Day 6: Ahmedabad to Ajmer (30th Aug 2014)

All hill people have a natural tendency to sleep deepest when it rains – more the rain, deeper the sleep. So, I had a very sound sleep as it rained all night long. I woke up at 5:00 am to a gloomy day. My appointment with the rain was fixed, was only not sure about the time.

I had to figure out a way to disguise my excess baggage and hoodwink the cops. So, I decided to put only one part of my saddlebag on the luggage crank and mount the other half of the saddlebag on the pillion seat. While riding, my body would hide the luggage on the pillion seat, and it would not be visible to the cops. The cops would only see luggage on one side of the luggage crank while the other side would only have my gumboots.

With this new luggage strategy and an evil grin on my face, the ride started at 7:00 am – Destination Jaipur.

As soon as I left Ahmedabad, national highway (NH 8) transforms into a narrow two-lane highway with no dividers. Though it was frustrating to ride behind a series of lorries, I resisted the temptation to overtake because the visibility was not very good, and the road conditions were not too smooth either. I was riding at an average speed of 30km/hr. After one hour of such riding, monsoon surprised me. Without warning, it suddenly started raining heavily and gave me no time to change. I stopped Chitti (that’s what Linda calls my Royal Enfield classic 350 inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!!) and ran under the shelter of one tree. The rain was so intense that the tree shelter was not of much use and I was getting wet in the proverbial style -“slowly and steadily”. I heard someone shouting at me. I looked at the side and saw one man signalling me to come inside his hut. I ran about 20 yards to reach his hut. It was a hut in its true sense. 8 feet by 8 feet floor area was divided into two. One half was where they cooked, and the other half was where they ate and slept. A family of 5 lived in that small hut – a middle-aged husband, his wife, and their 3 kids. The man said that it was not raining since the last 20 days. I was now sure that the monsoon was picking on me. The man was kind enough to allow me to change into my rain covers in one of the rooms.

Once I was done, I thanked him and was about to leave when he said, “Aap Chai peekay jawoo” (have a cup of tea and leave) and turned towards his wife and said in the same breathe, “Chai banado” (Make some tea).

I refused vigorously but he insisted more vigorously. While both of us were busy fighting our case, his wife said in a very apologetic tone, “Ghar may doodh nahi hai” (There is no milk). I could see that the gentleman (gentleman - again in its true sense) was a bit embarrassed when he heard this. He did not know what to say next. He took out a packet of cigarettes, the ones that come without a filter and offered me one. I politely refused the offer saying that I don’t smoke. I had to do something to diffuse the situation. I had noticed that the kids were very curious when I was packing my DSLR. So, I took out my camera and asked the kids to smile for me. When I checked the photo, I realized that I had got a treasure in that hut somewhere in Ahmedabad – Ajmer highway. What I got in return is the best smile that I have clicked so far. The beautiful smile of the girl standing in the middle warmed me up in that gloomy day. She was my vote for the prettiest girl in the universe.

Pic: The smile from the girl in the middle is going to stay with me forever 

When the rains slowed down, it was time for me to leave. I thanked everyone and as I left that place, I thanked the monsoon rain too for putting me there, in the hut where the rich lived.  

I stopped by a dhaba for breakfast at 11:00 am. There was a group of people there who started asking me about my trip. I told them that I was heading towards Jammu. One of the waiters said that you need a passport to go to Jammu. When everyone there started laughing at him, he insisted that he had once visited Jammu & Kashmir and he had to carry a passport for the trip. He was dead serious, so serious that few of them stopped laughing. One from the group asked him, “Aap nay passport kisko dikha ya?”  (Who did you show your passport to?”)

“Har checkpost pay fauji ko dekhana parta hai” (We have to show it to the army at every check-post), said he. He was referring to the special permit that one had to carry to visit some sensitive area.

The guy who had asked him the question commented, “Usko passport nahi , permit kethay hai” (That’s called permit and not passport)

Then came the killer line from the waiter, “Passport aur permit, ek hi toh baat hai” (Passport and permit is the same thing). I was eating while all this conversation was taking place. When I heard the waiter, I almost choked laughing. Once I was done with my breakfast, I handed the tips to the waiter. Not for his service, but for his innocence and continued with my riding. 

One guy honked continuously from behind. Irritated, I took to my left and gave him a dirty look for being a nuisance on the road. The guy was only desperately trying to get my attention. He slowed down just beside me, gave me a thumbs up and shouted, “all the best for your trip”. This was scary. Too many good things were happening to me on that day.

Rajasthan welcomes me with a burst of warm sunshine.

Surprisingly, the ride to Udaipur was a hilly terrain ride. I was expecting to ride through a desert area. If I were to draw parallels to the world of video games, it required a hill terrain riding skills of an amateur level.

I reached Udaipur at 1:30 pm. Jaipur was another 480 kms and I didn't want to repeat the mistake of riding in the night as I had done while riding from Mumbai to Ahmedabad (read Day 4). So, I decided to stop at Ajmer instead which was only 240 kms and doable by the dusk. The road from Udaipur to Ajmer was in a horrible state. As the highway was being constructed it had no dividers, had many diversions, and it was very dusty. It would have been a disaster if that stretch had to be covered during night time. As the highway is in a remote corner, chances of getting help in case of any breakdown are next to nil. Petrol stations too are very difficult to come by. It's not exactly a rider's delight.

Not quite an environment a camel is supposed to be in  

150 kms before Ajmer, it starts raining heavily. But of course, how could I end the ride on a dry note? I reached Ajmer at 6:50 pm and Ajmer welcomes me with a very beautiful view.

As I was late to call Linda, the first thing that I did on reaching Ajmer was called her to let her know I had safely reached Ajmer. I told her that I would call her back after I find a hotel. I stopped at the first hotel that I found on the way and checked in Ganga guest house @ 7: 15 pm.

At the end of the 6^th day, I had covered 565 kms

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

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