Whats in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a Rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."

These are the lines from the Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet. I guess it hold true decades ago. In today's world one's names matters a lot and can make a difference or give an edge.

I was one of those people who wanted to change their name because it sounded funny (at least when I was small) and no one else had such a name. I wanted to change my name when I was small. Often my name used to change as I moved up in my class. I was very strongly contemplating to change my name to put an end to all this. Somehow I did not do that. There was no new variation of my name in college. Thank God for that.

I thought I was the only one who had to go through this, just because my parents kept a name that no one else had. As I moved into college I knew I was not alone. There were others who had wackier names than me. One of my friends name was Blasco, one of our professor used to call him Blossom. 

As I moved in my work life, I find more interesting names popping up. Like the name Shalaka. The first time I heard the name I thought poor girl who had to live with such name which I thought was a name of a demon. I have one of my friend whose name is Mariadas. The better was yet to come, one of my colleagues in office was getting married. He told a name which I cant even pronounce and it sounded manly. Thank God after marriage the name got changed and a shorter name was adopted. All this made me feel better :) . After all I was not alone anymore. 

I even ended up doing a Google search for my name to see if I was the only one with such a name in the planet. To my surprise I had found three people with my name. It was good to see that people who shared my name were doing good in their life.

One might have heard how actor/actress names were changed as it was thought that the names were not cool enough. For e.g., Dilip Kumar, Mahima Chaudhary. Today its a fashion to have the letters of a name changed to change one's fortune. All thanks to Ekta Kapoor who started the trend by changing the name of her daily soaps by adding an extra "K" or starting a soap with the title starting with "K". After that every actor started to change their name by moving a letter of the name here and there. So now Vivek became Viviek and so on.

Shakespeare did not see this coming or else he would not have made such a comment. In today's world a lot depends on a name. As for me I have dropped the idea of changing my name. After all, I am not alone :)

Wedding Night

"Phew. Never thought I would get so tried on my own wedding day. That too we have not even started off" Ayush said as he made himself at home on his bed.

He got hit by the pillow. "You think you are the only one. What about me? I was the one carrying the jewellery and the zari saree. Not to forget the flowers on my head" said Sia.

"Who told you to do all that?" "Hello, I am going to get married only once and I need to look beautiful on my big day as she punched him on his shoulder as they both were having a laugh about it.

"Can I ask you something? I wanted to ask you for a sometime" Sia said as she laid beside him. "I hope you know that we both are married now and this cannot be undone" Ayush said with a mischievous smile.

"Do you remember the time when we met each other and after that, I told you that I am not a virgin  That did not bother you especially when you were one. Why did you said yes to me? she asked as she looked into his eyes looking for answers.

"Good for us na, at least one of us is experienced, you can teach me some moves" He said as she looked  at him. "Cut the crap. Tell me honestly."

"I will have you with me, besides me for the rest of my life. Should it bother me what you done in your past when I can be with you in your present & the future. He looked at her and then asked "Do you think I did the right thing?"

"Not bad! I think I did the right thing to marry you" she said as they both laughed again and soon Ayush moved on top of her and they both kissed as their eyes met.

She looked at the glass of milk kept on the bedside table, looked at him "You think you are ready to do it" "I am but not tonight we are both very tired." as he moved beside her.

"Did you just said no to sex? Are you even for real? She pinches him and he reacts with face turn red and she behaving coyly.

"You want me to give into the night for some custom. I wont" as he moved on top of her "I want to savor the moment when I make love to you he said looking deep into her eyes.

The lights went off as  he held her in his arms and they kissed each other.

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.

Time To Come

Coming backing to his home from his evening walk, 80 year old Mohan makes himself comfortable in his reclining chair reading Malgudi Days. Photos of his family hanging on the wall with children settled abroad.

Post having his dinner, Mohan receives a call on his landline and he says 'Ab toh jab bulwa ayega tab jayege. Roz maara toh routine ho gayi hain. Baache sab settle ho gaye hain aur kya chaiye. Theek hain zaroor". "Good night" he said and walked to his room post turning the lights out for sleep.

 His eyes wide opened as he looks at the empty other half side of the bed. As he closed his eyes he was waiting for his time to open them on the other side.

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"

Helloooo!!

It feels good to be here again. It’s like finding my voice again.

The good news I am at a new workplace now given that I have been trying to move on for quiet sometime.

Good thing about it that I get to meet to people from various backgrounds and interact with them. Something that my previous job did not allowed given that it was restricted to the corporate environment only.

In my previous job, I had people chasing me. In this I have been chasing people and yes they are giving me a tough time. Phew!!

I have met people from various backgrounds and one of them happened to be a tea stall owner. One of the things that I learned from him that there is a handwritten keyboard that allows one to type text in their handset. Something I was not aware of. The interaction was good as he was all ears for what I had to say.

If one starts judging people by what they have and not by what they are, you will never know what lies beneath them. Sometimes people open up that one ends up having a great conversation.

My work took me to a hospital and in the basement where I believe where very few people have access. I was shown nails stuck on the ceiling due to the magnetic force of the MRI machine on the above floor. One has to see it to believe it.

I ended up having a chat with my Uber driver who seemed too young for his age which he said to me. He regularly watched Crime Patrol. Needless to say I never said I watch it too!!

Hope to make my presence here more J

Yeh Hain Bambai Meri Jaan

Who said competition is a bad thing? Sometimes it brings out the best in you when you are challenged.

I had this habit of drinking tea at the tapari during the breaks. However thanks to the quality of tea at the tapari, I ended up giving up on my chai and have been sober for around four years now.

This one day, out on my break outside the office with my colleagues, shouts can be heard about people passing by for a tea. We were too and yes that got my attention on what happened overnight that they had to resort marketing their chai.

It took a while but came to know that there was a new chaiwala who had setup shop nearby that threaten the monopoly of our existing chaiwala. The newbie chai was good and it was no wonder that the existing one decided to put in more milk in his chai.

At the end of the day, its a win-win for the chai drinking people :)

There are certain things which one sees to happen only in Bombay and no place else. 

One must have seen owners walking down the streets with their dogs or if you got up early morning, you can also see the cows and buffalo's on the streets on their morning walks.

Then again what about goats? Have you seen them around being taken for a walk. I certainly have seen them been taken around like they are dogs and its a sight to watch...

A railway station can be a great place to observe human behaviour at its best as people rush in rush out to reach their destination.

I was one who was made to wait by a colleague at a railway ticket counter recently and three incidents amused me as I stood there waiting.

A tall guy who apparently seemed intoxicated got slapped by a guy much shorter when he meddled in a conversation with his family. 

A girl with a backless short dress certainly got the attention of the male passengers who awaited in the queue to take ticket and then vanished into the crowd. I admire her courage as it requires walk the talk...

I never thought waiting at a ticket counter would lead to such observations given that I was at one of the busiest railway station then again there is always someone to break the barriers something that one thought never happened.

There was PDA display happening behind one of the pillars of the station and the couple were not your college going kids but someone much older who just could not keep their hands off with each other. 

It only gets you thinking right!!

I guess if you pay attention to the world outside, you will be able to see things that you once thought were only imaginary...

I Like You

Rahil was listening her speak on the other side of the phone as he was gathering courage telling Deepa about something that was bothering him.

His heart beat got faster as he paced up and down. As the voice felt silent on the other end, he blurted out “I like you. I like spending time with you”.

She too reciprocated his feelings. Later she told him that her family was in talks for her marriage. He almost stopped telling her he would like to marry her but held himself back.

Silence had crept in as he struggled to get the words out of his mouth. While she wondered on the other end by asking “what happened”.

The awkwardness of the situation went away as they talked it out.

As Rahil kept the phone down he wondered about circumstances being different.

All he could think about was letting her know about his feelings but he knew deep down probably it was best to keep things as it is instead of putting a yes or no question to their relationship.

Meanwhile, Deepa laid on her bed and the thought of him holding himself back intrigued her.

Log Kya Kahege

A random conversation between me and my sister made me realize how the term "Log kya kahege" has killed more dreams before it could be be brought out in the existence.

Our Indian society is like a big Indian family wherein everyone would like to keep a tab on what you do and why you do it. There is no escape from it. Some do it for gossip others just for timepass. There are very few who would genuinely car\worry for you.

The question arises on why should one be afraid of people's reactions, when one knows they do it because they want to and not for people who just choose to give their opinions for free. Give it some time and they wont even remember what the fuss was about.

Reminded of the song "Kuch toh log kahege, logo ka kaam hain kehana" as I think over it. Once one removes this mental block, then there's no stopping. If one still fear/worry think about the fools. If you know about the proverb fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Recently had gone out a trip with friends when observed that while we were busy taking group snaps, there were people who along with their smartphone were taking their own snaps with different poses with the sea & the beach as the background.

To think of it, nowadays everyone keeps taking selfie these days. Imagine the relief to the stars & celebrities who now just have to pose instead of signing autographs for their fans.

Then again, there are some people who take it a notch higher like the couple who decided to take a selfie with the background of a building in Dubai. Seriously, what were they thinking. If they could have used some common sense they could have avoided getting the backlash by putting the photo online.

Chris Gayle found himself making the news off ground with his attempt to flirt with a female presenter taking his interview.

To be honest what he did was not appropriate when one thinks he did that in front of a live came that feeds into people's tv set. Then again there is an aspect of it that goes unnoticed.

What if this would have happened off camera, was the reaction of the people going to be the same. How could it be different when guys try to flirt with women at other places. Food for though eh!

If one thought falling in love was easy think again. First there is a one side crush and if you succeed, you fall in love. That only happens to be the beginning as the levels gets harder just like the game of candy crush requiring various permutations and combinations.

I wonder about the couple's attempts who could not find their way to be together for eternal life and as reality of life drags one away, one could only think of what if things were different...

Who are you thinking about?