The pondy saga!!! - a prelude

The scene had not changed much from the time i hit the bed..all the lights in all the rooms were on..the comp was on...so i guessed i had not slept much and try and fall asleep again..
Vimal had other plans though. Already up and having finished his bath he was looking for a person to wake up. and with my timing sense being immaculate as ever, my gentle stirrings manage to catch his eye...quick to oblige, he does manage to get me out of bed..Groggy-eyed, slurred speech and a head that was weighin a million tonnes..
Everything begins to come back to me slowly....why i woke up, pondy, the bike, the ride and ECR!!! With an ego that is larger than me, backing out of the trip is not an option. I am already cursing myself for sort of having let the cat out of the bag..My fear of ECR..
I hurriedly rush through the chores (brushing my teeth) more as a ritual and with a deep breath decide not to have a bath..Logically speaking i would be accumulating dirt all along the way and so makes sense to wash at the end.. and another not so logical reason being.....like my mentor calvin i hate to take bath..(not apologetic)
And after a lot of pushing, cajoling and name calling, the door to our flat is finally shut at 5.45. Rushing down from the 3rd flr making quite a racket, the old mami staying in the ground floor would surely have been wondering at that sight...And the machines come to life.. Pulsar and a Fazer
First stop the petrol pump..and the realisation dawns that we dont have a helmet..That would mean us going back while vimal and sreejith Waited..Not a good sign...As grandma says " once u start a journey u r not supposed to turn back until u reach ur destination" , turning back is meant to bring MISFORTUNE..
Grandmas and their superstitions, "huh!! really silly!!!"...and brush aside my suspiscions...a nagging doubt though "r they really silly"...eeey!!!!!
And as we turn back from the house...we see a horde of buffalos......buffalos..Yaman's vehicle..at 6.00 in the morning..and every bloody superstition that has somehow been fed into my subconscious through a tradtional upbringing explode into the open...Never would have realised that i even knew these things..
Spooked i was..Spooked as in hell...but then when u have an overpowering ego coupled with a insatiable desire for travel, ur decisions and actions are not really yours and Fear invariably takes the back seat..we turn from Thiruvanmiyur and the ECR beckons...Vimal and sreejith Race ahead in the pulsar, through the sparse morning traffic while we strain to keep pace in the fazer...a good 5 kms out and my cap flies off...and now i am thinking of that stupid e-mail forward that i recd...about how god talks to u through his agents - helmet, Buffalo and now wind??? Weird when I begin to realise the amount of crap that is residing in my brain...

We give up on the Pulsar and steady the pace.
And as we approached the Toll, the sign post read.....

ECR Scenic roadway begins

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This was a trip that has been one of the most memorable ive ever made..and i have made quite a few..as i look at the photos and the events now...feel as though i have just experienced what can maybe run as a mega serial blog..giving me enough substance to write about for a couple of weeks and keep me engaged for the period.
All i can say is, however hard i try and blog, the trip will come alive in the images only...so keep the comments coming as u enjoy this attempt at a travelogue ( I hope)