The month of June 2011 was a hectic one for me. The outcome of my recently appeared Final CA examinations were just around the corner but I wasn’t expecting much, frankly speaking none whatsoever. I kept myself happily over-burdened with work assignments but incessant struggle to make my one month’s salary last till next month became a mission in itself. I was carrying on with three audit assignments simultaneously around the city i.e Vashi, Lokhandwala & Kandivali. I had to hop on from one assignment to other every next day & doing so using the common man’s mode of transport a.k.a ‘Mumbai Local’ made me realize what a common mumbaikar goes through every day, albeit with a dose of usual complaints & blaming the Government & authorities. Nevertheless, the lifeline of Mumbai is undeniably the place where you can witness the extreme range of human emotions, from grief to cheer, from rage to peace, from abuses to a friendly smile & a deadly fight to a helping hand. Sometimes if you are lucky, you can witness all of them, in just one ride on our local train.
It wasn’t like I had never traveled on local trains earlier, it was just that I never traveled regularly. Rather than being a commuter, I was always an occasional tourist on the local trains & ever since I got my bike, I forgot what traveling in trains was alike. But these few months of traveling in train all around Mumbai was one of the best experiences ever of my life. I started to have a regular local to catch from C.S.T station & it hurt when I missed that particular 9.14 am train. Although the decision to travel in train was purely because of ever increasing petrol cost, but nevertheless it was a wise decision financially speaking back then. In the midst of all these, my bike started biting the dust in my garage as I hardly got to ride her anymore & sometimes even abstained from her for over a week. But the urge to ride hard, ride long never died inside me, it just went into hibernation mode for a while.
It was one such usual assignment day at Kandivali on Friday the 10th June 2011, when I was busy in a meeting with clients & I saw Najju’s message. The message notified me about his intentions to ride to Malshej Ghat that night with Smita (his colleague, whom I had met once & knew briefly back then). He invited me & my immediate instinctive reply was an apologetic ‘NO’ which I guess must have surprised Najju a bit. As much as I wanted to ride, my physically drained out condition at the end of that particular hectic week didn’t encourage me to go for a ride. Especially on a night ride, that too at Malshej Ghat where in past I have been involved in my biggest accident till date. However, I did ask Najju who all were going & his prompt reply did surprise me when he informed me that just the two of them intended to go on Nikhil’s Honda Unicorn that he had already borrowed. I frankly imagined Najju planning the night ride along with a couple of his other friends like Ronak, Nikhil etc but there was no mention of any of them. Anyways I had no option but ask him to exercise extreme caution throughout the ride & carry along all my safety gears including helmet & insist Smita to wear them even though she definitely wouldn’t want to do so. He agreed to collect the safety gears from my place at night, prior to leaving for the ride at night. It really got me worried how would he manage to pull off this ride without encountering any grave issues. What if things are to go wrong in the middle of the night? What if he meets an accident on the ghat section especially? What if they got mugged by highway thieves? What if anything much worse is to happen of them? What if..….
The “What if’ questions of different variety popped in my mind & burst like crackers. Sanely speaking, I knew I was being over-paranoid by all means & they will go, have a safe ride like we did back in August 2010 & come back just fine. Najju wasn’t exactly the least experienced one’s who couldn‘t handle the night rides & neither was he too stupid to risk doing anything stupid & jeopardize their safety. Wound up in all those thoughts, I finished the day’s work & left for home after a rather grueling day at work.
I crashed on bed straightaway as soon as I reached home at 8.00 pm. After resting a while, I was back to thinking about Najju’s ride & this time around, I got too worried & couldn’t convince myself that everything will be alright. Hence I was decisive at once to do something about it rather than just wishing them good luck & sleeping off peacefully. Hence, I decided to join in.
I informed the above scenario to Shailesh, Sneha & Shruti over phone. While the girls seemed to think Najju was absolutely crazy to dare going to Malshej Ghat at night alongwith a girl, Shailesh somehow saw my concern without even having to explain him anything & he said ‘YES’ without a second thought when I asked if he could accompany us along too. The girls were absolutely furious at our decision to join Najju rather than stopping him from doing so. But we all, especially myself knew that there was no stopping Najju now & hence the least we could do was make sure we’re there just in case something goes wrong & ensure they get back home safely.
I immediately messaged Najju about the recent developments & he seemed pleased enough at the news. They had planned to move out late at night i.e approx 10.30-11.00 pm which gave me some time to catch a quick nap. By 8.45 pm, I was desperately trying to sleep with an alarm set for 9.45 pm but the usual unrest before any ride was not an unknown phenomenon to me by then. So giving up all my efforts to try & sleep, I finally made out of my bed lazily & decided to go check out & prepare my baby bike for the ride.
Now as much I was in this ride for Najju & Smita’s safety, I was in this ride for myself too to a great extent. I didn’t remember last time I rode my bike for a good few kms & hence I was desperate to take out my monster from her hibernation & do what I love the most i.e enjoy the beauty of nature. By now I know for sure that no place around Mumbai fits the definition of ‘beauty’ as much as Malshej Ghat does. Shailesh’s bike was available & had we decided to go by his bike, we would have saved a substantial amount on petrol considering he lives near Kalyan & his bike would run almost half the kms that my bike would have to. Nevertheless, the decision was made & it was no turning back now, except if I notice any issues with my baby since she wasn’t in use since quite long. I went to my garage & I lift over the cover off by bike praying everything is fine with her. Thankfully, she comes to life in just a single touch of ignition, indicating her desperateness to get back on road as well.
After some cleaning up, checking the electricals, brakes etc I went upstairs & packed my bag with few necessary things I carry in all the trips. After a light dinner, I left home at approx. 10.00 pm stating some stupid excuse as always at home.
Najju asked me to get a few shwarma’s (chicken rolls) on my way to his home. I was invited for a Biryani dinner at his house before the ride & I was gladly looking forward to it. When I reached his place finally by 10.30 pm, I found both of them (including smita) waiting downstairs for me. It’s really a funny story how we three had the awesome home cooked biryani by sneaking on to najju’s terrace from another building. The fun of having the tasty biryani multiplied when it started raining heavily all of a sudden & we were having the biryaani under an open umbrella battling to keep the biryaani dry, whether or not we keep ourselves dry was secondary.
It was quite late by the time we finished the big dish of Biryani, soup & shwarma’s in quite a leisurely way. Rain had subsidized a lot too & we finally decided to set out. I dropped a message to Shailesh that we were running more than an hour late & hence he should expect us at his place past 1.00 am instead of the original 12.00 am as scheduled.
Some pics before the ride
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| The paper below the bowl of soup is what was once my important project submission |
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| We somehow managed to insist miss Smita to put on a helmet |
After borrowing a pair of chappals for miss Smita (as she wasn’t comfortable in her sandals) we finally were on the road. We fueled up & got on eastern expressway by 12.30 am. Smooth Wet roads shining all the way under amber yellow highway lights, minimum traffic on road, light drizzles of rain every once in a while, tingling cold midnight air & a well deserved solo ride on my bike after a long long time made me feel exactly like that guy in the ‘Bajaj Avenger – Feel like God’ ad.
The smoothness of NH3 has undeniably the characteristics of a healing medicine to a tired body & soul like mine & before we reached Kalyan, I was rejuvenated like I was never before. Luckily we made it to Shailesh’s place by 1.20 am & he came out after a few calls (him not answering & myself worrying that he ditched out since we were late)
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| Waiting for Shailesh outside his house |
We continued ahead on NH222 which leads all the way to Malshej ghat & beyond. I was leading & Najju religiously followed me under a safe & unwavering speed in the whereabouts of 60-70 kmph. The entire idea was to be as much safe as possible & hence as much as I was dying to rip the bike on smooth NH222 & take on the curves that it offers, I didn’t indulge in any such activity as it would mean Najju would have to speed up too. Past Titwala, Najju gained speed, took over me gradually & his speeds went on increasing. I thought it must be the boredom of riding slow for a while & hence his ripped away so I expected him to slow down after a while but it didn’t seem he was in any mood to let go off the throttle which was apparent from the increasing distance between our bikes. Eventually, I gave in to the commotion as well & rolled the throttle all the way & saw the speeds on my speedometer increasing over 90 kmph in no time. Najju was never out of sight but keeping up with him wasn’t as much of a piece of cake as I thought it would be. He managed the aging old Unicorn exceptionally well throughout the corners, held stable lines at high speeds, braked well before corners & all in all kept the momentum at bit higher speeds than what I had in mind to ensure the safe ride. I had no option but to follow the suite & stick close to him & it seemed as if even he made sure I was never out of his rear view mirror.
Almost an hour into the ride & having covered a good distance, Najju slowed down allowing me to overtake & I continued the momentum at same speeds & eventually lost Najju from my rear view mirror so I pulled over to let him catch up. We saw Najju approaching soon enough & signaled him to move along while I & Shailesh switched seats giving the control to my bike in Shailesh’s hands. Now Shailesh is not one of the safest, but he is simply the safest rider I know so far. If I have to trust with my life in anyone’s riding skills, it would be him undeniably. Although he is simply too slow sometimes but his sane mind & broader road sense coupled with years of riding experience makes him a much more wiser as a rider than what I or any of our friends will ever be. Najju was nowhere in sight & hence I asked him to speed up a bit more than his standard liking, just to catch up with Najju. What was to come next was never expected as he obliged my request with a quick twist of the accelerator & the speedometer was rolling towards a century in no time. We saw Najju, got close to him, Overtook him, & lost him behind us in no time as Shailesh rode at quite high speeds. I eventually had to ask him to cut down on speeds & let najju catch up to us which was done & both the bikes were together again just before the start of Malshej Ghat.
The ghat section begun & Shailesh rode on effortlessly leaning way too much to my liking on all the corners & Najju wasn’t far behind either as he’s a corner craver himself. Much to my relief, the ghat section wasn’t foggy at all unlike our previous night ride to malshej. Both of them were having a blast on the corners & as a result we made it to the top within a matter of few minutes. It was dark all over & my bike’s headlight though not so powerful, but bright enough to light up the surrounding just enough to make me realize we had already reached the point where we had stopped for a first sight of malshej valley on our last visit to Malshej with Pravin, Tushar, Sneha, Percy & Shruti. I asked Shailesh to pull over & najju pulled over besides us too.
We got down from the bikes to get a butt break & started a conversation about the ride so far which was although uneventful but undeniably a pleasure. Right next to where we stopped, there was an old abandoned structure adjacent to the road meant for sitting 3-4 people & hence we decided to spend the rest of the night there itself & get some rest before moving on to our next destination early morning after sunrise.
We had some biscuits & relaxed there a bit while the occasional truck or a vehicle passed by us. The entire valley was pitch black & thankfully we were carrying a few small torches to see whatever little manageable. However, it was a wonderful sight when the headlamps of a vehicle could be seen approaching from quite a long distance amidst the trees, fog, mountains & twisted ghats.
Some pics at the place we spent the night
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| My babe - seems happy after a long time |
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| Shailesh - Posing with my Spartan |
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| Najju & Smita all settled down like little kids on a Picnic ;) |
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| Finally - Me with my baby |
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| & finally a group pic - Courtesy: Shailesh |
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| Me & Shailesh - Trying to catch a quick nap |
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| This is where we spent the night - with Spartan on guard at a distance |
We spoke for sometime & then noticed a Tata Indica who had just passed by us came to a standstill around 200 metres away. We could see the occupants of that car getting out & wondering around the car. It was evident enough that those guys were having some issue with their car. After almost 15-20 minutes, we could see another car stopping besides the earlier one to help them out & we decided to check it our for ourselves what was wrong. I & Shailesh got some biscuits, a torch & started walking towards the vehicles at a distant & as we got close, we could easily see a huge number of solid rocks (few of them of the size of a football & some even bigger) lying right on the road. There tata indica was surrounded by atleast 6-7 guys of all ages trying to do something by having a look under the car. Finally we were close enough for Shailesh to realize what the problem was. The car was leaking petrol at a rapid rate & it was all around the ground which could be sensed easily but I had a blocked nose so couldn’t make out the smell. On enquiry, we found that those guys went over a big rock at quite some speed which punctured their fuel tank as the rock hit hard underneath the tank. We immediately remembered the huge metal sound we heard almost half an hour ago but ignored it as a sound of some normal metal clanking which could be heard from age old trucks. All efforts to stop the petrol from leaking was futile & there was a stream of petrol literally atleast 10 metres long running down the road & people around were helplessly watching. Few of them did manage to fill a couple of their 1 litre water bottles with petrol & I was thinking if we would be allowed to get some for us too. Eventually the tank ran out & got empty I guess. The guys from other vehicle offered to tow the ailing Indica but the route ahead was a ghat section & the decision may prove to be a fatal one so they all unanimously decided to abandon the idea & seek services of professional towing which was available in next village approx 20-25 kms away. Some of the guys from the Indica left with the other vehicle to get help while others stayed there itself. Shailesh & myself decided to get back to our place but not before clearing each & every rock from the road which may cause harm to any other vehicle passing by. Some of the rocks were easily moveable while a few did require efforts from both of us & did make us sweat a little even in the cold temperature at that particular hour of night.
On our way we had some biscuits again & did chitchat a bit. I remember asking Shailesh why did he ride so fast all of a sudden while navigating the ghats earlier & all he could reply was that my FZ seemed like a toy which could be handled effortlessly well as compared to his erstwhile Honda Unicorn & hence he was comfortable with FZ on higher speeds then he usually rides on.
Soon it was past 5.00 am & the clouds started brightening up indicating the dawn was approaching soon enough. We woke up Najju & Smita to witness the sunrise & thus begun the photo sessions.
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| The first clear capture in my camera from the place where we spent the night |
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| A timer click |
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| & 1 more |
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| The Superman |
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| I climbed up a hill |
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| We also tried a little bit of hill climb on the opposite side of the road |
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| Poor Smita - had a hard time getting down |
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| My baby - All dirty in mud like a small kid |
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| Some posing |
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| & the views |
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| The condition is all muddy & slushy due to the ride on wet muddy roads yesterday night |
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| Number plate isn't visible at all |
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| The beautiful roads ahead |
After spending almost an hour clicking pics, we finally decided to move ahead as we had a long way to go for the day. But before that, we did some usual sight seeing of malshej ghat just for the sake of Smita as she was here for the first time. We ourselves had a gala time clicking pics & enjoying the early morning views which were surprisingly beautiful even though we had seen those same views atleast 2-3 times within the last year itself.
First stop - A few metres away at temple
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| Temple bell |
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| The surrounding is alive - with birds & monkeys all around |
Next Stop - Right next to the temple, the tunnel of Malshej Ghat
3rd stop - A narrow passage right next to the tunnel on left side leads to this beautiful place
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| Najju leading the path |
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| Looks like a statue in a stone |
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| One of the best clicks from my cell |
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| The valley view |
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| Smita decided to rock climb again |
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| & this is how Shailesh decided to pose with the statue |
& some more nice clicks at the location...
The 4th spot
After some time, we moved to the valley behind Malshej Ghat MTDC resort a kilometer away & we are greeted with some plain views as compared to our last visit.
A video of the place
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| & the fog arrived to make the views beautiful. |
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One more video
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| Some macro shots - mushrooms |
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| A funny pose After sometime at the final sightseeing location at Malshej Ghat, we were looking forward to our actual agenda for the day now which was planned somewhat as below.
After Malshej sight seeing, we would head to Shivner fort, visit the fort & sightsee till afternoon. By that time, one of Shailesh’s close friend who has a village house in a nearby place on mountains will come to malshej by S.T bus & then we can spend the rest of day at his friend’s house which is located in a beautiful valley. The next day was a Sunday so we could have left Shailesh’s friend’s house early morning & visited Bhimashankar, Ozhar, Junnar or any ot the other worthwhile place around & returned home by evening. The plan was all set & Shailesh called up his friend for confirming but unfortunately the guy had to cancel out due to some reason & Shailesh tried to convince him but eventually gave up when it seemed the other guy had some genuine cause to cancel out.
We were disappointed & felt the trip which could have turned out potentially a best trip so far was a wasted affair now. More so because it was Me & Shailesh all by ourselves most of the time throughout the trip so far as Najju & Smita conveniently chose to roam apart, sightsee away from us & enjoying the trip on their own for a majority part. Not like they hadn’t spend any time at all with us but most of the time they were into themselves & it felt almost all the time like we were interfering when we tried to mingle up. In a sense, it couldn’t be called a group trip so far & assumed things would more or less stay same for the rest of the trip ahead. Hence, Shailesh & I had a mutual discussion & decided to call it off for the day as our basic intention to keep Najju & Smita safe throughout the night ride & the night itself in the un-hostile Malshej ghat was achieved by whatever little contribution of our company. Anyways, they looked fine to carry ahead on their own for the rest of the trip & Najju as I knew was more than capable of handling things if anything was to go wrong in broad daylight. Moreover we intended to let them have some space for their own throughout the remaining trip & so we gradually approached towards Najju & Smita who even at that particular moment were sitting at a cliff a few 100 metres away & as we approached, they got up too as they must have guessed we were ready to leave to the next destination.
Najju in his playful sense teased us by accusing that we(myself & Shailesh) were spending quite some time together since last night & I found it more of a metaphor suiting aptly to them. As we got close to our bikes, I dropped the news to Najju & Smita that we intend to return back home as we were tired enough for the day & our other plans for Shivneri have already flopped. I asked Najju to carry ahead to Shivneri which was in a close proximity assuring him they can manage from here on. However, as surprising as it must have been for him to know we wanted to return back, it was equally surprising for me when Najju clearly indicated he was not going ahead without us. Saath aaye they, saath jaayenge ( We came together, we’ll go together) were the words from his mouth as I recollect & I tried to convince him some more to go ahead but there’s no convincing him once he makes up his mind. Hence we marked an end to our trip by 8.00 am & decided to get back on road to home. Some final pics before leaving |
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| You can even see the small kids of this little crab in water. |
A final 360 degree photo shoot of my Spartan before leaving
We left by 8.00 am & Najju cornered away to glory in matter of seconds while I decided to descend the ghat in neutral gear to save some fuel (not at all a wise thing to do but I knew the ghat well by then & I was super low on fuel with no idea where the next fuel pump would be). Enroute, Shailesh spotted a crab on the side of road so we stopped by to click a quick pic of the beautiful creature.
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| Note: The crab wasn't hurt, Shailesh just picked him up from road & left him on the side in grass |
Eventually I catched up with Najju as the ghats ended where najju was cruising by at slow speeds as I was missing all the while in his rear view. We rode close by each other for next few kms & luckily spotted a worn out age old fuel pump on opposite side of the road & thus signaled Najju to have a fuel break. We got the required fuel, attended to nature’s call & left after a few minutes with an agenda to halt at a non-veg dhabha to get some egg omlette breakfast. The rain gods had luckily been kind on us so far with mild sprinkles & occasional outbursts so far but it didn’t seem so anymore as rains gradually started to pick momentum & luckily we found refuge in a decent looking roadside dhabha for some breakfast just in nick of time.
Some pics from the dhabha
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| The dhabha |
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| Our table |
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| The machines who stood strong so far |
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| The condition of my Spartan's rear tyre |
After hogging down some not so tasty breakfast, we settled the bill & got back on road while the rainfall continued to consolidate. Shailesh’s house was just a few kms away & hence we made haste though the traffic & reached Shahad by 10.45 am. Najju was nowhere to be found for atleast 5-10 minutes as we patiently awaited him & Smita. I was sure he fell behind in the early morning traffic between Titwala & Shahad which we managed to tackle well. However, an ill thought always pops up when we don’t see a co rider for quite some time. So we decided to make a U-turn after waiting for approx. 15 minutes & within a km from our U-turn we luckily them approaching from opposite direction. We grouped up again near Shailesh’s house & I inquired his reason for delay & najju responded back that he had to take a break from heavy rainfall in the middle of the road & get some toffees to keep him awake. Shailesh offered us to spend some time at his house, take a hot water bath, some hot tea & then move ahead to our destination. Not that we(myself & Najju) didn’t find Shailesh’s offer tempting but considering Smita’s frozen condition, we gladly accepted his offer & got to Shailesh’s house in no time.
We were greeted with hot tasty tea & biscuits by Shailesh’s mom while Smita freshened up. Shailesh insisted us to get fresh as well but we were in no mood. However Smita convinced me by assuring it felt like heaven to freshen up with hot water especially after nearly freezing to death, fighting cold rain waters throughout the morning with completely drenched clothes. So we freshened up with hot water too & it felt absolutely rejuvenating as Smita described. Shailesh asked us to stay back & move after lunch but rain had subsidized by then so we decided to move on ahead. Najju was supposed to drop Smita at Vasai & hence he had to take a detour from Thane via ghodbunder road. He asked me if I would accompany him & I couldn’t deny even though I was tired as hell but more important than that, I was low on fuel & almost NIL on cash after the petrol/breakfast breaks earlier. I dumped my wet clothes in my bag & decided to ride ahead just on shorts. (a stupid as hell move on my part)
We thanked Shailesh & his mom for the warm hospitality & left by 12.00 pm after bidding goodbye. Najju was lagging behind in the traffic all around kalyan’s pathetic roads full of traffic & it was understandable given the fact that he was equally tired after a break less ride & rainfall had picked up again. We eventually reached Kalyan Bhiwandi by pass from where we made a left turn & the open smooth NH3 invited us with a much required relief from traffic. As we entered NH3, Raingods decided to welcome us as well with the heaviest of showers so far in the day & as stupid as I was to ride on shorts, I deserved the pain I was experiencing due to the rain drops falling on my bare thighs & legs piercing the skin as if hundreds of needles were inserted all at once. I reduced the speed which made it a little simpler to ride but the speeds at which the rainfall increased made it amply clear that there was no stopping the rain now. We were on NH3 & as I knew from my several visits on this highway, the next place where we can get some refuge from rain is Thane toll booth which was thankfully just a few kms away. The rain increased but I sped off as well ignoring the pain & finally made it to thane toll booth through the long queue of vehicles waiting to pass by. I stopped at a safe place, got down from bike & tried to catch a breath. Every single millimeter of my body was profusely drenched in water. Najju approached soon with Smita who looked literally dead with all the commotion. Nevertheless, they both smiled as they got down from their bike to tag along with me. We discussed a few about the rainfall & how terrible it was so far & I could do nothing but just warn Najju what terrible traffic we can expect at ghodbunder road. Najju’s unicorn was steaming as hell all over from the exhaust which was over heated & every drop of water falling on the exhaust evaporated in a second. We clicked a few pics & did some TP at the tollbooth waiting for the rain to subsidize but even after approximately half an hour there was no respite & hence we decide to carry on ahead slowly & carefully tackling the rains as it was getting boring doing nothing at all at toll booth.
Some pics at the toll booth
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| Its pouring outside |
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| Some full resolution pics that shows how badly it was raining |
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| The stupid in shorts on right side |
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| Thats not a fake smile that we possess |
Frankly speaking it was a bit of respite getting back on roads even though it was pouring like hell & we were freezing. I was constantly worried about my camera & my cell which I had removed at toll booth & feared I didn’t secure it well enough for water proofing. I made it to the ghodbunder road flyover & stopped right under the flyover while Smita & Najju followed me soon enough. We had a brief chat about the present conditions of ghodbunder road & traffic all over which looked quite dense as compared to what we could expect on eastern express highway towards Mumbai. Finally we decided to cancel up the ride to vasai via ghodbunder road & proceed straight to south Mumbai & let Smita take a train to Vasai from Dadar or Churchgate. I expected that way to be less stressful for all three of us rather than having to tackle ghodbunder road’s pathetic traffic & pothole filled roads with construction activity all around.
We got back on NH3 & crossed teen haath naka soon. Just before the mulund check naka, I sensed traffic getting from bad to worse all of a sudden as the entire block of vehicles came to a standstill & moved at a pace not above 5 kmph from thereon till the mulund check post. I somehow was able to maintain my average speed just manageably fine as I criss-crossed amongst the four wheelers. Traffic was dense but thankfully, it was a moving traffic although the pace was less than that of a turtle. I had never seen the highway so densely packed but I kept the momentum as so did the rainfall & soon enough there were puddles of water right on the highway & water splashing all around from the sky as well as the grounds. It took me atleast an hour to reach somewhere near ghatkopar by 2.30 pm & I was more then certain that I had lost Najju long time ago, so I decided to pull over right at the start of flyover next to ghatkopar. I stopped at whatever location was available but it wasn’t much of a space to park a bike & other vehicles, especially the two wheelers trying to squeeze through the traffic from the left most lane. I had to move my bike a little here & there atleast a couple of times to let the other struggling vehicles pass without any damages to either & I seriously considered moving ahead & finding any other suitable location to stop by & wait for Najju but I was looking for a place to stop since last few minutes & this was the only place most feasible to stop & I was unsure if I could find a better place to stop ahead. Hence I decided to stay put then & there itself for some more time.
Najju was nowhere to be found even after 15-20 minutes & there was no way he could have surpassed me as the entire road was blocked by slow moving cars & almost all the two wheelers as usual squeezed their way ahead from the leftmost corner only where I was awaiting for them & atleast 100 bikes had passed by me so far but No Honda Unicorn carrying Najju & Smita. Finally I decided to get my cell out & call them. It was raining profusely all the while & I somehow did call both Najju & Smita a couple of times while managing my cell inside a plastic cover protecting it from rain. Meanwhile, it was a great feeling when occasional passer by, even some of them in cars asked me if I had stopped due to any issues in my bike & if I required any help. I was quick to thank everyone for their generosity & see their expressions as if they were wondering why the hell would I stop in the middle of the highway when its raining like hell & everything is fine with my bike. However, there was every possibility of things going wrong with my bike as I knew I was low on fuel & almost no cash in wallet, neither in bank to withdraw from ATM. Even Najju wasn’t in sight so borrowing some cash for fuel was out of question as well & running the bike in 1st gear for over an hour & continuing the same for next 25 kms as expected would definitely require much more fuel then what I had. My digital fuel meter never used to display correct indication but I knew I must be having a little over a litre of fueI speaking optimistically. I wanted to check the fuel by opening the fuel cover but that wasn’t going to be a smart move as it was raining heavily & water seeping into the fuel tank is last thing that I required, so I decided to take my chances & hope the petrol lasts just fine enough to carry me home. I was very tired so after almost half an hour of waiting I decided to move on with a hope that those two are fine.
The road ahead was no better as traffic was as slow moving as ever & it took me another hour or so just to reach sion. The scene after sion was much worse, especially around dadar region. The flyovers were choked with vehicles on both sides & water logging was witnessed at a number of places even on the flyovers. The traffic was very slow moving at one particular flyover just before Lalbaug & finally when I reached the end of the flyover, the reason for traffic was clear to me. There was a puddle of water which can be actually called as a mini lake right after the flyover ended. There were atleast 5-6 bikes, a few taxis & a car stalled right in the middle of that lake where the water was atleast knee deep. As I got close, it was evident enough that many vehicles had stopped working due to the water entering through the exhaust pipes & fellow locals were desperately trying to push the stalled vehicles out of the water one by one. It was a sight to behold. The local kids whom we would often call as rowdy, foolish or arrogant were risking their life & limbs in the middle of nowhere for complete strangers & helping them to the other side of the huge puddle of water. Only the rightmost lane was in a passable situation & the vehicles from the flyover were passing one at a time from the rightmost corner of road as the water logging there was just under knee level allowing the vehicles to pass without much issue. I awaited my turn patiently till I was just near the start of the lake & next to go as soon as the car ahead of me passes by. I was worried sick if I stall by bike right in the middle or water enters through the exhaust pipe. The local guys inside the pool were on standby to help the vehicles keep the momentum as they attempted to cross by. One lad came to me & asked me to keep a steady momentum & not let off the accelerator or let the engine shut down. He assured me they’re there to help me out if I need em & with an appreciative nod to them for their help, it was time for me to push through the pool as I saw the vehicle ahead of me clear almost the entire pool. I said to my bike “Baby, lets do it” & I felt she replied back with the gentle acceleration note that she wont disappoint me. I let go the clutch, kept the accelerator steady & rpm above 4-5 k all the time & soon I was in the deepest of water pools I had ever been. I had a good momentum even though the water level was just half a feet below my knee. I could barely see my front tyre & the most noticeable thing was the big splash of water on both the sides as I crossed the lake in a jiffy. The guys standing closeby must definitely have had a shower due to the water splash & I felt terrible for them so as soon as I crossed over to the safety on the other side, I pulled over just as the lake ended & looked back to apologize as well as thank the guys out there who were already busy helping the next vehicles cross the lake by then. I was realy worried for Najju back then as he had a pillion alongwith him which would make matters only worse for him is such a condition.
The road ahead was traffic free for atleast a few kms as majority of traffic was stuck at last lake scenario that I just crossed by. However, traffic was back to normal when I approached Ranibaug & had to stay on road without momentum, some times even spending minutes without moving an inch. I recollect a local young lad with a bottle of water & a bag approaching each vehicle stuck in traffic & speaking something with passengers in each vehicle. I thought he might me in need of some help & I had actually made up my mind to give him a lift if he were to ask me so. As the guy came to me, seeing his extremely polite & humble way of approach, I expected him to ask me a favour or request me for something but what he said completely baffled me.
“Bhai aap thik ho na, koi madat chahiye aapko?” (Hey Bro, are you fine? Do you need any help ?) these were the exact words from his mouth. I was startled at his generosity but I was quick to smile back & indicating him I didn’t need any help. He further inquired if I need any water or Parle-G biscuits for free & as astonishing as it was for me to such big-heartedness, I appreciatively thanked him back quick enough & replied back that I was fine. He smiled back & moved on to the next vehicle. The traffic started moving at a slow pace & I noticed a couple of other young fellows on the same mission as the earlier fellow was as they approached random vehicles offering their help.
It was a feeling that can be never ever explained, just felt. It was a true spirit of humanity, spirit of an helpful Indian & a never say die spirit of a real mumbaikar. A helpful hand was available as close as possible wherever needed & that was enough for me to assume Najju & Smita wouldn’t be in much of a pickle if they face any issue on their way.
Battling the slow moving traffic, I finally made my way to home by 5.00 pm. Thanks to the last few kms which were completely traffic free, I was back home exhausted but a smile on my face that I made it home after almost 6 hours on bike to cover merely 60 odd kms from Kalyan to marine lines which ordinarily doesn’t take me more than one & half an hour
Thankfully there was no water logging around my building & I got a safe parking spot for my baby. I got down & literally kissed the headlight, thanking her to get me back home safely, not disappointing me during the toughest of the times, running on reserve petrol, not giving away in the middle of nowhere & staying strong when I needed her to be so. I climbed up the two storeys of my building with almost no sensation in my legs due to staying wet all day, clogged blood supply due to constant sitting on bike & paining knees. Thankfully, when I got inside my house all wet & filthy, my mom was resting & didn’t notice me. So I got into washroom, changed to some fresh warm clothes & jumped straight to bed under my warm quilt. I was dead tired & hungry as well but most of all what I needed was a peaceful sleep so that’s what I was longing to take care of apart from anything else. Last thing I remember is replying Shailesh’s sms & informing him I reached home safely, making a few calls to Najju/Smita & after no answer, leaving them a message to inform about my status & requesting their update ASAP.
I got up somewhere around 7.30 pm & called up Najju who had tried to contact me by then. He told me they were stuck in pathetic traffic & couldn’t reach grant road before 6.00 pm. Thereon, Smita freshened up at Najju’s friend’s house & left for her home in vasai via train & najju got back home by 7.30 pm. It was a sad thing to know that poor Smita was still more than an hour away from her home while I already had managed to get good rest for a couple of hours. Najju was equally disappointed but there wasn’t much either of us could do for her & it was much comfortable & faster for her to travel to vasai via train rather than opting for bike.
Anyways, I was glad everybody was safe & sound. I saw all the pics from the trip, had some dinner & then went to sleep for a full 14 hours more. All in all, it was one of the most grueling, physically demanding & memorable trip of my life. And I expect more of such to come in the coming year, hopefully on my trip to Leh-Ladakh. :-)
Trip Summary
An overnight trip to Malshej Ghat yet again. Unplanned ?? Yes, it was..
Date - 10 June 2011
Riders - Najju, Smita, Shailesh & ME indeed :)
Bikes - Honda Unicorn, Yamaha FZ-16 LE.
Route taken/Destinations covered - Marine lines -> Shahad -> Murbad -> Malshej ghat -> Same route back home
Major Highways taken - NH3 & NH222
Total Kms - Approx 280 kms.
Total expenses - Approx INR 800.
Rating - ****
Total expenses - Approx INR 800.
Rating - ****
