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When it wants something, it just wants it. Sometimes, there aren't any reasons.
Maybe the brain will repeatedly belittle it by calling it stupid, but the heart doesn't discriminate, and it doesn't have any ulterior motives, but most of all...it doesn't know how to lie. Saddle Sore 1600K was one such thing to me.
Alright, finally, the shimmering light of the Sun came through my window to lighten up the plan which was hanging by my wall. Lying on my bed, i decided to rest I little more. There was restlessness inside, feeling like hitting right away on to the tarmac.
21st March, 2013: 2:00 p.m and the journey began!!
The owner of the pertol bunk was surprised to see me well packed inside the life saving "Cramster" Jacket; Gloves, the strap of which was tightly wrapped around my wrist; Helemts on..neatly wiped off visor; and most importantly Bike which was serviced the day ago; the two saddle bags which I made out of my laptop bags in order to save a little bit of penny which i could.
I believe he would have thought I was kidding the other day when I asked him to be my witness for start and end of ride..and look!! I was standing right over there as I promised. And it wasn't his fault at all!! When I looked at myself through my rear view mirror, I was looking INSANE. I mean, who the **** in this goddamn world would choose to do that. And reluctantly he asked in an acheoic voice "Are you really going to do this?"
. This made me think once again "Is it worth?" and keeping my eyes closed, I answered him "Yes" 
for that came through my heart. But anyways, trying not to waste even a single minute of my life, he ran like SHAKTIMAN to his counter and bought me the receipt for gasoline. Thanking him, I put the ignition on.****!! That feel !! I will never forget in my life. Heart was pounding in rhythm as the engine roar. It's like the first love wherein you donno what's happening to you, the feel of passion and intimacy; The first rain of monsoon which you never wanna miss; the first kiss; the first discovery of yourself!!
" I can do this!!", the heart responded and then there was a "burnout" just to boost up my moral and i flew like a dragon hitting towards Bangalore.
I didn't had any idea how soon I hit the NICE Road toll. I was feeling as if I was talking to that Petrol Bunk owner a minute before!!
The only drawback in getting so packed up is that you don't feel air so in turn you don't get any idea of speed unless you look at your speedo. Overtaking traffic was such a fun..you bend, you lean, you duck, you curve and with every entity overtaken, your mind respond "Hell yeah!!".
But that was not long. Sooner, I found people overtaking me and no matter how hard I throttle, I wasn't able to catch'em. And then the speedo gave a shock displaying in 80s kmph. I stopped and found that the saddle bag just over the muffler(silencer) was melted by the heat and all the energy bars (snickers, mars) were liquefied and had left the traces of my whereabouts on the road. Seriously, if anyone wanted to track, he could have simply followed the line made out of these melted chocos on the road to trace me out. It was horrible. Not because of getting traced but because of the fact that I was left with only 4 cans of "Red Bull" and a bottle of water to survive the trip.
With the help of small twigs, i started cleaning the exhaust of muffler which was giving a feel of being Harry Potter, trying to do some magic with his wand. And after a couple of minute, it was all set again.
The road to Tumkur was nostalgic. It was the one where I spent four splendid years of college. The reminiscence was still fresh like the essence of flowers you get from your girl. The four years!! you wish which would have never ended. The flashbacks of the first day, the fear of ragging, the absurdness in your mind for the company of idiots you are going to get, for all the stupidity. You wish it never ended!!
The college was getting closer. Suddenly at one curve, I couldn't take it. No matter how hard I steer!! It was at Siddaganga Mutt.
Puncture!! All this time, the case of NICE road issue was somewhat disturbing and now this!! The Murphy's law was slowly getting more axiomatic. I was aware that it's not going to be so easy but at the same time I didn't expected it to bounce at the start of the ride itself. It was disheartening!!
Luckily, i knew a puncture shop in Tumkur which was just opposite to our college gate. Crawling to the place, i hopped of the saddle and asked the mechanic to sort out the puncture.
And yes again, the alien get-up aroused curiosity in him to ask where I was heading to " Arey bhai, ye Dulha ban k kaha jaa rahe?". I was so angry of this Murphy that my brain responded "Teri behen ki shaadi me!! Tu nahi aayega vidai karane?". But still I had a little sense of not getting indulged into any kind of "fancy" situation leading to time loss and so did I explained him all this over again till he fixed the problem. But, surprisingly, the outcome of this discussion was positive which resulted into a suggestion from him to inflate my tyres with Nitrogen which has an advantage of stable tyre pressure with respect to temperature swings for long ride.
With setting this up, he wished me good luck and so I determined to ride for a continuous 200KM at a stretch to average the required target. Consistent riding, you don't find time to look what you are crossing on the road side, all you see is the white stripes on the road which will lead to the destination, dodging all the bad surfaces even though the road from Tumkur to Ranebennur was undergoing resurfacing. There was absolutely no stopping. The Anti-Murphy's law is what has all deep dived in me : "If you think something good will happen, it will happen".
Refuelled at Ranebennur and headed to Kolhapur. Not even a single minute to spare. No discussion..just refuel and go!!
Crossing all this long stretch of 2 lane road from Chitradurg to Hubli,finally stopped for third filling at Kolhapur and back to business. Go go go!!
By this time, my body stopped responding to any stimuli and I had to stop to save myself. I couldn't believe that the moment I got down from bike, I was not able to stand straight. Totally screwed!! No food at all!! Started feeling dizzy. With all the strength that was left in me, I crawled towards the road side, took off all those armours I had put onto to save myself and slept on the tarmac facing the sky. I could not feel anything. I couldn't sense anything. And that was the time I decided to take a break. After 20 minutes, I could sense the air and the GOOSE started BUMPING
and I felt I was still alive. I woke and ran a little, literally. I mean, think of a person who is jogging somewhere close to 11 p.m in the night and that too on a dark highway with only vehicles passing by!! Opened the saddle bag for the first time and was running happily to have found a bunch of "5-star" to feed my growling stomach. Drank full litre water which made me fresh again. This time the plan was set to hit Pune at a stretch. And so did it happen.Reached Pune at 1 a.m. which means 11 hrs!! That's all?? And the mathematics started in my mind just like we use to do during college exams.
For those who are still in schools, lemme explain college exam night :
"Exam is in the morning which means I have 12 Hrs to study and to score best grade only 4 modules out of 5 has to be attempted which means 3 Hrs per module. No!! That's too much. I've plenty of time. Let's see what others are doing. (Others calculating the same, except few who were sincere). Let's go to MJC and have some puffs (i meant egg-puffs
not what you're thinking 
, MJC didn't had it anyways, for that we used to spend time at "Tufrey"). So by the time you are up for your test preparation your expectation comes down. I don't want to be class topper anyways, so why should i read all the modules? 3 is sufficient, so it means I still have 3 hrs. Oh no again!! 3 hrs!! Unbelievable!! It's the same time I'm getting. I'm genius. Let's go for another round. By midnight, when you'll open your first page of book, you'll find that you can't do it at all. And that's the time my dear friend!! That is the time of group study. (You better know, people, who have not studied at all have all kind of brilliant doubts when someone is teaching!! As if he have got a sudden crush for the paper and would love to do masters in it!! And by morning, they would have attempted almost all the questions ..that's engineering "The same kind of calculation I was doing for retracing my way back home, whose outcome was "I can sleep for 2 hours
". Well I didn't do that btw because I was sure that the moment I'll close my eyes, nobody can wake me up. After a break of 20 minutes, I started back!!The same road, dark..the tourister buses with hell load of lamps focussing directly on your eyes from the upstream, obstructing the vision. It was too dangerous. By this time, you start losing your decisive power, you can't differentiate anything. The eyes were paining badly and had become sticky. IT WAS NOT OPENING AFTER THE EYELASHES WERE MEETING DURING BLINKING. And the Volvos were going too fast and furious, a minimum of 120Kmph. I'm telling you this because I had to throttle hard for 130kmph to overtake 'em.
I was just praying for the day light. I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA HOW I REACHED DAVANGERE FROM PUNE.
He wasn't surprised at all!! Instead he asked " Gaye nahi?? Plan postpone kar diya kya? " and when I put off the helmet, it was his expression worth looking at!! He embraced me in his arms. I didn't had to explain anything now. "Tune kar diya yaar..aa chai pite hai Narayana pe".
Thanking him, i continued to Hosur. The moment I entered NICE road, he gave me a token for some other vehicle number, (which they normally don't do). It look totally absurd. It can't be happening. "I want token for MY vehicle number", I shouted at him. Staring at me, he slipped out an another bill for "7611", which still was not as required. IBA will not recognise it and so I asked him to call his manager out of acute anger. He ran towards me as I was blocking the traffic. "I need bill for TN-70E-7611 right away" and he got me the bill. A sense of comfort was gushing through my vien. And when I explained what I was going through, he helped me to walk towards the rest chair and offered a cup of tea. I couldn't walk. Every joint in my body was locked. And believe me, when you find a place to rest, you don't feel like continuing again after all this time. Building up my mind, I continued and without a single break, I stopped at Hosur Petrol Bunk from where I started exactly after 22Hrs 13 minutes completing a total of 1700Kms, maintaing an average speed of 76.5Kmph !! And finally it was done!! I didn't had any energy left to celebrate and so I hit towards my room and switched on my cell. There were few people who were missing me as I could see through the call log and few sweethearts who wished me through msgs. I replied "I'm alive and back for the lunch as promised
. And the day was over but never the feel.I didn't find sleep and I heard " Can you blow my whistle baby?"..Oh yes the phone is ringing, I was able to make out and saw " Sinha calling" and I answered him in a low voice " Haan bol". There was an excitement in his voice. "Yaar Bangalore aa..Nandi chalne ka plan hai". And without thinking anything, the plan was on!! "I'll be there in another 40 minutes. Keep my lunch ready" and I made it to their Dining table by lunch!!
I'll never forget this day in my life!! I now know the true meaning of all the feelings, stamina, endurance, passion, fear, love, happiness, and above all oneself!! The love for this machine grew even more. For all the flawless support.
Thanks to Gaurav who helped me every second I feel afraid for the trip. For all the planning, for all the gears, for all his support.
Thanks to all for your best wishes.
It's truly one of kind experience and one has to go through it to feel it to believe it to love it.
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