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 !!!!!