The Tijara Titans

29th May, 2010: Another Fort Conquered

And this is a rare fort conquest. It will soon be converted into a Heritage Hotel by the Neemrana Group. In fact, the caretakers were unwilling to let us in. But, who can stop a group of 11 fanatic riders. Not only did we ride in, but also sneaked into the locked gates of the main complex.

It was expected to be only a two-member ride. Me and Sunny. Things took a sharp turn when Nishant Jha threw a shocker and turned up for the weekend in India from Kuwait. Membership started to grow and in the end, we had 11 participants:

Nishant Jha - Che - Royal Enfield Machismo
Sumit Vijayant - Sunny - Royal Enfield Standard
Zaheer Khan - Royal Enfield 535
Asok Rana - Royal Enfield Electra
Rishi Singh Maurya - Royal Enfield Standard
Sandeep Sharma - Bantu - Royal Enfield Electra
Vihans Gupta - Cheenu - Yamaha FZ-16
Rohan Kaushik - Gattu - Bajaj Pulsar 180
Adit Sharda - Shaatir - Bajaj Pulsar 220
Dhruv Malik - Bajaj Pulsar 220
Me - Ken - Royal Enfield Electra

As per tradition, some of us gathered for drinks on the night before the ride. As expected, the night went long and we were late in sleeping. But experience has taught us always to wake up in time for the ride. At 4:50 AM, most of us gathered at the designated point, Leisure Valley Park. The wait was only for Zaheer and Asok and they also did not make us wait for long. The only person missing now was Dhruv. He had just woken up and would be catching up on the way. Its tough to charge him a penalty for late coming as we take the fine in beer and Dhruv is a tee-totaler. Anyway, with my speed reduced to a limit of 60 kph due to a piston change, there would be no problems in catching up. 

We took off around 5:10 AM. I dragged behind with my restricted speed. In other rides too, I take the tail, but am able to see most of the riders. Not this time though. Asok was kind enough to keep me company and rode just a few meters ahead.

After crossing the Kherki-Dhaula Toll Plaza, we got stuck in a jam. How can a jam be caused so early in the morning, was beyond belief. We saw the cause some distance ahead. A truck had broken down and was blocking part of the highway. With so much traffic along this corridor, even a small amount of lost roadspace, leads to kilometers of jams. The six-lane conversion should provide a respite only if the traffic doesnt increase so much as to render it useless. Dhruv caught up with us during this time.

The others would have reached Dharuhera long before I limped there. Till that time, the others had had their fill of water and smoke. The beer of last night had left the throat dry. As soon as I reached the spot, the others were ready to ride again.

"Chalo, chalo. Yahan rukne ki nahi hai."I was to be the butt of this tagline throughout the ride. 

As we took the turn towards Bhiwadi, then Tapukara, we stopped again at a roadside tea stall. The weather had not been as hot as expected. Early morning teas are blissful. So began a session of the famed BoP bakchodi. We took the Rajasthan Patrika for inspiration. Since, Vihans was in the most hurry, as he had a closing day at his office, he mixed the namkeen into his tea and had them together to save time. As time passed, I was again egged on to move out first, which I did. Only to stop a few kms ahead at a, you know what, theka. You see, riding in this weather is very tiring and thirsty job and we do need our occassional drinks to replenish our body fluids. Plus, reaching a Fort without beer is like Bhangra without Dhol. Unseparable. You can still do it, but it won't be any fun.

The locals helped us in finding the way through the town towards the Fort. One great thing about riding in a group through a tiny town is that when you are lagging behind and reach a crossing, the locals automatically tell you which way the others have gone, without asking.

We were directed to a way across town to a path that led to the foot of the mountain atop which a majestic Fort stood. But, getting up the mountain was not so easy. There was considerable off-roading action. The initial few feet was a very narrow and steep trail that led to a broader path leading to the Fort above. I was skeptic about riding up this trail as I may overheat the piston.

Sunny went first. One by one others followed. It looked too good a fun to miss. I took the risk and climbed on, careful not to take the revs very high. It did turn out to be great fun. As we entered the premises, we saw renovation work in progress. We climbed all the way up and parked besides the main compound. This compound was locked. Two caretakers approached us saying that tourists are not allowed in this area. BoP has mastered the art of convincing. We began to negotiate spending some time nearby, take a few pics and then leave quickly. This is the first spell. The caretaker began to soften a bit. Then suddenly, someone shouted, "Oye, beer kahan hai?". If there was any sign that the man would let us stay, it had been washed away by that beer shout. But seeing that there were 11 of us and only two of them, also helped by our very polite faces, they relented.

We began to explore the area. A spot near the rear wall was selected for our village council meeting. Anyone who has ever attended one of our meetings knows how productive and intelligent they are. We solve the world's problems in seconds. No wait, we dont discuss politics. But they are still very fruitful. The discussion topics were, amongst many:

Real Estate - (We took over the nearby hill and divided it into plots)

Supernatural Powers - (How the ghosts of the Fort's rulers would react to our conquest)
Sex - (As always)
Teach India - (We took our mother language to new heights)
Warfare Technology - (How a cannonball would fly off from the holes on the sides of the walls)

Structure Construction - (How to build stairs)

By now, the sun was getting much too bright to sit outside. So, we thought of trying and sneaking into the main complex through one of the broken walls. As we neared the walls, we could hear the countless bats screech inside and smell their faeces. Beer has a way of making you overcome all fears and we charged inside.

And we were through. The compound was thoroughly explored. It also provided a fantastic view of our motorcycles standing amongst the ruins. 

Beer also has a way of making you feel more attractive than what you really are. Hence, the attraction towards getting your photo clicked. But where it hits the most is your funny bone. The pic below shows it exactly.

After the ascent, comes the descent. I've always found descending to be more dangerous than ascending, because the gravity sucks you in. A couple of brake pads are all that stop you from plumetting to death. In this case, however, the descent was not so dangerous. We led off to a different path this time. A fully, muddy, offroad path. Our motorcycles were slithering and sliding and we enjoyed every bit of it. 

Soon, we reached the main road of Tijara town. We stopped to have a drink of water. We always tend to forget to carry water along while going to Forts. The villagers surrounded us admiring the machines. One of the locals described them as "Dhaakarr". 

By now, it was quite sunny and hot, and when we regrouped at Bhiwadi for some sugarcane juice, we were sweating profusely. I've liked sugarcane juice to be particularly more rehydrating than lemon juice, my other favourite. Some of the guys now decided to head straight to their homes and attend to other tasks. Dhruv, Vihans, Bantu, Rohan and me were in favour of stopping for a bite to eat. We stopped for a quick bite at Manesar's Mc Donald's. As the others also took a smoke, Big Mac looked after our helmets. We said goodbyes and came home.

In the afternoon, it rained, a phenomenon that is very closely associated with BoP rides, especially when Che is around. 

JAI BOP !!!!!

LAMB OF GOD

AS THE PALACE GROUNDS BURN

Currently, as I pen down the opening lines, my throat is croaked, neck is stiff, knees are achy, eyes are puffy. Having a sick day? No. Its one of the best days of my life. Or more accurately, the hangover of one of the best days of my life. I truly feel blessed by God. More accurately, Lamb of God.

History states that I started following Lamb of God six years ago. At that time, I had only heard '11th hour' from Freddy Vs Jason soundtrack and did not think much of it. Then I listened to 'Ruin' from MTV 2 Headbanger's Ball. While '11th Hour' had a Death Metal touch, 'Ruin' was more thrashy. It got me hooked. But then sometime later I heard 'Black Label'. This track took the hook all the way down to the gut. I turned fanatic and then simply had to get the albums Ashes of the Wake, As the Palaces Burn and New American Gospel. After dosing on these albums for years, saw the 'Wall of Death' phenomenon in one of their videos. This made attending their concert a must. The thought was still far-fetched as this band was still gaining popularity. With the releases of 'Sacrament' and 'Wrath', their fame had reached heights. India has usually witnessed bands in their decline state. But Overture threw a shock by inviting them over and announcing a concert in Bangalore on 15th May.

And the RACE WAS ON. The action stepped up. Only me and my roommate, Sunny were interested in heading all the way down, some 2400kms just to see a concert. There was quite a lot of trouble regarding the tickets. My usual source, rsjonline.com had shut down. So, getting information was tough. Tickets were being sold by only kyazoonga.com and that too, only online. No counter sales. My lack of trust in online transactions meant that we would have to do the purchase by the harder method of heading to their office, pay the cash and get receipt. Sunny was chosen as the guy for this job. He did the job perfectly. We also went to Clyde's to buy Tees specially for the concert. Our journey plan was to travel by train. Given my shortage of leaves, I chose to return by flight. Tickets were booked and then checked daily to see the waiting status rise slowly and slowly.

But painfully, eventually, the D-Day came. I had never worked fast enough in the office before. I made sure that my work was done in time and left the office at 5:30 PM. We had booked a cab from our place to the New Delhi Railway station. Gurgaon is chaotic from 6 to 8 PM. We had to take the road out of Convergys, go till IFFCO Chowk for U-turn, cross the Toll Plaza. All these points are immensely jammed. Two-wheelers are still lucky as they can go off-road and squeeze through. But then, some smart-ass in a car tries to mimic them and ends up blocking the road for miles. We watched patiently as our cab crawled through the traffic. Our first step towards God's blessings was going painfully slow. Luckily, we had taken into account ample of time and the cab driver avoided Dhaula Kuan and we reached the Railway Station well in time.

I like train journeys. Its a different experience. You have ample time to waste around. How many times you get that opportunity nowadays? I was well armed for the next 40 hours on tracks. I was carrying two-halves of Old Monk in baggage(Temple Tap Twice). Yes, there's always a risk of police catching it and you get into trouble. Sunny was nervous crossing the metal detectors. I've done so many times and just glided along. Someday, I know I'll glide too comfortably and get caught, but till that time, lets just enjoy.

We had RAC tickets. A difficult deal considering that you have to share a bunk with one of the largest man around, Sunny. Luck favoured and the bunk above us was available till Bhopal. Enough time to sleep well. However, we were not lucky to get ample food as we were counting on the platforms to provide some. Rum has a power to drown out any such inconvinience. It did for me, but not for Sunny as he did not taste any. I always believed Rum to be the real nectar of Gods. I sure hope we did not attract attention beacuse of drinks. I was careful not to reveal the content in Coke bottles.

We did not have very good co-passengers. No F18-25s. So, we slept off early.

14th May. The next day. This day was to be spent entirely in the train. Usual events of hunting for food and snacks with the rum. Nothing special.

15th May. We were to reach Bangalore today. We finished all the Rum. Yes, even Sunny joined in this time. Today was the day of the concert. The time for laziness was over. From this moment on, it would be one wild rush till we were in Bangalore. I like speedy plans sometimes. You don't get the time to relax. You are continuously on the move serving one cause or the other.

As soon as we got off at the Cantt Railway Station, we took a pre-paid auto to my college-mate Harish Nair's place. He had arranged our stay at one of his friend's, Puneet's place. The ticket said Gates open at 2 pm. At 2 pm, we were in Puneet's house and getting dressed for the concert. We quickly picked up beer cans from the first theka and took an auto. The beer added to the vigorous energy of the day, more so because it was Knock-Out. You dont get this beer in the North. As we neared Palace Grounds, we could spot some of other concert-goers in other autos. Communication was wild, greeting each other with devil horn symbols, \m/ shouting "LAMB OF GOD" at the top of our voices. Thats Heavy Metal Brotherhood.

We yelled and hailed all the way to the Entry Gates. There brothers met with hugs. They had come from Kerela, Tamil Nadu. We found that the entry was not from this gate, but far away from the Fun World side. We stopped another auto and got off there. After passing through the gates, there was another long walk to the main entrance. It must have been around 3:30 that we entered the premises. By now, one of the four Indian bands to play had done their part and the second, Scribe was doing the sound check.

We strolled around the venue looking at the stalls. I met Sahil Makhija, the Demonstealer, at his stall. He's always a joy to see, reminding me of good old days at Mumbai. I looked around hoping to see more familiar faces, but there was none. I had expected two or three of my close buddies and many of the Indian band members, specially Bhayanak Maut, to be present among the audience, but there was no one. It seemed, Sunny will have to bear the brunt of my thrashy nonsense. I did meet the guitarist of Bhayanak Maut, Baba at the show. He told me that Vinay wont be attending. Another person I missed was Arfaq from Infernal Wrath. He's one of the bad-ass moshers. Another noticable thing was that the concert area looked too small.

The good news was that Tuborg beer was available inside the venue, although at an exaggerated price of 100Rs per glass. Since our day was rushing so fast that we hardly had the time to booze, we took the beer gratefully.

The vocalist of Scribe was upto his usual pranks on stage. Normally, I enjoy listening to Scribe, but the day was dedicated to Lamb of God. I was saving all my energy for that. The opening bands never get any recognition whenever you have a huge headlining band, no matter how good they are. By the time, the opening bands had finished, it had got dark.

By now, even the crowd was packing up and the area that looked so small earlier, showed how much people could be swallowed. The stage was getting set up for Lamb of God. Big banners showing the Wrath artworks were on display. Chris Adler's drumset occupied most of the stage. There were two projector screens on either side of the stage. But I could not see them function. As time dragged, on the mob started chanting, "Lamb of God", "Lamb of God". I handed over my cellphone to Sunny for safekeeping while I do the moshing. He obliged. He knew that I wont be standing still at this concert.

One of the Overture guys came on stage saying to the crowd to move back a little as some of the front rowers were getting crushed. I personally feel that its the norm for front rowers to feel the pressure and if you cant take it, do not take that position. The crowd booed. Bring on the band, damnit. Even after repeated requests, there was no relenting. Then we saw Randy Blythe, the vocalist at the corner of the stage. Everyone gave a loud yell. The Overture guy was talking with him about the situation. He came back and gave a stern warning that the crowd must move back or else the show would be cancelled. After 4-5 warnings, the crowd did relent and moved back. Everyone knew that once the music started, all hell will break loose.

Now passed another 5 minutes of blistering wait. Then came on the music of The Passing, the intro to Wrath album. THIS was the moment for which we had travelled 2000+ kms. I had dreamt about this moment and it was happening NOW. One by one, the band members came on stage. Willie Adler, Mark Morton, John Campbell and Chris Adler. The shout was maximum when Chris Adler came on. He's the guy that gets the most respect from me. A mind-numbing drummer with ferocious pounding power.

The Passing has a melodic tone that goes on for a minute. Then this track gives way to the typical Lamb of God thrash style track - "In Your Words". Its during this track that Chris Adler turns into his form. After the intro of In Your Words, Randy Blythe came screaming onto the stage and the crowd exploded. The moshpit also grew active as if turned on by sound mechanism of vocals. I love moshing.

For those who don't know what a moshpit is, here's a brief description:

In a Heavy Metal concert, the level of aggression is very high due to fast and loud music of guitars and drums and their players. In such a highly aggressive state, there forms a space near the stage where the loudest part of music is heard. This area is called the moshpit. The audience tries to mimic their favourite artistes in this pit and behave like the guitarists themselves. The headbanging turns more fierce. As the tempos rise and the movements of these people within the confines of the crowd increases, they bump into each other. These bumps then turn into pushes and shoves and finally, slams. People enjoy these crashes and try to push everyone within this pit. For better explanation, they are like steam filled ping pong balls in a small container, colliding with each other and the walls and so on. This activity is called as moshing.

For a complete description read, http://www.moshing.org. Heavy Metal fanatics will enjoy reading this.

The energy flow around the area drove me insane. At that moment I didn't care for the rest of the world. I was moshing like crazy. As In Your Words ended, the band continued on to Set to Fail, without pause. It was like a never-ending adrenaline injection. Wrath is one beautifully crafted album. Such was the intensity that I grew tired at the end of the track. Maybe, age is catching up with me or maybe, I pushed myself too hard.

After the 2nd track, Randy Blythe came out with "Hello Bangalore". The crowd responded with a loud roar. He was speaking with genuine appreciation of the crowd when he said, "India? Does anyone know us there?" and "We'll go back and tell the other bands about what we saw and tell them to come here". Yeah, some of it is just to please the crowd, but it sounded honest. He also made a hilarious comment by calling Gandhi a "dude". It set the crowd rolling.

The next track was one of my favourites, Ruin. I screamed my lungs out along with Randy over the vocals throughout. All my tiredness had faded.

One by one more memorable tracks followed. Walk with me in Hell, Now you've got something to Die For, Blacken the Cursed Sun, Descending, Reclamation, As the Palaces Burn.

It was during Walk with me in Hell, that a girl fell into the moshpit. I helped her up quickly as this was no place for females. What surprised me most was my strength as to how I was able to pick her up with one hand. I mean, yeah, she did not have much flesh on her but still it would have been more than 40 kgs. My muscles were pumping. This gave a new surge in my moshing. The kids in the pit faced the brunt of it. They were seen flying here and there.

It was during Now You've Got Something to Die For that Randy asked for a circle pit. Sadly, not many moshers present there knew how and instead of the circle, there was just mish-mash. The banners now had also changed to Ashes of the Wake artwork.

One thing happens in all pits is that you face one person and you know that this guy should not be messed with while in the pit. There is a feeling of mutual respect and it shows. Who says heavy metal is for hooligans?

Then came Laid to Rest. The crowd had been demanding this track for long. And when Randy announced it, the mob went berserk. During the track, 3 people fell over my leg and I was pushed to bite the dust. It did take sometime to get back up and I worried about the condition of my newly healed leg. But only momentarily. As soon I was back on my feet, I went back into action. My throat had become hoarse now due to all the roaring. I was hell-bent on making it worse.

When the band starts playing their most popular songs, you know that they are nearing the end. That also means that you have only a few minutes left to savour the moments. The next track was Redneck. This track has amazing riffs that give a real high. Who needs drugs? You push with all the enthusiasm you've got, and then more. "This is a motherfuckin' invitation".

Black Label. This was to be the last track of the night. This track brings out the demons within. It creates the Wall of Death. When the intro started, moshers knew the moment had arrived. Its amazing to see how much space can be squeezed out of a packed crowd when the "Wall" is created. The audience divides into two like the faces of a wall facing each other. As the intro led into the main sequence, the walls run towards each other and slam in the middle. Body parts fly here and there and then the process repeats. I must have run some 3 kms during this track. The band said goodbye after this track.

We were left tired, but ecstatic. The thing about this band is that there are so many great songs that they are not covered in a single concert and you end up somewhat disappointed. I felt that Fake Messiah and Broken Hands should have been played. Another disappointment was that there was too much dust on the ground that kicks up during moshing. But it turned out to my advantage. As I was hanging around after the concert, I found Willie Adler's pick. To make you realize what it means, imagine a cricket fan getting Sachin Tendulkar's glove. Its a treasure.

My Thanks to Overture for bringing these guys over.

Thanks to Harish Nair and his friends for treating us royally.

Thanks to Sunny for being my companion.

What I still don't understand is why do bands pick Bangalore as the venue? I did not see as much enthusiasm there as I used to. Plus, Bangalore seems like a place which has westernisation thrust on people not so willing to accept it. Pick Mumbai instead.

Now that I've seen Lamb of God, I would travel the long distance only to see Slayer or Kreator or Vader or Behemoth. RSJ, are you listening?