Day 32: Darbhanga - Darjeeling (25th Sept 2014)

Woke up at 4:45 am as my stomach was aching because of the biryani I had for dinner the previous night. Since I was up early, it gave me a good reason to start early. Just before I started my ride, I listened to the song ‘Mountain high’ by Bipul Chettri. I got goosebumps when the chorus played, 'Home, Home calling home'.
I checked the route on my phone and this Tarzan’s return to his jungle started at 6 am. The monsoon clouds were teasing me from the horizon, but it was time to take the battle to them.

'Good Morning', said the monsoon clouds

The highway was amazingly smooth, and it would have been a sin to ride below 85 km/hr. After riding for about 20 kms my speedo cable snapped again. It was an indicator of a problem much severe with Chitti ( that;s what Linda calls my Royal Enfield. Inspired from the movie of one of our favorite actors - RAJNIKANT !!!). However, we could not let this glitch delay us. Chitti and I were on a high of a different kind - The home calling high. In the excitement to reach home, I didn't even bother to stop for breakfast.

I was so engrossed in the ride that I missed taking a crucial turn which would have led me to much shorter NH 63. When I checked my phone GPS, I realized that I had come almost halfway of the longer route in NH 31 and it made no sense to go back again. Instead, I continued riding the longer route which took through Kishangang. Petrol stations were not a common sight at this stretch. Soon Chitti was running on reserve. I managed to find one petrol station just before the reserve was exhausted. I topped up the tank and what surprised me was the fact that the guy in charge asked me if I would prefer Nepali currency or India currency for the change. I saw that he was holding a good amount of Nepali currency in his hand which indicated that the question was a frequent one. As the porous Nepal border was very near to the place, Indo-Nepal parallel economy was flourishing.

I had to take the route highlighted in blue but eventually missed a turn and ended up in Kishangang

First sign of Siliguri

Koshi Bridge

First Sign of DARJEELING !!!

The rice land

I reached Siliguri at 1 pm. From that point onward it was my turf. I took the Rohini road towards Darjeeling. I did not know that the road had turned into a toll road but like any toll road, bikes were exempted from paying the toll.

Take me home.

Sand-witched 

Ready or not, here I come

The 'while you were gone' moment - Toll Road

People from Darjeeling are genetically designed to stop for a meal while travelling from Siliguri to Darjeeling or vice versa. If by chance the driver fails to stop for a meal, one feels cheated when the destination is reached. I was in a celebratory mood, so I stopped for a traditional meal in one of the roadside restaurants. What did I order? of course ‘masu bhat’ :)

After this happy meal, as I started ascending my mountains further, the cold air from my hometown started warming up my lungs. Sounds strange, but ask anyone from the hills, it does.
I had travelled the stretch frequently since my childhood, and I knew every corner of it, but with Chitti the experience was heavenly. I will never forget the thumping of Chitti echoing in the hills I was raised in.

Its ok buddy. You will soon get used to it

Engulfed

As soon as the toll road ended, I felt even closer home. The bumpy roads had not changed after all these years. It is an integral part of my Darjeeling memories. Come to think of it, the roads are very tourist friendly and it gives the best bang for the tourist’s buck. The bumpy roads will not let the tourist sleep on their way to Darjeeling no matter how tired they are, hence, all they are left to do is observe the beautiful hills. Its nature's call and the Darjeeling’s government authority is nature-friendly.

Chitti Knows it. 

One story meets the other

Chitti stops to have a look at the Dali Gumba.
Later, on 14th Nov 2015, I realized what he was hinting towards ..... 

When I was halfway through, I called up home and asked my father to open up the garage. I told them that one of my friends is dropping me home in his car. They had no idea what was coming their way. All these days I had hidden one fact from my parents, that I was not travelling with a friend on a bus but was rather travelling solo on a bike.

I reached home by 4:15 pm. I hugged my parents for the reasons unknown to them. When one ventures on a trip like these, one is not very certain on the way it ends. Many, I pray, see a happy ending while the sad fact is that few trips do not end at all as the traveller never reach their destination. Along the way, I heard many such stories and also saw one fallen rider. So, for me, reaching home was a kind of homecoming after a battle.

Initially, my mother thought that I was joking when I told her I had come riding on Chitti. My parents thought it was another prank of mine until my mother went to see Chitti for herself. When she saw Chitti, I am sure she had thousands of questions running through her mind. She was confused, scared (she had gone a little pale), and I guess a bit angry too but overriding these emotions, she was happier to see me back home. My father just stood there flashing an occasional smile. A self (un)employed son, coming home on a bike riding through some of the fairly dangerous routes  - not sure if they will happily share this story with others :)          

When the shock receded, my mother said, "Na bha-nay ra ramrai garay chas. Mo tah ek mahina sakdina thay" (Good that you didn't tell me. I could not have survived for one month)

     

The eagle has landed

Oh yes! am happy to be home. Alive

Linda was not expecting me to reach home that day. I had told her that I would rest in Siliguri for the day and ride to Darjeeling only on the following day.

I called her and asked,"Kha chu bhana tah?" (Guess where I am?)

"Siliguri pugayou?" (Have you reached Siliguri?), she said. She sounded little tired.

"Mo ghar pugay, and I have kept my promise. There is not a single scratch on my body"

"PROMISE ???" she asked excitedly.
I knew that one month of stress which she was going through only because of me had suddenly disappeared with that call of mine.

I was weighing about a kilo extra owing to the dirt I had accumulated over a month. My mother said that I looked like a caveman. She requested me to cut my beard and ‘look human’. Took a good time to free the foreign element on my body which was stuck to me for the last one month. After I started looking civilized, the food fest followed.



 At the end of the 32nd Day, the last day of my dream trip, I had travelled a distance of 437 Kms. Arrived, I had.











Few weeks after I reached home, one day I was just playing with Honey & Rooney (our pet dogs) on our terrace. My mother walked in holding a camera. She had been reading my blog and wanted to take my picture with marigold (Read Day:1).

"Yo saipatri sanga ko naksa tero blog ma haal hai", (Post this picture with marigold in your blog) said she.

Marigold time

Closing Note:

So, after spending 32 days on the road, travelling 8350 kms from the red Deccan hills of Karnataka to the brown cold desert of Ladakh and finally to the lush green tea gardens of my Darjeeling, was I a different man at the end of it?
The interesting answer would have been ‘Yes’ but the actual answer is ‘No’.
This trip only reinforced what my mother had always taught me. That it takes very little to be happy. The rat race was slowly overriding this learning in me. I needed something to rivet this learning in me forever. With this trip, the hammering is done.

In this trip, I have learned to take control of my life rather than soft target and blame my luck for the short fallings. I have learned that a smile is the most powerful currency that you can carry with you across the places - return on investment guaranteed.

This trip has taught me what is important in life, and more importantly what's not. Money is important for me, it most certainly is, but more important than money is happiness. I am now very clear what I need to prioritize in life. Being human, I would love to have loads of money and even more happiness. However, most often I have realized that money comes quite at a price. So if I am in a situation where I may have to take a call between money and happiness, I have an easy choice now.

I had given up my gratuity, bonus, and appraisal for this trip. Had I stuck on to my job for a few more months, I would have been economically much better off. But this vicious circle would have cost me some valuable life lessons. When I look back, my story would have been incomplete if I had not met the beautiful stranger who offered me shelter during the rain in Ahmedabad, the driver who was cleaning the Pangong lake & the BRO labourer who invited me to their tent at Thaglang la. Come to think of it, I am much better off sacrificing my bonus, gratuity and appraisal than not meeting these wonderful people.

Given a chance would I do this entire trip again?
No, I would not. I want this to be once in a lifetime memory for me. Besides, one life is too sort to repeat things when there are other routes to be explored.

Next plan of action?

• Darjeeling to Sikkim road trip with one of my bestie - Loch on Chitti
• Darjeeling to Kathmandu road trip with Linda on Chitti (the trinity bond)
• Mountaineering course at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute
• Start a homestay

Prelude to the events ...

A glimpse of my Darjeeling - Sikkim trip with Loch (Oct 2015)

A glimpse of the mountaineering course @ Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (Nov 2015)

Glimpse of Darjeeling - Kathmandu trip with Linda (Dec 2015)

Himpujan Homestay