I wrote this travelog 5 years after the ride happened. 5 years is a
long time for memories to fade. 5 years is long time to forget friends.
Infact 5 years is a long enough even for deepest wounds to heal. But it
was not long enough for me to forget this ride. I may have forgotten
some details, but I distinctly remember the emotion in this trip. Every
moment, every hour, every gush of wind, every act of madness. Yes, it
was madness. The people I was traveling with were mad.

Rewind to Friday evening: Techfest 2003 team in some IIT hostel room.
Susu, Kota, Tiwari, Gogo, Pika, Dasa, Navendu, Bhussi, Mittal and I.
And Bhandu. The marketing folks in the team had to meet some company in
Pune. Someone suggested he would tag along. Another one suggested we
should do a bike trip to Pune. Everyone else jumped in at the idea.
Deal sealed.

Fast forward to Saturday early morning: 11 people. 5 bikes. Actually 4
bikes and a scooter. Anyways, the point was 10 seats and 11 people. We
either arranged another bike quickly or leave one person behind. Bhussi
was sent to fetch Bhandu. He came back saying it was impossible to wake
up the sleeping buffalo. Alright, the problem was solved.

At 4:00 am, engines thundered into life, petrol fumed and rubber
burned. 4 motorbikes roared past the campus gates and a Bajaj scooter
whimpered tamely behind them. 10 young men had set upon a road trip
from Bombay to Pune. The passion in these mad men was evident in every
twist of the throttle and every screech of the tyre. I was 21 then. All
of us were 20-21. Young. Wild. The exuberance of youth was spilling.
And it was a perfect setting for an adrenaline rush. I was actually
scared that in all this enthusiasm, our adventure might turn into a
mishap. Thankfully, that didn't happen. I now reckon that however mad
these men were, there was a streak of control freak in all of them.

The first stop was a roadside food stall - vada pav and cutting chai
for the hungry stomachs. The sun was still rising as the band zipped
through Western Express Highway and Vashi Bridge to the outskirts of
Bombay city. After debating the right way and the wrong way, we finally
hit the Bombay-Pune highway.

The onward journey to Pune was an exciting one. Halts at
fabulous Lonavla and Khandala hills. Detours to off-beaten tracks.
Pick-nicking at waterfalls and reservoirs. To this day I think the
Lonavla and Khandala hills are the most sensous place in India during
monsoons. I was carrying my Nikon FE10 with a black and white roll.
Someone else was carrying a cheap point and shoot with a color roll
(this was the time well before digital cameras made their advent). We
took a lot of pictures. All of us bundled up together grinning ear to
ear. Walking down the road in a single file like some mafia dons.
Sitting on a water pipe with hands stretched out - ready to fly. All
things that college kids do.

On one of the steeper sections of the road through the hills, Pika and
Navendu (the two healthier asses in the entourage) had to get of their
scooter and give it a mild push while riding it in 2nd gear. Others
zipped by more comfortably. The real cake of the ride was when the
highway merged with the expressway for a brief section. The speed of
the bikes was always constant - top speed - only the angle of incline
changed with the curving roads. As I told you at the start, these men
were mad.

As we got closer to Pune, the scenery became less exciting and the
journey became more tiring. The pollution in Pune city outskirts didn't
make the experience any pleasant. And the marketing folks in the team
had a meeting to attend. And more importantly, we were running out of
office hours when we could meet the company guys. The throttles twisted
45 degrees and zig-zagging through the city traffic, we got where we
wanted to get. A quick change of clothes behind some bushes, our guys
became men. The meeting was good. Hopefully, we'd get some dough for
Techfest.

At the optimistic age of 21, every shred of good news called for
rejoicement. We hit Susu's friend's house. Unwinded for an hour and set
out for our little feast in Pune later that night. I don't exactly
remember - was it Burger King? Anyways, it was popular burger joint in
the city. Someone boasted he knew for a fact that college girls in Pune
were into prostitution for some extra 'pocket money'. Another detested
the fact and said it was preposterous. Another one didn't care and just
wanted a smoke after the heavy burger and coke. It was late in the
night and it was time to get horizontal. All ten of us snuggled into
whatever bedding we could grab at our host's place for the rest of the
night.

On Sunday at around 6:00 am, we set out for Bombay. After a modest
breakfast of eggs, chai and biscuits, we began what would be the
marathon ride from Pune to Bombay. Except for two halts - one in the
magnificient hills of Lonavala to catch the foggy views; and another on
the outskirts of Bombay city waiting for the Bajaj scooter to catch up
- the ride was uninterrupted. The CBZs sailed at 105 and 110 kmph. The
Yamaha wasn't too far behind. The Bajaj Chetak was slow but steady.
More importantly, it did complete the ride from Bombay to Pune and back
without breaking down. We were sorry for our asses which were now
beginning to ache. I don't know what others were thinking but I was
just craving for a hot shower. Around 3:00 pm, we broke up at IIT Main
gate, promising to meet for dinner.

I showered for 30 minutes of bliss. And crashed for the 4
hours that followed. And we did meet for dinner at SP for chicken tikka
and masala papad.

Interestingly, the mad men I traveled with in September of 2002 have
done really well in life so far. 7 of them have started their own
companies and created employment for several people. One mints money
with an oil firm. Yet another one is a fiery journalist and works with
Indian Express after getting a degree from Oxford. And I am the one who
does a mundane 9-to-5-job during the days and logs memories of time
spent with some fantastic people during the nights.

Oh, a few days after the trip, we realized Bhussi never reached Bhandu to wake him up.