Roadtrip to Punjab : Chapter 1

One day prior to Gandhi Jayanti and synonym to Munna Bhai, significantly importantly prior to the much dreaded Dry Day, I was sitting lazily switching channels wondering why the idiot box would never show any decent movie at the very time when you are logged in while the rest of hours you slog in office, they treat you with block busters of the months.. !

But the thought of 3 days of holiday spread before me was compelling enough not to feel grouchy at H.B.O and Star Movies. 3 days of sleep.. 3 days of back to back rendezvous with well deserved sleep, mid night hikes in JNU campus and catching up new movie releases was tempting. I was mentally accustoming with spending the holidays in NCR region when a though lit in back of my head. Why not derail one self from the conventional and do something else this weekend. There were many things undone in my ‘100 things to do before I die’ List and one that can be easy accomplished in this time span due the limited requirement of resources and capital funding. But it actually proved to be the one that could be the most tedious and risky of the lot.

Hit the road with my gay friend Mr pulsar on a journey to the heart of Punjab. Alone.

For a moment it sounded stupid, but a vague picture of golden fields and legendary grand truck road( NH 1 ) flashing in my mind decided otherwise. Charged with adrenaline, I rose to executive the POA (Plan of action). A quick list was prepared with the things needed for the grand endeavor. It looked some what like this.

Crazy Punjab road trip check list.
A Map.
Bike’s pollution certificate (Last updated in year ’08.)
Spare tire tubes.
Riding Gear ( jacket, gloves etc )
Cash
New Song Play list and charged phone ( Courtesy of sony ericsson walkman )

The map was quickly downloaded. Map my India site is a blessing to crazy road fanatics like moi who are expected to set their ass on road and loose themselves in the wild Indian roads. Pollution certificate was arranged from a near by petrol pump and so were the tubes. Also the multi purpose Indian Oil pump had a ATM too, so by 9 in night I had almost everything to get going. Mr. Pulse was washed and serviced a week ago, so oil, sparkplug and rest of formalities with him were already taken care off.

I Packed my backpack as light was possible. Purse, camera, bike’s papers were stuffed in the front side for easy accessibly. By the time I was all ready It was 11 o’clock in night and I was dead tired. The alarms were synchronized to set off at 4 in the morning as 4.30 was the scheduled departure time. In my sleep that night, I saw myself wandering in lanes of khan market not able to find khan chacha’s miniscule kabab outlet. For most, it ought to be a pleasant dream roaming the ancient galis near India Gate, but for me, it’s like a horrific night mare where I am dead hungry in quest of a chicken tikka roll and lost in the maze of khan market’s labyrinth running blind drawn to the epicenter only by the mesmerizing scent of tandoors.

The alarm rang loud to the sound of Mj’s Black and white song. I turned it on snooze and lay eyes wide open considering the feasibly of the planned adventure again. Early morning, nerves tend to be so drowsy that the warm bed and blanket is equitant to heaven and any place outside is torture. The granted 5 min snooze ended and Mj’s sound broke the silence of the dawn again. Baring all human weakness of shameful temptress called slumber I rose to get going. By the time I had a shower and got ready, it was 5 am. I grabbed ma backpack, put on the gloves, and rudely shook off Mr Pulse from his sleep with a kick start. He throbbed to life complaining at being awaked at this time, but a few race of accelerator was enough for him to accept that we are ready to hit the road. !

So We took off… exactly at 5. 18 in morning to destination phillaur, a beautiful village near to Ludhiana which Map my India people had vowed will be completed in 370 kms. Bad mathematics I would say…The actual journey took a bit more than that!