The Chakrata Chucklers - 06 to 09 March 2009

What a Name! We owe this to Nishant Jha. Actually, we owe a lot to everybody in this ride and also people outside this ride.


Nishant Jha - Dumper - Bullet Electra

Dhruv - Rodder - Bajaj Pulsar 220

Rishi - Wikipedia - Bullet Standard

Rohit Saini - Addict-Tea - Bullet Electra

Vihans - Leakage - Yamaha FZ-16

Chadha - Sledgehammer - Bullet Standard

Gyan - Gahori - Hero Honda Karizma

Myself - Bullet Electra

Gaurav Soni - Gajraj - Bullet Electra

6th March 2009 (Take off)

The planning started way back, 6th Feb to be exact. A fellow rider, Gajraaj Singh had been there nine times. We decided to follow on his tyre tracks and see what all the fuss is about. Some usual hiccups later, the datetime was finally fixed to be 5 PM on 6th March. But it wasnt going to be that easy. Being a Friday, my office work usually loads up and I had to stay late to complete it. Meanwhile, I urged the fellow riders to continue their journey at the scheduled time. But the BoP family is a stubborn lot. All wanted to leave together. Finally, at 8 PM, I was able to leave office.

Three of us, Nishant, Dhruv and I, gathered at Leisure Valley and set off from there at 8:20 PM. Rishi joined us at the Gurgaon 32 Lane Toll Plaza. I had called up Vihans at 8 PM to wait for us at the landfill site at GT Road. So while we were gathering dust at the choked Naraina roads, Vihans was getting fumed and perfumed waiting at the site.

We managed to reach him at 10:15 PM. Even the roadside shops were about to close at that time. But Vihans was still cheerful.
Now, the journey began. Nishant was following speed limits of 60 kph owing to a piston change. It was so much fun to let him overtake and then overtake him for a change. The sight of 5 motorcycles riding together in a straight line is a wonderful one, specially when making an overtaking manouever with the blinkers on.

We stopped an hour later in front of, what else, but a theka. No, you traffic rulers, we didnt drink there. We just picked up supplies for the journey ahead. Gyan was getting mighty impatient all this time. He had his bar ready at 8 PM and waiting. He kept on calling me to ask where we have reached and barked out expletives on finding out.

While riding towards Panipat, Rohit Saini also caught up with us. A few kms later, we reached Panipat. By now, Dhruv had had enough. He opened the throttle to his P220 on the flyover and zoomed out of sight. He had his fun, though it was short-lived, since only I knew the way to Gyan's home and the others had to follow me. HAA HAA.

As soon as we turned off NH1, the cold hit us. It was chilly. Vihans displayed his scraping abilities here. Sparks flew. Gyan was most pleased to see us. It was 12:30 now. He had been waiting for more than 4 hours with the chicken, pork and bar ready. We wasted no time and soon sat down for ... bakchodi. It was an energetic round and the newcomers found out what it meant to be a part of a BoP ride. I sure hope it was pleasant for all. The veggies had to be content with dal only, half of which was consumed by the non-veggies. Vihans took the cake here with his slapstick comedy.

This carried on for 3 hours(dunno, nobody was watching the clock). By now, we were energized enough to go night riding. Bad idea when you have finished two bottles of rum. In the wee hours, 5 of us were racing our motorcycles through the IOCL Panipat Township. It seemed as we were attracting curses of all the families. And then the curse worked. While negotiating a sharp turn, I slipped. Fortunately, the motorcycle didnt fall on top of me and it was unharmed too. Dhruv was behind me and helped me and my machine on my feet. One turn later, we saw two more bikes on the ground. Nishant and Vihans had also suffered a fall. But how, thats a question yet to be answered. They claim that their path was blocked and they had to brake suddenly. Still, the bikes were all okay, with a few scratches, and we laughed on our stupidities. I tried to mend my bent footrest by slamming it with a brick as I had seen someone do during my Lahaul trip. But the footrests connecting rod broke. I wondered what that other guy did. Reaching back home, we went off to sleep.

7th March 2009(Ongoing Journey)

Next morning, I was woken up by a call from Gaurav Soni aka Gajraaj Singh as I introduced earlier in the blog.(The Chakrata Veteran). He was intent on surprising us by welcoming us to Hotel Snowview. Another call came a few minutes later and it was Chadha paaji. We had planned to meet him at NH1 at 8:30 AM and the time was now 9 AM. I guided him to Gyan's home as best as I could in my drowsy state. Seeing that nobody was awake, Chadha himself went to sleep.
It was a good 2 hours later, that they set off from Panipat. I had set off earlier to meet my relatives at Karnal. But our troubles were not yet over. Seems the curse of last night had a more powerful core. Vihans shockers had bent and we stopped at Yamaha Gulati Motors at Karnal to get it repaired. I went to Royal Enfield Monga Motors to get my footrests rod replaced. So while the rest took breakfast, I visited my relatives.

Yamaha took a long time. Nishant, Chadha, Rohit and Dhruv went ahead towards Chakrata. The next batch with Gyan, Vihans, Rishi and I, left Karnal at 3 PM. A noteworthy incident here was the amount of work done on Vihans' bike(shocker replacement) and the bill turned out to be just Rs 650. Imagine that on a Bullet and half of your month's salary is wiped out.

Being so much behind schedule, we picked up pace. We crossed Ladwa and Yamunanagar. There was a massive national flag at Ladva at an under-construction park. Saluting, we carried on. Nishant had suggested the "Panipat Fallen" to get tetanus shots, which we did so at Yamunanagar. The road toward Saharanpur was a cream. The air wasnt. There were uncountable insects that got through the collars, down to your stomachs and sometimes lower. Just before Saharanpur, we took the turn towards Herbertpur. This was now rural terrain, but the roads looked nothing short than a Highway. Smoooooth. We were quite an attraction in the villages we crossed. My bandero mask must have scared many kids.

By now, it was getting dark and I called up Nishant. He said that their batch would wait for us at Haripur, 1 kms before Kalsi. 15 kms before Vikas Nagar, we struck a bikers' goldmine. Curvy, smooth roads. But since it was dark, we controlled our enthusiasm and rode very sensibly. I was envying the first batch since they would have come across this road in daylight.

Many agonising minutes later, all of us re-united at Haripur.

Chakrata was still 42 kms away and we had to stick together. The small town was a land of wonders. We saw a poster of a mother feeding her baby with the slogan, "If you can dream it, do it". To this day, friends have been giving entertaining ideas on what it means. Another wonder was a D.J. sound service shop with clothes put up for sale.

After some momos, tea, and a group snap, we set off in line to cover the last 42 kms. We were now leaving civilization behind. The landscape(or whatever could be seen from the headlights) looked barren and beautiful. The traffic all the way consisted of just our 8 motorcycles. A newly constructed road, just for us. The sight of 8 headlights snaking through mountain roads is enchanting.

We reached Hotel Snowview at 10:15 PM, with Gajraj welcoming us with a glass in his hand. The descent to the hotel is pretty steep and we had to maintain a gap between the machines. Oddly enough, we noticed the other guests sitting outside their rooms as we landed. As soon as we came back after depositting our luggage, all the guests went inside their rooms and watching TV. Nothing surprising really, since its the same case wherever we go. Thankfully, there was no mobile network too.

The cold was something we had not prepared well enough for. The bonfire was quickly lit up and hungry, wolfen stomachs demanded food. What else, another bakchodi session. Dhruv came up with the most wonderful idea of writing BoP in petrol and setting it on fire. A most cherished moment. We owe this to you Dhruv.

The night went on with Vihans again displaying his slapsticks, Rishi showing his Britannica knowledge, Chadha made his sledgehammer remarks which made everyone double up in laughter. Chadha also showed a video on his mobile whose dialogues became the talk of the entire trip. "Ye le. Ye le le. halkat". Gajraj was telling us about the sights to see. We planned to leave for Tiger Falls next morning.

As some of the riders went to sleep, some of us decided to go on a night walk. Wiki, Gajraj, Dhruv, Rohit and I set off with a cane and torch. Nishant also started with us wearing his Killer Bandero, but his foot was hurt, so he returned. We roamed around the military station with Gajraj guiding us along the way. When the torch was turned off, it turned really spooky. Gajraj further scared the shit out of us by mentioning, "that house is haunted". But we are brave men. We still carry on. And we returned to the hotel after travelling for another 5 minutes.

8 March 2009(The Roam around)

The day started lazily. Rohit started looking for tea. He just cant do without it. He must have had at least 10 cups the day before. Gajraj went to every room to draw the curtains aside. Breakfast was ordered as some took a bath and some declined. Dhruv and Gyan started the ritual of warming up and cooling off their bikes. Nishant took out another Carlsberg for mouthwash. I mixed up a cocktail for the day's journey. Vihans is always busy preparing his stuff.

After the customary rider and motorcycle shops, we set off towards Tiger Falls. The 17 kms ride was amazing. Nice roads, miniature water crossings, most lovely weather. It was now that we could see the landscape that we could not last night. Contrary to most hill stations, the hills here are barren.

We reached the spot from where there is a 2 kms trek downhill to Tiger Falls, Asia's second highest falls. Chadha was most prepared among all of us as he tied up his bandana and visor to protect from UV rays.

I've always enjoyed mountain trails. Makes good use of these Woodlands. Many orkut profile pics later, we reached a hut where we took off our shoes. From here you have to cross the water to get to Tiger Falls. And the sight is mesmerising. A secluded place among the mountains.

Encouraged by three other visitors who were going under the falls, I took a big gulp of cocktail, undressed, and went in myself. The water was cold. So cold, I could feel my bones biting. Breath was coming in short gasps and growing shorter as the distance to the falls was closing. As soon as the water from the falls touched the shoulders, shivers ran through the whole body. When I finally stood under the falls, the water was pounding like hammer above me. Little droplets struck like needles. I stood under a mighty force of nature. It wouldnt have been even five seconds and I withdrew. Soon as I reached the shore I took a huge gulp of the cocktail. The bath had made all the pain and tiredness of last day's travel disappear. Nature has its own way of healing much superior to any human means.

One by one 5 of us went in for the bath. One by one everyone screamed with delight while standing under the falls. Gyan gave the idea of forming a human chain and going in, which we did. It made for a fantastic photo shot. As we were stepping out, Gyan gave another idea of a snap while sitting in a toad position. Gyan was being a gyaani.

We had planned to visit Kanesar too that day. So we stepped out, got dressed and started trekking. Only this time, it was uphill. Making banners out of the wet underwears, we started the trek. Soon, everybody was panting heavily. Its times like these that make you realise how important those daily exercises are. Tripping, crawling we made our way to the snack point where we had parked our motorcycles. Vihans went straight into the kitchen, took some desi eggs, and started making omelettes. Everybody was terrifyingly hungry, and the maggi and eggs were devoured in seconds. But it had also gotten late now, and we skipped visiting Kanesar.

We made our way back to Chakrata in the evening sun and went straightaway to the local market. Rohit was busy hunting for tea. We looked around the various shops selling camo and military equipment. People bought jerseys, badges, and of course, fluids for the night. A special thanks to Chadha paaji who bought jalebis, samosas and gulab jamuns. He's such a "sweet" guy. Some also bought black market petrol for the journey back. The nearest Petrol Pump would be at Vikas Nagar, 60 kms away.

I should mention here the special affection that Nishant and Vihans found for each other. They were a couple now, walking arms in arms, indifferent to others. Thankfully, they didn't make a cosy scene.

We returned to the hotel shortly. This night was even colder than before. Rohit ordered tea. Arrangements were made to celebrate our last night with beers and bonfire. But before that, Vihans carried out a special underwater program with Gyan, Nishant as co-participants. No, I wont go into details, just take the hint. Since there were no other guests tonight, we asked the caretakers to cook fish. However, there was an entertainment that we had not bargained for. As bottles started piling up, drinkers elevated. But none more than Rishi. He continued on non-stop on his vast, factual knowledge base with Vihans and Chadha interjecting with their pun. This became a source of inside-out laughter for the rest of us. It was impossible to remain seated. Our stomachs pained from laughing so much. Only when all the bottles were emptied, did we get back into our rooms. Dunno what time, nobody was looking at the watch.

9 March 2009(The Return)

Next morning, we were ready to go by 10:30 AM. It was going to be a long 400 kms stretch for us today. We took the same route while returning too. The 42 kms to Kalsi was flabbergasting. We had crossed this area in the dark while coming and now we could appreciate the natural beauty of the place. Plus, the smooth roads made the ride unforgettable.

On reaching Kalsi, we visited the 14th Rock Edict of King Ashoka. BoP is seriously on a cultural rampage.

The place was calm and neat. The view was breathtaking with fields running on the side of a river. We asked our Rishi Singh Maurya to translate the inscriptions to us, being of the same dynasty.

It was here that Dhruv learnt that he has an extra holiday ahead of him. He cajoled everyone to make a diversion towards Amritsar. Sadly, not many had that privilege.

But there was still excitement ahead of us. Crossing Vikas Nagar, we encountered long curvy roads. This was followed by curvy, hilly roads. These 30 kms are a biker's paradise.

We stopped for lunch at just before Yamunanagar. Special Lachcha Parathas were ordered for Chadha paaji initially and then for everybody else. Dal, Paneer, mix veg and what not. All that is remembered was that it was a fully satisfying meal. After this point, was 30 kms of rough patch, the only one we had encountered through our trip. Even worse was the traffic with trucks hardly giving any side. The riders were disjointed at this stretch.

Eating huge amounts of dust, we touched NH1 at Pipli and stopped at the first theka. Only Gyan, Rishi and I were interested in having some beer with the rest content with tea. As we set off after beer and tea, trouble.

The electricals in Chadha paaji's Bullet went off. Being experts, we experimented ourselves on correcting the fault. Everyone had some suggestion to give. When all the suggestions had ran out and no outcome, we looked at what we had done. It seemed as if the Bullet was also cursing us open mouthedly.

Pipli was 1 km back. Since Gyan had to attend night shift in office, we bade him goodbye. I rode back to Pipli, located a mechanic and called in the others.

Rohit helped Chadha to push his Bullet back to Pipli using the towleg technique. The ammeter had failed. The mechanic bypassed the fault using alternate connections and we were good to go in half an hour. We stopped at our beloved Murthal Dhaba for dinner.

Touched Delhi border at 11:30, Gurgaon at 12:15 and reached home 15 mins later, showered and crashed to sleep.


P.S. Anybody says any more incidents is just trying to defame me. Any incidents left out are intentional or forgotten. Anybody offended is free to complain to my deaf ears.