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

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.