The Abdali Road Trip

The relationship between me & the wide-open roads is a romantic one and since I have relocated to Kuwait this romance has halted for a bit and I was itching to go back on the roads albeit this time not as a rider but as a co-passenger in a Car!!! And I didn’t mind it a single bit as at times enjoying the roads while sitting is also a great experience and I did the same during my July 2009 Mt. Abu “Abu AlphaMales Trip”…



My partner-in-rhyme this time was George, my friend here in Kuwait with whom I share a Motorcycling connection, he also owns 2 bullets back home and has been on Bike Rides down South. He recently bought a 2400 CC & 170 BHP strong Chevrolet Malibu car and we had thought of going for a road trip the day he bought the car…many weekends passed with the plan not materializing but this time we had nothing of it and come what may we were going on one and I was all excited to resume my romance!!!

After completing all the weekend chores (Read: cleaning my room & washing my clothes) we started the trip…don’t get surprised, I am a reformed man now!!! All on my own here and learning new tricks of the trade & loving each one of them…

But the big hoggers we are our first pit stop had to be a Lunch Break and we decided to have it in the Avenues Mall – the biggest shopping mall here and the one with the biggest food court as well, its humongous in size and on weekends is humming with people blabbering & eating away to glory, one can find literally all kinds of cuisines here & all major International food chain outlets here. I had my eyes set on a Hardees Grilled Chicken burger since last week only and my menu was set!!! George ordered a Butter Chicken meal and it was a sumptuous one for sure, I also had amazing Mango Juice with my Burger…we followed up the meal with a sutta each but then I saw the Häagen-Dazs Ice-cream Outlet and no power in this world could have stopped me from trying a new flavour there!!! I just loved the Cappuccino Crème Caramel Ice-cream I had…it was simply heavenly to say the least…





With our tummies full & heavy we finally started the 125-kms odd drive to the Iraqi Border known as Abdali…the roads were as expected smooth as silk and no wonder George was soon zipping at 120-130 kmph…I sat back and just started to enjoy the open roads with some nice music & my mind playing memory-games about the rides I have been to…Nostalgia had hit me hard!!!…I call them my own and this romance would surely continue till I die…

George’s car has the Cruise-Control feature and this time he had all plans to test it on the big-wide open roads…he started first with 120 kmph and then moved to 140 before hitting the 160 kmph mark and boy it was quick…but the car being such a nice & heavy machine we never felt we were speeding at 160 kmph and with no cabin noise whatsoever were enjoying immensely…but then I told him not to go overboard and come back to the 120 kmph speed…we were not in any sort of hurry and kept the Bakchodi flowing…





I must say that I would just love to get The Mighty One on those roads and zip it up to the maximum limit…literally no traffic…arid land on both the sides and great tarmac quality…but as we all know it would just remain a wish & I can just dream about it…



I badly needed a sutta-piss break & we stopped at a roadside Highway restaurant…sadly no Indian-style Dhabas here…this place was operated by an Indian who was so happy to see 2 Indians at his joint & chatted with us but had nothing great to eat so we decided just to have a lemonade each…and this was one life-changing experience for me…on a road trip & having a lemonade…things change rapidly…don’t they!!! Here I was drinking a bottle of Lemonade…a far cry from the Bike Ride days where Pit Stops meant only Child Beer to me & my comrades…full of sadness in our minds we clicked some pics and then decided to move forward…





After stopping here I thought about one thing...all of us talk about Job Satisfaction and the way we have to be continuously kept motivated by our employers and here were 2 Indians operating a small eatery literally in the middle of nowhere in such crazy climate & terrain and were still so happy to see us & chat to us...talks volumes about their level of motivations in life...chuck that bugger Arindam Choudhary and I would suggest people like these to some give motivational talks to the corporates & B-Schools out there!!!

We finally reached the Iraqi Border Post and from here we had to take a U-Turn and we did that and started the trip back home…the road on the other side had much fewer Traffic Cameras which made life easier for George and he was consistently driving over the permissible 120 kmph speed limit…



I was hungry again!!! Yes I was…so the next pit stop was a Burger King Restaurant…I decided to have a Hamour Fish Burger with a cup of cappuccino…Hamour is a type of fish exclusively found in the Gulf and is of an exotic variety and tastes amazingly well…I have had the grilled Italian version before which was simply delicious and the burger was also superb…the weather outside was getting very humid which made the Coffee-Sutta combo quite a sweaty one…I hurriedly finished it and straight went inside the car to get some AC relief…



And then finally our short Road Trip ended…some 170 kms long and had some real good fun…we promised each other that whenever my Kuwait Residency is stamped we would plan a Road Trip to Bahrain together…it would take some 5 hours to reach there and we would pass through Saudi Arabia to reach Bahrain…Inshallah our plan materializes fast…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe & have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

The Che Connection

This one is for you Adit Bhai…

Adit has been asking me about when & how the “Che Influence” came to my life and I haven’t been to tell him about that…well…the main reason has been “Beer”…he has always asked me this before a BBB Session and I have always got drunk and forgotten to tell him…but this time I have decided to pen down my thoughts once & for all…

I first read about Che quite accidently way back in January 2005 when I was surfing the internet in Office…I used to work at ABC Consultants in those days…read about him and left it at that & didn’t research further but just saved the link in my Favourites…2 months later once again accidently watched the 2nd half of the famous cult movie “The Motorcycle Diaries” on Zee Studio and my interest grew further…back at office the next day I went to my online friend – Wikipedia and researched further…the Che Guevara page there was quite lengthy but I still went through it entirely…and then my interest knew no limits...started to vociferously browse through innumerable links about Che and knowing more about his charismatic personality & his amazing adventures and achievements…also read through some of the sites talking about his follies & ruthless side…as always is the case even he had his follies and wasn’t always right…but for me I knew this would be one long relationship with a man who died way back in 1967…but left his legacy for generations to come…

Coincidently today is his 83rd Birth Anniversary as you read this…Che was born in a small town of Rosario at Argentina on 14th June 1928…I won’t write a biography here and you can know more about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_guevara - this Wikipedia page would tell you almost everything about the enigma called Che…

Che - 5 years old



The reason of my fascination was the fact that here was this man born in Argentina, grew up in Argentina, was educated as a Doctor, had severe Asthma since his childhood and fought against the mighty capitalist powers in Cuba, Guatemala, Congo & Bolivia where he had no personal interests to fight for the people but still had an undying urge to fight for the welfare & upliftment of the poverty-struck people & exploited by the Dictator regimes of these countries…yes he made mistakes mainly in Bolivia & Congo but still was victorious in defeating the CIA-backed dictator regime of Batista in Cuba with a handful of revolutionaries but wholeheartedly supported by the local population…and till date it has been one of the rare few victories where a small army has defeated the mighty Americans after their power grew post-independence…

Another reason for his influence on me was his famous 9-months & 8000 kms long Motorcycle Expedition through South America with his doctor friend Alberto Granada when he travelled through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and to Miami, before returning home to Buenos Aires and he got his calling during this journey when he saw the peasants being exploited by the Capitalist might without any way out…after coming back he had decided that he would do something for those people come what may…even if it meant loss of blood & lives…

The Motorcycle Diaries' Route Map



Che with La Poderosa



And this is how Che introduced this book called “The Motorcycle Diaries”…

"This isn't a tale of daring-do, nor is it merely some kind of 'cynical account'; it isn't meant to be, at least. It's a chunk of two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams. In nine months a man can think a lot of thoughts, from the height of philosophical conjecture to the most abject longing for a bowl of soup – in perfect harmony with the state of his stomach. And if, at the same time, he's a bit of an adventurer, he could have experiences which might interest other people and his random account would read something like this diary."

When I read this book I was moved after reading a specific chapter…Che & Alberto visited a Leper colony in Peru resided by Leprosy Patients and it was divided by a river with the healthy doctors, nurses & staff living on the other side…on the last night of their stay there was a birthday party thrown by the staff for Che and after dancing, drinking & having a great time Che felt an urge to visit the lepers across the river and celebrate with them as well but it was late in the night & no boat was available so he decided to swim through the river but the ice-cold water & his asthma made the swim a helluva tough task but as a true fighter he was determined to swim through and boy he was successful…he went and celebrated with the lepers and all of the patients were touched by his kind & mad gesture!!! This showed how brave & non-judgmental Che was…those were the times when lepers with seen & treated with ignominy and nobody wanted to even look at them but Che & Alberto spent time with them, played football with them and gave them memories of a lifetime…

I travelled to Thailand in May 2005 on a trip sponsored by ABC and in Bangkok I bought my first Che Tee just priced at 85 Bahts which at that time were almost Rs. 90 and I didn’t bargain for the price as I just wanted that tee for me…and till date that is one of my most prized possessions…that tee doesn’t fit me properly as I have gained quite a lot of weight since my post Pancreatitis Operation days but one thing is for sure that tee would always remain with me…always…

As of today I have a collection of 22 Che Tees and this count would surely continue to grow…I have bought my Che Tees from various cities - Delhi, Gurgaon, Bengaluru & Chennai plus got one customized tee with Che Embroidery from Leh as well…have got some as gifts from my friends…in fact my ex-boss Kshitij also gifted me one!!! My Fiancé Bandita also gifted me one awesome Che Tee which she bought from Gangtok, Sikkim and I loved her gesture!!!











I sincerely hope that youngsters out there just doesn’t blindly wear Che Tees without knowing anything about him and just being a part of the Pop-Culture related to Che which is so sad & tragic…one incident comes to my mind…I met one of this young yankee type of 22-23 years wearing a superb Che Tee which I didn’t have and nonchalantly asked him from where he bought the tee and does he know about Che…he indifferently replied “Boss, I don’t know who this guy is but liked the design so bought it!!!” I really despise such people and hope some good sense prevails!!!

I got my 2nd Tattoo on 22nd April 2007 and no wonder it was a Che Guevara tattoo and I got a Che caricature engraved by my Tattoo Artiste Buddy Hendry…this tattoo would always have a special place in my heart out of the 8 tattoos I have!!!



I also ordered official & authentic Che Memorabilia from the official Che Memorial website named www.che-lives.com and the items I ordered were 2 Che Shirts, one Che Wallet, 1 Che Jacket & 1 Che Beanie Cap…really awesome stuff…little expensive but worth every rupee spent!!! Thanks to Anirudh Verma for helping me with this collection…



My ex-UHG Colleague and a very good friend of mine Neesha Roy got an awesome Che Backpack from her Dubai Trip and I just love it…its really exclusive and I haven’t seen anybody else using it yet!! Thanks Neesha…

One of the most endearing & popular images on Che Tees is the one in which he is gazing and his look is of anguish & pain as he was attending a memorial service for victims of an explosion which took place in Cuba. This photograph was clicked on March 5, 1960 by a photographer named Alberto Korda at Havana in Cuba. The picture which you see on the tees is a modified one and has been cropped…

Korda with his treasure



The Original Pic



The Cropped "Che" Cult Pic



The camera which Korda used was a Leica M2 and coincidently I have clicked almost all my pics till date using a Panasonic Lumix camera which has a Leica Lens!!! Talk of coincidences!!!

This photograph was named as "the most famous photograph in the world." by The Maryland Institute of Art on May 26, 2001.

But my favourite Photograph of Che is this one…as they say a picture speaks a thousand words…this photograph was clicked by Elliott Erwitt in 1964…



I have had some amazing conversations with complete strangers here and they have been really incredible. Whenever I have worn a Che Tee and went to a Shopping Mall Arab Males have stopped me & asked me from where did I buy the Tee as they are not available here in Kuwait, couple of them have even given me tee orders to get the same tee from India for them!!! Nice to see some Che enthusiasts here as well and that has been the only reason for them to strike conversations with me as rarely one finds Arabs talking to Indians if they don’t know them!!!



I also started to buy lots of books either written by or on Che Guevara…out of them the books written by Che in my collection are:

1. The Motorcycle Diaries: A Journey around South America
2. Guerilla Warfare
3. The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto Che Guevara
4. Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War

And the ones written by others about or on him in my collection are:

1. Che Guevara by David Sandison
2. Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary by Alberto Granado
3. Tania: Undercover With Che Guevara in Bolivia by Ulises Estrada

And even after this fondness I was not able to watch the complete movie but then my friend got me the original DVD of “The Motorcycle Diaries” and finally I was able to watch it in 2007…since then I have also watched/bought a number of Video Films/Documentaries about/on him…

1. The Motorcycle Diaries (film), Directed by Walter Salles(DVD gifted by my friend)
2. Che (Part 1 & Part 2), Directed by Steven Soderbergh(Jatt Jagga gave me this movie after downloading from the Internet)
3. The True Story of Che Guevara, The History Channel, Directed by Maria Wye Berry (DVD gifted by my friend)
4. The Hands of Che Guevara, Directed by Peter De Kock.(Dips & me watched this movie together at Epicentre, Gurgaon)
5. El Che and Tracing Che, Castle Home Video, Directed by Lawrence Elman(Bought this DVD from Landmark, Gurgaon)
6. Che Guevara – A Documentary (Watched it online @ http://listenrecovery.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/che-guevara-documentary-6-part-film/ )

The full collection of Art works related to Che can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_related_to_Che_Guevara

Inspired by Che & his legendary Motorcycle Journey I bought a 2nd Hand Royal Enfield Electra in March 2008, re-designed it and named it “The Mighty One”, this was also the name of the Norton 500 bike of Alberto Granado on which they rode through South America…and since then have been riding through India on my bike to various locations on an endless journey of adventure & challenges…

The "Original" Mighty One



The Mighty One at Murthal



The Mighty One enroute Chail



Till date I have been on 20 Motorcycle Rides and have traversed a little more than 20,000 kms on these journeys and hope to conquer some more roads whenever I am back to India…

And my favourite & toughest ride was “The Mountain Tamers” Ride to Ladakh in June 2008 and as all of you I am one crazy freak and I followed those words by taking a Haircut at Drass enroute from Srinagar to Leh and it was one whacky cut I got!!! I got Che engraved on the back of my head and it looked uber cool to me at least…don’t know about the others though…my fellow motorcyclists were too shocked to see my haircut and didn’t say any words!!!



One of the most important contributions of Che apart from his more famous revolutionary image was that he worked for the development of the people who needed it the most…and inspired by his deeds I started teaching poor kids who were students at an NGO named “Shree Guru Nanak Dev Society” in Gurgaon from July 2008 and followed it till February 2010 when I moved to here in Kuwait and I badly miss those kids…so much of talent & energy but lack of resources mean that they can’t study at more systematic schools but I am sure with Khurana Sir’s(he runs this NGO) dedication all the kids there would get admitted to good schools where they can study and hopefully become self-sustained in time to come…

Whenever I am back in India for good I would love to re-start the relationship with that school and start teaching again as it gave me immense satisfaction and so much of pride when students from our school go admitted to some of the most prestigious schools in Gurgaon and that was a proud moment for me & the other teachers…

I also ordered Che Posters from allposters.com and got them delivered to India from the US and then got them framed…these 5 amazing posters adorn my room’s walls in Gurgaon!!!





Some of Che’s quotes which have inspired me and make perfect sense to me are:

1. Hasta La Victoria Siempre. (Until victory always)
2. Eat, Drink & be Merry, for tomorrow we die.
3. It is better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.
4. Let me say at the risk of seeming ridiculous but a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of Love.
5. I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves.
6. One must harden without ever losing tenderness.
7. If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.
8. The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.
9. The desire to sacrifice an entire lifetime to the noblest of ideals serves no purpose if one works alone.
10. Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians.
11. In a revolution one wins or dies, if it is a real one.
12. We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.
13. He vivido días magníficos(I have lived magnificent days) – In his last letter to Fidel Castro
14. Many will call me an adventurer, and that I am... only one of a different sort: one who risks his skin to prove his truths. – In his last letter to his parents
15. Your father has been a man who acted according to his beliefs and certainly has been faithful to his convictions. – In his last letter to his children

And last but not the least…his last words to the assassin who was sent to shoot him to Death after getting captured by CIA-backed Bolivian Army on 9th October 1967…

“I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.”

Mind-numbing this line is…

One of my biggest dream is to visit Cuba & Argentina one day and visit Rosario where Che grew up & visit the Che Museum where all his memorabilia is displayed & the Che Mausoleum where his remains were buried…hope this wish comes true in the near future…Amen to that…

Some cynics might call this "Che Connection" as Idol Worship and going overboard with it but for me its a passion & inspiration and I get a strange feeling of strength & determination stemming from it...

And Che surely has been one of the strongest influences on my life & my philosophy towards life…though I have not embraced his violent philosophy but really respect his revolutionary, adventurous & developmental views and hopefully would continue to follow them in the future as well…

This has been one blog-post I always wanted to write but don’t know why never wrote it!!! Thanks to Adit I wrote this one and feel really good about it…so many thoughts came to my mind while writing it…

Special Thanks to Jatt Jagga – Jagmeet Singh Virdee for making the photo collages for me…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe & have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

3 Days...Memories of a Lifetime...

Life always has pit-loads of surprises in store for me and I love meeting them head-on & give them my best shot…and as I write this, last week at this very time I was drinking away to glory in Gurgaon with my best buddies just having fun knowing that it was all possible due to some divine intervention!!!

Yes, I travelled to India for a very short trip of 3 days and had fun worth 300 days…

The Reason…

Some of you might have thought that I had planned this trip well in advance but well quite contrary to that this trip took its shape in almost an hour!!! I was in office oblivious of the fact that my visit-visa renewal application had been rejected by the Ministry here in Kuwait, the Government Services told me at 4 PM about this and I was completely taken aback, a frantic process then started to book my tickets for Dubai as I had to fly out of Kuwait before 12 Midnight on 26th May 2010 to avoid any Government action, the tickets were blocked but then I asked them what about my Dubai Visa and nobody had an idea about that!!! What a revelation!!! I was given an idea to go to India for which obviously I needed no Visa and I just pounced on that idea; I mean who would say no to going back home on a company-paid trip!!! And the best was yet to come, due to paucity of time only the Business Class tickets were available, inside I just laughed out loud, Gulf Air Business Class is one of the world’s best, I had to go via Bahrain & left office at sharp 5:30 PM to begin a journey about which nobody knew back home…and to say that I was excited would be an understatement!!!

Kuwait –Bahrain – Delhi

I reached home, just picked up a bag and then reached the Airport at 7 PM for a 10 PM Flight…and travelling by Business Class has its own special advantages, you have a different counter to check-in and relax in the Business Class Lounge at the Airport with some hot coffee!!! I indulged in all of this and just passed my time roaming around in the Duty-Free shops & just could not wait to get on the flight and have some chilled beer!!! And the best part was that I was travelling in my Che Tee, Jeans and Slippers and I am sure I would be one of the first to travel in such an attire on Business Class, people gave me weird looks and must have been wondering "iske paas itne paise kahan se aa gaye!!!". With Kuwait being a dry country the flight back home is always ultra-special…had a nice snack of Chicken & Prawns with Amstel Light Beer and within some 40 odd minutes was in Bahrain, quickly bought 2 bottles of Liquer for my collection back home; this time it was a South African Cream Liquer and Italian Peach-flavoured Vodka…also picked some Bahrain Memorabilia for home…then got on to the flight from Bahrain-Delhi, the plan was clear, enjoy my sumptuous dinner with another round of chilled beer(this time Carlsberg) and then slept through the 3.5 hours flight, the seats were really comfortable with a relaxing back-massage feature; with this sleep came in no time and I woke up finally at 6:15 AM moments before we were about to land, saw Delhi from the top and my excitement was simply uncontrollable. As I was carrying no check-in luggage I exited in no time, booked a cab for Gurgaon and was up & away for another trip of a lifetime!!!

The Homecoming…

The heat & humidity was omnipresent but I didn’t mind it at all. All I wanted was to see my parents’ shocking expression on their faces when I would reach home and meet them without any prior notice…as I reached home went inside without making any sound and tapped my mummy on her back while she was reading newspaper without any wildest idea that I was just behind her!!! The moment she saw me tears started to trickle from her eyes and I went numb…hadn’t see my mother crying since ages and I got really emotional and hugged her lightly & soon it changed to a happy mood and she just could not control her happiness, papa also came out to the garden and said “abe tu kaise aa gaya?” I hugged him so tightly; wish that moment never passed by!!! And then mummy cooked one of my favourite breakfast snacks – Poha for me and I just lounged at home!!! Enjoying every moment of it…dumped in my washroom and re-lived the good-old days!!!

The Next Surprise…

The next POA was to go to my Bhai’s home and give them another big shock…when we reached Bhabhi opened the door and then another shocking look welcomed me!!! Bhai shouted like mad and hugged me and then the best moment of the trip came when I saw my nieces…Chunni came running towards me and said “Chachuuuuuuuuuuuu”; Guggi was cautious in her approach as she was trying to locate me in her system!!! But slowly she also started playing merrily with me and talking in her own gibberish style which I am simply crazy for…Bhai had cooked some amazing Chicken Biryani and mummy had brought another of my favorites – Baingan ka Bharta!!! After indulging in some much-needed home cooked food I just lounged around with the kids and playing with them as if there was no tomorrow!!!

The Lazy Evening…

All of us reached Gurgaon for another big family bash and the plan was clear in my mind…I had decided that I would have all 9 meals of this trip at home and no outside food, I have had enough of them here at Kuwait and mummy was too excited to hear this…all of us had dinner together and then me & Bhai went to Machaan for a round of beer…this time my favourite – Tuborg…the official beer of BOP!!! After having such a heavy dinner just had 1 beer but Bhai was in no mood to stop and had Corona after Corona…finally an ugly dust storm made him budge and we literally had to run to our car to stay away from the dust…Gurgaon is in such a construction mess that there is no dearth of dust here and the storm made the matters worse…reached home at some 1 AM and then finally slept…sadly the 1st day of my 3-days trip was over and I was really sad…

The Bullet day…

Woke up late and had my breakfast…then me 7 Bhai went o pick up my Bhai’s bullet to get it repaired at Zaheer’s…let me tell you Bhai’s Bullet Machismo 1999 is the first Bullet I ever rode and it has some really special memories for me…I roamed around on it in my college days and some wonderful moments of my life riding it!!! And when I started the Bullet Thump never sounded better…it was symphony for my ears and then I rode it till Zaheer’s…had rode The Mighty One in March 2010 and these 2 months of separation felt like 2 years!!! And when Zaheer saw me he just could not react for some 2-3 minutes, after that it was another tight hug and then our legendary Bakchodi!!!

Che goes to UHG again…

I had to go to my old office and see my office friends and more importantly meet Arunima and have tea at the Cyber Park Food Court(FC as me & Dips call it)…I met Arunima and was so happy to see her…though have been in constant touch with her through calls, SMS & chats but still meeting her after 2 months was really special…I reached my bay and then there was commotion all over the place…my entire team simply could not believe their eyes and made wild sounds of oohs & aahs!!! Me & Arunima then went for a sutta together and relived our good-old days together…then I went to see my HR Head Riyaz whom I am really fond of and I was simply elated to see him…then me & Dips went to enjoy our Tea Session at the FC and also enjoyed Baadaam Milk together…

The Promise…

I had promised my niece Chunni that I would take her out for her favourite activity – Bungee Jumping at one of the Malls in Gurgaon and as promised I took her and she had a ball…did it twice and also had her favourite chicken hot-dog…seeing the smile on her face makes my life really worthwhile and I can do anything possible to see her smiling…she is the one I love the most in this world…



Vedaant ki Dhaani re-loaded!!!





I had another heavy dinner and then went to the Vedaant ki Dhaani…a Govermnet-approved drinking place where BOP have had some legendary BBB sessions…Sunny, Rohan, Dips & Vihans Paaji also joined in…the weather was getting better and am sure God was also getting generous in his mood and must have thought that this guy has come for just 3 days, let me make the weather better and give everybody some relief!!! We had a long Bakchodi session with loud laughter, the newly launched Tuborg Strong Beer and pit-loads of chicken!!! Called it quits at 12 midnight as the next day had an ultra-special plan and had to wake up early…I was dead drunk while riding back home and the moment we reached home I puked!!! Was so good to puke after such a long time!!!

The BOP Tijara Titans…

http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/06/bop-tijara-titans.html

And then it rained...

Everybody knows about the heat in India this year and it has been particulary bad in North India but as some of you very well know by now that the relationship between me & the rains is a very special one...they never miss an opportunity to treat me when I am around...I brought rains & good weather to Kuwait and this time as well the rains blessed us...at around 4 PM on 29th May 2010 it rained...even though just for 15-20 minutes but stil it brought much-needed respite to the parched people...hope this lovely relationship blossoms further in the future!!!


The last evening at home…





I came back at 12 PM and mummy had cooked Rajma-Chawal, another of my all-time favourite, I gorged on it and then played with Chunni-Guggi and just talking to my parents about my Kuwait experiences, how I spent my time there and how life is different there…they were all ears and heard my stories excitedly…inside me I knew the time was ticking away and I just had few hours remaining at home…completed all my shopping tasks in the evening and came back home for dinner…then Guggi took over as she was in a hyper-active mood and was a bundle of energy till midnight…never stopped and kept playing with me…I finally slept at 1 AM and had to wake up at 4:30 AM to get to the airport for my flight back to Kuwait at 6:45 AM…

The Mishaps…

Both the flights were relatively any special incident free and I didn’t have any beer as had to join office straight from the airport…but when I landed in Kuwait the troubles started again…it was actually God’s way of bringing me back to the ground after the 3 fun-filled days…first my Kuwait SIM Card was not functioning and to make matters worse my check-in baggage never reached Kuwait, after searching frantically for it I logged a complaint at the helpdesk and they tracked my luggage to Bahrain…it was shocking because I was flying Business Class and in spite of that fact my baggage was not transferred at Bahrain…but I was told that it would be surely arriving in Kuwait the same day and was told not to worry…I was extremely tense as I had some really important stuff in that baggage…with these 2 miseries I reached office where tones of work was waiting for me as I am handling some critical hiring projects and I knew the upcoming week was not going to be too easy…

Luckily I received my baggage with everything intact and I heaved a big sigh of relief…once again got lucky as I heard some horror stories of mishandled baggage at Bahrain from my colleagues…they had never ever received their baggage once it got lost at Bahrain!!!

Finally the frantic trip came to end; filled with so much emotions of all kinds…exhilaration on the road, reunion with the Bullet, Beer with my Bhai, seeing so many shocked faces, yummy food cooked by my mummy, the gala time with my nieces, the chilled beer, Bakchodi with BOP buddies, going back to UHG, the tea at FC, the business class experience and the mishandled baggage misery!!!

Could not have asked God for more and just can’t thank him enough for these 3 days…wish I can make more such trips back home and have the same amount of fun!!!

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe & have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

The BOP Tijara Titans

The relationship between a Motorcycle & a motorcyclist is an extremely special one and when the opportunity for a rendezvous after a separation becomes available the relationship grows even stronger...my relationship with Bullet & the roads became stronger when I travelled to India for a surprise 3-days trip and also got an opportunity to do a short ride!!! I was part of the destination planning in Kuwait but never ever thought in the wildest of my dreams that I would make it to the ride but God has his own ways of making things possible for me and this time it was no different!!!

I reached India on Thursday 27th May 2010 and didn’t tell any of my biking buddies about it, but the next day called up Dips & Vihans and told me, it was quite funny as they first thought that either of my parents were calling from my India and when they heard my voice were pleasantly surprised…then I sent a mail to the Tijara Mail Chain announcing my grand arrival and my confirmation for the ride…soon the 2 confirmed members swelled to 11 and the ride was becoming bigger & better!!! In spite of the fact that when I am around I am the one who speaks the most people still want to ride along with me and hear my loud voice blaring all the way!!! It’s nice to know this actually!!! It was also to be Sunny’s last ride with BOP before shifting to Chennai and when Zaheer also confirmed I was extremely happy…he has his own Bakchodi style and it’s real fun!!! My Pulsar 220 buddies – Dhruv & Adit also joined in and I had a feeling this ride would be special!!!



The destination was Tijara – some 80 odd kms from Gurgaon…it’s an abandoned fort near Alwar nestled in a sleepy village of Tijara and built on a hilltop…me & Dips had planned to conquer this fort since long and finally our plans came through this time…within an year this fort would be converted into a Heritage Hotel Property by the Neemrana Group of Hotels and would have some exorbitant entry fees so it was the best time to visit it before it becomes out of bound for us poor motorcyclists!!!

And this fort has a history of love & deceit…

The king of Alwar Bakhtawar Singh fell in love with a Muslim girl from a nearby village. Her mother allowed him to marry her under one condition that their son would become the next king. The King accepted the offer and married the woman even though he already had a son that was in line to be crowned. They resided together in Alwar, 50 kilometres away from this fort in Tijara. When the son became old enough to become king, they started building this fort in Tijara. The king was dishonest and still had plans for his eldest son to become the king. He told his half Muslim son that he must experience war before he could become King. He suited up to fight and was murdered by a couple of the King’s servants. Shortly after, his mother had died too and the construction of the fort was never completed. It also houses Rani Moosi ka Mehal, who was queen of the King and committed sati on his death.

This YouTube Video quite vividly describes this fort…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6pplr9B-Gs

The Tijara Titans were:

Sunny on his RE Standard
Zaheer on his “Udhaar ki” RE self-modified 535
Asok on his RE Electra 4S
Rishi on his RE Standard
Bantu on his RE Electra 5S
Vihans on his FZ-16
Rohan Kaushik on his Pulsar 180
Adit on his Pulsar 220
Dhruv on his Pulsar 220
Dips on his RE Electra 4S
Che Guevara on his old companion RE Machismo

The Early Start…

Surprisingly I, Vihans & Rohan reached well on time in spite of the fact that we slept at 1 AM all drunk & high and even with a long power cut we could manage some sleep!!! Bantu had already reached and he looked as if he never slept in the night!!! I called up Dhruv as he was the only one missing & he is not the one not to come after his confirmation, he missed his alarm but promised that he would “catch up” and with his age & P220 bike I was sure he would be with us very soon!!! We started the ride at 5:20 AM after some customary pics and our BOP style early-morning Bakchodi…



Traffic @ 6 AM…



NH-8 was as always full of traffic even this early and we even hit a bad traffic jam and I was on my Bhai’s bike which has a handle-bar with which I am not the most comfortable with, it was a pain wriggling my way out of the jam but somehow we all managed and were soon zipping away on the breezy NH-8. For a change I was not riding very quickly and was in the middle of the pack just soaking in the fun & thrill of being back on the roads after a 5-months long hiatus from a bike ride (my last long-distance ride was my 1000 kms long Amritsar Aakraamaks Ride in December 2009). We stopped at the Dharuhera cut to have some water & sutta and also to wait for Dips who was riding slowly due to the piston change on his bike; Ashok was providing him company…The weather was quite pleasant and there was still no signs of the dreary heat & sunshine…phew!!!

Recipe for Disaster…



Whenever Dips tries his hands at Map-Reading we know we are up for a disaster…this time also he was carrying a map and the moment he opened it and TRIED reading it we stopped him then & there as nobody was in a mood to follow the route told by him but still Dips tried his best to convince us that he knew the rout…a nice try but didn’t succeed!!!

Tea-Time…



We made our first pit-stop for a tea break filled with a longish BBB session with some fake soft drinks giving us company and the Bhujiya giving us the snaky feeling!!! Here a special mention goes to Vihans Paaji who mixed the namkeen into his tea…quite innovative I must say!!! We bid farewell to the Dhaba and started the final leg towards the Tijara Fort. And rode on some amazing village roads, this is one special part about Rajasthan that even the interior village roads are in some pristine conditions…



“Abe Beer kahan hai???”



Me & Sunny reached the fort first after riding through some thick vegetation and finding our way through a the broken sandy uphill road…the final climb was quite exciting and gave us a great off-roading opportunity…the moment we reached 2 caretakers of the property came and told us to go back as this place was out-of-bounds…I encountered him by asking for some papers and as expected he had none, he tried his best but we were in no mood to listen…soon all 11 motorcyclists were together and he lost any chance of convincing us…size does matter!!! And then the legendary dialogue of the ride was blurted out by Vihans - “Abe Beer kahan hai???” with this those 2 losers retreated hastily as they knew we would be here for a long time…

Discovery Time…



Dips was the first to start the fort-discovery trip armed with his titanium knee and wandered his way through to find the perfect spot for the BOP BBB Session and in no time we all followed him…the designated spot had some much needed shade and a nice view of the valley below…Rohan started building a bridge with small pebbles – quite industrious to say the least; me & Vihans identified a hill on the other side and bought it hastily so that nobody else could stake a claim over it, we even decided to build a small little home there and also the kind of vegetation which would be grown!!! Both to keep us intoxicated and to provide a business opportunity!!! What business acumen we have got!!! The beer bottles were opend and the Bakchodi was flowing in the air…History tells us that nothing can stop us when we are in a fort with beer in our hands…BOP has a strong affinity to forts and we keep conquering new ones quite frequently…



And the shirt I was wearing that day surely matched the mood of fun & frolic that day...it was a shocker to some as I rarely wear such shirts always sticking to my black Che tees but I was in a gala mood and the shirt just proved the point !!! check it out for yourself...the Jury is already out!!!



The back door entry



The beer soon finished and we were left high & dry so we decided to sneak our way into the fort which was completely abandoned, we jumped inside through the back door and were greeted by thousands of bats making irritating screeching sounds and shitting away to glory…it’s a nauseating feeling I must say…when we reached inside our imagination ran wild…Queens, Bathing & Massage sessions, night romps and what not was discussed…we went up through the stairs and witnessed some amazing views of the valley and our motorcycles below…



Pics, pics & some more pics…





Sunny Paaji was in a special mood that day and wanted himself to be clicked at every possible opportunity…no wonder he is looking frantically for girls and would send them pics of this fort conquest…atleast the girls would fall for his adventurous streak as there is nothing else to fall for!!! In fact this time surprisingly even Dips asked for some solo shots and shockingly looking straight at the camera…Dhruv clicked some amazing pics of the BOP Logo Tees as well…



Maurya’s moment of glory…

We always click one customary group pic using the Auto Click feature and my camera was to do the honours but as always Maurya Bhai tried to cash in but sadly his camera skills are as bad as his oratory skills and he miserably failed but his failure provided us with one of the best-ever BOP Group Shots I must say…so many teeth visible in one single pic are quite rare!!! Whatever said & done Maurya with his histrionics was the reason for this amazing shot…



The Descent…



Riding downhill is always tricky and I love this challenge & all of us rode downhill like true champions…Sunny & I also stopped for a bit and clicked some nice shots of the fort…we even stopped to enjoy some cold water from the hand pump which is always fun…old memories come running to my mind during this time…and as always we caught the fancy of the villagers shocked to see us in this sleepy village in the heat of the day!!!



Ganne ka Juice Time…



Ganne ka Juice or Sugarcane juice (for the uninitiated) is the best thirst-quencher on a hot & humid day and it was lapped-up by all of us plus it provides some much-needed glucose energy…

Ride back home…

I wanted to reach home early for 2 reasons…A – the heat was becoming unbearable and B – Wanted to spend the last few hours left in my trip with my family so I zipped back and reached home at 12 PM…mummy welcomed with her normal dialogue “ Kapde badal lo aur jaldi se naha lo, khaana tayyar hai”…She is most worried about my clothes more than me!!! I don’t know why though!!!

A special mention for Maurya & Dips…Rishi successfully completed his first ride after his horrific accident during The Ranthambore Rapiers Ride and for Dips as this was the 1st ride of his comeback-with-a-vengeance riding journey after his knee operation…

A special thanks to my Bhai who gave me his 1999 RE Bullet Machismo for this ride, I have special memories attached with this bike as this was the first Bullet I ever rode and went for some really memorable city rides during my college days…

Finally the 170 kms & 7 hours long ride ended…till date my shortest ride…made memorable by my Motorcycling Buddies…thanks to all of them who made it to the ride…could not have asked for more…even in a 3 days trip I could manage a ride!!! Unbelievable but true!!!

JAI BOP…

It’s so good to be back on my cheguevaraontheroad blog after 5 months and hope I can be back here in another 5 months time…Inshallah…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe & have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…


Pics of the Ride:
My Camera: http://picasaweb.google.com/jha.nishant/TheBOPTijaraTitans?feat=directlink
Dhruv’s Camera: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/manurules07/BOPTijaraTitans
Maurya’s Camera: http://picasaweb.google.com/technowizzz/TijaraTitans02?authkey=Gv1sRgCKO1uon0v92_Fg#
Adit’s Camera: http://picasaweb.google.com/aditsharda/TijaraTitans#