Ghumakkar's Diary

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...

“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 ...

Less than 2days to go before we’ll start for the RM 2011, the Annual Extravaganza organized and celebrated by the Royal Enfield Clubs of the India, in the third week of January. The Mania, or better known as RM, started way back in 2003, when Vernon Dias, from Madras Bulls, ideated to meet. He along with few friends, fueled the very thought and gave the forthcoming event a name, The Rider Mania. RM has established itself as a paradise for all the Bulleteers. It’s a place where the honored ones who ride Bullets meet, share experiences, enjoy and feel the thump. Goa was first destination to host RM-2003, with about 70 bulleteers. It was, indeed, organized by the Madras Bulls. Next year’s was organized by the then-patron Royal Enfield Motorcycle Co., who has also got registered the name “Rider Mania”. With the passing years, conflict of interest between RE and the community started taking shape, and 2009 was the first time when RM was organized without any help from RE MC Co. Kudos...