Hurray!!! I have done it!!!
Pune --> 600 km highway + 2 poha + 4 cups tea +
awesome weather + 2 crrraaazyyy friends on Pulsar --> Hyderabad
Now
that is called a long bike trip which we were yearning for quite a long time. So,
as planned, we started our journey on Friday – 21st February at 4:30am
to avoid traffic and reach early. It was still dark outside and the road was
mostly empty apart from a few occasional trucks. We started on the
Pune-Sholapur highway and soon reached 75-80kmph on the city roads where we
just dream of crossing 60. After crossing the city limits and the 1st
Toll-plaza, we cruised on full throttle with 95-105kmph with occasional 110+
speed and easily reached Sholapur (260km) in one stretch at 7:30am. Even the weather was pleasant during the ride - seemed like everything was in our favour.
In
Sholapur, we took our first break and had poha + tea + half an hour break. Now,
Gaurav took control of the bike and we cruised further. We were going steady
with the traffic which had increased significantly now. After around 80-90km,
we entered Karnataka and the journey almost flipped from being smooth to
disaster. The road – sorry, was there any road? The situation was literally – ‘Sadak
pe gaddhe nahi the, gaddhon pe sadak bana rakhi hai’. Now, we were moving at
the snail’s speed trying to avoid the bumps and save our ‘bums’. And suppose
that was not enough, people were coming all over from the other side leaving us
literally no space to be on whatever little road we had. A couple of times, we
had to leave the road and go into the farms and bushes to avoid the trucks and
jeeps coming from other side. Suddenly, I was in air. There was a big pit over
which the bike had jumped and my ‘bum’ had lost touch with the seat. After
almost skipping a heartbeat, when I finally landed back, I could sing just one
line - ‘Bum ki to lag gayi’. This disaster followed for about 70-80km, the
whole way we were in Karnataka. ‘Kaun kehta hai ki Karnataka ke roads achchhe
hain, Gaya-Patna road bhi isse achchha hua karta tha even 10 saal pehle.’
 |
| An old, abandoned, unnamed fort on the way after Sholapur |
We
took our second break after crossing the Karnataka border, had tea and gave
rest to our aching bodies. It took us nearly 3 hours to cross that small patch
in Karnataka. We were just hoping that Andhra didn’t have any more surprises
for us. Thankfully, the roads were good with less traffic and we drove freely. The
time was 2 pm and we were almost on the city limits of Hyderabad and were
feeling hungry. We stopped at a dhaba and thought of trying something different
and ‘tada’ – we had Jowar roti. I think it would be my first and last triumph
with Jowar roti.
When
we started after lunch, I was driving and Gaurav was navigating with the help
of his Nexus. After going parallel to the Hitech-city expressway endlessly for
quite a long and frustrating time, we reached Wipro circle. Next, we crossed
Microsoft, Infosys and were standing at Gachibowli circle which seemed like a
familiar territory. Pretty soon, we were outside café Nandini at Madhopur
without any difficulty and by 4pm, we were lying down on cozy beds which felt
like heaven.
After
relaxing for 2 hours, we thought to explore the city on foot as both of us were
in no mood of biking. So, we started right away and Gaurav suggested discovering
the ‘Durgam Cheruvu secret lake’. Then started our series of calls to friends
in Hyderabad – some we were able to talk, some we could not. By the time we got
to the lake, it was already dark and the lake appeared to be totally deserted
and smelly. Google maps showed we were near Inorbit mall and we didn’t have
anywhere else to go at this time anyways. Next we went to Delhi-39 in Hitech
City with the Hyderabadites(old Puneites) for dinner and made plans of visiting
Ramoji film city, NTR Garden, etc for the next day. I thought it was end of a
long day but Gaurav had some more plans. We went to meet some of his college
friends at Infosys. With the dinner, college chats, simultaneous messaging and
walking in that awesome weather in night, time just flew by and before we could
realize, it was 3am – time to retire.
Next
day, we woke up to rush to watch ‘Highway’. A day ago, we had watched it live
and today, we were going to a mall for the movie. Seems like a deviation from
yesterday’s plan of visiting Ramoji. Next, we enjoyed bike races and bowling at
Inorbit mall, followed with lunch (and it was 5pm already) which felt like
Hyderabadites are not interested in showing us anywhere in Hyderabad. Then we
went to NTR Garden (just crossed it from outside), followed by Lumbini park (we
just had pani-puris outside it, didn’t go inside this too :D) and finally
reached Birla Temple (and we didn’t go inside the main temple too :P). We just
sat outside the temple enjoying the night view of the dazzling necklace road
around the Hussain Sagar Lake from the top. By the time we returned to Hitech
City, it was already late and we called it a day.
It
was our 3rd day in Hyderabad and we had to return back to Pune that
day. Gaurav wished to have Hyderabadi biryani before going back and we went to Paradise
restaurant for the same. It might be famous for its biryani, but at least that
day, it was not worth anything. Next, we went to Menchies for having frozen
yogurt and that was the treat to this trip. Making our own combination of
yogurts with our own choice of toppings was fun and was an equally yummy and delightful
experience. This marked the end of our stay at Hyderabad and it was time to
leave for Pune as we wished to cross the bad patch of Karnataka before dusk.
 |
| Our own yogurt toppings @ Menchies |
The
time was 4pm and my bike was refusing to start. After numerous kicks, when it
finally started, Gaurav feared whether it will survive till Pune or not but I
had confidence on it. After this short disturbance, we bid farewell to Hyderabad
and started our journey from Hitech City. By the time we reached Karnataka, it
was starting to be dark and our ride had started becoming bumpy again. Then, I noticed
that front-left indicator was hanging down from the bike. At first I thought
someone had broken it in Hyderabad but we found that its screw had become loose
and fallen-off. We fixed it temporarily with a twig and carried on with our
journey. It had become dark and the headlights of the trucks coming from the
other side were making it too difficult to drive on that pit-full road. Gaurav took
charge and drove carefully and we were almost near Sholapur by 9pm.
We
took a long break, had our dinner and started at 10:30pm from there. Roads were
better now but the pits had made the condition of bike weak with us. The handle
was a little loose and we joked whether it will come out in our hands. Even
after reaching Sholapur-Pune highway, we went at normal speed to avoid any
further load on the bike. We took 2 more tea-breaks on the way and made it
smooth and safe to Hadapsar. Just before reaching Hadapsar bus-stand, Gaurav
told that something hit his legs and fell. We stopped and saw that the side
panel of the bike was missing. I went back to fetch it and just before my eyes,
3 trucks crossed over it. I had lost hope but on picking it, I found that it
was still in good condition with just a few scratches (Jai ho Bajaj walon ki). Finally, we reached
Magarpatta at 4am, thanked the bike for delivering us back safely and that’s how
we ended our great bike trip with loads of memories.
 |
| Astronaut Gaurav on bike in front of a dhaba @ 3am |
P.S.
– Well, I had promised someone that I would come to Hyderabad before March and
here I was, and little did the person imagine that I would come ‘Dhoom’ style. There
was a time when this trip was almost cancelled on Thursday night and still I
was thinking of making it, even alone. Gaurav, after hearing that I would be
going alone anyway, was ready to accompany me. We slept just 1-2 hours that
night and were still undecided to take 2 bikes or 1. Finally, just before our
start, Gaurav told me to go on my bike which was a great decision. On the
lighter side, we did a rough calculation on the way that if he had brought his
bike, the amount of fuel consumption would have made the air-travel cheap. At
the end, I just want to add that Gaurav was the inspiration in the trip. Had he
been not there with me, I don’t think I would have been able to make it. Thanks
a lot Gaurav for making this happen.
