Motorcycle Diaries: diarois de motocicleta

Just like everyone else, like Martin Luther King; I too had a dream. A dream to explore the whole sub-continent of India and if possible most parts of the world, not to mention on a motorcycle. Motorcycles, the bulky and beautiful beasts made of steel and iron which are capable of accelerating you towards eternal bliss, taking you so far away from all of your responsibilities that you might not even want to look back at all. Motorcycles; my first love.

The idea of the very first expedition was to hire a Royal Enfield 550cc, grab all the essentials and leave for the place best known as a biker’s paradise: Ladakh .The very thought of being in that snow clad heaven which could be at a height of 3000 meters and even above, gave me chills of anxiety. The rumbling sound of the engine would be throttled up attaining the lifelong pursuit of arriving somewhere, where I don’t care who I am, neither do I care of what the world wants me to be, somewhere where I live rather than just exist.

Well, its 2 AM in the night. Everyone around me is asleep, two to be precise. The mechanic: who was hell lot of fun and Rohit : who could not believe that it can be hot here as well. I am sitting at the entrance of my small tent while I am writing this. It’s very cold in here, so cold that I can’t even feel a portion of my face, well 18000 feet has its own cons. Despite of the semi paralysis that I suffer, I feel at peace, drowned in the serenity of motionless contentment. There’s a smile I’m wearing, which is a constant reminder of the memorable journey I had. The passage of en route from Manali to the highest drive-able point on earth, Khardung La was a life changing scenario. It’s amazing to notice the diversity of this country in the span of almost 500 kilometers. Ladakh is indeed heaven, way better that I could dream of. With my eyelids pushing the rest of me to dive in a cold slumber, I’m ceasing to collect as many memories which I could and probably recite them to my grandchildren.

Life is full of despair and hardships. Every other day, as a social being we cease to exist and moreover mark our presence in this probably fictional setup of living things. There is a set of rules which are pre implicated and guide the happenings of our life. There is childhood during which dream of every possible thing that we can become and then there is the later part where we compensate with anything which could assist us being a negligible dot in the galaxy that we are.

”A biker’s trip is not just about covering the distance from point A to B. It’s a whole new experience sometimes turns a normal person into a revolutionary. Back in 1952 there was an Argentine doctor named Ernest Fuser who along with a friend set off for a trip, on a 1939 Norton 500, which transformed him, his course of life .His views about things, people and their pain. He was not the kind of doctor anymore who would just recognize the disease and tell you the way to cure it. In fact he went out being the one who set out to cure all the social disparities that Cuba went through. The man later was known as Che Guevara.”

No matter at what extent we get convinced with our life's monotony and presume that this is how we are going to end up; working our asses off to get the bread and butter flowing in. There is always a long lived desire of doing something crazy is every one’s heart. Something preventing them from getting stuck in the world of harsh realities and exposes them into a place possessing fictional reality.  Something which was always there in their ‘to do’ list but they never got the chance to put that ‘tick’ over it.

 I have ticked mine, have you? 

The Void

Dark Shades, Fancy lights

Smiling faces ..Mean Laughter

Love..hatred.. chaos 

I see it all..

Endeavoring, everything I dream of

Every other day, getting up with a plan

Walking by the aisle of choices

Looking at faces whom I know..I don't

When The day subsides..

The glimmer of night deepens.. glorifies

 Its late ,Probably every one's asleep

Anticipating trance, I  lay down

A headache occurs out of nowhere

Feels as if an explosion would occur

Helpless, I feel..

I spring out of the semi slumber

Realizing sleeplessness won again

Draw a light from my drawer

Hoping that drugs might make people

The corpse they become for a while

With every breath come the flashbacks

The sweet memories of childhood

My first bicycle,the first day at school

Being the naughty one at home,Stealing lunch

Those cultural events,those crushes.

Those never expressed one sided feelings

My best friend...

With a lit up face,I pull out my cellphone

Six hundred contacts or so

But scrolling down till the name closest to Z

I found no one, no one real close

Surrendering my head down

Feel Numb,although the head pains

I let a tear drop slide out

Hoping,the emotions might wash away

I remember my  mother, whom I dont miss much,

Father, to whom I cant be that same innocent child anymore

My first love,who taught me that love never existed at all

Talking to myself

Making a fake attempt of not being alone

I start to hmm ..to sing

Striving to look at the brighter sides

I end up liberating all those loose strings

Now it just me and  the vibes of..

The Void 

"Bholi Si Asha"

Chote sheher ki bholi si ladki,

Ankho me the kai armaan.

Ghar ke beta banungi keh ker,

Nikal padi wo duje jahan.

Shayad andaaza na tha use,

Kai mushkile thi wahan.

Kabhi samaj ke kadve bol,

Kabhi apno se paya dvesh.

Vapttian ayi badi sari,

Badal badal,naye vesh.

Dari na wo, na hi ghabraai,

Vijaypath ki chunautiyion se, kabhi na dagmagaai.

Ansuon ko, kajal ki ot me chupaya  usne,

Ghar ki yaad ka dard, kritrim hasi mein udaya usne.

Antatah paa hi lia, jiski darkaar thi,

Sabkuch,har jagah jeet kahi na haar thi.

Kaamyaabi ke paron ne dia unchi udaan bharne ka haunsala,

Na mudungi peeche,aage badhungi

Aesa, adig tha uska faisla.

Per auron se aage nikal jaane ki hod mein,

Khud ko na bhul jae.

Asha hai bus itni,

Apne hisse ka asmaan paa jae.

Chote sheher ki bholi si ladki..

Bholi hi reh jae....bholi hi reh jae.

The Girl In The Metro Train

It  was the chilly month of December.The date? 21st to be precise.I was to board the metro to meet up with my best friend in purani dilli.It was a quite normal exercise for me.Go to a  station,get your ticket,security check and wait until the train arrives.Well Delhi Metro is a world-class one. To ensure reliability and safety in train operations, it is equipped with the most modern communication and train control system.So I dint really had any complains if I had a to queue up in the long long line for ticket.A foreigner yammered about the language barriers and how he traveled the whole Indian subcontinent,Of how he loved it in Goa blah blah,as if I was interested.

Anyway I managed to go downstairs at Rajiv Chauk and literally had to run to get inside.I settled near the gate on the either side, had a funny feeling of it getting jammed because I never saw it open. The setup seemed quite normal,the jam packed bogies with a range of people and almost all of them were well dressed.Delhiites have a great sense of fashion , every one wants to look their best and does too ,moreover Palika and Sarojni make life easy for young assses like us.I was as usual a numb personality with my eyes glued onto my cellphone refreshing pages of the articles I had written desperately waiting for a comment of appraisal.I world was normal so was I until I saw her!!

She stood there almost ten steps away from me.She was standing with someone, probably a friend.It might sound more than over rated but she indeed was The Most Beautiful Girl I had ever seen in my entire life.I shook myself just to reassure if I wasn't dreaming or something.I adjusted the focal length of my eyes, she was cute.Yeah I know guys state every girl as cute whats new in it?But she was different....different from all the other cute girls that I had seen.Her face lit as if it was an early morning sunshine.Her eyes were sparkling as if about to cry or may be had the tears of happiness,with the kajal on, they just looked like a deep sea which itself expressed infinite emotions.She was tall but not taller than me I thought,so we would not look awkward if together.I know its ridiculous to have future prospects with a girl you just saw..but you never know!

Every thing happened in a fraction of seconds,the moment I saw her till the moment I realized I was going to ask her out or may be propose to her for marriage!It was the first time when those annoying announcements were not at all audible,I felt being in a movie when a guy sees a girl and every thing blanks out and  there is music in the background.And then....

She looked at me..despite of the shielding effect provided by the public...those beautiful eyes met my not-at-all-beautiful ones.I tried to maintain my composure,I felt weak,as if I had puffed a joint of marijuana.It was hard for me to believe, but yes,she looked at me.And every time when she did that, my heart skipped a beat or two.She was smiling and it made her look more angelic.We exchanged a few more smiles and eye contacts until I realized that my destination was two stops away.

I felt like going up to her and strike a conversation,may be ask her number or something so that we may meet up someday over a coffee , the CCD add of a lot can happen over coffee raced through my mind making me quite excited for the days to come.I thought of dating her at almost all the go able places for couples.I had planned all the gifts for Valentines Day,Her Birthday,Our Anniversary etc.I even named our kids....!! But for a guy like me it seemed like solving a maths paper without a scientific calculator.I cursed myself for being a gynophobic.I tried to back myself up "Come on you ass , she is just a girl....." but while trying to pull myself further a second thought occurred to me "Dude shes a girl,that too a beautiful one.....look at yourself,you are so out of her league" Hence fearing the public humiliation I postponed my intentions of talking to a girl to some other day or may be some other life.

My stop came..and probably for the first time in my whole metro travelling history I wanted to travel more.I wanted to be with her but my thoughts changed as soon as the gate opened.I kept looking at her and literally did not watch my steps which made me almost trip on the plat form.She laughed so did I....we looked at each other until the moving  train set us apart.She looked sad...... I suddenly felt that I should have talked to her...or may be not have stepped out until she did.I felt like a looser standing on the the edge of the platform...If there is anything called love at the first sight..that was it.I closed my eyes to make myself remember of how she looked.Mesmerizing even in my memories... the cellphone ring brought me to reality. "Where are you man?" inquired my friend."Just coming in two mins.." I left...

The girl from the metro train, if you are reading this..you might now know I am the same guy who was looking at you that day.......

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