de gaddi doodh ki dukaan ( translated = the motorcycle diary)

To the veteran bulleteers it might seem a simple enough endeavour, but for me it was a big deal riding from Pune to Bengaluru. When i bought my bullet the previous owner instilled in me vivid fantasies of riding the length and breadth of the country, a desi motorcyle diary ishtyle. I even bought matching goggles in anticipation. But like most other things in my life the dreams ended as soon as someone woke me up. This time i had to move back to Bengaluru for my summer internship in Narayana Hrudayalaya. a good two and half months and it was simply unthinkable that i stay away from my darling for so long. So having decided to ride down, i got lots of encouragement " are you crazy?( girlfriend), iss garmi mei ??...paagal hai ( i cant seem to recall who said that), do what ever you want ( not the happy "do what ever you want" but the exasperated " do what ever you want" courtesy mom) etc etc. So first i went about trying to convince myself. Decided to check out financials - transporting bike from Pune to B'lore by train:-

Railway charges - around Rs 1200/-( to guys who dont believe this...i have an official reciept)

Packing charges - around Rs 300/-

Handling charges( read as greasing palms ) at Pune station - approx Rs 200/- ( 100 for the guy who act as a mediator between the railway official and 100 for the railway official, since the guy was mighty pleased with me he said he would load my bike on the train for free) remember we are talking of a bullet here and hence the inflated charges

Handling charges at B'lore station - approx Rs 150 - Rs 200/-

The total coming up to somewhere around 2000 bucks, and i still had to pay for my own transportation.

So if i were to ride down then :- 

Petrol - approx 900Km, @Rs 50/litre and 25KMPL it would come up to Rs 1800/- and that would include my transportation too. All my two semesters of MBA education kicked in to tell me that it was cheaper to ride down. With the tangible benefits sorted out, the intangibles were the thrill of the ride, the added heroic value among my acquaintances. So it wasn't difficult to convince myself. 

Having decided...i plunged head on into the preparations :-

1) Get bike serviced ( atleast 10 days before the journey)

2) Money

3) Map

4) Food

5) Documents

6) Music

Ok me taking a break......will continue in next post.