The BoP Chittorgarh Cavaliers

BoP always does things in style & with grandeur and our 3rd Anniversary Celebrations were no different, Dips & I had decided on the destination quite early but kept it as a surprise till I sent the official Ride Invite in September and a surprise it surely was…our destination was Chittorgarh, a quaint little town in Rajasthan with a rich history of Pride, Valor & Bravery, our comrades were expecting Jodhpur or Udaipur but our choice blew them away…since my childhood I had a dream to see the Victory Tower or Vijay Stambh and what better way to achieve my dream with a Bike Ride and that too BoP’s 3rd Anniversary Ride…

We have been to Pushkar & Ranthambore on our previous 2 Anniversaries as is the tradition of our club that we would celebrate our Anniversary with a Ride to a Destination in Rajasthan. We had some avoidable & unfortunate incidents in both those rides & this time I was hoping for a smooth & trouble-free ride and boy-oh-boy God heard me right!!! The ride was as expected full of fun & drama but no tragedy!!! The only sad part was that we couldn’t have any of our non-BoP Comrades in this ride as this is a BoP-special Ride and only BoPians are allowed…

We kept this ride as a 3-days ride to ensure maximum participation but sadly in the end we had only 9 confirmed participants as we were expecting a minimum count of 15, we booked the hotel at Chittorgarh, I got the route & travel maps ready and also did the pre-ride celebration party at Adda in Gurgaon which was also the Farewell Party for Fagu who was leaving for Bengaluru to take up a new job there. So things were hot & ready for the Anniversary Celebrations…and we had a ball…

Read on to find out the story of The BoP Chittorgarh Cavaliers…

The Cavaliers were:
1. Dips on his Black Electra
2. Doegar on his Black TB
3. Asok on his Red Electra
4. Zaheer as Asok’s Pillion
5. Fagu on his Chrome 500 Machismo
6. Khanna on his Silver Electra (with Brand New Alloys!!!)
7. Vikas on his Maroon Modified Beast
8. Topgun on his Red Electra
9. Che on The Mighty One

A delayed start…

The plan was to start by 5:15 AM but we could only start at 5:45 AM as some of the riders were late and we waited for Khattri & Topgun to appear, and as expected when we called up Topgun he was still sleeping & we asked him to catch-up but there was no news of Khattri & sadly we didn’t have his number as well so we started without any whereabouts of him. With loud chants of “Jai BoP” we started our 3rd Anniversary Ride on a big high; me & Dips have attended all 3 of them and for us it is a big achievement…3 years, 30 rides, 23,645 kms & countless memories of fun, camaraderie and so many fellow comrades; some have stayed on & some have been kicked out but the spirit of BoP remains fresh as ever the way it was on a cold winter morning in November 2007 when the first meet of “Gurgaon Cruisers” (our club was known by this name then) was held at the same place- Leisure Valley Park from where we started this ride…hope our spirit & passion can stay the same and we would celebrate our 10th Anniversary in 2017…Inshallah…

Breakfast Tradition…

We rode at an amazing pace and within an hour had traversed 80 odd kms, our first pit-stop was the same Highway Dhaba where we ate during our 2009 Anniversary Ride to Ranthambore, the weather was quite chilly so hot tea & Paranthas were gobbled up like there was no tomorrow, after an hour-long break we started with heavy tummies and our next target in mind which was to stop only after covering 100 kms…this was to be the trend throughout the ride for the Cavaliers…

Meeting a Friend…

Me & Dips stopped enroute to meet a Dhaba Owner on NH-8 who helped us last year when Rishi Maurya had met with a horrific accident, he had parked Dips’ Bike at his Dhaba and for 3 days kept it under his security, meeting him was just to show our gratitude for what he did to us and he was also very delighted to see us and I would never forget his lines when he saw me, when I asked him “Yaad aaya main kaun hoon?” he replied “Sir, aapko kaise bhool sakta hoon, aap bhoolne waale bande nahin ho”, I shared a sutta with him and we bid him Goodbye promising him to meet him again one day when we would be on a NH-8 Ride again…

A Smoke with Strangers…

I blasted my way through NH-8 & then NH-79 and finally took a break after some 100 kms and there was a big gap between me & the rest of the comrades, once again I stopped at the same spot where I had stopped during our 1st Anniversary Ride to Pushkar ; see I am a man of traditions!!! Atleast Motorcycling Traditions…there was a very interesting incident here, 2 guys stopped when they saw me and told me “Chittorgarh ja rahe ho naa?”, and I was shocked, I mean how could they guess our destination & when I asked him one of the guys replied – “Sir, hum gaadi ki sadak pe pakad dekh ke bata dete hain ki kaun kahan ja raha hai”…we shared a Sutta together and then came another killer statement – “Sir aaj dekh liya ki Dilli dilwaalon ka sheher hai – aapne humein imported cigarette pilaayi, mazaa aa gaya”. The fact is when you offer & share a cigarette with any stranger a special bond is made and the reason is you just don’t share a smoke but you share your own stories as well, these 2 guys told us the correct route as well and when they left they said “Sir, aise hi ghoomte raho, bahut accha laga aapse mil ke”. While lounging at the Dhaba when we were waiting for Vinamra to join us I just browsed through the newspaper & the cover page provided us with the news of heavy rains & hailstorms in many areas of Rajasthan, we hoped the worst was over but we were to experience rains all over again…that too in November & in the desert state of Rajasthan…

And then it rained…

Soon the rest of the comrades joined & we had a tea break but all of us were getting jittery on seeing the grey skies, heavy rain clouds were building up so we got our rain gear ready and started the next leg, some 10 kms into it heavy rains lashed us and there were no signs of it abating even a single bit so kept tugging along in the heavy rains which lasted for some 35 odd kms & all of us were drenched but there was no point of waiting for the rains to stop as the clouds were getting darker every minute, finally the rains ended & there were clear skies again & some amazing sunshine, we got dried up as well but then the rains started again & lasted for another 20-odd kms, I was talking to God and pleading him to stop the rains and asking for his mercy as I find riding in rains very difficult due to my specks, finally he heard me and the rains stopped…I know he screws us hard but in the end shows us the way…always!!!

A bad-bad lunch…

It was already 4 PM & all of us badly needed a Lunch break, after stopping & enquiring at 4 Dhabas I finally stopped at the fifth one unable to control my hunger anymore but bad food was in store for us…to thwart the rain demons away I went ahead to do my ritual….yes you got it right…an open-air DUMP!!! After relieving myself I reached the lunch table and was disappointed to the core, the food was awful, had no taste, no spices and the rotis were not cooked properly. But all of us were quite tired, wet & hungry to go to another place so all we did was to complain & still eat!!!

Beer Pit Stop…

We rode for some 100 more kms till we reached the outskirts of Chittorgarh & while we were waiting for Fagu & Topgun to join us Dips spotted a Theka and then we had no other options left than to enjoy some Child Bear before we hit our hotel, it was our first beer break since starting from Gurgaon so was well-deserved!!! And the time was 6:00 PM, we could not believe our eyes, in 12 hours we had covered 540 odd kms and that too with 3-4 breaks & riding through rains for some 45 kms & this was a big feat for us as rarely we had reached our destination so early with so many riders…BoP is now setting some new distance records & that too in large groups so we have decided to up the ante now, in the future we are planning to cover 750 kms in a day especially if we are covering Rajasthan or NH-1. The NH-79 roads were amazing to ride on but I loved to ride on NH-11(enroute Bikaner) than this one…

Royal Welcome…

We reached Hotel Pratap Palace after riding through the city roads of Chittorgarh & vrooming our way to glory, Chittorgarh took notice of the Cavaliers & everybody’s eyes were stuck on us, and once we reached the hotel we blasted our signature thumps once again and shouted loud chants of “Jai BoP” & the best part was that the Hotel Staff joined the chorus!!! Our rooms were decorated with Rose Petals & Marigolds, not the kind of welcome decorations we are used to as we have stayed in Hotels with stained bedsheets, leaking roofs & smelly curtains but we were delighted to see our spacious rooms & basked in the glory!!!
The next agenda was plain & simple, a BBB Session in the Hotel Lawns and the ammunition was ready too, I had got Glenfiddich – 12 years matured from the Qatar Duty-Free for the Anniversary BBB Celebrations and it was the perfect drink we deserved in the royal land of Rajasthan celebrating our 3rd Anniversary…there was one exception though, Fagu didn’t like the taste of Glenfiddich and left his drink incomplete & Vinamra was furious at him for wasting the Scotch…

Laal-Maas…

After the 3-hours long fun-filled BBB Session we were ready for the Big Supper…Laal Maas…The Rajasthani Delicacy, we had previously enjoyed it during our Mt. Abu Trip & The Bikaner Boomerangs Ride & we were ready for an encore, it was laid out for us in the Dining Hall and once we started eating there were no noises whatsoever, just the slurping sounds were audible for the next 20 minutes, we were that focused!!! We finished our wholesome dinner and ended the night early at 11:30 PM…another first for us…we were ready for the Chittorgarh Fiesta for the next day…

Chillaxed Breakfast…

All of us went for the breakfast at 8:30 AM and were treated to some Poori-Aloo & Poha and this was part of our Bed & Breakfast Tariff Plan and it tasted yum…but our Metrosexual Fagu had other plans, he ordered a customized breakfast as he didn’t enjoy the stuff part of the Buffet…he had Vegetable Sandwich, Omelette & Orange Juice & as expected all of us dug into his share and he was left fuming so he ordered some more and we once again took his share, I am sure he was abusing us inside his mind!!! But we are now immune to any sort of abuses thrown at us especially for food…when we were leaving the Breakfast Lwan we saw a tortoise moving around & the next half hour was focused on him & his buddy…we clicked pics posing at him, fed them tomatoes & what not…since Childhood I have been mesmerized by Tortoises & Turtles, I even had a Pet Turtle once way back in 1993 when I was in Class 8th…his name was Tipsy…and my memories came alive after these many years…

Doing nothing…well…

I wasted the next 2 hours at a Cyber Café as my Sikkim Flight’ schedule was turned topsy-turvy by Kingfisher Airlines, I had to re-book my Bagdogra-Delhi Ticket & the slow internet speed made matters slow & painful but I had no other choice, time was at a premium for that trip & I had to plan it well…Khanna was my partner-in-crime & waited me all the while…we got back to the hotel after finishing the task & ensued our Bakchodi…

Misnavigation…all over again…

While we waited for the Fort Trip we all decided to visit Neelya Mahadev – a Lord Shiva Mandir with some beautiful scenery as suggested by one of the Hotel Attendants, all of us took our bikes along except Khanna who was my pillion & the official photographer for this short ride…we went through some rustic Village Roads & were treated with shocked looks of the villagers, the ones we are now used to!!! Some villager told me the wrong way & we ended up reaching Keldhar Mahadev Temple instead…but we were not disappointed as this one also looked gorgeous…we missed visiting the temple & went uphill instead at a beautiful spot through some Hill Trekking, one won’t be able to tell that this was Rajasthan or Himachal but Rajasthan this was, one magical state which never ceases to surprise…we discussed Zoology & discussed on the “Skating Insect” we saw, as always all of us had our opinions on this species…Fagu was the most vocal here with his NatGeo knowledge, Maurya has a competitor now!!! Vinamra deliberated about having the Glenfiddich here but Khanna was in no mood to have it considering we were in a Temple Zone, left disappointed Vinamra kept it back in the Bag & we all left that surreal place to get back to the Hotel…

Fagu – The Foodie…

When we got back all of us were hungry but didn’t have enough time to have a full-blown meal so our self-proclaimed foodie Fagu went towards the market to find some local delicacy & he came back with some Bread Pakodas, Samosas & Bhujia, it tasted quite well & Fagu’s pride was well-visible!!!

Ford to the Fort…

We went to the Fort in an open-top 1949 Model Vintage Ford & the 6 hours trip was only for 1500 bucks, surely worth the pleasure…Khanna has to be thanked for this as he was the one who enquired about it & struck the deal…we chanted “Jai BoP” & off we went…Glenfiddich was duly brought out for some swigs & Fagu’s snakes proved the perfect foil…it surely was a royal time for all of us…Vintage Car, 15-years Old Scotch, local snakes & that majestic Fort Entry…royal tourists we were…fellow visitors at the Fort were left in awe looking at us, all of us identically dressed in our BoP Tees & Caps…we were a sight for all!!! We also hired a Guide – Trilok who was unlike the Guides you find at Forts, to the point & no bullshitting at all…

History Lessons…

Kumbhal Fort was the first stop for us, made by Rana Kumbha & Trilok probided us with a crisp history of the fort filled with some anecdotes…Next stop were 2 temples…Meerabai Temple & the Tridev Temple…both unique in their own ways…Meerabai Temple is the only temple where the Krishna Idol is without the idol of Radha & the Tridev Temple is unique because it has the idols of Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh – The Creator, Preserver & Desroyer carved out of one big rock…I normally don’t visit temples but these 2 were special so I went inside to take a look… Next stop was the biggest extravaganza – The Victory Tower or Vijay Stambh…finally all the NCERT History Books came alive…I was always captivated by the pics of the Tower & finally I was in front of it, I just looked at it with awe & excitement, we all clicked pics & went inside through the curvy steps & reached the top…the stairs only reach the 8th Storey & one has to climb to the 9th or the top floor’ Vikas, Asok & Vinamra were the brave ones to take that leap & in the process Mr. Vikas lost his dear cargoes, they were torn at the perfect possible place, yes the crotch area!!! But I guess the view from the top storey was worth the tear!!!

We went towards the “Gaumukh Kund”, this is the place where Rani Padmini used to take a bath & what a smashing view it had overlooking the valley & the Chittorgarh City, all of us imagined about the bath scenes in our minds & also discussed them vividly!!!

The next stop was the Rani Padmini Palace, the one about we have heard so many stories…it is the place where Allauddin Khilji saw her reflection in the mirror & decided to storm the fort to capture her…you can find more about the Chittorgarh Fort @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittorgarh_Fort

Now something about the asshole named Khilji…after he plundered the fort he still could not capture Rani Padmini as she performed “Johar” together with thousands of other females & kids to protect her dignity & honour so that Khilji decided to desecrate all the idols & statues of the fort, what a shame…its sad to see all, yes all the idols ruined, all of them have either the hands, legs, faces or the breasts shaved off…

The final stop was the Main Entrance Gate of the Fort which is now closed & this overlooks the grand Valley…me & Khanna enjoyed a quiet smoke at the extreme end of the Cliff…the striking feature of the gate were the Iron Barbs to stop the elephants from hitting the gate & breaking it to make an entry…

After some 3 hours of History Lessons our trip was over but not without taking a look at the grand history of the Chittorgarh Fort & hearing stories of Valor, Sacrifice & the rich traditions of the Rajputs who warded off their enemies with so much bravery & determination…after visiting each fort my mind just imagines the times people had during those golden days of our History…what a country we have…and I am lucky to visit some parts of it & hope to continue travelling through our Magical India…Incredible it surely is!!!

The Light, Sound & Rain Show…

Trilok recommended us to see the Light & Sound show which takes place in the lush-green Fort Lawns & at 7 PM we were there, as soon as we got seated in our chairs the rain clouds started to rumble & we knew rain was hitting us soon, the show started on time & it was very well organized; half way through the show it started to drizzle, as it was quite light we didn’t leave but soon it moved from a light drizzle to a steady shower & as our Ford was an open-top we had no other option than to rush towards it & leave for the hotel, enroute we had to pick up Alcohol & Beer which made us wetter!!! Once again The Rain Gods appeared from nowhere and graced us, I am sure God had plans to enlighten us by showering us in the Anniversary Ride, maybe 2011 is a Dry Year for our rides though I am hoping against hope !!!

Short & Sweet…

As it was raining the open-air BBB Session plans were laid to rest & we decided to have it in the cozy luxury of one of our rooms; snakes, alcohol, beer & Bakchodi was in full flow…uninhibited & unending…at 10:30 PM we finally left for dinner & we were surprised to find that our individual order of Authentic Vegetarian Rajasthani food had turned into a Buffet Meal for all in-house guests. Another example of BoP being trendsetters, the meal we order becomes a common order for all!!! I gorged on Dal-Bati-Choorma, Gatte ki Sabzi, Sev Tamatar, Kair-Saangri ka Saag & Kadhi Pakoda. The food was mildly spiced & was quite authentic in its taste…this time the focus was less than the one last night so we were quite boisterous as a group!!!

Early to Bed…

As we had to ride the full day ahead we decided to sleep early after packing our stuff & as per the plans we all slept at 12 Midnight with our alarms set for 5:30 AM in the morning…we are surely becoming more disciplined as a riding club, that’s for sure…and that augurs well for the future of our club…The last night of the ride is always a sad one & specially in a 3-days ride, I was more sad as I knew my next ride was atleast 4-5 months away…sadly I slept thinking about setting the roads on fire the next day!!!

On-Time…

All of us were ready to go after packing our stuff on the bikes at sharp 6 AM & after tanking up the bikes we started at 6:30 AM on a chilly morning through the glorious roads of Rajasthan…and the plan was crystal clear; 100-kms riding stretches and we stuck to this rule for the entire journey…the weather was quite foggy & misty so our visors had to wiped clean every 10 kms or so but we were enjoying riding through this weather…we stooped only after riding for 125 kms as I could not find a good enough Dhaba to have our breakfast at & the one where we stopped also didn’t have ready breakfast, he took his own sweet time in preparing the Fried Aloo Paranthas, another first for us, the Paranthas were quite unique & delicious & we all enjoyed them with an endless supply of Special Chai…one special feature of this pit-stop was that Vinamra suddenly got up & decided to take some pics using an SLR, we all laughed him off very well knowing his vibration skills but when the pics came out the results were amazing…he had clicked some damn neat pics…one hidden skill he has got!!! Also Tsering forgot the 100 kms rule the same way he forgets most of the BoP Rules & didn’t stop; when we called him he was some 30 kms ahead of us & decided to have his breakfast there only…

Horrors of NH-8…

Its not that NH-8 is always a treat to ride on, whenever we are going back towards Gurgaon we come face-to-face with the horrors of terrible Traffic Jams at Kotputli, Behror & Gurgaon borders, but as were on our bikes we found it much easier twisting & turning towards our destination through some madass traffic…I can very well empathize with the car tourists who suffer this pain reaching Gurgaon after a relaxing trip somewhere in Rajasthan, I am sure the Desert Rejuvenation becomes a Road Nightmare for all of them & I speak this from personal experience after our painful journey from Mt. Abu to Gurgaon, its another thing that Nilu made matters worse for us with his love for sticking to the right side of the road!!!

Maggi Time…

After victoriously countering the jams I decided to take a break after Dharuhera for a Maggi & Chai Break at a Highway Dhaba…and all of us deserved a break plus we were much before time as the sun had still not set & we were less than 100 kms from Gurgaon, once again the 100-kms break formula was successful!!!

Final Hoorah…

We rode on till the Gurgaon Border to regroup one final time before all of us left for various parts of NCR…with loud chants of “Jai BoP” we bid farewell to each other with a promise that we would be back on the roads again…some customary pics were clicked as well…

Cheers…

As per BoP Traditions we all stopped at a Theka for the final Beer Pit-Stop, we have been following this tradition since 2007 & I am sure this is one tradition which would be never dispensed with…I called up my Mummy to get the dinner ready when I reached home & even she was surprised to know that I was in Gurgaon already as even she is used to seeing me past midnight whenever we come back from a ride!!!

So the 3rd Anniversary was celebrated or I would say very well celebrated & fortunately with no breakdowns, the customary Rain Therapy was gifted to us by the Rain Gods, we came face-to-face with the Rich History of Chittorgarhn, enjoyed riding on the ripping Rajasthan Roads, gorged on some amazing authentic Rajasthani Cuisine, enjoyed “Bullet” Beer once again, treated my comrades to Glenfiddich and most importantly reveled in the rich traditions of BoP Camaraderie…I hope to be there in the 2011 BoP 4th Anniversary Ride which looks quite tough as of now as I plan to get married around November 2011 but I would give it my best shot…really want to be there…

In the end all I can say are 2 words…Jai BoP…

Pics, Blog & Videos’ Links:

Dips' Blog: http://butcheredsoul.blogspot.com/2010/11/bulls-on-parade-to-chittorgarh.html

Rana's Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/asok.rana/Chhitorgarh#

Fagu's Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/phalgunr?feature=mhum#p/u

Che's Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/cheguevaraontheroad/TheBoPChittorgarhCavaliers?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_Uw7j_q8Cs-AE&feat=directlink

Che's Videos: http://www.4shared.com/dir/o1X27Sfo/CC_Videos.html

Doegar's Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/varun.doegar/BOP3rdAniversaryRideChittorgarhCavaliers?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_P76WS2IXv0QE&feat=directlink

Vikas' Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/gvikiv/JPEG?feat=directlink

Information on Chittorgarh:

1. Gurgaon to Chittorgarh Distance: 550 kms
2. Route: Gurgaon - Dharuhera - Bawal - Shajahanpur - Behror - Pragpura - Chandwaji(Detour from NH-8) - Bilonchi - Daulatpura - Bagru - Mokhampura - Padasoli - Kishangarh - (Detour to NH 79 A) - Silora - Shrinager – Nasirabad Bypass - (Detour to NH 79) - Jharwasa - Bandanwara - Lamba - Surajpura - Bhilwara Bypass - Soniyana - Putholi - Chanderiya - Chittorgarh
3. WikiTravel Link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Chittorgarh
4. Hotel where we stayed: http://hotelpratappalacechittaurgarh.com/contact-us.html


Che would be back on the Road again…

Till then ride safe & have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…