Delhi - Bombay - Delhi - Chevrolet Beat and a bag full of dreams.

[AbhishekB86]

They say you must be content with the 'security' that life offers. The predictable path is the most reliable and repeated advice must be paid heed to. You ought to not quit that job and continue dealing with 'Devil wears Prada' boss, be safe when making your decisions, go to the dentist once in two months, have life insurance, and gosh you can't get soaked in the rain. The world has it's views and its repeated time and again. Life is sometimes forced upon us.

But then sometimes, just sometimes, you pay attention to what your heart says. I can't say I follow it religiously but I do have moments when I flip and clearly 'need' and not 'want' to do what I want.

The bug hit me last year. I read Harish's travelogue on his journey from Delhi to Bombay in an Alto. I was inspired. I went through various travelogues, noted the genius of HVK and somewhere in my heart I knew I had to do this.

Here's the catch. I learnt driving at 24 exactly a year back on my Chevy. Noone in my house drives and my mother is paranoid about vehicles unless she has the back seat. My first highway drive was in December 2011 to Jaipur and back. I repeated this stretch again 2 months back. Till a month back I didn't even know how to change a flat, and all that was about to change. My life was going to take a spin and I saw it coming.

Tada.. I barge into my boss' cabin (by barge I mean not literally barge, but one knock and I'm inside) and I ask her for leave. She grants me 12 days starting from the 30th May 2012.

I find out about the route and who else to the rescue but HVK and Ranjit and I'm all set. But hey, this is first ride exceeding 250 kms and I am nervous as hell.

Physically I'm fit as I do run regularly. I ran for 3 weeks leading up to my leave 5 kms everyday to build endurance for any fatigue I may experience.

My girl friend in Bombay is paranoid, she thinks I've lost sanity. My friends tell me I should wait for a better car. My service station guys give me the odd look and then they ask again.."Sir bombay is gaadi pe?"

The word spreads around on Facebook and I get calls from a couple of friends. One has the audacity to ask me if I have any last wishes. Clearly, none of them can ever make it to T-BHP. But I see hundreds of the 'been there, done that' folk among you all and I am ready for this.

I get myself an ice bucket, loads of munchies to snack on. Diet coke and water and I'm all set to go.

A full tank is done at the next door reliable pump and the air pressure checked and filled.

I crash at 10, but I can't sleep. Nope. Not happening. I try Yoga ..no respite. Oh did I forget to pack that shirt? When would I reach Himmat Nagar? I can't stop thinking. Dexter to the rescue.

I leave at 4.45 am and I remember to carry enough cash (not to forget coins for the nasty tolls).



I reach Highway King at 7.35 am. I can't wait for breakfast. I've been snacking on Granola bars( just for the energy, No I'm not exactly a health freak) and diet coke for the much needed caffeine fix. The drive has not exactly been a breeze I encounter truck traffic and so many diversions, I lost count. Anyway, the road is much improved from last time. I'm happy with my progress. The car is behaving well and so am I. You must behave on the highway right?

I keep reading on the log provided by HV Kumar sir which was my bible and plan my route ahead. It says right from the sign board for Mahindra World City. But I see it on my left. I have a 'what on earth?' moment and in my blondness keep driving straight. I stop ask people around but they keep urging me to drive straight for the expressway. Another one wants to know what it means. I reach Jaipur. I know I can take the expressway from the city but I am on panic mode and I don't know what to do. Well the left turn technically did curve towards the right. Yes it did. Oh noes! what on earth am I doing? Anyway, I take a u turn and go back and waste a lot of time doing that. I hit the HPCL petrol pump around 10.30. I've wasted a lot of time. I quickly go use the loo and know I need to make up time to reach Himmat Nagar. My next hault is around 12.30 at Amar Hotel's CCD. I quickly grab a coffee and within 12-15 minutes I shoot off to Udaipur.

So this is what a highway is. Delhi- Jaipur what? I mean really? That stretch from Delhi to Jaipur should be considered a city route and not a highway. This is beautiful I keep driving. The roads are empty. Its too hot for the truckers and thank god for that. I reach Udaipur at 5.25 but waste 20 minutes at the BPCL station trying to get some more petrol before I proceed to Himmat Nagar. I've never covered more than 250 kms in a stretch before and here I am sitting at 600 odd kms (minus the Jaipur city tragedy!!)

So I'm speeding along well and covering time and I'm happy that its going so well.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a pigeon decides to land just in front of my car. People run over dogs, cats and maybe cattle but here I was guilty of murdering a pigeon. I could see the wings go up in the air as I looked from my mirror. I had no time to react and it did try to escape but it could not. Pigeon karma was waiting keep reading.

I've come to realize we make situations difficult by limiting our thinking. Who would have thought a year ago with that 'L' sign on my car, I would be doing this. But I am and I am living in this moment and I am 250 odd kms from Himmat Nagar. I stop by a beautiful site before the descend from Udaipur towards Ahemdabad and just watch the cars and trucks go by. Life is beautiful and I realize my true calling is the highway. I see two little kids playing by the side. Amused by their antics of throwing little stones at each other I decide to keep moving. Hills..oh well I've never tackled these before but I manage. I decrease the speed and the Chevy behaves itself around corners. The car has urged me to push her and I have ofcourse within her limits but here's where you respect the road. There is no rush. Now the driving has taken its toll according to HVK's log I've covered almost 880 but in my panic and the unfortunate detour to Jaipur I had covered a lot more.

I slowed down and found Hotel Landmark. Excellent suggestion from Ranjit, it looked decent. But this is where the pigeon had to even even things out.

My valuables were spread everywhere. My seats folded flat behind and a suitcase and a 18 ltr icebox as luggage. I reached out for my laptop bag and got my thumb stuck between the zip of the bag and the pigeon has his revenge. A severely bleeding thumb with valuables all around. I struggle to wash it with water. The bleeding does not seem to stop. What on earth moment Again.

Somehow I make it to the room. Get the dettol out and make use of the bandaid in my first aid box. I watch a little bit of T.V and I look at the log. I made it to Himmat Nagar by 8.40 pm and I never in my wildest dreams a few months ago thought it was possible. I knew I was on my way to what I had been dreaming of for months.

I am sure it is just another routine run for you who do this often. But this was a first of many for me and I am so certain, I will always remember this run. Infact, I will always keep this car. Maybe a little too early to say that, but its been special. More to come

[vnabhi]

I like your style of writing---right from the heart. Please carry on.

Your car looks immaculate. I love that colour on the Beat.

[sameerg001]

Good way of writing, straight from the heart, you can call it

I can well imagine your plight while taking this drive, as i was in same situation sometime back. When i was about to go for my 1st highway drive, that was after 1 and half month of city driving and around 1000km experience behind the wheel. I was nervous, but same time excited for the drive, and when i completed that 160kms of drive, i was ecstatic to say the least.

BTW nice placements of stickers on your ride, she looks uber cool in this color,

What about the FE figures and avg. speed you managed ?

Waiting eagerly for rest of the part.

Wish you wonderful miles ahead with her, drive safe.

Cheers
Sameer

[AbhishekB86]

Day Two :

I crash with a sore knee and so much tiredness I could have slept for 15 hours. I may not be the best bet when it comes to doing a solo run for 17+ hours I must admit. I wake up still with sleep in my eyes and somehow make it to the shower. It takes a good 5-6 alarms within a gap of 30 minutes to wake me up. You could construct a pillar in my room and I wouldn't wake up but hey here I was up in one go. The excitement had the better of me.

5.15 am I was out of the road. I had carried different genres of music with me. I do not usually approve of bollywood songs (exceptions are old school) but this time I carried some best of 90s which I downloaded a night before. Must admit it sort of blended with my mood then.

Another diet coke down. If Caffeine was a drug and maybe as bad as heroine you could have spotted me in the rehab. This time a Milano was snacked upon as I chose to follow a truck before the Ranasan and Rambol circles so I could feast.

I stopped a few kms before the Expressway. This time to pen down my thoughts. There wasn't much space to scribble around in the log prints that I was carrying but in the moment all I could come up with was a smiley. Infact a big smiley. Yes this was special and the way ahead was even more ..The Expressway.

Here is where I thought the Beat would be tested and man did it respond. I must admit there is nothing better than Gujarat highways that I've seen before. Some 18-19 year old behind me spotted the sticker and got excited and overtook me so as to prove a point. Well, who cares. Little did this man know that I was the vocalist of 'Rolling in the Deep' and I was the audience. I sped ahead, put the engine to test and the car was brilliant.

The expressway was perfect and the traffic disciplined. Maybe because it was early morning and people were patient. I crossed in a jiffy and maintained a good speed. Good enough to test my car to its maximum.

Office calls. Reject. Repeated client calls. Reject. Irritating client called so often I blocked his number. Some people do not understand the message 'Driving on the highway. Will take calls post 2 pm' I wonder what makes it a given that if a person is driving he will take calls. I don't and noone should.

I was approaching Bharuch and was remembering all the warnings. Take a left turn or hell awaits you. Take a left turn or be stalled for life. Take a left turn or you're a pigeon. Well none of that happened. Thankfully I rode the shoulder as HVK suggested and the bridge for cars was open and made it through Bharuch without any trouble.

This is where I sort of lost patience. I cannot understand the obsession of the truck drivers to drive side by side as if engaged in conversation. It was beyond me. It's not like me to change lanes but when dipping along with honking falls on deaf ears you're left with no option.

We all tend to find 'highway mates' , cars who tag along or keep speed with each other as if giving each other comfort of the others' presence. I find it sweet. In fact I had a Swift and a i20 for comfort. However, the Swift occupants literally fell out of their seats upon discovering my rare seats were missing. They were just out flat but well with the odd positioning of the doors on the Beat it did seam like that. Wouldn't complaint of the attention given.

Music does so many things. Its beautiful. A little bit of pumped up music when you need to maintain good speeds is really helpful. Another Diet Coke down and now while filling up around Baroda noticed the pump operator spoke in broken hindi and gujrati.

I loved it. Isn't it wonderful how the language changes with every few kms it also gives you a feel of all that you've covered. I smiled and tipped the man. Not because of anything but sheer joy.

I could see the 'BPCL - Sugar n Spice' boards everywhere. Here the option was between stopping here or pushing for MCD. But when you have to go, you just have to go. The highway isn't an option so I pushed for Sugar n Spice. The icebox still had ice in it. A gatorade was fished out.

The Sugar and Spice was overflowing with 'Cheese Burst' lovers. Families had taken every possible seat. I grabbed an Uncle Chips out of the back seat. The joys of being a kid in the 90s. Let the car cool down a bit and looked for BHP sightings, unfortunately none.

I walked around a little bit. My girlfriend from being skeptical was excited. My posts which made no sense to my friends earlier on Facebook were being liked and commented upon. The 'last wish' friend commented 'you are one crazy guy. Respect.' Well thank you very much but I know of a website he'd find a lot of crazy on

I pushed from Sugar and Spice around 11.15 am and followed HVK's log strictly. This time no usage of brain just copy paste the log to the road and blindly follow. I could feel the humidity when I rolled down the windows.

I pushed for Bombay and entered Ghodbunder at 1.30 and as suggested by both HVK and Ranjit pushed straight ahead for Goregaon East.

I parked outside Oberoi Mall. This was it. I made it. 2 pm and I am in Goregaon east most importantly I am in Mumbai. I looked in the mirror and smiled and called up my girl to tell her I'll see her at 4.

I would not have made it without HVK or Ranjit. A big thank you.

I gave my car for wash at Oberoi Mall. Expensive, I know but they did a good job.

Well to sum it up. It was a journey of a life time. It taught me to follow my heart over my head to be in a constant state of bliss.

The story for Bombay( and back) will unfold in a bit. Here are a few more pictures from Bombay.

[faustus77]

Abhishek
Hi
It is great that you lived your dream of a drive Delhi-Bombay and back.
Understandable that friends and relatives discourage you from the drive but your service station doing the same,that is surprising.
2 years back I also bought the same colour and and lived my school day's dream of doing Bombay Delhi by road(I am 68 now and owning a car at that time was not even a distant dream.It was unthinkable)
In Aug/Sep 2011 had the same car serviced/checked and drove alone from Bombay to Leh and back.All along the route the service stations were very helpful and they encouraged me.
Regards

[AbhishekB86]

Thank you sire. In all honesty I wasn't sure about my style of writing. I'm glad you like it. I too find the color stunning.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I like your style of writing---right from the heart. Please carry on.

Your car looks immaculate. I love that colour on the Beat.

Thank you Sameer. Indeed, straight from the heart. Well I haven't really stressed on the average speed or the F.E figures. In all honesty I got so disheartened with the price hike a week before my trip I decided not to care about it. Anyway I have notes on it will sure include it tomorrow. I notice you're from Dwarka well so am I.

Originally Posted by sameerg001

Good way of writing, straight from the heart, you can call it

I can well imagine your plight while taking this drive, as i was in same situation sometime back. When i was about to go for my 1st highway drive, that was after 1 and half month of city driving and around 1000km experience behind the wheel.

BTW nice placements of stickers on your ride, she looks uber cool in this color,

What about the FE figures and avg. speed you managed ?

Cheers
Sameer

Originally Posted by faustus77

Abhishek
Hi
It is great that you lived your dream of a drive Delhi-Bombay and back.
Understandable that friends and relatives discourage you from the drive but your service station doing the same,that is surprising.
2 years back I also bought the same colour and and lived my school day's dream of doing Bombay Delhi by road(I am 68 now and owning a car at that time was not even a distant dream.It was unthinkable)
In Aug/Sep 2011 had the same car serviced/checked and drove alone from Bombay to Leh and back.All along the route the service stations were very helpful and they encouraged me.
Regards

Thank you faustus. It was an indeed a dream come true. Well the service station usually has good folks. This fellow was checking the wheel allignment .Anyway, they employ all kinds of people. You're an inspiration for your Del-Bombay run. You could do Delhi - Leh in a Beat. Could I have a few details? This is exceptional. Kudos to you sir. Respect! I would love to hear more from you.

[AbhishekB86]

I guess the pictures did not upload in the previous post. Well here they are.

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

The story for Bombay( and back) will unfold in a bit. Here are a few more pictures from Bombay.

There isn't any pictures in this post, please attach them again

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Thank you Sameer. Indeed, straight from the heart. Well I haven't really stressed on the average speed or the F.E figures. In all honesty I got so disheartened with the price hike a week before my trip I decided not to care about it. Anyway I have notes on it will sure include it tomorrow. I notice you're from Dwarka well so am I.

Great, i am put up in sector-1. Let's catch up some time soon

Cheers
Sameer

[predatorwheelz]

Read through your entire travelogue. Very nicely written, though at places you seemed to be in a hurry to finish . Doing a 1400 km trip alone takes a lot of guts, especially for a first timer. Also good to see that the Beat did the trip without a hitch! Keen to find more from you.

As a tip, do try to attach pics where they are most relevant to the narrative, not clubbed together at the end. Makes for easier reading!

[AbhishekB86]

Thank you so much. I would agree it was a little bit rushed. Guess that's the influence of work mails & Twitter.

The Beat surprised me too. I've dealt with with a flat after returning from a Jaipur trip in Manesar although that has nothing to do with the machine but it does make you a little skeptical.

I guess where it sometimes become difficult is when you're doing it for the first time and everyone is against it but you. Thanks for the encouragement.

The pictures oh well, guess I'll get the hang of it soon. Getting used to the posting process here.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Read through your entire travelogue. Very nicely written, though at places you seemed to be in a hurry to finish . Doing a 1400 km trip alone takes a lot of guts, especially for a first timer. Also good to see that the Beat did the trip without a hitch! Keen to find more from you.

As a tip, do try to attach pics where they are most relevant to the narrative, not clubbed together at the end. Makes for easier reading!

[dave7377]

Enjoyed your style of writing Abhishek. Some logs are great read even without the pictures and this one perfectly fits in there.
Regards
Amit

[AbhishekB86]

Hey Amit. Thanks a ton. There's a lot more to write. I am not done. Haha. Makes me wonder if I should probably have someone else with me to click pictures next time

Originally Posted by dave7377

Enjoyed your style of writing Abhishek. Some logs are great read even without the pictures and this one perfectly fits in there.
Regards
Amit

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

I keep reading on the log provided by HV Kumar sir which was my bible and plan my route ahead. It says right from the sign board for Mahindra World City. But I see it on my left. I have a 'what on earth?' moment and in my blondness keep driving straight. I stop ask people around but they keep urging me to drive straight for the expressway. Another one wants to know what it means. I reach Jaipur. I know I can take the expressway from the city but I am on panic mode and I don't know what to do. Well the left turn technically did curve towards the right. Yes it did. Oh noes! what on earth am I doing? Anyway, I take a u turn and go back and waste a lot of time doing that. I hit the HPCL petrol pump around 10.30.

At that junction, there is a flyover/interchange where you have to take the flyover (that starts on the left side of the road) and curves to the right. The road straight goes on into Jaipur city.

Never ask passerby for road info. Ask the truck drivers. In any case, the Q you should have asked is the Jaipur Bypass which is what you had to take.

[BurningHeart]

You're easily The Chetan Bhagat of t-BHP. Just amazing story telling ability. Was looking around for the pencil sketches as you would see with movie screenplay. Loved it and rated 5 Stars.

BH.

[AbhishekB86]

HV sir I realized this much much later. In fact the road curving to the right struck me only after I entered Jaipur. I didn't want to deviate from your route so I went all the way back took a u-turn and got back on that flyover.

It was my stupidity. But thank you for your inputs. Next time will ask a truck driver for sure.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

At that junction, there is a flyover/interchange where you have to take the flyover (that starts on the left side of the road) and curves to the right. The road straight goes on into Jaipur city.

Never ask passerby for road info. Ask the truck drivers. In any case, the Q you should have asked is the Jaipur Bypass which is what you had to take.

Haha thank you BH. I don't read his books but this sure sounds like an awesome compliment. Thank you so much for the rating. Very nice of you. My blabber is by no means over. I'm typing another draft.

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

You're easily The Chetan Bhagat of t-BHP. Just amazing story telling ability. Was looking around for the pencil sketches as you would see with movie screenplay. Loved it and rated 5 Stars.

BH.