Wanderer's Ride to Nagarjuna Sagar

A Wanderers diary

My trip to Nagarjuna Sagar

After a long time I took a much needed travel break on my bike with old and new found wanderers. Nov 2009 was my last ride to Tadoba, for which I haven’t posted anything. Perhaps I was lazy; perhaps I got bored with write-ups. Well let’s concentrate on the ride that I am talking about, the Nagarjuna Sagar ride.

August 15, 2010 -> Independence Day Ride

I was not sure about taking up this ride since I had classes in the morning and the ride was to start at noon. But boredom in Hyderabad accompanied with several unhappy events in my personal life prompted me to take up the ride at the last moment. I called up veteran Lalit bhai and was guided to Shyamal bhai to reach the meeting point. I met with Shyamal bhai at about 11.45 AM and on checking my bikes engine oil level found it to be inadequate and hence went for a quick top-up. Both of us reached the meeting point on Sagar road well beyond stipulated time and waited for others to turn up. My friend Raghu the great poltergeist came to see us off and brought his gloves and elbow guard for me. He cares for me.

This time there were two TV crew with us and the camera person of Channel 4 was supposed to ride with me. Unwillingly I took him as a pillion rider. And hence the ride started off and me at times cruising past all the 17 riders and at others following them just for the TV crew to get some good shots. I had to stop, Cruise and slow down as per my pillion rider’s instruction who only spoke in Telegu, and a few words in English (fast, slow, stop are the only ones which I could decipher).

In no time we were out of the city limits and passed through rain washed lush green fields of Andhra, small hillocks added to the beauty of the landscape. We stopped at a village and had our lunch and carried on our journey there after. Our destination was Etipotala Waterfall near Nagarjuna Sagar dam. Finally we reached the venue around 4.30 pm, aligned our bikes and entered the APTDC premises. The department of tourism had arranged Rajasthani folk dance; we enjoyed that for a while and went ahead towards the viewpoint of the waterfalls which were in full fury after the rains. Pali Singh cracked jokes with Dev (the insane rider) and we took full charm of it. I met some of our office guys who also came for a get away. We came back to our rooms after sunset and watching the lighting in the waterfall.

Waking up Dev:

Fun followed in the rooms with TV crew and all others gathered with Drinks (extra money paid in shop) and snacks which continued till midnight after which I fell asleep and had no idea of what happened next. Meantime Pali Singh and I had 5 ice creams each. Morning I heard that Dev did drink some excess and waking him up added more fun to us. After repeated attempts we couldn’t wake up Dev, Pali Singh even started riding his bike which he treats like his girlfriend. In normal condition he might have ripped the person daring to ride his bike but this time he failed to wake up. I took advantage and rode with Pali Singh. All these couldn’t wake him up. So what’s next. We carried out Dev’s cot with Dev out in the middle of the road in the sun. Photo session continued and still he didn’t wake up. The Labrador (it was in the Hotel) was brought and released in his bed, he woke up hugging the bitch, we made some fun of him and again he went back to sleep in his room while the cot remained on the road. We decided to leave him accompanied by Prasant and go for a visit to Nagarjuna Konda Island.

Boat Ride to Nagarjuna Konda Island.

A set of boats operate from one side of the dam to an island inside the reservoir. Our riders took one of them. The ride was a pleasant one with constant entertainment from Pali Singh, and on our way back it started raining. It was torrential rain and the leak in the roof of the boat almost soaked us. It was awesome view since no side of the reservoir was visible while it was raining and we were amidst the reservoir.

Ride back to Hyderabad

Post lunch we started our journey back towards Hyderabad again with my pillion cameraman. After a while we stopped and it was decided that I will be trailing all while the lead was taken by Shyamal bhai. Unfortunately Col. Saksena’s bike stopped and failed to start. All others left while I tried to start the bike with Col. Kicks didn’t work, tried to push it to start, and then finally decided to check the spark plug. In no time Pali Singh and Lalit bhai came since they started a few min after us. We unsuccessfully tried all tricks that we knew and could gather by calling mechanic back home. It started raining, and we huddled inside Lalit Bhai’s van.

Rain Episode:

Huddling inside a cramped van was not a delightful experience, moreover how long a wanderer can remain stranded due to rain; hence we decided to ignore Mother Nature’s fury and try fixing the bike. Wearing the upper half of my rain suite I with the others tried in vain to fix the beast. Then discovered that the Battery has completely drained out and only way is to get it recharged or replaced. Villagers advised a shop 5KM ahead and I with Col decided to go on my bike while others would wait. While we rode, it started raining incessantly and the road in front of us was getting blurred due to rain. The rain drops hit hard on me and it felt that someone is hitting pebbles on us. Still we sped at 50-60KM/Hr. On reaching the village we understood the battery can only be fixed in a village 26KM ahead and hence we rode back to the place where others waited with the break down bike.

The Towing Story:

We tied a rope with my bike and Col’s and started pulling it as it rained continuously. At places my bike swayed due to the slippery road and subsequent weight of the vehicle behind me. It was a difficult task to tow a bike in rain as the trucks in front of us were driving slowly and we neither could follow them nor overtake them since it was a two lane road. While crossing a village, the road was full of pot holes and I slowed down. As I slowed down the rope became slack and the front wheel of Col’s bike got entangled in it resulting in a hard fall. I believe Col did hurt himself but sprang up almost instantly as I pushed the brake hard to stop. He ignored his injury and we carried on the same way.

The Accident and the Rescue:

After towing almost 10KM we saw a Red Maruti swift stranded in middle of the road and people rushing towards it, must have been a crash. As we moved closer my heart started pounding heavily, and the scene made me feel numb. We quickly got off our bikes. There was no time to feel, no time for fear and emotions. Something in us made us run for the rescue effort. The Swift had a head on collision with a truck and the driver was already dead. One victim of accident was trapped inside the car; he seemed to be alive and we tried hard to take him out of the rear seat while ambulance arrived. Pali Singh asked driver of a truck to bring the Jack rod and three of us tried to break open the door behind the driver’s seat. The lock was stuck. We pulled the man out through the other door. While paramedic worked on the victim I saw his right femur bone had broken and is protruding out of his torn trouser. He was quickly lifted into the ambulance. The condition of two other victims were a little better with one of them having a deep cut in his head and a broken left arm, both covered with blood and shaking in fear. To my horror the paramedic asked us to unload the person whom we lifted into the ambulance as he declared him dead. I couldn’t believe it since he was breathing a few minutes ago. People prayed for him as we laid him in the road and picked the other into the ambulance. Someone’s prayer was heard as I saw the person who was declared dead was breathing. The paramedic refused to take him on ambulance as he may not make it for the 25KM journey, but peoples request paid off and he was also taken into the ambulance which sped off immediately.

Moving Ahead:

We left the scene with the dead body still in its place since it couldn’t be taken out. Towing a few more miles the same incident of rope getting tangled happened resulting in another hard fall for the Col; we decided to tow in old fashioned way i.e riding a bike and pushing the other with one leg. I knew I am not good at this technique so after a while Pali Singh took over, by then it was already dark. We reached a village and I asked a mechanic if he could do something, hoping against hope we brought the bike to his workshop and the battery was taken for recharging. Meanwhile Pali Singh’s bike stopped due to electrical problem and we understood it’s not possible to get it fixed and hence searched for our last option, a mini truck.

Back to Hyderabad:

Col occupied my pillion seat while others boarded the Van and drove off towards Hyderabad. The road was dark and my headlight was not good. I cautiously rode since I was unable to figure out the turns of the road; also road signs were inadequate. After a while I got to follow a small car and reached the outskirts of Hyderabad. We waited for our vehicles to arrive by truck and went to Pali Singh’s place, had a GLASS of Coffee each and came back home. I dropped Col to his garrison and had a wonderful dinner with his family post midnight. Col was impressed seeing wanderers efforts in distress, he admitted that it’s difficult to impress him; but he was impressed by our sense of brotherhood and unity, which he felt was absent in civilian life. He made us feel proud of being a true rider, caring and helping each other during troubled times.