Got Leh'D

 

Finally it happened, I got leh'd.

I never thought that this day would come but you know what things don't happen on their own. You have to make them happen... Like I did.

This trip has been on my bucket list for the longest period of time or should I just say over a decade.

I have been practicing for this on the Mumbai roads for years during the monsoons when the water level would be way higher than it should be. Supposed to be the trial run for the water crossings that I would encounter over there.

I would be clueless in my initial years on how to plan this trip. These were the days when information was not easily available about planning such trips especially on a bike. What was amusing that there were other people who would get inspired by my other rides and go there.

The funny thing that I came across during writing this post was my tweet about doing a ladakh trip in 2015 and then surprisingly in 2020 I described it as my Eleanor. Something that I don't even remember.

I planned this trip within a month after coming back from my trip to Hampi, Aihole, Pattadakal & Badami caves. Out of nowhere I decided I have to make this happen. It was now or never.

Then began the research and yes the route that needs to be taken. I was adamant that I need to cover both Turtuk & Hanle which by the way very few travel operators offer together. In standard options its either one not both. Tso Moriri lake was like a add on.

I have to say that during my research of travel operators, it was Instagram that came in handy and helped widen the net and get in touch with them and not much of google. Finally I circled on one operator who was the only who offered all the three places in their package. 

Phir sochna kya tha. Book kar diya.( There was nothing to think further and went ahead and booked it)

This was going to be another solo traveling but with a group tour. I have never done a group tour except for the one I took with my family to Ashtavinayak Yatra ages back. This was going to be interesting, should I say very interesting :)

On top of that I had to decide if I want the bike on a sharing basis or as a solo. I initially thought sharing would be good, since I don't know how good or bad the terrain is. Having a pillion is better if we can share our rides and expenses too.

Then again riding solo on that terrain is something what the ladakh bike trip is all about. 

Its almost is a rite of passage for any biker to conquer those mountain tops, passes and roads as its tests you on every nook & corner and to see if you have got it what it calls to be a RIDER!!

I must say the challenge to ride solo was tempting, very tempting.

Finally I decided it was going to be solo. What is life without a challenge? 

The most troubling part of this trip was packing the luggage that needed to be carried along. The caveat to this trip was that one cannot carry trolley suitcases beyond Leh and they have to be a backpack. 

I spend three anxious nights on how to do it and along with that the airlines luggage weight restriction and yes carrying a helmet, tank bag, riding jacket with protection gears & gum boots (yup you heard that right!)

In the end, I had to let go carrying my helmet & somehow managed to fit everything in the suitcase & check-in bag on the D-day.

On the D-day, it was the check-in counter that almost gave a heart ache. The junior airline employee checked the suitcase weight it just fell short of .50kg. Everything was going fine and he issued me the boarding pass as per his senior instructions on the adjacent counter. 

As I turned around, the senior employee asked me to weigh my backpack which truth be told was bigger than a standard size one. It came 1kg extra than it was supposed to be, however I was let go without any charges to be paid which was a relief.

Did I tell you that I was wearing my riding jacket on the flight as it was too heavy to put in one of those bags.

The flight took off and the two seats next to me was empty. In fact the flight was relatively not that full. I got to stretch my legs and sleep for a while in peace. 

The real fun began when the plan had to descend to make a landing on the Leh airport. 

Trust me, that is one hell of a joyride & anxious moments that no one talks about. The plane descends to a lower altitude, curves around a mountain behind which the airport lies and then out of nowhere would again ascend higher before again going low to make a landing. That felt like a trailer of this ladakh trip of what was to come...

The day I landed was supposed to be a rest day. Doing nothing and drinking water all day. Still ended visiting the Leh market and came back to the hotel on foot.

The next day we were allocated our bikes which were 500 cc royal enfield bikes. That day we visited places around Leh like Shanti Stupa, Magnetic Hill, Gurudwara, Hall of Fame, etc.

This was also my first group ride. My understanding of a group ride was that you stick together & follow a buddy system of helping people in case anyone is left behind. Then again the reality  was different.

This kind of worked in my favor as I ended up actually driving solo in such a scenic valley. It doesn't get better than this and was more than I could ask for.

I happened to be the only solo rider in the group. From time to time ladies would sit behind for a joy ride.

The route planned or circuit was Leh---Nubra Valley---Khardungla Pass---Turtuk---Hunder---Pangong Lake---Hanle---Umlingla Pass---Tsomoriri Lake---Leh

Each one of those places has its own story to tell.

I saw the Milky Way through naked eyes in the night. Turtuk was certainly worth a visit and the stories we heard from the hotel owner about the occupation of the land by the Indian army. Met the King too while visiting his palace. Saw natural cold storage. Visited the last India village.  Rode on a double humped camel & did archery. Captured a beautiful sunset in Hanle. Conquered the two highest passes in the world. Visited the lakes Pangong & Tso Moriri. 

Pangong looks more commercialized now with the Three Idiots scooters, bum seats almost everywhere. Tso Moriri on the other hand was quiet and serene. There was another lake that got my attention was Kyagar Tso . It took my breath away. 

Did I forgot to mention the animals that we came across? The marmots, horses, donkeys, sheeps and different kind of birds all witnessed over here. 

I also had celebrity sightings in the form of a stand up comedian who was flying to Leh on the same flight. I don't like that guy a bit. The other person was the politician Rahul Gandhi riding on a KTM 390.

Ladakh had me in bonds, the routes are so scenic that one is actually tempted to stop every now & then and capture them through your camera lens. Then again there are some experiences that needs to be felt and remembered for what it is & cannot be comprehended or captured. Its all about how it makes you feel.

It was not enough that the colors of the mountains were changing as we rode further but the contours, the texture of the mountains too along with the ever changing scenery. I have never seen a land which goes through so many terrain changes.

There was a moment when I was riding on a good patch of road and the landscape in front of me felt like a painting. It was surreal and definitely not a figment of my imagination. One has to see it to believe it.

Nature has its own way of surprising us, humans.

Off-roading has always got the better of me. The first time I did off-road was on a gravel of stones meant for road construction and going towards the Ajanta Ellora caves in 2018 which was a long stretch. Off-road for me meant that you have to fall at least once from your bike.

I had fallen from my bike thrice. Thankfully there were no major injuries except for scars left behind on my leg for falling on the engine which burned up my skin. 

This was not the making of those gravels, riverbeds, rocks & water crossings  which somehow I learnt my way to ride through it even though the rear tyre would keep shifting on its own making me think the next fall is not far behind.

It turned to be the sand which is so fine that you will never know what hit you. During my first fall I was full in control of the bike, riding well when out of no where I lost control in the sand and fell down. 

Thankfully there were other riders of another group behind me who helped me to pick up the bike which I thought I wont be able to do alone as it weighs around 200 kgs.

 The next two fall also happened on the sand and during both the times I was on my own with no human presence around. I ended up astonishing myself as I picked up the bike with ease. 

It was the third fall that got the better of the bike & I almost fell on my back flying instead of the usual sideways as I let go the bike during the fall on a climb which was again the sands. The handle got bent from one side and the crash guard came off from one end. This thankfully happened on the last day of the ride and was still manageable to ride as we were supposed to reach Leh that day.

In the midst of all these, I lost one of my shades which fell from my jacket thanks to the off-road & rumblers. 

I also got lost many times as one might know there are not many markers/signboards to let you know which way to go. It was fun on its own.

One of the things that I have not spoken about is the immense respect for our Indian Army. The respect that they command over the local people is for one to see. In fact there is a popular saying among the locals that children don't want to become doctor or engineers, etc. but want to join the Indian army.

I felt so proud when I used to salute them when I saw them passing by and they would reciprocate. They are doing so much yet its the people who live in harm's way know their importance and for most of us it means nothing in our day to day lives.

Ladakh has so much to offer and its still so raw even though commercialization has picked up  its pace. Its something that the locals and even I dislike as they believe the charm of the place could be lost in the coming years. 

As the plane took off from the runway, I looked outside to those mountains, the only thing that I  bought with myself was loads of memories for a life time. 

As I turned around my gaze, there was a sheepish smile on my face as I was screaming on top of my voice inside my head saying "I got Leh'd"

What about you? Still thinking...

P.S. I know this has been a long post and could have been even longer as I omitted to write about certain things/stories/places, about the people with whom I traveled and on. Something ugly also took place on the second last night of the trip which I will share in my coming post.  

This post is all about my experiences of Ladakh. The fun, the adrenaline rush, serenading the mountains & what nots. Did not want to ruin it by writing negative incidents. 

Till we meet again. Julley!!

The Long Hair Short Story

 

Toh kafi tapasaya ke baad woh din aahi gaya ki mere baal itne lambe ho gayi main usse choti bana sakta hu.

Parantu uske peeche chupe pidha, gum aur jo dard sahena pada hain is safar main woh sirf musafir hi jaanta hain. 

Chalye mere bachpan main chalte hain. 

As a kid I wanted to grow long hair. Speaking of this desire would evoke strange responses from Indian parents who would threaten to cut the hair in the night while sleeping.

As a kid growing in an Indian household, it was like living in the British Raj where your freedom was decided by your parents.

Never thought that the day will come until it finally happened.

Corona virus happened and the world turned topsy turvy straight out of a hollywood movie. Movements were restricted, masks to be worn at all time and office work to be done from home i.e., Work from Home (WFH).

In midst of all these, saloons were also shut and people were having a hard time taking care of their hair & facial issues especially the women. For a majority of the men, trimmer did the work.

Since I was on my own on this, I decided to play the long game and it paid off when the hair started to grow longer (but not long enough to tie a pony).

Except not the way I wanted. Men with long hair would always look spick & span and I wonder why I am not. The hair above my ears decided to take a different path on its own.

As one visits a doctor for their illness, I decided to pay a visit to the barber shop which had by then opened up.

As I sat on the barber's chair, I explained the guy that I am growing my hair long and he needs to take care of the hair above the ears. Before he moved his hand on the scissors, I asked him if he understood my requirement. He nodded yes.

The next thing he does is snip up my front hair and no amount of screaming at the guy would make it grow back again. Growing hair is like planting a seed into the ground and watering it over the days, weeks and months to see the stem of the plant growing and getting bigger. Except this one gets cut short.

I was back to square one and the dream soon became a distant one. Called up one of my friend who had kept the John Abraham long hair look from Dhoom to share my grief. Asked him if someone can get this wrong and he said no & had laughs at my expense. Talk about some luck.

Days, weeks & months passed. Slowly & steadily the hair kept growing and finally I was happy. However this time there was another problem. I had a different layer of hair growing at the back of the neck making me look like Sanjay Dutt. As I did not liked it I thought a little bit of snip should do the trick.

This time though I went to a different hair saloon. Went through the same drill and yet ended up getting the hair shorter. I wish I was making this up but this was the sad truth. 

Happened to meet few of my friends later and saw one of my other friend end up with long hair. Spoke to him for his advise and he just let it grow and did nothing. Hearing my barber woes made him laugh and not so for me.

That's almost a year and half worth of efforts gone waste. 

Never thought growing hair can be so troublesome. Most importantly how dumb can be the barbers who dont know how to handle the long hair looks. I was running out of hair saloons and prayers made to god to make sure they get it right.

The good thing though happened in the last six months I was able to grow it back again and this time finally I got it right without a visit to a barber. Finally mere baal ki chotti bani gayi.

However it was short lived since I had to take the decision to keep it as is or go back to my normal hair cut for reasons that cannot be disclosed.

Though short lived, it made me happy knowing that I was able to tick off one of the items from my bucket list.

This is my Long Hair Short Story :)

My Doppelganger

 

Recently I got in touch with my Doppelganger.

Not face to face but yes something that was buried in the memories got a jolt. I have know about it for years now.

I assume she does not about me, but I know about her for more than 10 years now.

A whatsapp message took me back in time when I was first mistaken for her. I remember vividly being at home in the evening when I got the call. The whole conversation then turned around me being employed in a bank, which I was not.

I let it go thinking that it must be a wrong number. Then again who knew the calls were only going to increase.

I started getting calls for visit that I never made to a building for flat purchase, an appointment at a parlor and what not. The calls started getting so annoying that I could not take it and decided enough is enough.

I had to get to the root of it. This was the time when the truecaller app was not around and I had to put the hat of detective once again. Read this post to know more about it.

Did my digging through the calls that I received and came to know her name. My doppelganger had a name to identify with.

Over time, the calls reduced and I too let it go as it was not a nuisance anymore and would receive a call once in a blue moon that it did not affect me.

Then it happened few years back, I got a call when I was in office. An unknown number and I picked it up and said hello and I heard the other person stating that I (as in her) have joined the call and they started discussing their office topics making me realize that I was in a con-call with other people.

I said hello again and my male voice got the attention it required. They realized their folly and I kept the phone down. This time I got her number as they confirmed with me.

I thought of calling her many times but would stop thinking what I am doing? This does not make any sense. The frequency of the calls that I used to receive had watered down. I then let go my thoughts of calling her and telling about me being her doppelganger.

In fact, whenever I used to get a call and they said her name, I would guide them to her.

All was good enough until the calls stopping coming for about 3-4 years now, that it became a distant past.

Until I received a whatsapp message few days back sharing her laundry bill and informing me to make the payment.

Reading her name on it made it all clear. Informed the messenger that its a wrong number. I now got to know where she lives.

Here I am who knows so much about her and almost connected in a twisted way and her not knowing about the connection nor me.

She is not my doppelganger neither I am. She though is my cell number doppelganger and I am hers. The only difference between our mobile numbers is of one digit.

Strange are the ways the world work and I do not intend to cross path until I must...

P.S. What do you think you would have done in my place? Would love to hear them out.

OTT Ka Power Play

 

 

I am/was a television addict and the ones who have been following this blog can vouch for that.

Coming home from school/college/work, it was sitting in front of the idiot box watching movies, good content was the way days would be spent.

I have written about the change of content on the idiot box that it was perhaps time that someone put those tv channels into place who would show regressive tv shows all in the grab of this what people want to see.

The entry of the different OTT platforms had begun and it took a Jio to break the internet access and offer data services for a reasonable price which a majority of the Indian people can afford and provided accessibility to.

The pricing of the OTT platforms still keep it restrictive to a small piece of the cake instead of a bigger piece of the cake. Something that still needs to be worked out.

Cutting the chase to the pandemic, most of us are stuck at home thanks to the lockdown with the exception of people employed in the essential services. 

With me being stuck in the work from home routine, the television set had to be provider of entertainment to provide some relief. Have to say that I had only a year of Amazon Prime Subscription which got over before I become a prisoner in my own home.

The television set became nothing more than a binge watching of Crime Patrol. I will not suggest it for the weak hearted. Apart from that it would be the Kapil Sharma show which for a change had a few good episodes on it.

Movies is what I used to binge on and guess what no new movies would be available on the movie channels. I have to say the Setup Box did no good to the television industry restricting the number of tv channels to a few. Soon enough it is going to be a death knell for the television. 

It came to such a point that we actually stopped watching tv in our home. Few months down the line decided to pull the cord on the cable tv as their was no good content to watch, entertain or binge on...

I guess the next question would be how would I survive without my tv?

Thanks to Reliance Jio, I was hooked on to Youtube before the entry of the OTT platforms and they became a crux of my daily binge as and when I was bored on what to watch. Then again it also offered to me to do some thinking. REAL THINKING.

I see that there are a lot of OTT platforms offering an array of web series, movies and a whole lot more content than the tv channels could cater to. In other words concentrate on that segment of the population who would avoid the rona dhona saas-bhau types serials and pay for good content.

The entry of the OTT platforms is a good thing that has happened and would save the people who would have to depend on the idiot box for content and have no say in it whatsoever.

The audience that never existed before came alive for these OTT platforms. The success of some of the web series, movies being launched on OTT platforms are a proof to it.

However the penetration is still very low as much as 32 millions approx. which is spread across different platforms. Here not counting the regional OTT' platforms like Cave, Hoichoi, etc. 

The OTT platforms monthly/yearly subscription seems to be priced reasonably. However they seem to have not undertaken the other factors that impact that penetration.

Firstly, though the mobile data have been cheaper than what it was earlier priced. The data does not last long and no wonder we can always find links in the telegram channels for download of their content.

A typical household has a cable connection, which let say cost around Rs. 500 and wifi monthly costs around Rs 500. With so many platforms offering an array of content, why would one stick around with them with a yearly subscription? Also do others have the same kind of purchase power to subscribe to other OTT platforms? This is where the real thought needs to be put in.

There will always be a set of people who would be loyal to their OTT platforms irrespective if good content is offered or not. Then again there will be also the other set of people who would try to utilize every bit of the money they spend. If you remember the ad "Kitna deti hain" ad.

Yes that's the mentality of a majority of the Indians who want every worth of their penny. They would only want what works for them.

Now YouTube has also come with a YouTube Premium plan. I think that says a lot about the spread in OTT.

The big question is how to have the bigger piece of the cake. The solution would not be the liking to the OTT platforms as everyone like to a monthly fixed income and not a variable one. Then again how does fixed income+variable income looks? Better than fixed income and yes increase in revenue...

For this one needs to look at the telecom industry. The number of prepaid users outdo the number of postpaid users in India. Though prepaid is considered of low value they are still reckon with and yes the opportunity to convert them into a postpaid user is also there. From variable to fixed income that sound like an opportunity  knocking at the door.

The OTT platforms can come with similar plans and offer complete or limited access as they deem it to be self serving.

I think any OTT platform which consistently offer good content would be the King.

Did I mention that customer would be the one who would decide on that? :)

P.S.: This was suppose to come out around 2 years back but never late than before ha!. In terms of disclaimer, I have a subscription of Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar and not forgetting the free ka Youtube.

IKEA: Yeh Tune Kya Kia

 

The year 2020 was a tough year for an end of the decade. Not that 2021 is better, but atleast we know what we are up against and in much better position to fight the pandemic, even though the struggles are also a work in progress.

Hoping everyone is doing well and praying they do well along with their families.

This tale is about the beginning of the pandemic which we thought would go away when we would usher in a lockdown. Apparently the corona virus was smarter than and we ended up playing an hide and seek game that is still going on...

Since it was a lockdown, offices were closed and work from home became a norm.

The only thing that I miss about the office is the adjustable chair. Being a tall guy, having a lever for adjusting your chair's height, pushing it back feels like heaven which I miss a lot. This is not about the chair, which again I would have loved to have one.

I have to say a home is certainly not a place to work for a tall guy where the ergonomics goes against them. If you don't believe, please do search for the average Indian height, you will know better.

The start of the lockdown I managed to do my work through my arrangements. As months passed by and duration of work getting longer, my back began to complain.

The complaint of the back was so much that I knew I needed a solution. That is getting a work desk which should take care of the problem.

This was going to be the first time experience of mine buying an furniture online. I did not knew that I would be regretting it so badly. After going through a couple of home decor sites I zeroed in on one and that was IKEA.

The purchase and delivery of the table was fine. It was when I opened the box, I realized that one of the corners of the table was chipped off.

Immediately I got in touch with their chat box support on the site and they assured me that they would take care of it. What I did not know was this was just the start of my nightmare. It all began in Oct 2020.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. I had nothing better to do than doing follow-ups to the great international brand of IKEA and keep asking when the replacement would happen. All I got was a date. Yeah I am too reminded of Sunny Deol's famous dailogue tareek pe tareek.....

I seriously wanted to be one of those guys working in the chat support system. I hope they pay nice. The beauty of the chat support system is that the employees can disconnect the chat without even providing you a resolution. On top of that there is no feedback system with regards to the interaction. Sone pe Suagha.

The email system should be replaced by postal service. Such is the world class treatment was provided by this global MNC that the only thing I would get would be a call and a date. No responses or even an acknowledgment to one's email.

The call center was no better. The only good thing was I could vent out my frustration, despair on those hapless agents who would assure of looking into it but nothing would happen. Any talk of speaking to higher ups will be met with a silence stating we cannot do that. How pathetic is the customer service? You cannot give solution nor intent to provide an escalation matrix to ensure that people in the top knows what is going around. 

The person who handles the customer service department surely needs to be given a raise. This kind of customer delight is not heard of before. May well give them an award.

Finally the month of Dec 2020 arrived, I was again assured that I would get a replacement on 31st Dec 2020 which again turned out to be a dud.

I gave it up and stopped following with this company who seems to be lost on responding to their customers and fulfilling their commitments.

2021 turned out to be a good year though. Out of the blue, in the second week of Jan 2021 got a mail from the company stating about the replacement.

Guess what they actually got it replaced. I should thank my lucky stars.

One lesson that I learned through this ordeal is never to buy furniture online. Tauba kar le humne.

I only hope this only helps others as I came across lot of other people on social media awaiting their replacement/refunds. Such kind of pathetic service was not expected from a brand like IKEA. Naam bade aur darshan chote.

Ikea yeh tune kya kia....

Call of the Void

I have a confession to make. I am afraid of heights.

Albeit it was not like that always. I have stood on the edge on the roof and was able to look down. It was in college when I realized I had height issues.

Strange as it sounds having a tall height and short railings would make sure that I stood a feet away instead of being on the edge.

A few years back, it took a worse hit when I visited a place where interior was taking place. Standing on the 12th floor, I was not able to look down and when I sat on a bed next to an open wall without window, railings with hardly a few distance.

As I walked towards the bed and looked outside, I had this voice in my mind prompting me to jump out of the window. As weird as it sounds I did not pay any heed to it but I did ponder on it on the back of my mind why would such a thought would come to my mind?

I had completely forgotten about until it happened again.

Strange, a voice inside your head telling you to jump and there is no coming back from it. Why would one think in such a way? Was the subconscious at play? Trying to telling something? Was it all a figment of imagination for all to begin with?

There were no answers.

Did my own sanity saved the day for me? Made me think about those people jumping from high-rise buildings, did they listened to that voice in their mind as their own and took the step...

I had confided about this to a family member. A few days ago they told me that one of their friends also experienced such an incident and apparently it has a name.

Its called "Call of the Void" or as they say in French "l’appel du vide".

Studies have been conducted to understand this phenomenon but there has not been a complete breakthrough on why the mind would say something that would end up hurting or killing yourself?

It is very normal to happen and can happen to people with no history of depression, mental illness, suicidal tendencies, etc.

If you’re among those who experience the call of the void, it’s usually nothing to worry about. It’s just one of those interesting, mildly scary, not-yet-fully-understood weird tricks of the brain that a lot of people experience (Source).

There is so much to know and so little we know. I would quote from the X-Files "The truth is out there" which pretty much sums it all.

The sad part is not everyone knows about this. Call of the void is a real thing and it would certainly help to make others aware especially those who are hearing those voices.

You may refer below links in case you want to know more:

Link 1
Link 2

Riding A Motorcycle

Oh, I cannot believe that its been six years and the craze of riding a motorcycle has not died down.

As in upgrade myself to a car.

Funny right, why would one pick up a bike to ride leaving the comforts of a car? Its not as if I am driving a Harley or a Bullet (Royal Enfield).

Would you believe that I actually did not learn to ride a bike for the fun but for the need of commute?

As a kid, I used to get my hands on learning more about cars when I had one. It was pretty clear that I would own a car compared to a bike albeit it was not meant to be.

 My first brush with the bike happened in my college days, when one of my school friend decided to teach me on his father's bike. I picked up pretty quickly. That was then.

Ages later I got an opportunity to buy a second hand bike but was not simply interested. I preferred walking & traveling in BEST buses.when frequencies were on a higher end.

In the time to come, it was the need of the hour of commuting that got me thinking. I needed a ride.

Now comes the problem. It had been quite a while since I rode a bike. It was time to learn it again but how?

In the old days, it was a friend with a bike who would help but not now.

In my quest of learning a bike, roped in another friend who too was keen to ride. We almost bought a bike together. One will find driving classes for car everywhere but for a bike there was none.

It so happened that after months passed by I came across one instructor who did taught two wheeler driving lessons. The challenge was when to attend in the weekdays when one is working. I ended up getting up early in the morning traveling in the train and coming back and then leaving for office.

Learning the ropes was ok but practicing it was the key. Getting up early became a norm till it instilled enough confidence that it can be ridden on the daily Mumbai traffic on the way to work and back.

The first long distance ride happened after 9 months to Lonavala. It was fun ride with lots of memories with friends. Post that the next three years was ridden on commute from home to work and back.

The mechanics at the service center used to take a jibe asking if it was not driven around.

The year 2016 was going to change everything. One needs to have the sulemani keeda to do something out of the box.

It was my first solo ride to Nashik (330kms approx.). There were so many things running on my mind. Like what if something goes wrong? Tube tires getting punctured. Which did happened but with a twist. Every ride teaches you something about the ifs & buts & taking care of it.

Post that went on another ride of 1800 kms (longest one for me). What a ride that was.

Somehow the recent ride to Aurangabad a 350 kms distance proved a lot tougher with bad roads taking a toll on my bike & on me. Certainly an adventure where everything went wrong.

The bike reading for the year ending 2019 stands at 2.30 lac plus kms ridden of which a major part of the ride has happened in the last three years.

Have to say that the Aurangabad trip kind of made me desired of having a car which would make certain things very easy.

A bike ride is fun, you can feel the wind on your face, experience each turn in the ghats, the slopes be it uphill or down and the hair pin bends. Such experiences can never be felt on a car ride.

The downside is you cannot leave your luggage lying around on the bike. You need to keep a watch on it. Carry around your helmet as its fixated with gadgets. With a car, you can just leave your belongings behind and walk away with the essentials.

Bad roads can take a toll on you and certainly did on me. However I am not going giving up on it yet.

The option of upgrading to a new bike or car is there. It can be both too!!

What do you think it should be?

The Aurangabad Trip

It was the month of Jan 19 which happened to be the last month to be spent at my now X organization. 

Decided to take a week off coz I could and the timing couldn't get any better.

All kind of thoughts came to my mind like spending the time to get the pending house/personal chores done. To go on a solo trip within India or abroad, etc.

However I was not able to decide thanks to the work that did kept me busy till my last day. I know for someone on a notice period I was actually doing my work which left me with little time to think of how I should be spending my vacation.

As the D-day was nearing, lot of thought was put into place, distances, travel days, itinerary, expenses, etc and I was finally able to zero in onto the location of Aurangabad.

Aurangabad had been on my mind for a long time just like Murud Janjira fort. You keep hearing about the place but nowhere near to go there.

When you talk about Aurangabad, the only places that pops up is Ajanta & Ellora Caves. One might have read about them during their school days. I had the opportunity to visit those places and others and see if they are really that magnificent and serene as it was written in the books.

Now the question was how? 

Everything was put into play and the winner emerged was my bike. Yes, this going to be an another solo road trip that I would be undertaking. 

The bike needed servicing and yes new tires since the old ones worn out.

I would be staying there for five days. Aurangabad is around 350 kms away from Mumbai and an approx 7hrs ride. It was going to be a Sunday ride.

The beginning of the ride was good. Riding on the highway, watching the sun rise, passing through the ghats. Had breakfast at chai ki tapri. It was only as I got near to reach my destination, google maps decide to pull a googly on me. I realized I was lost and decided to rely on locals directions. That did got me on the track but the roads were bad, very bad.

This trip was not short of any adventure. My headlamp casing got broke from one side and it started dangling making me worried that the whole thing might come off. I found a garage nearby who did a temporary fix with the help of fewi kwik.

Still worried if it will stand through or not as I made my way into the city of Aurangabad.

 My place of staying was different this time. It was going to be a hostel. I let myself in to my bunk bed, placed my luggage into locker. Took a shower and then hit the bed to sleep. The room was pretty empty with around 10 bunk beds but there were luggage and clothes lying around.

I woke up in the evening, had my dinner outside and went to sleep again. Had a schedule planned for myself. Did not want to mess that up.

Next day woke up at 5 am, took a cold shower on a chilly morning. Revved up my bike and was putting directions to Ajanta caves when Google maps showed it was closed. Decided to go to Ellora caves instead.

Ellora Caves was a treat. The good thing was I reached early and the crowd was less. The Kaliasa temple is one not to miss. One can still see colors on a few idols making one wonder how it would have looked in its hey days. Its quite a walk to cover all the caves. Do carry water & eatables with you. The highlight of the visit was the lift given by the security guard on his two wheeler all the way to the exit point. It was a nice gesture. The visit to Ellora caves was certainly worth it.

I happen to visit Aurangzeb's tomb thereafter which was not far. One can actually wonder if he repented his actions in his last days. He wanted an open grave with no markings of him being the king. He bought his burial place from the money he earned from selling his hand made caps. However today it stands covered in marble thanks to Lord Curzon. It lies within a masjid.

Nearby, I also visited the Bhadra Maruti temple, the only one of the three temples where Hanuman is in a sleeping posture.

For Lunch I had the local delicacy Naan Khaliya. It was worth the taste.

My next stop was Daulatabad fort. The place has silver monkeys all round. It also has a minar similar to qutub minar. On top of a watch tower lies a ram shaped cannon neatly polished and worth a sight. The very unique monument would be the the bhara mata temple. The whole arena was built with granite like stone and designs different from what I have seen earlier. The disappointment was the idol which was not a statue. It looked like it was painted on and certainly did not look good. There was a Andheri passage which has its own story to tell.

The next day again was early morning ride to Ajanta caves. It was going to be a very interesting ride. It was roughly a 105 km ride but one that was going to prove challenging. The start of the ride was great. The sunrise was beautiful, it was still foggy in the air.

Had stopped for breakfast on the way as it was getting chilly cold even though I was wearing a jacket.  I don't have the habit of wearing gloves even though I carry them with me all the time. My palms got so cold that it felt as if the blood rushed out. I had to stop for the blood to rush in my palms again. Wore my gloves and let my common sense prevail.

I found Ellora caves much better than Ajanta. Only the caves that had the paintings were worth seeing. Otherwise it was pretty much the same almost every cave. When you are a solo traveller, you end up becoming camera person for other people. I ended up taking snaps of other people. Lot of foreigners visitors groups were seen here.

As I was done with my sight seeing, I was worried about getting back to my hostel. The roads were not great. In fact to call it a road itself would be wrong. There was work going on the route and it was full of gravel stones in patches which certainly is not great if you are riding a two wheeler as there is a tendency for the tyres to skid.

I  happen to skid on the gravel stone but since I was on a slow speed, no harm happened to me. One of my fog light glass got broken, the crash guard got scratched and my gear pedal got shifted on the inside.

Post getting my bike up and running, It wont move beyond the first gear. With very difficulty I moved the bike on the first gear from the gravel stone road to have it parked nearby on a safe side to resolve the issue I faced at hand.

The realization dawned that I needed help. I asked the locals nearby if there was a mechanic nearby and they said no. In fact, I will have to travel to another place to get it fixed. I decided to get a lift but that was not looking promising. A tempo decided to help me to take my bike to the place where I can get help for a price. I agreed.

Somehow they change their mind and decided to take someone else help. A two wheeler stopped and two guys helped load the bike into the tempo. Once it was inside, one of the guys asked what was the problem which I told them. The guy took a small stone hit the gear pedal from the inside and it was now on level again. Apparently the same thing had happened to him and this is how it was fixed. Now you know why 'jugaad' works in India. I thanked them as I made my way back to my ride as it was going to get dark soon.

I soon realized that one of my reflective mirror almost came off. I took out the whole thing and found a mechanic to fix it.I started again, this time speeding up as before the sun would set and it could only get worse from thereon. I got back in one piece my bike too with minor damages.

I was done with my long distance places visit. The rest of the places lied within the city to travel. My choice of transport was Ola auto. The first place of visit was Bibi ka Maqbara.

It certainly does gives you the feeling of Taj Mahal on entering the place but its certainly stands on its own. The sad state of affairs is that its not well maintained. They have toilets built inside the premises. The place itself is quiet and peaceful.

People can be so ignorant as there were coins, money thrown all over the tomb. Certainly not the way to pay respect to the dead.

Panchakki was next on the go list. One can only image the ingenious thought put behind building it. The only problem its not well maintained and yes the water gives bad odour. It certainly does not gives a good impression when you visit such places.

My last stop was a zoo and the highlight would be the tigers, who were making noises, roaming freely. It was a sight to watch them. The bonus was seeing a white tiger which is rare to find.

I had a day left and I decided to leave as I covered all the places in my itnerary. There were places that I wanted to go but could not for want of time and distance.

The hostel experience was ok. There were good amount of foreigners who were staying there. Some traveling solo, others in groups. I don't think sharing a room is meant for me. I got rudely awakened in the middle of one night by a guy saying that I am snoring (which I do but not always). Seriously who does that? I was not able to sleep there after. Hostel comes with its rules and one needs to follow that. They don't make your beds like they would in hotels. There was no room service. They served only breakfast. If you are ordering food then you have to wash your dishes too. Itne paise main Itna hi milega.

Roads of Maharashtra need some serious work to be done. They are in terrible conditions. I have seen much better roads down south on a state highway than over here. It really makes me wonder how the villagers ride the gravel roads in the night especially two wheeler's. They don't even wear helmets. One can imagine the damage that it can do...

As I look back on my trip, it has been filled up with lots of memories, adventure, experience and learning. Solo traveling has its own fun as one get to do things the way you want to, meet new people, interact with others. Having fun at your own pace.

 The travel bug has just bitten me. Let see where it takes.

P.S. Back from my trip to Aurangabad, had an impromptu trip to Matheran which again was a first time. It was not solo though but with friends.

Mutual Funds Sahi Hai

I am sure everyone must have seen the ads on the television sets of "Mutual Funds Sahi Hai". It is being promoted in a big way.

With the dip in the interest rates of Fixed Deposits, the only option for a person looking to making better returns on their investments is the stock market and mutual funds.


It kind of reminded me of my days when I wanted to take the plunge into it but was unaware how to go about it. I guess it has to be about  somewhere  around 8 years back.

The first thing that I did was to get a demat & trading account opened. Since I am a bit tech savy, I played with the online platform to understand how it works before making my first purchase. Post that I did ended up buying more shares of different companies.

How did I make my purchase of shares? It all came down to gut feeling. Its a wrong way to buy stocks in this manner. One should always study the company financials, stability, opportunities for growth before making a buy. Something I started to do later on.

Even though few of the stocks I owned did made a lot of sense to me predicating their growth. The management of those companies were though not that keen to be transparent to their shareholders. I ended up burning my hands by selling them at a loss.

At that point of time, I knew of mutual funds but did not knew how it worked out so never invested back then. Now I do and so invested in a couple of them.

The only point that I disagree with the ad that it forget to mention the risks involved which a majority of people would avoid to take. Even though the last line of the ad says "Mutual funds is subject to market risk...."

Yes, it does give better returns compared to other forms of investments. The only problem is that you need to time your exit to end up with a profit. Something that most of the advisors will not talk about.

One might keep their money locked for a year or maybe three. Chances are that even after three years, there is a possibility of not getting returns or seeing your principle in negative. This will happen when the market conditions are not right to make a exit. One needs to make a note of it.

Alas, there is a sure upright trend in more people opting for mutual funds/investment in shares. I just hope they don't have a twinkle in their eyes with the offering of moon in the sky when a pit below can drag you down.

Market is all about timing. When to enter and when to exit...

P.S.I share a fascination for personal finance. In fact had a blog too, which I shut down as I did not had the time nor an idea on how to go about it. Sharing here my two cents.

Monsoon Trip

"Will you take your bike on our trip?" I asked my friend #4 "You want us to take our bikes for the trip? It will be raining". He said. Post that began a list of reason (excuses) of him not being ready enough to take his first long distance road trip.

I speak to him for the second time trying to convince him that we need bikes to wander over there or end up hiring vehicle. It all seemed in vain and we ended up buying train tickets for our trip for the four of us.

On a flashback, the trip was planned in the month of May, not the place and people accompanying. Three people were confirmed. It was to happen on the fourth weekend of June 18.

The scouting for the place began. We were certain that it was not going to be Lonavala. Over the years, it has become too crowded and certainly not worth the effort as you end up seeing more of humans than enjoy the nature.

Post the place decided, began the search for people to join in. We had a car at our disposal. All we needed was to stack up people together to get the trip going.

We got to the magic number of 7 required and then in a whoosh we dropped down to 4. Time was running out...

Back to the present. We were all set to go on a train for our trip, till I and my friend #2 started talking again about how it will be better to have bikes to travel and wander once we reach there.

I spoke to my friend #4 again for taking up the bike and finally he relented. He was going to come all padded up with gloves, riding gears.

The day was great for bike ride as it was hardly raining and yes seeing the lush green mountains and empty roads only got your adrenaline pumping. We reached around noon and took a break in the hotel.

Evening was spent in the swimming pool and in the night we explored the place around. It was fog everywhere. It just made the climate more awesome with cats & dogs pouring down.

The next day we checked out of our hotel, visited the vipassana center and yes in the midst I got my bike skills tested on a muddy patch. Post that we wandered out to a location that reminded me of Manali trip like it was seeing the snow for the first time.

The road was scenic with green cap mountains and fields, little drops drizzling from the sky. It was just awesome. It could not have been enjoyed any better than on the bikes. It certainly made the trip a memorable one.

On the way back, it was raining incessantly and yes we found the fog making it presence too. The empty roads, greenery and the rains made me wish not to leave the place. Then again its trips like this that gets you going, wanting for more and come back again to relive it.

It was a trip that was totally worth it!!

The Motorcycle Diaries

Its been more than four years now that I have owned a bike. Wondering how many years its gonna add up.

It seems like yesterday when I decided to get either a bike or car mainly for commuting purposes. I will be honest here that I prefer my mode of transport to be walking or traveling in BEST buses.

Thought of buying a car but given the Bombay traffic and that it would be extensively used by me, bike seem to make more sense.

Since this got resolved. There was another problem. I did not knew how to ride a bike. My friend from my school days and me had driven his father's bike. That was like ages ago.

I & my other friend decided to get a second hand bike and we thought of using it as our practice bike before we got ourselves a new one. Then again things never go the way we want.

We scrapped the plan and then tried to find someone who could teach us riding a bike. Can you imagine that? Apparently you can find a lot of people/classes teaching you drive a car but a bike is a big no.

However I did manage to find one. I used to wake up at 5 am in the morning catch a train and get down at one of the stations where they used to teach to ride a bike. After my session, I used to get back home and leave for work. This went on for two weeks after which I decided to get my new bike.

Getting a new bike was not a problem but riding one on the roads with traffic is quite a different experience. Post getting my bike, I used to get early in the morning and go for rides in the morning till I got all my strength together to ride it on the road.

The first three years I would clock only 9000 kms. Often the service center guys would ask me you drive your bike too often? What was I suppose to say that I use it only from home to office & back.

Then the day came when I took it out for my first long ride along with my friends and what fun we had riding on the bike. So many memories!

It was towards the end of 2016, I took a short solo trip to Nashik and that really turned out to be an adventure. Given that air was leaking from my tyre but it was not a puncture. Reached Mumbai late evening and it was pitch dark given the yellow lights of the bike was not bright enough to lighten the roads. What a nightmare it was but thankfully reached home safely.

It just only got me to do a few fixes on my bike so that I don't face the mentioned problems again. This I had to take as I had planned to take 2000 km solo ride.

I took this trip last year and it was worth every penny. Every ride has its hardships and mine has always been when I am coming back home. On the way back to home, my will really got tested to such a level that I was not sure if I am going ride a bike on longer distances again. You can read all about it on this link.

Biking is a fun experience especially when you are exploring places. The experience is very different when compared with traveling in a car. The wind gushing on your face when you move ahead and in control of the ride. It just takes you on a whole different level when you are surrounded with scenic landscapes and greenery and who can forget the ghats and its corners.

For me the journey has just begun... What about you?


P.S.: You can check out the photos of my journey on the link

Planning Ladakh Road Trip: Begin your practice here

Anyone who has been reading the blog does know about my passion for biking. Happen to take a long tour and then short ones to pump up myself.

Like any bike rider, the ultimate road trip challenge is to do a Leh Ladakh road trip. To be able to conquer it is nothing short of an accomplishment that stays with one for a lifetime.

I am no different and I have been thinking, making plans about it for two years now. I almost came to pull off the trip this time but had to forgo because of other commitments. Next year, its surely on the cards.

However, if you are like me feeling that you are missing out in the action. Worry not, we have alternative that will give you the same experience of a Ladakh ride minus the high altitude and beautiful scenery.

One does not have to go anywhere far. Wait for the rains to come in and one can see Bombay turn up into a practice ground for your trip to Ladakh.

You will see potholes that will test you to the tee in the traffic. Water through which you will have to make your way through as you move ahead. Except that its not fresh water but includes rain water with the mix of drainage water.

Traveling through the Bombay roads during these rains will surely make realize what you will need in the tough terrain.

I stopped taking out my bike in the rains this year given parking issues. However when I did the roads did not disappoint.

If you are like me missed on going to the highest altitude region this year, make do with the roads of Bombay which probably can off far more challenges than Ladakh can in the rains.

Here is a glimpse below.

Old People

I am reminded of an image of me running away from my grandmother. My grandmother was not keeping well and mom had brought her home to take care of her. Within a few days she had passed away.

She was the last one of my family that I recollect was the oldest among our family. Post that I have met old people among my relatives but hardly any time spent with them.

However a year back, all this changed as I interacted with more of people from older generations, some who were born before India had got its Independence.

I have met almost all kind of people, some who would be open to you, some cranky and then there are people who would like to create a fuss every time so that one pays attention to them.

Its not wrong to say that old age is another form of childhood in itself. I have seen that happen. One thing they like to do is either talk a lot or keep quiet. The one who keeps talking reflects the loneliness that has come up on them. With them, time could just pass by.

There are people who take stock of the situation and handle it pretty well like an adult. Then there are some who are just waiting for their time to come.

I never had grandparents or older people to talk to. When I interact with them, its quite a learning and yes good too as they have the experience that you and I don't. Sometimes I would fail to understand why people would like their parents to live alone on their own while they live with their own family abroad. Old age is an age when a child needs to take care of their parents like they did when we were child. Not everyone does that.

I hope everyone of us is able to take the time out to interact with them, make them feel alive as one knows the clock is ticking. One will never know when you lost your chance. Time is precious.

As a old lady gave a parting shot to me. I was born in Karachi, because of which my family calls me a terrorist. :)

Daman

Every time an outing is planned with friends, it somewhat goes like it happens in the above video. I can vouch that at some point of time each of us might have experienced it at least once or more.

It so happened that I was talking to my friend on the phone and that we need to go out for a outing. My friend spontaneously came up on the idea of going to Lonavala. He called up another friend, hooked him up on concall. He also said yes. Now we needed a driver for the car so called up another friend and he too agreed. 

The energy for the trip got build up as we were going on the same weekend. I was excited that in such a short moment we ended up planning an outing that was crazy.

The D-day came and I was all set to go. When I called up my friend for the meeting point, he said the plan is cancelled as he was down with dysentery. Nothing got me more mad than this as we were taking his car and without him the trip had to be cancelled.

We ended up making another plan which again got delayed by two months and then we ended up in Daman instead of Lonavala. Why, you ask. Well, we never had been there before.

The irony of this trip was that it also almost got cancelled. My friend kept pushing the dates and we never did any booking of our transport or hotels. When the D-day came near, we ended up booking our train tickets and hotel booking just one day prior our departure. 

We were supposed to reach Vapi at around 1:30am in the midnight but ended up reaching at around 3am thanks to the heavy downpour of rains. We hailed a Ambassador car taxi that dropped us at our hotel.

I thought I would catch up on my sleep but my friends wont let me. After all they were out of Bombay and now they can do what they do best and that was drink. 

Later on we ended up going to the beach on the early morning. Since our hotel was beside the Devka beach, we went over there but soon realized that it was not that clean kind of beach like in Goa. We decided to embrark towards Jampore beach by taking an auto rickshaw.

When we reached the beach, the water was nowhere to be seen. It was drizzling and being alone in the beach on an early morning had just made our day. 

We ended up walking quite a distance to find water so that we can drown ourselves but it certainly took a beating out of us. We also had a group of dogs that followed us. Finally when we could see the water, it was all muddy and yellow. Not the kind of water I would like to get myself dirty with. On our way back, we made halt at a shack for our morning breakfast.

There were no auto rickshaw and we decided to walk a little. With the little walk, we ended up walking at least half the distance to our hotel as there were no buses & auto rickshaw to take us back to our hotel. We also had a doggy who joined us in our dandi march.

We finally managed to get an auto rickshaw and had to bid goodbye to the dog which came along with us from the beach. Back at the hotel we had a proper breakfast and then went on to catch up on our sleep.

In the evening we visited the Moti Daman fort and the beach alongside it which was better than the Devka beach least to say. The Motil Daman holds all the government offices inside it. We also saw Cathedral of Bome Jesu. We then decided to retire for the day.

The next day we went to Nani Daman fort and then to the jetty wherein we tried to capture the beauty of this place. We then headed back to Vapi to get on our train to Bombay.

I was little disappointed by Daman from what I had heard about it. Especially the beaches, they are not that clean. What the point of living near a beach if you cannot go in the waters of it. All and all the tourist places can easily be covered within a day. It can be said that its a paradise for those who love their drinks, wont even call it a mini goa.

We did though had our fun and ended up checking off this place from our list.

Jio Mere Laal

Everyday back from work or on my weekends, I used to be found by my family hiding my head behind my laptop probably watching a movie or simply surfing the internet.

You see thanks to television soaps which instead of progressing forward from the days of Nukkad, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Surabhi, etc went to the back old days of Kyu Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Nagin and what not's...

Internet changed my life as I got introduced to the life of facebook, whatsapp, instagram, etc. Did I forgot to mention torrents which met with a fateful demise. I made sure that everyone knows about my 'happening' life by checking into facebook, uploading pics of places visited, Insta/snapchat stories Then again nothing comes for free.

If internet is free then data is certainly not. Data packs were exorbitant if you opt for the 3G plans. One ended up paying twice for data i.e., wi-fi at home and then another data pack for the mobile phones.

Even before 3G could make its presence felt, we had the arrival of 4G network in a very big way thanks to the Reliance Jio offering data free and unlimited voice calls for three months which they further extended.

Before the huge public lines outside the banks after the demonetization, they could have been found outside the reliance digital stores and yup they were not complaining.

I was not the early ones to get my hands on the free sim card then again if consumer is made the king then why not make use of it? I ended up getting one for myself.

With a Jio sim card in my hand, I wondered what to do next.... I then did the next best thing of downloading new apps, trying it out and then YouTube happened. I never used to download a single video even if someone whatapp'd it to me. With Jio, it was different.

 I think I have watched about 100+ videos by now and I never got bored. Its interesting to see people doing vlog when I believed only blogging existed.

Its like its a whole new world out there. People like you & me are making videos and putting it up there for everyone to watch. Some of them are real good. You can watch shows too that are available only online and they are devoid of the telly sagas sob stories.

Albeit like every good thing come to an end, this one too meet its fate as I am not going for a paid subscription. Don't think its worth it.

However in its fight to kills its competition, consumer ends up becoming the king with the data prices coming down and more free data offered.

In the end all I can say is Jio mere Laal!!

Solo Trip: 2000 kms

"Sometimes the road you travel doesn't lead to the Destination you had hoped for. But if you can look back on the trip and Smile... Then it was Worth it."

I have owned a bike for three years and it is yet to be used to its full capacity. The only time I took it out for a ride outside Mumbai was Lonavala (2yrs back) and then probably Sanpada. In case you are wondering why Sanpada, then it will require another blog post, so will save it for another day. 

Recently in the month of Dec, I gathered my courage and decided on my first solo trip from Mumbai to Nasik which was a 350 kms ride back and forth. I enjoyed my experience of the first solo trip which was started not knowing what to expect and turned one of the best moments of my life on my bike.

When another opportunity came up, I knew what my ride will be. However this was not going to be easy one. You see this road trip was of a longer distance and apart from that my family was reluctant to let me go knowing that biking is still consider dangerous by a majority of people.

However since I remained adamant given that I did not put much thought into it except the fact that I was excited on going on the road trip that required me to be on the road for days.

I was suppose to carry a tank bag but found it short for the luggage that I was carrying. Hence had to carry my shoulder bag.On the hindsight I should have carried it along with me.

Day 1: I was supposed to wake up at 5 in the morning to beat the traffic to get out of Mumbai. However thanks to my work responsibilities I ended up coming late to home and the next day woke up at 6 instead of 4:30. By the time I left home it was already 7. Filled up the tank and was ready to hit the road.

I was going to ride 2000 kms and for that I decided to have a stop over at Belgaum on my way to Mangalore. This was going to be a 485 kms ride. I had to take the old Mumbai Pune highway and from there on to the Pune Bangalore highway.

I was completely dependent on the google maps for my destination. I have to say that they are not completely reliant as I found out that it showed the route through the expressway where bikes are not allowed. I will come back to on this later.

The ride was enjoyable one. Sunrise never disappoints and no matter how many pics you take of it. It always feels different when you are clicking a snap from a different location. I think the best way to enjoy the nature is to take a road trip and see what nature has to offer. 

I ended up reaching my destination at 8 and checked in to my hotel. The dinner was courtesy of my friend whose native place is Belgaum and arranged it through his relative. Went back to sleep after making sure my phones, powerbank, etc., are fully charged.

Day 2: The only disappointment waking up in the morning was not getting a hot shower. Apparently the hot shower starts after 6 and I had to leave before that. So I packed my bags on my way to Mangalore which was around 450 kms away. 

Back on the Pune Bangalore highway with the night still out, it felt as if I was riding alone on the road. Thank god for the LED lights otherwise it would have been one hell of a slow ride. 

Thanks to the cold weather every time I would speed up I would get the chills and would have to slow down. The weird part, my riding jacket comes with a thermal wear and on getting it lined up with the jacket, I started to feel more cold than otherwise. Also wore my hand gloves for some part of the distance as cold was getting to my fingers.

I am though not comfortable with my hand gloves for some reason when I ride with it, I face issues accelerating and applying the front brakes. So this time I was better without it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the state highway and then the ghats enroute. However there was a section of the road that kept me wondering what I was doing. The good thing however was that I found a group of riders who sped away on their high cc engines leaving me behind in a zap. This helped on my way to get my adrenaline rushing. I found them on both the days.

They even gave me a thumbs up which is considered as a sign of respect.

Finally I reached my hotel at around 5pm in the evening.

Day 3 : I had a day off as needed to get my work done. I again left at 5 am in the morning and revved up bike all the way. I have to say when you prepare for a trip you always leave out something that comes to haunt you back. 

In my case I took all the riding gear except for the bag and then I forgot the most important thing. Taking care of my butt which always becomes the first victim in long rides. I never thought about it even though I had experienced it in my lonavala, nasik trip. Somehow it still skipped my mind and gave me more pains than probably a waxing could.

My stops become frequent and then there were all kinds of thoughts eluding my mind even though my eyes were focused on the roads. It was like have a talk with yourself and asking yourself the purpose behind the trip. I found the gang of riders again which again helped.

I manage to check in my hotel by 6 at Belgaum and happened to take a quick nap before my friend call woke me up. He was in town and we met and again had dinner from his end. His relative owns a biryani shop and the mutton biryani is simply finger licking delicious.

Day 4: I decided to leave at 6 so that I could get some rest. However that was not meant to be. Whenever I am in a new place, I end up getting up in the middle of the night every now and then. I think I was not able to get proper sleep due to it. That probably got me tired and exhausted more than I could.

Left the place and this day proved to be more grueling than my other days. This time I had thoughts of abandoning my trip. Don't ask me why but it did. My stops became more frequent and I was at a loss for continuing my journey back to Mumbai. 

If you have read Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage you will know what I mean. I literally had to drive my will & managed to reach Lonavala. Bought fudge and chikki for my sister. I think it was 3 in the afternoon. 

Post that I got lost in the ghat thanks to google map and yes bad directions from people. Luckily some people guided me to the right route  Even though I was nearing to reach Mumbai, it certainly became a task to reach.

Finally had some pep talk with self, I ended up reaching home at around 8 pm. My family got elated to see me that we had a family group hug.

Even as I struggled with my journey, I wish to do it again as it certainly is an experience that I will never forget. Its never about arriving at the destination but the journey that matters...

This is just the beginning.

P.S. You can check out the instagram for ride pics on following link

Ride Safe. Be Safe.

2017: Bring It On

Another year gone by and yes I am wondering how soon it got passed by.

I know that this year I have blogged less than I should have. In fact there were moments or the urges to blog but the mind and the heart were in different places. Its like you want to blog but could not find the energy to do it. I almost wondered why.  

The year was like any other year except that few of the below things happened:

• One of my close friend got married
• I got a new job (badly needed one!!)
• Got back with my old buddies
• Did my first solo trip on the motorbike
• Did many things for the first time that were out of my comfort zone.

 

I had this habit every new year, the first day of the year, I would read the horrorscope, put it up and hope that this year would go good. I used to do that but this year I am not going to do that.

You see last year I have learned a lot and yes one of them is living in the present. Trust me, there is nothing like living in the present. Reminds me of the dailogues from Master Oogway from Kungfu Panda if you know what I mean.

 

 Then there are times when you just need to go ahead with your gut feelings and do stuff because you want to make it happen. My solo roadtrip was a culmination of it. I was going to do a post on it at least had thought of doing it but did not :(

Feel older when people start saying you are older than me. Seriously from when did age started to coming in between unless you plan to marry someone. I never did that to anyone but it seems people take age pretty serious. So whenever anyone says that, my next question is are you planning to marry me? Its like they are going to stay young forever as they have found the fountain of youth.

When talk of marriage, Salman Khan is not the only one dodging questions about it. I am also at the receiving end especially when certain of my friends surprised me by getting married. What is this fixation of marriage other people have that they cannot bear you to be seen single. Don't they want me to be happy?

 

All I can say is everything falls in place when the time is right.

 

I hope to blog more. You see I have been blogging since 2007 and that's like 9 years something that has kept me going on. I know that most of the people that I know have stopped blogging, guess other priorities taken over. I hate to see that...

This right here is my space to freedom and I don't ever want to give up on that.

Neither should you. So this year do what makes you happy and go for it. Don't procrastinate it. Don't give yourself excuses for not doing what you really desire. Never let your yourself think what if I had tried.

Just Do It.

Trust me, its always better to try then never at all.

Hope this new year brings all your wishes come true.

"Dont Dream It. Live It"