The MaxBhp Festival 2016, Umiam: the 110cc ride across 10 states and one international border
What do you do when you are offered to ride across the country from Bangalore to exotic Shillong to be a part of one of the largest biking festivals in the North-east? You sit and pray that your reliable steed (read “the” TVS Star City Plus) makes it back to Bangalore in time. The first edition of the MaxBhp festival 2016 in Umiam Lake this year was scheduled for the 22nd and 23rd of April and here I was on the 11th of April taking autos and buses for transport. It had been over 90 days since the conclusion of the “TVS Bangalore to Bangkok Moto Run” and thanks to a near inefficient customs process bordering on tragic I was yet to receive the bike. I knew the bike. I knew myself. I needed at least a week to cover the 3000 odd km from Bangalore to Shillong. I couldn’t pull off the 100+kmph shenanigans. Having done the coastal route from Bangalore to Kolkata last time, I was sure I wanted to take a different route this time around. (There was no way I would subject myself to the Kolkata-Malda -Siliguri stretch ever again!). Having survived a 7000 km journey on an 110cc commuter motorcycle I was confident, I could take just about anything the ride threw at me. I was wrong!
Day 1: Central India. #Hindustan ka Dil Dekho ads had enticed me enough to visit the heart of India numerous times and I decided this was as good a time as any. My initial itinerary was to pass through Anantpur, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Varanasi, Darbangah, Siliguri, Guwahati and finally Shillong. Friends harped upon the heat wave passing through the country. Bah! These fellows. I will be fine, 200 km into the ride I was pouring entire bottles of mineral water down my jacket. Hot is an understatement. I had started the ride with enough jackets and gloves to complete a mission to Antarctica. I reached Hyderabad at 530 pm on Day 1, 564 km from Bangalore in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. (I did contemplate if I should ride topless, but better sense prevailed. The stern looking cops in Andhra Pradesh had a lot to do with this decision!)
Day 2: My respect for the people living in Telangana went up exponentially as each hour passed. I have never wanted to ride naked so badly. By now I was dunking entire bottles inside by helmet as well. If it hadn’t been for the smooth tarmac of NH5, I would have probably dumped the bike and flagged down an “AC” car back to Bangalore. Riding alone is fun. Riding anywhere at 44 degrees is painful. The bike groaned and squeaked as I tried to reach the magical 90kmph mark. (It did though). The last time I entered a hotel without looking at the rooms beforehand and at any price was on the last day of the Bangalore-Bangkok ride in Thailand. I ended up in a Rs. 400/- night room in Nagpur similarly. It wasn’t that bad. You don’t have to use their toilet. The calls of nature can be answered, well in nature. Oh ok, let’s just keep the hotel out of this!
Day 3: You meet the best people in the most unusual places. I am a regular smoker and I hadn’t smoked in peace over the last 2 days thanks to those inhuman temperatures. I was determined to have a nice peaceful cigarette before battling the sun-god today. I do think the heat had gone to my head. I became possessed by my brand and searched enough shops to put a wedding family shopping spree to shame. A loud expletive hurled at the world at large in my last shop caught the attention of a gentleman having tea at the side of the road. He came up to me and asked me what the problem was. Turns out he was a biker too and offered to take me to his “Nukkad-wali Dukaan”. And a couple of more faces turned up. 30 minutes later at Café John amidst a group of old-timers and one of the oldest spots in Nagpur complete with my packet and a couple of photographs. I chuckled my way into what was one of the first upcoming highlight of the trip: Madhya Pradesh.
You know you have entered MP when temperatures drop and bad roads happen simultaneously. 8 lane highways? What are those? Single lanes were the order of the day. With bovines and people determined to get hit by your bike. Kids jumped in front of the motorcycle without a qualm, boulders the size of footballs were placed strategically to ensure maximum braking and more expletives. Men crowded around you with innocent faces every time you stooped for a break and questions ranged from your agenda behind this ride to “Aapki shaadi nahi hui? Hey Bhagwan” (You aren’t married yet? Dear god!). The forests of Central India were a visual treat. And an absolute delight to ride in. Let the pictures do the talking here.
One really cannot say one has to been to MP and not visited the brilliant Marble Rocks at Bhedaghat. And what a place it was!
Day 4: It was time for Uttar Pradesh. I was headed to the holy city Benares. The saga of bad roads were behind me and it was time for some “UP Wale Bhaiyya Tashan”. UP is like a box of assorted chocolates. You never know what you signed up for unless you have tasted it. 20 minutes after discussing politics and the current state of affairs with the cigarette shop guy, I was clicking away madly in Sarnath (part of the Buddhist Circuit). With hand woven Benares silks at throw away prices, I couldn’t but help pack a few in my overstuffed rucksack for the women back home. Stopped at Mirzapur instead of Benares. Had enough of cycle rickshaws and hand carts trying to show me who’s the boss.
Day 5: The ride was on in full throttle. I am an EDM fan. But I must say our Bihar DJs are a talented bunch. With some of the grooviest Bhojpuri numbers and “Bagal wali Dance maareli hai” there is little hope in trying to ride. You stop by the side of the road and join the party dancing their way to glory in the middle of the road. Marriage season was here, and Bihar seemed determined to prove it. With an average of one wedding procession on a national highway every 2 km, I swerved around wailing kids, sweating musicians, exasperated relatives and the bridegroom who in most cases turned out to be the guy who was showing his best moves. The panchayat election propaganda autos made the ride distracting. Darbangah came at 830pm.
Day 6: Say hello to Nepal. Here is the deal with entering Siliguri. The usual Kolkata-Malda-Siliguri route is a test. It’s a test of enlightenment. If you make it the entire way without losing your cool and abusing a single truck driver, congratulations! You have attained inner peace! One of the fundamental reasons of choosing the MP route was to spare myself the ordeal. Enter Gaurav Patel: staying near the Indo-Nepal Border at Araria in Bihar. A random chat on messenger the night before at Darbangah and I was all set to cross an international border on my way to the MaxBhp Festival. Gaurav was a brilliant chap. Post a sumptuous home cooked lunch at his place and some “Surya” cigarettes (They are the Marlboros of Nepal), Gaurav took it upon himself to ensure the TVS Star City Plus made it to its fourth country. The 250 km odd ride through Nepal was oddly gratifying. Biratnagar to Mechi. Entered Siliguri at a comfortable 6.30 pm. Siliguri has a unusually strong biking brotherhood and friends from my previous tryst with the town during the Bangalore Bangkok ride ensured a night with great people and good music.
Day 7: I was officially on the last leg of my tour and the ride to Guwahati through the Dooars was brilliant. Just like the last time. After having battled inhuman temperatures across half the country imagine my joy on seeing cloudy skies. The joy was short-lived. The cloudy skies turned into a blinding rain making all progress futile. After multiple stops and riding at speeds enough to let stray dogs overtake you, I finally entered Guwahati at 6 pm. Zener Bar of the Assam xBhp chapter (I couldn’t meet him last time) and I shared an evening of biking chronicles, the upcoming MaxBhp festival and the exotic north-east.
Day 8: The Last day: The 3 riders on their Apache 200s and I got together in Guwahati. Gourab, Deepak and Avinash and a bunch of other people I had only met on Facebook before ensured that the final strength of the number of riders on the road from Guwahati to Shillong was a comfortable 30 plus. Kaleem Ma, Khiyar Pasha, Akash Dutta, Himajit, Sunil and I travelled the last 80 odd km to Shillong together. Great roads, and the locale! The next 48 hours were spent in taking photographs. Head banging in the Rock Concert, taking photographs, meeting new friends from Bangalore (I am talking about you Karthik), taking photographs by the side of Umiam lake with Khiyar, Akash, Himajit and Sunil and of course taking more photographs.
The MaxBhp event’s location was genius. Neelam of Assam XBhp and JDan did a great job of getting the event to be purely organic and with no trace of steel anywhere. And the stunt show by Aras of Suzuki on the last day deserves a special mention here. All the more because of the stuff Akash pulled off to get a better view.
Thank you xBhp, thank you TVS and finally thank you MaxBhp and the North-east Biking brother for having me over. Till next time…
Text & Photos: Arunabh Majumdar
