The Horsley experience...

        With each work year in IT industry, the charm of man and machine is gradually getting dim. Till one year back my machine has hardly seen the chaos of morning office traffic in Bangalore. The weekend morning breeze used to kiss the ride. Elevated dawn was to charm the pace of an Avvy. But then…. May be all good things come to an end. Life was losing the maneuver and office desk was taking the priority. And adding to this… smart phones, lapis, tablets were clubbed to me. They say…these connect you to outer world. I find people more confined now. How can Bing make you realise the aroma of a blooming flower or the misty winds of forest laden hills. With a bad life phase for last couple of months, I was feeling lonely. Somewhere a thrust was needed and I had no clue how to get that.

One busy Monday morning, when office mail flux was coming out, I got a ping from my old riding friend. It was just a one liner ‘Hey Nawab, why don’t you join the next club ride…’. I preferred to ignore it and started working back. After two days my riding friend from Salem pinged me again. With pile of work and a tired soul, I continued my office stuff. But then …. Breaking the monotonous life was needed and finally I found myself on NH4 heading towards Andhra Pradesh. Once you are away from Bangalore, the highways gives a warm greeting. Lush pastures on both sides and herds of cattle grazing on these green fields makes you feel that there is life beyond wallpapers. Soon I covered some 100 km and metro culture was left behind. Moving on these parts, you can breathe fresh. Andhra border marks the beginning of forest land and signs to caution you about the wildlife are frequent. Literally for an IT guy these signs marks a whole new world. I simply stopped in the middle of nowhere… just to feel this charm.

               Soon, I stated again and one after the other small towns and tiny villages kept passing. At this moment I was enchanted like a school boy. Like he juat got rainy day declaration. I slowed my pace and searched for some breakfast. Luckily an old lady, selling idlies, was there. Those were fresh and steamy hot. Except one thing. When in Andhra, you got to feel dhuadaar red chilly paste. This is one thing that every food is generous with. Even the humble coconut chutney that actually smoothens your food with a sweet creamy taste has a deep red chilly flavor. The normal green pudina chutney was amalgamated with green chilly paste. The combination of a big bite of hot idli with these two additives was enough to burn. And exactly at this moment when I got a call from audibly hot lady. Sale ko itni heat bardasht nahi ho rahi thi. Anyways, after 15 minutes I was back on my way.
 

My destination was Palamaner. It’s a small town in Chittor district. Also known as the milk capital of south India. Historically it means ‘Lake dug by Pallavas’. Any ways I am not sure which was that lake as my destination was Horseley Hill top. It was in this town that riders from Chennai would join me and cover the remaining distance together. I was waiting for them on roadside. Just to find two bikes coming towards me and the pillion rider waved his hand. Soon an entire array of riders, covered from head to toe that includes armored jackets, was there. Our Chennai clubs admins Siddharth and Karthik were there. The famous fotographers, Pady and Prassana were both present. Our Salem buddy Kapil wanted to hug me. Now there was one problem. Even if I stand on carrier of a bicycle and he sits on same cycle seat, he will look taller. So I told him, dude…I can’t jump higher please lower yourself to complete this hugging process. After that many people came to meet me. All of then were like masked bandits. With faces covered with balaclava or anti-pollution masks, I literally didn’t knew who was greeting me.  

Anyways the cluster of the finest ridders started toward Horseley Hills. It might be around 80 km from there with last 20-25 km in ghat section. Mostly the roads were good till now. Few sections have human habitats. That made it difficult to keep the cruising high. Soon we were entering the hilly estates of Horseley. At the toll, you can see a lot of tourist vehicles coming from Bangalore. I never got the idea to travel in a rented vehicle because it’s the journey that’s more beautiful than the destination. A covered box can never give that travel pleasure. It was also this place where I came to know that one of our riding brother Nagarajan is traveling from Madurai that too with his kid. Salute to his ride motion.

Within the next 30 minutes we were at the hotel. The hotel manager informed us that they have booked two Bungalows for us. Before this ride, I have stayed in hotels, resorts, suits, tents and even on footpath but a hill slope bungalow was entirely a new experience. Took some rest and then at the time when the entire world takes evening tea we were heading towards the dining hall. I am sure in Andhra the Chillies would be quite cheap. You get it everywhere. In dal, in gravies, in chicken fries and every other food that you can imagine. Only exception is steamed rice. After this we headed for swimming pool. It sounds strange but we tried that.

Soon after it started raining. As expected, my bad luck strikes again and we are confined now. Doses of Somras did an enchanting job and throat quenching activity soon took place. The loud Tamil music and some Bollywood numbers with half of us not in control was actually a great party fun. At one point I wanted to sleep and went back to my room. When I got up, it was late evening and headed towards the other bungalow. I was offered a big table to sit on its top. And people surrounded me. Then someone said now he will share his life jokes. Honestly I can write a book on my college and hostel life and people will die laughing. We were sharing that. Soon I realized that Dr. Anand, an oncologist, has some equal good stuff to share. Oh great…even medical students do have a life beyond thick layer of anatomy. Before meeting Dr. Anand, I used to think medical professionals and biology books were equally boring.  There I came to know that even budding doctors sleep during lectures. Humm...I was not the only one to snoar during lectures.

               At night couple of us decided to just roam around. It was a small hill top. And with fewer or no street lights the chilled darkness was an enchanting experience. It might be once a quiet place but now there are more resorts than actual native houses. You can even hear the DJ being played at many resorts. The corporate outings has disturbed the quiet place. Anyways the dinner followed and with that the day was over. Next morning my roommate called me at early morning to check the sunrise. Hell… the quilt was too warm to leave. But yes before morning breakfast, we did some exploration. The cloud were all over and leaves were laden with dew. An air so fresh, after night long rain that every breath was worth an experience. The natural beauty was so panoramic that it can’t be confined to mobile apps.  It was also a time to meet different people. Soon we started back. I think it was around 270 km from my place and riding mostly alone it gave me enough time for introspection. And that is all about a ride trip. You explore new places, new food habits, meet some wonderful people and finally think about your own life…