Biking...Shiking

Am I becoming insane??? This question sprouted in my mind after watching the reactions I have been getting from people off late. I think I would've gotten encouraging reactions had I told them that I am planning to run away from home to become an actor in Bollywood :P.

Ever since I returned from the Rishikesh trip this May, I have had this unbearable itch to go on a bike ride. A really long one at that. Next month end I have a ride planned to the virgin (well.. almost) lands of Spiti. If I complete it, it'll be the longest I have ever done and will surely be the best ride of my life. It'll be one of those tales to tell your grand-children kinda things. More on it later and even more on it when I return. (Trip Log Alert!!!)

As a part of the preparation (read, making the back-side stronger), I am riding to Lansdowne this weekend. Lansdowne is a small, nondescript place in Uttarakhand, about 300 KMs from Delhi. It'll be the first experience of riding in the hills and also it'll be a test to see how much strain I can take. I know that it'll not even be close to what i'll experience in Himachal but some preparation, nonetheless. Thats all I'll be able to afford before THE trip, thanks to me working on Saturdays. Let me not get into working on saturdays again.

So what are my expectations from the Spiti Ride?? Well, let me break it down into Pros and Cons.

Pros:

• Beautiful Landscapes and Scenery
• 2000 KMs of riding - wonder how my bike will fare
• A feeling experienced never before
• Having great friends for company (Let me tell you, its more fun reuniting with Old buddies in real than on Orkut or Facebook :P )
• Time away from the mundane routine life

Cons:

• 2000 KMs of riding - As much fun as it may sound, it will be taxing and treacherous
• AMS - Dont know why but Acute Mountain Sickness worry is there at the back of my mind
• No Ride experience whatsover - This wont be much of a worry thanks to the Been-there-done-that company that I have.
• How much is too much?? - 2000 KMs in 5-6 days @ ~ 400KMs per day - need I say more??
• Toll on the body - this is inevitable

Well in such a long ride there are ought to be a few cons, but I would not like to ponder on them now and tackle them as they come. I know there will be more Pros than Cons.. :-)

So here's me wishing myself a decent enough preparation and waiting for the last week of September with bated breath. Oh well yes, I need to apply for holidays and they need to get approved too.. That aside I am all set and raring to go!!

Kawariya Kawariya!!!

Pondering on for the last few days about what to write, today while driving to Delhi it struck me. Normally I am not an "Opinion Person". I just try to ignore and not put my mental energy on stuff that generally people have opinions about. But the issue (IMO it is a big one at that) that I rise in this post has annoyed me no end.

Driving in Delhi as everyone knows is a pain and with each passing day its becoming even more painful. But every year, during this time there is another activity happening on Delhi roads where certain people, in the name of religion, create unnecessary nuisance. Kawariyas as they are called, collect Holy Ganga water from Haridwar and walk to their respective destinations. People going about their business in a peaceful & harmless way is one thing, but what irritates and annoys me most is the way they have complete disregard for the general public trying to lead their routine lives.

These Kawariyas, as I said earlier in the name of religion, block the busiest of the roads causing kilometers of crawling traffic. There is a lane demarcated for them to use, but do they use it?? NO!!! Of course there are some genuine devotees who carry their earthen pots and walk peacefully, but there are a few young people who run behind bikes, drive tempos which have huge speakers with Blaring (its an understatement) music (religious songs - C-grade songs from films remixed with religious lyrics), and block traffic out of no rhyme or reason. What is more shocking is that the Police instead of bringing them under control help them in their activity by stopping and diverting the traffic. I am not even touching upon the topic where these Kawariyas torched trucks and stoned police vehicles a couple of years ago. I was also one of the unfortunates stuck in the 40KM long jam on the Jaipur Highway.

Compare this with the ongoing Metro contruction in Delhi. Its so well organised and planned that there is seldom any problem. Of course, there are ought to be traffic snarls once in a while but one has to give it to the authorities as they go about their business in a smooth and efficient way. This is where I fail to understand that a major infrastructure project going on since more that 6 years has been running smoothly whereas the Kawariya activity which happens every year for just 10-15 days causes so much trouble for citizens. I dont know when the government will stop worrying about its vote bank and grow up.

I am sure there are a whole lot of people who will agree with me and it is high time someone does something about this. Every year in July-August rains create havoc in Mumbai and the whole thing gets so much footage on TV. People keep complaining and whining about the condition there and its stays the same every year. I think the Kawariya case is an apt comparision, its just that it happens in Delhi and not covered by the News channels makes it a lesser known issue.

If it takes collecting Ganga water from Haridwar and walking all the way to Delhi to solve the problem, then I am ready to do that :-)!!!!!

Whats been happenin...

Hello people.. How have u all been?? Been a while since I posted. I celebrate one year of blogging and then I dissappear!!! So here I am back again and hopefully will be more regular.

Whats been happenin at my end??? Well, a lot of stuff. Both in professional and personal life.

Professional life had been hanging by a thread. Back in Feb I got to know that the company is shutting down its Engineering Services Operations and that everyone will serve their notice period for 3 months, starting April. Suddenly, I was also the Low Hanging Fruit (as someone had put it). I still cannot fathom why, but I never felt the proverbial pit in my stomach. Everyone else was unsure of their future (understandably) and I was behaving matter-of-factly. As my luck would have it, the client I worked for decided to set up shop in India and I was absorbed by them. Looking back on the past few months, the turn of events have been pretty dramatic to say the least but then I have no complaints now and I thank god for bailing me out.

On to the personal front now. So many changes at the work front tend to have their repercussions on personal life. For instance, I dont get saturdays off anymore. Its like half of the "fun" life being taken away. But life has a funny way of balancing the bad with the good by taking away a few pleasures and giving something more in return. So even with saturdays gone, I am having so much more fun. Thanks to the group am hangin out with these days, I call it "the new WE". Makes me wonder why I didnt meet them that often before, despite knowing them for so long. Movies, Dinners, Ice creams, Bike Rides, Board Game Nights, More Movies...phew!!! Saturday eves and Sundays (n weekdays too sometimes) were never so good... :)

(And you thought I was gonna write abt me getting married soon or something?? Well, thats not gonna happen soon for sure...)

Thats about it then.. Am happy being happy these days.. looking for happier days ahead, and for reasons to be more happy :D!!!

One Year of Blogging

I just realised that its been a year and a week since I wrote my first post . Frankly speaking, I never had any inclination towards creative writing (i know this is nowhere close to being creative, but what the hell!!!), and the thought of joining the bandwagon had always been there at the back of my mind. One year ago, I gave in to the thought and its been a decent journey I suppose.

Am not gonna go on writing here and will stop myself from indulging. So this will be my shortest post till date to celebrate one year of blogging. :)

Whatever you have seen till now was just the trailer...Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost..

Unplanned Trip

Sometimes it happens that things dont go as you plan them but then you dont know what's in store for you. So wasting no time writing about what should've happened I am fast forwarding to the point where all the fun started!!!

We guys had 5 days to spend, we were ready with our packed bags and moreover we had an awesome car to drive, but what we didnt know was where to go!!! Yeah thats how our trip began. Oh by the way, "We" consists of me, Imran and Sachin, the same gang that went rafting in Rishikesh (minus our bikes this time). We left Delhi just after the midnight on 20th May, with a map of Himachal in hand.

We had no problems with driving at wee-hours of the morning as we took turns to drive while the other guys rested/slept. After stopping over for a refreshing tea and butter toast at Jhilmil Dhaba in Karnal, we decided that we'll head to Dalhousie first and then decide as the days come.
Not too far from Dalhousie there is a pictureque place called Khajjiar, which according to a sign there, was Switzerland of the East. I cant agree with it more. Here I got the opportunity to try my hand at another adventure sport. I did Zorbing. (curious souls pls follow the link).

Then there was this place called Dainkund. One has to trek for about 30 mins to reach this place. The scenic beauty we encountered on our way cant be put in words.

We met a family on our trek back. The lady of that family asked, "What is there at the end of this trek?", we answered in unison, "there is a small temple" at which she asked again, "Is it worth??" and then our dear Sachin, being the staunchly religious guy he is, said, "Temples are always WORTH!!!!". The look on the lady's face was "unexplainable". :D

Our sojourn then took us to places such as Mcleodganj and Dharamshala. The small and serene town of Mcleodganj with snow-clad mountains watching over was a perfect retreat away from the Delhi heat. After spending a night at MacLoadGanj (Spelling/pronunciation courtesy Sachin) we were off to Ambarsar (Amritsar - as pronounced by the locals).

Our main objective of going to Amritsar was not to see the famous Golden Temple or the Jallianwala Bagh but to have the famous Kulchas at Bhai Kulwant Singh Kulche Wale and also dine at the 100 year old Kesar Dhaba, and we happily skipped lunch for the same. Reaching late didnt help our cause as the Kulche Wala closes at 4 PM, so we headed to Kesar Dhaba. We asked the dhaba guy if there was any food available & he said "Aap 1 hr baad ayiye". We were so hungry that we didnt move an inch and we sat at his doorstep. At which he opened the dhaba specially for us and we had a sumptuous meal cooked in Desi Ghee. While we were eating in, we could see the crowd building up outside the locked doors, wondering who these VIPs are. :P

After a visit to the Golden Temple, mind you it looks heavenly at night so make it a point to see it at night whenever you visit Amritsar, we were good to leave for Delhi. So 3 of us with contented hearts were back on our way to Delhi with a punctured tyre to boot.

The trip that began without a plan, turned out to be great one. We covered 3 beautiful places, Dalhousie, McLeodganj and Amritsar in 3 days, had amazing meals, enjoyed to the limit, sang a lot of songs and drove for about 2000 KMs.

Happy Birthday Sis.....!!!!!

Birthday wishes are endless,
specially when it comes to you,
I have one wish, its simple,
I wish all your dreams come true.

I wish you all the success,
In whatever you pursue,
Happy birthday lil sis,
May all your dreams come true.

Thanks for being my best friend,
and there when I needed you,
though we had a lot of fights,
for reasons only you knew,

My childhood wud've been so boring,
if there hadnt been you,
Happy birthday lil sis,
May all your dreams come true.

How I came up with this,

I have absolutely no clue,

Writing a poem is not easy,
All I can say is, "phew"!!!

I am not gonna lie here,
I'll tell you what is true,
First 4 lines are copied,
Rest all are new :P,
Happy birthday lil sis,
May all your dreams come true!!!

Upcoming Hollywood Movies

Off late there has been a lull at the theatres, thanks to the ongoing Multiplex strike. A friend of mine wrote a great post about the whole "profit-sharing" thing going on, so am not gonna write about it.

With no new movie releasing, the multiplexes are re-releasing old hits. PVR Cinemas recently released "Sholay". Yup THE original Sholay and not the crappy remake. And I wasn't the one to miss this opportunity to watch "The-best-hindi-film-of-all-time". Though there were not many people in the theatre and the print and the sound quality wasnt the best but I enjoyed every minute of it.

So with no hindi movies on the horizon anytime soon I am looking forward to watching some good hollywood flicks coming my way. And there are a few big ones in the offing. Here is a list of movies that I am wating for:

1)X-Men Origins : Wolverine - Being a super-hero movie buff and an X-Men fan, I really want to watch this one. This one apparently has been produced by Hugh Jackman who featutes in the titular role. Am sure he must have gone all-out to make this movie His movie (at least the rushes suggest so). I dont know when this one's gonna release in India. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

2) Up - Guys at Pixar have this knack of picking up a simple storyline and weaving a dream world around it. If you thought Wall-E was the best Pixar movie, wait for this one to come out. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

3) Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian - The first movie was set in the American Museum of Natural History. It was 2 hours of total fun. The 2nd movie promises to be bigger, better and funnier. This one is set in the world's largest museum, Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

4) Terminator Salvation - Apart from Terminator 2 : The Judgement Day, I havent seen or been a fan of Terminator movies. But ever since I saw the latest trailer on the big screen, I have been wanting to see it. Our very own batman, Christian Bale as John Connor is an added plus. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

5) Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen - I can go on and on about this one. I am crazy about transformer movies. First one was just awesome. Full on action with ample doses of humour and a hot Megan Fox thrown in for good measure. Again a bigger and better fare expected here. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

6) Angels and Demons : Based on Dan Brown's novel by the same name. The book is actually a prequel to Da Vinci Code but the movie has been made as a sequel. I found this book better than Da Vinci Code and I seriously hope that this movie is gonna be better than Da Vinci Code. I had read this book a couple of years ago, so I am reading it again and am enjoying it even more now. (Trailer, imdb, & wikipedia)

Thats about it then. Am not really sure when these movies are goin to be released in India, but these, mark my words, are to be watched on the big screen for sure.