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 :)

Closure

 

Closure is something that is good to have. When there is ample amount of clarity that things have come to an end. 

No guess work, no overthinking just precise & clear. No matter what goes in one's mind, closure is like the big full stop that one cannot miss.

The question does arise though do we get a closure at all? The way it should have been in the utopian world of righteousness.

Though disturbing the answer is a big NO. Majority of the times we don't get the "oh it's a wrap" and we can move on with our lives.

It just only makes you think if this what its supposed to be. Something perhaps not acceptable to one. Then again one cannot change it and have to come terms with it & make the choice of either accepting or rejecting it.

Both of the choices can cause a lot of pain or agony before one ends up with the dilemma of continuing it till the extent they can. The passage of time can either be a boon or bane if you choose either to move on or be stuck with the hurt.

Do we really need the closure to clear things in the air? Is it not better at times to not have the answers that we are looking for and deliberate about the what ifs & what nots.

Sometimes not getting the ending one wanted enables us to stretch our imagination and ability to tell the story the way we want which could have its basis on the foundation of truth or lie.

Maybe closure is the choice we make to either accept a situation as-is or take the initiative to change it for the good or bad. Only time will tell how it works out.

Its only when we look back at the puzzle of the jigsaw fit in together that gives us a better understanding of how it could have been managed better. If only there was a time machine to go back in time and change it for the good we believe in.

Irrespective of the closure, it remains with you till the end. Every time someone speaks of it, it brings back the emotions/feelings felt back in time. Memories come back to haunt again with sleepless nights.

The dance of the monkey continues until we get hold of it to stop. A choice that could do very well for one when you are not in the position to change the status quo. Its better than burning up oneself for life if one seek justice/righteousness. 

Only a fool end up burning themselves up in the fire of their own emotions which does no good to anyone.

Perhaps closure is the lesson of letting go when you know its better to let go than hold on to it. Then again it all comes to the choice we make during those turn of events that decides the outcome. 

One can finally go to sleep peacefully in the night knowing you did what you had to about the choices that were made. No matter how much one looks back in the past, the closure needs to be bought in one's present & future.

As the movie quote sums it all:

“Zindagi mein bhi end mein sab theek ho jaata hai. Happys Endings. Aur agar, aur agar theek na ho to woh the end nahin hai dosto, picture abhi baaki hai.”

  

Insta Story

Suchi was looking at him intently listening to what her boss was saying to the bunch of sales guys huddled up in the conference room for the morning meeting.

It took more than half an hour for the every day 15 mins of morning meeting today. Coming out of the room, the day that looked brighter went on to become gloomy.

She moved to her desk and checked her phone and replied to a few messages, checked a few apps and then went about her work leaving a few of them unread.

Across the city, Rishabh had just put up a story on his Instagram sitting on his desk having his sip of coffee and looking at the monitor now and then. After every sip of his coffee, he would check on the number of views of his story but still looked dejected. 

He got up to keep the coffee mug back to its place and poured himself into the work that awaited his attention. 

Time felt still. Every now and then he would check on his Instagram story views and that would make him more restless. He looked at his watch and only 15 mins had passed away since he started his work. It looked like a long day ahead.

It was past dinner time Rishabh kept checking on his phone and the Instagram story. As the night had set in, Suchi was already in bed trying to fall asleep by watching random reels on Instagram. As she got bored of it, she started watching Insta Story of the people she followed.

As the story moved from one person to another, she landed on Rishabh's story. It was about him holding his ears and doing sit ups and saying he his sorry in a hilarious way that got her smiling cheek to cheek as she turned on the other side of the bed.

As she was reading his messages, she got a call from Rishabh whose restlessness got the better out of him as they finally spoke...

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.

The Past

 

 

Sugandha asked Jinesh to talk her friend as she curled herself on the other side of the bed holding a pillow. 

"Let me check with her and message you" replied Jinesh as he kept the phone down. He told Sungandha that she needed the PNR of their flight tickets to cancel. 

"Its in the sms, please send it to her na". "Yeah, I will if you could unlock your phone." he said. 

She gestures to hand over the phone to her and gives it back unlocking the phone. Jinesh forwards the text to her friend as he is laying next to Sugandha as she is trying to sleep.

As he was going to keep the phone next to her, a whatsapp message pops up which caught his attention.

Scrolling through her chat messages, he wondered if he knew Sugandha at all. The night became a bit longer for the sun to rise.

They had met through a common friend a year back. Jinesh never thought he could come across someone who would make him feel complete.Sugandha too felt the same for him. They decided to take it ahead formally as they decided to be together for the rest of their lives.

They both got engaged to be married in a few months. Life could not get any better from both of them.

Sugandha's parents had gone out of town, when she fell ill. With no one to take care, Jinesh decided to be there for her.

He looked at her sleeping and found himself unbearable to deal with what he came across.

All he could think of was did he knew Sugandha at all? Planning to marry her?

Jinesh kept her phone on her side and he moved to his side of the bed. Staring at the wall, all he could think about was the chats from the past.

He kept thinking if he should confront her or not or let past remain the past...

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....

Tick Tok

Time is ticking and with each tick of the clock is your life too.

Such strange times that we live in. We needed a pandemic to hit the pause button of our lives to look around and smell the grass.

 Not sure if the year 2020 can be called great, but yes life did take a 360 degree turn for most of the people, turn upside down. For some made to wonder what the future holds for them.   

I will be honest enough that the beginning of the work from home was not great for me. Someone who cannot stay at home for long told you cannot move out of your home because there is a lock down.

One of the good things that happened I ended up reading books, doing other stuff and yes taking a pause from this blog. In reality was not in a good headspace to write almost about anything. 

The year was supposed to end in a different note but ended up in a different way.

Who says God does not have humor? I certainly experienced it the details of which will be revealed later if everything goes on a happy ending or maybe not...

I have come across people who have choose to live a complicated life which could have been much better if they had made the right choices. I guess trying to understand or bring sense would not make any sense since that ship has already sailed. The next best thing that one can do is hope that they move in the right direction and add meaning to their lives instead of living in a short term happiness and unhappiness in the long term. Why do anyone even want to live such a life of emptiness?

Independence means different to different people but stretching the limits of it is to test yourself or bring harm to one. I hope people realize life jhand nahi hoti but the choices one makes in their lives decides where it will take you.

The year 2021 is no different than 2020 but yes there is this hope that things will get better and we may go back to our old lives finding ourselves back in our homes, offices or wherever you thought was your life. Hope there is no regret that during this pause phase of our lives, we did not get an opportunity to have a reassess our lives, our lifestyle and yes of course health both physically and mentally.

Hope that you find your purpose of living, happiness and love that you look for.

I certainly hope that I can get back to write more on this space of mine :)

Daddy's Little Princess

Source: ispcc

Karan was sitting in the hall, his shoulders drooping elbows resting on his legs as his hands covered his face. He could hear the voices coming from inside and wanted them to stop.

It went for quiet a while, screams could be heard and then Anju his wife came out and said "You talk to her. She is not listening to me" she said.

"Let me try" Karan said and went inside. He saw his 15 year old daughter Arohi sitting near the window looking outside. Eyes swelled up and face sullen.

He walked toward her and sat down to the floor to look upwards towards her. "Beta, what happened?" he asked her which was met with a silence and indifference to his presence. "We talked about this. Remember we had a deal" Again there was no response from her end.

Sensing that she was in no mood to talk he offered to leave to which she responded "I don't want to go" still looking outside the window. "Who is talking about leaving? We are still a family and will be always. The only difference will be I will not be around much but just a phone call away. Your wish will be my command".

"Dad, I want you to live with us just like old times. Why can't we be like one happy family like we used to be? No one cares about what I want. she said as her eyes let the tears flow out.

"I know its difficult for you to understand right now but when you grow up, you will know it was in the best interest of everyone. This is not what I wanted you to go through but here we are" as he held her hands into his.

"Dad, do you still love Mom? she asked and he nodded his head in sadness. "Why don't you fight for her, make her stay?

He looked at her with a smirk smile. "Don't you think I tried hard enough? You cannot hold on to people who have choose to move on. For a relationship to work it has be from both the ends. Otherwise both end up losing".

"People grow apart but that does not changes how you feel about them. You choose to move on with your life".

"I want to live with you Dad, not her". "Arohi beta, you know I tried from my end. Don't hate your Mom for this. She is doing what she think is best for her and you. Life is not a bed of roses and situations like this makes one realize to let each other know that you love them from time to time. Maybe I was not paying attention to what was going on with her and paid for it".

"I will never stop loving her and so should you. Remember the happy times and I will be just a phone call away" he looked at her and smiled as he held on to her hands. She smiled back.

"Be a good girl now and give your Dad a hug" Karan said as he got up. "You know, you look so pretty when you smile, your face lights up" as they hugged each other.

"You will be always be your Daddy's little princess"