Little (S)trips of Heaven

(My prep work for the trip - manual, apple, cell and of course my helmet)


Mahabaleshwar is barely that – Heaven, that is. The full to the brim welcome that M'shwar lake used to offers is gone. Nowadays, the bright red soil stares at you from where the water used to lap at the erstwhile lakes edges. Trust me, there is no lake left. I drink more water in a day than what that stupid pond holds. During peak season there are so many boast bobbing around such that you can walk across the lake. Hop, skip jump and you'll make all the way cross without getting your toes wet. Despite the mess, every year more and more people turn up, and inevitably go boating; and every year the lake gets smaller!! sheesh it'll soon be the Mumbai local train experience. Bleargh!! I know this is not the best way to start any story but I'd much rather get rid of the messy bits first. And these thoughts do bother me...

Well M'shwar was only a destination for me. The adage, “the journey is half fun” burned bright in my mind on that Sunday morning . In my case the journey was the fun. It was dark and cold at 5:45 in the morning when I headed out from home. I carefully warmed the bike, loaded myself with some cash for some arbitrary ‘worst case scenarios’ and headed out for Katraj ghat. The route over Katraj is probably the longest standing excuse for a road in the country. On any other bike I would have turned back and snuggled back into bed, but the Honda Unicorn does funny things to you. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy; ecstatic at being out doing these stupid things.
Swinging across the hills on pathetic surfaces and truckers with blazing beams, I almost started missing the city. Almost. As soon as Katraj was in the rear view my spirits rose and I unwound the throttle. If the cold had been a comfort till then, it suddenly decided to switch sides. I went past stretches of farm land where I would swear no crop would grow owing to the anomalous sub-zero temperatures. All the blood in my veins nearly froze. What made it even worse was that these really pee-inducing cold stretches were followed up with warm stretches. God! Why are you doing this to me! The wisdom of wearing a only jacket and t-shirt was questioned several times over. I dropped cruise speeds from 80km/h to 70km/h, but I figured i'd only feel marginally less cold instead for a much longer period of time. Rock and a hard place I tell you!
Instead i decided to play sunflower and kept my eyes pealed for the hint of dawn. The dawn finally came by the time I was well and truly frozen and ready to take a leak.. say around seven. I also took the opportunity to click some snaps of the bike.

Well enough of National Geographic; soon after is what is surely the first little stretch of heaven - Khambhakti Ghat. hehe the name sounds ridiculous though. But it is pretty much a kambakhat ghat for all sorts of trucks and even 4-wheelers. I went into full fledged attack mode at first sight of the completely raucous curves that constitute the ghat. One swoop, then another and another, until it suddenly dawned on me that the Unicorn tag line "Be a Wing Rider" is not all marketing faff. That bike was just egging me on. But, I refused to fall for it's tricks and into the nearby ravine. Hell, I was only warming up. Next up Mahabaleshwar ghat. On the ride between the two ghats some conspiracy was afoot to get me a page in history as the first fatality of 2006 owing to bird hits! Normally it's a problem for aviation.. Damn I felt like taking up hunting. Not just another dose of Nat Geo. This was just outside Wai at the foothills of the Mahabaleshwar Ghat.


The ride up to Mahabi was a torrid, flat out affair; considering gravity was working against me. The sashaying strip of tar was playing temptress and I was in no mood to ignore the signs. Fresh air, minimal traffic, an awesome ride with a brimful of fuel. Flat out all the way to Mahabaleshwar lake. Oh yeah, along the way I saw Kareena Kapoor (I saw a couple of girls jumping up and down like chimpanzees and slapping each other, screaming "I told you it was her.") I looked in the direction to see a sullen square jaw, figured it must be her. Also saw Leslie Lewis (the singer) take a early morning walk. These celebs, can't they just stick to Mumbai? Well anyway, the dazed chicks managed to not get run over by passing traffic and I safely made it to have a steaming cup of tea.
On the way down, I wrung the throttle all the way back, and pulled some of the most enchanting side swapping moves in a long time. Things got a little uncomfortable at times, but that only served to show that my riding skills have gotten rusty. I was stepping down a gear a little too late to be really taking the corners at optimum speed. Late braking into mid corners was unsettling the bike.. erm and me. So, i changed tacks and started pulling out proper track worthy shifts, revving it up into corners, sliding the rear ever so slightly as i hustled through corners. A few minutes later, it really did seem that way, I was back in Wai!! I wanna do it all over again...
Hopefully the next time there's someone around to take my pics and also someone to take pics with. *wink*