Ride De Hessarghatta

As I am trying to write these words, my eyelids are getting heavier with each seconds passing by. After a day’s toil in front of the computer my eyes are still burning but I cannot wait to share this extremely exciting ride that myself, Mahesh N, Kiran and Sushil had on Diwali Morning. Pardon me if I jumble up the letters; pardon me if you feel like this write-up is a mess; and pardon me if I call a cycle a “Bike.” (That is how a cycle is named in our lingo).

Since last few months we were planning to form a cycling a.k.a biking group in our company to promote this fun machine among all of our colleagues. So we thought of planning a ride - Ride to Hessarghatta. If you want to run away from the din and bustle of this city and enjoy the countryside without an iota of pollution then you must head to this heavenly place.

On Diwali morning we planned to meet at Cubbon Park and start pedaling. While entering the park through the gate near Minsk Square, Sushil started wondering as to where has the Ajeet Aircraft gone. Poor fellow could not make out that yet another landmark in this beautiful city had given way for the ongoing Namma Metro work.

As scheduled the ride started at 6 o clock and we all moved towards IISC Bangalore from where another seven guys joined us. All of them had one conviction – they would burn Fat and not oil; the city will be cleaner while they become leaner.

Everybody knows where Jalahalli cross is but very few of us know how it looks like on a busy morning. It is a perfect mess with the smoke-spewing-mad trucks, honking bikes and the four-wheelers kicking dust on you. After crossing Jalahalli we took a right-turn into Hessarghatta Road and there came a sigh of relief. The road is pretty smooth leaving a few places. The lonely chai-shops, fresh air, stray animals, green trees, tender-coconut vendors, innocent faces of people – all of them put a magic into this stretch, which gets you to the Hessarghatta main market. After an hour’s ride we all stopped to refill ourselves with tender-coconut water. The mellow sunshine all around sent out the message of festivities. It is Diwali time and winter is in the offing.

At Hessarghatta Market we parked our bikes in front of a breakfast point; time to gorge on some Vada and Idli, bathing in hot Sambar! Yes, you feel extremely hungry after two and a half hour’s pedal-ripping.

Hessarghatta has lots to offer you –from the lake-view to the serpentine village roads that gets lost in the horizon; from the endless green valley to the trees which you can climb and do a monkey-pose; from the emu farm to Nrityagram, where Pratima Bedi spent the golden days of her life. We all enjoyed a lot while doing some off-road biking on the valleys; stopped here and there just to capture the beauty on the digicams.

While coming back home it became very hot. I'm not going to complain about sunny weather but I prefer it a little bit cooler. Kiran lost his energy to pedal anymore. So he called up his relative to bring the car and packed back home. Anyway, we made our way through a road that joins the main road near Hebbal. Mahesh made his way home leaving me and Sushil, who left me before the cantonment railway station. Good grief! I slogged my way through the scorching sun in hopeless solitude. I reached Minsk square, where the plane WAS boasting the glory of HAL, till sometime back.

Back to the kingdom of grumbling vehicles leaving thick plumes of billowing smoke!