These words blurted out when Dev confided our 3rd Anniversary plan to me. So far, we celebrated our anniversaries in the sweet elegant yet a bit obvious manner. Like candlelit dinners, wines, great music…little pampering to ourselves. Romantic! Well, that’s how anniversaries were supposed to be, we thought, being beginners. We felt quite satisfied by the “perfect” way to celebrate that special day.
Just a week before our third one, while planning on “what to do’s or where to go’s”, we started retrospections on the previous years’ memories. After a good ponder we looked at each other and came up with exactly the same reaction, “Naaaaaah!!!!! Not again this year!” We were bored. Bored and almost terrified of repeating the same procedure in the alibi of “celebration”! We were very sure that we didn’t want to do something, which was obvious. And that is when Dev came up with this brilliant idea, which forced me to pat his back. This was the plan:
A road trip from Delhi-Bhangarh-Delhi! The reason why this plan raised my eyebrows in excitement apart from the bike ride was, Bhangarh is known to be the most haunted place in India! Now, this was something I would call spine-tickling thrill! Although most of our friends who heard about the plan told us to expect the least, as we might rather scare ‘them’ away, but we were happy. About the l-o-n-g bike trip and visit haunted ruins! We couldn’t wait for the night to get over on 25th as we were more than convinced to have the best plan one can ever think of for a “perfect anniversary celebration!”
It was just a day’s program so we didn’t have to pack bags or toothbrush or any extra clothes. Just water, wallet, maps, shades…and we were all set to go! Our bike cruised through the NH8 and the city looked all the more pretty in the winter dawn. I kept thanking Dev for such a desirable and wonderful gift! Feeding our stomachs with egg-cheese-sausage-burgers & coffee and eyes with soft glimpse of sunrise from the large windowpanes, we left MacDonalds at Manesar heading towards Bhiwadi. 
Just as we entered Bhiwadi (i.e. about 65kms. From Delhi), the events started taking place one after another. Never before did we experience such a brim of twists and turns in one store. While penning them down, I’m laughing and having goose bumps at the same time! Here it goes in chronological order:
Twist #1- The first little indication: we found a noise coming from the engine and some fluid dripping on Dev’s shoes. The mechanic at Bhiwadi discovered that fluid to be the petrol, which was leaking, as the knob wasn’t set right. He checked them all, and assured there isn’t any big trouble to drive it for another 200 kilometers. We too became relieved telling each other this is too petty a problem to be worried about and carried on with our venture.
Twist #2- The great fall: the roads were mostly smooth and Dev never tried to over-speed, as he is extremely careful while highway driving. So, we were kind of enjoying the ride. I kept clicking pictures of roads, farms, trees and clouds. The only problem was with the trucks, which drove madly. Since it was a two-way highway, more caution was required. After crossing Alwar, at the mouth of entering Burja, we faced a small narrow wooden bridge. As we were almost at the midway of the bridge, something happened and before we could realize what, Dev was lying on the ground and I, above him! Within a few seconds, bike passers were there to help us get up and they too nodded to the fact, it all happened because of the speeding truck. Also, they repeatedly kept telling us how lucky we were to be saved. Lucky indeed! The bridge was so narrow that we hardly had any space to move away when the truck coming ahead, almost pushed us aside. It undoubtedly was a narrow escape. A few wounds on the knee and a little turmoil in mind, we thought of taking a few minutes rest and…moved ahead again!
Twist #3- Gone with the wind: on our way to Abhaneri, a biker came close to us and constantly tried to communicate. We understood only when there was nothing to do about it. He was trying to tell us, something flew away from our bike, and we later realized it was one of our route maps! Going back to collect it was a bad idea-hence, we started depending on the direction boards mostly.
Twist #5- Enter the Haunted: fine carvings and beautiful architecture were the vital features of Abhaneri Temple of Harshat Mata. Chand Bowli on the other hand, was 100 feet deep, which meant 3500 steps! Amazed by the ancient monuments we decided to delay our lunch and head towards Bhangarh, as entry after sunset in Bhangarh was strictly restricted. It was a 58 kilometers ride from Abhaneri and would take at least one and a half hours, as we never sped beyond 40-45kmph. Until Dausa (i.e. 31kms.), the roads were not bad but, turned nasty after that. This meant 27 kms of difficult ride. However, the picturesque views around always kept us distracted. While crossing places like Sainthal, Bapi, Nabhawala it was getting darker and sun was getting ready to set. The bike and the roads did not support speeding up. After a good stressful ride when we reached Bhangarh ruins, the guard wouldn’t allow us in. It was sunset already, and they simply could not risk our lives by letting us enter the ‘most haunted place in the country!’ So much of hassles, such adverse experiences all for coming to this place and now they don’t allow us? We remembered the coffee shop owner’s words at Tijara, who mentioned to us, “sirf kismet waale hi pahuch paate hain wahaan, saab!” (only those who are lucky can reach there, Sir). That time he appeared just like any spooky watchman or old beggar who always create a warm-up mood in horror films. We had laughed our hearts out that time but, never thought it could mean something really! Did it? Well, we summarized our tough, full of hassles journey even displaying Dev’s knee wound and finally convinced the guard to let us in! But, those few moments were truly tensed and we almost freaked out when it seemed all our efforts so far had gone in vain!
Twist #6- Change of plan (by choice): after all those tumbling down and off road expeditions and frequent feeding of the bike with engine oil because of that fall- all these ate up the whole day. So, by the time we were about to reach Bhangarh we already decided not to go back to Delhi on the same day. Instead, another 50kms and we would reach Jaipur. Rent a room in a decent hotel, have a drink or two, eat and get some good sleep. Start the next morning for Delhi. This plan sounded just perfect to us and the “kebabs and curries” and the comfortable cushiony bed, warm quilts, hot water-all of these motivated us all the way to Jaipur. This was the first positive twist in the journey and brought smiles of relief on our faces.
Twist #7- Man proposes, God disposes: throughout our way to Jaipur, we kept discussing on two topics. First, the amazing beauty of silence that blanketed the ruins of Bhangarh. The golden beams of dusk hitting the clouds, the greens, the majestic Aravalli and the scattered ruins of Bhangarh over a huge area- all of these exhibited a fascinating blend of colors and we took away an enduring memory with us. The second topic we discussed was however imaginary. That was about the hotel we would check in to and the food we would order (14 hours of starvation helped us to imagine food even better and faster)! When we reached Jaipur, suddenly we realized we didn’t have any spare clothes to wear. Hence, two new pairs of t-shirts and pajamas! Now the only job left was to find a nice hotel with good food (all those kebabs and curries that we fantasized now weren’t too far!) and a comfortable warm room…our perfect anniversary would be complete that way. But, alas! Our fortunes had pre-decided to give us a tough time. We hunted almost every hotel and came out with a frown reading those “alcohol and non vegetarian food is strictly prohibited in this hotel premises” boards! Wish they had some smarter business policies. By then, few agents had already started to nag us with their offers. “deluxe hotel sir! Very good! Madam, very nice hotel” etc. We kept going in and out of hotels with disappointment and more frowns. At last, surrendering to one of those agents we followed him to a hotel expecting the least and worst. However, even our fortunes got tired of playing tricks by that time and surprised us with our “dream hotel!” We thanked the agent our luck for the first time that day, raised toasts to the adventurous anniversary we’ve had, ate like monsters, watched TV and dozed off like never before.
Twist #8- The Big Break: we wholeheartedly kept appreciating the Hotel Nirbana Palace, which actually was a savior for us. Recollecting the previous day’s experiences, we thought it might have been a dream perhaps! We started for Delhi afresh. It was a bright Saturday morning, people rustled bustled on roads making us feel proud that we were not a part of those “poor office goers!” After about one and a half more hours, we took a tea break. Our timing was perfect, and we calculated roughly to hit Delhi by 5 or 6pm. How could we realize the upcoming twist awaiting our life? Just about after 20 minutes, our baby finally refused to move anymore. Dev checked the oil, clutch, brakes etc. but could not get hold of the real culprit. It was in the middle of a highway and no mechanic was visible. We did not know whom to curse- our fates or our extremely adventure-hungry-urges? Anyway, we still were “lucky” to have found some mechanic shops nearby- which literally meant dragging the machine for 1.5kms. After a detailed observation of all the possible parts, trying out some jugaads, the mechanic declared, there was a serious problem in the engine, piston and timing chain. This required overall servicing, replacement of some parts to be bought from Jaipur and not less than 24hours, if we want the bike to get started! We meant to cry, but we laughed out looking at each other.
Twist #9- Change of plan (by force): after spending almost 3 hours at the mechanic shop, it was time to decide about spending the coming 24 hours. And going back to Jaipur seemed to be the only option left with us. In spite of all the odds, we cannot deny the fact that relaxing another evening in that hotel was quite inviting. Although this almost emptied both our bank accounts, but guess we hardly had any choice. Since this was another day for us sans lunch, we again started dreaming of the great food at the hotel! A two hours bus ride to Jaipur, checking in Hotel Nirbana Palace, again eating like monsters and raising a toast on our fates that brought so many spices to our lives, we slept off to put an end to the day!
The next day appeared to be the easiest, giving signs right from the beginning. Like getting a bus readily to Manoharpur (where our baby was waiting for us- all set!), getting the opportunity to eat lunch for the first time in three days, taking planned breaks, smooth traffic-free roads, clean loos at petrol pumps…well, we started believing in signs by then! We saw sun setting behind the Aravallis, rode through the NH8 and gradually kept feeling happy on seeing the kilometers to Delhi decreasing on the direction boards. It was 10.30 pm when we reached HOME! We can bet, our home never looked so beautiful before. In fact, the mere sight of “Mehrauli- 10kms” made us almost jump in triumph! Having dinner with tomato soup and Maggie we exchanged our opinions on the experience. Just then, a friend called up to make sure we were safe home. Listening to the stories and events of our journey he said, “You guys should take it as a lesson ok! So, now tell me, will you ever dare go on a bike venture like this again?” We both laughed out and said on the phone-speaker, “Of course we will…next destination- Himachal!!!!”
