Category: Travel

RIP MS

With a heavy heart (coupled with black and white imagery and sad music in background), I report the untimely departure of one MS from the sob story of my life.

In last few months, everytime you saw me happy, it was her. Everytime you saw me excited, she had done something special. Everytime I was found hunting for curios, gifts and tees, they were all for her. Everytime I disappeared without a convincing alibi, I was with her.

She brought me strength, love and luck. She took care of me. She was my guiding angel. She taught me what I ought to do. She stood by me. She watched out for me. She made me do things that I never thought were possible. She made my laugh and yes, she did make my cry. She was the reason. She made me push my limits and she was always there when I needed her.

Reminds me of these lines …

Tu jo nahin to aise piya hum
jaise soona aangana
nain tihari raah niharein
nainan ko tarsaao na

Download it here. Totally legit. From CokeStudio.

Wish I could get her back…

Like most of other people I talk about here, MS is a fictional character. Any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is purely coincidental and unintentional. Please consult a certified financial consultant before taking any investment decisions. Ok, this last one was not required.

To Agra and Back


No, I dint click this pic. Image credits: Stuck in Customs on Flickr

Just came back from Agra. This was my second (or maybe third) trip to Agra. And no, I did not see Taj Mahal or Fatehpur Sikri. However, I did did crib about bad traffic, fog, corrupt cops etc. And like all other visitors to Agra, I bought Panchhi Petha (for a friend) and stopped at a highway for lunch.

If I could have my way, I would make traveling my profession and become a highway-food-inspector cum real-life-landscape-photographer cum driver-of-those-trucks-without-bodies. There is something about sitting out there in open, on make-shift furniture, being served with assorted utensils and yet charged as if you were Dhirubhai Ambani himself. The food, by the way, is strictly average and service, mediocre at best. The surroundings are hardly clean and you are not sure of the ingredients that they put in. And yet you are drawn to highway dhabas as if the key to your salvation lies within.

Everytime you pass a building, staccato houses, farms, people working in distance, you wonder what their lives would be like. If they were as interesting (or mundane) as yours is? If they realized that there is life beyond their fields and little colonies? If they are content and happy with what they have and do? And since they live on a highway, what do they think of people and generations that passed through the highway? After all, all the emperors, kings, entrepreneurs, travelers, sages, adventurers, would have taken these very roads to expand their empires, see the unknown, conquer unseen lands, spread their religion, learn from new things, seek adventure. Do they realize that they are living (and going to die, in most cases) next to the roads?

Every time I am out on the highways, that lead to places of historic importance, I wonder how would life be back then. Would they have those trifle things to worry about that we have? Would they chase money? happiness? hobbies? What would they be doing to kill time? What kind of opportunities were available to them? How did they manage to build such huge buildings without modern tools and machines? What motivated them? Why is that they lived for long without healthcare? They didnt even have Internet (and Google). There are a million questions and no answers are forthcoming.

Anyways, it took us about 5 hours to cover just 200 odd KMs. It was a scratch-free ride for a change (my Santro would be happy :D) . And since I was trapped inside a vehicle for these hours (with few sutta and pee breaks), there were tons of things to think about and realize. For starters, I realized Samsung Corby sucks. Please do NOT buy it even if it is offered for free. BTW, anyone wants to buy mine? Willing to sell it for anything more than INR 5500. I paid 6500. I have the original bill and the phone is not even ten days old. Second, I discovered Pavarotti. I loved the music, the incomprehensible words and the power in his voice. I could draw vivid images of murders in saloons, bank robberies, an old godfather sitting on the top floor in a tall building and steering his vast business empire with a gusto of a young man indulging in sex. I never thought I was the opera listening kinds. But then I was never the red shoe kinds. Its ok to change. Its ok to experiment. Reinvent. The journey like every other journey was full of boring moments and exciting moments. There were times when monotony of being in a car got better of us and we dint speak at all. And then there were those few moments where I sang screamed out the music. Realized how true these lines from Bitter Sweet Symphony are

‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet, you’re a slave to the money then you die

Every moment we live, every action is for money. Every opportunity to travel is like a break from the routine. Look forward to more such breaks. Planning to drive to Haridwar during this Kumbh. This time, I may want to take @sgElectra for a spin.

Was reviewing this and I figured I suck when it comes to ending the blogposts. Need to do something about it!

Wishlist for 2010

Apart from Money, Travel, Peace and Happyness, there are few things that I really want to acquire/buy/steal/own/use in 2010.

  • A dictaphone. There are times when I want to take notes. And more than using a paper and a pen, I want to speak them out. Like when I am riding @sgElectra. Or may be when I am about to sleep. A dictaphone can come in handy for all these occasions.
  • An Urdu/Hindi/English Pocket dictionary. I so want to learn new words in all these three languages. Wish there was a tool available (apart from wordlists and all that). A good dictionary is one of those few solutions that I have been able to think of. Anything else?
  • A point and click basic camera. I really want to revive my photoblog. I know I can click good pictures. I have an eye for interestingness. And at times things that I find interesting catch attention of others. I had a Canon A 75 but its almost dead. Need to buy another one.
  • An ebook reader. A Kindle perhaps? May be, may be not. I like reading in my free time and an ebok reader saves me weight and time.
  • A bag. To carry all of the above.

These things are more functional than lifestyle. More to do with randomness and mental masturbation.

Trip # 1: Thoughts, Trips and Tips

I plan to take a note of *all* trips I make on my bike. Let me call the ride from Neo‘s place to work as Trip 1. Not that this is something special (I had a bike till about three years back and I use to ride it to work in Delhi and Chennai) but I thought I would record how I felt about things on the dream machine. And I am itching to write.

Without further ado, in “bullet” points, are the thoughts.

  • A bike could be faulty. But like true fans, I excuse the makers for oil leak on day 1. Hoping to get it fixed soon.
  • The hair (or whatever is left of it on my head) goes for a toss because of the helmet. I still have to tie a bandanna before I can put on a helmet.
  • Mumbai roads are bad. Real bad.
  • If you do not use a pair of eyeglasses, your eyes would get about 2 kilos of dust and grime.
  • Your arms would tan by about three shades.

And here are few thoughts that I had in those 45 mins that it took me to ride from Vikhroli to Andheri.

  • I need to dig out my ipod and put all the travel songs on it. Music should be a mandatory accessory for biking. So should be a chewing gum.
  • Riding is real fun. After a point a sort of monotony sets in. This is the time when you start that journey within self that you always hear about. I was coming down the JVLR and I went in that mode for a few seconds. It was nothing less than bliss. It is worth all the effort and pain.
  • Biking does not change you overnight. But moment you put the machine in first gear, that change begins. We just dont realize it, till it takes over you. It changes the way you perceive things and act on them. And mind you, its not that you are looking for a change. It just happens.

On Bullet,

  • With a bullet, comes the famous thump. You feel it. There are no words to do justice to the sound and thump.
  • Never attempt to race with mortals. You should have your own speed. Your own space and your own ride. Never compete. Its not worth it. A bullet gives you the confidence that you control one of the best machines and it is not about winning against someone you dont know and never will.
  • With a bullet, you know that you are controlling a beast and when the beast responds, you suddenly are awed by all the power. Power that you can only exert over a machine ;P
  • And of course not to mention, all the attention you get from everyone on the road. Some are awed by it. Some are jealous. Some are inspired. Some are angry. Some pretend to be indifferent . Some pretend to ignore. But you know and they know and they know that you know that you are being watched. And obviously, you notice all the attention and you want to believe that you dont notice it. But you do. I do.

That’s it for the day I think. Keep tuned in for more. BTW I decided that I want to go for a Vipassana course. June is the earliest I can do. Lets hope I can do it sooner. And I need to improve my writing. My style is, too coarse. Tips?

No tips ;P

The Weekend – 11, 12 April 09

I was in Delhi this weekend. A quick summary would be

Train – Mathura – Agra – Fatehpur Sikri – Traffic Jam – Delhi – Home – CP – Home – Cyntax – Amar Motors – GK II – Select City Walk – MDI – Maggi@GE – Go Air – Meru – Godrej Hillside Colony – Creativeland

And like always, there are details to follow. Lemme see when I get time to talk about em.

  • Train – It was sheer luck that allowed me to board the train. I was to board from Borivali station and my rick driver took me to Dahisar. With 6 mins to ETD. And we had a RAC ticket. That meant my friend and I were forced to share one berth for the night.
  • Mathura – Got down at Mathura. After spending the night sitting, walking in the bogey, remmebering the time table and amount of time it stops at each station, shifting weight, getting down at all the stations, eating whatever came my way, reading The Case of Exploding Mangoes.
  • Agra – Yes, the Taj Mahal city. I went there and did not see the Taj. If there was no Taj, Agra would have been one of those million little cities in India that no one would have ever heard of and no one would ever go there. Everything from people to government to administration to weather was very average.
  • Fatehpur Sikri – I dint know that Fatehpur was a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If its one, its been left to rot by the administration. Anyways, the place is very serene. You could be in the middle of a maddening crowd and yet be with yourself. I was hoping for a miracle (I think I am looking for some kind of support to lap onto) but it never happened. May be next time?
  • Traffic Jam – En route from Agra to Delhi, around the Haryana border, farmers were protesting for something. Collosal waste of time, money, resources and everything else. I have always hated those “strikes”. Anyways, I could see all the Munger’s mental models in action. From group think to social proof to biases and authority misinfluence to reciprocation.
  • Delhi – Home!
  • Home – Maa kay haath ka khana 😀
  • CP – BTW the official name is Rajiv Chowk, its still called by one and all as CP. I too prefer CP. Its the best place to hang around in Delhi IMHO. I make at leat two trips to the place for sure everytime I go there.
  • Cyntax – Kunal and me spoke about Cyntax. He looks committed to it and hopefully I can make up my mind soon.
  • Amar Motors – One of the reason I went to Delhi was to buy the bike. Went to this dealer called Amar Motors. For a company like Royal Enfield and a product like Bullet, the dealership was a mess for sure. The brand, product, company attracts certain kind of people and there was no one there to take care of those kinds of people. Guess you can do very well with branding and marketing efforts but when it comes to real life interactions, you have to find a way to manage them!
  • GK II – No notes. Boring visit to that market. Obviously there were tons of pretty faces. Wish Mumbai ones were like that.
  • Select City Walk – Met Shubhi and she insisted that we goto Select City Walk. I want to know who are the people who goto that mall and actually buy things from there. Every thing was way out of my reach!
  • MDI – Went to MDI. I went to my room (#309), SharmaJi’s, Change Masters (its now called IFCI Swarna Jayanti Hostel), Dome Terrace, the loos, the library, Jhajis, Acad Block, CC etc. It was so full of emotions that I could have cried. Somehow prevented it. Anyways, a visit to MDI also reaffirmed my belief that I am most comfortable when I am in a campus like setting. I wrote this text while I was roaming around the CC
  • Maggi @ GE – When we were at MDI, Maggi at a road side dhaba outside GE’s office in Gurgaon was our staple food. For the old times sake we went to this dhaba and got the maggi. I ate it when I was in the meru on way back to home and it was bliss. People miss food from homes, I missed food from this dhaba.
  • Go Air – Flew with Go Air. Ok experience. Flight was delayed by 40 mins. Once I was inside the aircraft, things were on time.
  • Meru – This is where the power of branding was evident. We were going to take a cab home. There were at least three paid AC taxi services available at the airport. We dint even look at them. Without even talking to them, we went to Meru, got in the cab and left. I think this is where Meru does well compared to other businesses. Marketing is ok but the experience that I get as a customer when I travel with them is exceptional. From comfortable rides to courteous drivers to punctuality to electronic billing. Guess
  • Godrej Hillside Colony – Surfed the web. Slept fitfully for three hours.
  • Creativeland – Back at work!

I think I like this new way of logging travel. Of course it cant replace the good old travelogue, may be I will write that too but this is convenient for logging in the highlights.

And no, I wasn’t carrying any camera and there are no pictures. Vivek took this pic way back in 2005 at Fatehpur. May be an apt place for a ref?

Drive to Bhimashankar

Apart from regular games of pool and counter-strike, this time on the weekend, me and Vivek did a roadtrip to Bhimashankar. Bhimashankar boasts of a wild life sanctuary, famous treks and one of the 12 Shiv Jyotirlings.

Roadtrip was full of mountains, rains, landscapes, sheep, dams, rivers, sunshine, clean air, people walking long miles, going from nowhere to nowhere. The drive to Bhimashankar is easily the most scenic drive I have even taken in India (better than my trek to Chandratal and Rohtang Pass).


I got to know about the place from Milind Gunaji’s book – Offbeat tracks in Maharashtra. It is some 260 KMs from Mumbai and easiest way to reach there is by the Mumbai Pune Expressway and take the exit at Talegaon. Then you drive on for about 3 hours to reach the Shiva temple.

This is one of those places where the journey is more exciting and fun than the destination.

Why Travel?

I say …

I have always believed that journey is more important than the destination. The pursuit of unknown is what makes the journey part exciting. You face ambiguity. You face uncertainty. You don’t know if you would reach or not. You don’t know what to expect when you reach your destination. You don’t know what is on the other side of that long and winding dark tunnel. You don’t even know if the tunnel would end.

Rampyari


Rampyari: spelt as ‘ra-m-pee-ar-i’

Definition: literally speaking denotes a car which is white in colour, is a 2000 make Wagon R with registration number of RJ145C 1491. on a metaphorical level, it is our getaway from the world on the weekends, where we become incommunicado with the usual trappings, especially the ones originating from office. The significance of Rampyari is so much that a highway and Rampyari matter more than the destination. All she needs is petrol and little care.

Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra

Bhandardara Lake

I finally bought Milind Gunaji‘s (apart from being an actor, he is a photographer, traveller and author) Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra (from FlipKart). I think in 2009, I will use that book as a guide. I will select a destination and strike it off the index once I have visited that place. Let me start with Amruteshwar Temple in Ratanwadi (close to Bhandardara – a pic of Bhandardara). I was there last weekend.

Other links
Milind Gunaji’s Book in Marathi