Motorcycle Diaries 4: Madurai.

Lies. All lies. And so it started.

Signature whisky.

3 hours of knockout sleep. 20 missed calls. A hurried plock of a hurried departure.

A certain person in Madurai needed to be made happy.
200 kms solo. Non-stop. Ghat sections. 4 lane highway. Salem.
STD calls.
Fuming friend.
250 kms more, to Madurai.
Battery dead. (I found out a coupla hours back that it was caused by some leaked up acid which burnt the electrical contacts.)

Friend's hostel room.
His and his roomie's undies and Excalibur shirts - Foot mats.
Roomie got belted by me. Literally. (I think the bruises on his body from my leather belt still haven't disappeared.)
Dry ice burns.
TASMAC with the hostel gang. (TASMAC - Govt. approved drinking place. Cheap and shady.)

Signature whisky.

Midnight celebrations. Friend's birthday. New year celebrations in hostel.

Friend 'birthday bummed' by 50 guys.
Mixture of leftover fruit salad and crushed banana poured on him.
Friend drunk. Smears banana goo on everyone including me.
Gets kicked by me. (For those of you who have SEEN my shoes and the size, you might be able to estimate the pain caused.)
Riot and wild dancing by the hostelites.

Firecrackers in the ten foot bonfire. (Firecrackers - the ones that light up HUGE portions of the sky.)

Fire extinguisher!

Was forced to dance.
Hose pipe.
Water shot at everyone.
Specs falls and breaks. Bleh.
Retire to room.
Take out spare set of specs.
No sleep.
Friend comes much later.
Blood clots and marks (big ones) where I kicked him. (Had called him. Apparently, his bum and thighs are sore even now.)
Dropped plans of biking to Kanyakumari and decided to head back to B'lore to make another person happy.
The others rent a Scorpio, decide to head to a water park in Coimbatore.
Friends get worried about me deciding to night ride for 2.15 hours from 0400 to 0615. Decide to give me company till Dindigul. (70 kms from Madurai)

Tea stop before starting.
Scorpio up front. Me behind.
Blazing headlights of inconsiderate truckers.
Potholes I couldn't see.
One hour. 65 kms. Fastest yet for a night-ride.
Maya overtakes Scorpio while it's overtaking a truck. Left indicator.
Screech to halt. Friends extremely worried.

I raise my index and middle finger, place 'em in front of my mouth and wave it forward and backward.
Smoke.
3 awake. 4 asleep.
Friends full of awe.
Driver amazed with me.

Bharat Petroleum pump. Needed air. Saw a loo, with Hamam soap. Chucked the air and headed to plock.
BP guy gets all pissed and exclaims - 30 mins (In Tamil.)
I replied - Sorry. Urgent!
Saw some amazing sights on my way back.
Fell asleep while riding.
For a few seconds I guess. Otherwise I woulda been dead.
Weird thoughts in my head.
Voices yelling random things in my head. In Tamil. (The Tamil Nadu influence, I guess.)
Slept in a highway hotel for 30 mins.

Lunch at Krishnagiri - Khuska, Gravy, 2 Half-boiled. Very intelligent girl at the cash counter. Handling cash with such efficiency. My god. Would have been no more than 8 years old.
Last leg of the ride.
Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore.

Krishnagiri to Hosur is a rider's dream. Winding high-speed curves, awesome road, breathtaking scenery - mountains, fields, grass, slopes. Go there. You'll know what I'm talking about. Remember. Krishnagiri-Hosur, not the other way.
54 kms in half an hour. 120-125 kmph for the full half an hour. Steep downward road, almost touched 130.
Got back.
Made another person happy.

Signature whisky.
(No drunken driving either folks.)
No sleep.
1000 kms.
800 kms solo.
36 hours.
Again, one hell of a time.