Mumbai continues to be under the threat of rain for more than a week as the death toll in Maharashtra reaches 850. (source: rediff news). The raising water level, landslides and the tsunami rumor spread by a group of people, all contributes to the toll.

One of my colleagues was saying that his friend’s house in Mumbai was covered with water that he lost many valuables including his passport.

It was the 23rd July 2005, early morning 3.30 a.m, I woke up in the middle of the sleep to check the weather outside, “Thank God it’s not raining”, I told myself and started preparing for the trip. Raincoat, medicine, bike registration papers, camera and more important my 97.5 cc, 7.5 bhp Hero Honda Splendor, all ready and geared up for the trip. We four of us including Parth, Probuddha and Gaurav started from Varun apartments at 5.30 a.m. The trip started in a mixed weather had number of stops on the way, for rains and refreshments.

We were welcomed by the greens and hills as we neared Mussoorie. The most exciting part of the journey was the route to the hilltop, as the U turns and steep curves could make anyone unconscious anytime. Half way through the hills we could see the clouds kissing the hilltop; and we reached Mussoorie at around 3.30 in the evening. 10 hours drive and the journey continues, we checked into a hotel and caught up with the rope-car trip to the mall through the clouds. The next day morning we visited Sahastradhara falls near Dehradun and back home by 6.30 pm.

A wonderful trip to be remembered forever!

Check-out Parth's weblog for pictures and write-up on the Mussoorie trip.

What a trip it was! A trip of a lifetime, the first ever bike trip in my life covering more than 600 kilometers involving a ride on to the deadly curves and the steep roads of the Himalayas in less than 36 hours;

More updates to follow soon.

We a group of seven bikers have planned to go for a 2 day bike trip to Mussoorie in the Himalayas this weekend.

Popularly known as the queen of hills, this charming hill station, 34 kms. From Dehradun is situated at an altitude of 2,500 mts. above sea-level. Enchanting view of pine covered hill slopes and snow capped mountains leave an indelible impression on one's mind. The modern bungalows, malls and well laid gardens which are located on the small hills around the area are enough to attract any tourist. Read more

It’s getting better every week; the ambience at A-51 Sector 23 was lively on the 9th of July. With Satya returning from holiday and Mukesh had his electric guitar tuned for the event, I felt as if I am into a live concert. The event started around 4 pm in the evening went on till 5 am the next day. More than 12 hours of non-stop music filled with loads of fun; one wouldn’t have asked for more.

About half way through the session Mukesh had to go home to return his car, we seven of us followed his car in four bikes hoping that Mukesh would get to join us for the rest of the session. But luck did not favor Mukesh this time, as he could not escape from the strict orders of his father. We decided to send Satya as the mediator, but there was no change in the outcome and so we had to return back to A51 leaving the guitarist behind.

On the way back to A51 we all settled for dinner at Galina where the late night fun started. Soon everyone finished their food and the bill was presented, the whole crowd vanished into the dark leaving the poor fella Partha alone, who was caught by the waiter to settle the bill. Watching this from the dark, we couldn’t control our laughter that Sumeet started rolling on the mosaic floor.

It was the idea of Partha that ‘Pizza Hut’ is famous for entertaining customers with free gifts whenever someone comes to celebrate their birthday. So we all got into Pizza Hut; it was 12 in the night, the guy at the door stopped us saying they are closed. We convinced them saying its Sam’s (me) birthday today (actually it was not) and we are here to just sing couple of songs for him. He agreed upon and the gang got in and sang happy birthday song for me; but no hope, none of the waiters turned to us or offered any gifts.

The door next to Pizza Hut is McDonalds; we all got in neglecting the security at the gate. The guy in uniform said “Sir, we are closed”. Partha replies “Then why are you open now, the doors are open”. He again says “Sir we are closed now”, Partha replies back “Nowhere it’s written you are closed now”…and the whole crowd walks out.

Back home after a long break, and the event continued till the dawn! A Memorable session!!

With the monsoon showing it’s presence felt in Delhi and Noida, and the light showers coupled with slow breeze bringing down the temperature from 45 degrees to a pleasant 34 mark, we wouldn’t have asked for a better time to host a welcome party for the south-west monsoon.
On the 2nd of July night, a group of music enthusiasts decided to get-together at PB’s house for a jam session. While I took charge of arranging food for thought, PB got busy with organizing the Guitarist Mukesh and the tablist Satwik who is a diploma holder(Sangeet Visharat) in tabla instrument. Among the other participants were Mukesh’s friend Ankit, Partha, Amit and his brother Sumeet who is a very good vocalist.
The music session then started went on till the next day early hours, among the varieties were Indian classical, few western and the North Indian ghazals. The highlights of the session were the tabla play by Satwik, Flute/guitar by PB, Mukesh’s guitar and the melody of Sumeet. Ankit and Satwik had their share of jokes to wind up the session in a happy note.

It’s about 2 a.m the next day, we all geared-up for an early morning bike drive (call it as race) to Comesum restaurant in Delhi, in four two-wheelers. The race started from Varun apartments had lot of pit stops on the way. The first one being Amit’s new Honda Unicorn which ran out of fuel, the next at a gas station for PB’s tyre air and the next one near Delhi where Mukesh and Satwik were drilled by the late night cops. At Comesum, we were joined by three more people (met them at the restaurant); one of them is a biker who later demonstrated his wheeling talents by lifting the front wheel at 90 degrees from the ground. As we carried the guitar along, we spent the next couple of hours in front of the restaurant playing few Indian classical watched by people around. Finally we settled for an early morning snacks and bid good-bye to Delhi and good morning to Noida. It was 6 a.m when we got home, and 3 p.m when I got up again, a perfect weekend.