After landing, getting my helmet (checked in with a fragile sticker) and getting a shared cab, I reached Bhaskar's place quite late. We started I guess around 11am or so...can't remember. But I remember the feeling when I got on the Bullet - just felt one with it. Like, fish taking to water - I kept telling B.
We stopped first somewhere outside of Hyderabad. The whole region is so dry. The roads were bad. B said it's connected - the region being dry - no agriculture, no money generally so no money for development of roads.
We were riding together after 9+ years - last was Aug or Sept 2007. I realize now that you just don't notice the gap in time. Both of us fit assumed our roles, behaviors as we had earlier so many years back. I kept thinking of 'tuning' among people. We can spend a lot of time with an individual but if the tuning isn't there then working hard towards making tuning happen is weird. On the other side, you may not spend anytime with someone but somehow the tuning happens and time is of no consequence. Also, tuning in one sphere need not translate to other areas of life.
The big difference after all these years is Google maps! When riding at the back, I looked up various places and then randomly felt we should go to Bidar in Karnataka. We thought we'll go there for lunch, may be see a fort or two.
Once Karnataka starts, the roads get better. Bidar is up at a higher altitude. The weather is somewhat cooler as you reach the city. But once you reach the city, it seems like any other tier 4 town in India. We asked someone where we could eat and what we could eat.
He mentioned ABC restaurant near the bus stand. So we went in search of it. Locals tend to point to the "best looking" restaurant when you ask them for references for a good place to eat. It won't necessarily have the tastiest food, leave alone local food.
ABC turned out to be a local Biryani place. We both liked it. They put cauliflowers - nice, tasty ones in the biryani! It was filling but didn't bloat me. B had some chicken kababs. He's cut down a lot what he eats - no sugar, no tea, eats little and I was surprised to see him. He was very lean.
Both of us didn't wear watches. We realized after lunch that it was 3pm. So we said we should start heading towards Sholapur.
On the way out of Bidar, I nearly ran into an auto that was taking a U-turn in the middle of the road. It scared B the whole episode. I don't know what happened. I think I estimated it to turn or what. But I was able to control things and keep going.
That's when the drive started getting difficult. The roads are bumpy leading up to Sholapur. As much as we wanted to avoid night driving, we got stuck by dusk. We were middle of no where.
It being New Year's eve, B wanted to reach a nice place, unwind, eat good food and drink scotch etc. So we continued.
After dusk, it became difficult to see the road. Speed cut down to 40kmph. To engage Bhaskar and to help me avoid the focus on the pain of sitting on the rear seat (it pretty much cuts into your butt after a point - it helps I guess if you have a bigger bum to cushion - I don't!), I started narrating a couple of movie stories - Kali and Charlie - both Malayalam Dulquer Salman movies that I had obsessively watched in 2016.
We finally reached Sholapur after 8pm I think. We weren't keeping track of time. We just moved and moved - alternating when one of us couldn't take the back seat anymore. Despite the challenge, the night was nice in its own way.
A couple of boys on another enfield helped us find Tripursundhari hotel, which Google suggested is a good one (it was OK). We were both exhausted. Ate well. I couldn't drink much more than a bottle of Carlsberg (beer) and then I had ordered two so I had some more - once you stop, the body resists. B had that whiskey that Sug recos (I had introed it to him years ago). We talked well into the night about all kinds of things. It was very nice.
The body gets exhausted faster with age. I could tell the difference from 9 years ago. Or it could be the lack of rhythm of sitting in that motorcycle-angle for long periods of time. It got better the next day. But the roads, if they are bad, bash you up.
We stopped first somewhere outside of Hyderabad. The whole region is so dry. The roads were bad. B said it's connected - the region being dry - no agriculture, no money generally so no money for development of roads.
We were riding together after 9+ years - last was Aug or Sept 2007. I realize now that you just don't notice the gap in time. Both of us fit assumed our roles, behaviors as we had earlier so many years back. I kept thinking of 'tuning' among people. We can spend a lot of time with an individual but if the tuning isn't there then working hard towards making tuning happen is weird. On the other side, you may not spend anytime with someone but somehow the tuning happens and time is of no consequence. Also, tuning in one sphere need not translate to other areas of life.
The big difference after all these years is Google maps! When riding at the back, I looked up various places and then randomly felt we should go to Bidar in Karnataka. We thought we'll go there for lunch, may be see a fort or two.
Once Karnataka starts, the roads get better. Bidar is up at a higher altitude. The weather is somewhat cooler as you reach the city. But once you reach the city, it seems like any other tier 4 town in India. We asked someone where we could eat and what we could eat.
He mentioned ABC restaurant near the bus stand. So we went in search of it. Locals tend to point to the "best looking" restaurant when you ask them for references for a good place to eat. It won't necessarily have the tastiest food, leave alone local food.
ABC turned out to be a local Biryani place. We both liked it. They put cauliflowers - nice, tasty ones in the biryani! It was filling but didn't bloat me. B had some chicken kababs. He's cut down a lot what he eats - no sugar, no tea, eats little and I was surprised to see him. He was very lean.
Both of us didn't wear watches. We realized after lunch that it was 3pm. So we said we should start heading towards Sholapur.
On the way out of Bidar, I nearly ran into an auto that was taking a U-turn in the middle of the road. It scared B the whole episode. I don't know what happened. I think I estimated it to turn or what. But I was able to control things and keep going.
That's when the drive started getting difficult. The roads are bumpy leading up to Sholapur. As much as we wanted to avoid night driving, we got stuck by dusk. We were middle of no where.
It being New Year's eve, B wanted to reach a nice place, unwind, eat good food and drink scotch etc. So we continued.
After dusk, it became difficult to see the road. Speed cut down to 40kmph. To engage Bhaskar and to help me avoid the focus on the pain of sitting on the rear seat (it pretty much cuts into your butt after a point - it helps I guess if you have a bigger bum to cushion - I don't!), I started narrating a couple of movie stories - Kali and Charlie - both Malayalam Dulquer Salman movies that I had obsessively watched in 2016.
We finally reached Sholapur after 8pm I think. We weren't keeping track of time. We just moved and moved - alternating when one of us couldn't take the back seat anymore. Despite the challenge, the night was nice in its own way.
A couple of boys on another enfield helped us find Tripursundhari hotel, which Google suggested is a good one (it was OK). We were both exhausted. Ate well. I couldn't drink much more than a bottle of Carlsberg (beer) and then I had ordered two so I had some more - once you stop, the body resists. B had that whiskey that Sug recos (I had introed it to him years ago). We talked well into the night about all kinds of things. It was very nice.
The body gets exhausted faster with age. I could tell the difference from 9 years ago. Or it could be the lack of rhythm of sitting in that motorcycle-angle for long periods of time. It got better the next day. But the roads, if they are bad, bash you up.
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