The air is cool and laden with moisture and it blows straight into the face. The road that I take is empty and lonely. The traffic signals have been put on the auto mode and they blink in orange. I slow down, watch the corners and see there are no passing vehicles and then I lightly rev up the accelerator. As we climp up the curve, with a friend of mine as pillion, I down shift the gear for some more power to aid the slowing vehicle. The curve straightens out and it merges into the single wide road, which then rises gradually in an even slope to form the Vidyasagar Setu.
The sunlight is mild and the tips of the bridge are lit up by it as I climb up the arch of the bridge. The arch slope down after a point and as I start going down, a sudden the cool wind from the Ganges crosses us and shakes the ride. We are riding far and away from the city on a weekend ride to enjoy the wide stretches of paddy fields, the meandering rain swept roads, the overflowing rivers, the occassional drizzle and the warm paranthas that you get at the dhaba.
We pay the toll tax and throttle down the roads. There are a few more traffic lights ahead, but beyond that its the country side and highway territory. The early morning sun always feels calm and peaceful and the air that we are cutting through whistles through the helmet. At times it gets very difficult and it feels that the helmet will topple.So, we park the vehicle and I tighten up the belt. As we ride, I see the shadow of the motorcycle and myself running along with us, in the same speed. Sometimes the shadows disappears when we ride beneath the accumulating clouds and then reappears again.
The initial excitement at the start of the ride has now subdued and we focus more on the road and the weather.At times I feel hungry and long for the dhaba to come soon.But later the thoughts of hunger go away.Up ahead we see a tea shop just opening up.
I yell to the tea shop owner for two cups of tea and turn the ignition off as the motorcycle comes to a pause.We stop by the shop and wait for the tea.
Theres a bench and we rest on it.
I ask my friend Rajdeep, “How, do you think is it going?”
“It feels good. Especially when we move under the thick clouds and theres no sun and the air turns cold.”
He does not talk much. Thats the way he has been that I have known him for the past more than 10 years.
The tea arrives. It is extra sweet ginger tea and tastes good.
Tea done and bill paid,we rise up and I restart the machine.
