It was planned few days before. Probably Sridhar had it in his mind ever since he decided to buy the car.
The plan was to start early morning(3:30 ~4 AM) from Bangalore to Rayadurg and give his fiancee the biggest surprise, his new Swift. I guess Sridhar kept his surprise very well and overall it was a well executed plan.
Desperate to get a break from the busy work, I didn't even think and said "yes". Day before the journey Sridhar called me and told Venky had dropped, and he was the backup driver. The whole reality struck to at this moment. Reluctant to drop myself out at this time, I decided not to disappoint him. Moreover something in me assured that Sridhar can manage it.
The following day, I started at 3:45AM, in the drizzle to Sridhar's home. My bike was used to slushy roads, but on this day it was too much. Since it was night, my bike and I didn't bother much to road conditions. We started a little after 4AM and I had my first shock!!
Sridhar and his brother were reading user manual to switch on head lights, and demist. I got a bit worried about the whole idea, but it was too late. Sridhar was driving through road full of potholes, very smoothly. I got a bit of confidence. Kashi joined us at Tavarekere. Kashi is a bit over confident dude, but the positive side of him is, he can convince any fool that one can conquer the whole world. He is very talkative and has loads of stories to keep everyone engaged.
We had breakfast at Tumkur and later things were very smooth. Reached Rayadurg at around 1 PM, of course took lot of U turns on the way(which is Sri's favourites). Had sumptuous lunch and watched few movies in multiplex'ing mode. Drive back home was a bit tiring and reached home at 12:30AM. I had another journey to make back to my home in the slushy roads and drizzle. I was almost drenched by the time I reached home.
Overall summary of the trip proved Sridhar as an excellent driver. He never lost his composure. Though all of were doing a bit of backseat driving, he was following his instinct. It is one of those things that somebody does something for the first time.
