Motorcycle Diaries

"When you ought to, you got to". That's how the attitude flows in people who make up their minds to break the monotony. Its about going that extra mile to kick that one negative thought out of your system, which has been impending the plans for so long. That plan can be anything- it can be either taking out time for what you love to do(reading, sketching, biking, adventure trips or simply taking time out for yourself cogitating and listening to soothing music piece of your favorite band or artist). The basic idea is to come out of the incarceration of being "THE VICTIM OF ROUTINE" and framing your mind to make the most of your time so that the day leaves you invigorated.


We, a bunch of friends, had long been thinking of picking up our bikes and hitting the road with vrooooom, unquestioning and relentless. All we wanted to do was to trust the road (who, as one of my friend rightly puts, is a gr8 friend) and our instincts to take us wherever we could...like a stream of water which flows in any direction without being biased or partisan about direction or purpose. We wanted to be the Beatniks who were all set to break the fetters that had clandestinely crept all over us. So it was high time that we put our minds on the offline mode, and let the heart ring and sing the tone that subconsciously we always wanted to hear.

But all said and done, the so called potent engineers that we are, we couldn't completely get over our psyche of meticulously planning things out. So we framed up the good old What's, Why's, How's,When's and Where's for ourselves so that we had, a broad idea of the course of things to do(thankfully we aren't the best engineers in the business, else we would have dug our own grave, falling into the trap of creating a blueprint for every hour, and creating a feedback mechanism to monitor if each blueprint's target was met or not; Gosh even describing it is a Killjoy).

The last couple of months were quite gruelling in its own way, for few of us. The anticipations, the hopes, the aspirations(maybe more of others than of ourselves, on some occasions) were all part and parcel of these testing times,wherein we were trying to give ourselves the cushion of a congenial ambience for the next phase of our careers. So irrespective of the results, we deserved to take some time out for ourselves; to connect with a different world, to stay away from cellphone(The toughest part!!!! God knows why???? ), and for once atleast to look within ourselves with our own eyes.

So We all hit the road as early as 7:15am in our cool attires; the so called biker's accoutrements,which gave us the feel that was the theme of the day; the " I DONT GIVE A DAMN" attitude. And we flagged off with a snapshot of these Beatniks who wanted nothing but a sense of freedom and an experience of rejuvention.I was the pillion rider in the first phase of our drive and that gave me a perfect opportunity to feel something which I may not be able to justify correctly in words. Its something which has to be felt when you're right up there with the sun slowly and steadily rising up from its harbour of horizon; its rays adorning the greenery and the refulgence of the light giving the bucolic fields and open lands a sparkle as if they are blooming with joy to welcome us as its guests. The early morning breeze,basking in on sun's comforting warmth, and the fragrance of the fresh air; all gave me a feel as if they always wanted to play hosts to us, but somehow for so long we have failed to get their message and have taken more pleasure in the confined arcades and inhalation of automobile emissions. I still wonder why is that, but some questions are better left unanswered.But one should experience this scenic beauty- it does bring in certain level of metamorphosis.

After vrooming through, cutting through the breeze and moving like waterjet from a cannon, some fellas felt to let not only the heart and mind relish all the fun, and give the stomach also a reason to smile. SO we dropped down to the pride of highways- one of the roadside dhabas to take a quick bite. I preferred to give myself CHai's double feast while the others were willing to not settle only for tea. So there was poha, munching with the tea(Some ppl just cant have one) and cold drinks for few. And once we were done with it, we were back to business... the road was calling again and we obliged. We drove then uptil our first destination- Lord Ganesha's temple at Adassa, stopping sporadically in between, to get ourselves clicked( I hope you understand the constant pressure these social networking sites have put on our shoulders; not uploading snaps timely is sinister here.... dont mind the exaggeration!!!!!).

Once we reached there, we were moved by the pious serenity and the soothing ataraxis which the place had to offer. Built on a height, it gave us a panoramic view of scenic beauty covering miles in its circumferance. We paid obeisance to the Almighty with the customary genuflect and kowtow,the idol of Lord Ganesha stood with magnificence and generosity for all His devotees. Then we walked around the vicinity to cherish the calmness and the peace that the place had to offer. In the meantime, we kept on clicking more and more snaps ( Its not always the pressure of the sites, we enjoy photography and adding on to the memoirs).We all cracked pj's, listened to songs, looked around from this height at the whole place around as if a king is overlooking his empire and when we had spent some quality time there, we thought it was time to take the peregrination to its next stage and its new destination.

So the bikes roared again out of their short slumber and then ignited the roads. The sun by now was climbing with cadence to accomplish its acme for the day, but it was kind enough not to impose its tyranny on us. THe breeze was still soothing and the open spaces was the icing. The trees by the roadside made it cooler and made driving a real pleasure (Note:-Confront Deforestation). We sped on pretty empty,smooth roads but never tried to overdo it, as for us driving was more a stressbuster than an avenue of flaunting an ostentatious guys' demeanor. We reached Jaamsaavli,a very sacred and consecrated holy place for the devotees of the God od Strength ,Lord Hanuman. The idol of the lord in sleeping posture is one of its kind and attracts myriad followers from every nook and corner. We paid obeisance to Him and saw people thronging in large numbers here. After prostrating in front of the Almighty, we stepped out of the temple, picked up the machines and were back on the road. Any outing for us would be incomplete without good food, so the next step was to take our lunch. So we stopped by at one of the dhabas. I wont get into the details of what we ate, we weren't brazen guzzlers but had a sumptuous meal to pump in energy into ourselves for the trip back home.

So here were seven guys graduating as men, 60 odd kilometres away from the city, shunning all worries, enjoying the colddrinks in the sun and with a more subtle though not philosophical thought that resonated with surpisingly the same frequency in each of our minds. It just said one thing 'Cheers to Life'.

I took on the driver's seat for the journey back home and a friend of ours gave us all apprehensive ones a taste of extreme biking, when we drove the machines to a hilltop(not very steep, yet not any less than any normal driver's nightmare) and we sat there; some of us still intrigued and curious about the pertinence of our so called adventure to the hilltop. But hey, didnt we start as Beatniks who were looking for a day different from others, and following the gut unquestioning and relentless. So this little escapade did add that right pinch of spice to our day.

On our way back home, when i was donning the driver's role with earphones plugged in, i actually felt fortunate that i was the pillion in the morning as the beauty was at its peak then. Now even though they still had volumes to offer, yet they succumbed to the might of the Sun which made them more servile than charming(still a far enchanting spectacle than city's rush which causes claustrophobia). Now with pleasant acoustical euphony making way through the earlobes into the auditory canal blended with the mood as if giving a testimony to the fantastic day , and with us speeding our way through, i could gauge why and how Carte Blanche can be such a wonderful stressbuster. We drove without break now, like men who were on a mission or rather men who finally got an opportunity to be themselves. we entered the city back, but far more rejuvenated, far more mellowed and far more exuberant.

we had our final hi-fives before we parted ways to our homes. I know it was a short stint, not more than a few hours. But i think it was worth it. We are looking for more such escapades as it gave us an opportunity to think for ourselves, feel for ourselves, do things for ourselves and most importantly be ourselves. Everyone should give themselves this luxury of feeling important in one's own eyes; its not vanity; its not narcissism;its just loving what you really are and not worrying about what others think u are.

Go on, love yourself and give hi-fives like us and subconsciously you'll cogitate with the same frequency, the same thought -" CHEERS TO LIFE"