The Bulls on Parade Anniversary

The Bulls on Parade First Anniversary. It was an occassion that until six months back, didn't seem possible. The strength was not increasing. Instead, there was attrition. Each decision was shrouded in controversies. All the typical things that a motorcycle club experience. But, slowly developments started taking shape. The logo was finalized. Stickers and T-shirts were being completed. What started as a gathering of 5 motorcyclists on a roadside dhaba on a chilly November evening was now a club establishing itself. Though, the numbers are still small, but the enthusiasm of the members is much larger.
So, on the auspicious occassion of Pushkar Fair, the club decided to celebrate its anniversary. It seemed so befitting to celebrate at the place dedicated to The Creator, Brahma. On an early, cold November 7th morning at 5 AM, 6 motorcyclists gathered at the usual meeting place, Leisure Valley Park. The number would have been larger had it not been for the CAT exam and numerous weddings around the corner. All the confirmed people reached on time, by 5:15 AM, except for Viks who turned up at 5:50 AM. This was due to his prank and it seemed that we would have a sweet revenge. Tsering informed that he would be catching us up later on since, he had just woken up. Sunny took out his camcorder and Chadha gave a hilarious account of the weather conditions and the grand occasssion.
So, we started off as soon as we could. The motorcycles were already fuelled, except again for Viks. He was short on fuel. On crossing Manesar, the temperature dropped further. I was not prepared for this and although was wearing a thermal, it was inadequate in protection. The NH-8 has always been a delight for ripping. Soon, we were at speeds of 80+ kph. Even Chadha was moving at 75 kph, though he never traverses 60. Some 40 minutes later, we stopped and waited for Viks, who was not to be seen. A good 20 minutes later, he arrived. The petrol had ran out and he had to push his machine for some distance to the petrol pump. When all were together, we set off again.
Cruising for 40 minutes more, we saw an accident on the road. An Alto had collided with a truck. Che was some distance ahead, as usual, and he was at the site of another accident, a rollover truck. The Alto had a family with a baby, and we stopped to see if they needed any help. Noticing, they were shaken, but not injured, we carried on. Tsering caught up with us here. By now, my hands were chilled to the core and shaking badly. We stopped at the nearest place, Rao Dhaba and ordered parathas and tea. The saddest part was there was no makkhan. The substitute was dahi. Discussing the road ahead, Sunny and Che doubted my master-navigational skills and said that the cut for Ajmer from Jaipur would come on the right. I had said left. We left that for later confirmation.
Chadha gave me his extra pair of gloves. By now, even the sun was up, so the worst was over. Now was the time for a long ride. We were still a long way from Jaipur. So, breaks were shortened and a good 2 hours later, we reached Jaipur byepass. The cut was indeed to the left, although ultimately, it did travel to the right. Viks applied his "straight-forward" approach and went towards Jaipur, missing the cut. He returned a few minutes later from the wrong side. Some time later, Chadha and Tsering also joined up.
If you can term the road between Gurgaon and Jaipur to be "makkhan", then the road between Jaipur and Ajmer is pure desi ghee. It would take electric chains to restrict someone from speeding here. Throttles opened wide and we were ripping ahead. We covered some great distance here. Rajiv was being bugged by his office at this time and he had to take a conference call. So, we decided to pit stop at 12:30 at Kundan Karan restaurant. Sunny and Tsering didnt see this and raced straight ahead. So while Rajiv attended to his office business, Chadha, Che, Viks and I busied ourselves with gorging on Rajasthani food. Gatta sabzi, really good dal, paneer, naan and bajra rotis. Meanwhile, contact was established with Sunny. They had reached Duddu by now and would wait at Cafe Coffee Day, 73 kms before Ajmer.
One hour later, with some difficulty cause of heavy stomachs, we left the dhaba. Half an hour of ripping, we caught up with Sunny and Tsering. Chadha was the one to ride straight on this time. By now, the temperature was high and some coolant was necessary. We exitted the expressway at Kishangarh and now were on a single road towards Ajmer. Che stopped at the first theka. Chilled Kingfishers soothed parched throats. Knowing that Pushkar was a dry area, we picked up some stuff for our stay there too. It was accompanied with a warning for police-checks.
We reached the spot where the road turns towards Pushkar. Chadha was waiting here. Now, the road narrowed, but it was still smooth. 15 kms and a police-check later, we arrived at Pushkar. I was running low on fuel so went on straightaway to the only Petrol pump. Viks followed me. This took a while and by the time, we got back, the others had already reached the hotel. Chadha had done the booking beforehand, thankfully. So, Viks and I were left with the task of locating the hotel ourselves. My phone was also not working. After roaming through many of Pushkar's alleys and many enquiries later, we arrived at Hotel Oasis.
The others were at the rooftop taking pics of sunset. We decided to bathe later, even though we were dressed in kilos of dust, and headed for the Ghats on foot. It was dark by the time we reached there and the ghats were decorated in so many glittering lights and diyas. We sat there soaking the sounds of temple prayers and relishing the inner peace. Its times like these that make you question whether the daily struggle you live in, is really worth it.
Moving on, we roamed the streets of Pushkar. Tasted the most delicious malpua. There was a program of local artistes at 7 PM, so we started to make our way to the grounds. Everyone we asked said that the mela ground can be accessed from two ways. Somehow, after many circles we reached the mela ground. Barricades marked the sitting area of tourists away from the local crowd. The area was filled with foreign tourists, unfortunately, of the elder kind, although there were a few gems to be found in-between. Che asked a guard if we could sit inside the protected area, to which the guard x-rayed him from head to toe, and agreed.
The announcer was funny and when the show started, it surely was not for us motorcyclists to enjoy. Che reckoned that he could dance better, a fact that we didnt object. Soon, we got bored and decided to head back to the hotel. Sunny was quick in getting the seating arrangement ready and Tsering was as fast to get the Old Monk out. Soon, the council meeting began. The waiter, Satpal(a.k.a. Sattu) was hilarious. He injected his puns whenever, we ordered something. The night went long amid the sounds from the nearby temples that just wouldn't stop. They must have gone on throughout the night. And we thought that Che was a chatterbox. Thanks to Sattu, dinner was served in the room. Tsering tried his luck talking to the tourists, using a different stunt each time.
In the night, Sunny also chose to sleep in the central room as no one can sleep besides the roaring turbines of Viks. Early next morning, Viks had to leave for home owing to personal reasons. After some Israeli breakfast, Che and Chadha left for the mela grounds to see the camel race. Tsering had some official work to be done over the internet, the work that should have been done last night. So, he stayed back at the hotel. Half an hour later, Rajiv, Sunny and I also reached the grounds. The camel race was missed by all owing to its short duration. But, we were in time to see some pseudo-horse dance, the camel dance and the real-horse dance. The event took place in a small enclosure and it must have been hell for the front seated people as the camels and horses swung dirt on them. The heat was also rising. The horse dance was much better to watch with some interesting stunts.
After the day's events were over, Che, Chadha and I went to the cattle ground. There were hordes of camel and horse traders camped in the field. This was the sight that Pushkar is known for. Deals were struck in massive numbers there. Chadha also tried his hands on a deal here. He enquired about the gas balloon ride and found it to be Rs 12000 for two hours. Sadly, he passed otherwise it would have been the deal to beat all Pushkar deals. Finding nothing else to do in the afternoon, we returned to the hotel. Sunny, Chadha and Che went for a dip in the pool. Tsering was still occupied in his work. Rajiv went for a rest in his room. I accompanied the bathing beauties and just lounged around the pool. Also planned the place to have lunch.
All of us went for lunch at the Rainbow Restaurant that offers a lovely view of the ghats. This place was chosen also because of the famed falafels. The owner described them as "dal ke pakode" to us laymen. After a not-so-filling lunch, we went to the Brahma temple. Looking at the crowd, we passed on entering the temple. While returning, we had another round of the delicious malpuas. Married riders got gifts for their spouses while the singles shopped for themselves. We also went to the gurudwara and had a nice view of the sunset. The group splitted on what to do next with Rajiv, Sunny and Tsering going for a ride on their motorcycles, while the rest of us went back to the ghats, soaking the serenity.
The calendar for the evening constituted Indian Bride competition. Nobody expected much from that event, so Che and Chadha went to see the circus. Sunny had brought another Old Monk with him and was eager to start the council meeting. I went to see the bride competition alone. Surprisingly, the entries were all visitors. And funnily, there was no curtain on the stage, so all could see the choreographer giving them instructions. Bored out, I returned to join Sunny and Tsering for the meeting. An hour later, Che and Chadha also arrived. The drinks and dinner was finished quickly. As the next day was the return trip, most retired for the night. Blessed by the Ancient "Monk", Sunny, Tsering and I opted to ride out in the middle of the night. At that time of the night, the streets were fairly empty and it was great fun to ride. We realized that all the roads ultimately reached back to the same place. Thats how small the town is.
Next day, all were ready to leave Pushkar. We tried to have breakfast at the nearby hotel, but realized it was nonsense to do so. So, we bade farewell to Pushkar, deciding to stop for breakfast on the way. After travelling some 15 kms, we stopped for parathas at a fairly, new dhaba The place was nice, far from everything. Surprisingly, there was no butter here too. We all joked that this must have been the real reason that Viks left a day early. Chadha got busy in calculating the expenses for the trip. After some chilly parathas with dahi, we started again.
Chadha was the most excited one during the return trip. He rode non-stop all the way to his home to Delhi and reached at 5 PM. Tsering was following him, but then decided to tag along with the rest of us, and so waited for 2.5 hours at a dhaba after Behror. The rest had a bland lunch at a small dhaba. There was no salt in it. Signs to show that we were leaving Rajasthan. By now, it was getting dark and traffic was also getting heavier. It was difficult to keep together. I missed when they stopped some time in Dharuhera. But then, all of us again regrouped at the starting point. Leisure valley Park. Final goodbyes exchanged, the anniversary was well celebrated.