Characters:
Prajwal - Killer on the road, rides 120 K at ease. He is a Machismo 350.
Mahesh - A great company to be with. When he explains a ride, you feel like you are actually watching it live. Rides a standard 350.
Pankaj - This is me. Never been out on the highway with Joanne my bike. Looking forward to a virgin ride. Joanne's an Electra 4s.
Guest artists:
Anisha - My wife who hates bikes and never favors me going for rides.
Neetu - Mahesh's wife. Has similar taste like Anisha when it comes to bikes and rides.
Adarsh - That's my nephew. An interesting character otherwise, however does not have much of a role in this story.
24-Aug-07, Friday evening, Anisha and I were confused as to what we should be doing that evening. We had two choices - either go to Bhaisepati to my brother's place for a sleepover or invite my friends over to our place for dinner. Spending time with friends sounded more interesting and so we decided to call them over. They arrived at my place at around 7.30 p.m.
Mahesh, Prajwal and I started discussing our bikes like a typical Bulleteer of course, Adarsh accompanied us. The girls did not want to miss the final rounds of the 'Indian Idol' and so they went to the other room to watch their program. Meanwhile back in the boys room, we were still discussing 'Bullets' and after a few round of drinks,
Pankaj - Guys, tomorrow's a Saturday. How far is Tatopani?
Prajwal - Two and a half hours.
Well, that would mean about 3 and a half for us.
Pankaj - That's fairly long, how about we go eat fish?
That was understood. The destination is Malekhu, 2 hours drive from Kathmandu. Malekhu is known for fresh river fishes.
Mahesh - I don't have gas and there is no way I can get some for the ride.
Strikes in the Terai had started and the gas supply was disrupted in Kathmandu. The whole city was running short of petrol and people were running on reserves.
Pankaj - What if I organize the fuel for you? Are you on?
Mahesh - How the hell is that possible? Where will you get the gas from?
Pankaj - with a smile Leave that up to me.
I had stocked enough petrol because I knew the gas shortage would hit the market soon.
Prajwal - So, what does that mean? Are we on?
Mahesh and Pankaj - Yes, let's do it.
Prajwal - What time do we start?
Pankaj - 11.00 a.m., would that work with you guys?
Mahesh and Prajwal - Done.
Now, the most difficult part was to convince our wives. Prajwal, in a way was lucky to be a bachelor. Seeking permission from other people would mean like an alien thing to do for him.
Anisha , Guys, should we eat now?
The dinner is served.
Pankaj speaking and munching food at the same time out of nervousness - Honey, please wake up early tomorrow, I'll drop you and Adarsh at Bhaisepati by 9.00 a.m. I'm going for a ride.
Anisha with a sarcastic smile - Okay.
I didn't know what that 'Okay' meant , was it a big 'NO'? We shall find out tomorrow morning.
We finished eating and it was time to say goodbye. 11:30 in the night, two Bullets started with a big noise disturbing the whole neighborhood and we said good night to our friends.
The next morning
Pankaj , Shoot! Its 9.00, I'm late.
I run to the bathroom, while Anisha and Adarsh are still asleep. After finishing the morning formalities, I call up Mahesh and Prajwal at 9:45 to let them know that I was running late and that we would have to start at like 11:30ish.
Anisha wakes up and poses tens and thousands of questions to me so that I qualify to get this trip. After several lies, I make it - Anisha gives me the go ahead.
I had a long way to go. I had parked my bike in my office, which is in Budhanilkantha, about 8 kms away from where I live. I had promised to drop these guys at my brother's place in Bhaisepati about 12 kms, opposite direction and come back all the way to Budhanilkantha another 20 kms to get my bike.
11.00 a.m., I start my car to drop Anisha and Adarsh. We start our journey and after covering a short distance, we change our plans. Adarsh volunteers to take a cab to Bhaisepati and Anisha decides to come with me to my office at Budhanilkantha. Thanks to Adarsh for saving my time. After reaching the office, there was this other challenge of filling my gas tank with the stock reserve. One wise move I had made was - I had called my office driver and asked for his help. He was waiting for us by the office gate when we arrived and did the job of filling my gas tank.
Self, self"¦ shoot! The battery is down. Kick, kick, no sound. Choke, kick, Dhak, dhak, dhak, dhak"¦Alright, I was now ready to move.
I parked my car back in the office and took the bike. Anisha and I went down to Mahesh's place where both Mahesh and Prajwal were waiting for me eagerly.
God, time really flies; it was already quarter past twelve. Anisha started chatting with Neetu, while we the guys started filling Mahesh's tank - some from my tank and some from Prajwal's Prajwal was full too and so he too volunteered to give some to Mahesh.
Ok, so we were all set to begin our journey. The only thing left for me was to drop Anisha at my brother's place on the way. We started our bikes and went straight down to Bhaisepati where I dropped off my wife and said goodbye. Now, it was just us, our bikes and the road. Let's go!
Intermission! What are you waiting for? Hurry, go get your pop corn and coke.
The traffic was quite heavy until Kalanki, however the road started looking better after the crossing. A little further up, we stopped to check our tyre pressure and headed straight towards Nau Bise. Prajwal was impatient and couldn't keep up with us. Our speed was just too slow for him. He zoomed and decided to meet us at the next stop - Nau Bise. The ride so far had been splendid with the curves and turns. I hate to mention this, but yes, one of the truckers was a bit nasty on the way and was not letting me overtake him. I somehow managed to beat him and Mahesh who was behind me watching all this supported me by overtaking him posing his healthy and nice left hand middle finger up in the air pointing towards the trucker's nose. I know he enjoyed doing this, but I am not sure if the trucker did. A similar incident happened with a car a little further down; there goes the middle finger again.
Screech"¦ we reach Nau Bise. We go to the roadside restaurant and order for some 'sel rotis' and 'sabjis'. It was a bit junky place, but the food wasn't that bad. We didn't eat much as we wanted to save our appetite for the fishes. The bikers on the way were turning their heads looking at our parked bikes as they were passing by. I don't know what they had in their minds, but it sure was a good feeling to know that our mates were head turners.
It was time to move on to our destination.
Prajwal - Pankaj, don't forget the water that you just bought.
Pankaj - Oops! Thanks for reminding man.
We kick started our bikes again and head towards Malekhu. The road from that point forward was just fabulous - sunny weather, wide open straight roads with limited number of curves. What else would a biker want? Above all, Prajwal was over the moon to hit 120 K, while Mahesh and I were on the 80s. There were a lot of other bikers riding Karizmas and Pulsars trying to race us. They did beat us, but wait a minute, who is playing the race game? We were out to enjoy the ride, not to race. And even if it was about racing, we had Prajwal who had already killed them ahem!.
Alright, here we are, this is Malekhu. I can smell the fried fishes. There, that side in the left corner, I can see Prajwal's bike parked. We go park our bikes next to it. Prajwal had already taken his nap and was ready for the fishes.
Mahesh - Didi, three fishes please.
Prajwal - Didi, half a bottle 'daru' please.
Pankaj - Didi, where's the toilet?
P.S.: I absolutely do not recommend 'daru' alcohol while riding, but please do not hate us for doing this. C'mon man, its just half bottle for three giants.
We had fishes for snacks and fishes for lunch. Had a good chat and rest. Shortly, it was time to say goodbye to didi. It was drizzling by then, however, we decided to move. A guy, who was also eating at the same place where we were, came by to inquire about our bikes. He was very excited to learn about our bikes and really wished to be a part of our team. Goodbye friend"¦
The soft gentle rain drops hitting my cheeks, the sound of a Royal Enfield, the beat, the thump, the speed and the road - trust me guys, this is pure meditation.
After riding for about 50 minutes, we reached Nau Bise where we stopped for tea. It was already 6 by then. We kept our break short and headed back home. We reached Kalanki at around 7ish and said goodbye to each other.
I went straight down to Bhaisepati to pick up my wife. I had thought that she would offer me tea and biscuits, but she had different ideas. No, please don't get me wrong. I was offered 10 straight minutes of yelling for being late.
We reached home late that night. Mahesh called to check if I was home. Shortly after,
Anisha - Honey, the dinner is served.
The beginning
P.S.: Mahesh, Prajwal, if you guys are reading this, please get ready, I'm feeling like seeing the rhinos.