Road Trip 1

Just like others who want to go on a journey with their ardent vehicle, I too decided to go on a road trip.
As I vaguely remember my trip to Hogennakkal (2006), I wanted to make this one a memorable one. However, I wasn’t sure about my destination; hence like a common Indian – I went from Chennai to Tirupati. The journey was quite awesome, coz this was supposed to be my 1st trip without anyone accompanying me. To be honest, it was really nice to go alone, coz finding a good company in Chennai is really difficult. The people in Chennai are more passionate about the small rides on the ECR and OMR, they do not want to experience anything in long distance or any where else away from there home town (no offences ppl, its just my observation from the ppl I have met). But still I have found few people, who would like to go for long drives,
Any trip needs to have some kind of homework to be done. Before I could go to tirupati, I ensured to check all the possible routes from Chennai to Tirupati. From the blogs that I read and the feedbacks received from the near and dear ones, I got to know that the Tiruvallur – Tirutani route was one awesome route. With some must carry gadgets and a discontented service done to the vehicle (yup, the service done at Jai Motors, Adyar was not that great), I started off from Mylapore – yes that’s were I reside in Chennai – I 1st knocked the doors of Ganesha temple which is in the corner of my street - seeked his blessings and blazed through the PH Road and headed towards Poonamallee. Just before I could take a right near Thirumazhisai, I stopped in the Motel to energize myself after a long night in office.
Since this was my first road trip, I was speeding through the state highway with lots of enthusiasm, wasn’t sure about the route as there weren’t any sign boards. As a typical man, I never wanted to ask anyone the route, hence I ensured to venture on my own, by then I had reached Tiruvallur. Just then I realized, I had not switched on my i-pod. Hence stopped for a while, set the tunes right, started my journey. I need to mention this, listening to the songs of Kishore Kumar is always a pleasure especially when you’re travelling. Yes, it did set my mood in such a way that I drastically reduced my speed and concentrated on enjoying my ride.
Suddenly, I realized that the hoardings around me had a change in language; yes I had reached the Andhra border. As I wasn’t sure about the vehicles performance, stopped in to take a break. All this while, I never realized that the climate was horrible, when I stopped my journey – I really felt that no journeys should have pit stops.
Just when I started from the pit, I realized that all the cars, which I had zoomed past, had crossed me. This is another reason why I wouldn’t like to stop for a break. Nevertheless, I started my journey and reached Tirupati. Somehow, all my trips have been without any kind of prior bookings for darshan; however, I am being able to get a quick darshan. I should agree that it is b’coz of god’s grace.
I wanted to ride my bike all the way to up hill. Hence I resumed my journey and went up the hill. Had a good darshan after waiting for 2 hours; by now, my body was exhausted and wanted to catch up with some sleep. I reached the foothill and booked a dorm and settled there for a while. Probably within minutes of lying down, I slept for a long while; I realized that it was time to start my journey back home.
My return journey was more comfortable, coz to an extent I remembered the roads and the intersections, hence did not have much problems. With the same kind of pit stops, I was riding with much ease and ensured to meet the average biker’s timelines.
By night, I reached Chennai and gave a break for my bike coz by end of the month I was planning a trip to Bangalore, yes – that’s where I basically am from. A typical Bangalorean.

Feel Like God!!!

Since this is my first ever blog, I am not sure if this has the right start…nevertheless… all I want to speak about is my bike.
During the month of Oct’ 09, I wanted to buy something for myself. I wasn’t sure about what I needed. After a long thought, I decided about buying a vehicle for myself, coz relying on the Chennai buses /autos for long were not my cup of cake. My search began with a four wheeler; the scenario at that time was such that I wasn’t able to afford a four wheeler, hence zeroed in on a 2 wheeler. Thinking that the problem just ended, I started searching for a bike. I never wanted a usual or commonly seen vehicle. Hence was thinking about a Royal Enfield.
The 1st thought one would get about a bullet is that – it is gigantic in nature, not that user or street friendly. Somehow I overcame this mental block. After reading a lot about the Thunder Bird (TB) and Machismo, I looked into the availability of the vehicle and the pricing of the vehicle. Even though I wanted to buy a bike, I was sure that I am going to upgrade myself to a car. So I wasn’t much convinced about spending a lac for a TB or a machismo. That’s when I realized about my friend Lu, who owns this 180CC bike. For a while I thought that I had found my bike. But the initial research showed that this was one hefty vehicle which was not that great, given the same 200CC pulsar engine. All the blogs written about the vehicle made me think again n again… coz most of the owners weren’t feeling that gr8.
By now, it was the last week of Oct ’09, I was very sure that if I miss this opportunity, I wouldn’t decide on anything – I started checking for the prices in Blore n Chennai. As this bike falls under the pro-biking category, there weren’t many showrooms in Blore who were offering this vehicle. To make my life miserable, Chennai had only one showroom – Now I need to tell you about this god damn showroom - none of the guys here realize what customer satisfaction is, they are bunch of jokers, trying to spoil the reputation that Bajaj has built these many years. Among all the people from Jai Bajaj, Chennai – Mr Karthik was the best, he being a manager of the store, doesn’t know to treat prospective customers.
Though all the things were going against the – Feel like God vehicle, I was able to see some ray of hope, that’s when I spoke to Mr Ramachandran from Aakash Motors, Pondy, one awesome guy, who I think knew very well about attracting the customers 
I was very sure by now that I am going to buy this bike. Hence I went to Blore on the 31st of Oct ’09. As I didn’t want to ride a bike without a head guard, I got a MPI helmet for my self. I embarked on my journey to Pondy and reached on the 2nd of November ’09. By now, I had also informed Mr Ram, that I would come in on this day to make my payments and collect the bike on the following Saturday. Things took a turn when I reached; he wanted me to take the delivery the same day as he felt that it was advisable for me to take the bike on the same day. Hence, he ensured that he completed all the formalities in the local RTO on the same day. He offered me quite a few documents to sign, by then he introduced me to the bike Avenger – anyone who has ridden that bike, would agree that it does feel like God!!!
I had set my vision on the Avenger, a blue coloured bike – checked the bike to know if there were any scratches. Mr Ram – a bloke, assured me that there wouldn’t be any such things… time was passing and it was almost noon, by then I had lost my patience. Somehow, didn’t want to pester the people in the showroom. By 1PM, they asked me to take the bike on my own to the RTO for registration – that was really a special moment for me. I still remember the dew drops - called rain, that fell on my bike. It was a moment that I cherish a lot even today, coz… I have never felt that feeling till date for such things in life…
I rode my bike all the way to RTO for inspection, once it was completed; I started my journey to Chennai. Before I could take charge of the vehicle, Mr Ram had given me some tips about the vehicle and the steps that I need to follow while I am on the bike. Finally, I was all by myself, I took the ECR road and was on the way back to Chennai. A ride which I still remember and would cherish for a long time.
Today, the bike has covered 4400 Kms approx – it has been a tireless journey… as the seating arrangement is awesome and satisfies both the rider n the pillion.
I don’t want to give a pseudo name to my bike, coz even without this, it is my sweet heart - has shared a lot of memorable moments with me; has made me feel that we can choose any kind of path in life – be it well-built or rough roads, coz it has amazing tyres, which would accompany me in the path of life…Machines have replaced humans is all that I can say for now. Tomorrow, things might be different, one never knows.
Thank you!!!