This blog is dedicated to all my friends who have given me moments that will be embedded in my heart forever....It is about the best day of my life....a day when we celebrated friendship....a day when we celebrated life.....
The day began when the sun was asleep. It was about 3:00 am when Saurabh came to wake me up and this was the beginning of a day whose memories will never ever fade. 6 bikes, 11 friends and vacant roads...what else do you need to celebrate life... I dont drive a bike so I was behind my most reliable rider, Tushar.
The night was silent and we were all set to break the silence with the roaring engines coupled with our shrieks. It was cold...in fact very cold but the cocktail of speed and excitement was enough to warm us up. Our first break was at Rasulgarh where we waited for the arrival of the biker who was earning his Quarter mile (Saurabh's bro Abhimanyu bhaiya).
Finally, the wait was over as Saurabh and Abhimanyu Bhaiya arrived on a fully loaded Royal Enfield. Don't judge the time of the day by the above 2 pics. Its that, in the excitement, we forgot to click a pic of the Bullet and the man riding it. So I stole these 2 pics from www.earningmyquartermile.blogspot.com. By now you would have understood that the man in the picture is Abhimanyu Bhaiya and the machine is the Power Packed Royal Enfield.
Keeping it straight and simple, Abhimanyu Bhaiya is an IIM-C graduate and is currently following his dream of rediscovering India on two wheels (for exciting details visit www.earningmyquartermile.blogspot.com). Now coming to the Machine- The Royal Enfield was not just an ordinary Bullet...it was fully loaded with everything you can think of. Right from the First Aid Kit to Bed and Blanket, it had everything that you may need during a journey. In short it was more of a Multi-Utility Machine. The First Aid kit needs a special mention as it helped us a lot in the later part of our road trip from Patia (KIIT) to Puri.
And then it was time for Tea ....Nothing is more refreshing than a cup of tea on a winter morning. As bhaina was getting ready to start his business we enjoyed the warmth of fire and ignited our senses.
Pranav was taking extra protection- टोपी नहीं तो हेलमेट ही सही...वैसे लग रहा हैं जैसे सुबह सुबह alien आ गया हो चाय की दुकान पे.....और तुषार हैं की चीनी में ही व्यस्त हैं।
After tea, we were again back in action. Blinding speeds, no lights and young blood- everyone was in a fantasy world, a world where nothing existed except us. With closed eyes, I was enjoying the exciting mix of darkness and speed when Tushar stopped the bike with a screech. I opened my eyes and turned around and it took me a moment or two to come back to the real world. I saw a bike skidding off the road. At first I didn't realize it was one of us but as we approached, I saw Pranav down on the road. Thankfully he was the only one with a helmet and there were no severe injuries. There were wounds on the wrist and the legs and some minor damages to the bike and the helmet. Its here that the expertise of Abhimanyu Bhaiya and the First Aid kit housed in the Multi-Utility Royal Enfield helped us a lot. In about half an hour, everything was patched up and we were again ready to hit the road with Pranav sitting behind Neeraj. The only difference was that everyone was a bit more cautious and the speeds were reduced.
It was already bright by the time we reached the beach but the sun was yet to be traced. The sea seemed as an infinite sphere of water whose center was everywhere and the circumference nowhere. And the mind boggling ambiance presented by the nature triggered our camera. Although I was not too much exited about the prospect of entering the vast expanse of water, I loved watching the strong waves breaking upon the sea shore.
The sea was calling and the temptations were irresistible so most of us got ready to hit the waters. The daring trio- Saurabh, Tushar and Niti went into the interiors while the not so daring me, Pravash and Neeraj preferred the shallow shores. Daku (Sudeep) and Dawndu (Siddharth) preferred to stay around with Pranav who was not yet out of the accident trauma while Mayank and Abhimanyu Bhaiya were too busy with their cameras and hence they stayed out of the sea.
While we were enjoying the breaking waves and shifting sands, the sun came out in full glory and painted every element of nature in a tinge of gold. I have no words to describe the encaptivating and divine beauty presented by nature but I am thankful to Mayank for compensating for this lack of expression through his brilliant samples of photography.
After a few more moments in water, we came out of the sea and basked in the sun. Leaving our footprints on the sands of time, we then proceeded to take bath.
Bathing did wash away the sand from our bodies but to wash away the sins from our souls we headed to the Jagannath Temple. No one was quite sure of the route so we took a narrow lane. Exploring the interiors of the eternal town through the busy alleyways, we saw the Heavenly Abode rising in front of us. Finally we reached the Holy Shrine and offered our prayers.
It was time to bounce back on the road. Abhimanyu Bhaiya took our leave and diverted his route towards Chilika Lake while we went towards Konark-the Sun Temple. The first thing we realized on the way was that all of us were terribly hungry. So we started searching for a dhaba. Finally we got one and all of us got so busy with idli, vada and sweets that no one cared to capture the moments. After satiating our appetites, we started off again marveling the astounding beauty of nature. It is indeed true that nature is at its best in the remotest and the untouched parts of the world.
The best things in life come in surprise packages- totally unexpected. We were again unsure of the way to Konark so we looked for assistance. Following the instructions of a local, we took a way that took us through a village. Kacchca roads, thatched huts, lush greenery, animals lazing out on the road and small children running to school- the glimpses of rural India gave us some respite from the cacophony of the concrete world where we exist.
The next stop was Ramchandi. Ramchandi is one of the virgin beaches of Orissa and lies at the confluence of the River Kusabhadra and Bay of Bengal. After refreshments, the nature of which can be well understood from the betel shop in the pic, we went inside to explore this virgin territory. It also had a temple that housed the skeletal remains of a Shark. Our naturologist, Tushar even verified and certified the authenticity of the preserved bone samples.
After taking some rest and sharing some 'lighter moments' (Courtesy: our Comedy King Daku and his small helmet), we headed towards Konark. The controversy, however, still persists- was the helmet small or was Daku's head too big??
The way to Konark has been bestowed with the choicest gifts of nature. The unadulterated beaches, the clear sands and the untouched flora provides a visual treat to the onlookers.
The refreshing Marine Drive induced a spirit of adventure in all of us as Tushar and Daku gave some audacious stunts on the bike.
STATUARY WARNING: Do not try to imitate them as the performers are self-trained proficient bikers.
Finally we reached Konark, a place where the language of stone surpasses the language of man. Hats off to the architects of ancient India who converted the mute stones into living expressions. The Konark temple is widely known not only for its architectural grandeur but also for the intricacy and profusion of sculptural work.This colossal temple has been conceived as a chariot of the Sun God with 24 wheels and testifies man's pursuit to match nature in creating wonders.
The bikers were tired physically but the spirit of adventure was very much alive in all of us...It was time to get back to our roots- Bhubaneswar...so we started off and after a few hours we reached our hostel and most of us landed directly on the bed...but as I said our appetite for adventure was not yet satited which led to "a night to remember" (coming soon on my next blog)
All Together....Forever...LUV U ALL
