Both the ladies came in full glory on one fine Sunday with chrome plates, disc brakes and custom seating, never mind the fact that both Robin and Vardarajan had to forego of his last 3 months of savings and take up a 40 K loan. But the bargain was beautiful, it was not only a bike for him, it was also a coming of age moment for him. Of course they did not understand, Kashmirilal had even tried to give a “sweeter” deal – “Take my scooter to Bangalore, I don’t need it anymore”. It was perhaps for his own good that this conversation happened over the phone since Robin was clenching his teeth when he heard of the offer. He was surprised to find that his father did not remember his embarrassing nays when he was asked to take the same machine to his college. Good riddance he thought.
His roommate was just as thrilled, though the reasons were more in line with fiscal ramifications. Those rickshaw rides to and from pubs would needed, no need to be at the mercy of company bus timings on the way back home.
Vardarajan – So where do we take these bikes for a drive?
Robin – I am thinking Goa, may be next week since Monday and Tuesday are off.
Vardarajan was clearly taken aback, he had outer reaches of the city like Whitefield or even new airport.
Robin – Lets do the booking once we are in office tomorrow.
Drive to the office was less than eventful, frequent stops at the traffic signal, unusually warm morning in Bangalore and those darn ties left both Robin and Vardarajan with sticky trousers by the time they landed on their desktop stations in the project area.
Gauri – Hi guys! How was the weekend?
Varadarajan – Our new bikes have and we are headed to Goa next week since it is a long weekend.
Robin gave a look to his friend that said “Congratulations mate on being able to sum up 60 hours between Friday evening and Monday morning in just one sentence”.
Gauri – Great, lets plan together, will speak Ira once she is back from her training in couple of hours.
Vardarajan – But we were planning to go on a bikes.
Robin interjected – These drives can be quite arduous, we need to drive atleast 10-12 hours in a day.
Gauri – Dont worry, I have been on drives from Palakkad to Goa twice. Ira too shouldn’t have any issues, unless you guys have any problems.
Both nodded in negative, they were more interested in knowing who accompanied her for these road trips but clearly timing was not right.
Ira too agreed with the proposed trip with one suggestion.
Ira – We can go to Goa anytime, plus it is way too commercialized. Instead of Goa, let’s plan trip to coastal Karnataka. There are plenty of options to choose from.
Robin – Dont mind that but which place do we settle and how do we go about booking?
Gauri – Lets go to Malpe, we stayed there on our trip to Goa. Place is very quaint, less crowded and not very far from Bangalore. I can do the booking over the phone at this hotel which is not too far from the beach.
Both Robin and Vardarajan had no idea so had to go with their local experts. Road trip was on.
As we grow older while working in our comfortable coffins also known as cubicles, we all discover one plain rule which lies midway between temporal mechanics and human psychology. Time flies in anticipation of any paid vacation.
Thursday arrived and group decided to meet over at guys’ place to exchange notes on supplies, route and other useful information. Swimsuits, slippers, ample undergarments, camera, route map, rendezvous points, local information and spare cash.
Since it was past the dinner deadline at the PG, food was ordered for the group.
Ira looked at her watch and went up to switch the TV on.
Gauri – Ira not again, you make me watch these lousy news channels even when we are not at the PG.
Robin too was not impressed, it was evening for godsake. Per him, there was no need for news channels, in any case same news comes in the paper next day.
Ira – Just a minute guys, I just want to hear this for few minutes. There has been some landmark decision on some land acquisition case.
Other three were plain indifferent, but they digested some of the visuals that they saw on the telly. There have been some self immolation attempts by farmers who were protesting the alleged land grab by corporate in their area.
Robin – Nothing comes from these immolations, did anything happen after Mandal riots, its almost 20 years now.
Gauri and Vardarajan were not sure as to when these riots took place, but kept quiet on the subject.
Vardarajan – These folks seem very simple, people in rural areas in our country are gullible. Local politicians and goons can easily take their advantage.
Robin – Yes thats true.
And he recounted his grandmother’s account of the serene life in a Punjab village in undivided India.
Robin – Once i have made enough money, I ll settle in a farmhouse. Only come to city for few days in a month.
Ira – What for? To party at your clubs?
Gauri – Or you could open up a rural lounge bar? Instead of sofas and recliners, you can get khatiyas.
Robin – Enough. This conversation ends here. I have not signed up for being bakra of the day.
More visuals were rolling on TV, more experts and more cacophony on the show that tried to analyse the agitation.
Food arrived and was consumed with usual hurry since ladies were to be dropped before PG night cerfew deadline.
Next morning, Gauri came up to Robin and Vardarajan’s cubicle.
Gauri – We will have to cancel this trip. Ira is not feeling well. Lets plan for some other time.
Vardarajan – What happened to her? Is she alright?
Robin – But i just saw her leave for a whole day training session.
Gauri – It is not that serious, she has gone for the session but will not be able to make it to the trip.
Vardarajan did not quite understand it. He had come across similar situations when he was in engineering college. Some girls would just chicken out at the last moment when they were planning movie or a trip to some theme park.
Vardarajan – I don’t understand this. Clearly these guys are ditching us at this last moment.
Robin thought about it for a moment and then chuckled.
Vardarajan – What?
Robin – I just remembered that you told me about your schooling in Hyd. You were in all boys school till 12th right?
Vardarajan – Yeah, but does that have to do with this?
Nothing and everything, Robin thought while looking at his confused friend.
Robin – Chuck these girls, we will go ahead as planned.
Vardarajan – I am in. Let’s cancel their booking to avoid any penalties.
Drive to Malpe was long and tiring. They had started early, 4 AM, so made some quick progress through the day. Both enjoyed the ride – fields on both sides, leafy western ghats, good food at the roadside places and just the right temperature. With just once blemish – a 1 hour wait on a railway signal where some farmers were protesting. A passerby said – something to do with land grab.
They arrived at hotel in evening, it was not exactly Regal as it name suggested but it lived up to its USP – proximity to the beach. Both wanted to go immediately but were told by the hotel reception that there were no establishments on the beach, no light either.
Robin – Let us explore the area in the town instead.
Vardarajan – Yeah, we can have dinner at some local place. Hotel prices seem exorbitant.
Both went down and started strolling around.
They gravitated towards most commonly found point of interest in this country – a paan shop.
Neither were in mood to smoke, so just asked for some cold drinks.
Robin – Why don’t ask him about any interesting place around here.
Vardarajan tried his bit but this paanwala only spoke of two things – beach and the hotel.
Robin – I don’t want to go back to that stupid hotel after riding for 14 hours.
They noticed a person smoking next to the shop.
Vardarajan went up to him and asked if there were any eateries around. He knew of a place nearby but was advocating against the same. Hotel is a better place in the vicinity.
Vardarajan – You mean this place had no decent places to eat
Robin added – and drink? We have bikes, so we can ride for few KMs if there is any place.
Person – In that case there is a place, it is a village bar. Some 10 KMs away on a hillock.
Vardarajan – Great, can you please tell us the route?
He proceeded to talk and make gestures about dozens of turns that they would need to reach their destination.
Robin – In fact why don’t you join us, come ride with us to this place.
Vardarajan would not have voted for the idea but elections never came up.
Person – Sure. My name is Parshuram and I work here at the hotel. My shift had ended, so i can accompany you to this place.
Robin – Great, we will get our bikes now. Lets meet in 5 mins.
Ride to the village bar was more difficult than Parshuram had indicated. Had it not been for some decent suspension of their motorcycles, both riders would have given up fearing irreversible damage to some of their body parts.
Bar was not idyllic but setting was. It was basically a liquor shop with a small kitchen. There were cots all over the place.
After parking their vehicles in open area, they chose a spot and gesticulated to the set of people who seem like waiters.
Drinks flowed in. Along with some bites – bhajjis of all kinds, peanuts, and what seemed like seafood.
Robin – So Parshuram, where is your home? Is it nearby?
Parshuram – No, sir. I am from Kerala. My family is in village there, I work here at the hotel for few months.
Vardarajan – Should we order for more drinks.
Liquids were being ingested at a brisk pace, hence the query.
Robin - I am little bored with these drinks, can we get something more potent.
Parshuram – Sir would you like some village drink?
Twinkle in Robin and Vardarajan’s eyes suggested they liked the idea. Parshuram enquired with the waiter and disappeared with him for few minutes to get the drink.
Soon Parshuram was back, this time alone with three bottles of Neera
Vardarajan – So what do we mix this with?
Both Robin and Parshuram started laughing. Parshuram picked his bottle and started drinking straight from it. Robin and Vardarajan followed. Neither like the taste at first but kick from the drink was definitely appealing.
Both were now convinced that dames’ not accompanying them in this trip was a great idea. They would have never agreed to this.
With bottles were nearly downed both friends lied down on the cot.
Vardarajan – This is much better than your fave places in the city.
Robin – Agree, look at the stars over there. I think i remember that constellation, in that direction over there.
There was no response from Vardarajan.
Robin – Guru you are conked off, I don’t know why you people drink so much that..
He was not sure whether it was shrillness in the chirping of the birds or Vardarajan’s angry voice that made Robin wake up with irritation.
Vardarajan – Wake up you asshole.
Robin – What the fuck happened?
Vardarajan – Fuck happened to us.
Walk back to hotel took 4 hours. Both had faces that were mixture of embarrassment, anger and self pity. Embarrassment was definitely the dominant of the three.
Missing Inventory was a small list – both motorcycles, their wallets, Robin’s gold ring, Vardarajan’s chain and worst of all things their sports shoes.
Quite predictably, bar owner had no idea about Parshuram or whoever he was. Hotel staff too could not place the physical attributes of the phantom. Paan shop owner was more helpful, he said that yesterday was the first time when he saw that stranger around the hotel.
After filing obligatory FIR, both Robin and Vardarajan decided to use their spare cash to the best use and head back to Bangalore. They got onto a bus leaving for Sakleshpur, from where they intended to take another one back home.
Though they did not discuss with each other, neither had any intention to talk about the same to anyone in office. Vardarajan was soon dozing.
Bus ride was mor e or less uneventful except for some unusual traffic jam that seem to appear out of nowhere. Robin jutted out his head to see what exactly reason of ruckus was. There seem to be some local protesting with placards in kannada. A fellow passenger offered more insight – same story, poor villagers and land grab by some company.
Finally some order was restored and bus started to pick up some speed.
The protesting group was now on the side of the road and as the bus sped by it, Robin saw a familiar face amidst the agitators – Parshuram’s.
