Motorcycle Diaries,Mach II

From Indore,the boys moved up north,entering Rajasthan. By this time,they had little clue of which direction they were travelling in,and passers-by too were of no help. The roads were bad and the temperature too had begun to drop appreciably. Finally,they reached a town named Kishangarh,en route to Jaipur from Ajmer. There,friendly truck drivers advised them to avoid the ‘Pink City’ and Delhi,telling them to go straight to Hisar,Haryana,instead. After reaching Hisar,the four continued upwards towards Chandigarh,where they encountered their second problem. “In Pune,we hardly ever wear helmets,but in Chandigarh,its a traffic rule that both driver and pillion rider must wear a helmet at all times. So we were caught by the cops,and were let go only after paying a hefty fine,” says Shelke.

From Chandigarh,Shimla was only a few hours away,and en route,they celebrated Rahane and Pradakshine’s birthdays. However,the four had not realised how cold Shimla would be – a fresh snowfall had dipped the temperature into minus figures. “It was bitterly cold,and we had little or no warm clothes,” says Yadav. “Sure,we had jackets,but in those extreme temperatures,we might as well have not been wearing anything. To ride was difficult,because of the way the air cut through us,but standing still was even worse,because it allowed the cold to penetrate the body.”

At this time,however,Pradakshine was called home urgently and the four went back to Chandigarh to allow him to catch a flight back home. Meanwhile,the other three decided against riding back home and opted to take a train instead,parcelling the bikes in the luggage compartment. But getting a ticket was not easy,and the three had to spend two nights at the railway station. “It was scary,” says Shelke,shuddering. “It was extremely cold,and fights were commonplace. Later,an army man’s bags got stolen and there was a huge fuss there. When we finally got a ticket on the third day,after paying an open bribe,the relief we felt was unbelievable.”

However,the human bonding they encountered also touched the three. “Every night a huge bonfire was lit,and everyone,right from rickshaw-pullers,coolies,shopkeepers and stranded passengers like ourselves would gather around,” says Yadav. They finally reached Pune on February 10,after an unforgettable 14-day journey.

As as for planning another trip like this? They are raring to go. “It was an experience that everyone should have at least once in their lives. As for me,once is not enough,” grins Yadav,adding that he plans to drive to Leh next.