11 July 2010

We woke up lazily. The day's agenda was mini-servicing of the bikes, buy more stuff for the trip, search for Gagan, the Mr. Know-it-All at Manali, visit Lazy Dog, watch the World Cup Finals. It was a busy day. The group split up into two for faster servicing. All the servicing of our group was done quickly. The other group had to bear with heavier tasks of clutch plates replacement and chain set replacement. Since we had some extra time, we went to Lazy Dog. Unfortunately, the owner Yon was out for that season. It looked like we would be watching the Finals elsewhere.
Gagan was found at his shop after some mix-up. He's a treasure. This guy knows Manali inside out. He gladly came with us for the entire day. The rest of the time was spent in shopping for essentials. It was here at Mall Road that our group had the first fall(Fall #1). None other than the ace faller, Gyan. While walking he missed a step and banged his foot.
Jerrycans were available at Rs 40. With no choice, we had to relent. Torches, woollen socks, paper soaps, Gagan helped us in finding everything. The shopping tired us. Gyan and Vihans opted for tel-maalish. We reached back to the hotel to put the stuff. And then quickly out again to Club 7 to watch the Finals. The place was laid out well. Sofas lined up in front of a gigantic projector screen. It was going to be so much fun. Already the crowd was getting divided over who they were supporting, Netherlands or Spain.
Gagan arrived sometime later and played his magic. Our group was led into a separate lounge area exclusively. But only for a short while though. As the crowd started pouring in, the place was getting short of seats. We got out into another seating area to join the crowd. We didn't mind. Football matches must be watched in a crowd.
The match turned out to be a disappointment. It was slow paced. Most of us were supporting Netherlands, the team that defeated Brazil. The majority of crowd was Spain-supporting. And Spain won by 1-0. The night's adventures were still not over. My Bullet was boxed in the parking by a Maruti 800. Only Dutta, Doley and Gyan were left with me at that time. We had to pick up the car and push it back a couple of inches to make room. After freedom, came stupidity. We rode our bikes into Mall Road. Cops caught us at the end and asked for papers. Whether it was the beer breath or our stupid, smiling faces, we still don't know, but the cops let us go. We had pushed our luck too far and it was time we call it a night.