Day 30: Badaun - Ayodhya (23rd Sept 2014)

The alarm fails me and I woke up at 7:30 instead of 5:30 am. My plan was to start early as soon as the dawn breaks, but by the time I started, it was already 8:15 am and I had lost good two hours of riding in daylight. I left a message to Linda saying that I will be riding non-stop and will call back only once I reached Ayodhya. I didn't want her to take stress if I didn't answer when she called during the day.

It took me an hour to cover the next 50 kms and reach Bareilly. It turned out to be a good call last night to halt at Badaun because the road was in a bad shape. It would have easily taken me one and a half hours to cover that stretch in the dark. 50 km in an hour was not a piece of a pleasant news as I had plans to cover about 400 kms that day and reach Ayodhya. It called for nonstop riding.

Bareilly cantonment 

I saw one man with a rifle slung on his back riding a bike. I had one look at him, and I knew he was not from the army or the police either. He was a very lean guy and it would not be wrong to say that he was a malnourished adult. However, he owned a gun with a few rounds of bullet. This man reminded me of the BRO line, ‘Safety ensures safe tea at home’. He surely had the means to have safe tea at home. He also served as a reminder of how unsafe it is to ride at night. With this sight, I made up my mind not to stop till I reach Ayodhya.

I didn't stop either for breakfast or lunch. By noontime I was used to riding on NH 24 with no dividers and the fear of riding alone had completely subsided. I had gone into ‘I will see what trouble comes my way’ mood.

I reached Lucknow by 2 pm. Ayodhya was another 120 kms away. Till now Chitti (that's what Linda calls my Royal Enfield .Inspired from the movie of one of our favourite actors - RAJNIKANT !!! ) had not stopped for anything. About 70 kms before Lucknow, the highway started to look like a proper highway with dividers. The highway towards Ayodhya was even more promising. Confident that I will be able to reach my destination by 5:30 pm, I decided to take a break and check the tyre pressure near the highway toll booth. It's at this point, for the first time ever in UP, someone approached me with a smile and asked, “Sirji, kaha se aa rahay ho aur abhi kitna dur jana hai ? (Where are you coming from and how far do you have to go?”). I told him my riding story which got him even more excited. He called his friends and narrated my story to them. Lastly, he offered me some chilled Mountain Due to beat the heat.

I started to ride slowly and enjoy the ride along the way. I reached Ayodhya at 5 pm and checked in the only decent looking hotel that I saw. It was a dingy hotel, but I felt much safer amongst the pilgrims there as compared to Badaun hotel. I was staying very close to the disputed ‘Ram janam bhumi’. I immediately called home and Linda to update them that I had reached Ayodhya.

In the evening I went for a walk at the nearby ghat. I was terribly disappointed to see the state of this holy land. To say that the place was filthy would be an understatement. I was especially saddened to see the plight of what could have been a beautiful place - Ram ki Paidi. It was an enclosure of standing water. I could imagine how beautiful the place would have looked during the hay days of Ayodhya. Currently, there was stench everywhere. People were peeing at every corner of the park. All in all, it was a heartbreaking sight. The lack of care by the administration has left Ayodhya in a cancerous state which at present has no cure. In future, I hope they find a cure to it.

Ram Ki Paidi: A sad affair

Naya Ghat 

     
At the end of the 30th day, I had travelled a distance of 459 Kms.

(Do read the other days chronicle listed on the same page)

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