Book Worm Syndrome

The feeling of boredom just echoes s with any and everyone I talk to. Another weekend has arrived…and will pass by as in consequentially as it had started. The days pass really quickly here. It’s already more than 4 months since I have been in the US and can’t really believe that it’s already that long.

Have been spending my days working a little lately, and reading novels and stuff before that. Read almost 4 of them in the recent times. Oldies, almost all of them, Michael Crichton. I seem to like his writing a lot. It’s something to do with the technicality of the underlying subject I guess. His penmanship is almost at the edge of sci-fi, if not actually it. Like the one I am reading currently, Timeline has Quantum Physics as the basis of its plot and it talks about real technology that exists and is further under research in the form of Quantum Internet and the likes. Then there s this another one, The Terminal Man, which talks about the immediate dangers of mind control. The Rising Sun, a corporate thriller from the same author. Interesting reading, all of them.

Coincidentally caught hold of a promotional copy of a book called The Anonymous Lawyer. It’s a unique kind of writing. It’s a combination of web logs and mails of a supposedly hi flying lawyer. And it’s full of corporate bull shit and sadistic humor and off course I liked it too.
That’s a lot of reading and more is to follow, because I have a very big stock of material and further time to gobble it up.

PS: Would like to read more of non fiction, but can’t seem to catch hold of anything.

the missing one...

Sitting yet again at an airport terminal...and heading into yet another country....so now the list after including this one will stand at , lets see...Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, US of A and UK...thats 4 and if you count in the aircraft parking at Paris ,then 5,not bad huh?? This time arnd its a spl trip for a very spl person and for an even special(er)(...if that’s a word) reasons.
Past few weeks have been at times eventful, boring, routine...and somewhere in between. Had a nice little trip to the Niagara falls a couple of weeks back in the august company of goyal family and frnds.Clicked innumerable snaps...infact so many of them...that we eventually got bored of seeing the fall....and at one point in time in the night...were even trying to avoid a glimpse of it. But in all its an exhilarating place....Food for thought....why aren't there any such places in India...well infact  there are...and might even be a shade better than this one....but the state of management is so poor that they have degraded into obscurity. Sighs!!! We almost went under the fall here courtesy a trip called the "cave of winds" originally called so b'cause it actually took you behind the falls at one point of time...now it takes u under. In all a refreshing experience...although missed out on my maiden helicopter ride....but Niagara s not so far...Had a unique experience today, when my train stalled due to a power breakdown spannig 3 states including NY and Philli...you don come to expect such things from a place like US where a power cut is nothing short of a hurricane katrina of intensity 3. And i guess thats why they r a shade unprepared for this kinda stuff....and very shabby at that...it took them all of 3 and a half hours to get a diesel engine to pull a stalled electric train. Running out of battery now on my laptop...will add to this later on.....to be continued..

Still some life in the battery...and further more time to kill...what better way then to punch it out on the lappie.Had a meaningful discussion with Rathore the other day regarding the hot issues in India these days....the astronomical fall of the stock market and even further fall in the morality of one Mr. Arjun Singh, a facade of our rotten system of governance. Don want to delve into the netigrities of the actuals, enough has been written and read and yelled about them already. But the both of us were discussing of what we could be doing for these...vented out anger which ultimately gave way to helplessness, utter hopelessness and a sense of infidelity. Has irreparable damage already been done to our great country...or is there still some ray of hope...a light at the end of the tunnel...believers in both sides of the coin...we diverted to what we could do abt it....and we could only come up with the following brilliant idea "where could we get a gun"...RDB sure has given us some ideas to ponder upon. But it’s all to hypothetical I guess. But you can't stop brilliant minds. Cheers Rathore!!!

Eternal Jim Carrey

Just finished watching this really screwed up movie, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and a host of other guys. Now from Jim Carrey one does come to expect whacko stuff…and I like him for that. But this one tops all that has come from him till date. Well although he himself is in no way involved in the actual story writing but the character that he portrays is almost inherently what you expect from him. The film takes its name from the lines of Alexander Pope:

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot;
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

This information is courtesy Wikipedia; it also finds a brief mention in the movie itself.

The story’s got something to do with erasing ones bad memories from once brain and getting a chance to start afresh. A very titillating concept to start with, imagine all your bad memories just gone whoosh…and you have a clean slate to work with. But flip over the coin and you lose all the life s lessons that you gained from all those bad experiences and you might end up going through the entire rough patches again.

Who thinks of stuff like this, how do they come up with such concepts?

here I go again...

I have finally got everything working on my lappie or so it seems. It had been troubling me for quiet some days now and a complete transfusion in the form of a XP reinstall did the trick here. There is supposedly another blog in between this and the last one, but as of now its trapped one alleged machine somewhere in the vicinity of the Heathrow airport in London at a place called Hounslow. I hope it breaks out of its trappings soon and gets published here.

Continuing from where I had left before, was listening to this song on my ipod today, its called “here I go again” by whitesnake. And although I have heard it lot many times before , the lyrics caught my attention just today…may be it was situational , a state of my mind, but they were kinda reflective of my state of mind at that point of time…they go something like this…

I don't know where I'm goin
but I sure know where I've been
hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again.

Tho' I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.

Life s really confusing, at times you just fail to find a purpose and it all seems so futile and at others, its so cluttered and so full of purpose that you crave for a breather and some futility. Either way, Its just a struggle at any given point of time!!

Ironed Out!

Its Monday tomorrow, though in some parts of the world it already might be, and infact in some other parts of the world it might already have started ending. But I will stick to my own time zone for now – EST. Now one of the drawbacks, I would say, of being part of the corporate way of life is the need to wear formal attire at once workplace.

I say drawback because I simply hate it. I am more of the casual cool dude genre, and the more Jeans and t-shirts kinda guy. And for the last 2 and a half years, I have been waking up every work day a little late on some a little early on others to get into one of those white/blue/gray collars and creased double pleated trousers. Now these creases that I mentioned just now are a cause of quiet a lot of angst for me lately.  Let’s confess I am horrible at ironing clothes in the first place and to take the misery that extra mile I have to make those formals to look all crisp and creased. What a shame!!!

But this land of opportunity has thrown this challenge at me and I sure will crawl my way through it, god bless the spectators of this art form…and me ultimately.

Whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Life is back in its routine best and the mention of the word back is very critical in the whole context. It has been one hell of a last month. I was almost on the verge of insanity. Exaggeration definitely, now that I look back, but it was a real site at that point of time. And I must say I weathered the storm pretty nicely and am basking in the glory of the lull after it.
Quick recap. Landed back in India on the 16th of March to the horror of my luggage being misplaced during the transit flight. Strolled out almost empty handed to the standing ovation of my dear rathore. But I had saved the best part, my lappie and my digicam. Initial shock withstanding, we were back to our killer best together, me and rathore.
I had landed on Thursday…and the following Saturday morning, there I was at Mumbai Central waiting for Sunit , we had a trio re-union. Headed to lonavala to meet up with Shash…and drank ourselves silly that night. And next morning were on our way to Pune, me finally united with my Thunderbird. Finally watched RDB, and I must say was thoroughly impressed. About that later. Had an amazing highway side dinner on our way back. And now the crazy part. This dude Sunit was to leave back for Delhi by an early morning flight from Mumbai. So we started at 12 in the night from lonavala for Mumbai. Our rears already soar from the pune adventure…and my eyes closing intermittently we finally made it back one piece to Mumbai. Finished some paperwork at office during the next couple of days and was off to Bhopal, to meet my folks. The stay at home was real good, with I showing off all my stuff, thankfully the lost baggage was recovered the very next day much to my pleasure. My parents were supposed to leave for Trivandrum…and so I headed to Indore in my dad’s zen to meet my sisters. Was supposed to be meeting my new born niece for the first time there and she was in my arms almost through out my stay. I wish I could have just kidnapped her and took her with myself. She s one damn cute thing.
But now it was time for my acid test , I was supposed to meet my to be in laws for the first time in my life…and for that I was supposed to travel to Nagpur. But by a pure stroke of fate I was called back from my office, the acid test has to wait.
Within a week of returning back to Mumbai I was packed and off to this place called US of A. to be specific New York.
So this whirlwind stay in India lasted a mere 21 days to be exact. About my landing in Us and the stay then on later…

Transit...

Well call it the luxuries of cutting edge technology, but here I am sitting in bahrain airport, trying to connect to the internet via a Wi-Fi network. My success will be evident from the timing of this post.

Now the story so far, I finally got a green signal from my client for the application I was developing, and so began the preparations for returning to my beloved bharat desh. A week full of anticipitation interspersed with boredom crawled by. I think its a universal phenomenon , that the time just goes into an extra slow motion mode once you are heading towards your certain eagerly awaited events. I have seen it happen to me when my trains just keep stopping before reaching bhopal. And yet again the very same fact was proven without doubt. But being a student of science I know that this isn't the case, and its all in once mind. So be it.

I am taking a longer route to mumbai so to say, which is quiet an understatement looking at the time I am gonna spend in travelling from Dammam to Mumbai which if travelled in a straight line is hardly 2.5 hrs of flying time. I will be taking a whopping 12-13 hrs to do the same. The itinery is something like this ... Dammam to Bahrain via bus , Bahrain to Doha via flight(thankfully) and finally Doha to mumbai via flight(obviously). I am taking this torture in a real good spirit for the prime reason that i am returning back...and sub reason because i'll get to see bahrain. Atleast I can claim that I saw bahrain.And whatever little i saw of it is impressive. Its painted in Grand Prix fever for now...Bahrain being a recent addition on the F1 circuit. And its a shocking contrast to its next door neighbor Saudi Arabia. The first thing that I noticed on the roads were the vehicles being driven by the fairer sex. and the visual was a real treat. You can imagine me as a guy being in the desert for 8 mnths and coming to this haven of a place with all the worldly delites.

So of I go to do you know what....

cheers...

Looking back

Just finished watching “Top Gun” for the umpteenth time and it still gives me the kick. Not that I have any regrets but there definitely are some things I miss doing in my life.

To start with , I always wanted to learn martial arts, I even joined some amateurish classes while I was in my 5th std at school, but somehow couldn’t pursue it long enough cause my instructor ran away. And I was left adoring the other kids going ga ga with their katas . I dedicated myself to the god of kung-fu Bruce Lee just as homage, by making sure I watched every single one of his movies and not just once but many times over.

Getting over with that, I developed this urge to join the defense services, the IAF in particular. I even remember myself playing that stupid ghost game to ask if I would get through. I just grew up with this ambition, so much so that I had even decided against sitting for my pre engineering test. My parents somehow convinced me to sit for it and even take some coaching classes just as a back up plan in case I didn’t make it. Something went wrong somewhere and I ended up doing what I am doing now. But the very best of my friends are in the Indian Navy and they owe their careers to me, because it was me who pushed them into it. And when ever I feel the need for speed so to say, I head for their dens.

I sometimes just wonder how different it would have been.

Well leaving these behind me, I actually have done or am in the process of doing a few things I always wanted to. Owning and riding an Enfield to unknown places, learning to play the guitar, owning a racing cycle in my teens, and the likes.

Stuff will keep adding to this list…

Happy Birthday!!!

Another day gone, infact a whole of 365 days have gone since my last birth day. Trust me on this, because I have seen all 23 prior ones, and this day today has by far been the most forgettable one of them all. Infact this would be the only birth day I would like to forget. For now I am living it.

As always there is a disastrous built up to the whole scene. If all had gone well I would have been sitting in Mumbai as of now, and for that not just sitting but partying big time. I still digested the hick up of my cancelled trip back home and of being away from all my family and friends and decided to go through the motions just like any other day. But however hard I tried, the umpteen wishes from various mediums of communication just wouldn’t let me forget it. So it was that I entered my birthday IST talking to my sweetheart and my best pals, Still talking to my sweetheart when Saudi clocks truck midnight January 18th and woke up to a special phone call when the Big Ben struck midnight in UK. Now this is not what would make this day forgettable…but it’s the carnage that is to follow that will.

Attended a further few phone calls while still in my sleep, till the one from my dad which literally threw me off the bed. A credit card personnel had called up at my home looking for my whereabouts for payment of some outstanding on my credit card. It’s rightly said that you reap what you sow…and what perfect time to reap my past mistakes. So, I spent the early hours of my birth day fire fighting. What a start and I already had a bad head ache. Reached office just to discover that it was gonna be a long long day…and not a easy one by any chance. It was almost like a chain reaction of sorts…I don wanna go into the details of it, but I still have the mental burden from my office when I write this. If it would have been any other day, I wouldn’t be making such a fuss about it…but on your birthday you wanna feel happy and relaxed and special. And I was miles away from this state of bliss.

All said and done, I can see some positives too. A lot of people still wished me and that’s a real good feeling in itself. There also were some lessons learned. And the best part of this birthday, I have someone very special to share the rest of my life with.
At the end of it all, I would really like to quote myself”
” Its been a real cool life...with all its twists and turns...and I have enjoyed every moment of it till date.I don know how many more such days I am destined to see...but I sure hope that as many are there...I am always able to feel the very same way as today....Alive...and Rocking!!!!Cheers...to me!!!”

Experience Saudi..

Woke up this morning, it being a weekend for me today, didn’t get up in my usual way…was just lazing in the bed for quiet a while. I have taken to a bit of exercising lately…it has finally dawned upon me that I need to do at least a little bit of physical exercise to keep me going…and just as a foot note…I have to get rid of my pouch…beer belly so to say, without the beer. Anyhow, went about my morning chores followed by the push ups and I don know what exercises.

Then stepped out of my room for a cup of tea, and to my surprise it was all foggy outside…at 9 AM in the morning in Saudi Arabia. Now how strange is that? One imagines Saudi Arabia as a hot sizzling barren desert land with Sheikhs ruling the wilderness in their own barbaric ways. At least that’s what my picture of Saudi Arabia was until I landed here. I was right and wrong in that. It still is a desert land but with an infrastructure comparable or even a shade better than that of a US of A or a UK. But the ways here can definitely be termed barbaric. It’s a very orthodox Muslim country. And this too is an understatement. The locals are very arrogant and it gets a shade uncomfortable at times. There is basically nothing much to do apart from shopping off course, with the flurry of humongous malls and shopping arcades mushrooming up every nook and corner . There are no movie halls, no tourist attractions in the real sense so to say. I have even heard that one cannot even click snaps at public places. So it’s pretty much of an indoor kind of a place. Gloomy place for even a guy like me who s not much of a party animal.

But there are positives too, very few though, one of them being the monetary part. The employer provide for your food and shelter. A compulsory saving because you run out of options to spend. So in a way its good, but ultimately this is not some place you would want to stay for too long and no wonder I am dying to return back to India.

Its has been quiet a learning experience professionally and personally , but there still are a couple of months to go before I return. And I might be up for many a new experiences till then.

Escape...

Someone special has become a year old….and alas we are not together to celebrate. My thunderbird completed a year today in my possession. On this very day an year back I drove it out of its mothers womb so to say, the Royal Enfield show room in Bandra…and all the way till my office in Borivali. And that very first ride I knew that I was a proud owner of a very very special and priced possession, My Bird.

Since that 10th  day of December last year…I have shared many a great memories with it, and will hopefully continue to do so for many a winters. The whole process of buying my bird was a rollercoaster ride in itself. After quiet a lot of serious thought, rethought and no thought, I finally decided upon a silver Royal Enfield ,escape as they put it. Obviously I didn’t have the money to buy it on my own…and neither of the well known financial institutions were in any mood to loan me that big a credit. So I was back to the world’s best and simplest bank…my mom. And after some simple cajoling, she agreed to loan me almost the entire amount at 0%, and infinite term of return…

The test drive itself was mind blowing…and I could hardly wait to own of those might beasts myself. But the wait was gonna be a little long than I had hoped for. In the midst of all this excitement…another dream of mine was calling me…I had got a call for an AFSB interview…for the ignorant; it’s the Air Force Selection Board interview. And lo and behold I found myself on a Delhi bound Rajdhani at a couple of hours notice. Spent one of the best set of 5 days in Dehradun. Although my dream wasn’t to be fulfilled, I had made some very beautiful memories for life..and a bunch of not so beautiful but amazing friends. Within a couple of returning back from Dehradun , I had in my hands the keys of  my very own Silver Bird.

And the world was my play ground so to say….and from that day on it has become my escape….

Stuff of dreams..

Lately one of the prime things that excite me in life is to think and plan about a bike ride. Now the obvious question here is that how the hell am a planning a bike trip when I myself am sitting in this foreign land while my beloved Bird is literally across a sea, back home in India. But then it’s a plan….and people plan for years in advance, am merely planning a couple of months prior, and look how excited I am about the whole thing already.

Okay so let’s get to the actual thing now. I came across this article on rediff a couple of days back. It actually was one of those informative slideshows about this place called Pushkar back home in India. It’s a small town so to say some 15 kms from Ajmer, Rajasthan. It’s famous for this annual festival that is held there. Its actually in full swing as of now….and it’s all colorful and beautiful. Now where does this thing fit into the aforementioned bike trip scenario that I have been so ardently talking about?? Simple, Pushkar happens to be the supposed destination of my fantasy trip.

The travelers remain basically the same, my bird, myself and YES…Rathore. We have had a preliminary round of mail exchanges between us and he too is basically raring to go with a minor issue raised regarding leaves from office, which I am sure will be taken care of.
The trip, as when it happens, will be the longest ever for us as it would come to some 2200 kms to and fro. The maximum we have done till date is some 800+ kms on our ride to GpPule. I have been wanting to visit Rajasthan for quiet some time now…and what better way to do it than on my Bird and my buddy Rathore to keep company.

So that’s all to it as of now. I am trying to make it thorough this time….I hope am able to plan my plan to perfection.

Cheers…

CosmoLogical reloaded...

This is a new experiment that am up to…I am actually typing this on word as of now…and thanks to Google’s plug-in ,I can publish this stuff directly to blogspot. Obviously I will have to be logged on to internet.  And these are wonders of the so called cutting edge technology.

Now back to the actual stuff, I am reading this compilation these days. It’s called Juggling Act and the author obviously is Jug Suraiya, TOI fame. I had picked it up from Pune crossword before I left for Saudi. And believe me; I had to search extensively to find a copy. Not sure if it’s the popularity of the book or the mock demand that the publishers have created. But I sure hope it’s the prior of the reasons. Because I find it an amazing read. I have only gone through some 20 odd pages as of now…but I am sure to finish it up soon enough. Actually I am deliberately slowing down my reading pace in a hope that I will have it for me till my stay here.

Okay now the article in the aforementioned book that’s the inspiration for this post. It is titled Cosmo Logical and contrary to the title is not about the cosmos, but about the Indian version of the internationally acclaimed women’s magazine Cosmopolitan. The female fraternity in India seems to be an avid fan of the subscription. I keep wondering what‘s so enticing about it and Mr. Suraiya enlightens me with just the same. I am afraid can’t quote the whole article here, but some excerpts which really tickled me…..I quote ….
“Cosmopolitan – or Cosmo as it is popularly known – is dedicated to the proposition that all men are born free – and it’s up to women to change this undesirable state of affairs.” Another one …
“A post-feminist guide to cohabitational consumerism, Cosmo features educative articles on how to get your man, how to hold him (half-nelson, arm-lock, etc.) and how to trade in your old model for a newer , top-of-the-line version with minimum of fuss ” and another one…
“A unique feature of Cosmo is its quizzes which help you rate yourself in the cosmic battle of the sexes”.

Then he goes a step forward and devices a cosmo style quiz of his own with a series of questions, which I think my female friends will be fully aware of. Not that I endorse the writers view but then he does have a point. The whole article is a beautiful satire on the “Liberated Urban Female - LUF” as the writer puts it, psyche of the contemporary fairer sex. I am sure I haven’t made any great friends (as if I have any before) out of the opposite sex by highlighting this article, but I hope the pun is understood in its right spirit.







     

my harley davidson....

Was just listening to this song by AC/DC , called Harley Davidson . It starts with the whorrring sound of a Harley engine...and that sound just tore through my heart and mind...I miss my Bird, yes my ThunderBird. Instantly I was into a time warp back to my days in India when I was rolling on my very own. I could just feel the enormous power of the monster of a machine under my command waiting to be unleashed.
Those long drives to Kaashid and Murud and Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar and GP pule are still fresh as yesterday in my mind.Not that it has been years since I have done them but it almost seems that way. How myself and rathore used to plan about them for weeks in advance , not the actual preparation for the trips but Just the excitement of making one. We invariably ended up with unplanned trips which ultimately used to turn up all gooddy good for us. The excitement of touching 100KPH on the bird ...and then breaking my own record of speed again and again. the
velvet smooth road down from Mahabaleshwar till Pune , the seaside drive from Alibagh till Murud, The curling roads to the fort at Ganpatipule...and the untouched beach that we discovered on the way back from the fort. They all seem like random flashes of an amazing experience.
A little too dramatic I guess, but then out here in this place, imagination is all that i have at my disposable. With nothing much to do apart from breaking my head against my workstation almost intermittently all day, these sparks are my rare moments of excitement.
Yes, I am getting bored here!!

let there be Rock...

Music is my life, now how cliche is this line. Hundreds of people keep repeating this line over and over again, at various forums small and large. But then music is something which touches every single person in various different ways.

The whole connection perhaps ,between music and the being ,lies in the inherent rhythm of the universe. So much for philosophy and science. For me music is something that gives me immense pleasure. And then i am not just an amateur listener so to say, who would listen to any and everything that comes across once ears. I have some very specific and almost weird (as most of the people say) tastes in music. I am a major Rock and Metal freak and I equally appreciate the indian classical music.how weird is that??

I think the weirdness in my music tastes is got something to do with my parental roots. My dad is a very good classical singer and in addition posses an immense knowledge of the art. I have been brought up listening to Kumar Gandharv's and Pandit Ravishankar's, marathi natya sangeet and the likes. Rock n roll stands out as an obvious abbretion in this otherwise sublime picture. But then like any adoloscent I am not supposed to like what my parents like, so it was that I took to Rock. I still very clearly remember the day I brought my first cassette of rock music, On a day Like today -- Bryan Adams.Today I can almost laugh at the thought of calling Bryan Adams as Rock music. But that s where I started and to this day Bryan Adams remains one of my favorite singers. From Bryan Adams to Mettalica to Rage Against the Machine to Iron Maiden and what not, I have come quiet a long way. Life catches up, and the music of my childhood has lately started to attract me. So much so that I actually sit and ask my dad about it.And to see the happines in his eyes when he tells me about his greatest passion is a real joy.
I was not supposed to write all this, I had started writing this piece to introduce my newest passion in music AC/DC, yes the 70's and 80's big time Rock n Roll band.I have never heard them before, but on the sake of reputation I picked up a DVD of close to 40 videos songs candidly named the home videos. And yes they are too good. So in the words of AC/DC "let there be Rock...."

salaam walekum....!!

Ages literally since my last post, but its better late than never.Well there was one prime reason behind the long absence..and will be writing about that at length here. As i had mentioned somewhere in my prior posts, that I was supposed to be heading for an overseas assignment, so it happened...and am sitting here in Dammam , somewhere in Saudi Arabia. I am still trying to locate this place on the map of Saudi. I hope am able to mark my bearings before I leave, though it seems an unlikely possibility. Its over a couple of months now since I have been here. There are hell lot of things to write, but then by some strange stroke of luck, blogspot isn't accessible from my clients network. So I never could log on until now. I finally purchased my priced possession a lappie....which i had been craving for so long.Although had bought it almost a month back, managed the internet connection at home just a week back. And today was just going through my own and rathore s blogs , and i just felt the itch to post something. Well I just hope that the itch just stays there...and i keep punching things. It s possibly the only creative thing that i wud be doing here in my stay at Saudi Arabia. About that and more....later.

To Kaashid...

Most of the times in our lives...we travel to reach a goal, and in the process we loose site of what the road has to offer to us.but I have learned my lessons rite that its the path and not the goal that matters....atleast when you are riding your way to it.And so it was for this ride.The original idea was to reach Kashid...meet up with Abhay who was already there on some team building tour of his. But as soon as I mounted my bird...i knew..that the destination was immaterial now and i could just head on in any direction from here...and it would be pure magic all the way and any way.

So we started on an overcast morning this Sunday at arnd 6.30...with the faintest of idea of what the rain gods had in store for us. But whatever it was..we were strapped and ready for it(I guess???)There was enough fuel in the birds tank to take us out of mumbai...so we skipped the fueling part to start with. Just rejuvineted our pockets with some money and we were off. Hardly a couple of kms on the palm Beach road...and it started to pour down like therewas no tomorrow. And by the time we could actually get a clue of what was happening....it was already back to just overcast again, with one subtle difference....we were drenched.Atleaset i was.But I was prepared for it...this was meant to be a ride in the rains. But it so turned out that this was the lone shower in our so called rain trip for the first leg. Nonetheless it was fun to start with.

The weather was perfect for driving from here on...with wet and dry patches of road to run on, making me vary my speed.I usually am pretty quick on the roads...but the collage of wet and dry slowed me down to a good extent. and it was well worth it....bacause it allowed me to look around what I usually miss while driving.The sky was a darkish gray...one of my favourite colors.And the rain clouds just mounting on....sometimes i just wonder if i could fly away on top of the clouds and lay in the fluffy cottony material for hours together...never to return back.

Back on the road...in apparently no time we were at Pen....and rathore was torturing me to stop for a mast chai.The chai flowed in with a little bit of debris in the form of a couple of vada pavs and bhajiya.Moving on....there is this phenomenon on this specifc patch started some where before Pen almost till the left turn of Wadhkal naka....they call it the rumbling strips.They are basically are a set of 6-10 closely spaced speed breakers....they definitely serve there purpose perfectly...but they also go far beyond it and as rathore rightly puts them...are a real pain in the ass!!!We always wonder....and its better expressed in hindi ...."ki jis bechare ne inhe banaya hoga use har passer by kitni gaaliyan deta hoga".

Further on...we quickly crossed Alibag and took the left turn that headed for Murud. Last time around on our first riding adventure of Alibag- Murud we had traversed thi route. We were trying to make out the exact same spots and offroad advetures we had undertook the last time. Clicked some wild snaps....on the road(literally on the road...rathore sitiing on it and me actually lying down on it). The surroundings were greener and majestic that we had visited the last time. Turned a curve and there it was a spread of white sand....kissing the sea. Our eyes literally twinkled at the site. but we had a task at hand before we could hit the beach....we were supposed to meet Abhay...who was in some resort starting from P or S...because that was all rathore could remember of the the name that Abhay had told him....

So began the hunt....

time to ride...

yes...its ride time yet again.
It has been close to 3 months now since we last made a journey to our wild sides....on my bird.But the drought is getting over this weekend...when we hit the road again with a splash this time. Its pouring cats and dogs in and around mumbai....and what better time to roam the roads rather than this.
The destination yet again is immaterial. Its the fun of riding again ...that has kept me and rathore on the edge of our seats all this week.
This ride holds a special significance for further reasons as well...as this ride could turn out to be the last one for this year...as i am scheduled for an overseas assignment on behalf of my employers for the next 6 months.
It comes between a hectic schedule for me....there are a lot of important things happening in my life as of now...and I have been shuttling between various destinations over the last couple of weekends. All said and done.....
Kashid here we come............

Chennai Monologue...

Its been a long time since me doing any activity on this big and bad blogworld. Work pressure ...or my lethargy whatever you call it, can be held in court for it.

but now that I am actually writing somethin....lets get back to the why's of it.
Firstly, as the title suggests...its something to do with Chennai....infact the root cause and the sole reason for this blog is Chennai. Now this blog is being written from a huge office building sparsely occupied by people as of now...me being one of the fateful occupants.

Secondly....the word monolgue doesn't mean that Chennai is speaking something to you....because that is what is the literal meaning of a monologue (don argue...cause i looked it up in a dictionary)...but it is there because the combination rhymes with the famed theatre act....Vagina Monologues which sounds really sleezy...and since its my blog...I deciede what it is called.

So it must be obvious by now that I am in a twilight zone.
There is a long story in the hindsite......and let it remain one.
Chennai.....land of THE LADY.State capital of Tamil Nadu. This being my first visit to the place...i have tried not to come with any assumptions and apprehensions. But these comments its damn hot, its sticky , you can't communicate there....are still ringing in my ears. And all the 3 comments have proved to be true. And have further strengthened my unwillingness to visit south indian destinations.
Temperatures ranging in mid 40s and humidity that could make Mumbai look like a hill station.
The best part I am alien to the people here....They don understand what I speak and neither do I understand their language. Got the first glimpse of it the moment I stepped out of the airport. and later on when I tried to board a rickshaw to reach my office. and will keep having these experiences till the time I am here. Its really frustrating and even funny at times.
I will be staying here till Wednesday morning....and I hope to see a couple of places...at the least the famed Marina Beach. I also seem to have found some mumbaite company at my place of stay. Looking forward for a evening out with them today.

Its now time for me to go back to my twilight zone......in the dilapidated world of software.
So long.....

GP pule...Concluding!!

That sleep was life giving...after the tiring day through the sun.
Yet again missed the sunset...I think will go to Ganpatipule once more just to check it out.Now there were some plans of a campfire on the beach later in the nite.Me and Rathore got up and ready, and headed for the beach for the n th time for the day.The troppers were to follow us there.Or I guess they were ahead of us.
We finally did go to the famed Ganapatipule Temple.And I even managed to make some kind of a donation for 25 bucks..on the name of my dad obviously.Another walk on the beach with one of the fairer breed and sadly rathore too was a different experience.Had our dinner again at MTDC and were off for the beack party.It basically wasn't a weather meant for campfire...so I kept my distance from the fire. We had also arranged for Rathore 's guitar on the beach...but I guess both rathore's and my prowess with the guitar was rather disappointing for the audience..so they continued with there dumb C. took some long lazy walks in the knee deep sea on the beach...and soaked myself with the millions of stars in the sky. This is one experience I 'll remember forever.
At around 12.30 in the nite after some persuasive and heated discussions rathore and myself decieded against going to Ratnagiri the next day,Because we still had to cross the 350 odd kms to mumbai in one piece.
I was hell bent on leaving as early as possible, the initial plan being 5. But Rathore was a little cross with me for this and so he made sure that we left only by 6 .Turned out to be a wise decision.
Let me digress a little here to mention a little more about Mr. Rathore as a pillion specifically. Over the last 4 trips that I have had with this buddy of mine, he has turned out be an amazing and excellent companion sitting behind me. First and foremost I being an avid driving lover, hate to share the driving load with anyone.and Rathore too I guess loves being a pillion and has never shown any interest to actually drive. Secondly he trusts my driving a lot...and doesn't make much noise abt the same apart from some stray incidents where it was actually required.Thirdly he like me loves speeds...testimony to this is the fact that we top sped to 107 KMPH on the return leg. Infact on the clearer stretches of the road, if i happen to take it a little cool...he urges me to touch that 100 Kph once more, Or take over that Santro..and stuff like that. He has his own shortcomings too...he has not all that good as a navigator , because he isn't that keen an observer of the road as myself.In all a real dude to ride with...cheers to us Rathore.

Okay so let me get back on track...Started off at 6 on the meandering roads through the plains..we reached the junction of NH-17 and turned left for Mumbai. There was this early morning nip in the air...and also the Stars fuel tank was craving for fuel. Stopped and refuelled we opting for the non - inflammatory chai. that was close to 7.From here till the next stop at chiplun..we had a little dual with a pulsar, I must say the driver was skilled enough to match the 180cc pulsar of his to my 350cc giant.Hats off to him.Stole a hopeless burger at Chiplun. The roads were a little crowded now. but we still managed to blaze thorugh most of the towns en route. Infact I can easily say ..that this was the fastest leg over all my rides. Another stop in the midst of the ghat where we had to stop in our first leg because of our dozing off. Had some kanda bhaji and chai here.

Rode on...and it was getting hotter by the minute. Took a break for some cola s at arnd 11.We were some 100 odd kms from mumbai. Were forced into another break at Wai. Had a couple of life giving nimbu pani's with some local coolant put in them.
It was scorching by now, but our spirit of adventure was still at large...we turned left inplace of the usual right while entering Panvel in anticipation that we'll reach Palm beach road from there. Gross misjudgement because although the road was very good...it happened to be going in the wrong directions. After a couple of set of directions...we took a kuttcha road to finally reach the palm beach road albeit from the opposite side. This cost us 10 extra kms ...and a lot of energy due to the burning hot sun. But a lesson neverthless...and a new route definitely.Bought a bottle of chilled mineral water and coke enroute to Rathore's place.
This will be the last drive before the summers...and we have decieded to take a break now.Although a quick trip to Pune is still on the cards.

Dozed off finally with my burnt feet in a bucket of water and a glass of chilled cola in my
hand.