Episode 271 : The Devbhoomi Experience- Conclusion

Day 17: October 16, 2008

I do not know what prompted the guys to start a day earlier. I thought that we were to take a long rafting ride down the river, rest at Rishikesh and then leave for Delhi the next day. But the plan changed to a short rafting session and make a dash to Delhi the same afternoon.

So we board two rubber dinghies and start from Mahadev Chatti to Kaudiyala. Zim backs out of the rafting ride- we make fun of him for being scared of the water. From Kaudiyala we take a local bus and get down a half-hour later for the actual rafting session.

The winding road and rickety local bus takes its toll on Srini and me while Ron loses his nerves the moment he gets onto the raft. From 4 willing people out of 5, only Tiger rafts down the river! So much for making fun of Zim!

We return to the Royal Enfield showroom and take our motorcycles. Srini, Zim and I start towards Delhi while Ron stays back to ride with Tiger.

61444 @ Hardwar

I pull over at Hardwar to take some photographs of the town. But a man behaves suspiciously around my motorcycle so I do not venture much further. Luckily for me, Zim arrives right then and takes guard while I click away.

We do not know that the Uttar Pradesh-Uttaranchal border is close by, but it becomes very clear that we are in a different state just from the behaviour of the local people there. The almost hostile glances begin to get to us and we keep moving without stopping on lonely stretches of road. Just after Muzzafarnagar, we stop at a tea shop for a very short break.

61521 @ Muzaffarnagar

The old man running the tea store says that Amar Singh addressing a rally nearby is the reason for so many people there. And adds as a matter of fact, that 'saare pradeshon mein se sab se be-imaan pradesh yehi hai'. We mull over this for a few moments and decide it's time to leave.

61583 @ Meerut

The sun sets by the time we enter Meerut. We stop for another break. Tiger and Ron are not far behind and should join us soon. Zim goes ahead while Srini and I ride together. After a while, on a dark and lonely stretch of road, I see Zim's motorcycle is parked by the side and its indicator is on.

Another puncture?!

One on the last day to pair up with the one on the first day?

Here, of all the places?

These questions race in my head as I pull over to a visibly shaken Zim. He pulls out a bottle of water from my saddlebag and, coming close to me, says very quietly- 'A guy in a Tata Safari showed a gun at me'

And he starts gulping water. After hearing this I worry about Ron and Tiger, but right then I hear the familiar roar of Tiger's motorcycle and the two pull up beside us.

Apparently Zim was overtaking a Tata Safari when he heard someone call out to him. He turned to see a gun pointed straight at him. Zim slowed down (and I am glad he didn't brake in shock!) and the man drove off laughing.

Slyly, Tiger remarks to me that Zim would have tried some 'chamak' and pissed off the driver. Which, in hindsight, cannot be ruled out! To avoid any more trouble we stick together as a group and ride towards Delhi.

The boys had booked rooms for themselves near the railway station while my plan is to stop at a friend's place in Noida. After Zim's scary incident outside Meerut, I get wary of asking for directions. But a guy's got to do it, and I get to my destination after a 10-minute fearing-for-my-safety ride where a total stranger tags along with me so that I do not get lost.

61666 @ Noida

Ron takes a flight back to Bangalore, while Srini, Tiger and Zim ride back to Bangalore via Nagpur the next day.

For me, after 17 days and 2400 kilometres, I return to where it began. But my journey is still incomplete.

I still have to go to Bangalore, and by myself. But that is another long story spanning nine days, another 2700 kilometres and a ride through Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Bombay and Hubli.