2048 Blaze

Why yet another 2048?

I played the most popular 2048 on App Store and the iPhone game by Gabriele Cirulli, they share two common traits I didn't like - rough gameplay and minimal leader boards. I was sure I could do better. 

Most of you must have read and hopefully played my other 2048 based game, 2048 Pinnacle, it was actually supposed to go after Blaze but because of numerous problems, the release of Blaze was delayed by a couple of months.

It all started as a fun activity, I wanted to see if I can improve the gameplay and also tweak the algorithm to give higher tiles. 

To my surprise, with almost no effort, I could achieve a far smoother gameplay. But giving random tiles higher than 4 was not very interesting. So I reverted to the classic algorithm but retained my superb user interaction.  

I sat for a day and carefully tweaked the swipe algorithm and finally it was smooth as butter. The difference was drastic. After playing my game for a few hours, i just could not tolerate the existing 2048s. It was like using a Mac and then trying to go back to windows.

Next was the leaderboards. With the existing apps, I could compete only on score. How about highest tile? Not everyone can get a 4096 and far few can go much beyond that. I would certainly love to flaunt that I got an 8192 or even 16384.

I added highest tile into the leaderboards but something was missing. Going from 2048 to 4096 is a quantum leap and I could see a bell curve with most players achieving 1024 and 2048. I began thinking if there is any other interesting stat to compete. Should I design a game with shorter leaps? But that would be come a whole different game.

And then it hit me - the sands of time! The improved gameplay provides a perfect platform to introduce time. Fastest 256, Fastest 512, Fastest 1024, Fastest 2048 crept into the leaderboards.

With my app showing signs of being production ready and a potential to compete with its peers, I started putting more hours into it. With the main features finalised, I started making it App Store ready. I was testing the app just before going to sleep and the bright background was straining my eyes so I added in a night mode dimming all the colors. You can use this mode to save battery as well. 

I was ready to push the app into the App Store but something else was missing. I had no way of knowing if I had beaten my previous time record of getting a tile and it was irritating to tap on stats to find out. So I made a switchable Heads-Up display which flashes interesting events :-)

It says 'You achieved Hasty 32 earlier but now late by 9s'

It says 'You are late by 0.8s to beat your personal record and 9.28s late to get the achievement'

I spent a week on minor tweaks, intense testing and refining the UI, adding sounds, integrating Facebook, Twitter, iAds and admob. The ads are displayed at the perfect place. iAds in fact add beauty to the app.

Share screen shot on FB twitter, see more games by me, toggle sound :-)

Happy with my handicraft, I asked Vamshi for an icon and he gave me one in a couple of minutes. Thanks Vamshi for giving the cool icon at blazing speed! :-)

With everything in proper place, I pushed the app to the App Appstore. These days Apple has been averaging 8-12 days for an App Review so instead of biting my fingers waiting for it, I have decided to continue making more games. Stay tuned!

Bike ride from Hyderabad to Thar Desert, 4,200 kms.

And finally I reached the desert. There were huge sand dunes on one side of the road and a carnival on the other. Several hawkers tried to stop me, trying to tempt me with camel and jeep safari, dinner and dance and a night's sleep in a tent. But they didn't know that I was no ordinary tourist, I was a backpacker and a biker. I travelled 2000km over six days to reach the periphery of the Thar desert from Hyderabad. I saw and experienced things which I never would have had otherwise.

A night's stay in the humble hut of a watchman, sleeping in my tent outside a lonely Dhaba on a ghat road on the way to Panchmarhi, listening to woes of the driver who managed to flip over his overloaded truck, watching wild camels drink water from an oasis, left stranded due to bike problem twice, finding fellow campers in middle of a desert, caught by police patrols often times for venturing into expressways and many other small but memorable incidents made this a truly memorable trip.

Jayanth, camels and the desert!

Carnival in the desert!

Sands of Time

Reminds me of some episode in Ducktales!

I had driven from Hyderabad through Nagpur, Panchmadi, Indore, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer to reach the Sam dunes. The ride from Udaipur to Jodhpur was something which I will never forget. I travelled through all kinds of roads from four-lane national highways to one of the scariest ghat roads, the village kacha roads, isolated roads connecting villages, national highway under construction infested with monstrous trucks spraying construction dust all over me, at night, blinding me and stuffing me with dust.

Though I invested a lot in getting myself a Cramster riding gear with full protection, looking back, it was a highly dangerous ride and I did a remarkable job coming back alive.

My R15 is a living thing. It whines like a happy puppy when I caress it and knows when not to breakdown. It had loose wiring, thanks to careless Yamaha service, but it didn't let me down in the scary isolated stretches of road where bandits or animals could get me. It stopped just twice,  once in front of a Dhaba and again as I just entered Pokhran. The trip meter was then reading 1,934kms. It was the distance of Pokhran from Hyderabad via Nagpur, Panchmarhi, Indore, Udaipur and Jodhpur. I stopped at each place for a day, for sightseeing and resting.

In Panchmarhi, I had been to Dhupgarh and Bee falls, in Indore I had been to PatalPani where I hiked on the railway tracks, in Udaipur to Fateh Sagar Lake and Lake Pichola, in Jodhpur to Mehrangarh fort and Umaid Bhavan Palace. Maharaja Umaid Singh has won my heart.

'Sir Umaid Singh reformed and reorganised the Jodhpur State Forces and the judicial department, introduced a scheme for extending primary education, revised the land revenue settlement and established state pensions and a Provident Fund for state employees. Enjoying a distinguished military career, he died at his estate on Mount Abu on 9 June 1947 after a reign of 29 years, aged but 43.'

Duphgarh, Panchmarhi

On the way to Indore, stopped to answer nature's call!

Not sure where this was, but awesome road!

Fateh Sagar Lake, Udaipur

Lake Pichola, Udaipur

   

Local roads I had to conquer at night!

         

Dal 'n' Roti outside Udaipur before hitting off for Jodhpur

Village kaccha roads!

Camels near an Oasis

Amazing ghat road!

I was forced to visit Pokhran too, a small town, which closes by 7pm in winter. Pokhran Fort and The Nuclear test site are the only places to visit but the test site needs security clearance. I had no intention of stopping in Pokhran but I lost my way from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer and then my bike died a couple of kilometers from Pokhran. I stopped to put on my gloves and the bike refused to start. I had to get my toolkit out, open the front panel and twiddle with some wires to coax it to start. But it roared to life in about ten minutes. I was way behind schedule.

The winter of Rajasthan was piercing through the layers of clothing threatening to freeze my bones. I was debating whether or not to stop in Pokhran but my bike had taken the decision for me, it stopped again right in front of the biggest hotel in town and adamantly refused to start.

So there I was in Pokhran, taking a room in the biggest Hotel in town for Rs1500 a day. After Jodhpur where I had to stay in a pigsty because of the Holiday season, I decided it was fair enough to pamper myself, my limbs needed some stretching anyway. The room in Jodhpur was so dirty that I had to abandon the bed and use my sleeping bag.

After a goodnight's sleep in Pokhran, I got ready early morning and got out to see the Pokhran fort. I put the key in the ignition and turned it 'ON' hoping a night's rest was all my bike wanted. My heart sank. There was no familiar buzz, no indicators indicating the usual self check. I turned it 'OFF' and back 'ON'. Still quite as a grave. I knew I had to get to the bottom of this now lest the bike should trouble me in the dead of the night in the middle of nowhere. I opened up the panel and the cowling. I could see an assortment of wires running along the body. Two wires were jutting out from the ignition and common sense told me that turning the key would just short-circuit the wires. I shorted them by hand but still nothing. Now desperate, I decided to get my service guy on the phone. Looking up the phone number in the manual, I called up the service station and asked to speak to a mechanic. After hearing me out

'Sir, get it to the service centre or tell me where you are I will send someone there'.

'I am in Pokhran, near Pakisthan'.

The reply came back after a few seconds,

'Sir, Please don't go that far'.

I decided to ignore the fatherly advice and  started describing the wiring. He asked me to short the two wires. I told him that I just did that. Knowing that he could not be of any more use to me, I decided to debug the problem myself and cut the call, I was on roaming. I traced the suspected wires and opened up a few more panels and there I saw it, The BIG Hack. Two wires were crudely inserted into a resin joint because of some problem with the joint. I randomly moved those wires and the bike roared to life. The crowd which gathered applauded. I couldn't help smiling. Yet, cursing the mechanic responsible for the hack, I cut everything up and used a cello tape instead, a better and more permanent solution.

I was happy, also because I knew where to look for if the problem resurfaces. All this delayed me and I had a bit of a problem during checkout because I was two hours late. The guy behind the reception asked me to pay three hundred bucks extra but after a quick hourly calculation I claimed I owe the hotel only forty rupees. Unable to refute my claim, he quietly made the bill with no extra charges.

Refuelling, checking tyre pressure took a little more time and by 1pm I was out of Pokhran and on my way to Jaisalmer 100kms away. I reached the outskirts without incident but was then mugged by Jaisalmer tourism. Most of the Hotels in Jaisalmer have complete packages for the desert and employ hundlooms who ride numberless bikes and stop tourists before they enter the city and force them into buying a package which is typically ten thousand per couple. I managed to outmanoeuvre most but a pair of them riding an R15 V2.0 managed to corner me. They asked me come with them to buy the package, I said NO. Then they told me they would help me find a room. I said NO. They asked me why I am even going to Jaisalmer. I told them its none of their business. They let their guard off for a couple of seconds which was enough for me to start my bike and zoom away. Listlessly, they started pursuing but gave up as I entered the city.

The Golden city is beautiful. The divider on the road, street lights everything felt archaic. But it was like any other city, there was no desert! After a few enquiries I found out that Sam dunes were a further 40kms from the city. I began to doubt if I would ever catch the elusive desert.

Finally I was there just as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. Camels in the desert have a different charm. I stopped by a Dhaba to have a drink and to decide the next plan of action. I was planning to setup the tent I was carrying in the desert but wanted to ask around if it was safe.  A group of drivers in the Dhaba recognised me as the biker who overtook them on the way to Jaisalmer and were commenting on how fast I was riding. I felt proud. It was the Dhaba owner who changed the whole experience of my trip overnight. Madanlal, came out and started admiring my bike and gave me an advise which I should never have taken!

'Remove half the air in the tyres and try riding in the desert. We do it all the time'. 

I was tempted but knew the risks.

But soon with the help of his half smoked bedi, we partially emptied the tyres. He said he would help me fill air later by borrowing a pump from a truck. I happily rode off into the desert hoping to race some camels.

It was fun until I tried to climb a dune. I was stuck and for the first time I rev'ed up the engine to touch 12000rpm hoping to turn the bike around. Sand flew and the air was filled with smell of burnt rubber. I immediately left the engine to idle while the radiator started whirring and whining to cool down the engine. It took Madanlal, his helper and me ten minutes to get the bike back on road. I had enough and wanted to fill the tyres and get back to normalcy. The 2000km ride back home was looming ahead and I wanted to be in Bangalore or Mumbai for New Year which was just a couple of days away.

Stuck in the desert!!!

I wanted a photo first before getting 'unstuck'

Evil MadanLal

The pump was did not work. How much ever we tried, tire pressure would not increase! On close inspection, I noticed a gap between the tubeless tyre and the rim. My hands started sweating. I had no idea what to do. I decided to call the service centre again. It was already 6pm and the mechanics would be leaving. Luckily I could get him on the phone. With a tch tch he told me I need to find a place where they can realign the tyre to the rim. In middle of a desert? After I cut the call, Madanlal meekly told me that there is a puncture shop in a village 6kms away. I conceded, left with no other choice. He arranged a trolley who charged me ₹400 for the 6km ride. But it was worth because the high pressure pump fitted the tire back to the rim with a big bang and the pressure slowly started climbing. Relieved, I started my journey back to the Dhaba having decided to setup my tent beside it.

As I approached the Dhaba, I saw a Mahindra XUV and then three guys setting up a Quechua T3 tent in exactly the same place I decided to camp. It was really a pleasant surprise! It was how I met Mayank,  Neelesh and Amol, three businessmen with a magical XUV. They solved all my problems in aninstant-food, security, company and my bike tyre. I introduced myself and we soon became good friends. These guys were carrying marinated chicken tikka, malai chicken and salami which only needed to be roasted. They had tandoor and organic coals, and a foldable table for four, vegetables for salad, bread and provisions to make lemon chicken and finally alcohol! It was the best unexpected dinner I ever had. Mayank was a biker and when I told him my recent misadventure he laughed and told me their XUV was also stuck in the desert the previous day and a jeep which came to help them  also got stuck. Finally a tractor got them all out. As a precaution, I requested Mayank to examine my bike. To my dismay, the rear tyre was flat again! Mayank told me not to worry and that they had a 12V pump with them. He promised to help me the next morning. However, I was worried and had a very disturbed sleep. The harsh cold of the desert did not help and even my sleeping bag could not keep the cold away.

Table for four, they were three and I was the fourth! Divine intervention!

The magical XUV!

I woke up at 6am and stepped out of the tent. It was still freezing! By 9am, the sun was out and it was getting warmer by the minute. Desert indeed cools down fast and heats up fast too! Mayank and me set out to tackle my bike while Amol and Neelesh got busy with a DSLR and a tripod.

After 10 minutes we gave up. The 12V pump, lazily pumping in air, was no better than a hand pump. I was running out of options when suddenly I had a brilliant idea. Why not put a tube in the tubeless tyre? I conferred with Mayank and we decided its the best option. I hired the trolley again and headed back to the village hoping they could pull off the trick. Somehow the puncture shop guy was familiar with this trick and immediately agreed to do it. He had a bit of a trouble taking out the rear tyre and a lot of trouble putting it back and just missed breaking a sprocket. By the time he was done, the sprockets were totally out of calibration and the chain was making a harsh grating sound. But at least the rear tyre was inflated. I cautiously went back to the camping place and was itching to go back to Jaisalmer to find a Yamaha service centre and give the bike in for servicing. But the rest of the gang were busy with a photo session. Photo session was followed by breakfast of scrambled egg and toasted bread which Mayank prepared in the Dhaba with ingredients from the magical XUV and then we started back. I was still very cautious with the bike and never exceeded 80kmph. We were back in Jaisalmer after a little more than half an hour. I bid farewell to the gang who were heading back to Delhi and took a room having view of the fort, Hotel Mangalam. Hotels in Jaisalmer are expensive and this one costed me two thousand rupees but with the bike in a delicate state I didn't want any more hassles.

Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the service center was closed. I decided to explore the tourist attractions. Jaisalmer fort was magnificent. One can sit in one of the many roof top restaurants, enjoying the splendid view of The Golden City while devouring momos. I just loved it. Sunset point and Gadsisar lake were mediocre except for the flock of pigeons, sub-flocks of which periodically take off and scour the lake for food. I missed going to the Tanot Mata temple, which was very close to the Pakisthan border and manned by the Indian army, because of time constraints. I heard artillery shells can be found scattered in the desert.

Truly a golden city!

On top of Jaisalmer fort. I love this place because there are neither guards nor restrictions!

A tourist enjoying the view, and moms.

Rooftop restaurent

Walking tall and strong, Jayanth in Jaisalmer fort

Through the arch, Gadsisar Lake, Jaisalmer

After sightseeing and a good night's rest, with my bike chain still making a harsh sound, I went to the service centre the next day. It was an extremely small shop manned by a single guy. But he was an expert. Not only did he solve my current problem but he solved other problems which the Hyderabad guys couldn't. He also assured me that riding with the tube is just fine. At 11am, I checkout and started for Mumbai.

It was 30th December and I had a little more than a day to make it to Mumbai in time for New Year. Jaisalmer to Mumbai via Ahmedabad and Vadodara was 1500kms. I rode like a maniac, all day and all night, without rest and without sleep. After 24hours of food, fuel and go, I was 300kms from Mumbai and very sleepy. After having narrowly missed hitting a van the second time I dozed off while riding, I took a dilapidated room for five hours and slept.

It was good catching up with Nishit and his wife Madhura for new year, and Rahul and his wife Shruti the next day. We met for the first time after college after 6 years! A treat in Mad Over Donuts and three boxes packed for the journey was the cherry on the pie.

The ride back was quite eventful - caught twice by the Mumbai police for inadvertently venturing onto the Mumbai expressway and having to cough up Rs200 and Rs800 (why don't they have proper signs?) and much later, stopped by the police patrol only to be told that a green car was tailing me with the intension of robbing me (fabricated to extract some cash out of me for the good advise), and some really bad roads around Bidar, I was finally home.

This 4,200km trip had several after effects on my bike and me. Soon after returning, the headlights, side indicators and the horn stopped working. As for me, for a couple of weeks after the trip, I was hallucinating blurred images of lights zooming past me-when sitting, eating, coding and more when trying to sleep. But it sure was one hell of a trip!

UnStrew Me

UnStrew Me 1.0

It's a derivative of a vey popular puzzle called 8-Puzzle, I played if for the first time in FoxPro, the MSDOS version. Looking back, I realised that while most of my friends were holding this game in their hands, I was actually playing it on a computer. In early 2000's computers were rare in India.

 I call it a derivative because it is different in the following ways:

• It is 15-puzzle, in that it has 15 numbers instead of 8.
• The number are random between 1..100 instead of numbers from 1...15.
• This introduces a complexity that the player would need to keep scanning for the next number even as he brings the current number into position.
• Moves do not count, only time does. I took this decision because I think moves are directly proportional to time. Completing in lesser moves must essentially mean lesser moves.

App Store Link: 

UnStrew Me and Myself 

In India, during the early 2000's computers were scarce and in fact a luxury. Internet was like owning a Jaguar. Luckily, I had access to a computer because Dad was working for Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board billing. A computer and a printer were a must. The old dot-matrix printer used to keep us all awake, incessantly striking its pins, printing bills for millions of families of Andhra Pradesh. Thanks to him, my foray into the magical world of computers started when I was just 15 years old.

Everyday I used to come running from school to play the 8-Puzzle and of course to watch SwatKats. I was more than addicted, to both. Within a month my fingers were flying over the arrow keys to complete the 8-Puzzle and soon I was able to finish any combination in around 30s. Unfortunately, the FoxPro version did not store statistics, so I was unable to quantitatively compare my performance with each passing day.

At around the same time, my school, Jubilee Hills Public School, introduced a programming course in GWBASIC. I fell in love with it. We had one class a week and I would be eagerly waiting for it for the entire week. We used to have an assignment per week but I used to make at least ten variations of it while my classmates struggled with the original. I soon realised programming came naturally to me and I wanted to program all my favourite games: 8-Puzzle and brick games like Tetris, Snake, Brick car etc. I poured over books to learn graphics and soon realised GWBASIC was just not powerful enough. It was around that time when my cousin, Venu anna, suggested that I learn C. I went for C classes during my 8th standard summer vacations.

Within an year, I had a collection of seven games in C. My 8-Puzzle would count the number of moves and time taken, my Tetris was as good as the original and my Snake had more features than the original. For the next couple of years, there was coding and nothing else in my life.

All this came to a grinding halt when my parents decided I had to try enter the prestigious IIT. My precious computer was locked up and I was enrolled into a million tuitions to compete for admission to an IIT, it was the worst phase of my life.

I failed to make it into the IIT but looking back it was a very important phase of my life. Now, equipped with a natural flair for programming and a strong background in mathematics and physics, I feel I can do great things. But, only time will tell.

Working for software firms and my passion for travelling has kept me busy with no time for me to pursue my interest in programming. But finally, during summer when it was impossible to travel, I worked on weekends and got Disarrange out into the App Store.

Happy gaming folks! Watch out for updates!

P.S: Thanks to Miss Saloni Sinha for providing the beautiful Icon.

Hyderabad-Gooty-Bellary-Tornagallu-Hubli-Gokarna-Murdeshwar-Jog falls-Sirisi-Hubli-Raichur-Hyderabad

1700km in three days. Whew! Well it doesn't break my previous record of 1800km in approximately the same time but I would say I did better. Nature was merciless.

It was the time when cyclone Phalin was in full swing flooding the coastal areas of Andhra when a group of twenty from Pramati planned a trip to Gokarna, Murdeshwara and Jog falls. I have been to these places before and I knew the ghat sections are just amazing. The temptation to take my bike was overwhelming. The distance, cyclone and fear of wrecking the entire groups' plans were measuring against me riding. But the winding roads, lush greenery and few other reasons were forcing me to take the bike. Finally, nature and my selfishness won. Much to dismay of Kiran, I, asked him to cancel my ticket. He was furious but I was stubborn.


Thursday, 24th Oct, 2013

10am, I saddled up my bike and was off to office.
5pm, Closed my laptop, gave it to Jitendra for safe keeping and hit the road.
By 6pm, I was happily cruising along the Bangalore highway.
All hell broke loose within the next one hour. It began with a welcome drizzle which soon turned into a thunderstorm. I was expecting this, thanks to some weather forecasting website. I didn't stop because I knew the rain wouldn't stop the whole night anyway. I was prepared to ride throughout the night, through the fierce cyclone.
After a while, I caught a glimpse of my favourite Drive-In restaurant, Hill Side, just 60km away from Hyderabad. I drove in completely drenched. Peeling off my gloves, I ordered soup and starters without asking for the menu.

Pictures taken long back. This time is was raining so damn heavily.

I was enjoying hot chicken corn soup and chicken 65 while the rain was threatening to bring the place down. Surprisingly, the restaurant was crowded and with more cars driving in, I had no choice but to leave.
The rain was at its peak when I drove out and I could sense people staring at me like I am a mad man. With elastic ropes tying my luggage on the pillion seat, I sure might have looked like an adventurer.


Tiny droplets on the helmet visor were acting as lenses focussing headlights of oncoming vehicles right into my eyes, blinding me, and with rain showing no sighs of giving up its wrath, navigating between heavy vehicles sure was a hair rising spine chilling experience. But I never knew this was nothing compared to what was about to come.

Another regular stop was a dhaba right after the Kurnool toll gate. After some dal fry and rotis I decided to enquire about the route. I had two options, leave the luxurious four lane national highway after about 2kms and take the torturous pothole filled state highway through Mahbobnagar, Raichur, Manvi and Hubli or continue on the national highway for another 100kms and take the Gooty route. I tried the first route when I went to Goa about 6 months back and it was pure hell. So I was inclined to avoid it but the second route was a 100kms longer.

I found a group of drivers chatting away and I joined them asking 'Hubli ke liye best route kya hain bhaiyya'. They were confused and started discussing among themselves. Finally one of them said 'Raichur se ja sakte hoon. Aage flyover ke niche se right le lo'. That was the route I wanted to avoid. 'Kaise ja rahe hoon' he asked as an after thought. I pointed out my bike. His eyes literally popped out. He was speechless. His more observant companion deduced I was alone. 'Akhele?', he asked wide eyed.
Then began a tirade of advices. I could catch 'dangerous... heavy rains... fierce water at places... four buses swept away.. take a lodge sleep.. start early morning'.

Noticing that the rain thrashing the roof was making a little lesser noise, I thought about the 500 kms more to go, I politely thanked them, put on my gloves and drove away. Four buses swept away indeed, did they take me for a fool? Though they exaggerated, stagnant water on the highway is a danger. Imagine driving into knee deep stagnant water at 90kmph, a fall and a swim guaranteed. So I had to keep my eyes peeled out watching out for all dangers lurking even on a national highway - stagnant water and dogs topped the list.

I usually sleep in Petrol bunks, closed tea shops or abandoned constructions. Tired, I usually sleep so well that a two hour slumber would be enough. But this time, I was completely drenched, from gloves to socks and shoes, every bit of clothing I had on was at least twice heavier. Result, no sleep.

Friday 6am, devoid of sleep, still completely wet, I entered Bellary with a mild headache which was threatening to turn severe. Hubli, where I planned to rest was still 360km away. Half my mind was asking me to rest but the other half which loves self torture and is more dominating was asking me to ride on. So ignoring all the welcoming hotels and lodges and the throbbing headache, I rode on. Bellamy seemed a nice place to explore but still the evil part of my brain was denying me all pleasure. After an hour, I entered Tornagallu, the heart of Jindal Steel Works. I have been there before for Ranjeet's (mere yaar mere bhai) reception (that time it was in my brand new three day old i20). Jindal Steels has a campus there, the entrance is like a portal, taking you from a third world country to a developed one! But I had no intension to go in. I wanted to drive on, until I saw a sign which said 'bridge collapsed due to rains, take diversion'. 

Every inch of my body was dead tired and this sign was enough to lead me to the nearest hotel.
Dolphin Inn, it was very good. Spacious parking, full of trees and welcoming reception. I walked in expecting to shell out at least Rs1500. But surprisingly, I got a single AC room for just Rs 600!

Dolphin Inn. Recommended. Single AC room Rs600 for 24 hours.

By 3pm I was ready

After a hot water bath, I slept like a log till 2pm. Lunch was not good, too much salt in the chicken. Weather was good and I decided to explore the place a bit before taking off. Walking around, I found a few places where I hung out with my friends earlier, revelled in those past memories for a while and by 3pm, I realised it was time to go. I knew there was a 100km ghat road after Hubli which must be covered before twilight.

Realising Hubli was 360km away, I knew this was an impossible task. But I had to try. Check-out, fueling and checking tyre air pressure delayed me. It was 4:30pm when I was fully set to take off. With a hard deadline, I rode like a maniac. The rode was bad, my clutch wrist started hurting badly, still I rode on. With Hubli still 150kms awai, I had to turn on the headlights. I failed. I had to negotiate the ghat road in the night. I shuddered thinking about the near accident I had there last time in broad daylight. But I had no choice, the rest of the group is scheduled to arrive by 4am.

Finally at 11pm, I entered Hubli. I stopped, took out my mobile, confirmed the route on the gps, made note of the route and resumed my journey. I bought a beer, stuffed it in my bag and entered the dreaded ghat road by 11:30pm. With the air smelling like it was about to rain, thick vegetation all around illuminated with the moonlight, I found myself actually enjoying it. I found a tea stall and stopped. I considered opening the beer but decided against it and settled for a tea. It was just brown sweet water. I would have no trouble believing if someone told me that it was water from the puddle in front of the shop, heated and sweetened. Throwing it away, I relieved myself, watsapped a few friends, resisted the beer temptation and started again.

Fifteen minutes later, it started pouring. Rain was so heavy that I was totally blinded. My speed slowed to a crawl, My hands became wiper,. still no use at all. Getting drenched was the least of my problems. I could not stop because it was all jungle around. Driving in those conditions for half an hour made me completely fearless. Slippery road ghat road, hair pin turns, merciless rain and heavy vehicles trying to blind me, crush me, drive me off the road, I started enjoying it. I had fun showing the finger to every driver. Excuse my language, but they wouldn't even dip their headlights blinding me for a few possibly fatal seconds!
The lightening strikes were amazing, the completely dark forest, glowing in purple, sometimes for as long as a few seconds, a sight which is etched in my mind even now.

By 3am, I was done with the ghat road, bike and rider unscathed and all in one piece and feeling totally exhilarated. It was a feeling of conquering the world.

From this point, on my previous trip at around 5pm, I took the right towards Goa. This time, at around 3am I took the left towards Gokarna. Even last time the goal was Murdeshwar but this magical junction turned my bike towards Goa :-).

Next challenge was to find Makara Village Resort. I was wondering how could I operate the GPS on my mobile because being drenched, it would go haywire, calling, messaging, opening apps at random. A few meters ahead I could see a few Volvos parked and dim candle lights in what seemed like a restaurant. Thankfully it was and it was open and it was crowded with tourists. As I entered, I noticed a couple of cute girls, Iranian perhaps, looking at me. I considered chatting with them but the temptation of hot coffee and muscles of guys who were with them put me off. I silently headed towards an empty table and ordered coffee. Then dried my mobile with paper napkins and searched for Makara Village. GMaps told me that it was 20.6 kms on the highway. How much ever I zoom in, it told me the same tale. 20.6 kms on the Edapally-Panvel highway, no tricky side lanes or complex route. Coffee was served. After the sweetened water code named Tea, proper hot coffee felt like heaven. I drained every last drop in the cup. Feeling the much needed warmth inside me, I jacketed up and started my bike. The ever reliable Yamaha R15 roared to life. The trip meter read 736.3kms. Making a mental note that Makara village should be close by when I touch 756 kms, I hit the road again. Rain became a friend now, and I even started lapping up rain water - open the visor, stick your tongue out, let a few drops fall and drink :-).

Soon the blue illuminated display read 754 kms. I slowed down and started scanning the surroundings. When the reading was 757.8kms, I found it. It was right on the highway to my left with a cute little gate. I liked it the moment I saw it. The gate was padlocked. So I had shout and honk several times to wake up the inn keeper, it took him ten minutes to come out of his deep slumber.
Seeing my state, he gave me one of the pre booked room without as much seeing an id proof or a reservation slip.

Makara Village. Highly recommended. Easily accessible. Resonable rates.

Somehow I was not at all tired. I would have been more tired in a bus. All the adventure has pumped up so much adrenaline that I was feeling high! I decided to combine this feeling with beer. I did and had three hours of blissful sleep. At 6am, rest of the gang arrived, I was fresh and ready for the wonderful day ahead to trek along the coast.

But I was more than looking forward for the next day when the itinerary was Murdeshwar and Jog falls when I would have the next affair with my bike.

The first day was pretty good, trekking, boat ride, horrible lunch, sunset photography, dinner, a short midnight ride with Sreedhar and sleep.

Next day, we got ready by 5am and I saw that it was raining. It did not deter me. I kept my date with the bike and I was glad I did. The road was amazing, a treat to all senses. The heavy rain made the ride much more romantic!

The visit to Jog falls included the most amazing ghat road ride and spell bounding views. Jog falls itself included climbing down 1200 steps, a trek to the waterfall and climbing up the same 1200 steps. We came up puffing and panting, and it was time for me to depart.

Earlier the day I found an alternate route through a place called Sirisi. So I saddled up my bike, bid a hasty farewell and was on my way back to Hyderabad. Rain subsided and I hung my jacket, socks and shoes to dry on the bike and was riding wearing shorts and slippers. Within an hour everything was dry and I could get back to my biker's attire.

I wanted to get back in time for office the next day so I skipped lunch and rode hard. I reached Hubli by 6pm, had some bajjis and sped towards Raichur.
I had an hour's sleep in a dhaba where I had my dinner. The owner got mad and woke me up. He was yelling at me shouting how can he do business if customers eat and then even sleep. Looking at the empty dhaba I found this quite unnecessary but left anyway.

On the way I had a couple of power naps, first one seemed like a small school and the second one, a dilapidated building. I had such good sleep that both times when I woke up I did not understand where I was for a few seconds. 

Resting place. Looked like a village school

The road till Raichur was surprisingly good, recently repaired. But speed breakers were a nightmare. Each village had atleast twelve speed breakers, strips of six while entering and another strip while exiting. Yahama has done a superb job of engineering its bike to keep its upright position  no matter what but I often missed the ABS when I noticed the speed breaker too late and had to brake hard skidding the rear wheel like hell.
But my faithful bike never once let me down.
The worst road I had on my way back is from Mehbobnagar. Hope the telangana issue would be put aside and roads would be repaired.

Every politician must be given a bike and asked to go on a long ride. They will then realise how serious the issues are which are ignored. Transportation is the backbone of any economy and the roads around Mehbobnagar are so bad that I think transport companies spend their profits replacing broken truck parts, mainly the suspensions!

By 11am I was back home, again fresh. Mom even commented 'Looks like you slept very well. You look so fresh'. She thinks I went in bus with everyone else. Giving myself an evil grin, I started getting ready for the routine week ahead.



Route Review

Route 1: Hyderabad-Gooty-Bellary-Tornagallu-Hubli-Gokarna (768kms) AVOID!

• NH7 till Gooty:       Awesome four lane national highway.
• Gooty to Bellary:   Karnataka state highway. Beware of speed breakers and unexpected potholes.
• Bellary-Gadag:       Road till Gadag is very unpredictable but better. Sped breakers will still haunt.
• Gadag-Hubli:          After Gadag we get a better road with potholes a little less frequent.
• Hubli-Gokarna:       Amazingly awesome road. It gets a little bad towards the end of the ghat road for a short stretch.

This route adds 100kms to the journey for nothing!


Route 2: Hyderabad-Mehbobnagar-Raichur-Hubli-Gokarna (676kms) PREFERRED!

The only BAD part is from Mehbobnagar to Raichur. It seriously bad. After that its a bliss.


                    

FInally....

SpacePuzzle Trailer

The great battle has come to an end and The Earth forces emerged victorious.  Our SpaceShips are all set to return home. But the journey through deep space is treacherous. Pilots are exhausted and the ships are out of ammunition. They need guidance.
"Major, you have been assigned to bring them back safely.  Blast the asteroids and use shields against lasers or simply dodge them, the choice is yours. But our boys must be brought back."

For those who are wondering what all this is, it is my first iPhone game - "SpacePuzzle - End of the Great Battle". It is an action game and a puzzle rolled into one.
It is the first episode in a saga to be followed by "SpacePuzzle - The Sentinel Attack". 

It was my M.Tech final project for Computer Graphics in which I got a 'C' grade. This game got me a 'C', otherwise I would have got a 'D' or maybe even an 'F' for I hardly attended classes, submitted all assignments late and scored the least in the Mid Term paper. I still remember the last class of the semester and the first rain of the season. The moment I entered the class (I took the pain to attend because it was the last class), our Prof. Jaya remarked, "Now I know why it is raining"., after a moment's speechlessness.

Anyway, after five months, the game is finally ready to go into the app store (I hope). Need to give a few final touches.

Here is a short preview of the game,
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=10150159022801796