Pedal Away

Last weekend I happened to be in IITB and so caught up with a couple of friends, one from the Institute and one from UICT. After a nice lunch in 'Paranthas' in the Hira Nandani complex, we were treating ourselves to big ice creams and what not, when these two guys came up with a crazy plan. I was on the phone for a while and just as I hung up I caught the last few words of what they were chatting and so confirmed if indeed these guys were thinking of what I thought they were thinking - turns out they were! By the time we walked out of that shop we had decided to cycle from Powai to Marine Lines and eventually to Churchgate! And amongst us only Darshan had been cycling (in the campus to get from one place to another) and Gubby and I had not been on one for probably 4-5 years!

We decided to leave by 4:30 pm but even by 5 we didn't have three cycles! Finally around 5:15 we left IIT. After about 35 km (from what Gubby found out later on google) of tiring cycling we reached Marine Lines! We celebrated with a good meal of 'Pav Bhaji' in one of Darshan's suggested restaurants. After that we just whiled away some time at the sea face chatting and clicked a few photos.

The journey back was by train, which wasn't as simple as we had expected! From Churchgate to Dadar we didn't have much trouble getting in the luggage compartment with three cycles, but from Dadar to Kanjurmarg (the nearest station to IIT) was fun! Gubby had gone from Dadar only so just Darshan and me were left now. It was only after two locals that we could finally get into the luggage compartment of the third one that came. In the train we realised that the front tyre of Darshan's cycle was punctured. Instead of cursing we just thanked our luck that it hadn't punctured earlier in the trip! After getting down at Kanjur station and talking a little with the rickshaw guys and fixing the fare, we realised later that the guy who fixed a deal for taking both the cycles to the hostel couldn't get them to fit in his vehicle. So there was just one option left - to walk all the way uphill to the insti and then an equal distance inside the campus to the hostel - in all a good 3-4 km! It was close to midnight so without wasting anymore time we started walking. After about two minutes another rickshaw guy came up to us saying he could fit the cycles in his vehicle! After a lot of squeezing and adjusting, we accomplished the seemingly impossible task of stuffing in two full size cycles and Darshan and me into the rickshaw!