PART I

December 24th, 2014

It’s Christmas eve and everyone was leaving office. Some of them in the rush to get home and take their family to Church for the XMas eve mass, some to avoid the streaming traffic. People from far away places have already emptied their seats. I also followed the fleet and moved out. I felt very happy. Tomorrow, one of my dreams, in Fact a most awaited and special one is coming true the next day. A ride to the ghost town – Dhanushkodi on my bullet.

I have been planning this for quite some time. Got myself the required riding gear like Jacket, Riding Gloves, Knee Guard etc., took my bullet to the workshop and got even the minute thing fixed, decided on the dates to be December 25, 26, 27 and 28 when we have 4 days holidays in a row (December 26 was made a holiday in our company. We compensated it by working on a Saturday), checked with friends if anyone would like to join in for the ride. No one other than Akhil, a friend, fellow photographer and a bullet rider agreed to join.

I called up Akhil to decide on the time and meeting place to start the trip. To my shock, his voice was trembling and feeble. He was down with fever for the past 2 days and is in a stage of recovery. He told that one of his friend is also coming and he is on his way from his home town – Kannur. It was a risk for Akhil to ride 1000 kms with the cold and fever. He said he will finalize on it tomorrow. We decided to meet at 4.30 AM at a petrol pump in Kakkanad. I packed up my bags, kept everything ready for the trip and went to sleep early. dreaming of the journey.

December 25th, 2014

 There was no need of an alarm for me to wake up in the morning. I had my shower, dressed up, tied all the bags to my bull and rode off to our meeting place. Akhil and his friend reached a bit late. He decided to stay back with a heavy heart and told that his friend would be joining in. His friend rode all the way from Kannur to Kochi the previous day for this ride. Akhil introduced us each other. Akhil’s friend’s name was Ramees. He was a businessman from Kannur. Don’t get into the perception of assuming Ramees as a middle aged high profile businessman. He is an eligible bachelor still in his late 20’s who loves touring (mostly alone). He was riding a Silver Color Enfield Classic – 350cc bullet. Akhil took our photo on my mobile. A frozen moment of the first step of a wonderful journey. We rode till Irumpanam where Ramees got his fuel tank filled. I have already filled my bull the previous day. Akhil offered us a tea after which he returned home and we continued our journey at 5.45 AM.

The route we had in mind for the first day was via Kolenchery, Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam, Neriamangalam, Rajakkad, Rajakumari, Bodimettu, Bodinayakanur, Theni to reach Madurai. My friends in office suggested another route via Thodupuzha, Idukki Township and Cumbum to reach Theni. But Akhil’s room mate was from Rajakumari and he vouched that the route via Bodimettu will save us approx 20 kms and we decided to take the advise. Ramees was not familiar with the route and asked me to lead the way. It was still dark and we cruised our machines with headlights on to cover Thiruvankulam and Kolenchery. By that time, Sun showed up his face. But we continued to ride with our headlights switched on.

Near Muvattupuzha, I felt like one or two water drops have hit my helmet’s visor. I had my camera and lenses on a Viaterra Fly Tank Bag and I have not covered it with its rain cover. I stopped the engine to cover the bag. Our first stop for the day. When I checked the helmet visor, I understood that it was not rain, it was some very small flies committing suicide on my visor. We took few sips of water, talked to each other for some time and got more familiarized before starting the engines. Never did I knew that it would be the start of a wonderful friendship, and a fun filled intimate companionship for the next 4 days.

The climate was nice. The cold air kept our ride comfortable and we got moving from Muvattupuzha and turned to Kothamangalam route. After Kothamangalam, we started getting hungry as we woke up early. We stopped near Neriamangalam for breakfast at around 7.45 – 8.00 AM and filled up our tummies. With each stop, the friendship between me and Ramees was gradually growing. Initially I had a hesitation to stop the engine for clicks in between as Ramees is not into Photography. Thinking if he will get bored or what… He waved off that thought by asking me if I want to stop for a click whenever we cover a scenic place. We were moving towards Adimali, which is also the route towards Munnar. This route is more of a familiar one for me and I didn’t want to waste our time clicking there. Still we stopped in between and I managed to capture some pictures.

We took a deviation from Adimali towards Rajakkad. We lost the luxury of the beautiful roads we were enjoying till then. The road condition near Vellathooval area was not that great (but still far better than roads in Ernakulam). We stopped at one or two places more for clicks and Ramees was telling me about an old wooden hanging bridge (thookku paalam) built by the British in Rajakkad which would be a very nice location to click. He asked for directions and led the way to the bridge. Government have maintained the bridge very well and replaced the old wooden logs with Metal sheets. The view from there was magnificent. We stopped our engines and I started clicking. We were keen in taking the photo of our bullets also. This route to the hanging bridge is an alternate route. Only motorcycles and cars can pass through it.

After spending some time there, we moved towards Rajakumari (No its not a princess. It is a place in Idukki) where we stopped for a bite by around 10.30 – 10.45 AM. We asked for directions to Bodi aka Bodinayakanur which is the hill top from where we need to climb down the hill to reach Theni. The twists and turns in the road welcomed us as we steered our way to Bodi. We stopped in between for clicks and reached Bodi. The side of the hills facing Kerala end at Bodinayakanur and the side facing Tamilnadu starts there. Construction works were going on there. The roads had no side railings to frighten the drivers. We could feel the sudden change in the climate. Till Bodi we were surrounded by lush green nature. where as on the other side, it was dry red hills.

Once we crossed the Tamilnadu check post, our ride became more comfortable with excellent roads. The Theni-Madurai highway welcomed us with its straight stretches. We crushed the throttle in excitement as we are getting such a good road after a looong gap. Theni is the headquarters of Theni District in Tamilnadu. The main occupation of people of Theni is Agriculture. The famous Vaigai River flows through this district. We stopped immediately after Theni to have some palm fruit and continued our journey. There were lush green farmlands on both sides of the road to please your eyes and make the ride more enjoyable. We passed Andipatti on our way and stopped for our lunch at Usilampatti. Ramees and I parked the bullets at a location where we could see them from inside the restaurant and went in to have food. We got more acquainted and friendly by that time and he was such a nice and friendly guy. Post lunch when we got out, we saw an old Kerala registered Enfield Machismo with a jumbo tank parked outside. We admired its beauty for a while like 2 teenagers ogling over a beautiful girl before we rode off to Madurai.

Madurai is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu and the city is build around the Meenakshi Amman Temple as a nucleus. The city has few monuments of historical importance like the Meenakshi Amman Temple and Tirumalai Nayak Palace. We reached Madurai by around 5.30 PM. After Theni, we decided to keep up at a pace of 70-80 kms per hour and did not speed up more than 80 kms/hr. We have had enough breaks to keep ourselves refreshed. The climate also was fine. Not toooo hot and no rains… 🙂 The next hurdle in front of us was to find a place to stay for the night. We stopped at a lodge around 5 kms before the town so that we can avoid the rush. The person in charge of the lodge quoted Rs. 800/- for the room which we bargained and brought down to Rs. 500/- The room was on the second floor and was of a basic type. The biggest challenge we faced was to unpack all our luggage from the bulls and carry it via the narrow stairs. There was no Lift facility available. Our plan was to visit the famous Madurai Meenakshi temple the same day. Ramees’s bull was long due for an oil change and we checked the ‘lodge in charge’ for any workshops available nearby. Though he claimed there is a workshop, we decided not to give the bike there as we need to leave early the next morning and we were not sure if we could return before it closes for the day. After settling in, we freshened up and moved to Madurai town towards the temple. We took my bullet to dive into the rushing town and gave Ramees’s bull some rest.

The city traffic was heavy and we found our way to the temple and parked the bull about 2 streets away from the temple. We only had the camera bag, tripod and a helmet to carry. I have left my bulky LS2 helmet and was wearing Ramees’s open face helmet for the city ride which made it easier to carry. I was able to capture few street pictures near the temple. It was around 7.00 PM and I had to take out the tripod to get good snaps of the temple. After taking some pictures, we moved forward to capture a better view of the gopuram. That’s when the Police Officers there stopped us from taking pictures using a tripod. They allowed us to take pictures with the camera hand-held. I was tasting the ill effect of terrorism we face in our country. Since there was not enough light, we decided to leave and found our way back to our lodge. We had our dinner on the way from a restaurant which looked good from outside (food never felt so).

After reaching our lodge, we locked our bulls by connecting both the front tyres with a single chain. During the day, occasional updates were given to Riderzzz group in WhatsApp to tease Akhil. We have covered almost 270 kms to reach Madurai. The city ride inside Madurai was around 20 kms which made the total ride for the day – 290 kms. I was having a slight pain on my neck and left shoulder due to the long ride. I was not sure if it was the weight of the helmet, or the vibrations from the bullet which caused the pain. I applied Volini spray (pain reliever) to get rid of the pain. We talked for some time, packed up for next day and retired to bed.

PART II

December 26th, 2014

Ramees was the one to wake up first by around – 4.30 AM. By the time he finished his daily chores, I also woke up. The tiredness of the previous day’s ride was washed away by the sleep and I felt fresh. Our initial plan was to start moving by 4.30. But the fatigue from the previous day’s ride made us snooze the alarm. Thanks to Volini, my neck pain has also disappeared to a great extend. But I had another problem to face, swollen fingertips. At that time I was not aware of how I got my fingertips swollen. I thought it is because of grabbing the clutch lever and front brake throughout the day. But that was not the problem. I used to grip my handle bar very tight when I ride. I got into this habit because I normally ride in a city where good roads are rare… like seeing a good politician now a days who really care for the well being of the public. On a long ride, when you grip the handle very tight like that, the blood flow to the fingertips tend to go low and you will develop pain on your fingers causing it to swell. This was what happened to my fingers which I realized only later. But yes, it was the hard way of learning things.

By this time, me and Ramees had developed a good rapport between each other. One day’s ride together and an evening spent – in and around Madurai has made us good friends by now. We even got to a comfortable level where both of us didn’t have to speak out things much for the other to understand. We started understanding what the other guy means by minimal words, expressions, signs, body language etc. May be because we share the same passion – Riding and the language we used to express our-self during the ride was unique and our own. Hand signals, flashing headlights, indicators etc. Throughout the ride, we made it a point to be in the vicinity of each other. Even if one of us got a bit ahead than the other one in the crowd, we would slow down till we see the other person’s headlight beaming through the traffic. For me it was even more easier, the Bag which Ramees carried in his Bull was Red in color which increased his visibility when I look at him in the rear view mirror. In fact, we were enjoying each other’s company and were getting to know each other slowly.

After freshening up, we carried our bags downstairs and mounted it on our bullets. I went to settle the accounts and Ramees got our bulls out of the parking area. Two Kerala registered vehicles were blocking the way out of the parking lot and Ramees had to squeeze the vehicles out. The lodge-in-charge was a young guy in his late 20’s. We checked with him for the route towards Rameshwaram – Our targeted destination for the day. I was having a distance chart with me which I prepared before starting off for the ride with the help of Google maps. It told me that Rameshwaram is only 170 kilometers away from Madurai. The lodge-in-charge advised us not to take the route which pass through the heart of the city and advised us to go back few kilometers in the route we came from, which will get us to the Bypass Road. He asked us to take the bypass and go round the city as it would be an easy route and the traffic also would be less. Taking his advice, we cruised our roaring bulls in the way we reached there. Passing 3-4 kilometers helped us reach the bypass and we took a left turn as we were advised. It was a cold morning and nothing would charge you up like a hot cup of tea. In-fact we were longing for one. We even had an agreement to stop at the first Tea Stall we see. We put our engines to halt at a Tea stall by the side of the bypass, had a tea and a cake piece (so that we wont feel hungry soon).

We confirmed on the route with the shopkeeper before starting off. The shopkeeper asked us to take a deviation towards left on the second bridge and told us that it is just 5 kms away from his shop. We started riding and the second bridge reached us at around 8-9 kms from the tea stall. In between, few fleets of dragon flies were hitting the helmet visor with rage. I don’t know if they were trying to hurt themselves or trying to kill me. We took the turn from the bridge and started seeing sign boards to Ramanathapuram and Rameshwaram which we followed religiously and reached Chinthamani after which, we entered Rameshwaram Highway. Chinthamani is a place in the other side of Madurai. By then, we have already traveled around 35 kms from our starting point which was approximately 25 kms longer than the route through the city. But the roads were good and we enjoyed the ride.

To the left of the road to Rameshwaram flows the famous river Vaigai. We passed Velammal College of Engineering and Technology at Pirakudi and passed small villages like Puliyankulam, Manalur and Thattankulam to reach Tiruppuvanam where we stopped for our breakfast. It was around 7.00 – 7.30 when we stopped at an outlet of Saravana Bhavan, a famous restaurant chain in Tamil Nadu. Few families were there having their breakfast. Most of them also seemed to be on their way to Rameshwaram from their looks. We washed our faces and placed our order. Me and Ramees got into a conversation about our plans for the day and the ride so far. We were enjoying the ride and did not try to push our engines too fast… Our plan was to reach Rameshwaram before lunch. Our conversation was abrupted by the waiter who served hot and yummy Poori-Masala and Chai in front of us.

After filling our tummies to the brim, we guided our machines towards our next checkpoint – Ramanathapuram which is also known as “Ramanad”. As before, we didn’t speed up and kept an average speed of around 50 kms per hour. We also had few breaks in between for water and clicks. My bullet’s fuel got into the reserve mode in front of a Petrol bunk just before Ramanad and both me and Ramees filled the fuel tanks of our Enfields. We have crossed a small township – Paramakudi on our way to Ramanad. Ramanad is another town which is the district head quarters of Ramanathapuram District. We crossed Ramanad by around 10.30 and stopped immediately after the city limits for water and clicks by the side of a swamp. I took few pics and proceeded further with an agreement to stop for a tender coconut at the next sight.

After traveling few kilometers from Ramanad, we found the place we were searching for. A tender coconut stall under a big banyan tree. We stopped our engines and got down. The seller was no where to be seen. The place had a very nice serene ambiance and there was a very small temple behind the banyan tree (I don’t know if we can call it a temple. It was a platform on which idols were kept). We thought of spending some time there and I was about to pull my camera out when we saw the seller coming rushing towards us from the other side of the road with a can of water. He went to get water and was worried if we would go losing his business. We had tender coconuts and sat there on a stone for some time under the shade of the big umbrella nature holds for us. In between, a young couple came in to offer their prayers at the temple there. We found that there was a pond little away from the temple filled with water lilies.

Suddenly I felt a drop of water falling on my face. I confirmed it is a rain with the next drop and we decided to move. I had rain covers for my luggage, but Ramees did not have that luxury. If it rains, he and his luggage would be drenched. Our plan was to stop at a place where we get a shelter from the shower if it rains and to cover maximum distance before the downpour starts. It started drizzling too, but very lightly as if it is welcoming us to our destination – Rameshwaram. We crossed few barricades put up by the Police and reached Pamban Bridge. Yes the very famous, one and only Pamban Bridge which connects Rameshwaram in Pamban Island to the mainland – India. As we were nearing the bridge, we could feel the wind blowing from right to left making our bullets wobble with its strength. There is a road bridge and a rail bridge there… Both of them share the same name of which the rail bridge was opened for traffic in 1914. It was destroyed by a cyclone in 1964 and was restored to working conditions by E. Sreedharan, who is famous as the “Metro Man” and team in a record time of 46 days.

The bridge was clogged up with traffic created by people stopping their vehicles and venting out to take pictures of the bridge. One track of the two track road was full with parked vehicles and the Police were sweating profusely to untie the traffic block. We didn’t want to waste our time in the crowd and steered our way in through what ever gaps we could find to cross the bridge which is more than 2 kilometer long. Finally we succeeded in our mission and reached Pamban Island. Our next mission was to find our nest for the day. We stopped at few Hotels of all classes to enquire about rooms. Everywhere we got the same reply – “No Rooms Available”. In between, a Hotel offered to give a 4 Bed – room to us for Rs 3500/- which is a discounted rate and claimed the original rate is Rs. 4000/- which disheartened us to a great extend. By this time, we got very close to the Temple and we were not sure if we could find a room.

We turned left from the temple gate and moved forward. Ramees stopped in front of a board which claimed – “Rooms Available” and went inside to check as I decided to stay near our engines. After around 5 minutes, Ramees came out with a good news. Room is available. Cost – Rs. 1500/- for a double room. I felt happy as the only other option was to spend Rs. 3500/- and take the 4 Bed – room. Another good thing about the place was that, it had a gate and is little far from the main road away from public’s reach and our bulls would be safe at night. Keeping vehicles out in unknown places open to public is like letting a girl go out at midnight alone. You never know what would happen and would have to pray really hard for miracles to happen.

We had to wait for around 10 minutes for the room to get ready. It looked more like a home to me than a Lodge. Only 4 rooms in total. All accessible from a corridor. Ours was the first one. By the time the room was cleaned, we unmounted our luggage from the bulls. We paid up for the room in advance and got our luggage inside the room. We met a Malayalee family there and they also happened to be from my hometown. It was around 1.00 PM and we have covered exactly 500 kms to reach there. We freshened up and went out. Our next aim was to find a workshop where we can give Ramees’s bull for Oil change and move to Dhanushkodi on my bullet. The workshop was near but unfortunately, they were not having the grade of engine oil required for bullets. We parked Ramees’s bull at our lodge and moved to Dhanushkodi.

Our Lodge owner was a nice guy and he knew Malayalam to a good extent. He told us the route to go to Dhanushkodi. We enquired about the ride through the beach to reach the old ruined ghost town and he told us that we can travel till one point where there is road – on our bike, park our vehicle there, and go to the ghost town on service vans available from there till 4.00 PM for 100 bucks per head for a round trip as the ride is through the beach. Tourists are not permitted to stay over at Dhanushkodi. The point till we can go on our vehicle is around 19 kilometers from Rameshwaram. It was already 2.00 in the afternoon and we didn’t want to miss the trip to the ghost town and I sped up carrying Ramees as my pillion.

We thought of having our lunch from somewhere little away from the temple crowd, which turned out to be a disaster. There are no hotels away from the Temple. The only ones available are around the temple which left us only one option – Skip the lunch. On our way, we saw a sign board signaling the direction to our former President and eminent personality – APJ Abdul Kalam’s house and told each other that we must pay a visit on our way back. The road which leads to Dhanushkodi is a straight stretch with water on both sides of it. Some areas had few trees on both the sides after which, it is again water. The wind was blowing at great velocity trying to throw us down from our bullet. We saw a deviation to Kodanda Rama Temple and took it.

We rode all the way till the temple and returned without entering the temple. I just offered a prayer in mind from outside. We were running short of time and cruised till the point where there is an outpost by Indian Navy. In between, we managed to capture few video clips of the road till there with me driving the bull and Ramees holding the camera. Some of them were taken using mobile camera. We parked the bike near Navy outpost and moved to where the vans were starting their trips after buying biscuits, choco-pie and water to make up for our missed lunch. We approached a van and there was a small group of North Indians already negotiating with the driver. One guy among them was an arrogant guy who annoyed everyone with his senseless squeak.

We boarded the van and when the quorum was up, we started off our journey to the ghost town. It was very much like a roller coaster ride as the van was swaying a lot to both the sides. After 5 – 10 minutes of starting from the transit point, our van had a flat tyre. We were asked to get down as the driver and his helper worked on replacing the tyre. I took few pics from there. Once the tyre was changed, we all boarded the van and kept moving. I saw the same KL registration Bullet which we saw the previous day (when we stopped for lunch) parked in between. That guy is riding his bull through the beach to the Ghost Town. In fact we can drive all the way on our bikes through the beach, but it is not good for the bike as the salt water is highly corrosive which would ruin your bike.

Dhanushkodi is the South – Eastern tip of India which is the closest point on the Indian coast to Sri Lanka. Till 1964, it was known as Mini Singapore and was connected with the main land by Rail. There was boat service from Dhanushkodi to Thalaimanaar of Sri Lanka which was known as Cylon Boat Mail – all of which came to an end when the 1964 cyclone turned it into a ghost town. Dhanushkodi is the joining point of Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. You can see rough sea in one side of the cape and calm see on the other side which is often referred to as Male – sea and Female – sea by local people. As per Hindu mythology, it is from here Sree Rama built Rama – Sethu to reach Lanka and rescued Sita Devi. Ariel imaged suggests a line from India to Sri Lanka too. It is a mere coincidence that our journey is on the 50th anniversary day of the 1964 cyclone which devastated this town. The cyclone hit Dhanushkodi on December 22, 1964 and lasted till December 25, 1964 ruining it beyond repairs and our visit is on 26th December, 2015. The ruins and beauty of Dhanushkodi has been portrayed in many Malayalam and Tamil movies like Big B, Pakida, Kannathil Muthamittal etc.

We reached our destination after a ride of 45 minutes through the beach. In between, we saw some huts of fisherman and a very small school there. We were surprised to see a school at such a place. Driver allowed us 30 minutes time for roaming around. We were greeted by few shops which sells curios made with sea shells. I bought few pieces from there and we went forward to see the old church and railway station which got ruined by the cyclone and spend some time there. The view there was horrifying as we could make out the strength at which the cyclone licked away this town with it wicked lashes. We took few pics there and returned as the 30 minutes time allowed for us was over. The day which we payed a visit seemed to be a crowded one as I had to struggle to get few frames without anyone else in the frame.We were not able to see the floating stone as we were running short of time. I got a handful of soil from there as requested by my mom in a plastic cover. We saw our arrogant squeak with his wife and kid few feet ahead of us on our way to the place where our van was parked. The bumpy ride was repeated as we bid farewell to the souls who lost their lives in the madness of nature. This time my seat was on the side of water and when it swayed, I felt like the van would tumble over. We could see few horses gazing over far away on our way back.

A visit to Dhanushkodi will make us humble and remind us of how silly our life is in front of nature’s powers.

We reached the transit point by around 5.00 PM from where we started our roller coaster ride and spend some time in the beach there. The strong wind was trying to blow us away and we sat there for some time before returning. Both of us were hungry like anything. But still managed to stop for few clicks at a place where we thought we should stop when on our onward journey and steered to our next destination – House of APJ Abdul Kalam.It was slowly getting dark by the time we reached there and we were not sure if cameras were allowed inside and decided to use mobile camera if it is allowed. House of Kalam is now maintained as a small museum and gallery which showcase Abdul Kalam’s life. It is a must visit place for any Indian or any human being, just to realize the greatness of that eminent personality who rose to glory from a small village like that to the chair of Indian President with Wings of Fire. It also reminds us about all the facilities we enjoy which we always complain about. A visit to Rameshwaram would make you realize the real potential hidden in each one of us. Rameshwaram is still not a developed place. Imagine how it would be in 1940’s when Kalam was a child. You could have a rarity glimpse of Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna in a single showcase there.

We left Kalam’s house by around 6.30 and reached the road to Temple and stopped at Saravana Bhavan outlet there for our dinner. Post dinner, we reached our room, and packed up for next day. I called up home and updated the status and retired for the day. Ramees has already slept by that time.

A long tiring day thus came to an end.

In between we were giving occasional photo updates to Riderzzz group using Whatsapp.

  • Total distance covered for the day – 250 kms.
  • Total distance travelled – 540 kms

Lessons learned

  • If you have a leather gloves which is new, “Breaking in” is a must to be comfortable on the ride.
  • Don’t grab the handle bars too tight, especially on a long ride. It will really hurt you.
  • Nothing is immortal. When nature stands up against you, you got no chance for a survival.
  • Despite all the unfavorable situations, if you have a strong will and honesty, no one can stop you from being your best. Rewards are bonus points which will come to you automatically. No need for you to go behind them.
  • Tip: To “break in” a glove, Wear it while you sleep for 2 – 3 days. It will break in and would feel very comfortable when you start riding.

—

Contributed by Febin Joy

(Visited 4 times, 1 visits today)