{"id":512,"date":"2016-03-08T19:27:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T13:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nitishgulati.com\/blog\/?p=512"},"modified":"2018-06-13T10:25:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T04:55:52","slug":"the-gearbox-indeterminacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nitishgulati.com\/blog\/the-gearbox-indeterminacy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gearbox Indeterminacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indeterminate<\/h3>\n

It was 4.30 A.M, as my mobile sprang to life with a screeching alarm. I woke up giddily, still uncertain\u00a0of the moments about to unfold. I decided to ignore the pessimism in me as I splashed some cold water across my face. I switched on my bike, with\u00a0the engine roaring to life; and jutted out towards the\u00a0Yeshwantpur flyover. Empty roads stared back at the emptiness of my soul, as I changed gears to\u00a0look forward.<\/p>\n

The Ignition<\/h3>\n

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I met my troupe as we awaited for the remaining to arrive. Meanwhile, a\u00a0guy arrived on his personal 150 cc scooter. A few of them raised doubtful eyebrows about his ability to sustain through the trip. But, I was not surprised! An earlier friend of mine had clocked 900 KM on a 125 cc scooter. That included\u00a0 night riding, off-roading, and some hilly regions as well. Hence, I was pretty confident about him seeing it through till the end with us.<\/p>\n

\"download\"<\/p>\n

We moved to having breakfast after clocking 100 KM at a heavenly 115 KM\/hour on an excellent highway. The open dosa was a delight to have for all of us.<\/p>\n

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I had never undertaken trekking earlier. As we parked into Mullayangiri<\/a>, we trekked to the top of the peak. The view turned out to be breath taking.<\/p>\n

The Foggy Silhouette<\/h3>\n

Post Mullayangiri, we rode to Bababudangiri<\/a>, completely unaware of what was in store for all of us. As dusk set in, we rode like a chain of lamps, supporting each other till we reached the peak top. We began attaining height, with a dense cloud of fog upon us.<\/p>\n

An hour into the dusk, the fog thickened and attacked us from the front. The attack made us forget\u00a0the indeterminacy factor to zero, as we witnessed something exuberant. On\u00a0approaching the upcoming twists long the road, the fog began reflecting our shadows. It\u00a0felt as if I was being accompanied by another biker on my side, complete with helmet and all!<\/p>\n

The Plateful Campfire<\/h3>\n

I took to lying on my bike sky-facing, as the stars shown brightly. It was a poetic sight.\u00a0The air began to grow chillier as a few left to hunt in the wild for dead wood.\u00a0With great difficulty, we managed to rummage through the nearby area and discover some wood. It was sufficient to light up but not sustain through the night. This was the first time pollution actually saved us. We found an area strewn with used paper plates. It was those plates that helped us sustain the campfire till the wee hours of the morning. I should definitely mention my teammate Sachin, as we teamed up to take turns to sustain the fire while others slept.<\/p>\n

The beautiful part of these moments was that I did not feel even once that I had met these guys just a few hours earlier. We talked, shared stories as a great camaraderie brewed among us.<\/p>\n

The Incessant Boxing<\/h3>\n

For those of you who have never tried their hands at boxing, one should know that when you kick a boxing bag, you end up creating a big booming sound. Which is what happened\u00a0to us within our tents.<\/p>\n

Despite arranging our bikes in a circular fashion, and setting up our tents amidst them, there was no respite from the extreme winds. We were constantly berated with huge sounds as the high intensity wind crashed onto our tents.<\/p>\n

The volley of attacks on the tent and the subsequent torrent of blowing winds actually made me believe that the tent had torn off and blown away. I had to wake up twice to ensure that our tent did not tear away.<\/p>\n