A Ride and A Crash

I got back on my feet in a fraction of a second. Just stood there gauging my situation as the seconds felt like minutes passing by. Facing the darkness - there was nothing to be seen in front of me, the bike was somewhere behind. As I turned around, I saw the bike laying there at a distance and two big headlights approaching towards us. As a reflex I just ran to the bike, put myself between the bike and the approaching headlights. I had raised my hand indicating the vehicle to stop. There was not much distance left between us and the breaks squeaked bringing the mammoth to a standstill. Later I realized how lucky I was that the truck was able to stop before it went over me along with my bike. It was a stupid move actually but I guess at that point in time I was blinded by love.
I just turned around, picked up my bike and pushed it on the side of the road. The truck moved on and I just waited there for a while.
I along with my friend “Dada” was on a short ride to Manor. At just 140km return trip Manor has been a regular ride destination with good roads and a smooth ride. Also, there is this restaurant nearby which served the “Aloo ke parathe with butter & cold coffee with vanilla ice cream” to my liking. These two causes of a good ride and good food were enough for a wonderful outing.
It was 7 in the evening when Dada called up asking if I would be interested in riding to Manor. It was an instant yes from me and I asked him to move out immediately. He was just not ready yet so we planned to move out at 8. By the time we actually moved out it was 9:30, this was my first disappointment. But as it was a habit with Dada, I expected it. Dada’s 5 minutes generally lasted 30-45minutes so an 8pm schedule was always out of question. The second disappointment was the patch of road in between which was partially under construction. The ride which was expected to be smooth all the way had now turned into dirt track for a while. We managed to navigate through and get back on the smooth road heading towards our destination. Just because of the roads we took double the time then expected reaching Manor at around 12.
This was my third disappointment – to find the restaurant closed. It was pretty late. My heart had already sunken with these three disappointments; the only thing to do now was to return back with my shoulders dropped. Like a soldier returning from a defeated battle. We started the ride back, riding like nothing to lose. We were cruising at the speed of 80km/hrs. I was just lost, so I let Dada take the lead. My only focus now was the tail light of Dada’s bike. I was in a trance like state, where I was being guided by the dim light in the darkness. I was so unaware that I didn’t realize when I hit the bad patch of road again. Still at 80Km/hrs the bike lost its balance due to the uneven surface of the road and I came crashing down.
As I stood there on the side of the road a car stopped to check on me. I gave them a thumps up to indicate I was okay and they can move ahead. I was waiting there for Dada to turn around and come back for me. Dada took his time to come back. He was in a state of shock, as if he had seen a ghost upon seeing me. He was riding a few meters ahead of me when I crashed. He didn’t see me crash. Luckily he had heard the sound of a crash and stopped at the side of the road waiting for me. When I didn’t show up, he realized it was me who had crashed; the worst of his fears came alive. He literally froze there. The car which had stopped for me also stopped besides him letting him know that I was alright and was waiting for him back there. I had crashed but Dada was shaken. Crashes have been a routine for me after riding for so many years. Mostly whenever I have crashed I was alone. This was the first time I had a company. I talked Dada out of his dismay. Assured him I was okay with some minor scratches and asked him to check if the bike was okay. Dada confirmed that the bike was also okay with some minor scratches. The Adrenalin was still pumping keeping the pain away. We got on our bikes and headed home, this time slow and steady.

A Cup of Tea

I surely like to have my cup of tea as I love it. There is nothing as blissful as having that cup of tea when I need it the most. Early cold winter morning after a night which has not allowed me my regular dose of sleep sure demanded a cup of tea. And so I set myself to find that cup of tea at 7 am, knowing that its going to be difficult in a secluded area where the hospital was located. My first expected stop was the cafeteria located at the groun floor of the hospital which offered little choice on the menu and a machine which deliverd hot milk which could be transformed into tea with addition of sugar and dip of tea bags. Yes I needed couple of tea bags to get the tea concentrated to the level I liked. As I walk out of the ward I see the elevator waiting at the floor above, which swings me into a mad rush towards the call button. These evelators here have a notoreous habbit of making you wait if you miss on. At this point my luck held and caught the car on time. Down in the lobby was my first disappointment as I found myself walking pass the empty cafeteria with its glass doors tied down by a chain. With the need for tea turning into a drive I started calculating my options. I checked my pocket to find the keys to my bike, but the thought of riding the bike in search of tea was discouraged by the bitter cold outside. With the bike out of question I could think of the CCD joint which is just 5 min walk. Am sure they would be serving tea after all they had the same vending machine as seen in the cafeteria , all i needed was some sugar and tea bags. But would it be open so early in the morning was a doubt. At just 5 minutes walk it was an easy chance I took to find my second failure as I saw the shutters jammed down. Another thought springed as I walked pass CCD knowing another 5 minutes down the road was a south indian restaurant, now this was a sure place to get the tea and so I pushed forward in this bitter cold now wanting more and more of this elusive tea. Mid way through my trail the failure raised it ugly head and the disappointment finally set in as sight of closed shutters welcomed me. I droped my head and started walking back, now this bitter cold was feeling more cold.I checked the time - 7:30 am what a god forsaken place was this. How stupid was the person who has built a hospital in such a place. How stupid was the doctor to refer such a place. I just went upto the ward sank myself in the chair put on some music on the phone, closed my eyes and waited. The music seemed to do the trick for me as I opened my eyes it was already 8:30 am which seemed a more hopeful time. As a learning from my prior failure I decided to first confirm about the cafeteria timings. This surely helped reducing the agony of failure, but not the agony of wait. Another 30 minutes is what was expected as a wait. I am not sure what I am doing in such a place where a man cant get his tea in the morning and trust me 7 am is not that early to have tea but its near about perfect time to have tea. I have always lived in places where I get tea by 7.All this thinking kept my brain engaged without making it realize the slow the time was moving. It good that the time doesnt stop for anyone. From situation to situation it at times slows down and speeds up, but never stops. And hence when I got back to my senses the time was right for me to move my butt off the chair. This time i wasn't as lucky as before and at the lobby the elevator made me wait. Another 5 minutes and I was down in the cafeteria. Once on the ground level it was all smooth sailing. I just ordered my tea as usual. Out of my daily habit I asked for a tea bag along with the tea, which was promptly denied by the attendant stating - sir, we don't give extra tea bags. At the looks of it I knew this guy was new, I told him that I have beem having the tea there for last three days and every time I have taken an extra tea bag with its applicable charges. The attendant just informed me that the policy had changed over night and I will have to buy another tea. This actually pissed me off and I responded - what am I going to do with the extra tea- make pickle ? And ordered him to just give me the damn tea bag and take the money for the tea. After having my cup of tea I realized how I was acting like a arrogant snubish ass with the poor attendant. How was he to know how much I had to go through to get this cup of tea. All I want to say to that attendant is that buddy I am sorry. Hope someday you get to read this - thanks :)

Slice of Life..

Randomness still persists, I just feel betrayed by myself. Hoping to change all this in the matter of time which in about to come upon me.

Some are just surprised but many are still shocked to learn that I will be riding alone.
Why are you going alone? What will you do? What will you eat? Where will you stay? Are few of the questions I am getting from the people know and less known.

If only it were meant for others, it would have been simple to justify. But it’s all about me. This ride is going to be all about me. Riding alone gives me freedom to take the road I want, ride when I want, stop when I want.
“Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swaad” – in the same lines those who have never ridden would never know the reasons behind a ride. In my current state of mind I just don’t care much about this world , all I want to do it right. In pure slang I did say “Gandmarane gayi duniya, mai chala”
No other plans as of yet except the ride in my heart, my mind and my soul…

Random thought on comfort .. and may be happiness

“if you want to be heard, speak out” – I totally believe in this. There is no need of shouting when you are speaking clearly and making sense. Honestly I like to speak and it is even more interesting when there is an audience. It is not easy to speak in front of the large audience - so many preying eyes – so many questions. The truth is simple, each one of us has the same feelings in the same situations . acceptance is just one part of it. Once we know that we are not alone, slowly the comfort zone sets in. there is always comfort in knowing that we are not alone. That there are others like us who get nervous in front of the large audience and yet can hold their nerve.
This is the same comfort that the scientist are seeking when they are searching for life in space. Knowing that earth is the only planet which habitats life is quite discerning. The space is so vast. It is hard to believe there is life only on one planet. If we try and look down in totality of space, earth would look like a speck of dust. The micro organisms living all around us make us look so large, but when the reference changes we are nothing more than that same micro organism in space. All we are doing is searching for life, any kind of life which is out there so we would know that we are not alone. The comfort of knowing that life had to be and that it was not by some freak accident that we are on this planet.
Comfort is not just a necessity, but also a requirement. I define comfort as reduced efforts for equal work. As an engineering student I understood that the purpose of an engineer is to reduce human efforts. Now I know why we need to reduce efforts. This reduction is efforts will amount for the comfort. Comfort is a relative term like any other associative term. I have just defined it as I would like it but there are other more true and accurate definition available.
If only comfort and happiness were related.. (to be contd)

I got Screwed .. for real

Getting screwed is not a good idea, but that is what actually happened to me at the start of the Goa trip. And I mean not literally. At quarter to 6 we started riding. It took us about 15 minutes to reach NH4 from the heart of Pune city. Our first stop would be Satara at 120 Km a ride of about 2 hours. The morning chill was wonderful, the road fantastic and the scenery breathtaking. It was early morning and there was no traffic. We were cruising at about 80 km/h. while tackling my first curve on the road I felt a slight wobble on the bike. I chose to ignore the wobble as low air pressure in the rear tyre and was pushing along. Besides the small wobble on the curves there was nothing else of concern. On the straights the bike was handling perfect. The first two hour ride was perfect and we stopped for our stipulated break for some tea and bread butter. During this break my ridding buddy brought out the wobble of my bike. Since he was riding a thunder bird he assumed the wobble was because of my lighter apache. I assured him that it was nothing much than low air pressure and would be fixed by filling up air. Actually I was feeling the air pressure to be low from Mumbai onwards but somehow managed to reach Pune without filling up on the way. So we decided to stop on to the next filling station and get that problem fixed up. the filling station was just 10 minutes away. The attendant of the air filling station was a young boy who identified that there was a puncture in my rear tyre and not just low air pressure. I was surprised actually on how long I had been riding with a foreign object in my rear tyre. On the initial inspection it seemed to be a nail which had embedded itself deep into the tyre. Thanks to the tubeless tyre I did not have to suffer the puncture bad. It was when the boy was pulling the object out that I was able to identify it as a screw. The boy pulled it out and fixed the tyre in no time. We hit the road again, towards Kolhapur our next destination .Now the bike was handling good on the road even during the curve. I was happy and relieved even after getting screwed in such a manner we were on the road without losing much time .

Afterthought on Goa trip ..

It’s almost been a month now, since I have not been on my bike. May be things would have been different if I had not been on the trip to Goa. Probably there are many people who would think that way Even though I had an accident while returning from Goa I believe it was just something which happened because sometimes accidents do happen.

The entire plan of the Goa trip had changed the day I started with the organizer backing out of the event. May be if they had reached out to me earlier I wouldn’t have left home. I was somewhere on the road nearing Khopoli when I first received the call stating that the trip was off as the lead rider had some issue. The trip was to start next day early morning for Pune. I was on my way to pune for the trip and halfway it was like a bomb shell falling on me. But instead of breaking or blowing I told the voice talking to me that I am on my way to pune and would like to continue ahead. I also told him to make the arrangements for me at Goa. The boy was surprised to hear this from me and told me that he would be calling me back in five minutes. So I pushed ahead on the road. In another hour and half I was in Pune. I did not receive the call but instead I had an sms from some other number. The sms gave me a name and number of another participant who was also willing to join in for Goa. This was getting better for me. That is all I could have asked for is another avid rider. We both shared the same kind of passion for riding. The three day trip was a success with just a small hiccup for me at the very end. In those three days I had travelled about 1500 km without much trouble but the failure occurred in the end with just 20 km to go for home. This month long break has provided me with enough time to give an afterthought to my Goa trip and plan out another trip soon.

Apache 180

This advertise of Apache 180 is quite perfect. The machine truly chose me. I was all set with another bike on my mind. I had a lot of time in my hand as my decision to buy a new bike was postponed indefinitely. When I had first set out to buy a new bike, I had my mind set for the Apache 160 FI. I was all set to get that bike but wasn’t able to do so. During this period I really felt miserable. Nearly after five months when Royal enfield introduced the Classic I was relieved that I didn’t buy the Apache 160. Now I had my mind all set for the Classic. By my estimation it would have been another six months before I would have been able to get that bike. All the good things in life have to wait and so I started waiting. Life had apache 180 in mind for me hence on the Christmas eve I was able to get it. That was a Christmas miracle for me ..