Ghumakkar's Diary

Rajmachi has been one eluding dream ride for me. Every time it had been planned by the Inddiethumpers , the guys I ride with, for a reason or two - I couldn’t make it. So, this time when it was planned on a Saturday night, I took no time to confirm my attendance! Map to Rajmachi Rajmachi is a small village, some 15 km from Lonavala – a famous tourist destination. It’s a well-known 15km easy trek. But, the real adventure is to ride to the village, and so Ride to Rajmachi has always been a dream ride for the Riders.

Don’t ask why I didn’t go to Banaras for Holi this year, I am already writing a novel on it; will take time, but if you will ask I will make sure you buy that crap in dozens.  Anyways, as I didn’t go to Banaras for Holi (cliché warning), I rode to the Gadda Mania – which has been elusive for me for last few years.  Gadda Mania at Lonar Crater Gadda Mania is another religious ride for the Royal Enfield riders of the country celebrated at Lonar Crater every year on post-Holi weekend, unlike Rider Mania which is organized at different parts of the country annually. This mania to ride to Cosmic Gadda or Gaddha (pit) was started in March 2008 when some lunatics ( interestingly its celebrated on a weekend closest to Lunatic’s favorite day of Full Moon ) from Wanderlust MC and InddieThumpers planned to freak out and were endorsed by Wanderers and Highway Nawabs from Hyderabad. And, the legends say the Meet became a ritual in just a few years with more and more clubs and...

Incidentally I wrote a post of my tranformation from just around the corner corporate junkie into a Rider (for sure, still gradually) few days ago. Now, here are the Indibloggers with a Contest for the Bikers of the Nation with Castrol guys .  Evolving Biker Code of the Nation  When you look at the scenario of Biking in a general sense, you would be attracted by the road-rowdies and rookies who ride to spread nuisance and are mostly acknowledged for their deeds by the newspaper. Hooligans may be the right word. But, once you get involved with the passion, you would be able to see how the passion of Biking, or rather Riding, is evolving in the country where 2-wheelers over-power 4-wheelers by scores of galactic height, but have never earned respect on highways just coz they are the smallest-speeding machine there! I would try to let you through the Indian Riders tale, so that you  be able to appreciate how the riders of the Country are working, though in a segregative...

Not just the passion, few more factors act decisively while planning a ride. One such factor, that mostly overpowers the enthusiasm, is Leaves’ approval ! Plans to the RM2012 ride with other Bisons suffered with the same tragedy when Locha and I had to start the ride together a day later then the fellow Bisons. (For more on RM2012, click here ) Bisons left Mumbai for Challo Dilli ride on 24 th January. Locha aka Chemical Locha aka Amrrutraj  and I had problems starting riding to Delhi on 24 th January’s morning. So, we planned to start it on late evening, and finally were able to get on the road in the early morning of 25 th only. Simple pan - 3days to RM2012, we planned to catch the first contingent at/around Udaipur and then ride ahead together. Saddled up and all geared, we met at our usual rendezvous – Fountain Plaza, Dahisar at around 4:45 AM. Minutes there, some time spent on route ahead, we met brothers from Inddiethumpers. Hugs and mobile numbers exchanged and we...

Not everyone is a prodigy, not everyone knows riding since birth.  My first lesson on ‘driving’ a bike was from my younger brother: “ don’t apply breaks on potholes while riding fast ”. He actually taught me how to drive a bike. My college mates and school friends did their part to enlighten me with bike-driving skills. A year later when my yet-to-ride-a-bike friend took me as a pillion and asked how he did do, “ Now I know how the others would have felt as pillion, when I was learning to drive a bike ” was the spontaneous reply.  Achtung! Mumbai brought me the passion of Riding ! Initially torn between a just another Indian cruiser and the mighty Bullet, advices and the old default charm of possessing a Bullet led me to buy Achtung, Thunderbird TS -  the Best cruiser available in India. I still remember how Prathmesh , the guy I took to ride my bullet back to my place safely, ditched me to let me experience the feel of my Bull, and yes to start learning it! Th...

“Boot ” – done! “Jacket” – done! “Pants” – done! This…and that and all that – done! “Bull” – Oh yeah! Done! Leaves? Well, my Boss reacted, “ It’s been a year !?”, when I told him that I need these leaves to ride to RM-Delhi, I asked myself, man! It’s been a year since RM-Kolkata and I remember like it happened just another day! I was just a little over one year old riding the mighty old classic in a modern avatar- the Thunderbird TS, and still was allowed to attend the RM-Kolkata with the Inddiethumpers wearing their color proudly! What a memorable time I had riding with them to RM-Kolkata and spending the best time there with the godly Bullet fraternity! A year is still a long time, as I not only moved on to wearing new colors of BisonsRideHard but also now a day short of riding to RM-Delhi – the RM with a decade’s tale to tell! Made Like a Gun…is just not the emblem that suits the mighty Bullet, but also the fraternity, the brotherhood – we Bulleteers are...

(This is not a post on Resolutions, just the Wishes!) In few hours we’ll be into another New Year, year 2012. When I look back to the last 365 or 364 days and few hours a lot of tales, told – untold, experiences, emotions and a lot, I find swimming through the time. Few lines have never been sufficient to write down what I’ve felt, but a write-up of limited words is what I like to read and thus share too…. Me, Achtung, Rides and the People Achtung - BisonsRideHard A year back, Dec 2010, I wasn’t an Inddiethumpers . Year later, Dec 2011, I ain’t! I bought mu bull, Achtung, little over two years back. Rode some of the best rides with office mates, and then got to know about the largest Bullet Club of the Nation – the Inddiethumpers! You’ll die to join the club if you have been with them even for a chae-sutta ride, and so did I. I did my life’s longest ride of some 5000km , Mumbat to Kolkata and back, with Guri pa ji, Ganesh, Ranjit, Rahul, Kaka and others of Inddiethumper...

Not always the miles, friends you made en route can too grade the ride. Ride to Mahabaleshwar came at the time, when many of the Inddiethumpers have started itching to ride. Shyamal and Karna didn’t even hide their itch and shouted it publicly on FB. To cool the sensations most of the riders were having, Moderators of the club unleashed the Ride Calendar for the years few weeks back, with the first ride to Mahabaleshwar on 22nd-23rd of April. Ride to Rider Mania, Kolkata ; Ratnawadi and Gaddha Mania, Lonar were the other rides did by the Club this year. A gang of off-ride lovers also had a small one-day off-ride to Shahpur, Jangal me Dangal ; and those who had attended that, were still searching for water to quench their burnt throat! Well, this ride to Mahabaleshwar was not only special for being the customarily first of the year, but also cause the ride was actually planned for the founder-member of the Club, Mr Daman Sidhu. Over 40 riders with some 10 pillions registered for the ...

“Roads are quite like our lives with so many types of curves. None can predict what’s on the other side. Enjoying the Blind curves of Life” I met Ranjit at Andy’s garage, on the Planning day for the RM East ride. He was the one interested in riding back to Mumbai via Varanasi -Delhi route. My wish to ride on NH2 had some selfish reasons; first, that I wanted to visit my home at Varanasi on my Bullet since the day I bought it and second, that there’s a saying in Geological world that on an expedition never take the same route while traversing back to the camp, it helps you experiencing more and more of the terrain. Until 23rd January night, I was unaware of riding plans. Guri paji asked if I am game to ride Golden Quadrilateral with him and Ranjit. I was like – hell Yeah! So, it was stamped and we geared up with GoogleMap, Ranjit’s Maps Of India book, and advices from all who have had ridden on Delhi-Kolkata highway. View Larger Map As planned we prepared to start a...

Though I tried my best to keep my last post on Mumbai to Kolkata ride as short as possible, I know it was one of the long posts, people like me, try to avoid. Interestingly, still I forgot to mention a few stories of ride. Like, the Ghost stories by Kaka that we had on our Sholapur and Elluru sleeping bag nights, Shyamal’s potty- katha (tales), the gadgeted modified Classic 500 with cool speakers of Jerry the Sikandar and Akhtar bhai’s beautiful modified ol’ Electra with number plate flaunting 786 on it. Thinking about the ride and possible write ups, now I’ve started firmly believing that epic like Mahabharata can only be wrote on a ride ! Now as told, this post is about the RM Event days and nights – 22nd and 23rd January 2010. About RM , I’ve already posted a few weeks back, day before we started the ride. Anyways, if you don’t want to read entire post, here’s a quick summary. RM or Rider Mania started in 2003, as an Annual meet of All India Bullet Clubs, with Royal Enfield’s ...

Starting from 16 th January 2011, I went through my life’s Best Fortnight on my Bull – the TBTS, on the awesome Indian National Highways, for an 11 days’ of pure ride with purpose of attending the RM East 2011 at Kolkata and to live nomad life, with the civilization but the Highways’ way! As it for sure is none less than an epic of 5400 kilometers’ ride, I will be story telling it in 3 parts; 1 st on ~2500 kilometers’ Mumbai to Kolkata ride, 2 nd the RM East 2011 Event Days, 3 rd describing an about 3000 km Quadra Ride from Kolkata to Mumbai via Varanasi, Agra and Jaipur. This part, being first in the series, is on Kolkata-Mumbai ride. The Inddiethumpers flag Probably it’s the Indian mentality to wake up at eleventh hour and do all that can and cannot be done to be prepared for the event at its best! I don’t count myself amongst the lot, but at times I can’t really help. Though I started preparing for my grand ride to Kolkata for RM East 2011 well in advance; I had to ...