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?
Monday, January 31, 2005
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...
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...
Monday, January 24, 2005
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.
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.
Rider Mania'05-- Part II
DAY 2 ---> 07-Jan-2005
All of us managed to wake up only by 7:00 and we were supposed to hit the road by 7:00. We were bang on time, as us bikers go. Here we were joined by Ambar and Samarth. These guys had started off at 6:00 the previous evening and had rode through the night. To top this, they would be carrying on with us to Panvel. man these guys were made of sterner stuff. By the time the guys tanked up on food and fuel and were ready to leave it was close to 10:30. This meant that we would reach Panvel late at night. The stretch from Belgaum to Kolhapur is an amazing 6-lane stretch. Here Sourabh and me did speeds of 130kph. i don't care if we have speedo errors. The feeling was too good to be diluted by such thoughts. Abhi had a stock silencer unlike the two of us, and even he went upto 125 kph. The feeling was amazing. Stooped over at Nippani before crossing over into Maharashtra. It was time for a few snaps and some calls home. Called up my friends at the office too.
Soon we landed in Karad where the road situation was completely on the other end of the spectrum. Without local help we would have never been able to get on to the road to Chiplun. Soon after locating the highway, we found a decent looking place for lunch. The owner was thrilled to see so many hungry-looking bikers at his doorstep, and was more than happy to prepare our meal. A long relaxing lunch, and all of us sleepy heads took off towards Chiplun. The ghat roads here were just awesome. Scraped my foot-rest lots of times. It was more of a treat to see Sourabh & Abhi taking those turns.
At Chiplun some guys filled up their tanks while we feasted on some Vada-Pavs. Man were they tasty or were they tasty. It was the perfect snack , like Keerthi mentioned, neither too heavy , nor too light.
We were then to move on to Pen(it sounds better in hindi), where a couple of Indiethumpers would meet us, and direct us to the RM'05 venue.Managed to reach Pen only by 10:00 pm. Rajiv and Ashish of the Indiethumpers then led us to the venue. Checked in by 11:00 pm, and then started our hunt for the booze.Lucky for us Belli had stocked up some from Bangalore. After a couple of rounds, feeling all warm, we headed for dinner. Passed out at 2:30 am hoping to get some good sleep before the event kicked off the next day.
All of us managed to wake up only by 7:00 and we were supposed to hit the road by 7:00. We were bang on time, as us bikers go. Here we were joined by Ambar and Samarth. These guys had started off at 6:00 the previous evening and had rode through the night. To top this, they would be carrying on with us to Panvel. man these guys were made of sterner stuff. By the time the guys tanked up on food and fuel and were ready to leave it was close to 10:30. This meant that we would reach Panvel late at night. The stretch from Belgaum to Kolhapur is an amazing 6-lane stretch. Here Sourabh and me did speeds of 130kph. i don't care if we have speedo errors. The feeling was too good to be diluted by such thoughts. Abhi had a stock silencer unlike the two of us, and even he went upto 125 kph. The feeling was amazing. Stooped over at Nippani before crossing over into Maharashtra. It was time for a few snaps and some calls home. Called up my friends at the office too.
Soon we landed in Karad where the road situation was completely on the other end of the spectrum. Without local help we would have never been able to get on to the road to Chiplun. Soon after locating the highway, we found a decent looking place for lunch. The owner was thrilled to see so many hungry-looking bikers at his doorstep, and was more than happy to prepare our meal. A long relaxing lunch, and all of us sleepy heads took off towards Chiplun. The ghat roads here were just awesome. Scraped my foot-rest lots of times. It was more of a treat to see Sourabh & Abhi taking those turns.
At Chiplun some guys filled up their tanks while we feasted on some Vada-Pavs. Man were they tasty or were they tasty. It was the perfect snack , like Keerthi mentioned, neither too heavy , nor too light.
We were then to move on to Pen(it sounds better in hindi), where a couple of Indiethumpers would meet us, and direct us to the RM'05 venue.Managed to reach Pen only by 10:00 pm. Rajiv and Ashish of the Indiethumpers then led us to the venue. Checked in by 11:00 pm, and then started our hunt for the booze.Lucky for us Belli had stocked up some from Bangalore. After a couple of rounds, feeling all warm, we headed for dinner. Passed out at 2:30 am hoping to get some good sleep before the event kicked off the next day.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Ladies Coupe..
Karthik told me about this book and i was all gung-ho about reading it..The urge to read this was heightened after Chaitra said that the story was scary..not in the spooky kind..but scared her a bit about life..
The book is a very depressing book if not scary..it speaks of the anguish that women go through in their lives..there were hardly any silver linings and if they were there it was over-shadowed by all whole brooding way the novel went on... But if it had been written any other way, i don't think the message ccould have been put across.. The whole book was all about taking charge of your own life and leading it in a way that you deserve to...
This was brought about with Akhila who is 45 years old and has never done anything for herself as she has been working her butt off to support her father-less family.. She has been so busy that she had no time to even contemplate marriage.. When finally she does like a guy, she finds him too young for her..
Her life takes a turn when she decides to take a break..alone..and finds herself travelling in this Ladies Coupe..All the experiences of her travel mates changes the way she thinks and she sheds her old self and transforms into a new confident person..
The main premise seemed to be the fact that a woman needs company..but not with all the strings attached..which is perfectly alright..she needs her freedom too.. It talks about all the things we normally consider as taboo but actually they already exist in Society..though wrapped under layers of tradition.. that's when we get to see the Hypocrisy of society..
Most of the incidents in the book are ones we have come across.. but here it is more of in-your-face stuff and you cannot escape the details..which makes you more sensitive to the subject..It is very well written in this aspect..
The ending i am sure will bring about a different reaction from every reader..there are bound to be differences of opinion here..As far as I am concerned.Akhila got what she deserved.. She has taken charge of her life and gets what she has been missing out..it shows you that in life it is never too late for taking charge of things.. So maybe here is the silver lining after all..
The book is a very depressing book if not scary..it speaks of the anguish that women go through in their lives..there were hardly any silver linings and if they were there it was over-shadowed by all whole brooding way the novel went on... But if it had been written any other way, i don't think the message ccould have been put across.. The whole book was all about taking charge of your own life and leading it in a way that you deserve to...
This was brought about with Akhila who is 45 years old and has never done anything for herself as she has been working her butt off to support her father-less family.. She has been so busy that she had no time to even contemplate marriage.. When finally she does like a guy, she finds him too young for her..
Her life takes a turn when she decides to take a break..alone..and finds herself travelling in this Ladies Coupe..All the experiences of her travel mates changes the way she thinks and she sheds her old self and transforms into a new confident person..
The main premise seemed to be the fact that a woman needs company..but not with all the strings attached..which is perfectly alright..she needs her freedom too.. It talks about all the things we normally consider as taboo but actually they already exist in Society..though wrapped under layers of tradition.. that's when we get to see the Hypocrisy of society..
Most of the incidents in the book are ones we have come across.. but here it is more of in-your-face stuff and you cannot escape the details..which makes you more sensitive to the subject..It is very well written in this aspect..
The ending i am sure will bring about a different reaction from every reader..there are bound to be differences of opinion here..As far as I am concerned.Akhila got what she deserved.. She has taken charge of her life and gets what she has been missing out..it shows you that in life it is never too late for taking charge of things.. So maybe here is the silver lining after all..
Australian Open.
Agassi won! His match against Johansson yesterday was just amazing...Both of then were fighthing tooat and nail for the win and finally it went Agassi's way...the fact that Agassi is competing at an age when all his compatriots have hung their socks and reapping the benifits of their glorious moments on court..This man just won't quit..
coming back to the match...both the guys were so good that neither had their serve broken until the fourth set...Johansson broke Agassi in the econg game to take a lead of 2-0..but Agassi returned the favour in the very next game... For me the highlight of the match was this one game where Johansson was serving and Agassi was looking to break him. He was 0-30 ahead and had two break points...This had visibly upset Johansson..his reply was to fire down four flawless ACES and take the game back..too good..and this was among the total of 51 aces he served in the whole match.
..and the best part is yet to come..In the quarter finals Agassi is gonna face Federer..both of them are my favourites and it is gonna be very hard to back either of them..only wish they did not have to square off at this stage..If this had been saved for the Finals, it would have been one amazing match..I defenitely need to catch this match on TV..not much fun reading about this..
coming back to the match...both the guys were so good that neither had their serve broken until the fourth set...Johansson broke Agassi in the econg game to take a lead of 2-0..but Agassi returned the favour in the very next game... For me the highlight of the match was this one game where Johansson was serving and Agassi was looking to break him. He was 0-30 ahead and had two break points...This had visibly upset Johansson..his reply was to fire down four flawless ACES and take the game back..too good..and this was among the total of 51 aces he served in the whole match.
..and the best part is yet to come..In the quarter finals Agassi is gonna face Federer..both of them are my favourites and it is gonna be very hard to back either of them..only wish they did not have to square off at this stage..If this had been saved for the Finals, it would have been one amazing match..I defenitely need to catch this match on TV..not much fun reading about this..
Thursday, January 20, 2005
My bike!!!
My bike is at the garage recovering from the ride..I visited it yesterday and saw the engine all openend up..actually felt a little sad to see that.. it was like looking at a relative being operated upon..It was gruesome...with all the oil spilling out and all the parts lying scatterrred....
looks like the whole deal is gonna cost me more than I had expected...
On the way from Mangalore to back home, there was some strange vibration coming from the back of the bike..In the garage I realised that this was because both the mudgaurd stay's had broken..must have happenend in the bad stretches what with all that lugage on the back seat...and each of those stay's cost around 350 bucks..my credit card is gonna be stretched this month..
But this in no way means that I won't be planing another trip..i am already planning another one actually..money and leaves are the only things that will be holding me back..
This time around I want to explore Kerala..want to ride all the way to the tip..this would have to be a ride stretched over a week at least, or else I don't think i would have seen the true beauty of Kerala..
Before this longish trip i want to do one bangalore-Chennai-pondicherry-bangalore over some weekend...i want to travel in the famous east-coast-road and I guess upto feb at least would be the ideal time to do this..hopefully I can do this one trip before taking off to the US....and the catch here is to break this news to my folks as tactfully as possible..now that is something to think about..So me getting busy plotting this one..
looks like the whole deal is gonna cost me more than I had expected...
On the way from Mangalore to back home, there was some strange vibration coming from the back of the bike..In the garage I realised that this was because both the mudgaurd stay's had broken..must have happenend in the bad stretches what with all that lugage on the back seat...and each of those stay's cost around 350 bucks..my credit card is gonna be stretched this month..
But this in no way means that I won't be planing another trip..i am already planning another one actually..money and leaves are the only things that will be holding me back..
This time around I want to explore Kerala..want to ride all the way to the tip..this would have to be a ride stretched over a week at least, or else I don't think i would have seen the true beauty of Kerala..
Before this longish trip i want to do one bangalore-Chennai-pondicherry-bangalore over some weekend...i want to travel in the famous east-coast-road and I guess upto feb at least would be the ideal time to do this..hopefully I can do this one trip before taking off to the US....and the catch here is to break this news to my folks as tactfully as possible..now that is something to think about..So me getting busy plotting this one..
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Rider Mania'05-- Part I
Rider Mania '05 had stirred me into action a long time before it actually happenend. I Heard about it in Nov'04 and was pretty excited and wanted to be a RM'05 at any cost. Sourabh and me discussed this and started our research about the event. For us the thrill of riding to Mumbai for the event was a huge kick, maybe bigger than attending the event itself. The venue would also give us a chance to travel down to Goa, Mangalore and then to Bangalore. These highways were something we had been wanting to do for a long time. So, finally after some reserach and planning we were all set. We talked to Vipin from RTMC and were to ride with them. Vipin had chalked out all the details of the routes and other such details. We were to start off on the 6th of Jan at 5:30. For Sourabh and Myself this day could not have come any sooner. On D-day the two of us met up and reached the venue by 6:00. The riders soon assembled and we were set to go.
Keerthi Jayasimha --> Thunderbird
Vipin Rajan --> Electra
Beliappa & Sanju --> Electra
Abhijeet --> Thunderbird
Sourabh & Smitha -> Thunderbird
Harsh --> Std 350
Sumanth --> Thunderbird
DAY 1--> 06-Jan-2005:
We managed to start off by 6:15. It was a good start considering that we planned to start off at 5:30. The usual introductions were done and I already started feeling comfortable with the group. The air was very cold and i was thankful that i had worn my gloves.Poor Sourabh and Smiha wern't wearing Gloves and felt the pinch. After some good riding with the sun just starting to come out it was time to stop at Tumkur for breakfast. As I was familiar with the roads I was alowed to take the lead. The road upto now was realy good, wide roads, sparse traffic. The only niggling factpr was the cold, and we knew we would be rid of this pretty soon. At Tumkur we had some amazing Thatte Idlis. After a longish 45 minute break we managed to get back on the road. The road continued to be good for a few more kms. However we knew we were in for some bad roads for at least 500 km of our journey to Mumbai. Most of NH4 was under construction and so we had to keep taking diversions every 10 minutes or so.
Soon Sourabh picked the pace up and I just fell in behind him. We managed to cover the distances in pretty quick time. this was an advantage as we would then get longer breaks, as we would stop at the designated places and wait for the others to turn up, and then all of us would start off again. The stretch to Chitradurga in particular was very good. Abhi, Sourabh and Me were doing 100 kmph most of this stretch. Both of those guys are awesome riders and it was treat to watch them. Soon Smitha took over Sourabh's bike and she had a gala time with Sourabh riding as her pillion.By 1:00 we managed to reach Davangere and had a hearty lunch. I ordered some "Fried Chilli" which was exactly that, green chillies fried in oil. After some apprehnsion the guys sampled it and pretty soon the plate was empty. lunch was also turning out to be an extended affair, but not with Vipin policing us. He soon kick started all of us and we on the road again.
Our next stop was at Haveri, this too was a longish stop, but Vipin seemed more relaxed and this prompted people to take a longer break. The chai wallah also helped our cause. After hitting the road towards the Hubli-Dharwad bypass, we came upon a railway crossing and had to stop as the gates were closed. Soon the train passed by and we moved on ahead. Within a few minutes we came upon another railway crossing with its gates closed, and the cool part was that it was the same train that passed us again. The Hubli-Dharwad bypass merited another stop. By now it was beginning to turn dark and visibility was reduced. i had a lot of trouble riding in the dark. Found that following Sorabh's tail light was my best bet, but had a pretty tough time keeping up with him. This guy rides the bike with amazing control.
We hit Belgaum by around 8:00 and soon found a place to shack up for the night. The place was called Keerthi hotel, and this led to another round of jokes. Freshened up and it was time to hit "Keerthi" bar. Vipin was concerned about everybody drinking too much resulting in a delaed start the next day. All of us on the other hand wanted to get Vipin drunk, so that we could get some good sleep.
Keerthi Jayasimha --> Thunderbird
Vipin Rajan --> Electra
Beliappa & Sanju --> Electra
Abhijeet --> Thunderbird
Sourabh & Smitha -> Thunderbird
Harsh --> Std 350
Sumanth --> Thunderbird
DAY 1--> 06-Jan-2005:
We managed to start off by 6:15. It was a good start considering that we planned to start off at 5:30. The usual introductions were done and I already started feeling comfortable with the group. The air was very cold and i was thankful that i had worn my gloves.Poor Sourabh and Smiha wern't wearing Gloves and felt the pinch. After some good riding with the sun just starting to come out it was time to stop at Tumkur for breakfast. As I was familiar with the roads I was alowed to take the lead. The road upto now was realy good, wide roads, sparse traffic. The only niggling factpr was the cold, and we knew we would be rid of this pretty soon. At Tumkur we had some amazing Thatte Idlis. After a longish 45 minute break we managed to get back on the road. The road continued to be good for a few more kms. However we knew we were in for some bad roads for at least 500 km of our journey to Mumbai. Most of NH4 was under construction and so we had to keep taking diversions every 10 minutes or so.
Soon Sourabh picked the pace up and I just fell in behind him. We managed to cover the distances in pretty quick time. this was an advantage as we would then get longer breaks, as we would stop at the designated places and wait for the others to turn up, and then all of us would start off again. The stretch to Chitradurga in particular was very good. Abhi, Sourabh and Me were doing 100 kmph most of this stretch. Both of those guys are awesome riders and it was treat to watch them. Soon Smitha took over Sourabh's bike and she had a gala time with Sourabh riding as her pillion.By 1:00 we managed to reach Davangere and had a hearty lunch. I ordered some "Fried Chilli" which was exactly that, green chillies fried in oil. After some apprehnsion the guys sampled it and pretty soon the plate was empty. lunch was also turning out to be an extended affair, but not with Vipin policing us. He soon kick started all of us and we on the road again.
Our next stop was at Haveri, this too was a longish stop, but Vipin seemed more relaxed and this prompted people to take a longer break. The chai wallah also helped our cause. After hitting the road towards the Hubli-Dharwad bypass, we came upon a railway crossing and had to stop as the gates were closed. Soon the train passed by and we moved on ahead. Within a few minutes we came upon another railway crossing with its gates closed, and the cool part was that it was the same train that passed us again. The Hubli-Dharwad bypass merited another stop. By now it was beginning to turn dark and visibility was reduced. i had a lot of trouble riding in the dark. Found that following Sorabh's tail light was my best bet, but had a pretty tough time keeping up with him. This guy rides the bike with amazing control.
We hit Belgaum by around 8:00 and soon found a place to shack up for the night. The place was called Keerthi hotel, and this led to another round of jokes. Freshened up and it was time to hit "Keerthi" bar. Vipin was concerned about everybody drinking too much resulting in a delaed start the next day. All of us on the other hand wanted to get Vipin drunk, so that we could get some good sleep.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Home..At last..
Ah! I am back home today after a loong 10 day ride.. This was one awesome ride I did and today was the last leg.. The start of the day saw me at my uncle's house in Puttur( near Mangalore).. I was very keen on making it to bangalore by the afternoon, so I wanted to start off by 5:00 in the morning... My bike's headlight was acting a little weird, but I though I would take the chance...
I woke up at 4:30 am and tried to get ready without waking anybody else.. But my uncle and Aunt were such sweet people..They had woken up by 4:00 and had hot water and Hot tea ready for me.. Both helped me a lot in warding off my sleep.. After declining breakfast I stacked up all the luggage on my bike and took off... It was going to be a journeuy of a little over 300 km..
The air was very chilly and I was hoping it would get warmer as the day progressed..It was pitch dark on the highway..and the oncoming Trucks had blinding headlights.. It took me quite a while to get adjusted to the conditions... I was surprised at the heavy traffic for this time of the day... Soon I hit the ghats and it was an uphill climb all the way.. Bangalore happens to be at ahigher level than Mangalore and we need to climb these ghat roads.. Around 6:30 my headlight went bust again..I must say I am lucky for if it had gone out earlier I would have been in a lurch.. Now with daylight the going would be easy...
The air kept getting colder and I had signs of frostbite.. After some time my fingers just went numb..and I even missed pressing the clutch at one turn.. This was a sign for me to take a break...luckily i had covered about 70 km and was near Sakleshpur.. Stopped at the first Hotel and drank up Hot tea.. Sent a few SMS'es and was off soon after that.. Was planning to stop at Hassan after this.. Reached Hassan but dd not feel like stopping and carried on.. Was surprised that I was not very tired.. The morning air was fresh and the roads had somehow gotten empty again..
my next stop was at Yediyur..and by then I had covered about 180 km and it was still around 9:30 am or so.. Called up the office and Home and realised I would have to be in the office by 3:00 for an appraisal meeting... Was pretty hungry by then and went to work at a nearby Maurya.. The service was lousy but the Vada's were absolutely delicious..
By now I was ready to take on the road again.. I had a problem with my bike and so could not go beyond 75-80 kmph... This was frustrating as the roads were very good and i knew I could do speeds of 90-100kmph easily on these roads.. If I could have I would reach much faster..
Finally hit bangalore at 12:00 in the noon..
The ride was a fitting end to the whole 10 day ride.. I had done 300 km today in just a little over 6 hours and with only 2 breaks.. I am very sure no other 2-wheeler can ever take this kind of strain..reached home after 10 days and 2600 kms.. I had left for Mumbai on the 6th of Jan and reached home on the 15th after visiting Goa and Mangalore..
Am stil in the process of putting down the whole experience on paper(or monitor rather)... Will post it soon..
It felt great to be home.. My family was one releived bunch.. They had been pretty scared all the time I had been away..Can't blame them, considering the indian roads.. But thankfully I had a safe journey and so did all the 11 guys who had set out on this ride from Bangalore..
After reaching home got ready as soon as possible and went to the office.. Had a quick lunch..got the trip photos developed and had an absolutely rewarding meeting..
..and now I am in the office hoping to leave as early as possible..But there's miles and miles to go before I sleep!!!
I woke up at 4:30 am and tried to get ready without waking anybody else.. But my uncle and Aunt were such sweet people..They had woken up by 4:00 and had hot water and Hot tea ready for me.. Both helped me a lot in warding off my sleep.. After declining breakfast I stacked up all the luggage on my bike and took off... It was going to be a journeuy of a little over 300 km..
The air was very chilly and I was hoping it would get warmer as the day progressed..It was pitch dark on the highway..and the oncoming Trucks had blinding headlights.. It took me quite a while to get adjusted to the conditions... I was surprised at the heavy traffic for this time of the day... Soon I hit the ghats and it was an uphill climb all the way.. Bangalore happens to be at ahigher level than Mangalore and we need to climb these ghat roads.. Around 6:30 my headlight went bust again..I must say I am lucky for if it had gone out earlier I would have been in a lurch.. Now with daylight the going would be easy...
The air kept getting colder and I had signs of frostbite.. After some time my fingers just went numb..and I even missed pressing the clutch at one turn.. This was a sign for me to take a break...luckily i had covered about 70 km and was near Sakleshpur.. Stopped at the first Hotel and drank up Hot tea.. Sent a few SMS'es and was off soon after that.. Was planning to stop at Hassan after this.. Reached Hassan but dd not feel like stopping and carried on.. Was surprised that I was not very tired.. The morning air was fresh and the roads had somehow gotten empty again..
my next stop was at Yediyur..and by then I had covered about 180 km and it was still around 9:30 am or so.. Called up the office and Home and realised I would have to be in the office by 3:00 for an appraisal meeting... Was pretty hungry by then and went to work at a nearby Maurya.. The service was lousy but the Vada's were absolutely delicious..
By now I was ready to take on the road again.. I had a problem with my bike and so could not go beyond 75-80 kmph... This was frustrating as the roads were very good and i knew I could do speeds of 90-100kmph easily on these roads.. If I could have I would reach much faster..
Finally hit bangalore at 12:00 in the noon..
The ride was a fitting end to the whole 10 day ride.. I had done 300 km today in just a little over 6 hours and with only 2 breaks.. I am very sure no other 2-wheeler can ever take this kind of strain..reached home after 10 days and 2600 kms.. I had left for Mumbai on the 6th of Jan and reached home on the 15th after visiting Goa and Mangalore..
Am stil in the process of putting down the whole experience on paper(or monitor rather)... Will post it soon..
It felt great to be home.. My family was one releived bunch.. They had been pretty scared all the time I had been away..Can't blame them, considering the indian roads.. But thankfully I had a safe journey and so did all the 11 guys who had set out on this ride from Bangalore..
After reaching home got ready as soon as possible and went to the office.. Had a quick lunch..got the trip photos developed and had an absolutely rewarding meeting..
..and now I am in the office hoping to leave as early as possible..But there's miles and miles to go before I sleep!!!
Monday, January 03, 2005
Happy New Year...
Happy new year.. Man this new year I had a blast.. It was one long party... The night was as close to being the perfect party as possible.. Did not have too much to drink..Danced till I could dance no more.. Ogled at some awesome looking girls..was ogled at..ha ha just kidding..(I know I am not ogle-material)... basically had a lot of fun and rounded it all off with some cofffe before heading home at 7:00 in the morning..
The last month has generally been a fun filled time for me..I have been having long holidays thanks to the yearly shutdown...This gave me a lot of options..just to summarize..I have watched a few movies..though I am to see Swades and Raincoat as yet.... Went on a couple of day trips to Ranganthitto..and Devanhalli..Been out with the guys playing some snooker and going home late most nights.. and lots more..
I had been cooped inside the office for nearly a year and these past few weeks allowed me to catch up with a lot of stuff I had been missing on.. I met a lot of old friends and made some new ones...The advantage now was that like before, I did not have to rush off midway, and had all the time to pursue conversations...this was something i had been missing out on, for some time.. I even managed to read some good books and realised how little I knew about our nation's history.. definitely want to change this.. I have now promised myself that I shall make some serious efforts to know more about the history of our country and all the religions that we have..especially Hinduism.. I believe my atheism stems from the fact that i have not read much of our literature or maybe i have closed my mind towards it..
I think I am ready to draw up my new year's resolution list..so here goes..
1) Learn more about our country's rich history/culture.. We get to see & hear this more from the foreigners who visit us, than from our brethern..Want to explore this through our books and definitely want to see the length and breadth of our country some day..
2) Be more open to ideas from others and not dismiss them.. Need to think from the other person's perspective too.. I seem to always try to see their world from my eyes.. Every body's world differs and I think i need to be more sensitive to that
3) listen more and talk less... that way I should be able to avoid some foot-in-the-mouth scenarios
4) travel more.. our state has a lot to offer.. It has not been projected as much as it should have..
5) Shed some of the fat I have been accumulating...definitely need to lose weight..especially those hoopla rings around my waist...
6) make more time for friends and family..not rush through( and definitely not into) relationships..
..well this sums up most of what i need to do..lets see how i cope with these...Should be much easier to achieve than Nirvana...
As a parting though I had this weird idea about life.. We have actually successfully divided our lives into 2 hemispheres.. One which involves our work environment and the other inculdes everything outside this.. The working hemisphere is essential to earn a livelihood and keep the other hemisphere alive.. The other hemisphere is where we satisfy the soul with pleasures..maybe spiritual..or materialistic..or just the pleasure of living out our relationships and enjoying our lives... Now the working hemisphere needs the other hemisphere to be able to look forward to the next day..and the other hemisphere needs the working one to be able to fulfil its needs.. the problem starts when one of them starts encroaching into the other..well I guess you get the drift..
Simple philosophy ain't it..or maybe this could even be a socially accepted "multiple personality disorder"??
..anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR...
The last month has generally been a fun filled time for me..I have been having long holidays thanks to the yearly shutdown...This gave me a lot of options..just to summarize..I have watched a few movies..though I am to see Swades and Raincoat as yet.... Went on a couple of day trips to Ranganthitto..and Devanhalli..Been out with the guys playing some snooker and going home late most nights.. and lots more..
I had been cooped inside the office for nearly a year and these past few weeks allowed me to catch up with a lot of stuff I had been missing on.. I met a lot of old friends and made some new ones...The advantage now was that like before, I did not have to rush off midway, and had all the time to pursue conversations...this was something i had been missing out on, for some time.. I even managed to read some good books and realised how little I knew about our nation's history.. definitely want to change this.. I have now promised myself that I shall make some serious efforts to know more about the history of our country and all the religions that we have..especially Hinduism.. I believe my atheism stems from the fact that i have not read much of our literature or maybe i have closed my mind towards it..
I think I am ready to draw up my new year's resolution list..so here goes..
1) Learn more about our country's rich history/culture.. We get to see & hear this more from the foreigners who visit us, than from our brethern..Want to explore this through our books and definitely want to see the length and breadth of our country some day..
2) Be more open to ideas from others and not dismiss them.. Need to think from the other person's perspective too.. I seem to always try to see their world from my eyes.. Every body's world differs and I think i need to be more sensitive to that
3) listen more and talk less... that way I should be able to avoid some foot-in-the-mouth scenarios
4) travel more.. our state has a lot to offer.. It has not been projected as much as it should have..
5) Shed some of the fat I have been accumulating...definitely need to lose weight..especially those hoopla rings around my waist...
6) make more time for friends and family..not rush through( and definitely not into) relationships..
..well this sums up most of what i need to do..lets see how i cope with these...Should be much easier to achieve than Nirvana...
As a parting though I had this weird idea about life.. We have actually successfully divided our lives into 2 hemispheres.. One which involves our work environment and the other inculdes everything outside this.. The working hemisphere is essential to earn a livelihood and keep the other hemisphere alive.. The other hemisphere is where we satisfy the soul with pleasures..maybe spiritual..or materialistic..or just the pleasure of living out our relationships and enjoying our lives... Now the working hemisphere needs the other hemisphere to be able to look forward to the next day..and the other hemisphere needs the working one to be able to fulfil its needs.. the problem starts when one of them starts encroaching into the other..well I guess you get the drift..
Simple philosophy ain't it..or maybe this could even be a socially accepted "multiple personality disorder"??
..anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR...
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