I couldn't ride far, the story of two friends from the road ended with one leaving home after 1200 kilometres. I tried camping but was guided to Bhairagi Baba mutt. There were 2 old men living there, who were priests at the temple, one was out of town. Another man in his 30s got them necessary groceries and things from the town. They served me a satisfying meal with rice, dhal, potato fry and boiled channa. After a grand meal, I slept on a mat with my blanket, going back in time.
It all started in Ooty. I felt like being born there. When I asked dad for a bike in my 11th Std, he gave me 16000 to buy a moped, Kinetic King. I sold it within a month to buy a Suzuki Shogun, later exchanged the shogun for a Honda Shine. That Shine was the most beautiful ride I've ever ridden in my entire life. She was a beautiful story which got stolen by a friend. After Shine was gone I was low, even my parents were in another country. When I told them about the bike, they said it's ok and not to worry. But for me, I lost the only thing I loved about my life.
After the Shine, numerous bikes came and went. I stuck on to the Jawa but couldn't travel long distances because of the low mileage and power limiting the ride to 60 - 70 kilometres per hour. A ride from Bangalore to Coorg takes me almost 8 hours. My fastest was on the Thunderbird taking about 4 hours 30 minutes. Every after-ride service on the Thunderbird cost me at least 5000 rupees, unlike Jawa which would just keep going with only a checkup once in a while by doctor Moosa Khan.
I still remember how I ended up with Moosa Bhai. The first cl2 I picked had starting issues and I would be that person causing the extra traffic jams on the road every time she went off at signals. People referred me to Razak Bhai but he seemed too busy to even have a look that day and guided me to Moosa Bhai. Though he was busy he said, "filhaal starting ka karke detun, baki ek hafte ke baad!" Meaning, for the time being, I shall fix the starting problem, rest after a week. The bond was formed and countless hours were spent at his garage drinking chai and smoking cigarettes.
Next came a 96 Roadking, sold. An airforce made cl2 which I bought from Chandru aka Chaddi Chandru, a lovely man mostly seen in shorts. Shockingly he killed himself for god knows what! I had even bought a bore from him a few days before he died. I’m sure he preferred himself to this rotten world. A white Roadking from Ruben which I still regret selling, An 83 model Bullet and a Suzuki Fiero too. At one point there were 5 bikes lined up in front of my room. My biggest regret is giving up the Honda Dazzler and the white Roadking for the damn Thunderbird.
The next morning after taking a bath, I visited the Bairagi temple and continued riding towards Anini through Roing. It was a 220-kilometre ride. Unlike the highway, time cannot be calculated on Arunachal roads. I could only reach Hunli which was 90 kilometres away from the mutt. It was dark already and I had no place to camp. I tried asking some army men for help, they couldn't allow me to camp but offered some food. I rode further downhill looking for a circuit house suggested by the locals, lost my way and ended up at a lovely place where I could camp. I requested the old man who lived around there if I could camp and he said okay. I went to the bike to take my tent out and stood in shock!
The tent had fallen off somewhere due to the bumpy roads. I was clueless and shaken. At one point I thought of keeping the luggage there and going in search of the tent. Then I realized that if I couldn't find it then there is no point coming back anyway. I loaded the luggage as quickly as possible and started retracing my trail hoping to find the tent. With the tension, the place so dark and my bad headlights, I couldn't ride fast and had no clue where it had fallen. I had to keep the accelerator raising for the headlight to remain bright. In about 10 kilometres, I saw a pickup truck driving towards me. I stopped him to check if he had found any luggage on the road and thank god, He had it! He had picked it up, realizing someone has dropped it. I simply folded my hands to thank him. He didn't know how important it was to me at that point of time. I thanked him again and rode back.
When I came back, I met an Idu Mishmi woman (Idu Mishmi is a tribe in Arunachal) who owned the place and didn't look very happy to have me around. Later she came and asked me if I had my dinner. I said I had some biscuits and I was good. She said she has cooked for me as well and asked me to join.
The house was simply luxurious with water flowing continuously, the home was built with pine wood and about 10 Mithun horns decorated the place as a symbol of pride. According to their custom, during a wedding, the more the number of Mithun's that were cut, the grander it was supposed to be and was a mark of pride for the groom.
There were two other men inside, one from a neighbouring house who worked for the construction officials and the other man was a help, I guessed. They sat there and smoked opium while talking about the customs and culture of the place. They offered me some and I gave it a try. To be frank, I didn't feel anything. Maybe with the cold nothing got me high. The woman served us “Bamboo Tenga”; Bamboo shoots and fish boiled with spices along with rice. Spicy and watery gravy with pieces of fish and bamboo served hot in that cold climate tickled my taste buds. I simply feasted on the meal and went to sleep.
The next morning as I packed up, I saw that the lady was heading out to the fields and I requested her for some water. She said “The door is open, please help yourself” and went away. I stood there confused for a moment. I filled up some water and rode towards Anini.
The roadblocks -
Due to the ongoing road construction vehicles were allowed to pass only during a specific time. As I waited I met the army team from the Indo-Tibetan border force again. I met them the previous day when I was looking to camp. The officer was so glad to see me, he even took a ride on my Platina. The road opened at 11am and we moved to another roadblock which opened at 2pm and the last block opened at around 4pm. The bike skidded off so many times but didn't let me fall. The roads were quite slushy and thrilling. It got dark around 5pm and all the vehicles behind me took over, I was the last and only one climbing on those slippery roads. The lights were still trouble, I had to stay on lower gears to keep it bright and couldn't create enough torque to move faster. Finally, around 7pm I reached the town, bought a beer, had a full plate of chowmein, found a place to stay at Rs.300 and rested.
I woke up peacefully around 9. After breakfast at Pappu Bhai’s hotel, where I stayed. I rode towards Dombein, one of the villages on the boundary of India. The next day I headed to Mipi, yet another corner at the edge of the country. I did full justice to the quote I live by, "Walk till no path and ride till no roads." Here, I was at the dead-end of a country, if I hiked a day I would be in China.
I met some bikers from Dibrugarh on a Dominor and two Enfields. One of them had a puncture the previous day and waited for the new tube to reach. They had to change the tube as they had no choice but to ride with the puncture for about 30 kilometres. I couldn't have a word with them earlier but the day we met, They were already riding back. I wished them luck as they left.
While I rode down the mountain the following day I got slowed down again due to the roadblocks. In the evening I camped near a hotel. Had a meal and slept before riding towards Roing. I had just 50 bucks and there was no atm nearby. I ate some biscuits on my way. Reached Roing and had a beer and a full plate of chowmein. The Dark hotel room and the tiring ride made me wake up late around 10 the next day. Took a bath and started towards Mechuka. I stopped at a garage to fix the broken oil seal and kept going.
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