Some relationships you are born into. Others you make on the often complicated journey through life. One often imagines (or wishes) that these relationships will last for ever. But do they?
Men have a way of screwing up! This story is about one such brotherhood: built on the road, and broken on the road…! You ask why I prefer to ride alone? Well this incident is one big reason why!
DisclaimerThis story is completely made-up. Except for the parts that are completely True!
It was a pleasant weekend on a beach in Mandrem, located in the extreme north of Goa, that the “Axis of Evil” first met up. The occasion was BulltMania – the very first of what would later become an annual pilgrimage for the hardcore Bullet motorcycle clubbie. And as many will fondly recall: probably the best BulltMania EVER! Now ofcourse, we know….!😏
You couldn’t have found 4 people more different than these four! Cutlet (who also features in some other stories in the #RoadTales series) was a struggling filmmaker from Mumbai. Then there was “Kid” from Pune, who claimed to be 18, but who we now know couldn’t have been a day older than 16 at the time. “Kid” was the resident “All India Radio” – he knew everything about everybody in the Bullt Biker community! If there was gossip, he had it! Then there was Cougar, also from Pune: star rider/tourer etc etc and clearly the celebrity of the group, complete with the starry airs! Last – but by no means the least – was Jatt. So named not just because he was Sikh but because of his stubborn attitude! What he lacked in Height, he made up for with Attitude! He did what he wanted to! Ask him to go Left, and he will go Right. Ask him to go Right and he will go Left! And like the wind, he goes everywhere! Jatt was a dress designer by profession – though critics allege that most of the over-priced clothes in his store were not his original creations but picked up from a catalogue and smuggled in from Bangkok or Malaysia. Jatt had ridden down all the way from Kanpur in central india just to attend this biker meet! RESPECT!! Such a disparate group could only have come together through the hand of god!
How did these 4 manage to find each other among 300 bikers from across India? Well, Cougar and Kid were both from Pune and had met at the house of a common biker friend. On a whim, they decided to ride to the first BulletMania together that year. Cutlet’s Girlfriend (now ex-Wife) was Cougar’s classmate in Pune Film School. And Jatt was Cutlet’s “Brother from another mother”.
To return to our story, this motley bunch met in that Beach Shack in Mandrem and got along like proverbial peas in a pod! So much so, that after the event, the gang of 4 decided to head south and explore Goa, eventually settling down to spend a whole week in a shack on a (then) remote beach called *secret*, in the very south of Goa. Back then, *secret* was this secluded beach with white sand and Blue water and not the mess it is today. Back then, it was an unspoilt beach, popular with backpacking Europeans where one could find accommodation for 2 adults for as little as 60 rupees a night! This was 2004 buddy, so calm your chuddies!
After a wonderful week spent in this heaven by the shore, the gang of 4 returned to their respective homes, but not before resolving, that next year, and every year after that, the annual pilgrimage to BulletMania would be rounded off by a visit to the very same shack on our *secret beach*! It was like our own Dil Chahta Hain moment – you know that cult Bollywood film?! Yeah, we were cliched like that only!
The following year, BulletMania was not held in Goa (indeed it has not been held in Goa since). However the Gang of 4 still kept their resolution and rode to the very same beach even though it entailed an extra ride of over 600 kms each way. Once in Goa, the Gang also had to give a not so subtle G-P-L (Kick on the arse) to some pesky wannabe bikers from the Chandigarh Club who tried to tag along! No offense meant to anyone brothers! But the *secret beach* brotherhood was a private one and that’s the way they preferred to keep it! And the annual Week long ride to that beach in South Goa was Tradition – Sacred Tradition!
Cut to 2007. A lot had happened the past 3 years! Cutlet’s first Bollywood film had released and sank at the Box Office without a trace ! “Kid” was in Business School. Jatt did his first Ladakh ride in 2006 with Cougie – So he was not a “Leh virgin” anymore! And if you believe the rumor mills (and by that I mean “Kid” ofcourse), Jatt and Cougie kind of hooked up on that ride – basically boinking-n-blowing 4 times a day from Pangong Lake all the way back to Manali! Chinese troops posted at Finger 4 of the Pangong Lake reportedly abandoned their posts and fled back to Xinjiang when they heard the Banshee sounds coming from that Tent! But all these are unsubstantiated rumors ofcourse without a shred of evidence!
In 2007, BulletMania was being held near Chennai in the South of India. Cougie and “Kid” were over the annual biker festival which had grown tiresome over the years. But they still had the Tradition to uphold. So an alternate plan was made! Cougie and “Kid” would truck their bikes to Chennai and fly down to join the other 2 after they were done at the Festival. Together, the “Axis of Evil” would then ride across South India in 6 days ending in *secret beach* in South Goa where they would spend 4 days, attend a Hippy Rock Festival in Palolem before heading home! Marvellous plan!
Contd on Page 2
Please wait...