Nagarjuna Sagar

When you learn something, you need to put it to use. You need to apply what you learnt to a real world scenario. Only then do you really get to know how much you actually learnt. Last Sunday was one where I put my driving skills to the test. I went on a bike trip with a great friend to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam.

This guy was my bike guru. He was going to decide if I was roadworthy. He's not a strict teacher per se, but I didn't want to disappoint him. So, the day after I got my driver's license, we set off, in the sweltering Hyderabad heat.

The city part was really tricky, and I knew that I won't be confidently able to maneuver the traffic deftly. Already we were a tad late, so my guru handled the bike till the outskirts of the city. After having sumptuous breakfast(amazing sambar!), I started driving, and he guided me. Initially after a few hiccups, my confidence started to wobble. Fortunately, the highway started, and we had lots of free road, and no pesky autos. I did make a few mistakes, by staying close to the middle line of the road. Drops in speeds were tricky for me, and I messed up the gears at least twice. Thank goodness that the bike was able to tolerate me!

After the initial adjustment period, I got comfortable with the bike, and the road as well. I was soon cruising at speeds well above 80 kmph. There was only one instance where I even touched 100 kmph, and that was exhilarating! The power I felt while revving the vehicle up to 90 kmph was exquisite. I was able to navigate the town areas and narrow traffic ridden areas as well, which boosted my confidence.

I completed a stretch of around 70 km, and then handed over the control to my guru, who showed me what it means to drive on highways. He made the bike go at 105 for literally 5 minutes or so. Considering the short stretch where the roads were good, I felt extracting the bike's full power needed considerable skill, which was something which came naturally to my guru. We completed a stretch of 50 kilometers in less than 40 minutes, which was something incredible.

Nagarjuna Sagar in the heat is not a pleasant place. There is a boat trip organized by Telangana Tourism, in which they show the reservoir, and an island within the reservoir. This trip takes 3 hours in total, due to which we didn't do it. Views are very nice, and would be breathtaking during the monsoon season, which is quite a while away. The temperature around the place had dropped a little, but not enough for it to be pleasant.

We decided to get back, and have something for lunch and then continue back to Hyderabad. To our dismay, we couldn't find a single restaurant or mess, or anything that served lunch. Snack places were aplenty, but we can't exactly have bhaji and oily stuff for lunch, right? So, we stopped at the next best alternative, a dairy which served only badam milk and ice cream. After having 2 bottles of badam milk, and a small ice cream, we set off, with me on the driver's seat.

120 kilometres to Hyderabad. I tried to minimize my mistakes as much as possible, and this time I was navigating better. And I didn't face gear trouble as well. In fact, I got so comfy driving, that I managed to do 100 km out of the 120 in a single stretch without needing to take a break. We were averaging 90 kmph, and were helped by slight drizzling which caused the sun to feel a lot less intimidating. Within no time, we arrived in the city, and started blaring horns, and cutting impossible corners at signals. I tried to keep up, but my lack of experience showed on the city roads, and my guru was forced to take over. The rest of the drive to drop off the rented bike was uneventful.

What was the decision? Was I roadworthy? My guru says yes, but also adds that I need more practice on city roads. Basically, I should be able to drive on first and second gears, something nobody likes, but is actually an indicator of how good a person is at driving. I hope to do more driving next week, and in city roads, amongst the pesky autos, and rash drivers. Fingers crossed!