 100 kms and 3 hours of riding time and set the mood for a melancholy trip. No bikes are allowed!

Gonikoppal - Nothing much to see around this place, a good place to take a break for lunch though.

Irupu - Around 27 kms from Gonikoppal, Irupu is an idyllic village nestled between scenic coffee estates. It is the perfect weekend getaway from Bangalore. There are plenty coffee estates offering "home stay" facility. The Laskhmantheerta waterfall is a must see. So is the trekking trail to the nearby peak.

Kalpetta - Is the popular tourist hub in Waynad district. It is centrally located, with respect to the tourist spots. All types of accomodation is avialable, right form the 5 star resorts to dingy lodges. Waynad has "shitloads" of places to be seen, including
* Banasura Sagar Dam - Great views. Absolutely no sound. Perfect to meditate. Built with stones.
* Edakkal Caves - Imagine an enormous boulder wedged between two other equally enormous boulders. Now imagine 3000 year old paintings and carvings. One the result of an earthquake almost 30000 years ago and the other thanks to a bright caveman. The trek is next to treacherous, especially if you want to summit the peak. Not suited for children below 10 nor old people. You can see the entire Waynad district from the top of this peak, well almost!!
*Muthanga wild life santuary - If you seen one, you've seen them all... haha... not here. Worth a visit, in the season during the early mornings and late afternoon/early evening times.
*Pookode Lake - Boating etc etc. Ideal for kids.
*Chembra Peak - At 2100m above mean sea level, it is the highest peak in Waynad.

Sulthan Batheri - An alternative to staying at Kalpetta. Plenty of places to stay and a tad bit cheaper than Kalpetta. We'd recomend the food at Hotel Regency.

B.R. Hills - Another national park in the Chamrajnagar district of Karntaka. It is 90kms from Mysore. The ideal time to reach here is either early in the morning (after 0600) or in the evening (1700) the park closes to vehicular traffic at 1800 hrs and there is no place to stay once to reach the top, unless you have a prior booking with Jungle Lodges. Most of the wildlife make themselves visible only late in the evening, so it is adviseable to stay at Jungle lodges for a night. The roads are in a pathetic state, though.

What about us?
I shall, try to, chronicle the trip from the night of 19th to the night of 23rd with as much impartiality as is humanly possible.


Proluge
"Lets go some where guys", said Yak.
"Ya man. Lets go some where", chimed in Tatti.
"Hmm... How about Coorg during Diwali ?", Shart Circuit asked.

The humdrum of life in Bangalore had evidently taken its toll. As most techies do, we sought relief in an escape to the "country side". Only that, nobody usually escaped during Diwali, that too with friends. Diwali, like all other Indian festivals, is meant to be celebrated with family. So what, if you have been doing just that for your entire life.

"Chal, Ultra Fast Charger ko phone lagathe hain. Vaise bhi, I have to talk to him about his bike", said Yak as soon as the last syllables had slipped from my mouth.

Ultra Fast Charger is our friend from Mumbai, the heart and soul of all mirth and entertainment and a master of BS. His famous RX100 was rotting away in Bangalore, waiting to be sold at a pittance to the local thug of a mechanic. Yak was in charge of the bike till it met its sad demise. Yak, we must say, had very cleverly parked the bike at his acquaintance's home. So, that it wouldn't be a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Sitting on the steps of Shart Circuits'* home on a cool September evening Short Circuit, Houdaaaa Tatti and Paapi Yak called up Ultra Fast Charger on his fishy network. The fishy network (which, if you are not aware really stinks) - keeps sending the signals out to the Ratnakar Sea# instead to sending them inland. Yet Paapi Yak persisted, believing in the inherent goodness of his Kutta network.

After a while, an exasperated Yak muttered, "Kya yaar, iska number lagtha hi nahi hai!". Something very fishy, we all concurred. Again.

On the twentieth try, yes that is how much we all value Ultra Fast Chargermaam, we caught hold of the man. "Encha ollare", greeted Yak.

Yak proceeded to ask Charger, "Apun log Coorg jarela hai... Atta kya tu??" (Us dawgeies Coorg going be... Coming what you?) Charger was looking for this opportunity from a long time, the big bad city lacking in decent charging points and his own charge having been depleted by overexposure to a certain sections of society, lost no milliseconds to confirm his participation in the vile act be being away from home during Deepawali.

As a rule of thumb, it doesn't take much to convince any of us, to partake in hair brained schemes. Especially, if it is hatched at the drop of a hat. Accordingly, it didn't take much convincing. Ultra Fast Charger was ready to get onto the next plane to Bangalore. We had to remind him that Diwali was a few weeks away!

The details of the plan were sketchy at best at that instant, but Ultra Fast Charger had a very important question for me, "Abbe, hamare gaand ki suraksha ke bare mei sooch!" - Please, do think of a way to save our butts.

The roots of a statement as controversial, can be traced back to the earlier, similarly hair brained trip to Gopalswamy Betta in March. My bike's shocks had softened to a point, where riding pillion would propel the stocks of Amrutanjan and Iodex to the circuit breaker limit. The riders of that trip carried numb butts for a week. In that context, Ultra Fast Charger raised a very pertinent and emotional point.

I attempted to allay his fears, "Tension nako leneka re bhidu. Naya Gas shocks install kiyela hai apun. Ek dam rap chik ho gayela hai apun ka bird. Gaand ko malayee pe bhitaya hai, aisa lagtha hai" - Don't take too much tension dude. I have installed new Gas filled shock absorbers. You'll feel as if you are sliding on whipped cream.

"Bhagwan thera lakh lakh shukr kare, re baba" - God will bless you a million times over, dude.

We were four of us and just one butt-killer bike. Tatti, was all charged up that we weren't even considering his bike - a Bajaj Discoverer. "I did 100 kmph on the Mysore road man", he claimed. Knowing Tatti, there was no point arguing. Plus, the other alternative was Yak's TVS - Centra. Not much of a choice, so the Discoverer it was.

So, I revealed to Ultra Fast Charger, "The other bike will be Tatti's".

Over the next few days, Yak did some research on Coorg. Well, he researched a lot more than some! On a lot more than just Coorg. Yak claimed to have a friend in the hills. So, we would apparently have some "inside" help. How nice. The Coorg - RX100 link was finally making sense.

Day One Assemble at Short Circuit's home

Day Two Balmuri and Dinner

Day Three Rain rain go away

Day Four Banasura and Edakkal

Day Five B.R. Hils and back home

Epilouge
I was sitting on a plane the next day to New Delhi, thinking of past five days, wondering why we tortured ourselves by embarking on a bone shattering, arse numbing ride. I was quite sure the rest of the gang were thinking the same. I was also quite sure that we'd all agree that it had been worth it. No Pain No Gain!


This is how we make a whirlpool.... hehehe...


At Edakkal --->
Kini, Googs(back), Me and Kates after the trek
*Names changed so that only the four characters know whats going on... hehehe...
#Hahaha... Thanks HP for letting me on this secret!

Whimsical bunch of fools (Work in progress.... )

And it rained... really? where?

As promised, here is the installment of words and pictures which will describe how four nuts set out to reach Yercaud and only three reached Ottacamund...

Paddy, as I have mentioned earlier, was the instigator of this ride. We were scheduled to get four days of holidays on account of Independence day and a days CL on Monday. As the marked day to depart crept on us, Ketva (K)realized that his bike papers were not in order. Surprisingly, he did not vacilate on the idea of a trip! Paddy though had become non-committal for the past few days. That left five people and two bikes. In the meanwhile Dinga, after being appraised of the monsoonal plans opted out, which suited us fine (Hopefully Dinga never gets to read this!). The location though, was not certain.

As luck would have it, Gurubhai, from the Cyanide factory up north, was visiting the nether regions. Googendra was back in town after his tryst with the Himalayan Yaks and Yetis. Sufficient enough to call for a party, which sadly never happened, unless you call dinner at Nagarjuna followed by ice cream at Corner house a party. Nevertheless the entire gang met up for the first time since we departed from the hallowed portals of Manipal and that was more important. That it also served as a venue to recruit more bakras for the trip is a different story! While Googendra regaled us with his stories which involved a Yak, a Kraut, and a rickety Jeep, the food was served. Paddy, unfortunately had had an accident (minor) earlier in the evening, so he ruled himself out. And no one else displayed enthusiasm in getting sore butts, leaving only four people and two bikes on a trip to where? God knows!

Over ice cream, we debated about the sanity of even going on a ride given the weather forecasts. It was settled that we would proceed only so far as there was no rains. The minute we encounter a sheet or rain, that shows no signs of subsiding, we'd turn back. (Hello! Doesn't matter if we turn back, we'd still be stuck in rain) Our convoluted logic is evidence enough of the mental torture a "conventional" IT job puts us through! We were that desperate to get out of Bangalore and smell the unpolluted air of the countryside.

Nowhere near the destination are we? I told ya so! I wanted to go to Ooty, but I had promised the guys Yercaud. Baburao opined that there was pretty much nothing to do there. "You wont like it. I bet!", he exclaimed. Then Oodies, my ex-roomie, volunteered, "The roads suck big time man". We were now really not sure. Then he gives us the missing piece in the jig-saw puzzle, "But that was when RG died". Which led to another heated debate, about the exact date and time of Mr. Banana-man's assassination. God bless his soul. All said and done, we decided to stick to Yercaud. The rendezvous point was decided upon as Airport road, outside Leela and we went our ways back home. I took a slightly longer route though, having a long chat with Gurubhai and riding on Bannerghata road for the first time in my life! Got back home, packed the saddle bags and then hit the sack.

I am little hazy about what happened in the early hours of Saturday, it certainly comprised of a visit to the local petrol pump (only Shell will do for his highness), a partial breakfast at home (courtesy Grandma) and being present at the Leela Palace with Kates as the pillion a good hour later than decided. Vatsa, poor bloke, was already there. And after the initial "Hey macha. Haven't seen you since college" moments we set out to pick up VSK from his abode near Kids Kemp. That done a few minutes later, we tackled the first problem of the day. Breakfast. Where do we halt to breakfast? Kates, as usual, knew the perfect place. It was off the outer ring road, near Googendra's ex-home. Some where en-route, it started drizzling. I kept thinking, "This isn't good. No. Certainly not good". I sensed a similar unease wafting the in air, at the breakfast table. Someone, don't know who, suggested, "Why not Ooty?", I could have danced all night, I could have danced. Danced all night... Well you get the picture, I was elated and seconded the idea without hesitation. Then came the inevitable, choosing the correct route and reorienting ourselves for a trip to the misty Nilgiris. The easiest route, we determined, was via Mysore and Nanjangud. Thus we set out, to Ootacamund at the proverbial drop of a hat riding an extra 40 kms in bad Bangalore traffic.

The best part of leaving a busy bustling city teeming with traffic, is that you never realize where the city ends and where the countryside begins. In our case, this phenomenon was accentuated by not taking the more nondescript national highway and taking the more modern state highway to Mysore. The state highway is the state government's gambit to undermine the work undertaken by the NICE group. Whether the move pays off politically or not, only time will tell but the commuters benefit immensely. I will not digress into a political discourse on the merits of government-industry competition, but surely we the citizens have a lot to gain, provided the competition is healthy. There isn't much that I can add about the charming stretch of tarmac that lies between Kengeri near Bangalore and the Mysore outer ring road. The only updates I can provide is that the roads have been redone in the towns of Chennapatana and Ramnagaram, which had borne the brunt of last year's treacherous rainfall. The road is more or less complete, baring a few diversions near a couple of bridges. The bridge on the river Cauvery to the east of Srirangapatinam has been thrown open to traffic towards Bangalore. The old bridge still services the traffic towards Mysore and should suffice for some time to come.

As usual we halted at two places, whenever Kates and I travel this road, we invariably take a halt at these two spots! One near a desolate stretch adjacent to the railway track a little outside of Ramnagaram. This is the first stop, while our butts get accustomed to the uncomfortable seats of the Thunderbird. If is a good point and we left our biological marks by the railway track. After a little readjustment to the distribution of luggage, we set off onwards towards Mysore. This was Vatsa's first time on a long ride on his Thunderbird, so we kept a more manageable speed or 80kpmh. It was quite tempting to let the throttle go where it loves to go, but economy and sense prevailed. 80, I believe is a good speed for any vehicle on our roads. The rider is more at peace at this pace, our bikes are stable and muted thump of the Thunderbird is music to the ears.

Someplace before Mandya our reverie was broken by a red scooter, which zipped by. Overtook a Royal Enfield! The bikes were insulted and we took off behind that rouge scooter, which had broken the shackles of bike hierarchy, to investigate. I confess, I went behind that scooter to ascertain its make, since I had not seen it on our roads before. It is an entirely different story that the pillion was a chick and I'd like to believe that I am not that desperate! After a few kilometers I did manage to catch up with the red scooter, it was the new Kinetic Blaze. What a beauty! The scooter, not the chick, she was wearing a helmet. If anyone asks me what I think of the Kinetic Blaze, I will congratulate the bugger on making a fine choice for a scooter. It looks sturdy, and apparently handles quite well at high speeds (for which I can vouch). But not ideal for the nifty zip and zap that city traffic requires. Just before Mandya we halted at the other usual spot. This halt let us catch our breath after being beaten fair and square by a scooter and take stock of our physical conditions.

A few months back, I made the blunder of going on a similar long trip, with beat shock absorbers and a prerequisite for this trip was the new gas shocks. The gas shocks were good as far as performance was concerned, but a sad side effect an increase in the height. This resulted in an anticipated shift in the center of gravity and the consequent imbalance that the bike displayed, especially at high speeds. We discussed this issue at length at this halt apart from the our own physical status. VSK was having a tough time sitting on my bike. He was complaining of a backache and I suspected that the new shocks were effective enough. He agreed to sit with Vatsa, while Kates sat behind me and we set off on the last leg of the trip towards Mysore.

A little ahead of Mandya we saw, for the very first time, a pileup. Four cars were involved, thankfully there were no injuries. A cursory observation revealed that there was a speed breaker ahead and all the four drivers had missed noticing the speed breaker ahead sign, which is entirely possible, given that it was camouflaged behind a plethora of political banners. The first one would have braked hard when he saw the impending travel to outer space only to be nudged hard in his posterior by the trailing car. From then on, it was a perfect example of car concatenation. Three cars , two Honda cities, suffered major damages in the engine and boot regions, while two cars got away with broken bumpers and a dented boot. The first car “responsible” for the pileup was no where to be seen, and we caught up with it near Srirangapatinam, the boot region was a mess! I have a sinking feeling that we'll see more of these pileups as the roads improve.

Without further ado, we reached the Mysore ring road, and took a short break to decide the future course of action. VSK, as you recall, had complained of a bad back, which was thanks to the late night “party” at Corner house, and the early morning wake up call. He was emphatic about being unable to go any further in this condition. He volunteered to go back to Bangalore by bus, and the cold hearted people that we were, we agreed to that proposition. At that instant of time, it looked quite practical, he couldn't sit on the bike, and there was no point in going back to Bangalore behind a bus. The other factor, that was to be considered was, that Dana, VSK's ex-rommie from Manipal, was working at Infosys, Mysore and VSK called him up and Dana invited VSK to stay over. So the next stop was the Infosys campus at Mysore. It is around 12 kilometers from the ring road, towards the North. We did not go inside the campus, but the view from the outside revealed a contemporary architect gone berserk!

Dana, was waiting at the gate to receive VSK and after the usual “Hey macha, long time no see. You have put on weight since college”, we went our way. Towards the ominous looking gray clouds that seemed to envelop the Nilgiris, reduced to three people on two bikes.

And it rained... really? where?

Why not Waynad?* (August 12th - 13th) Ooty instead!

* To be pronounced with a thick Mallu accent

It had been quite some time, since I had exercised the bike. Plus, I was out of ideas at work, so I knew I had to unwind. And what better way than on the good ol' bike!

Prolouge
Paddy, of the "Gopalswamy Betta" trip fame, set the pace for this trip. A few weeks back, he suggested that we go on a ride some place. Kinimaam and Kets were all excited. Googendra decided to a Ladakh on us with some Kraut. We thought of all possible places, including Hampi, Yercaud and Coorg. But, a few weeks is a long time, so by the night of 11th, it was Kets, Satish, Vatsa and me, on two bikes, headed off to Yercaud.

Route map
Banglore - Mandya - Mysore - Gundulpet - Waynad (Kerala-Karnataka border) - Gundulpet - Bandipur - Mudumalai - Kotagiri - Ooty - Kotagiri - Gundulpet - Mysore - Kadamane Coffee shop



Vatsa, Kets and I at Doddabetta (2600+ meters above sea level) -->

Distance
700 kms

Time
36 hrs

How to?
Ooty is approximately 300 kms south-west from Bangalore.
To get there, take the Mysore-Bangalore State highway number 17. Mysore is 135 kms away. En-route I'd advice you to take a halt at either Kamat, Coffee Day, MTR or Maddur Tiffanies.

Mysore city has a good outer ring road and SH-17 joins it. There is a big Via - duct after which you need to take a left turn. At the end of the ring road (ironic, I know), take a right turn. This road will take you towards the Mysore Palace, ask someone for directions towards Ooty, and you'll be onto NH-212.


End of ring road!

NH-212 will take you through Nanjangud to Gundulpet. Just ahead of Gundulpet, there is fork in the road, one towards, Sultan Bateri and the other towards, Bandipur. There is also a huge board mentioning Ooty, but you'd be lucky for it not to be obscured by a big lorry standing in front of it! Anyways take the left fork (the same path towards Gopalswamy betta) and you are onto NH-66 (or is it NH-67, the map I have is conflicting!) A few villages ahead, you'll get a right turn towards Gopalswamy betta. You could go there, like we did in March.

Bandipur is 31 kms from Gundulpet. There should be no charge to enter this wildlife santuary. It is a straight road towards Mudumalai National Park, abutting Bandipur, in Tamilnad. At the border you'll need to pay up some. Perfectly legal, though!

At Mudumalai, there are two routes to Ooty, one 60 kms via Gudulur and the other, 39 kms via Kotagiri. Kotagiri is quite steep, and most cars take that route.

What to do?
* Doddabetta, from where you should get a panaromic view of the vallies (if weather permits)
* Botanical Garden, a treat to go with ones girlfriend/wife/kids.
* Train ride to Mettupalyam, the same route on which SRK danced on "Chaiya, Chaiya, Chaiya" in "Dil Se"
* Wellingdon Army Training center (if you've seen "Roja", you've seen Wellingdon!)
* Boating in the hycinth ridden, stinky, lake.

What to buy?
* Homemade chocolates (I suffed from an overdose!)
* Varieties of Tea, right from dust to leaves and from plain to flavoured!
* Eucalyptus Oil

Where to stay?
There are plenty of hotels in Ooty, but make sure you have confirmed bookings!
There are dingy places, there are 5 star places. We stayed at "Hotel Hill Palace" (which has a tie up with Manipal Sikkim University! Small world huh?). We were quite lucky to get a room, on a long weekend, with out booking in advance. And we got it only for the night! Had to vacate by 8 am!

What is the right season?
* Summer is best, if you want to sightsee.
* Monsoon is the best, if you want to see beasts in the National Parks.
* December is best for you know what :D

How the hell did we reach Waynad, and not Ooty? And how did we reach Ooty and not Yercaud in the first place?
More on this and pics later :-D

Why not Waynad?* (August 12th - 13th) Ooty instead!

Elephants at Mulehole

So, we went to Ooty... hehehe... and not Yercaud... Last minute change of plans, more on the why when and what in the next post, tentatively titled "Whynot Waynad", to be pronounced with a Mallu accent :-)

In the mean while here is a video of some elephants we spotted near Mulehole in the Bandipur wildlife santuary.

Elephants at Mulehole

Where.... O... Where... will we go

Another weekend's here... And me is taking off again on the dear old bike...

The other actors are Vatsa, Ketan, Satish and two thunderbirds...

And this is how the satellite image looks like


According to the CNN weather report, it shouldn't rain in interior TN this weekend.
And we could expect to see a lot of rain in coastal Karnataka and in the western ghats.

Yercaud is the place that we are planing on going to escape the rains.
Perhaps we could go to the Satyamangalam ghats instead... we might be catching the perimeter of the so called "rain ring".... Don't know...

We are off at 0700 from my home... lets see how things work out...

Where.... O... Where... will we go

Badravati - The Steel city (April15th,16th 2006)

The only reason I went to Badravati was to meet my cousins, uncle and aunty... And it being a two day (inclusive of journey time) trip ... obviously, I didn't have time to explore the place...

The how to...
Badravati is a small town, taluk HQ, 274 kms north west off Bangalore. To get here (from Bangalore), one must proceed towards Tumkur (via Yeshwantpur, Dasarahalli, Nellamangala) on NH-4. Tumkur is around 60 odd kms from Bangalore, the highway is clogged till Nellamangala, but frees up considerably on the 4-lane toll way to Tumkur. The travel time to Tumkur should be approximately 1hr. At Tumkur, take the Tumkur bypass. Follow this bypass (a little bumpy) and proceed towards Gubbi. This should put you onto NH-206. The next big town is Tiptur (again a relatives infested area for me... luckily, I know none of them... hehehe...). This should be approximately 180 kms from Bangalore. Thre are a few good hotels, in case you wish to take a break. From there proceed towards Arsikere (You need to take a right at a fork in the middle of Tiptur). Arsikere is around 40 kms from Tiptur. Arsikere is, again, a taluk HQ by a lake, hence the suffix kere. Next in line is Birur (70 kms from Arsikere). My Great-Great-grandpa was a native of this town. Anyways, from Birur proceed towards Tarikere (20 kms) and then to Badravati (36 kms). After Tarikere, there is a fork (again!) One takes you towards Shimoga and the other towards Badravati. The Badravati road is a state highway, and hence is in bad shape. There are a few railway crossing on this route, with the railways and the road laid almost parallel to each other on most sectors. You'll be quite lucky to spot a train, or maybe even chase it :-)))

As for me...
I rode (RE Thunderbird) non-stop, well... almost, from Blr to Badravati. The two stops were...
1) to take a picture of a tractor and
2) to answer the stupid cell phone.
The luxuries of travelling solo.

The Tumkur road was a treat :-). But NH-206 was better! The roads were narrow, empty and well maintained. I found a lot of street side vendors selling enormous grapes, tasty tender coconut water and a lot of mallige huva. As I approached Birur, the roads were lined with beautiful homes, colourful boganvillas and flowering trees. Spring was in the air. I left Blr at 7:45 am and reached Badravati at 12:15pm. The next day I left Badravati at 2pm, with ominous black clouds on the horizon. I raced the clouds till Arsikere, and then all hell broke loose!

It poured and poured and poured all the way till Tumkur. I couldn't turn back, nor could I proceed. I had to ride on, come what may, to make it back to Blr before nightfall, since, I abhor riding at night, and am quite capable of falling asleep!

I changed clothes at the outskirts of Ghandinagar, yes a village by that name in Karnataka! And yes, I did strip on the highway... luckily it was an isolated spot :-) (figure out, who is lucky... me or the potential witnesses) Put on a jacket (not water proof) changed into dry socks, (my boots had more water than Kadakwasla and KRS combined) and set out in the light drizzle, which was, as always, a mirrage. I was soon engulfed in a wall of water droplets, hurting whereever and whenever they made contact with my "protected" body. I was shivering, cold, wet, needed to pee badly and riding at a minimum of 70 kmph. I stopped the bike at some isolated spot after Tiptur and before Gubbi. Gingerly relieved myself at some stump, in full view of any passing vehicle. By this time, I did not care. The thought of Bangalore (100 kms away) was as distant as the last rays of sunhine. It was almost 5 pm.

I just kept riding from that moment, almost mechanical, with my brain switched off. Quite a wierd feeling. I was happy when I reached Tumkur! The thought of having the option of halting the night, and sleeping in a dry bed was extremly tempting. Don't know what came over me, perhaps it was the abrupt dry spell, or the sight of a realtively lesser shade of gray (that seemed to hover over a distant Bangalore), but I puttered on forward. That, I was riding a RE, gave a large doze of confidence. After all Bangalore, was only 60kms away, and it was just 6 pm. I still needed to wear some dry clothing, if I were to aviod falling sick. And so with all frontal lobe activity comming to a halt, I stripped, yet again, by the road side (NH-4 this time) and changed into some dry cloths. I wonder, why I was carrying 5 sets of clothes in the first place for a three day trip (that got cut down to two)

My initial baravdo was soon watered down, with another doze of rain. I had stopped caring a long time back. I reached Nellamangala by 6:30 pm... and subsequently did the rest of the 20 odd kms (to home) in the next two hours. By 9 pm I was back home, taking a hot shower and was off to la-la land by 9:30... What a weekend it had been...

Addu-ella saku bladeu... Badravati mein kya karaun???
Good question... A few options...
1) Go to Jog falls (200kms)
2) There is some Tiger park some where... quite like Bannergatta I hear...
3) Visit the steel plant.
4) There is lot of good green grass in this part of town. Nah... like Lendel once said, "Grass is ment for cows".
5) Halebelur is quite close (60kms) from Birur
6) Hosadurga is also quite close (compared to Jog)

Where do I stay???
There must be some lodge, somewhere in Badravati... nothing spectacular, but surely some place to sleep... It isn't as if people don't live here...

Badravati - The Steel city (April15th,16th 2006)