How it all began
The 'Best Job in India' it was advertised. "Hmmph best job eh," I pondered over my usual breakfast of calorie- counting( hate it god) protein shake. I thought that it wouldn't hurt to try, so sent my details over to the website. Luckily, I got selected as part of the team and embarked on a memorable journey. One i would never forget even when i grew so old that i would need training wheels on my motorcycle to ride on.

Boot Camp
The journey began with a 5 day boot camp in which they gave us tips on motorcycle maintenance and how to be nice to the media and not show how dumb you really were. "Gulp, it's turned difficult already,", I thought.

The boot camp commenced with all of us stumbling and grumbling through challenging training routines while i mainly bumbled and fell on my posterior a record number of times.

Finally, we were sent to our respective starting points. I was allocated the western region with four other riders. So, here we were, two Bikerni's in a sea of masculinity which included the rest of our team-mates to our support team drivers. I knew that we girls would have to be strong and face all challenges as I didn't want to let down my fellow riders in any way at all.

Goa
We kick-started our ride from a little dreamy town in Goa called Mapusa. We were heading for Ratnagiri. Let me tell you, NH17 is fun to ride though they were a fair number of potholes, riding though the ghat sections in the night made up for the occasional spine-jarring bumps in every way.

The other lady biker was nowhere in sight as the rest of us zoomed our way through the quiet, traffic-free night. We had stopped at a small tapri at the borders of Goa and Maharashtra where i took out all my frusruations over a yucky milk-shake breakfast on delicious anda bhurjee so we weren't hungry for dinner. The first bite almost brought tears to my eyes and we proceeded to run the tapri out of pav. To my team-mates: If you had expected me to be a usual lady with bird-like eating habits then you were right, because i ate like a hungry vulture who had got it's first meal in ages.

Maharashtra
We had completed Goa then entered Maharashtra which we proceeded to cover in a zig-zaggy kind of way so we sometimes ended covering some routes twice, but we didn't care even though 60 percent of the roads were nothing but gravel and dust. We never minded skipping our meals sometimes because we had a schedule to complete and duties to honor. We laughed off the fact that our steeds were 110 cc commuters whose parts we actually had to keep in place with a bit of spit and polish(fevi-stick, tape and lots and lots of bolts).

Sadly, the other Bikerni had to leave us almost mid-way into the journey as she didn't understand the true grit it takes to bike kilometers and kilometers through unknown roads and villages. She couldn't cope with the pace we were riding and the toughness of it, which we relished. The chilly winds of winter and the dust cakes on our face which had seeped through balaclavas and helmets, we loved it all.

I know this is an unconventional trip-log but it is too long to detail every single moment of the ride of around 30 days. But, I will shall tell you about morning sunshines seen though visors and the brilliant rays sometimes creating rainbows on it as we rode though sleepy hamlets with nothing but fields in both the sides and just a narrow stretch of tar below. Of twisty- horned gazelles nimbly leaping around the farmer in his field as he worked all day, while we rode serenely by.

We saw cheeky langoors taking lifts from commuters to the other side of the ghats, and one even scared me once as i decided to answer the call of nature in a hedge overlooking a field. I don't know who scared the other more, the black face staring down at you with beady eyes from a tree or the disheveled girl with crazy hair screaming out a note enough to shatter a whole room full of crystals.

Maharashtra region was amazing and full of good people who were welcoming and kind. Even though the roads were mostly two-lanes or four, full of potholes, i liked riding through the Vidharbha region. If you want to see what the real Maharashtra is then ride through the interiors of this blessed-state. The people were hospitable but the offering of samosa's as a welcome snack in every town almost made me like my morning torture of Shake. Yes, team-mates I hated and still hate that shake I had in the mornings while you guys gorged on complimentary breakfasts at the hotels we stayed in.

Gujarat
Dust!!Pollution!!Crazy Drivers!!Traffic Breakers!!Congestion!! This was my first impression of Gujarat. We had finally entered this city of Gujiyas, Gathiyas, Khakras and Undiyos via Mumbai and took our first halt at Navsari. It was an explosive welcome literally, they burst a garland of crackers that would have circled the equator twice. I thought it would be morning by the time, the crackers would stop their incessant chattering. It was like this,"Oh how nice, crackers for us." crackle crackle burst burst.After half an hour, "Oh, you really shouldn't have done this for us, oh how nice." crackle crackle burst burst. After 3 hours and 41 seconds,"Seriously buddy, you shouldn't have." Kick, choke , kill, strangulate.

Ok fine, the people were nice and sweet. But, samosas again and some sweet yellowish curry with it, which my team-mate who was part Gujarati swore tasted like heaven. No, i never tried it. Gujarat was a maze of vegetarianism( arrgh save me), rude drivers, rickshaw-walas who tried to kick me while turning( I later found it was their way of left and right indications) and too much traffic. We traversed through beautiful 6-lane highways in most of our ride through Gujarat, in which we used to literally sleep on our bikes trying to achieve a respectable kmph on our speedometer. I managed to achieve a 108 kmph on the 110 cc while my half-gujju team-mate managed a 109. We didn't try and push our bikes harder because we could literally hear the bike vibrating and grunting,"Get off me, you heavy lumps of coal."

We met Africans in Junagadh whose ancestors were slaves brought to India by the British, who escaped and were given shelter by the famous Rani of Jhansi They had even fought for her against the British during the battle at Jhansi. We rode through almost all the cities and covered the entire coastal stretch of Gujarat as well. We finally touched Bhuj, rode back to Godhra and entered a small town called Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh from Dahod.

Madhya Pradesh
Madhya-Pradesh!! I loved the state with its ethereal beauty and its narrow, hilly roads though golden-brown fields. It was like riding a roller-coaster, the roads zooming up and down and round and round. All the while, the winds in our faces and rivers at our side. The roads were zilch compared to Gujarat but it was a different experience altogether. We fortunately had quite some free-time while riding in MP as we were ahead of schedule so were able to visit the Omkareshwar temple there. We even danced with the Bhuia tribals of the state. Did i mention we danced with the Gujrafricans as well? We really let loose on these occasions and danced to our heart's content.

I love this surreal state and will definitely come back to do a more detailed ride here.

Back to Maharashtra
We finally ended our journey at Nagpur, Maharashtra and met the riders of the remaining regions at zero mile, the geographical center of India. Before reaching Nagpur, we rode through a awesome ghat in Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra which had the most snakiest of turns. Every rider, should go try those ghats, it's a cornering maniac's vision of paradise. Sadly, we didn't meet any tigers, even though I gave my best tiger impression."Awooogh, Awoogh." See, isn't it convincing?

To summarize, the 7000 km journey was a mixture of brotherhood, love, care, a joint spirit of adventure and adrenalin, the love to ride and the love to live a life in which one has experienced everything that rider should before he dies. We danced, we laughed, we cared, we shared and at the end we even cried. The guys more than me though. I tried being the tough one but looking at Anna, the guy who we all adored, our tempo- traveller driver's sad face, let the the Niagara falls flow.

End of one journey, beginning of others
I never wanted this ride to end but i know that more adventures are in store for me and new roads to explore. I had done small 650-1000 kms rides before but always alone.I knew now what riding with company for days felt like. Biking has always been in my blood but i first felt the blood surging in full-force completely through my veins when i went for the 'Great Indian Ride'.

Thanks for taking the time to read my trip-log.