Tickets – Check; Identity – Check; Gear – Check; Clothes – Check; Camera – Check; oh and, Abhi – Check 😀

We are getting started on the first day of our motorcycle ride this year.

Reached Bangalore Airport after a sleepy drive of around 50 km for a Jet Airways Flight at 7.30 AM.  This was our first visit to BIAL and it looked nice.  Got to the domestic terminal, got through the security check for identification (Got a ‘Badiya Hai’ for the photo on the passport :D) and checked for our flight number which displayed Check-in Status.  Went to do just that, but the lady at the Jet Airways counter said that she still had to check in some of the passengers of the previous flight and so we could come back after half an hour.  We were starving and decided to grab some coffee and brownies at coffee day.  Abhi spotted a much leaner Sam (Viera) having breakfast and we joined him.  After some chit-chat, we headed to the check-in counter and boarded the aircraft within 10 minutes of the departure time. We were on our way!

Nandi hills looked green and surrounded by clouds as the flight took off.  As the aircraft gained altitude we got to see nice cloud formations and took a few snaps. Breakfast was served, and after a while, there was nothing much to do.  All the excitement about the ride had left us with very sleep and we took a nap till the Captain announced that we were over Delhi and might have to wait for landing clearance.  Got an aerial view of the Capital with the Yamuna flowing through it.  I must say that the city looked really green and there was a huge patch of lush green vegetation right in the middle.  We landed at Delhi International Airport at approximately 10.30 AM.

Delhi & Red Fort:

Abhi called Sachi Uncle (neighbour and a good family friend who lives in Delhi) to inform him that we were in Delhi.  When Sachi Uncle was in Bangalore, a few days earlier, he had insisted that we should stay with him when we were in Delhi and he would take care of everything.  As said he had arranged a taxi for us (with the driver holding a board with Abhi’s name..heh!), to be picked up from the airport.  On our way to the INS building at Cannaught Place, we had a glimpse of the India Gate, Raj Bhavan and the Parliament.  One can’t miss wide roads, huge parks lining each side of the road and huger residential complexes of the VIPs/VVIPs.

We got to Uncle’s office, unloaded the luggage.  The bike was due to arrive sometime in the afternoon and we had nothing to do till then.  So uncle suggested that we could go around Delhi.  We chose to visit the Red Fort since it was close to the Nizamuddin Yard where we had to collect the bike.  An hour’s drive to Red Fort took us through the old city alongside the CNG buses and the cycle rickshaws.

I was visiting Red Fort or Delhi for that matter after 20 years and while I am writing this, I am still ‘wowing’ about this fact!  The fort is still ‘Red’, thanks to the people who maintain it and in fact, we saw some work happening at that point too. We walked through the large entrance called the Lahore Gate and noticed that the place had ample security. And I don’t mean policemen; this was the army, with their machine guns.  We need it after the terrorist attack on the fort.  In fact, visitors are allowed only in a part of the fort while the rest is occupied by the army.  Lahore gate leads into an alley that houses the bazaar, Chatta Chowk, lined with artefact and antique shops. I have vague memories of my previous visit to the red fort and its interiors, but one thing I very clearly remember was that from a shop at Chatta Chowk, I had bought a pair of very small dolls with mirrors all over and named them ‘Seth and Sethani’.  Had them with me for a very long time and it was a nostalgic moment when I stopped at the exact same shop to pick up something similar, but I couldn’t find them.  I hope those dolls are still there at my parent’s!

We walked on till we got to Naqquar Khana, a huge entrance that opens out to the wide courtyard of the Dewan-e-Aam.  A long walkway lined with well-maintained lawns on either side led us to the Palace where the King addressed his people.  The King’s throne is high above the ground, made of marble and is filled with carvings and paintings.  Behind Dewan-e-Aam is Dewan-e-Khas which was the King’s Palace.  Entry into this is restricted and we could peep in only from outside.  The walls, pillars and ceiling have fantastic detailing mainly in gold.  Most of it, especially the ones closer to the entrance, is peeling away, probably due to weather and pollution. Adjacent to the Dewan-e-Khas is the Rang Mahal, which used to be the Women’s Quarters, overlooking the Yamuna. We walked back towards Naqquar Khana and visited the musty sultry dark museum. Nothing noteworthy there other than the usual pistols, rifles, swords, bombs and fuses.

It was time for us to head back to the main road to be picked up by our driver for the day and head to collect the bike.

The MotorBike:

Abhi called the guy handling the transport of the bike and confirmed that the bike had arrived.  The guy gave us directions and within an hour we reached the yard.  While Abhi figured out about the collection, I went along with the driver and got the bike some petrol.  Got back to find an irritated Abhi; the bike had suffered a bit during its journey from Bangalore – fairing near the headlamp was broken and so was the side stand.  It was now my turn to be pissed.  But anyway, after what we had heard about the state of some of our friends’ bikes that guys have transported, this was relatively a minor issue. Other than that, the bike was in perfect riding condition. We left the yard with Abhi on the bike and me in the car.  On the way we got to a petrol bunk, filled gas, got the emission testing done and headed to Sachi Uncle’s house in Mayur Vihar.

Once we got to Sachi Uncle’s house, Abhi went with uncle’s personal chauffeur to get the side stand fixed.  Uncle gave me a tour of the house which was spanking clean, with a special tour of the kitchen 🙂 While we got talking, Uncle mentioned that in Delhi there is a rule that any property when being built could use only 50% of the area and the rest has to be a mandatory garden/park! I spoke to uncle about the lush green patch right in the middle of Delhi that we had seen from the aircraft and got to know that it’s called ‘The Ridge’ which is a forest! A forest right in the middle of Delhi! Our capital is the only city which supposedly has a forest inside the city.  Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan liked to hunt here.  The legacy continued as the British took over, they used this ridge as a place for hunting and relaxation.  The city grew over the centuries, but the people have managed to leave it as it is and still remains untouched. Nice!  But Delhi also has its pollution woes.  I remembered catching a glimpse of a brackish water body that had some industries on its banks spewing out dark smoke next to the Akshardham temple on our way to Mayur Vihar.  I had no idea that I was looking at the polluted Yamuna till my uncle mentioned it!

Abhi got back hassled that there wasn’t a good mech around to fix a simple thing like a side stand and he literally did the welding.  We got to know later that the chauffeur was quite impressed with Abhi and kept telling uncle ‘Saab ko bullet ke bare main sab kuch pata hai’ (He knows everything about the bullet)..heh!

Uncle left for some important meeting promising to be back for dinner.  It was then that we realized that we were famished.  Since the bike had arrived, we had ditched lunch.  I quickly made some Egg burji and we polished it off with some wheat bread.  Repacked everything, freshened and it was time for dinner.  Uncle got back by then and we ordered some light dinner.  While we waited for the food, my uncle enquired about the places we were planning to go to in Rajasthan.  We mentioned the places and told him that we hadn’t booked anywhere except a couple of places where we’re planning to spend more than a day.  This would make it flexible for us to get to any place, stay where we wanted and leave at whatever time we wanted.  Sachi uncle offered to arrange our stay wherever we hadn’t booked in Rajasthan, i.e. Bikaner and Jodhpur. We were quite hesitant to accept it initially, but uncle insisted that it was worth an experience, and so we agreed 🙂

Delhi was really hot that day and Sachi Uncle was worried that we were heading into the desert.  He called his neighbour who is a native of Bikaner, Mr. (name?).  The moment he got to know that we were heading there, that too on the bike, he said that it was a bad idea because the heat would be intense.  He (Name) suggested that we take the Delhi – Jaipur highway and ride till Shahpura, a deviation that led to Sikar at Shahpura and then rides to Bikaner from there.  This would make a distance of around 650 km.  He also suggested that we should avoid the Shekhawati route altogether though it was shorter since it would be quite hot at around 40° C.  By now there was so much discussion about the desert heat, with uncle even suggesting to us to ride Uttaranchal, I had begun to wonder how I would hold up in the Jacket, which was made specifically to keep the wearer warm in cold or rain.  Wearing that in 40-degree heat would probably take the temperature up a few more notches and I was not very happy about this.

We said goodnight to uncle and promised to wake him up the next day before we left.  At that moment, both of us were quiet, just thinking whether we could stick to the itinerary and ride through Rajasthan. As we slept, Abhi told me that if I found the heat too unbearable, we would turn back from whatever point we were at and ride to Jaipur.  Sigh! I was so looking forward to Jaisalmer. So much was planned and so much to see. But the fact that things could turn worse still remained.

Would we do it? Read on.

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