Once a Friend - Always a Friend

In the words of Dad (Robin Nakai)  

There is an old Turkish Proverb - Once a Friend - Always a Friend !

Talli (Manjit Singh Sehmbey of Goraya) is one such person in my life !

We began our friendship in the Bishop Cotton School , though we were in different houses - Talli in Curzon and I in Rivaz !

We journeyed through History and Biology classes - Hockey and Football Teams in different battles - fighting one another and together in school teams, battling Sanawar, Marathons from Sanjauli via Bede's to Bishop Cotton - many more adventures !

Talli also had the distinction of being my School Captain, and backed my raids on the School Tuck Shop, carrying the largest tray of burfees - being the School Captain and a 100 Meter Sprinter !!!

We were to do a stint in the Government College Chandigarh, but then business and matrimonial alliances being order of the day, took him back to Goraya !

We were to later connect in Los Angeles, where we drove Shuttles from LA Airport and had many an adventure - on the I - 15 from Rancho Cucamonga - Hemet - Perris - Corona - West Covina - And the beaches of L.A - dining at little Mama Papa Italian joints or Indian eateries, that Talli would discover !

I came back to India and Talli stayed on in L.A!

The first ever Triumph Motor Cycle I ever sat on was Tallis - Twin, Light Blue Chrome - in 1969 and today in 2015 - after 46 years - we are on a Triumph T-100 Bonnevile, Light Blue and chrome - once again !

Once a Friend,

Always a Friend,

Heading for the Hills

Leaving Chandigarh on our way to catch up with Ouseph who has ridden in from Mumbai on a Multistrada and then we shall be on our way to Manali. 

Follow these tags on twitter for more updates of the ride Pangi HelmetStories

Land of the Bullet

Chandigarh is truly the land of the Bullet 350. Everywhere you look you see one... my 500 sticks out like a sore thumb.

Spit and Polish

So before I hit the road tomorrow for Uttrakhand the bikes need a little TLC as they have not been ridden much in the last few months. So will spend the day playing mechanic in this god awful heat.

Mellow Yellow Tour

The bikes have arrived in good shape! Tomorrow to Manali early start to beat the heat. Bumblebee is running a bit harsh but we'll see to it at Bilaspur. Fingers crossed! Watch this space...

Riding the Western Himalayas

Right after we finished riding with Royal Enfield on their Tour of Rajasthan I took off from Jaipur to Delhi where Harsh was waiting and the two of us rode to Chandigarh where we caught up with our friend Noel and his son Noel (no mistake they have the same name) and we rode out into the mountains for a week. The route we followed was Chandigarh - Shimla - McLoed Ganj - Barot - Gushaini - Raison - Chandigarh. We have been sitting on the pictures and videos for far too long now so without further ado here are they are.

 

 

 

105 memories & more

In 1947 after partition my great-grandparents were allotted this land in lieu of everything they left back in Lahore and they built this house(105) in 1955 where our family has lived since. Of the many memories that reside here there are those of me riding on the tank of my fathers Bullet and falling in love with motorcycles as a kid. When it was time for me to get a bike this is where I got my first Enfield so I guess in a way a part of Helmet Stories was born here as well. What I am trying to really get at is today we have less than a week left with our old friend and I hope the new owners get as much love/hope/happiness out of it as we did.
Farewell old friend you will be missed but never forgotten.

Still on the road

While most of our bikes and riders have been packed and sent home. Apu and I are making our way towards chandigah. Right now we are at my inlaws fort(Killa Karthgarh) in punjab.

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Ready to ride

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Packing for Spiti

So we are a week away from taking off to Spiti and our bikes are as ready as they ever will so it was time to go down to Gati and pack the bikes and ship them off to Chandigarh. After 4 hours the bikes were ready to go.

Packed and ready to be shipped. Next stop Chandigarh