Episode 37 : The Motorcycling Diary - Bangalore - II

The only time I met Greene was when I went to Bombay 2 years ago. At the place where all of us met, he sat quietly in one corner, while I did more or less the same in another corner.

Greene had come to Bangalore too, so we decided to meet again.

Driving through Hosur Road, I soon found myself on a road called Old Mysore Road. I had no intention of going to Mysore, so at Lalbagh Gardens, I took the turn to my right. And found myself driving on a bridge I remembered seeing almost two years ago. Which meant I should soon enter Residency Road.

I stopped opposite the ABN AmRo bank and called Greene. He was at a place called Bangalore Central. What is he doing at the railway station and since when did Bangalore have a Central railway station?

'It is a mall', he said. Near Mayo Hall. I vaguely remembered seeing a Mayo Hall in my first trip to Bangalore in 2001. But I had something else to do before going to Bangalore Central.

Call an ex-colleague and surprise her.

'But I am going out of station tonight', she said when I called her. Talk about surprises! Some other time, I suppose. One year is nothing.

As I entered Bangalore Central, I am sure I looked a sight. A solitary biker, with luggage on his dusty bike, thumping his way to the parking lot.

After a lot of swearing and cussing on the phone, Greene finally found me.

I was famished, so we decided to grab a bite while waiting for Sowparni to arrive. A Jamaican sub is not a good idea when one is recovering from a fractured jaw.

To cut a long story short, we finished eating and found Sowparni waiting outside. And promptly took her inside for another round of eating at Cafe Coffee Day. And leaving my luggage still strapped to the bike, we left the mall to have a dekko at other places.

Human bombers were rumoured to strike at any time. While Sowparni tried to convince Greene and me to either leave for home right away or go to her place, Noah messaged me about his plan to go home. At an early 6.45pm.

I was to drop off Greene at his place, but traffic and the general confusion in the minds of two non-Bangaloreans led us to roam some of Bangalore before finding our way home. I reached home to find Florence entering at the same time, and Noah casually lounging to Mark Knopfler's guitar play.

It was most welcoming.

December 30th ended with no mishaps. On the highway or in Bangalore.

The next day was the day of the test. How 2006 will be, depended on how 2005 will end.

To be continued...