Woke up at 6:50 am with a slight headache. I had a long ride
scheduled for the day so hit the road by 8:30 am. Was not very happy to see the
monsoon cloud’s invasion in the Mumbai sky. One look at the sky and I knew that
the monsoon had some sinister plans for me today too.
Half an hour after I
started riding and it started raining. Hate would be a very strong word, but I
had started disliking rains now. I was very fond of riding in the rain before
I started this Bangalore-Leh-Darjeeling
trip, but after getting drenched for 3 days, this sentiment had been washed
away. However, I had learned some nature lessons too. By now I had learned that
the monsoon clouds are very territorial by nature. They burst open showering
only across some area while other area remains dry. I had also learned to guess
which patch of the monsoon clouds were close to bursting by looking at their colour.
Darker the colour, closer it was to bursting.
So, the basic rule was to speed
past the area where the monsoon clouds were close to burst open. This rule did
keep me dry to large extend, with few misses of course.
While I was on this cat and mouse game with the monsoon, I
encountered one funny and a strange incident. When I was close to Maharashtra -
Gujarat border there came one long flyover.
From a distance, I could see that the monsoon clouds had claimed one half of the
flyover while our side was sunny, and I could also make out that the clouds
were very close to bursting. I had just started ascending the flyover when I noticed
that the vehicles coming from the other end (the darker side J
) were drenched and had their wipers on full speed. I knew it had started
raining at the darker side of the flyover, so 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 quickly got into my rain cover. Seeing me changing,
other two-wheeler riders, who obviously were not very fond of getting wet,
stopped too. Whoever had rain cover changed and continued to ride towards the darker
side taking the war to the monsoon, while those who didn’t have rain cover
preferred to stay back and watch the battle safe and dry.
The battle with monsoon was intense and it lasted for about
an hour. Once I reached the sunny side again, I started removing my rain cover.
That’s when disaster struck. An hour of intense rain had flooded my rain jacket
pockets. The sinister plan of monsoon was now revealed. I had put my cell phone
in one of those pockets which were now waterlogged. The phone refused to switch
on. Back in my home town, such cases are referred to as “gone case” or “chosay”. This
revelation drained me out completely. I just stood there, in the middle of nowhere
not knowing what to do next and cursing the monsoon. Yes, by now I had started
hating the monsoon and I had a good reason for it. Now I am not a gizmo freak, but this phone was very special for me. It was a gift from Linda to celebrate
our 10 years of togetherness. She had gone through great pain to choose a phone
that would suit my taste and she had done a good job at it. The main reason why
she had gifted me a new phone was to make my trip a hassle-free one and all
these days it was exactly doing that. I had become so dependent on it (for
routes, weather or other online information) that I felt lost without it.
Dejected, I rode towards Ahmedabad. The immediate solution
that came to my mind was to fix the phone once I reach my hometown. Meanwhile,
I would call Linda from a phone booth every day. Come what may, I had to call
Linda every day and tell her that I had safely reached a destination because
only she knew about my solo ride (my parents didn't know about it). She had put
up a brave face when I had started the trip, but I had an idea of stress volumes
that I was dumping on her. Topping it up by not calling her would be inhumane
on my part.
I looked for the phone booth for about 45 mins and that’s
when reality hit me. Phone booths have become extinct in the age of mobile
phones. I was shocked to learn this. Childhood memories of making a beeline in
front of STD booth came flashing back. In the hustle-bustle of life, I had
failed to notice this change. This discovery called for another plan of action.
I either had to buy another phone or get the current one repaired. The next
closest city was Ahmedabad but at 6 pm I had another 153 kms to cover to reach Ahmedabad.
It was too late for me to give my phone for repairing so I took a detour to
Vadodara to buy another phone. Once I reached Vadodara, I walked into one
small mobile phone shop and asked for the cheapest phone. The owner looked at me
and asked, “ Aap Fauji ho?” (Are you from the Army?)
Sensing that I may get some good deals I finally said, “Haan”
(Yes) – This was the first time I played the army card.
Hearing this, the shopkeeper offered me to use one of his
mobile phones for free. It was heartening to witness such respect for the men in
olive uniform. When I told him that I had to leave the town on the same day, he
took out one new Chinese phone named Vellcome and told me that he sells it for
Rs. 900 but since I was from the army, he will give it for Rs. 700. I knew he
was not lying. For that price, the phone had a camera, dual sim holder and Fm radio.
I bought
the phone and called Linda immediately. She could make out that I was very low.
She reminded me that I had sacrificed a lot for this trip and told me that such
incidences should not let me hamper the trip. Her words infused new energy into
me and with that, I started riding again. Loved China for coming to my rescue.
It was already dark, and I was getting very late to reach my destination.
As I was riding hard to reach any place with a hotel, I heard a group of people
shouting something at me on the highway. I didn’t stop and continued riding.
After half an hour I reached a toll booth. One of the toll collectors walked
up to me and said that I had entered the Mumbai- Ahmedabad expressway and no two-wheelers were allowed in the expressway. He politely asked me to take a U-turn
and take a detour towards Ahmedabad. I took a U-turn accordingly and reached
the same point where I had heard some people shouting at me. It turned out that
the people shouting at me were the traffic cops trying to stop me from entering
the expressway. One of the traffic cops signalled me to park aside. I knew I was
in deep trouble. I had to gamble so I didn’t park aside, rather I rode up to him
and said, “Fauji hoon, Jammu
jaa raha hoon. Pata nahi tha ki expressway may bike allowed nahi hain” (I am
from the army and heading towards Jammu .
I didn’t know bikes were not allowed on the expressway). I didn’t blink and I
made eye contact with the cop who had signalled me to stop as I made the
statement. The two cops had a good look
at me. I was in full army gear. The other cop said, “ Jaanay dey, Fauji hain ”
( let him go, he is from the army). As soon as I heard that, I didn't wait for
the approval from the one who had stopped me and I rode off. Few more minutes
with those cops and I am sure I would have had a heart attack.
Just a few km after that escape, I was stopped by another group
of cops. They wanted to charge me for excess weight. This time too I told them
that I was from the army and heading to Jammu .
When they heard this, the cops even showed me a shorter way of reaching Ahmedabad.
Rain – no rain – rain – no rain continued all the way. The
detour to Ahmedabad was a dangerous stretch. There were no lights on the way,
the roads were very rough and muddy, and it was a very isolated place. If
something had happened to Chitti, help was nowhere close by. Chitti rode beautifully in that rough
condition. I knew it was very late and Linda was very worried about me as I had
not called her even by 9:30 pm, but I couldn’t stop anywhere as I thought it
was not safe. As the ride was bumpy, I dropped a bag containing rain cover pant
and a few t-shirts somewhere on the way. There were no hotels on the way, so I had
no choice but to reach Ahmedabad.
Finally reached Ahmedabad at 10 pm and checked in the first
hotel that I saw. While I was checking in, the receptionist was constantly
staring at me. I didn’t bother much as I wanted to dump my luggage and call
Linda immediately to let her know that I was safe. Once I dumped my luggage, I
went to wash my face and that’s when I noticed the reason why the receptionist
was staring at me. My face was
completely blackened after riding in the rain on that rough road. I was
surprised he gave me a room to stay in with that look.
I called Linda and
she was much relieved to hear me speak. She suggested me to try and fix the
phone in Ahmedabad at the authorized service center. She also sent me the
addresses of all the authorized service centers in Ahmedabad. Since I had to
stay in Ahmedabad for one extra day, I decided to give Chitti for servicing
too. This way I would not be wasting another day for my scheduled servicing.
At the end of the 4th day, I had covered 589 kms –
The longest in the entire trip.
(Do read the other days chronicle listed in the same page)
#Royalenfield #trip #leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel
#Royalenfield #trip #leh #bikeride #adventure #ladakh #travel
Bravo!!!
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