Sigmund freud...here i come...

Ok.. this may sound a little weird.. this just stuck me yesterday night.. i am sure everyone has these dreams in the early morns where the line between dreams & reality gets diminished...so that got me started off.. there have been so many times i have experienced this.. an example would be maybe you are dreaming about some elaborate sequence & the scene that is running presently is some car honking or some huge bell gonging in the distance.. and you suddenly wake up to realise that your alarm has gone off.. so the noise in the dream somehow is converted into a noise in reality...
So here is the twist.. did your subconcious hear the alarm before your conciousness did..and altered the dream to make the transition to reality smoother than an abrupt end of the dream?? Or was this just a coincidence?? ..and going furthur.. if the subconcious at some level reflects your emotions/reality in the dreams you see.. then is it toying with your conciousness.. you at some level know that what is going on is not reality..but your mind half belives the possibility of this being real..this is where the line starts to get thinner...

Passing thought...

The more you understand someone...the more you like/dislike them..or the more you become aware of your own flaws??

Vini, Vidi, Vici...

Chikmagalur...

This was taken at a home stay in chikmagalur a couple of months ago..this photograph was completely unplanned & taken 5 minutes after we reached the place... one of my favourite ones...

I Am famous!!!

Check out page 36 in the aug 14'05 edition of "The Week"..and you will find me there...:)
Will post the link as soon as it is available..

That & Sourabh's victory in the Snooker Tournament ensured that we partied through the weekend... one awesome weekend..started & ended just perfectly...

yeah!! post number 100

So Far..So Good...

It's flying....

Mera Gaadi...Mera Vesh...

Look Ma.. the golden gate is not so big after all!!!

Testing...

if this works..then there are going to be a lot more images..


this one was when i was on a bike ride in the US..

Aiyooo...

My leg is in this ^*&* crepe cast, with an Ankle binder to boot..so i have to cut down on my walking & running around..not around trees..but just general stuff:).. Now this should not be much of a problem because i have not got a tree i call my own..nor do i have anybody running around the tree in front of me.. or behind me..so that would make me just look silly..running around a tree on my own..ok..i am digressing here.. So getting back to the stuff i can't do.. the one that hurts the most..(BTW pun unintended)...is that i can't ride my bike..can you believe it..that's like taking away the tree also.( i know.. i know..but pun unintended..)..And boy oh boy does that hurt..(again pun unintended..) I have to now depend on my sis to drop me to the offce everyday..or else its gonna be the auto..and i don't want to waste so much of money on transport..at least not while i am saving up for my next ride..(again..pun unintended)
man..the doctor says i can't ride the bike for at least 3 weeks..3 weeks!!..that is gonna be sooooo loooong... aiyooooo... it hurts...( pun unintended)... That means i will be stranded at home for the weekends...
What hurts even more (pun unintended..last time .. i promise)... is that i did not have any heroic life-saving incident to show for this twisted ankle..nor did i fall off my bike like everybody thinks..all i did was to jump across a small table .. at home.. in the dark..with formal shoes on..the shoes had heels.. and i did not see my sis's leg over which i tripped... boy .. the perfect formula for a dumb accident.. now that really hurts..(pun INTENDED)....

Perspective

Here is something Chaitra forwarded...


If you 'question', you don't understand.
If you 'understand', you've been co-opted.
If you 'talk', you're sanctimonious.
If you 'don't talk', you're frivolous.
If you're 'in the field', you're too involved.
If you're not 'in the field', you have no business talking about it.
If you 'ask why', you're stupid.
If you ask 'why not', you're very stupid.
If you 'qualify', you're equivocating.
If you 'don't qualify', you're making sweeping generalisations.
If you 'care', you're sentimentalising.
If you 'don't care', you're heartless and cruel.
If you 'critique', you need to cut them some slack.
If you don't 'critique', you're cutting them too much slack.
If you 'believe', you're naive.
If you 'don't believe', you're cynical.
If you 'do', you're damned.
If you 'don't', then you're damned, too.

Every word shifts, slips, has many meanings.
Every word is laden with complexities.
Every word holds a gun to your head and asks: 'Who are you? Declare yourself forthwith.'

I want a life without quotation marks



Now..how about this..with a few small changes...

If you 'question', you stand to gain.
If you 'understand', you've achieved.
If you 'talk', you've laboured well.
If you 'don't talk', you're a thinker.
If you're 'in the field', you're in touch .
If you're not 'in the field', you are done with the 'dirty stuff'.
If you 'ask why', you're inqusitive.
If you ask 'why not', you're letting logic take its path..
If you 'qualify', you're deserving.
If you 'don't qualify', you're making sure nothing gets in the way.
If you 'care', you're concerned.
If you 'don't care', you're heartless and cruel.
If you 'critique', you intend to improve them.
If you don't 'critique', you know they've improved
If you 'believe', you're bound to be rewarded
If you 'don't believe', you're cynical.
If you 'do', you know what doesn't work
If you 'don't', then you already know what doesn't work..

Every word shifts, slips, has many meanings.
Every word is laden with complexities.
Every word when looked through the right glass, appears more beatiful than the rest..
What's life without a little word play?eh?

I Am so busy...

man.. this week i have been so busy.. i haven't even had the time to... Shoot!!! there's work coming my way...see ya later

Aiyoo....I've Been Tagged!!!

No..i am not complaining..that was just for the dramatic entry..still hints of hangover from the mad ads we did on friday...Well getting back to the business at hand..i've been tagged by RK...
Thanks RK..i've lately been losing interest in my blog..imagine..i did not even post up my recent mangalore ride..and after it being one of my best rides.. hope this is a revival of sorts!!
So..here is my two cents worth..

Total number of books I own
Well..lets put it this way.. i had a small library of my own..and had made profits when in school.....but a majority of those were comics..i was into collecting them from a pretty young age.. i was building upon my dad's collection.. he had these Indrajal series..which had the Phantom, Mandrake,Bahadur,Drake,Garth..and such stuff..i remember that i even had copies from the first series..Sadly i lost most of those books..mostly while moving..and that too after i had taken the pains to get them all hard bound volume wise..Later it was archies..and in between i used to invest in the abridged(majorly) versions of great classics.. and the occasional Abridged one..these were most of the times bought when on a family trip.. my dad's guard would be down when he was relaxed.. so that would let me get a bigger better book!!..Soon my dad realised that my book buying sprees were turning out to be expesive..and so he got me memberships in a couple of libraries..he he that was not going to slow me down.. My monthly bill used to always be in excess of 300 rupees or so..and that was when Archies' used to cost 2 Rs a day, and Hardy boys and stuff was about 1 Rs a day..so go figure...And now after getting a job.. i have again started investing in books..so lets see how far this takes me..

The last book bought?:
That would be..umm...shoot I actually forgot what i last bought.. i have actually been buying stuff and stocking them up..and even borrowing and stocking them..ah i got it..it was non-fiction book about the London underworld..with pictures and all....

The last book you read?
..and am still reading "the city of Joy"..bu Dominique Lappierre...since the last two months..and was halfway through "Zen & the art of Motorcycle Maitenance"before i lent it to a friend..hopefully i'll finish them soon..else i will have lost the plot and have to start all over again..

Books I am currently reading:
'Please last question refer maadi...making my work easier aren't I??

Books that mean a lot to me:
this actually kept changing at different points of time..initially Asterix & Obelix ruled every waking hour..then came Enid Blyton..then it was the Agatha Christie series..then moved onto the Sidney Sheldon's(obviously in the adolesence stage)..and Arthur Hailey..and Jeffrey Archer..
amd presently its been the likes of Kiran Nagarkar..and Amitav Ghosh..and a host of indian authors..Oh.. and did i mention.. Playboy..

So..even though i have read quite a few books.. i am not very gravely affected by them.. they do contribute to the thought process..but i can't really pinpoint a few books and say that they have left an indelible mark on me..Guess one man's meat is another's wheat???


Anyways.. me not tagging anybody... i haven't read any blogs in quite a while and they must have already been tagged...

Man..this write up feels like i am coming out of hibernation...he he..so many more posts in the future..and in filmi style.."coming soon to a blog near you"...

Mangalore ride

Here is Uday's account of our mangalore ride... One of the best rides i have been on...
My post has been "in-the-making" for some time.. but i doubt i can do as much justice to it as Uday has done...

My Latest Addiction

Pearl Jam----> Last Kiss

Where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away fromMe. she’s gone to heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when iLeave this world.

We were out on a date in my daddy’s car. we hadn’t driven very far. there inThe road, straight ahead. a car was stalled, the engine was dead.

I couldn’t stop, so I swerved to the right. I’ll never forget the sound thatNight. the screamin tires, the bustin glass. the painful scream that I heardLast.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away from me. she’s goneTo heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when I leave this world.

When I woke up the rain was pourin down. there were people standin all around.Something warm flowing through my eyes. but somehow I found my baby that night.

I lifted her head, she looked at me and said. hold me darling, just a little While. I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss. I found the love that iKnew I had missed.

Well now she’s gone. even though I hold her tight. I lost my love, my life,That night.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away from me. she’s goneTo heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when I leave thisWorld.

Traffic Jams..Boring?? ..NAH!!!

Friday i was stuck in this traffic jam..easily the mother of all traffic jams... a 6 km ride took me just over two hours..and to boot it it was raining all the time.. So i am on the road locked in between a million vehicles..and its raining..bad state of affairs?.. maybe not..Just a matter of perception maybe..
I did not have anything urgent that needed to be atended to..so just decided to enjoy myself..When you try this the jam actually gets interesting..you get to see all sorts of people..there were these i-HAVE-to-be-home-right-now types honking away to glory.. this resulted in raising the tempers of other motorists..and the hurry-burry types just had to stay put after a few choice abuses were hurled their way..
Then there were the generous ones.. who would let the other hurry-burry ones pass.. and then the ones who were on the phone with god-knows-who.. just yakking away like it was home..
Then there were the types like me with a song on their lips and just enjoying everything..Imagine i even had a couple of nice conversations with total strangers.. we discussed how the roads have got choked.. and just general stuff about weather..I even got the chance to hold a conversation with an auto driver..without either of us trying to out-scream each other!!!
To boot this..at one of the junctions..a kinetic pulls up next to me..i could make out that it was a girl..and then she honks and calls out to me.. surprise..surprise..its an old friend of mine..the last i had seen her was when at her marriage!!
We spent the next three or so Kms just talking..we were still in the mother-of-all-traffic-jams!!
Was pretty nice to catch up after so long..and in these surroundings..and i guess this would be the last time i was going to see her..she would be going away to the US with her hubby for good..and in a couple of days that too.. We could not say our good byes though..Somehow lost out on each other at the end of the jam..

So..who says Traffic jams have to be boring..huh??

I'm on the road again....

Yesterday morning when i reached home.. i could not stop grinning for quite some time..I had a lot of fun working the previous night..and was done by around 6:0 in the morning.. which is pretty early considering my normal working hours... So there i was all bright and early..and wasn't really in the mood to go home so early.. so what do i do? I take a loong route home..
So to reach indiranagar from Richmond circle..which is about 6 km and a 10 min ride in the early morning traffic..I went all the way to Jayanagar..then went on to Koramangala..and then took the ring road back home...
You would think that the roads are so empty and good opportunity to set land speed records..but that was definitely not the case.. the roads were infested with all the morning joggers/walkers/oglers..etc..and most of them were on the road rather than the footpath.. their way of getting back at the motorists i guess!!! And one of the corners i nearly went into one of them enthusiastic guys..that should count as a good deed for me..his day could only look up from here!!!
The good thing was that the morning health-concious-janta also included a lot of bangalore's PYT's..that was a nice way to start the day..
Sadly i could not devote a lot of time to pursuing any ..and before you get any ideas..any of the other roads in the vicinity i mean..and simply went on to the ring road..here somehow the joggers/walkers/oglers stuck to the footpaths...so enough clear space to just rip.. pretty ironical that i was planning to do a lazy ride home..but seeing a clear no-obstancle road is too much tempation..

PINK FLOYD..

I am rediscovering this band.. had heard lots of their songs before..but hadn't really paid a lot of attention to their lyrics.. Now i am practically hooked onto their songs.. Incidentally i have a CD with ALL their songs on it..and have been actually travelling with it everywhere..I have been taking it out on my rides too..am also shuttling it between office and home :)
Like all things my fav songs also keep changing (evolving??)..So initially it was "Coming Back to LIfe" This song had a strange appeal to me..the first time i listened to this song i could picture this highway stretched into the distance.. where i could see the road for many a mile ahead..and even knee-length-yellow-grass fields on both sides..and dusk setting in slowly.. as a biker..that scene is nothing short of pure bliss..
Next on the list was "Learning to Fly"..another awesome composition by them..This too somehow fell into the "biker song" category..and am all gaga over the lyrics..
..and now i found"Lost For Words"..In the last week i must have played this song at least a 100 times..yesterday i had this song playing in loop mode for about 3 hours straight!!The lyrics and the tune are just so transcedental..

I was spending my time in the doldrums
I was caught in a cauldron of hate
I felt persecuted and paralysed
I thought that everything else would just wait

While you are wasting your time on your enemies
Engulfed in a fever of spite
Beyond your tunnel vision reality fades
Like shadows into the night

To martyr yourself to caution
Is not going to help at all
because ther'll be no safety in numbers
When the right one walks out of the door

Can you see your days blighted by darkness?
Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?
Stuck in a world of isolation
While the ivy grows over the door

So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go fuck myself
You know you just can't win


..I have been warned against listening to too much of the floyd "psychedelic" stuff..but just can't help it..and yes there is definitely nothing to beat Floyd on my discman while on my weekend biking trips ..at least for now...

The Nigerian Casanova!!!

This is going to be a little long.. so if its not coffee break time yet.. then see ya later.. and if this is your Coffee break time..read on.. oh and i am not resposible if your coffee spills on your desk/clothes/book-you-are-pretending-to-read..as a result of all the laughing you are gonna do for the next few minutes.. and not to mention your neighbours looking up the local asylum's number..listenng to your i-am-trying-to-supress-my-laughter laughs....

So, here's the background.. I have this friend called Sajith, who has been on-site in Nigeria for a pretty long time..so this has actually been fodder for us lesser mortals living in more civilized parts of the world.. It so happenend that Sajith was pretty bored and with the aim of cheering up people with similar sufferings..he sent us all a mail which spewed a lot of spite against women!! So, us caring people(read friends) sent our thoughts on what led Sajith to such measures..
Here is what went on in the mails.. Sajith did get in his two bits every once in a while..So..here goes..

=====
Lets suffuce it to say that Sajith started off with this female-bashing maill..which if he was maried would have ensured the couch for him till the next time the martians came visiting....
===

Sajith
U are sounding so much like a poor harassed husband!! Has
something gone wrong? Hope u haven't been forced into marrying a
Nigerian woman so soon!!! U are talking about big girls , fat girls and
round shapes!! EVERYTHING FINE? OR DO U NEED SOME HELP?
BYE
Ranjani
=========

So Sajith .. how are the "babes" in Nigeria. not a happy experience I
gather from all the fire spewing out of your forward. Well, they are a
little hard to get used to i guess. But do not give up man..stay at it
and who knows you may leave your mark( read offspring) on our
neighbouing continent:)
Even if all else fails.. you always have home to look forward to..what
with the mails like the one below hollering out hope to you...
All,
Comments & thoughts on Sajith's African future invited.Let's make
this a discussion forum..at Sajith's expense of course... And Sajith,
hope you don't mind ..and if you do, then hope you find solace in the
arms of one of your Nigerian friends..
Regards,
Sumanth
========================
GREAT ONE SUMANTH. I ONLY HOPE SAJITH SPARES ME WHEN HE RETURNS;-)))
BUT , I AM IN FOR THE DISCUSSION FORUM.
SORRY S....
WE JUST WANNA MAKE UR TRIP MEMORABLE AND ENSURE THAT U DON'T MISS HOME
AND FRIENDS. ;-))
BYE
RANJANI
===============================
Hello Sajith
Hey Sumanth that was a nice one:)
I am sure Sajith would find solace in the arms of the nigerian friends I dunno how many :)
So sajith how is it goin buddy
Guess we would soon have a discussion forum:)
This is enable us to get updates from u buddy:)
Jayant Mehta
====================================
How come I still don't see Sajith's reply...
His Nigerian " Lady" must be keeping him pretty busy:)
let's hope he is still in one piece...
And Sajith, do let us know your date of arrival..I guess Ranjini,
Jayant and I will have to get as far away from Bangalore as possible,
to avoid being mauled( or worse things) by you and your " Babe from
Africa"
sumanth
===================================
Aha...............so U're looking for my reply huh? Try to throw in some laughs with that mail in ur otherwise boring life and you wash me with comments and hang me out to dry.
Well, well I'll be back someday............so U better decide how many pieces U wanna be in then(I'm talking to U Chummi.....and C and Jay). And whats with the forum.......whats this........something like an ED Sullivan show or somethin' with the topic being me? ARE U JOBLESS? People get back to work and let poor old me find a way to survive in this wilderness.............U ought to be praying for me - NOT, and I mean, NOT let ur comic sense go wild.
AHEM, atleast stop forwarding ur remarks to everybody in the LIST, for Pete's Sake -
I GOT A REPUTATION TO PROTECT!!!!!!
Sajith
====================================
Great going guys. We have finally instigated Sajith to reply!! THREE CHEERS TO US – FOR OUR EFFORTS;-))
As for u sajith - First get back to India and then then dream abt laying your hands on us.
Till then,
Jungle mein mangal karo.;-)) (DIN’T GET IT?) I don’t expect u to either;-))
Bye
Ranjani
==============================
Ranjani I think u got it wrong it isn’t Jungle mein mangal karo but Jungle mein MINGLE karo. Must be doin this already!!!!
--Nikshep
========================================
So Sajith, now that we have got your attention, I think our efforts
are going to double..no triple..:)
All this while I was thinking that this would be just firing shots in
the air.but now that we have a target, we are loading up man...
And by the way, why do you think our lives are boring?? How can it be
boring with your african wildlife experiences to explore and
anatomize...
Well I guess it might be boring compared to your safari life
there,what with all your nigerian "babes" and unexplored
"territory"... So how many lions/tigers/cheetahs have you dealt wih
already..or do they also assume you to be part of the landscape
already...:)
And don't think we are not praying..we too have noble souls..we are
definitely praying..even if it is for al those poor "unexplored"
Nigerian "babes" ....
Sumanth
P.S: I have already taken out an insurance policy against my
name..so that after Sajith returns my family can get some monetary
benefits from this . Anybody else intersted can contact me....
========================================
Hey guys...
Well Im all ready to get into the forum...No forums I ve seen are as interesting as this.
Hey Nigerian Casanova...(atleast he'll be in a few days)...so howz the junglee life?and this forum is not making it any better isnt it..
And guys dont worry abt Sajith coming and bashing up...He is an average Indian Women built ..Only u shud be scared of any of his Nigerian Babes...!!!and u know why!
Sundi Enjoy!
Ranjini
=================================
WHAT!!!!!....................YOU......................Average Women Build??
Why you ^%$^*@!@?~&................
Ohhhhhhhh.....................you just wait till I return..............................
--Sajith
==========================================
Chill Sajith
Enjoy ur stay there. Take ur own time. There’s no hurry to return. We are having enough fun this way itself.
Did u realize that there’s an entire ARMY against you. U are no match for the TROOP buddy!!!
Bye
Ranjani
==============================================
this is so much fun.............
AVERAGE WOMAN BUILT....................LOL......................
where did that come from mots.............too good..................
good going guys.........................will join u soon!!
Regards,
Abbas.
=====================================
Hello Buddy
Hey even if u return u aint gonna change u would still remain the avg womens height buddyJ
Yeah that diff. u could find a better match thereJ
So have u explored the jungle and have u mingled:P with the African guys:P
I am sure u would have opened a fan club already ……………….lots following u:P
Have fun J
Jayant Mehta
=============================================
So Sundi,
u guess u prefer African GUYS with rOund shapes...yeh????
awe..:0
Priya Goel
====================================
Macha it is AVERAGE INDIAN WOMEN HEIGHT...Dont u think so...we always had a n argument for that.
Also the person who can get sundi angry the most is going to win an KENYAN SAFARI well sponsored by ofcourse sajith..
see for the starters ...I cud make sundi go red in the face with anger!!
Sajith buddy chill...
Ranjini
=======================================
Hey Priya, Thanks for the new angle to the issue. I had completely
overlooked the Nigerian "men" angle..what with the whole "babes" stuff
going on...Your dating chances must have doubled overnight man.. so
tell us about your dates...
must be a cosy threesome:)
Imagine sajith and his mates..swinging in the jungle nights..without a
care in the world..not even bothered about those bugs crawling
everywhere..
And like Ranjini said..there is no hurry in coming to india pal...I
guess it is a few months away now anyway..by then we would have packed
up this forum and started a condolence/consoling forum in your name...
Ranjini,,by the way did you know that the average Indian Femae height
is only 5.5 feet.. and guess which of our friends qualify for this....
Sumanth
===================================
Hey , the Kenyan safari looks very promising.but that would put s in
risk,,what with the proximity to Nigeria..Lets look for something more
Medditerranean,,,we might as well make good use of Sajith's money..we
don't want him to waste it after all...He IS our friend...
Hey,,and Sajith's face would not be the only red thing he has right
now..I heard those Nigerians are pretty well built...
Sumanth
=======================================
Hey guys...have things cooled off with Sajith or am I out of the mail
chain.?????
Waiting with bated breath,
Sumanth
===========================
Things can never cool off when the "OBJECT OF INTEREST" is Sajith.
Whatta say S....?
By the way Sajith, whats up there? U seem to be very involved in/with
something/someone? U aren't even replying to our mails???
RAnjini
============================
Also Sajith, Speaking for all of us, fillus in on life in Nigeria.
How is the place..Are the peope friendly...or is it like how it is
seen in those african Safari movies..
We all seem to have such antique ideas of Africa, the same way , I
guess that others view India..cows on the road..Elephants for
transport..etc,etc..
Do fill us in man,

Sumanth
======================
Hey Sajith why u so silent dude??? U Dont like us pulling ur leg? Man u
must be Happy coz atleast by pulling ur leg u might gain a couple of
inches & surpass AVERAGE INDIAN WOMEN HEIGHT....Lol

Nikshep
============================
So sajith found any companions in the jungle and did u mingle with any:)
I am sure u would have fund a lot many of ur kind there:)
No mails from u at all.......................looks like u building ur club n bzzy with that.....not a problmeo we guys shall wait to hear from our "LOST "Nigerian Buddy!!!
Jayant
==========================================
I see.......everybody's jumping into this 'Sajith Bashing' bandwagon, huh,.........Well its not everyday that you people get a chance like this so I have decided to sit back and remain passive...(Ohhh...........how much I hate ye all)........
By the way.thanks for branding me as an 'Object Of Interest' though for the wrong reasons.....Gotta be honest C.me still wondering if you can be of any interest at all :-)
As for U Priya..........I AINT HANGING AROUND WITH GUYS HERE.........Never did all my life!!! AND THATS IT...no more arguments on that. Hey Mots...........U think u got me red in the face huh..........well tell ya what.........bask in ur glory as much as you want for it aint gonna remain that way for long.........
Jay, Chummi..think you've scored over me huh?.........dont get me started with that club shit!!!!.................better be concerned and find some place to hide for I'll BE BACK.
And Abu.what the hell?.................U think this is so much FUN. Well, I think NOT. And Niks........talk about mice gettin brave when the cats aint around.
PS...Isnt there anybody who wanna stand by poor ol' me.........Please , please there should be somebody in that rogue group my so called 'pals' who has some sympathy for me..........
Sajith
===============================================
FANTASTIC SAJITH. BUT I FEEL, U CAN DO STILL BETTER!!!! ;-))) ANYBOBY WITH ME???
Ranjini
========================
Is that so, C? Well, thats normal isnt it?...........But I aint trying any harder for I think I'm doing just fine. And why wouldnt people be with you especially when you are in the middle of something as interesting an activity as 'DIG YOUR PALS GRAVE'!!!
Hey, by the way, I thought someone wanted to know how things were here at Lagos.........well.....things here are just fine........wish I could send details across to you all but you know............ye people have kept me so busy reading your mails that I just dont have the time!!!!!!!!...:-D
With the worst Regards...........:-)
Sajith
==========================
Hehe Sajith u would have so many standing besides you juz look arund in the jungle who knows you would come across some BIG,ROUND IN SHAPE NIGERIAN (GUY/GAL) J
Jayant
==================================
Hey Sajith,
good to hear from you. though not one of the mails that I would
preserve for my grand children. Would make nice reading for a rainy
day though...
So, you seem to be back to your old cheerful self. :))
Lets not mail-bash you more than needed.
How is the work?How are the people? Fill us in on that country man..
I guess none of us might get a chance to visit Africa. Since you have
got the chance, do let us know how the place looks and feels.

Sumanth
=============================




Alright now that you all have had your laughs.. its time to turn the spotlight back to me.. After all this presumably, Sajith is not gonna let me get away light..so looks like a few broken bones are in order i guess.. or at least a consultation with a good plastic surgeon.. My only hope is to bribe him with a trip to more civilised places.. so people you can leave a comment and i will tell you where to transfer the funds..Hello..don't leave the page ..click on that comments link..heloo..hellooooo..Bah.. i should have known..Friends!!!

Love Boat Captain--> Pearl Jam

Is this just another day,... this god forgotten place?
First comes love, then comes pain.
Let the games begin,...
Questions rise and answers fall,... insurmountable.

Love boat captain
Take the reigns and steer us towards the clear,... here.
It's already been sung, but it can't be said enough.
All you need is love

Is this just another phase?
Earthquakes making waves,...
Trying to shake the cancer off? Stupid human beings,...
Once you hold the hand of love,.. it's all surmountable.

Hold me, and make it the truth,...
That when all is lost there will be you,...
Cause to the universe
I don't mean a thing

And there's just one word I stil believe
And it'sIt's an art to live with pain,...
mix the light into grey,..
Lost 9 friends we'll never know,.. 2 years ago today
And if our lives became too long, would it add to our regret?

And the young, they can lose hope cause they can't see beyond today,...
The wisdom that the old can't give away
Hey,...Constant recoil...Sometimes life
Don't leave you alone.

Hold me, and make it the truth,...
That when all is lost there will be you.
Cause to the universe I don't mean a thing
And there's just one word that I still believe and it'sLove,... love. love. love. love.

Love boat captain
Take the reigns,.. steer us towards the clear.
I know it's already been sung,... can't be said enough.
Love is all you need,.. all you need is love,..Love,.. love,...Love.

Screw the past!!!

Yes.. today will be the day i say to myself that i have "finally" moved on.. .. all attempts to even start a conversation have been thwarted..so no more effort from my end to "smooth" things out.. i know things are irreversible..so i am gonna let them stay that way..
Maybe life would be much simpler if i were a little bit more naieve and did not try to "practicalise" and rationalise all my actions..

Savandurga..

This weekend saw me riding to Savandurga..This is a quiet little place about 70 km from Bangalore..I was to meet the others at 7:30 and we were to take off at 8:00.. Considering that i had been partying late the previous day..it was quite an effort to make it to the venue..but the fact that i was one of the ride co-ordinators egged me on.
I had actually crashed out at my friend's place the previous night..so after a gargatuan effort,i managed to wake up and make my way home by 6:30 in the morning..a quick bath and some quicker packing..and was out the door by 7:15..I was planning to ride slow upto the venue so that i could clear my drowsiness and the hangover..this plan did not work for long..just a couple of kilometres ahead i happenend to see Rocky and Lohith on Airport road.. So, it turned out to become a race to the venue thing...
Soon we were all at the Town Hall which was the designated starting point..After the introductions and a little planning it was time to set off..Lohith and me would be in the lead..and Rocky and Vikas were to sweep.. So..off it was at around 8:10..and bang into Sunday morning traffic..
the first 20 odd kms were just pure frustration.. the traffic was too much to bear.. but for me it was a blessing in disguise..it gave me enough of a buffer time to actually clear my head..and clear it did just in time for the clear roads that we soon came across.. they were pure bliss.. a biker's dream if i may say so. there were so many twists and every one of them banked so well..
I had last seen such good twists on the way back from Mangalore.. and then i was still learning the art of going around corners.. All that i read and had been told came to mind..and what better time to put it into practice..
I was in the lead and had to make sure that i kept the pace going..there was my motivation..and the speedometer just reflecting that.. i was slowly increasing my speed..and realised that all that i had learned on paper was now going well in practice.. I kept my lines well and leant into the curves as anybody would have.. this built up my confidence.. and soon i was doing about 80-90 on those curves ..i even took it upto 100+ once.. the feeling was just awesome... there comes a point in every ride when you feel one with the bike.and this was it for me today..especially with Pink Floyd in my ears..ah it was just bliss..
Soon..sadly since i was just getting warmed up...we were at Magadi..This was our breakfast stop..and that is when i realised how hungry i was..it was nearly 16 hours since i had last eaten a proper meal..
Post breakfast we set off to Savandurga..it was a short ride of about 15 -20 km..and all of it on narrow village roads..The rock is pretty imposing at first.. the sheer size of it is enough to say PHEW.. and was lost in admiring it.. and we were soon clamouring to scale this rock.. It was a pretty difficult task especially in the swelterin gheat.. but we did manage to cover about 1/3rd of the distance..After the climb the guys were all pining for beer..but i guess that would not be a good idea.. at least i am not comfortable with the drinking and driving thing..especially on a highway..After some debate on what next..it was decided that we would all head home..I was more than ready for a nice home cooked lunch and a longg siesta..
So off it was by 12:00 or so.. and this time too i was in the lead and was testing the speed limits on those twisties..these curves i could fall for anytime:)
The return journey was pretty similar to the onward one.. except for the rise in temprature..and the traffic too..
Was home by 2:30 and in time for a nice lunch and slept till late in the evening..
A fitting way to finish off a sunday ride.. So guess this means that i will be found on some highway or the other on most sundays:)))

Yelagiri-on MY terms

I was back from the US, and wanted to go for a long ride on my bike. Once the itch had set in, a plan began to form in my mind and the only thing left was execution. However there were some obstacles that had to be dealt with. Sometime in the middle of the week, i got a call from some of my old friends, and they wanted to go on a day trip. I was game for it, as long as i was getting my bike along. As D-day came closer, a lot of people chickened out, and mainly because they had something else "suddenly coming up". I had made up my mind anyway, and was definitely not letting some spoil-sports ruin my ride.
With one day left for the ride, another friend showed immense interest, and i was taken in. Thought that some company would make my ride more interesting. But after all the planning, this friend also chickened out, and on the morning of the ride, when i had to pick him up. Could not let this ruin my day, could I.... so off i went.
I had been to Yelagiri before, but then it was in a car, and i had promised myself that i would do this route on my bike someday. Well.. someday had come. I started at 7:30 in the morning, and was surprised at the traffic, especially since this was a saturday morning. All the way upto Hosur the road was pretty choked, and this did limit my speed. Things took a turn after Hosur though. The open roads were going to be just pure bliss. I did make a photo stop before the wide roads started. I knew that once i started enjoying the roads, i would be very reluctant to make any stops. So after some clicking, it was time to roll.
Was planning to go at a sedate 80kmph or so, and was doing that until a Qualis overtook me, after Krishnagiri. The vehicle was pretty full with some family that included a lot of kids, gawking at me and and my bike. I thought i should give them something to cheer about, and set about trying to overtake the Qualis. It was a nice healthy competition. Neither of us took unnecessary risks, but did manage to keep up a good speed. Most of the time we were doing about 100-110 kmph. One stretch i managed to go upto 120. This went on for more than 50 km, until i decided to take a break. It was about 70 km since my last break, and i was getting real thirsty too. The heat was getting pretty oppressive.
Now that a quick pace had been set, going slow was out of the question. I was too hooked up on the speed factor. The turn at Vaniyambadi came soon, and i knew i was pretty close to the hills.
The ghat section of 14kms was true delight. There was hardly any traffic here, and so i could let loose again. There is nothing more fun while riding, than being able to take on the ghats, and not miss any turns!!
Was in Yelagiri by 10:15. Breakfast was a long drawn out affair. After stuffing myself with enough food to keep me going till lunch, i was ready for the return journey home. Started off by 10:45. He..he.. this was turning out exactly like my dad predicted. He knew that i was interested in the ride and not as much in the place.So, he had predicted that i would be back home for lunch...
Another shutter-bug break presented itself about 4km into the ride. The view from the hill was too good to pass without spending some time here. Finally managed to get away by 11:00. Now i was really in the mood to test my bike's endurance. So, once i cleared the ghats and was back on the highway, i rarely went below 100kmph. It was great to be dong those speeds. The only problem was that a lot of the localites were using the wrong side of the road. Looked like most of them were Americanising themselves!! It was very irksome, when i was doing good speeds, and had to slow down, because there was some moron coming the opposite way, treating the road like an extension of his living room. Since, these guys were so into the american driving style, i took it upon myself to introduce them to some choice american slang too!!
After the turn at Krishnagiri, i got involved in two ego-building races. The first was with a Qualis, where my ego took a beating, but not without a fight. The next was with an Esteem, where i got myself a chance to boost my ego. He he.. a bike leaving them behind, is a tough pill to swallow for many four-wheelers.. The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, with the usual traffic jam from Hosur. Still managed to reach home by 1:30, and just in time for lunch with dad..
Looking back, i had done pretty good time.I had d0ne 350 kms in six hours, with a 30 minute stop for breakfast. Also, the stretch from Hosur to home did take me about an hour and a half, the morning and afternoon combined. So that meant i took about 4 hours to do around 280 kms, at an average of 70 kms per hour. That was pretty neat, if i may say so. And that was all because it was on MY terms... this definitely means a lot more solo rides in the future.

Its been that long?

Saturday night i had an amazingly swinging time at STYX.. and we were there till they closed down the DJ console.. and strangely the last song they played was "Don't Panic" by "Coldplay"....if my day had been good..it just got better.. i loved this song..and while i was lost in this song.. somehow all the confusion, apprehension and a whole other gamut of emotions in my head suddenly took a turn for the better..i realized that i was just indulging in so much self-pity..and life did suddenly feel so much better..and as the song goes.. "we live in a beautiful world"..only if you take time and notice it.. And if you are wondering..this is definitely not the beer talking..cause i had WAY below the normal stuff i consume..and still had a great time..
and oddly enough i had the chance to talk to a lot of old friends the next day..and the conversations somehow ended up in our careers..and i realised that i am the only one among them who was completely content with the job i was doing..the others seemed so bogged down by the work they were doing..and were using me as an oulet..
Thats when it hit me that we've been out of college for almost two years now..has it really been that long? it seems like yesterday that i was getting into trouble with my teachers..and look at me now.. It's been a short journey i accept..but still it has been wonderful..absolutely wondeful.. and if i could go back in time.. i don't think i would want to change anything..
In just a year there have been so many changes..and i know what i am capable of..and what i am not..it's not been a roller coaster ride..but it's been close..and the best thing other than finding new friends..has been my investing in my bike..and giving wings to the biking passion in me..

PLAGARISED WITH PRIDE!!

He he.. yes. this article is plagarised from an old mail...was sifting through some old mail and came across this..It Definitely HAD to be posted here..


It was a lovely December morning in the hottest city in the world. All right, so that was a little unfair. Chennai is not the hottest city in the world. But it certainly is the city with the most uncomfortable weather among the cities that I have lived in. And I've been around. But I digress.
I was in the company bus on my way to work, as usual trying to catch up with my sleep. On this particular day, a girl got on the bus, came to my seat and sat down. "Good Morning," she said. I looked back at her through half closed eyes, replied "Good Night," and then proceeded to return to my half hour nap before the bus reached the office. Unfortunately, I was woken up by a punch in the arm.
"Wake up, bozo!" She was looking at me with a big smile on her face. "I'm not sitting next to you to listen to you snore."
Half-heartedly, I opened my eyes and turned to her. "What's up?" I asked.
Preeti Mehra was tall, good-looking and slightly tomboyish. She was also my best buddy. "Come on," she said. "Don't look so disappointed. You'd rather sleep than talk to me?"
"I talk to you everyday, Preeti."
"You also sleep everyday."
"It's not enough."
"So you've had enough of talking to me, eh?"
You can't argue with a statement like that, so I had to give up. I grinned and said, "OK, sweetheart. What's on your mind?"
"I wanted to tell you what happened yesterday. Can you guess?"
"Anurag called you last night."
"How did you know?" She was stunned.
"Oh, he asked me for your number yesterday."
"And you gave it to him?"
"What else could I do? And stop complaining. You've been drooling over him for weeks now. He must have thought he had a chance."
Preeti was the kind of girl who would openly ogle at every other guy she saw. And yet, she would not respond to any advances of a romantic nature. She'd happily join a group of boys to go to a cricket match, but if asked out to a movie, dinner, or even coffee, she'd never say yes. She defined 'Hard-To-Get'.
"You like putting me in these situations, don't you?" she said.
"No. That's not true. I love putting you in these situations!"
That invited another punch in the arm.
I had known Preeti for a year. We'd tell each other about our joys and our sorrows, our victories and our defeats. I'd tell her about all my crushes and she'd scold me for being silly. She'd drag me to classical music concerts and I'd add them to the list of things she 'owed me' for.
And though I never let it show, I must say that she punched pretty hard.
~*~
It was 12:00 am and my phone was ringing. "Hello," I said, as I picked it up.
"Happy Birthday!" It was she.
"You're supposed to throw me a surprise party, sweetheart. Not just call to say Happy Birthday."
"Well then open your door, dumbo!"
So I did and found her, cell-phone in hand, at my doorstep -- with what seemed like half the population of my company. My roommates were supposed to be working late that night. Now I knew why.
I blew a lot of candles (seemed like much more than 25), cut my cake, got kicked in the behind, and got painted with the cake's icing. If Preeti had had her way, she'd probably have preferred to use a paintbrush and a can of paint. But I bribed her with a copy of the book "Lord of the Rings". She'd borrowed it from me three times already. I thought it was about time I gave her a copy for herself.
We chatted for an hour after everyone had gone. "I think it's time I left," she said finally, trying to stifle a yawn. I nodded. I dropped her home in my roommate's car. As she was getting out of the car, I stopped her.
"Hey, Preeti."
"What?"
"Thanks."
"Hey, don't get senti on me now!" she smiled. "Are you trying to worm out of that gift you promised me?"
"You know, it's interesting how I'm getting you a gift on my birthday."
"That's just because you're stupid," she grinned. "And you better get me that book, or I won't return your copy."
"Hey, that copy was a gift to me from my dear friend Preeti Mehra. I can't let you keep that."
She wasn't falling for that. "Your dear friend? And what about me? Am I not dear to you?"
"Very smart. That won't work with me. I'm not one of your Love Crazy suitors. Why do you need the book anyway? You've read it umpteen times already."
"That is besides the point. You are getting me the book. We both know that." She smiled that wide confident smile of hers. "Good night." And she got out of the car.
I sat there for some time, just thinking. Our conversations were always like this - a little joking, a little teasing and a lot of demanding. But somehow, I felt that something had changed since the moment she had turned up at my door that night. I was still in my reverie when a paper ball landed on the windshield. I craned my neck out of the window and looked up. She was standing in her balcony.
"What are you still doing there?" she whispered loudly.
"Waiting for you to start a paper-ball fight," I whispered back.
"We can do that tomorrow. Go home now. It's way past your bedtime!"
"Ok, mommy," I grinned back. "I'm going home now!"
~*~
I'm an extravagant gift-giver, and it is definitely going to be my downfall some day. I made her wait for it, but finally bought her the book. That, and half-a-dozen other omnibus collections of various authors, including a copy each of `The Complete Works of Shakespeare' and `The Complete Short Stories of Charles Dickens'. All I got for it was an "I told you so."
I started spending a lot of time at her place after that. Mostly because I wanted to read all those books, and she wouldn't lend them to me.
"I'm not as stupid as you, ape-man. I'm not falling into the same trap I laid for you. Plus, you dog-ear your books. You're not doing that to these masterpieces. So if you want to read them, you read them here. And if you want to mark your place, use a bookmark."
So that's what I did. She'd even make me wash my hands before I touched the books. It was as if they were sacred.
"Need I remind you that it was me that bought you the books in the first place? For my birthday!"
"So? They're mine now."
"Well, then. I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time. Where exactly is my birthday gift?"
"It was in your tummy at one point of time. It's probably been washed into the sea by now."
"Huh?"
"Remember the cake I baked you on your birthday?"
"You what? You can't bake cakes!" That was a mistake. She looked hurt. "You baked me a cake?" She didn't say a word. She just shrugged.
I was stunned. "But you never told me."
"You didn't ask." That was typical of her.
"It was fantastic! And you wasted most of the icing on me!"
"The cake was for you, dumbo."
"How long did it take you to make the whole thing?" It had been a two-layered vanilla-chocolate cake with three flavors of very creamy icing. She had done all that!
"Well, the chocolate cake took an hour and fifteen minutes, and so did the vanilla. Then cutting them up and putting them together took another 15 minutes. Each flavor of icing took 20 minutes for preparation, and then putting it on the cake took another half hour. Cleaning up the mess took an hour."
She seldom claimed the credit for anything, but once she started bragging, there was no stopping her. However, I wasn't thinking about that right then.
"You spent over five hours on that cake?"
"A little over four hours preparing it, and an hour cleaning up. Yes."
I was speechless. I didn't know how to react. She hated cooking.
"I forgot to mention," she continued, "the hours I spent the week before that, practicing. Even the birds wouldn't touch the first three cakes!"
I couldn't help but ask. "Why?"
"Because the first one got burnt, the second one was only half cooked, and in the third one, I forgot to add sugar."
It was just like her, to try to divert the conversation. "I mean why did you spend so much time on baking me a cake?"
She looked at me like I'd asked her why the sun rises in the east. "For your birthday, stupid. Of course, I also wanted to beat every gift you've ever got me. Try beating this one." She was grinning like she'd won the world championship.
As far as I was concerned, she had. I'd never spent a week making her anything. I'd never even spent an hour making her anything. Getting her a gift normally involved me taking her to the store, letting her choose and use my credit card. Suddenly, I felt cheap. "Thanks," was the only thing I could say. "Thanks a lot."
"Hey. Are you getting senti on me again?"
I was.
~*~
I was still mulling over my feelings for Preeti the next day at work when my boss asked to speak to me.
I went over to his cabin and he started with the usual greetings, asking how work was going and whether I was comfortable. He then told me that the company wanted to send me to New York for a couple of years. Normally, this wouldn't have made much of a difference to me. I could work anywhere and didn't have too much love for visiting places foreign. But right then, the first thought that came to me was that I'd be away from Preeti for two whole years. Twenty-four hours before, I'd have been disappointed to lose her company. But right then, I was devastated. That was when I knew I was in love with her. I'd had crushes before. Lots of them. But this was different.
"Do you have any problem in going?" my boss asked, since I hadn't responded.
"Not really," I replied. What else could I say? That I was in love, and couldn't bear the separation?
"When do I have to leave?"
I had a month.
~*~
"Wow! New York! Great! I've heard it's a fantastic city! Did you know it snows there in winter?" Preeti was obviously very excited about my going. She didn't seem to share my disappointment on what I now saw as 'separation'.
I had not decided then if I was going to tell her how I felt. We'd known each other for a little over a year, and we were very close, but beyond some mild flirting, the relationship had never got even close to romantic. That was, of course, until I found out she had spent a week baking me a cake. It's funny how small things seem to make such a big difference.
"What happened?" she asked. "You don't seem very happy."
"Oh," I replied, "it's just that it's so sudden, that's all. And you know I was never all that interested in going to America."
"What an idiot. Go see the place. I've heard the women there are amazingly beautiful." She had a sly smile on her face. I wanted to tell her I didn't care if I laid my eyes on another woman again, if she wasn't with me. But I didn't.
I realized that I only had another month with her. She'd rejected every guy who'd asked her out ever since I'd known her. I didn't want the same to happen to me, and I didn't want to make it awkward between us. I didn't want to risk that month. I wanted it to be the best time I had ever spent with her. After I came back from the US, I might not even get to meet her again. Two years was a long time.
We ate out almost every night. We visited some of the best restaurants in the city. She also helped me shop for warm clothes, formalwear, shoes, toothpaste and a million things I'd never have thought of on my own.
"You need to buy a nail-cutter." My roommates and I shared one.
"I've prepared a list of must-have medicines that you should carry."
"Your iron won't work in the US. No point buying one here as you need one that works at a hundred and ten volts and has flat pins. You can buy one at a K-Mart or Wal-Mart as soon as you get there."
"You need at least two pairs of formal shoes and at least ten pairs of dark socks. The East Coast has a formal dress code. And you won't do your laundry more than once a week or two."
"How many ties do you have? And which trousers do your blazers go with?"
"Better get a haircut before you leave from here. Knowing you, you'll postpone the first haircut for too long."
She'd call me up at one in the morning to tell me to add 'one more item' to my list.
And with every passing day, I was falling more deeply in love with her.
The month swept by quickly. The day I was supposed to leave, I asked her to come with me to the airport. "Of course, dumbo. You think I'd let you go just like that, or what?"
After packing my bags for me and checking the lists for the hundredth time, she finally pronounced me "Good to go."
We reached the airport four hours early to beat the rush, because it was an international flight. She got a visitor's pass to sit in the waiting area while I went ahead and checked-in my bags. Preeti had got a spring balance from somewhere and so we knew my bags were well within the weight limit. I finished the formalities and came to sit with her. We had only a few hours before I had to go for my security-check. We decided to get something to eat at the food court. And all the time, the one thing that was going through my head was that, after this, I wouldn't see her for at least another two years.
"Hey, Champ. Why so glum?" She saved 'Champ' for special days. Normally, it was just 'dumbo', 'bozo', 'ape-man', 'matchstick man', 'weirdo', or if she was very irritated with me, 'nutcase'.
"I don't want to go," I said.
"I don't want you to go either."
"No, you don't understand." I couldn't hold it in any longer. "I can't stand the thought of living without you by my side."
She stared at me. There was a strange look in her eyes. I couldn't read it.
"I am madly in love with you, Preeti."
At this, a sound escaped her lips that sounded like a cross between a sob and a laugh. "Well, dumbo, you've picked an absolutely fabulous time to tell me about it!"
A tear escaped her eyes. It was all I could do to stop myself from wiping it off her cheeks.
"How long have you felt this way?" She seemed amused, though she was definitely crying. I didn't know what to make of it.
"From the day I found out you had baked me a cake."
She laughed. "That's all it took? Well, bozo, I guess a way to a man's heart is certainly through his stomach! Hold it. A month? You waited a month? You were the one who kept saying that if you really liked a girl you wouldn't waste a day in telling her!" She was smiling widely now. It looked funny, with her eyes all wet.
"Well, I was confused. How did I know how you'd react? In fact, I still don't understand your reaction. I thought it would change things between us. You've rejected every guy who ever proposed to you!"
"That's because I'm in love with you, you overgrown idiot!"
"What?" Somehow, I'd never expected her to say that. She was in love with me? "How long have you been in love with me?"
"Ever since the day you offered to carry my suitcase for me."
"But that was the first day I met you!"
"I guess I was always a sucker for chivalry."
"All this time you've been in love with me and you never said anything! Then you go and complain that I waited a month!"
"You guys are so bad at reading a girl's mind."
"You women are so good at keeping your thoughts a secret! Even Einstein couldn't figure you out."
"Einstein was a nerd. Casanova, on the other hand, understood us very well."
"I love you."
"I know."
That moment, my dear friends, was magic. I looked into her eyes and took her hands in mine. Physical contact for us had been limited, until then, to a punch in the arm, a slap on the back of the head, or giving each other a 'high five'.
"You realize, don't you," she said, "that this is our first date?" Leave it to her to notice the little things.
"I really don't want to go." I'd always maintained that love is a bucketful of emotions. I wasn't exactly delighted to be proved right.
"Don't worry. I'm coming there in a couple of months."
"How? On a dependent visa?"
She laughed. "For that, I'll have to wait, won't I? I've got a project in New Jersey."
I couldn't believe my ears. "What? When did that happen? You never even told me!"
"Well, I wasn't sure you'd propose before you left. And I couldn't exactly sacrifice you to those New York women, could I? I had to watch out for myself. So I went on a project-hunting spree. There is an opportunity coming up for a project in about two months. Someone is coming back to India, so I'll be taking his place. They want me there for a little less than two years." She was beaming. "I realized I had struck gold!"
"And if I'd not told you how I felt? When were you planning on telling me about it?"
"Around a month before I reached there. I had to make it look natural. Or you'd think I was desperate."
"Well, you are desperate!" This was incredible. All I'd done in the past month had been to mope around, listen to sad songs and write her letters that I never intended her to read. "You've been scheming all this while! How come you didn't lay a trap for me a year ago?"
"I tried giving you hints, dumbo, but you just wouldn't pay attention!" She was laughing. "You're the only guy I ever spent any time with. Wasn't that a big enough hint?"
That was true. She would happily join a group of boys to go to a cricket match, but I now realized, only if I was one of them.
"What if I had rejected you?" I was extremely flattered that she'd been crazy about me for a year. My ego was swelling.
"You must be kidding!" she was clearly amused. "I get proposed to every few days. You are the one who's been rejected more times in the last year than I can count on two pairs of hands!"
She really knew how to burst my bubble.
"Hey," she said softly, "don't look so dejected. I said 'Yes', didn't I?"
I grinned. "Yes, you did. And you've made me a very happy man. But you know what would make me even happier?"
"What?"
"If you learn to cook as good as you bake cakes."
So she punched me in the arm again.

backstreet boys..duh??

Recently read some stuff on another blog which sparked this off.. The guy had a friend who used to listen to Backstreet boys and was now listening to Metallica and the kind.. and was wondering why his friend was behaving weird all of a sudden..

I found that a little "weird". .. cause it somehow felt kind of personal.. even i listenend to backstreet boys and the kind when i was in college..seems like a long time ago though..well lets face it ..almost 99% percent of the fan base of all pop stars(what many like to call poop stars)are teenagers..at that age MUSHINESS sells big time.. next to the sex sells theme of course..
So when all your hormones are acting up..you do tend to listen to music that these poop stars make..and the music has thus served its purpose..They anyway consist of lyrics which the singers themselves don't seem too convinced of..anyway my point was that that is the age when you listen to such stuff.. at least it serves as the gateway to other good music..
a lot of this choice of music even depends on your peers..when most of your friends are doing something..you are not too keen on taking the path less trodden..at least that was how it was with me.. whenever we went out the car stereo was at full blast with Nick carter or some such singer in the same league crooning out love songs..
Slowly you do realise that hormones and your reactions to it are not the only things in life.. you do tend to sit up and notice other facts of life .. and that is when your music tastes also take a turn for the better..i believe that you can tell the mindset of a person by knowing what type of music they listen to..as long as they don't fake their tastes just to fit in..
So getting back..you tend to then look out for songs that you can relate to and they become your favourites..and what better outlet than this for your emotions..most of all people turn to rock(and metal of course) cause these somehow hit the target with their lyrics.. if you pay attention to what these guys are belting out..you will surely appreciate them more..and that is when you truly outgrow the pop music scene..It does not make you "weird"..it makes you wiser..or at least reflects that you are wiser..
If you listen closely every song has a story to tell..unlike the pop stuff(which was nothing more than "love sells")... take for instance Eric Clapton's "Tear's in heavan"..this was written as an ode to his dead son.. and what a beautiful song it is.. if you listen to it with all your heart i am sure it will leave a mark .. There are so many more songs which will leave a mark on you.. and when you have such songs my friend.. why would you want to listen to people wanting to know if they can hold their baby tonight or can touch them and do other things which i can't type here for obvious reasons'...

je suis de retour...

Finally i am home after 5 weeks.. It has been a productive 5 weeks which has done me a lot of good..First of all the way i work will definitely improve.. and second it has shown me the importance of home.. I finally know what it means when we say:"there's no place like home"..
.. a cancerian at heart i guess.
The flights were a little too long for comfort.. but on the upside i had some good company and that helped get through it.. there was even a book i managed to finish while being with the clouds..
It feels great to be back home.. back to familiar things..talking to friends and family without a phone line dividing us..
Now i can do all the things that constitute "normal" life ,i missed out the last 5 weeks..And top on that list is meeting all friends and spending time with my family over the weekend..
Just can't wait to ride with RTMC and show off my new jacket.. have had a lot of people already turning green...

The trip has definitely brought some changes in me..at least my paunch has reduced, if nothing else:)
It has also instilled a desire to travel even more than i do now.. Seeing new places and meeting new people..making new friends is such a high...

Mama i'm coming home...

Aha.. i'll be going home after 5 long weeks here in US..
can't wait to go back to familiar surroundings..
to talk to my parents and sis without a phone between us..
to eat home cooked food..
to ride on familiar roads...
to ride my bike..(boy did i miss it?)...
to meet my friends...
to visit STYX...
to play snooker..
to fight with sis..
to party on saturday nights.. and get back home at 1 am..
to wake up on a lazy sunday and accompany dad on the weekly shopping trip...
..and many many more things ...


Oh.. yeah .. i am waiting to board that plane home..It's gonna be great ..
It was an awesome trip though..Some part of me is gonna miss doing all the things i did here..
i made a few friends here.. whom i will surely miss when i go back..
I found some nice help from unexpected quarters.. Most of all i learnt that i do not have the US craze that a lot of my brethern have..i don't think this place will ever be home.... there are too many things i will have to give up.. and i definitely don't want to give them up...

I even got a chance to ride bikes on these roads...oh and speaking of bikes.. i am definitely looking forward to riding my bike back home.. i definitely need to go on a long ride soon..maybe i will be a part of the himalayan expedition that RE is planning....that would be so cool.. i would get to celebrate my birthday..literally while being on top of the world..

meanwhile... 3 more days to go!!!

make a wish?

Remember this?

I had this eyelash experience again..and i COULDN'T think of anything i wanted to wish for...
Am i getting too content or am i finally letting go of this superstition too??

And if you are wondering why most of my recent posts have titles ending with questions..its because i like it.. and not because i am on an inner quest or something deep like that..

Multnomah Falls

Sunday was a good day out...I was dying to go out.. evn though i did not have company and would have to do my explorations on my own...Homesickness was kicking in big time, and luckily I found out about this Falls.. I set out at about 9:00 or so in the morning..and reached the Falls in quick time..in just about an hour.. and i lost me way only once...
The drive was really scenic..There was greenery al around and it was drizzling too.. This added to the beauty of the whole place...The highway was designed to take you right next to the Hood river too... The actual falls is in two steps.. the water lands on a platform and travels for about 50 feet or so and then cascades again..It was a awesome sight... decided to trek to the top of the falls.. it was a pretty steep trek and i guess it was in excess of a mile.. I thought i would need a few breaks.. but was happy to find myself able to take on the terrain.. Not in as bad shape as i thought i'll beThe view from the top of the mountain was really fabulous.. on the way down i saw this couple who had got their 2 dogs along..and the wife was having an anxiety attack..she apparently had this fear of heights.and after going half the distance she lost it.. she totally freaked out..and hardly anybody stopped to help them..they all just assumed she was nuts i guess.
So being the good samartian i offered to help.. the husband was controlling both the dogs. so i offered to accompany the lady to the base of the falls and he could go up the trail and return back soon..The lady was totally freaked out in the beginning..but i managed to talk to her and calm her down.. she did make an immense effort to not feel scared and we managed to reach the bottom after some gruelling time.. And in return i did get more info about the place and about some other places i might be able to check out next weekend.
So. finished with my good deed for the day, it was time for lunch at the restaurant situated the base of the falls.. It was expensive but totally worth it...After lunch i headed to the mountains where i was supposed to find the river Hood..and there was also a scenic highway of about 100 miles that i wanted to drive through.. but sadly the weather got worse.and the rain that was expected here started coming in pretty hard.. This made driving very difficult and i HAD to come back..even though i had some more places n my agenda..guess i can try going there again next weekend
All said and done.. my happiest moment is going to be when i get on that plane 13 days from now...

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe
Posted by: sumanthp.

New city....

Well i am in a new city now..and it is much much smaller than San Jose and i hardly know anybody here.... I do have work to keep me occupied during the day but the evenings get really boring..with nothing to do but watch TV...and i can't do that for very long...hope that the weekend is more interesting at least...
After all the fun i had in San Jose..it is pretty difficult to be doing nothing.. I do have a car at my disposal..but not much fun when i have to drive and explore places on my own...

Hopefully i will come up with something to keep me occupied..

U S yeah?

This is gonna be a post after a looong time..and this is gonna be my first post while in the US..or San Jose to be more precise.. Been here since almost two weeks..it has definitely been a hectic two weeks..what with me being the official"driver" for our gang of 4 guys and 2 gals...
the training and work here has been very good and has met my expectations..and our weeeknd getaway was worth every bit of money spent...

Fortunately we have all stopped converting dolars into rupees whenever we buy something...else this would have hampered most of the fun we are otherwise having..The past week we have been working till late evening and then we head off to some nearby place..and most of the time it is to some shopping centre!!!

We all landed here on Sunday and it was not as great a cultural shock as portrayed in a lot of our "crossover" movies.. or maybe we knew what we were geting into and so it did not hit us hard....and anyway we had A, who had arrived 2 weeks before us and "educated' us on alot of american stuff...we did notice that mostly peple were very cordial with each other..and the roads were just awesome...being a biker..the roads are the first thing i observe..and they were just too good..so i was definitely looking forward to driving/riding on these roads..

We got a car..or rather Mini van on Tuesday..and A & i went to get it from the rental place..We had prepared for the return journey by equipping ourselves with some yahoo maps..but we should have known better.. We did make it to the Rental and took the van..then began my fast-track initiation into driving in the US!!! the rental guy gave me a couple of tips and watched apprehensively as I took off..A was my navigator and so i was paying more attention to staying in the right lane and not looking much at signboards...We thought the map would help us get back soon..but then we were so hopelssly lost that we had to rely on homing instincts!!.the roadsigns here do not follow the pattern that we follow back home ..and it did take us some time to get used to it...So we were learning more abut the lanes and signals and stuff..and also getting more hopelessly lost.. The upside was that we did get to see most of San Jose!! Finally after about an hour of U-turns and wrong turns..we did manage to get bck to where we started from...

Now that we had a car and an "able' navigator and a more "able" driver who could respond properly to the navigator's signals...we could see San Jose without any hiccups..and most of the eveneing we ended up in some mall or the other..we saw The great Mall,Wallmart,Frys (electronic stuff)..and many more ..oh and more roads also..most of the stuff unitentional ..we had made losing our way an art form by now..and we were getting to be really good at it..

So with our obvious navigational talents we decided to check out a few far flung places on the weekend. Luckily On Saturday we had P, who could drove us down to Lake Tahoe. He is such a cool person....We left at around 5:00 in the morning, so that we could reach the place by around 9:00 and start off early on our skiing lesons....and ski we did..this too was pretty much like our road experience..we kept fumbling and losing our way..we started off on a small slope and, boy we tried hard..after a lot of..ouch..falls, we did manage to get it right..
We had ski lifts to take us to the top of the slopes and we would ski down the slopes..and one of the times(the navigation skils again)...i managed to take the wrong lift...and wound up on the advanced slope...this was right after lunch..so i had got time to go over my skills in my mind and go all gaga about me geting it right.. Boy was this slope a leveller or what..literally ..just after a few minutes I was in level with the slope..down on all fours..looking like a cat with buttered paws on a waxed floor...The next time though i managed to get the right ski lift and the going was good...so there was another next time and another next time and so on..until my feet began to hurt and I could not ski anymore...
After all the skiing we went on a drive around Lake Tahoe..some parts of the lake were frozen and it was so beautiful to look at..The lake was so huge and awesome that we all could not help going gaga over it... The roads around the lake were just too good..it was a bikers dream...wish I get to ride on this road someday...

Sunday we were gonna do some more shopping and then go over to see Stanford and San Francisco.. Stanford was so impressive and we managed to leave the place only by around 4:00 in the evening ..this was when we actually perfected our navigational art form about which i have been talking all this while.. We managed to take 2 and a half hours for a 40 minute drive..most of the times we would take the wrong exit and enter some city and be even more lost.. Gas stations were our saviours and one time even a liquour shop!!..At one point i was sticking to my lane which we thought headed to San Francisco..and we suddenly saw the road branching and we were on a new freeway and the freeway we were supposed to be on was below us somewhere....

With all these pitfalls we did manage to reach SF and got on to the Golden Gate bridge also..man it was beautiful..with all the lights on and in all its splendour..hope i can see it one more time before leaving this place...

Next update as time permits..and the next one should be interesting..cause i am going on a bike ride in the US..that ought to be something special...

Damn good biker jokes....

Go here for some realy wicked biker jokes..mind you this is only for the ones with a strong stomach...definitely needs to be taken with a handful of salt...

Oh and btw...there is a balance in life!!
The girl was so confused initially but decided to remain friends at last...
Am glad that it did not follow the path my story had taken...we defenitely do not need another uncomfortable couple in our group....which anyway is dying a slow death without us adding to it!!!
..and if you are wondering ..about the "my story" part..sorry folks that's all you get to do about it.. wonder...you certainly are not gonna get to anatomize it...for like a wise man said.."Its for me to know and you to guess".. and yeah..the wise man is "yours truly"!!!

The Good Old Times....

These were all in PU..between '97 and '99.. This would be the time when we were free from the rigors and discipline of school and were out on your own in the big bad world... Well I was on my own.. My parents had seen my college only on the day of enrollment and never after that.. I had not wanted to take them away from their daily lives.. not even when i was asked to get my father for some mischief I had got caught for.. ha ha .. we had our ways to squirm out of them...
My first memories of college were the first day when the Princi gave his speech.. all i heard were a big list of don't do this.. and don't do that.. study responsibly.. etc.. and all this sounded very idealistic and binding for the sudden rebellious mood that I was in...
School to college was a drastic shift... good marks in exams were not cool anymore.. your clothes were not just an extension of you.. but they made up your personality....It was what defined you...You had to have your own mode of transport etc... the whole onus was on who was cool..
I had actually successfully made friends across the strata.. in ters of the cool ones and the uncool ones.. and had built up a good network...this helped lots especially during exams...
Hey this is turning auto biographical..not what it was intended to be...let me get to the fun parts...

So the best times I remember are the ones where we bunked classe and went to watch movies...the quality of the movie did not matter as long as we had good company.. So these shows we wanted to catch were normaly at around 12:00 and some of us would be in the labs then.. especially on fridays(when new movies came out)... So the first half of the day was spent in planning ways to get out of class and executing them... Most of the times we would just bail out of class or else come up with some lame excuse and get permission to cut class... once in the physics lab we actually blew the fuse by connecting the live and neutral wire.. so no power.. no experiments..no class... and then it would be time to set land speed records between college and the theatre...

Our college was pretty close to JNC, a girls college, and as boys will be boys. there would be more of us in attendance outside their gates than in our classes.. the two colleges had even come up with this devious plan of having diferent lunch times for both colleges(12:00 to 01:00 for them and 01:00 to 2:0 for us)...but that in way detered us from bunking and going over to ogle at them.... We actually had a few friends who studied there.. and so we had an excuse to hang out near their college.. They did have one strict rule though.. no boys were allowed inside their campus unless it was a fest day.. I rememer one occassion when a bunch of us landed outside their gate.. and were "chatting" with a couple of our friends from JNC... One of the guys was getting pretty excited looking at all the PYTs there.. We all told him that today was a special day and guys would be allowed inside the campus...This guy could not believe his ears and made for the gates.. It was sight seeing him trying to convince the guard to let him insde..and the guard in turn threatening him physical harm.. Finally the guard could not take it anymore and chased this guy out with his stick..running behind him..he gave up only after our friend had run about 500m....

Nidhi Bete...

It really feels good to be a winner...and this was more than the perfect high point of a happening weekend.. After a lot of yes and no... Chaitra and me participated in the treasure hunt(Nidhi Bete) organised by RTMC and.. surprise.. surprise.. we won it!!! It was really cool to do the 120 km ride around bangalore and I had the perfect pillion for it.. I was apprehensive that she would get bored on the long stretches.. but she was really enjoying the whole experience...there are very few people I know who enjoy being the pilion and C is surely one of them....Don't think I could have won this without Chaitra's and Sourabh's help... Sourabh helped us with the dead cockroach and Chaitra cracked most of the clues... So I am definitely looking forward to RTMCs forthcoming events..

So you though life was all rosy??

No prizes for guessing the outcome of the previous post..

Is it too late??

Today was such a friggin cold day.. I almost didn't make it to office..So you must have guessed by now that this would not be the best time to mess around with me... So right when I need something to perk me up I see this mail..
This was a letter my friend has written to a girl he has had a crush on... he's doing this 5 years after meeting her...He is living in another city and felt he owed it to her that he let her know how he felt... And all this coming from a guy who i knew was like me.. not that great at expressing emotions.. at least mouthing them.. I can see that a very big effort has gone into writing this...
So here goes...


Hi *****,
How are you doin….? this mail is going to be kinda lengthy so plzz be patient……
Well I guess u must be thinking …..wht next…..???…i mean there is this guy whom u hardly know……(whose voice u can’t even make out…J ..!!)and all of a sudden out of the blue from nowhere …one fine day he calls you up …. starts sending u msgs…….mails etc…!!! Right (pestering u wud be a better term…).
I mean if I was in ur place I wud be really wondering why some guy whom I met 5 yrs back…..tht too hardly 3-4 times and
to whom i haven’t even spoken for the last say 3 years…… suddenly calls up n starts being friendly….n nice to me…..
Well you know wht **** first of all don think I’m sitting n writing all this becoz I have nothing better to do in life ….
if u notice the time n day of the mail u will see tht it is A SATURDAY EVENING n I’m sitting in office ……
(well tht’s becoz my project has started n I have loads of work in fact it’s the first time I’m sitting in office on a sat evening …)
N I don know how ur going to react after reading this mail….u might not even talk with me ……or u might get really pissed of with me…
( tht is if ur not already becoz of all the SMS’s I keep sending….tht too late at night…)
Well You know what **** in all our lives there are some people n incidents that we can never forget no matter where we are or what ever we are……N for me …..
You ***** is one such person …..(I probably should have told all this 4 years back …but I guess better late than never…..)
I really don know wht to write ….. …..
Even though u hardly know me I know so much abt u (off course no prizes for guessing from whom..) I really had a big crush on you from the very first time I met you ……there are 2 things that really made me like you a lot apart from the fact tht ur a wonderful human being … your eye ‘s they are just so beautiful ..( no I’m not copying sharukh khan…..) I truly mean wht I say …..
& your Non stop talking .!!!! it so nice to just listen to you talking ……believe me or not i really have never liked any other girl as much as I liked you…..
don worry I don expect anything back ……...
but I never told u anything becoz first of all I was shy n secondly i really did not know wht u would think…..
So it is not tht one fine day from no where all of a sudden i remembered you …..you have always been there in my mind.…….
But it was just that i felt at least I should let a person whom i like so much know abt it (even if they don like me …)
becoz may be few years down the lane even if I want to i will not be able to let them know it…… (if not now then when …)
I guess u must be thinking wht is wrong with this guy ………
Neither is my language nor style of writing tht great n never in my life have i wrote a mail like this to any one….
N I don think i will for some time ……
( I have never felt like this about any other girl. ….) So all this might sound like very adolescent stuff
N don worry I will not disturb you in anyway …. if u don like it becoz
If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, great. If it doesn't, it's probably having dinner with someone more attractive than you. ;-)
but always remember ,
Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile, So when you're lonely, remember it's true: somebody somewhere is thinking of you.
I don expect anything from this mail ***** ,but just to let you know what I feel about you…. …
Well I guess thts about it…… n ha in my eyes you truly are the one of the most beautiful persons i have ever met…….
Thanks for ur patience I don know whether u will reply or sms me again but i surely hope ur not tht mad at ..me …..
Hope as they say is one of the few really good things in life……….
--#####
" To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world "


I do not think the others who read this may appreciate this as much as I did..because they don't know the protagonists.. and the efffort that has gone into this..

Keep checking this space.. Will let you know what happenend after this mail was read...

Just kidding??

Check out this joke.. This came up on Saturday night.. just like most priceless ones do.. This will sound better when told in person..but anyway here goes..

There was this monkey smoking a few joints up in a tree in the middle of some obscure jungle... he was somewhere between cloud six and seven..and he suddenly think he is Elvis reincarnated in this form .. He's belting out some good jungle variations...at this point there is this lizard who is just minding his business and wandering through the forest.... he looks up when he hears some jungle music..and he sees our friendly monkey puffing away on a joint.. So the lizard gets curious and goes " hey whay you doing dude?".. the monkey invites the lizard to join him.. the lizard is more than happy.and they both start puffing away on more joints... and the lizard thinks he is better than Elvis.. and they are singing away to glory... Soon the lizard is thirsty.. he tells the monkey he'll be back soon and goes down to the watering hole.. by now he is really high.. and while drinking water falls into the pond.. Lucky for him..a croc is nearby and rescues him.. He revives the lizard and asks him what happenend..the lizard is a bit sober and tells him that he was smoking a few joints with a monkey.. the Croc pooh pooh's at this and calls him aliar.. the lizzy then asks the croc to go check for himself... So the croc ambles along into the jungle while the lizard stays back..still recovering.. He soon spots the monkey and is staring at him in amazement... the monkey who is still high looks down and goes " Dude how much water did you drink??"...

I know..lame attempt.but this sounds a lot better with a little beer already down the hatch..
Anyway.just for surviving this ordeal of a joke.. here is a good one.. a biking joke at that...

A biker was driving down the highway and all of a sudden he hit a sparrow. He pulled over, picked the poor sparrow who was still alive, but unconscious. He decided to take him home.
When the biker got home, he put the sparrow in a cage, leaving him some bread and water inside. When the sparrow regained consciousness, he looked around and said: "Bars, bread, water...Oh my God...

I have killed that poor biker!!!"

Ravan & Eddie

This was one awesome book by "Kiran Nagarkar".. Man was this book funny or was this funny.. the book had me in splits upto the last page..Nagarkar has his way with words..he has an acute sense of humour and writes with such ease and detailing that you can actually picture what he is writing..many times I had to actually keep the book aside, finish my laughter and then get back to the book, just to break into laughter again.. this book would have been perfect for a 70 mm version if not for the erotic parts interspersed with all the fun bits.. the Indian Censor board would definitely blow their top and then some...
The story is about Ravan, a hindu, and Eddie, a catholic, who are growing up in the CWD chawl in Mumbai. It begins with Ravan( who was Ram at birth) "murdering" Eddie's dad. The first few pages introduce you to Nagrakar's style in no mean words. It is one heady experience, and you just can't getting hooked on to it. We all go through Ravan and Eddies's turmoils as the grow up. The premise of the story is basically that they both sem to be leading parallel lives and the ways they discover life in their own way. The scenes where the Father Angello is trying to mend Eddie's way are just priceless. Ravan's realisation of power is also note-worthy, once he discovers his role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi( yes you read that right!).
Saying anything more about the book would be injustice, as I would be imposing my thoughts. It is something that is something for the reader to savour and enjoy the after taste for a long time.
One piece of advice though. Questions of your sanity would definitely arise if you happen to be reading this around some people who have not read this. So, if your sanity is already under question, do read this when you are alone. No point in confirming other's doubts..whattsay?

UNMAAD...

This weekend saw me enjoying myself at the IIMB rock shows...they have this yearly affair called UNMAAD..and this year they had 2 rock shows..the first was on Friday featuring Indian Ocean and Strings..and the second part was on Sunday featuring Parikrama and Moksha...
I was there both the days and both had their own charms.. C was gonna come with us for the Friday event but office work prevented her from coming..she missed some good stuff..it was definitely her kind of music..
Indian Ocean opened the act and I knew them only by their "Black Friday" fame.. This band has a very earthy sound and is very good at fusion.. they had this imprompto jugalbandi and the audience was spell bound ...In bangalore you need good stage presence or you will get booed off stage.. And this band had good stage presence..they had a lot of their tracks in one of the dialects of north india..it is a variation of hindi..so I actually did not catch the meaning of most of their songs but they all sounded good..i loved it whenever they broke into an instrumental..
String was the perfect band to top this up..they too have very good stage presence... they also sure do know how to woo the crowd..in the middle of their gig they broke into a medley of hindi songs ranging from "Om Shanti Om" to the popular" Koi Kahe" from Dil Chatha Hai.... There was even a little marketing done for their home country...Pakistan.. I was hoping that they would play "Dur" which was the song that shot them to fame.. they had saved this for the end.. We left as son as they were through with "Dur", ensuring that this song was stuck in our head until the next day..
Sunday was no less fun..Moksha took to the stage and played some brilliant covers peppered with their own compositions.. they actually built up the mood for Parikrama to take the stage.. They were definitely playing some hard stuff.. Just as I was wondering if it can get any better, we had Parikrama on stage.. they had covers mostly and just one or two of their compositions..
I loved all the covers they played..they played some of my favourite stuff..maybe THAT made me appreciate them more... The played "Coming Back to LIfe" by pink floyd..and this is like one of my all time favourite songs.. As soon as the first parts of this song wafted to our ears..Sourabh and Smitha gave me this knowing look..they knew that i absolutely trip on this song.. this song always reminds me of an open highway and me on my bike trying to get across..
They also played "yellow" by "Coldplay" which all of us love.. this song is very beautifully written and i love the video of this song..so simple...
this was one weekend well spent.. Techincally it ended on Monday for Sourabh and me as it was around 12:30 am when we got home after dropping S and her sis back home.. We did have a nice drive back home.. i always enjoy driving at night..the whole atmosphere is so peaceful and the roads are devoid of all traffic..it so serene...

Rider Mania'05-- Part III

Day3 ---> 08-Jan-2005
Today the event was supposed to kick of at 10:00 am. Finally it did so after lunch. We seized this opportunity to get our bikes tuned and washed(all free thanks to RM of course). After lunch began our hunt for the beer. We heard that Castle Lager was one of the sponsors and a pint would set us back by only 10 Rs. This was a bloody steal if you ask me. So Samarth, Ambar and me set off hunting for this elusive stall that looked more like the Elixir fountain in this heat. Coming to the mumbai heat, it was outright oppresive. Man my shirt was stuck to my body. After giving up our search for the elusive beer stall, we guys went out of the venue looking for some watering holes. Found one soon enough and what do we see, Harsh, Vipin and sanju had already thought of this. Downed a couple of beers and headed back to the resort.
Finally the event kicked off. and the Indiethumpers showcased their concept bike. It was one cool looking bike. Just when we were planning another visit to the watering hole, we spotted the Beer stall. There was no stopping us after this. Within a half hour we were surrounded with more empty bottles than people. Sourabh and me were supposed to participate in the arm-wrestling even, but our names just did not materialise. This resulted in us downing more beers, but we were not complaining. The music was good, and the company even better. by the evening, it was time for some more events, and sadly we did not win in any of them. But we put in our best effort, backed up with lots of beer, and that should count.
Evening we had this wonderful band called Sceptre and all the metal-heads came out in numbers.Some of them were multitasking near the stage-cigaette in one hand, beer in the other, and in between and drag and a swig, they would get on with their head banging. It took a lot of skill mind you. Some of the guys, spat their sig out, thinking it was their drag, and others made the mistake of taking a drag and forgetting to retreive the cigarette, ensuring that it went flying, once they got on with their head banging.So in a nutshell this was tedious work, especially with a lot of sigs and lots more of drags already having found their way into their system.enjoyed the whole ambience, and had a lot of good discussions with some like-minded people. Diner was an extended affair, as all of us were very hungry. Hit the bed at around 1:30 or so.It was agood day, considering that we got to relax after being on the road for 2 days.
DAY 4 ---> 09-Jan-2005
This was suppossed to be the day, when all the bikes went to Mumabi for the collective ride. But as most of the people were recovering from their hangovers, this did not materialise. It was a pretty lazy day too, what with all the people happy to just hang around and reluctant to do anything more. There were alot of modified bikes on display though. It was a treat to watch them. So, most of the day was spent at Kirthi's Cramster stall ogling at these bikes, and comparing notes with others.Wanted to get a tatto, but got back after the inhibitive prices. Looked like the guy was planning to buy a few islands and retire after this tatoo gig.
Sourabh's bike chose this day to start acting up. His headlight had fizzed out and he needed to go to Panvel city to get some spare. This ensured that he missed the group riding, which eventually took off at 3:00 or so and ended back at the resort within an hour of starting.In the evening Kirthi joined us in our partying. Till then he was pretty subdued (part-wise), as he had to tend to his stall. Once he shut shop at Rider Mania, there was no looking back for all the "Caman the enjayment". We called it quits only by around 3:30 or so in the "wee hours" of the morning. We had a gala time pulling the legs of one particular Bearish character, who had this wrong notion that riding 50 kms on a bullet had made him a better bulletter than all of us.