Dussera Celebrations

Dussera Celebrations

Dussera: Globally known better as the festival of Godess Durga, the mother godddess in Hinduism, Dussera, or Vijay Dashami has immense significance in India.



















In Maharashtra we have a certain significance of Dussera, (or Dashera, spell it in whatever manner; has same significance) towards EQUIPMENT especially MARTIAL EQUIPMENT. In older times it also signified worship of WAR EQUIPMENT, just before entering into battle. Traditionally Maratha Warriors used to undertake simollanghan – Crossing the Border – to ransack the enemy territory. Hence before such an exercise or adventure it’s always better to worship and prepare the equipment. Basically carry out a servicing, oil change, tyre inflation check, slime deployment and Tanking up. Buses, trucks and huge machines in factories are all decorated and worshipped.

I too started off my day with actually getting up and cleaning up my three brutes or should I call them babies! After a good wipe down, I decorated each of them with garlands and flowers. Worshipped them in my own small way. Cranked each engine into life and switched on the lights, horn etc to carry out the routine pre-flight checks.

Once all the bikes were done I kept them back nicely tucked away in their respective places in the Parking lot and then proceeded to go and inspect the next one which was to come and join the family the next day. Watch this space for more on the mystery addition.


















After the pooja, the rest of the day was spent well shopping and frolicking around with my niece. I introduced her to pillion riding and she has suddenly developed a craze for the same. I am actually wondering if she does grow up to be a BN or a BN crazy fan!. She also managed to coax it out form me that once she turns 18 I need to buy her a moto scooter. Well Well. Lets see..was all that I said but I could see the budding Biker in her trying to unfold her wings.

That evening I got my Dusserra gift, Thanks to my better half for taking the initiative. I added a few scale models to my ever growing collection and also ended up getting the Ultimate history of FAST Bikes – a book by Roland Brown
























Catch More Pics of the Festivities HERE

Miniature World !!!

All men come from small boys, they say. In fact they also go on to say that perhaps within each man there is a small boy who refuses to grow up! Guess thats true in my case and i have fully utilized this psychological expert's statement to justify my fascination towards scale models of vehicles. In short toy cars and bikes. Not to forget buses, trucks, planes, ships, cranes, bulldozers, harvesters etc and whatever moves.

I have been playing with model cars since childhood, but never thought i would get into serious collection. Its merely coincidental that i started hoarding my dinkies, never allowing outsiders to touch them, washing and servicing them every sunday and ended up with some 12 - 13 shiny cool collectibles at the age of 8.

Seeing dad waxpoling our bike, i started polishing these cars also and sometimes even gave them a touch of paint whever required.

With each passing year, each birthday saw more additions to the cars. Each academic achievement saw more additions, Thanks Ma Baba; love you for that.. Some i even managed to flick off some of my friends and proclaimed them to be belated friendship day gifts.


















Slowly; The collection started getting more and more versatile. I first got a Model Bike as a gift from Satish, a childhood friend as soon as i got my first job. It was a BMW R 1200, and that triggered off the sequence of collecting more and more bikes.

Model Aircraft collection started off when i made a 1:144 scale model of my favourite aircraft, the MiG 21. AWESOME Aircraft despite its rather sad track record. This was perhaps the first Fighter Jet i ever saw up close and personal, and hence the fascination.

Trucks, trains, buses etc happened parallelly.

And dekhte dekhte aaj mere paas 650 se bhi jyada models ho gayein.

Well, I was deeply humbled when i managed to visit the Miniature Railway Museum n Pune. This was the brainchild of Mr B.S Joshi also knwn as BhauSaheb Joshi hailing from Pune. My Grandpa, the gentleman behind my fascination towards the mechanical world, knew Mr Joshi and had asked me to visit this museum at least once in my lifetime. I got an opportunity and went there. I was simply floored by the awesome manner in which a whole city has been built all from small mechanical parts. Its a huge city with train, cars, highways, ropeways, baloon, circus, factories etc.

The other exhibit is a 1:500 scale Airport with anumber of aircraft, including the CONCORDE.

WOW. What an experiance.

Its fun to be living in and around this miniature world. Its fantastic and feels so damn special. Gives a certain amount of life to your spirit. Gets you back into childhood and imagination.

See my viewpoint of the miniature world HERE.

Read more about the Museum HERE

Strawberry Ride !!!

Come Sunday and I suddenly develop this itch to get back on the Road. I had just had an amazingly satisfying and fulfilling Ride to Malshej and it was time to raid the Ghats once again. So early Sunday morning I woke up and taking my trusted steed and pillion took off towards Mahabaleshwar, the most popular Hill Station in Maharashtra. I can give clarification for people who think Lonavala is a hill station. This sunday, on the cards was a ride into Strawberry country..Strawberry country is what most of us normally refer to as Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar, the amazing twin hill stations of Maharashtra near Pune..

The Early Morning cool breeze was definitely refreshing as we rode on NH4 bypass towards Katraj and then further on towards Himesh Reshammiyya's village SUROOR. The good smooth ride was occasionally spoilt by fully loaded buses which were going towards Satara and drove in the center of the road leaving no gap on any side. Overtaking these was definitely a big big pain. To Add to this was a turquoise blue ZMA with an idiot as rider and a nincompoop as pillion who was holding on to three polythene bags and trying to duck behind the rider trying to avoid wind draft. Although sporting a Mumbai Number plate - (MH 06) these guys rode like straight out of Liberia, or maybe Kazakhstan. Taking buses, trucks, and the odd car from any side. Guess some place I gave them a small crash course in safe overtaking. A Good combination of Day Flash and Horn coupled with some smart down shifts, revs and a twist of the wrist often makes each overtaking move a stylized activity.

After running on smooth roads for quite some time I came across the first stretch of Ghats on this route. It was the legendary ONE WAY Khambataki Ghats. I stopped at the beginning of this Ghats to have a sip of water, despite being a frosty morning; a little amount of water always helps avoid dehydration on longish rides. The climb up the Ghats was one helluva experience. I did overtake a couple of goof’s on my way up but then luckily this being a ONE WAY climb there was no traffic running down head-on to me.

Crossing the Khambataki Ghats, the road further ahead was again a smooth 2 Laner each side. That gave enough scope for the Bike to open up and gobbles miles under its rubber. Unlike other rides this time I had not put on any music and hence all that I could hear was the cool wind rustling inside my helmet and the sound of the Jumbo rubber eating the tarmac. Despite being a bike full of Vibes, the pulsar is amazingly silent cruising at 80 KMPH. A little off SUROOR, we came across the diversion to Mahabaleshwar. They are constructing a flyover at that turn so that the Traffic turning right towards Mahabaleshwar doesn’t go and block the oncoming traffic from Satara towards Pune. It’s quite easy to miss this board but then one should keep eyes peeled for such indications on our Indian highways.

A right turn and I was on my way to Wai, the base village to go into Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. I passed the outskirts of Wai and then was slowly climbing up towards Panchgani. It was here that the second Ghats section Pasarani Ghats started. This road is again one which runs along the sides of the mountains with amazing picturesque views. Twisting up the Ghats we came across lots of buses parked haphazardly where most of the tourists had taken breaks. I stopped at Harrison Folly a flat piece of land jutting out form the Ghats which formed a nice viewing point. The dirt track and gravely surface on this section was a dream ride on the Pulsar which sticks to the uneven surface with good traction. Somehow I guess the dual purpose tyres work great here. A short break and some snaps later it was time to move further ahead into Panchgani. We stopped at a check post and paid 10 bucks per head as ‘Pollution Tax’ (OMG – I never knew it was officially legally allowed to pollute the fragile ecosystem of hills stations). We climbed up to Table Land, the largest and perhaps the widest Plateau this side of the tropic. Panchgani is also known for some of the best Boarding schools this side of the country. Its second best I guess only to Dehradoon.



















Panchgani derives its name from the five hills around it. At an altitude of 1334 m it is just 38 m below Mahabaleshwar. These 38 m translate themselves into a breathtaking 20 kms approach from Mahabaleshwar that swoops around bends with abandon, offering heart stopping views of the river Krishna on one side & the coastal plains on the other. Panchgani is the quintessential hill station, with the Raj stamped indelibly all over it. It can be seen in the old architecture of the old British buildings, the Parsi houses, & the Boarding schools that have been for a century or more.

Amble along the walkways, thickly canopied by lush trees & vegetation & delights in the secrets you come upon. The Krishna River snakes through tiny hamlets, farms & ravines, hundreds of meters below. From the Top of Table Land we can gaze over the coastal plains, looking like miniature water colors. Panchgani is one of the rare places that doesn't crowd anyone, yet in its own unhurried way deeply touches every visitor. We came down and had a scrumptious Breakfast at a local joint. Being a tourist destination the stuff sold there was obviously highly priced but then who complains on a holiday. After all a day earlier I had filled in 10 litres of POWER into Chotu’s huge Tank, so stuffing ourselves was no issue.

After a quick bite we zoomed off towards Mahabaleshwar and paid the same Tax there too approx 15 bucks per head and moved straight to Old Mahabaleshwar, the place which gave this town its name. As we rode into Mahabaleshwar we were crossed by a thundering group of some 10 odd bulleteers. Man that was some sight to see, I guess Biker brotherhood is what I call it.

Old Mahabaleshwar has some 3 temples which date back to prehistoric times and officially was recognized as a pilgrimage place in the 13th century. Old Mahabaleshwar nestles around the source of the Holy Krishna River, with a temple dedicated to Krishna' locally known as "Panchgana" (meaning "Five Rivers" - i.e. Krishna, Koyna, Venna, Gayatri and Savitri). The earliest shrines here date back to pre historic period, but this Krishna temple in its present form is attributed to Singhan, a Yadav King ruling from Devagiri in the 13th century. It was later restored first by Chandra Rao then Jaoli in the late 16th Century and later by the Great Maharatha Shivaji himself in 1635, then by Sahu (1670-1709) and lastly by the 19th century banker Parashuram Angal.

There is a legend behind the origin of these five rivers on the site. The myth goes as follows: On this site many ages ago Lord Brahma along with the other two Gods Vishnu Mahesh (Trinity) and his younger consort Gayatri were performing Yagna. While doing so Brahma forgot to wait for his senior consort Savitri. When Savitri arrived she was enraged at this insult and in her fury she transformed these four into rivers, but not before they retaliated, turning Savitri into a watercourse as well. Brahma became the Venna River and started to flow east then South and both Gayatri & Savitri became the river of the same name, Vishnu became the river Krishna and began to flow east and Mahesh got transformed into river Koyna and started to flow south. Whew! Whatta Legend. Now how does that explain the existence of these Gods parallelly along with the existence of there rivers even till date. Hmm!!!! Some transformation!!! The first place where I stopped at Mahabaleshwar was the Mahabaleshwar temple, belonging to Lord Shiva. It was a very peaceful experience; somehow a visit to a place of worship during a bike ride always refreshes me up. After the Mahabaleshwar temple we also went to the Panchganga temple and then decided to move into Mahabaleshwar town for some sight seeing. By now the sun had started beating down on us though the temperature was still comfortable. Looking at the crowd which was now getting thicker I decided to cancel the city visit plan and move to some of the far placed ‘scenic points’. I turned the bike around and moved towards Arthur’s Seat.



















The roads around Mahabaleshwar are very shaded and practically run all around the mighty hill station like a network of arteries. These roads run through Forests and I noticed a lot of Boards warning about WILDLIFE CROSSING. I would have disposed it off as a joke had I not experienced one strange phenomenon on this ride. On the road right in front of my eyes were the Forest guards pointing out to something in the dense undergrowth exclaiming on the sheer size of it. I Stopped the Bike, got off and ran with them towards the other side of the road armed with my camera and right there in front of my eyes a HUGE GAUR ran across the road. There were two of them and I immediately tried to tail the other. This beast was about 7 feet tall at the shoulders and wasn’t quite bothered as I chased him in the undergrowth. After about a couple of seconds he stopped and turned around looking me in the eye. I froze. What if this guy decides to charge at me and check out his HORN strength? NAHIIIII..I turned and ran back to the Bike, forest guards in two. I guess these mighty beasts disappeared in the undergrowth in some time. I have heard stories of people being badly mauled by Wild Bison’s and I didn’t want to add to the same, but nevertheless I got an amazing shot at the Beast.

I proceeded off on my bike and reached the legendary Arthur’s seat. This was an outcrop from the cliff where a British Author named Arthur was alleged to have sat and written many a story about this mystical place. Legend again I may say, but then this place had a certain mystical aura as I could clearly see different landscapes from here different floral patters, rock structures and on top of all of that ..Dense fog. And mist. Visibility dropped oh so frequently as we trekked in the clouds.

Back to the bike it was time to rush back and we rode back again till Panchgani. On my way back took a much deserved break at MAPRO Farms, the place where the strawberry and fruity stuff gets made. Had a solid treat out there and saw how Jams and other confectionary are made. The place was getting more and more crowded as late afternoon was approaching so after a short break we decided to zoom off towards Panchgani. Saw lots of Strawberry fields all over, after all we were in splendid strawberry country after all. It was at Mapro farm that my wish of getting wet in the rains at Mahabaleshwar got fulfilled and a sudden cloudburst appeared out of nowhere. Split second later everything around us was drenched in cold water and a mild chill started setting in. We decided to call it a day and moved off from the Farm after packing our backpack with tons of goodies. Took a short breather at Gliding point watching couple of Para gliders jump off the cliff soaring and riding on the thermals. The ride down the Pasarani Ghats this time was fantastic as I managed to take every corner with panache. Despite a throbbing headache, I guess because of the suddenly cold weather due the cloudburst I rode through, and managed to reach Wai. After Wai the ride was becoming slightly uncomfortable as chilly cross winds made a chill run up my spine every now and then. .



















I took a break at Suroor finally and had a good steaming cup of tea. That was all I needed to start my system reboot again and then I was as fresh as ever back on the bike. Riding back to Pune was another harried experience trying to dodge over enthusiastic trucker and car drivers rushing back to Mumbai/Pune trying to overtake from left right and had it been possible even from top or under. A mad rush through the Khambataki Tunnel and then the Katraj bypass tunnel and rest of NH4, made me reach the outskirts in no time. The open road gave me another chance to test out the twist of my wrist capability of Chotu. I managed to see a reading of 110 on my Speedo, that too with a pillion. May not be fantastic but I guess I am satisfied..Rather I am obviously thrilled. Finally I managed to reach home tired but very very very thrilled. Saw the Speedo and noted down the reading. WOW. Whatta Ride. Wish I can do it again and again and again…

Till Then keep riding.

Watch Entire Set of Pics HERE

Malshej Ride !!!!

Didnt want to write a big big writeup hence trying to sum it up in as little words as i can.
Excuse hurried incomplete sentences.
But then on this Malshej Trip there was too much that happened.

Woke up early and left home at 6:30 AM Met nav at Aundh.
Met Biswa and Nalin at Nashik Phata on Pune Mumbai road at 7:00 AM
Rode till Rajguru Nagar on Nashik Road then uptil Narayan Gaon
Took left towards Malshej Road
After some nice patches of roads ran into some real bad sectors for about 10-15 kms.
Last few kms were amazing as we descended into malshej Ghat section near the lake.
Stopped for pics.
Did some runs and re-runs of the last twisty road section to take pics
Reached the Resort at 9:45.Met BN guys from Mumbai-Nagar
Had breakfast - Chat Chat Chat
Went behind the resort to the plateau and went shutter happy
Came back and got back on bikes to go to the lake
Got confused went wrong way and came back to another road to go to lake
All guys went to the lake
I proceeded ahead on dirt track to Harishchandragadh
Went till foothills and then came back.
Joined the guys back to the ResortHad Lunch.
Chat Chat Chat
Leave towards Mumbai side - Murbad.
Rode like crazy.Shot video of the ride down. -
KUDOS to pillion for being an ace fotographer and shoot the video while riding as pillion
Stopped for a breather in between
Rode till the Nhane ghats-Karjat turn. 30 oddd kms ahead of Murbad.
Bid goodbye to Mumbai GuysBiswa went to petrol pump at Murbad
Roy, Navendu self n Khyati had rounds of Tea and Chat sessions
Biswa and Nalin came after filling up
Rode through 70 odd kms of forest plus village roads
Pitch dark - surprise potholes -dust - frogs popping up from everywhere on the road.
Ocassional Buffaloes and walking on the centerline villagers.
Maintained formation of Gypsy, Extreme,Pulsar,Cbz,Maruti.
So 3 tail-lamps ahead, 3 headlamps in rear view mirror meant everything was fine.
Reached Khopoli junction.
Roy took off towards Mumbai
We took a breather at Khopoli.
Rode furiously up the ghats to Lonavala.
Picked up some goodies
Rode till Tony da dhaba
Had a lovely dinner
Rode back Home.
Reached at 12:30

Photos - Too Many - please dont complain.

Video - Watch !!!!

Till Then Keep Riding !!!!!

Recovery Ride.

One of the most popular English Language Dictionary defines the word RECOVERY as follows:

re·cov·er·y (r-kv-r)
n. pl. re·cov·er·ies
1. The act, process, duration, or an instance of recovering.
2. A return to a normal condition.
3. Something gained or restored in recovering.
4. The act of obtaining usable substances from unusable sources.

Taking a cue from the same it was definitely essential for me to :Return to a normal condition and that meant to be able to clock miles under my wheels and to be able to do that with some amount of decent speed. Unlike one of the Bollywood flicks where in the lead actor develops cold feet and what not when subjected to similar conditions on the road, I had no other option but to learn to ride the same way as I used to before my crash.

So I took off on Saturday the 29th of September and headed off on the NH 4 towards Satara, the plan was to ride the Bike and clock at least double digit figures on the odometer and decent three digits on the Speedo. This was essential to re-build the confidence. A lot of patchwork had been done on the face and the Bike was also repaired.

So off I went from my place in the morning and headed towards Sinhagad road. After passing through a suburban village called Dhayari, I headed towards Khadagwasla Lake which used to be one good watering hole for most puneites some time back. A smallish break at Khadagwasla and a cuppa tea later I was off again towards the base of Sinhagad, the Maratha fort near Pune. After some good riding beyond Khadagwasla I reached the foothills of Sinhagad and then decided to turn back.

Somehow after riding a little distance I decided to turn back and actually take my bike all the way up towards the top of the fort. A reassuring nod from my pillion rider made me take the risk and extend my adventure. The climb up the hill was an good combination of slopes and twisties although road quality was not so great as this road ends in a dead end and is not so frequently used. Neither is it wide enough. Dodging traffic at places and avoiding revving too hard to overtake, I finally managed to reach the top and then parked the bike and proceeded inside the fort. Wandering all over the now abandoned and overgrown with grass and weeds fort I came across the huge ammo dump/room right at the entrance just after the Horse parking lot. There was a monument inside commemorating the Maratha warlord Tanaji Malsure who captured this fort in 1700 AD after whom this was named Sinhagad, and was called Kondana earlier to that. There are a number of microwave towers inside the fort as this is perhaps one of the tallest peaks around Pune and offers good view of the entire region. I also went till the cliff which is a perfect straight wall and it is said that Tanaji actually captured this impregnable fort by climbing this side using the help of a monitor lizard.

Read more about this fort here...

http://www.punediary.com/html/singhagad.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhagad

Lunch was a rustic Zunka Bhakri meal coupled with buttermilk and some Bhajiya. After a rather heavy lunch we decided to descend and started off from Sinhagad. As we came down the slope we came across a point from where we had a detour pointing towards NH 4 going towards Satara. I decide to get off the regular road going via Khadagwasla and Sinhagad road and took off on this diversion. After riding through some bad roads and lots of twisties descending on the other side of the mountain I finally managed to hit Satara road. A quick left turn and I was already zooming towards Pune. By this time evening had already set in and roads were still vacant enough for a decent speed. I managed to clock a good indicated 107 KMPH in the straight stretch after the new Katraj bypass tunnel on NH 4. Dodging heavy vehicle traffic I managed to reach home quite well in time and then called it a day by watching a good movie over a nice cup of tea. End of story. Conclusion. – Recovery Ride had served its purpose.

I could still ride. Far and Wide Fast n Smooth. No hitches no glitches. I guess once a biker always a biker. I clocked around 102 kms on the odo and some good 107 on the Speedo which was decent enough an effort from my side. Was happy doing this achievement. Guess I have many more miles to clock before I hang up my riding leathers.

So That was it.....Until then Keep Riding !!!!!

Catch Pics Here !!

Daughters' Day - A Biker's Perspective

Last year around 26th of November i recd this SMS - " Its a cute lil baby girl moving her wrist, trying to play with a virtual throttle and making a sound like 'Vroom Vroom'" - That was the delightful news shared by a close Biker Friend Navendu. A true Biker and proud father of naina, a sweet lil angel. Probably it did not come to me as a surprise because from, my personal experiences i have understood that Biker's although may pass on their riding genes to their sons, its perhaps the daughters they are extremely sensitive about. Having seen traits of the same in my own family too.

On 23rd September, the world celebrated Daughters' day ! - So did I, although i do not have a daughter to dedicate this day to, and so did many of me fellow Biker friends..

How does a macho-muscular-macho man look at a small frail little creature, often termed as a baby girl. Well what i have learnt from experience and what i personally believe is that the guys find them simply adorable. It is said that the softest of hearts reside in the toughest of bodies and a Motorcyclist is no exception. I celebrated Daughter's day on 23rd September and commemorated it by displaying a theme set in for the special little one.

Here's wishing all the folks in the world a very happy daughter's day. Will wait for mine to come into this world and make me proud. The small sweet angel of mine. Meri KHUSHI.

Till then ..Ride ON !!!!