Book Review: Connect The Dots: Rashmi Bansal

 

I have to admit that I am late. That too by a decade. The book was first published in 2010.

It feels like ages ago when I read the author Rashmi Bansal's first book Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. It certainly stirred a thought.

One has to wonder if the author is fan of Steve Jobs when one goes through the book titles which can be related to him. The title for this book seems to be derived from his famous speech at Stanford.

Don't we love the underdogs, when they triumph like a David taking on a Goliath?

Apparently the author also shares a fascination for them when she talks about the twenty  entrepreneurs who  were never in the first place meant to become one.

The book talks about individuals who perhaps in their quest to satiate their hunger came out in the black as they stood out for their acumen to make better of their situations/opportunities.

Be it the story of Prem Ganapathy of Dosa Plaza who came to Mumbai sustain a living but ended up building a dosa empire that has over 70 outlets in India and abroad.

There are others like him who stand out. Like Hemant Gaikwad of BVG India, R Sriman of Crossword (no longer a part of it), Chetan Maini of Reva (sold to Mahindra), Mahima Mehra of Hatthi Chaap, Krishna Reddy of Prince Dance Group & Saurabh Vyas and Gaurav Rathore's Political Edge.

It takes you on the embarkment of their journey and the problems that they had to overcome to reach where the stand today. The author ensured that she touched on the areas of these entrepreneurs wherein there journey could be captured in a holistic manner.

Like the speech of Steve Jobs, its only when you look back at their choices, grit & determination that one can connect the dots.

The book makes a wonderful read if you like reading about individuals who came on the top when the chips were down. Their passion, vision and focus did not drown them in societal norms of  walking the path of tried and tested roads.

Its worth a read for anyone wanting to become an entrepreneur from having nothing but passion and an idea to bring their dreams to reality.

 

P.S.: You can buy the book at Amazon on https://amzn.to/2tbZUhy

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?

Book Review: Footprints On The Sand Of Crime

When one talks about reading books, one always goes for known authors/writers whose books are popular. It saves one from disappointments.

Then again what happens to those budding/potential writers or someone publishing a book whose name you have never heard like ever...

The beauty of reading  from these unknown writers is that they bring fresh perspective and different ways of story telling then one has been used to.

Remember the world has a population of more than a billion and each one of us has a story to tell using our own imagination, experiences and unique way of putting it out for the readers to read.

Why choose to restrict yourself to a few when you can explore around the unknown to learn more or understand better perhaps.

I decided to take the plunge with the book Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen by Porus Munshi. It did not disappoint.

For the second book, I picked up Footprints on the sand of crime by Ramakant Kulkarni. It explores the crime scene in India from the experiences of a police officer and touched upon a few criminal cases handled by him. The book was first published in 2004 and has been in reprint.

It is so ignorant of us that while we watch so many western detective/crime tv shows/web series but we hardly know anything about the Indian crime scene unless one has started watching Crime Patrol.

The book touches upon the journey of the author from joining the police force to moving up within the ranks and his encounters with the crimes taking place. 

Be it the international criminals Walcot and Danze or arresting the serial killer Raghav Raman. 

Every case has been detailed with the trail that led them to the assailant which certainly makes an interesting read.

There are some cases which makes you wonder was killing the person worth it? Be it the case of a prostitute who was living a happy married life after leaving her past behind or the murder of a women bus passenger.

The author has outlined his progress in the police force to CID. It  certainly makes it worth reading as one gets to learn more about the working of the police force.

He has expressed his distraught over re-investigations of cases or investigating one of their own. He also informs us how getting crime solved did not led to justice unless its proven in the court which can be tedious and sometimes the accused goes scot-free.

He sheds his insights into the Raj Bhavan burglary & Indira Gandhi's assassination of which he was a part of.

The book summarizes the author's journey and the insights into the select cases. The writing is also lucid which makes it easier for the readers to comprehend.

Would recommend this book if you want to learn more about the Indian crime scene.

P.s. The author has passed away almost thirteen years back.

Book Review: Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen

Have started reading books after a very long hiatus from last year and its been a mixed bag.

I ensure that the book I pick up for reading is completed. Then again there are challenges wherein I have found difficult to finish books. I literally have and had to give up on them. It happened back to back and I wondered if I lost my touch with reading.

Thankfully, I was wrong and got back in the reading mode with "Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen" by Porus Munshi, published by Collins Business.

India is known for its "Jugaad" and this book attempts to explore few of them who were in a position to make life altering changes for the organization/people they worked with.

It takes us through these case studies or should I say orbit shifting moments as the author  Porus Munshi likes to call it.

The book covers 11 personalities from different walks of life, who despite their challenges overcomes them through their sheer innovation, persistence & perseverance.

It was Govindappa Venkataswamy stubbornness to cure needless blindness that led to the creation of Aravind Eve Hospital. Known for its high quality, high volume, low-cost service delivery model all of which was learned by observing McDonald's service efficiency. It certainly makes a fascinating read if you have not heard about it.

 The Trichy police case study showed the way wherein community policing had a larger impact on combating crime and other issues. To such an extent that the crime rates dipped to the lowest as compared to the ratio of cop to people.

Similarly there are other case studies which includes Cavinkare, ITC;s E-choupal, Bosch India, Titan Edge & Surat city transformation.

The author has kept kept them light-hearted and  easy to comprehend. He has made sure not to go into the nitty-gritty and kept it simple for readers understanding.

I liked the case studies of E-choupal, Trichy community policing, Surat city transformation, Aarvind eye hospital, Su Kam & Shanta Biotech.

They show the grit & resolve of these individuals who have risen above the challenges with their innovative ways breaking the barriers of societal thoughts. Paving the way for path breaking products, processes & ideas into use.

The book makes an interesting read if you like to read about ways the Indian jugaad works.

It's certainly worth a read.

P.S. You can buy the book at Amazon on https://amzn.to/38OQrvH

Dreams Do Come True

Sudhir was taking a piss in his toilet with the door open. When a women in her mid thirties appeared in a black sari with red border, her hair open and a red big bindi on the forehead staring at him.

He turns around and there is no one. He thinks about it being weird and all and goes back to sleep.

The next night he gets woken up in middle of his sleep, seeing the women again standing in front of him, next to him sitting on top of him. This continues for a few nights.

He gets up in the middle of the night, looks around and there is nothing. It shook him so much that he dreaded to fall asleep.

His performance at work slumped, sleeping at work, low productivity to such an extent that he was told to take a few days off to get things in order.

Sudhir being an atheist, thought maybe taking a break was not a bad idea. Lying on his bed, he wondered about the women in his dreams, Was she a figment of imagination or did she really existed? He could not recall seeing her ever. Answers eluded him.

He switched off the lights of his room, hoping to catch up on his lost sleep. Though on the back of his mind the thoughts of the women in sari wont go away.

The next day people were coming in and out of his flat, as Sudhir's body was carried out into the ambulance. Police presence was there making inquires. 

Murmurs were heard that he probably passed away in his sleep. The landlord informing the police that over five years ago a women had died in a similar manner.

A colleague overheard the conversation to whom Sudhir had confided into about seeing the women. He wondered if only Sudhir had paid attention to his dreams from coming true.

Surrender: The Conclusion

Read the first part on this link

The sound of the water droplet falling on the base of the window was making its presence felt like a echo. Girish was sitting across Prasad in his cabin, when Prasad said "Mr. Kamat, as you are aware we dug the place you mentioned, we could not find the bodies as it was decomposed. We did though found belongings which helped identify their identities and corroborated it with their family members".

"Kamat Sir, why did you do it? Why come and confess after thirty years? You are in your seventies, you could have kept this as your secret and died peacefully as a good samaritan. We did a background check of yours and everyone only has good things to say about you. Why give up on all that? Prasad asked him as he looked at him trying to unravel the puzzle.

"I needed to answer myself. I am guilty of killing three people. I am sure their families must be looking for them. I needed closure and they did too". Kamat replied.

"Why kill them? They had paid for their crimes". Prasad asked him. "Not enough. When they tried to do it again." He replied "Again?" Prasad questioned. Girish replies in affirmative.

"Can you let me know what happened?". Girish took out this spectacles and moved his right hand fingers between his eyes and pressed his nose and removed them.

"Even post completing their jail term, they never got reformed. They began haunting my family. My wife, my kids and me. I did what an ordinary citizen would do, file a complaint with the police station and they would get away. Until they got to her. I knew I had to take things in my own hands now".

"My wife was a strong women, She rebuild herself from the tatters she was left with. She had been an independent women, a loving wife and a good mother. She was back into her shell, scared wondering if it was going to happen again. They almost got hold of her the other day but got saved from getting raped."

"I killed them and life has been a bliss thereafter especially my wife who recovered and died peacefully,seeing our children grown up, well settled. We were living happily in our own world and somehow found ourselves under this situation. What was I suppose to do, sit around and wait till they harm my family? I was not going to let it happen."

"One has to take matters into their own hands when the system fails to give you justice". Girish thundered. "Mr. Kamat, I can only sympathies with what you have gone through, but taking matters in your hand is certainly I wont recommend. I know the system failed you, but  that does not happen all the time." Prasad said trying to make his point.

Girish looked at him with stern eyes and said "Do you know about the infamous Priyadarshini Mattoo Case?" Prasad nodded yes. "You also must be knowing that his death sentence was converted to life sentence. Have you wondered about the girl who lost her life at the young age of 25. Don't you think she had her own aspirations? her family dreams for her. How do you think they would respond that the killer of their daughter is still alive, got married, had a child, becomes an advocate and it took 10 years to deliver justice. Numerous written complaints filed but yet the killer got away. Had the system worked, today she would have been alive instead of getting murdered and raped gruesomely".

Prasad was left speechless. He got up from his seat, moved towards Kamat and said "Sir, I know the system failed but we need to keep trying. Not everyone is a bad apple. I will have to arrest you for the crimes you committed and would be kept in jail till the court hearing comes up and gives its verdict" he said.

"You please do your job" Girish said. Prasad called out to Gaitonde to take Girish away. 

As Mr. Kamat was taken away from his cabin, Prasad looked at him wondering if justice has been truly served given the nature of the case. He moved towards the window and opened it as it stopped raining outside.

P.S. This short story is actually inspired by an old 2001 Sri Lankan movie Aswesuma story plot. I have only read about it, not seen yet it made me think...

Finally, I have some closure.

Surrender

It was raining incessantly. The old door made its creaking noise as it was pushed. The sound of the rains hitting the ground was loud enough to be heard inside the room. It was pitch dark outside as Inspector Prasad looked outside the window taking in the smell of the first rain.

"Sir. An old man wants to meets you" constable Gaitonde said. "Kay zala" (what happened?) he asked as he put his finger into his nose and starts to wiggle it.

"Me vicharla tyla pun toh sangto ki toh tumhala fakta sangel" (I asked him but he states that he will only talk to you) Gaitonde said. "Aat pathav tyla" (send him inside) Prasad chided.

Taking small steps a frail old man walks into Prasad's cabin wearing a cream shirt and trousers. Prasad signals him to have a seat as he walks back to his seat. Once seated into his chair, he look at the old man and said "Tell me, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Girish Kamat. I don't know how to say this or how will you take it but I have come here to confess". Prasad looked at his face thinking he was probably a nut case. He stretched his hands on the table and said "Sir, please don't hesitate, you can tell me. Go ahead".

He gave Prasad a pensive look and said "I have killed three people and want to surrender". Prasad looked at him and ask "When did the killings take place?

"Thirty years back". Prasad thought he heard wrong, "Sir, did you say thirty years back?". "Yes. I did" said Girish looking at him through his glasses. For a moment there was a silence as Prasad stared at Girish for a while and asked "What made you come here and confess this now?"

"My... My... wife Sudha. She passed away two days back" is all he could mutter as his eyes filled up with tears. "Sir, control. I can understand it might be a difficult phase for you. Let me see what I can do? he said.

"Gaitonde" he yelled pressing the bell ring. "Ho Saheb' (Yes Sir) he said as he entered the cabin. "You please note down everything Mr. Kamat tells you and make a note of his address and other details". "Sir, you please go with him & share the complete details with him". "Gaitonde, ekdha tujha kaam zalyawar mela bhet" (Once you are done with your report, come & meet me.).

Post an hour, Gaitonde enters Prasad's cabin as he is going through a file. "Saheb...Toh Kamat mala veda wattoh. Toh thees varsha purvi kelela khoonachi ghatna aata sangto hain. Assa kaun veda khoonachi confess karayla yeto?" (Sir, I feel thar Kamat is mad. He is talking about murders done thirty years ago and now wants to surrender!!).

"Mala mahit hain. Tyacha charana padla vathos hain. Tu bhag tyacha bolnyat kay thath hain kaha. Nahin ter tyacha parivaara bolvayla lagel" (I know, seems like a nut case. Check if there is any credibility to what he is stating or else we will call his family) Prasad said as he moved his hands behind his head and rocked his chair.


(to be continued....)

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.

Memories

As people passed by, Pushpa kept ranting at them. Sitting on a bus stop with her grey hair neatly tied up, wearing an old used pink white punjabi suit. She kept talking to herself as she stared back into people who looked at her.

A little girl walking down the road with her mother saw Pushpa as their eyes met. "Mummy, who is she and why is she talking to herself.?" "Beta, woh pagal hain, aise logo se durr rahena chaiye" ("she is mad and one should keep away themselves from such person"). Her mother said as she passed by Pushpa.

Pushpa heard what the mother told the child. "Pagal nahi hu main. Pagal nahin hu main" (I am not mad. I am not mad) she kept mumbling away as she felt the hurt on the inside.

The only solace she could find was in her memories, the ones where she was surrounded by people whom she called her family...

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 Touch

Maya kept looking at herself in the mirror looking at the 40 year old women with long hair wearing a sari.

She kept looking at her, wondering what he saw, when there were so many young girls he could choose from.

There was a knock on the door, Kaun hain (who is it?). One of her girls came in and said "Aap ka Deewana aaya hain. Aapke liye pooch raha tha" (your admirer is here & he is asking for you). "Usko bol agar khud ke salamati chata hain toh katle" (tell me if he does not want harm to come in his way then he should leave).

"Arre kyu itna gussa karte ho, aakhir pooch toh raha tha dekhi nahi isliye" (Why are you getting angry? He was asking for you only because he did not see you today). "Tu jaa yaha se" (you leave).

It was a few months back when Lalit visited her brothel with his friends. They were choosing from the girls standing in a line. I want her pointing at her when she mistakenly stood beside them talking on cellphone.

"She is the madam of the brothel, you choose someone else" the girl said. "Ok. If I want her, will she be available" He asked. "Are you mad. Stop wasting our time. Choose from the girls or leave"  He selected a girl and left with her.

From then on he would always come look at her, try to know and ended up with a random girl asking about her. He was warned, beaten up but still he would persist.

His pervasiveness got her attention. She later on came to know that he never slept with any of her girls every time he paid a visit.

One day she called him to her room. As he stood there in a corner, she looked at him and said "Tujhe mere saat soona hain?" (You want to sleep with me?). "Aisa nahi hain jaisa app samajh rahe ho" (Its not like what you think) he said. "Toh kya hain, mujshe shaadi karega, ghar basayega tujh jaise bahut londe aaye aur gaaye" (You want to marry me then, start a family? Many a guys like you have come and gone) she countered.

"Main un jaisa nahin ho. Aapko pasand karta hu" (I am not like them. I like you) He said looking into her eyes. She gave it a laugh and said  "Tu dhandewali ke paas aaya pyar dhoondne? (You came to a prostitute to find love?).

He stood there in silence. She walked towards the door, bolted it from the inside. Took his hand, walked towards the bed and then started removing his clothes as she made love to him.

"Chal nikal yaha se. Aur yeh le paise, maaza aagaya. (leave from here. Here take some money, I enjoyed it) as she threw the notes on him.

It had been a while, since she had felt the touch of a man...

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