A place of my Own

Bhubaneswar to New Delhi by road

2012-01-15T02:15:00.001+05:30

Half a decade ago when I first moved from the state capital of Odisha to the national capital, the thing I dreamed was to ride a two wheeler someday on the butter smooth widened roads of Delhi. Just in 6 months I transported my Odisha registered bike and I literally was happy to stand at India Gate with it. The bike definitely solved its purpose by showing places around North including a memorable pilgrimage to Leh.

The next was to cover the route Delhi-Bhubaneswar someday. Everything has its time, I became a student for a year. Absolutely no biking for the period though I did few road trips around United Kingdom. It definitely is different and a kind of experience in controlling the wheels of a big vehicle in a foreign land but no place gives real challenges on road unlike India. And what could be the best to hit the road just to fulfill another dream ride! So here we go, me and my cousin Sujit in a Gypsy headed for New Delhi, starting from Bhubaneswar.

The Eicher India Roadmap comes handy all the time. Initially we had plans for going straight up through Chattishgarh, but the ongoing Maoist activity forced us to travel on a safer route, as we were traveling in a white Gypsy, anything could happen.

Travelled Route:

Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Bhadrak-Baleswar-Jaleswar-Belda-Kharagpur-Durgapur-Asansol-Dhanbad-Aurangabad-Varanasi-Allahabad-Fatehpur-Kanpur-Sikandra-Etawah-Firozabad-Agra-Mathura-Chhata-Palwal-Sohna-Gurgaon

Just after Dhanbad one can find many sugarcane juice vendors on both side of the road, the availability of sugarcane in that few kilometer stretch raised this business in that area. One glass of fresh juice costed us Rupees 8 or you can say 10 pence. Definitely not a thing to miss on Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) or National Highway 2 (NH2).

6.30 in the evening on the second day and we were some 70 kilometers away from Kanpur. Now Delhi definitely was not far with a stretch of 500+ kilometers in front. 7-8 hours of drive would be enough to hit the destination, so we decided to go on until our body denies the power of will. It would be total fun but all of a sudden we entered in to a dense cloud FOG. The next 70 kilometers was only crawling on National Highway 2 until Kanpur just to find a shelter to sleep. Now the realization came, 'Dilli aabhi bhi door hai'. So after spending a chilly night in Kanpur and the next day in typical city traffic we did hit Delhi NCR late in the evening.

Now, What next!!! Might be a bike ride back home through Chhatishgarh ;)

P.S. Precautions and driving tips coming soon. And this time I decided not to take the DSLR out but to enjoy the trip to its fullest, so photographs are not many and are shot with a point and shoot camera.

Auto Expo 2012: Suzuki Kizashi

2012-01-11T15:59:00.000+05:30

Auto Expo 2012: Ssang Yong

2012-01-11T14:26:00.000+05:30

South Korean automaker Ssang Yong ready to enter Indian market with its range of vehicles ...

Auto Expo 2012: EyeCandy II

2012-01-10T02:14:00.000+05:30

And 3 cheers for the Gorgeous booth babes who add loads of glamor to the Automotive and at the same time also do resist to the continuous stare of public... Respect, but I do appreciate the beauty.

Auto Expo 2012: Chevrolet MPV

2012-01-10T00:10:00.000+05:30

Chevrolet's MPV, the Multi Purpose Vehicle is aimed for bigger families with flexible sitting positions and with an expected price tag of 5-6 lakhs. This vehicle is definitely India specific.

Auto Expo 2012: Chevrolet SAIL

2012-01-09T23:49:00.000+05:30

SAIL hatchback unveiled in this 11th Auto Expo.

Auto Expo 2012: Chevrolet EN-V Concept

2012-01-09T23:06:00.000+05:30

The 2010 Sanghai World Expo experienced EN-V, Electric Networked - Vehicle for the first time. Designed as a personal compact non polluting vehicle, en-v is aimed for densely populated city centers to solve the grand issue of traffic and congestion by using minimal space on road and in parking.

Auto Expo 2012: EyeCandy I

2012-01-09T22:20:00.001+05:30

And 3 cheers for the Gorgeous booth babes who add loads of glamor to the Automotive and at the same time also do resist to the continuous stare of public... Respect, but I do appreciate the beauty.

Auto Expo 2012: Mahindra REVA

2012-01-09T21:57:00.000+05:30

The Electric car Reva finally got some face lift-up after getting acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra in May 2010.

Auto Expo 2012: Maruti Suzuki Stall

2012-01-09T21:40:00.000+05:30

Maruti Suzuki in Hall 14 is definitely my personal second favorite when it comes to designing.

Auto Expo 2012: Toyota ETIOS Motor Racing

2012-01-09T21:37:00.000+05:30

Auto Expo 2012: Vespa Scooters

2012-01-09T21:28:00.000+05:30

Auto Expo 2012: Yamaha 'Ray'

2012-01-09T21:20:00.000+05:30

This year Yamaha unveiled it's concept Scooter 'Ray' which is powered with a 125cc engine. The highlighted stylish pink strip definitely looks good and also the pink crystal headlamp. Along with the performance side, Yamaha India has focused on fuel economy and a larger storage space and is aimed to be of a price range of 50K

My personal view on the scooter is, it definitely aimed for the fair gender with the highlighted pink and it will not disappoint from the performance side for which Yamaha is known for.

Auto Expo 2012: Tata Pixel

2012-01-09T03:44:00.001+05:30

Beautifully carved interior of Pixel...

Tata Pixel is the European version of Tata Nano as a typical compact city car. The same was first showcased in 81st Geneva Motorshow in 2011. The innovativeness of Pixel lies in 'Zero Turn' drive. This 3 meter long vehicle is equipped with 1.2 litre three-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with high fuel efficiency and low carbon emissions.

Auto Expo 2012: Suzuki XA Alpha Concept

2012-01-09T02:23:00.002+05:30

Maruti-Suzuki this time unveiled it's new concept SUV named XA Alpha. The visual look of the XA Alpha is quite aggressive for me and the front look is definitely an attraction, specifically the design of lights. And this definitely overcomes the look of Suzuki Grand Vitara.

Auto Expo 2012: Mahindra XUV500

2012-01-09T02:18:00.000+05:30

Mahindra's latest launch the XUV 500 has already gained it's popularity. With a price tag of 10+ Lakhs, it definitely is loaded with features to get attracted for. One of my personal favorite which I might think to own but definitely after Mahindra's Genio DC which is a compact Truck.

Auto Expo 2012: Volkswagen New Beetle

2012-01-09T01:41:00.000+05:30

The pricing of New Beetle is yet to be declared...

Auto Expo 2012: Volkswagen Concept (XL1)

2012-01-09T01:36:00.000+05:30

Volkswagen's new concept XL1 is developed keeping the current consumption of fossil fuel. Few more decades and the non-renewable source of energy will be empty by it's quantity. Electric vehicles, vehicles with water power etc. though claim to be the future but nothing could be great if we can push the consumption of the fossil fuel for few more decades!

XL1 being a diesel and electric hybrid definitely slams the typical infamous Indian question 'Kitna deti hai?' (What is the mileage). This two seater hybrid gives an amazing 100 kilometers with a single liter of diesel. Don't expect a brilliant top end from the car but surely a long long drive with nominal amount of fuel...

Auto Expo 2012: Volkswagen Stall

2012-01-09T00:48:00.000+05:30

For me VW has the best and properly finished stall in this 11th Auto Expo... Ah, seems like some German architecture.

2012

2012-01-01T02:59:00.000+05:30

Another new year, another new resolution and another new hope...
Wish you all a very very happy new year.

A true Sagittarius

2011-12-31T03:03:00.000+05:30

No one other than 'Om' could be a better example of true Sagittarius... The dude posing with his favorite coffee mug for my lens.

Bhubaneswar to Delhi by road Conquered

2011-12-27T23:33:00.000+05:30

A recent update is, I just finished the much awaited Bhubaneswar-New Delhi road trip. It was a fantastic road trip and some 2000+ kilometers was covered in 35 driving hours. The Gypsy above was the companion.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T21:57:00.000+05:30

Wish you all a Mery Christmas.... Hope this festive season will add tonnes of happiness to your life.

Dhauli Mahotsav 2011

2011-12-17T00:41:00.001+05:30

Organized since 2003, on the foot hills of the heritage site, Dhauli, the mahotsav, has created a place for itself in the cultural map of the country. The aim in organizing this mahotsav is to keep alive the ancient Odishan culture and create awareness amongst the young generation. The objective is to preserve, promote and popularize the heritage at the national and international level. At the backdrop of Dhauli's rich historical and spiritual base, attempt is made to bring together artists of diverse discipline in the spirit of cultural solidarity. The ambiance is enchanting, performances enthralling which captivate the audiences by a true presentation of artistic excellence.

(Source: Dhauli Mahotsav Invitation card)

Touring season starts...

2011-12-15T18:44:00.000+05:30

After 14 months since I last tried my hands on a mechanized two wheeler, this so called biker got promoted from the Unicorn to a first generation Scooty. All thanks to my study session and the bicycle I own there in UK, I hardly realized any difference in riding the Uni at 100+ kmph when compared to the all time 0 kmph in later one's speedo. But it was quite noticeable from the travel time, I could have reached US of A earlier than the time this usually takes from Vanivihar Square to Bapuji Nagar. All the credit goes to my little sister for being kind enough to hand me over her Scooty keys which perfectly was in its shape. After torturing that tiny little vehicle around the city of Bhubaneswar for more than 45 days, I did try my hands on a friends new Activa and it was with me for few days, how this happened is a complete different story altogether. The 1 and 1/2 month city scooty ride helped me a lot in increasing my carbon-footprint though, but it is still manageable if I'm calculating previous years fossil fuel consumption. Anyways.

This 110cc and 8 bhp honda machine forced me to hit the road to get the glimpses of Odisha state and to get the blessings of Maa Sarala. The thought made me ride this vehicle 200+ kilometers in 6-7 hours including the darshan time and all photo sessions, also interaction with some villagers and kids.

And thus the touring season starts... :)