two ends of human mind

Episode VII :Frustration and Fun

2011-11-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Two incidents left me wondering, it’s quite lucky to be Indian. It happened a couple of days ago and I didn’t really take notice until one of my friend pointed out to me jokingly.

The first was a conversation with our Camp boss who takes care of our accommodation, we said hello to each other and spoke about some repairs needed in the camp and he left; only later I did realize that our entire conversation was in Tamil, one of the south Indian languages. I am from Andhra Pradesh my native language is Telugu where his native was Kerala he speaks Malayalam; interestingly our conversation was in Tamil, not English or Hindi (national Language of India). It didn’t seem special at all until my friend pointed out. In India one can easily converse in 5 to 6 languages which is normal which seems so strange to the rest of the world.

The second conversation was where I was watching two people from south and north India, both spoke for a while and left. They conversed in Arabic as the South Indian does not speak Hindi and the North Indian Guy Tamil. Quite interesting situations where one would normally doesn’t witness regularly.

Leaving Chidambaram I felt there was something missing and uneasiness developed as the bike passed through several narrow junctions and busy circuits. Then there was self doubt on why did I start this lunatic trip and I was more like lunacy personified. I rode past several green areas, took twisted roads and finally after a couple of hours I was on my way back to Chidambaram… yes Chidambaram that’s the place I started from!!!

With sun shining bright frustration was gradually creeping up on my mind. I stopped the bike walked and spoke with a few locals and got the right directions to Nagapattinam which was where I was originally headed to.

Fortunately they showed me a shortcut which minimized my journey by 50km, the road was rough and quite bumpy but I managed to save a couple of hours in the blistering heat of the sun. By the time I reached Nagapattinam I was drenched in my own sweat. I spotted service center of Bajaj, I was riding a Bajaj Pulsar so thought I’d relax a while and get the bike serviced. With bits and pieces of Tamil and the registration number I carried they understood that I was on a marathon journey, the manager was happy to see his company vehicle being used for a journey like this so he offered me a free service. A thorough check of the bike, a test ride and the bike was in mint condition.

The free Bike service: Thanks to the hospitality Thanks Tamilnadu

Small things in life have a huge impact on our mindset if we pay proper attention. What he did was a token of appreciation and all my self-doubt had vanished and I started to enjoy the journey all over again.

Velankanni a small coastal village where India’s most famous Mother Mary’s church is located. It’s a stunning place buzzing with piligrims from all over India. One has to experience it to express it. It was pretty early so I decided to drive around before I check-in to any of the hotels. I drove around bargained, left and drove a bit more in those narrow roads. For no reason I was quite excited to drive in those busy roads before I decided to stop and relax and take the blessings from the Mother of Christ.

A cold shower and a power nap were just as perfect as the evening weather along this lovely coastal town. I parked the bike at the hotel had a stroll took blessings at the church, prayed a while in silence before leaving towards the street market.

The Holy Church of Mother Mary: Truly an amazing experience

The market looked amazing with different colourful lights, Christmas songs and songs about Christ in between all that one would suddenly hear a nice number from the Indian cinema. Some hotel owners play non local music like Hindi to lure tourists which seemed to work out well as these eatspots were always full. The market didn’t end but the road gradually turned into a sandy lane. The sea was only 100mts away and the market continued till its only 25m away from the waves.

At the end of the street one would witness one of the unknown specials of Velankanni, The sea food… There’s a small street hotel “bhaskar hotel” to be exact. It serves amazing sea food filled with hot red chillies, black pepper and lip-smacking spice. They only serve seafood so instead of trying to explain the different tourists about what they serve they simply fill a tray with all the fish, crab and prawn available on that evening one has to point out and yippee within ten minutes your spicy seafood is ready to eat.

The menu for all languages- just point at what you want and the kitchen for the green revolutionists

The roti oven is about 15m away from where the rotis are made, the guy who makes the roti doesn’t even turn while he throws them exactly into the hands of the cook who is catching them and placing them on the hot coke oven, this scene would last a couple of minutes and leaves you awestruck. It’s quite a lesson on how to market one’s product. There are quite a few seafood restaurants along the beach and only this hotel is always full, well I don’t need to explain why.

Dinner: Fried Fish and Crab - Absolutely spicy Absolutely Amazing : Well Some like it Hot!!!

After capturing the memories in my camera I ordered for a king-fish piece and three fried crabs, tears were unstoppable but the taste was too good to stop. I was smiling, crying and eating at the same time quite a task to perform and I did it quite triumphantly. I still had some space and wanted to try a few more dishes but stopped myself as I’d be full and wouldn’t be able to enjoy the lingering spice on the tongue.

I walked past the shops stopping to find something interesting which didn’t happen, I reached the hotel and spoke with the receptionist about the routes and places to visit in and around that area so that I would have an idea on where I was headed to the next morning before calling it a night.

Episode VI : The Mangroves and The Temple

2011-10-28T04:21:00.000-07:00

A church in Pondicherry

I bid farewell to my friends and I was flying in my own world by 6am the next morning. I was heading towards Pichavaram a small fishing hamlet famous for its Mangroves. It was the only place which wasn’t affected by the tsunami which created chaos all over Asia.

I have always been a big fan of National geographic and Discovery channels since their arrival in India. Always interested in different flora and fauna little did I know that I was going to experience something which I had only dreamt of while watching these channels.

There were hardly any tourists and I was waiting there to get into one of the boats. The ticket cost me 250 indian rupees including the camera charges. I paid a few rupees extra to the guide and I went into denser parts of the mangroves where the normal fare wouldn’t take you.

start of the boat ride

The setting was great as I was one of the early birds and there were no other boats in the vicinity. One important advice which my friends gave was not to hire a motorboat but hire one which you can row manually. I didn’t understand why but surely experienced why. Two women were in water to neck-deep level and were moving gradually I couldn’t figure out what they were doing.

My guide started introducing the area and the number of movies which were shot at the place and so on so forth. I quickly asked him what the two women were upto. He informed they are catching shrimp!!! Yes they were screening the bed level for moving shrimp and they put them in small bags tied around their neck, 4 hours of this job would fetch them around 600 rupees per day where as if they for for the entire day their income would only be one third.

We moved on into the denser parts of the mangroves and the scene was as if I was experiencing one of the videos of National Geographic on a life size plasma TV with my 3d glasses on. I understood the value of the manual row boat once we were into the denser parts, with a motor boat there should be ample depth and width, there was hardly two meters width and depth around 3ft, due to lack of space only one oar can be used. The best time to visit this place would be mid January as the water will be crystal clear with loads of migratory birds all over the trees and it would be a treat to watch. Its sounds strange but majority of the people hardly know about this wonderful place, people flock into Pondicherry irrespective of seasons but very few people turn-up here. I would have never be at this place if one of my friend didn’t suggest it.

Pichavaram is 50km from Pondicherry, all one need to spare is 6 hrs, the six hours package includes your journey back and forth plus the boat ride into mangroves this entire done one can have lunch back in Pondicherry.

Hiring a bike is very easy in Pondicherry and would cost around 100-500 rupees depending on the bike one chooses, my suggestion is to hire a bike from Pondicherry (one of the luxuries only Pondicherry and goa offer) drive down to pichavaram around 8am complete the boat ride which probably will take around 2-3 hrs for 700rupees which includes the extra payment and head back to Pondicherry by lunchtime.

Prior to march 2011 I was jobless and I do exactly remember how many times I’ve walked to places rather than spending money on public transport. I hardly had money with help of my dad and friends I survived through the tough times. I remember how ashamed I was to ask money from my dad but he was always supportive and would cut some other expenses for me- it was truly a hard time. So when I’ve got a job why should I spend hard earned money on a mad trip like this? Well if one watched “the world’s fastest Indian” Anthony Hopkins says “if you don’t go when you want to go, when you do go you’ll find you've gone” that’s exactly the reason why I embarked on this mad journey.

Chidambaram a small town famous for its Nataraja temple was only 13km so I drove towards the temple, by the time I reached Chidambaram the sun was at its peak, I parked my bike and took blessings from the lord Nataraja for a safe journey and was back on the road.

Temple at Chidambaram

While coming out of the temple I was sweating heavily the weather was hot and humid. Through the narrow lanes pushing my bike with luggage was not an easy job. Why on earth did I start this trip? 4 weeks of vacation and I could easily put my feet up and relax at home, use the money I saved for the trip to buy something valuable for myself or support my dad or lend it to one of my friend who asked if I could help him with some cash. I didn’t venture into any of those things but ended up on the road looking like a clown, stuck halfway from my hometown and Kanyakumari at Chidambaram. Whose idea was this anyway? How stupid was I to get inspired by movies and books? Anthony Hopkins got paid for that dialogue and Jesus! I took his words for granted and ended up on this mad trip! What for? I do not have an answer then and now.

After a few kilometers I took off my jacket and shoes shoved them into my rucksack, driving with flipflops and a helmet was way better than with all those extra baggage on me. Well the change took the extra pressure and I was feeling free and liberated again. I wonder how many people face these situations it’s a paradox, I was on a high and elated by the experience of Mangroves less than an hour I was cursing myself on why I started this trip at all, maybe that’s the reason they call it life and us human…

EPISODE V: The University

2011-10-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

I met Bhumika at around 7pm in the evening, I never thought that I would meet her again in my life but some things do happen in life where no one can say how what or why?

I spoke to her for an hour while we went out for dinner we discussed about all her relatives I met at her cousin’s wedding and how they were. The atmosphere suddenly took me back to her cousin’s wedding where nearly 9 states/provinces people turned out and it was certainly a memorable gathering.

We finished our dinner and informed her I am going into town to book a small hotel and head off the next morning but that was definitely not what happened. She straight away refused and said why are you wasting your money, we have a hostel and your stay is only for a night so I would call one of my classmates and arrange a bed for you for the night. In a couple of minutes the bed was arranged and all I needed to do was crash on it and have a goodnight sleep.

We waited but her friend was far away from the university and by the time we met it was around 11 at night. Let’s have tea was the first thing he said over the phone to her. Nearly midnight and tea , I was reliving my graduate life though I wasn’t a product of a university student life was still the same.

So that’s how I met Pratheek, Durga, Swathi and lopa. We gelled together within a short span of time ( three rounds of sweet tea). We dropped bhumika,swathi and lopa at girls hostel and ended up in the boys hostel. Pratheek gaveup his bed for the night and slept on the floor in a different room with durga which I came to know only the next morning.

That night was refreshing, nostalgic feeling was hovering all around me. I remembered my college mates and how we had fun and fights over little things, exams were the biggest worries and assignments were well…they were worries too. I wondered how life had changed and how badly I missed those days. Yet the good thing was I relived that college life again with that group of friends which probably all of my college mates would never experience with their busy professional lives.

A nice cold shower at around 1am and sleep did the job for me that night. I was up by 5am and was on the road driving aimlessly all over the university. It was beautiful, huge trees empty roads and buildings.

The beautiful roads of Auroville

Auroville is a global village in Pondicherry where people from 38 different nationalities lead a simple life and live in peace. It was 8km from the university and it was really calm and quiet. Red soil roads and trees covering it from sunlight was an amazing sight with different birds singing in tandem, “Welcome to Auroville” was all I could hear from them. I walked a bit and drove for nearly an hour. A beautiful golden football shaped structure is constructed in a large empty area. It’s the meditation placeknown as Mathri Mandir for the people living there. If one wants to go inside they need to go through an interview and convince them that they are really interested in meditation. I was rejected straight away and I have no regrets about it. With a biker moustache, shorts and flipflops adding bike as a bonus one would only look like he is from a hippy race than a person in search of peace, in a way I am but at different frequency levels.

Early morning sneak Preview of Mathri Mandir

I sneaked through the curvy small roads and shortcuts and finally able to view the building. Early morning sunlight and the greenery around it made it look like it was casted high up there and sent down to earth for a reason. Took my camera out and captured a few memories of that place had breakfast on a roadside food-stall and left to the university.

My friends were up early by 930am, we reached the management building . Head of the department was busy but spoke with me very enthusiastically. The batch was Management students of Travel and tourism and he was thrilled about my trip and immediately arranged a lecture session with the students.

Unless one holds a PhD degree or pursuing one, one cannot enter the university classes for lecturing. I am definitely not one of them and not planning on one either, but the fact that a couple of PhD lecturers were stopped and I was allowed to take an interactive session with the students would always remain as an impressive record in my own little world.

Photo session after the interactive session

The session went on well, as I said in one of my previous episodes that we are totally conditioned by fear through education and systems was through this experience. The students were from all over the country spreading from far northeast to central, west and south India that made me feel that “celebrating the spirit of India” as the theme of my trip was well achieved, on the other hand I felt that the students representing the whole of India are being conditioned by fear . Achieving something new was not on their minds but getting into a branded company during their placement interviews so that their identity will be doubled was on their minds. I guess that’s the starting point of identity crisis what we are experiencing now in the corporate world. Business cards are identity of a person rather the person himself. The students at school were totally different their questions were hard and made me think while this session was not anywhere near to it but nonetheless an enjoyable one.

My new found friends , thanks to Bhumika and the University

After the session my new friends and I had lunch in the University canteen. I was planning on leaving Pondicherry after lunch but they had other plans.

An evening view of Mathri Mandir

We visited Auroville again and headed to a hookah place to relax a while and yes we were listening to Bob Marley while blowing the apple flavored hookah! followed by a University night tour by the night and dinner in the famous chemistry lawns... before we ended up back in the hostels.

Pratheek the magician while we were waiting to be served

The slogan or the catchline one would likely see in Pondicherry is “Give time a break” that I surely did, I forgot the road on that day met many people spoke a lot but while having dinner the thought that I was on a trip reminded me to get back on the road again.

Episode IV: The Lift Man

2011-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Irritated was the word I could say mildly, I have lost one hour in the morning. There was no water and I had to wait for an hour to get the running water in the toilet. I was eager to leave the place so that I would reach Chennai (madras) before lunch meet a couple of friends and head off towards Pondicherry and hopefully reach there before the daylight fades. I simply didn’t like the idea of being in Chennai during the mad rush-hour and ending up in traffic; I certainly was in distaste towards big cities, I wanted to spend time at places away from big cities.

I lost 40km because of you and another 20km as well. The traffic would increase and my speed would definitely be hindered. I was laughing at myself that night. Anyone would shout that I lost money or time because of you but I was shouting that I lost 60km!!! The manager was certainly perplexed and didn’t know what to say. I realized how much I was engrossed in my trip and was counting even time in kilometers.

Finally I settled the bill apologized for being a bit rude, I certainly didn’t like the idea of carrying the feeling along with me towards Chennai, so an apology would keep them happy and me free from guilt. I stopped at one of the road stalls had idly (steamed rice cakes) for breakfast and was on my way. It was again lush green fields on either side of the road and a feeling of trance was back again, for some reason I wasn’t happy with the bike. The sound was different and certainly not smooth, I wasn’t happy.

The Oil Change

I needed to change the engine oil after 1000km which I certainly forgot in the world of trance. I stopped at a few petrol stations but I couldn’t find engine oil after around half an hour or so I managed to pull into a petrol station. There was no engine oil at all in the bike so I filled it up with a full one litre bottle and I was back on the road. The sound of the bike changed it was smooth and the road was amazing and positive mindset was in full force. I suddenly realized one guy was waving his hand for a lift and I whizzed past him.

Something strange happened when I stopped in the middle of the road to take a couple of pictures of the beautiful landscape which was in front of me, I was so selfish to avoid police scans and stops and gave a forceful lift to the policeman, so why not give lifts all day today as it was a long journey ahead which consisted more kilometers than pitstops.

That’s it! The day has changed for the next 300 km I was able to give around 7 lifts and it was amazing a feeling. These lifts were certainly for me and not for the people who asked. They certainly made me happy. I remember during one of my bike trips in which I have received a totally selfless help, a litre of petrol when I was completely out of petrol and the guy left without taking money not even sharing his number, on the same day I saw an elderly man and his son out of petrol and I didn’t stop that feeling was certainly not good.

I’ve got a second chance in my life like many others and certainly didn’t want to repeat the same mistake. The feeling was unexplainable as if I erased a mistake and filled it up with a positive outcome; many of us had and will go through mistakes and second chances to correct ourselves. I certainly feel that I have used mine and I see many people around me who carry the guilt and holding themselves back and repeating the same mistake again and again, where all you have to do is embrace the opportunity and thank whoever is up there (if there is one) and move on.

I arrived at Chennai around 1 pm sweating and tired. The traffic was the same as in other cities of India nothing special but always busy. I stopped at a place and rang my friend, no answer! After seven non-stop calls she answered the phone in a faint voice. She slept only an hour ago after a long 16hr nightshift. Well I couldn’t wait for her to complete a decent sleep and me desperately short of one. So I messaged her goodbye and called the other guy the number was unreachable.

126km to Pondicherry was written on the milestone and I was on my way again, ECR road is certainly one of the beautiful road in South it goes along the backwaters and the sea coast, away from the city traffic I was in full flow again. Around midway or 45km before Pondicherry was Mammalapuram (formerly known as Mahabalipuram). It stages back to one of the greatest epics in Indian history “Mahabharatha”. Legend says that five brothers and their wife lived there and in their memory the temples are built.

Mammallapuram formerly known as Mahabalipuram name changed but the beauty is still the same

How far the legend was true was something I wasn’t going to dwell upon. I remember when I was a kid my parents had brought me to this place and it certainly hasn’t changed except the entry fee which was fortunately 5 rupees for Indians and 250 rupees for Others.

The Temple along the Beach with greenery: an exquisite scene

I stopped my bike walked along and visited all those temples and one huge temple along the beach. The scenery was amazing around 5pm in the evening with perfect light and greenery around the temple made me feel that I was on a different place altogether.

The temples I have seen in this trip are certainly one of the best in India, when I see something historical I never think about history or how such a great thing was built (being a civil engineer doesn’t help). I simply thank heavens for making me stand there, right in front of it, right there admiring the beauty of it. This was a little deroute from my original one, but nonetheless it was certainly enjoyable.

I reached outskirts of Pondicherry at around 5.45pm and called Bhumika my friend Rohini’s cousin, who was pursuing her MBA in Pondicherry University. Before I left the desert I added her in facebook as my friend and was surprised to see that she was living in Pondicherry as her hometown was way far off, northeast India to be exact. I thought it would be a good idea to visit her and probably stay a night in a small hotel and go on with my trip. That surely didn’t happen after I met her and her friends, I guess that’s the reason the famous slogan of the place is “Give time a Break” and I certainly did that for the next two nights.

Next episode will be updated soon…

Episode III

2011-10-21T09:26:00.001-07:00

A good night’s sleep was surely not sufficient and my back started to ache, a few body pains were on the bonus list as well. After a couple of pictures with Mr.Srinivas’s kids I was on the road again.

The sky, the road and the lush green paddy fields on either side of the road was just the right kind of recipe one would want to start with. Surprisingly my back was getting better and I hardly felt any trouble, both mind and body started to enjoy the road trip this continued till the end.

For a moment nothing happened after a moment or to NOTHING continued to happen! A blank mind and the road were my companions again. All the thoughts which persuaded me not to do the trip started telling me, ah! We were just trying to test you, we were always with you and gradually I started feeling better. At around 3 pm I was at Vijayawada, a business center of my province. With the energy I’ve received through interactive sessions yesterday, I approached a few institutions and was eager to have more of such sessions.

I was brought down to earth instantly, out of 4 institutions which I contacted none were interested and even had a strange look on their faces, “You are going on a mad trip all alone and you want interact with students?”. They were right; I remembered my own words which I uttered to my friend “The maximum they can say is NO! That doesn’t stop you from trying does it?”

I gathered myself again had some tea by the road side stall and was on my way again, I was still with a positive intent that something could happen, I approached the national newspaper “The Hindu”, they took me straight to the Chief of Bureau he immediately arranged his editor and within minutes a few photographs and an interview was arranged.

I bid farewell and left Vijayawada with an empty feeling, Was I selfish? Was I eager for attention? Maybe. I remember running around a few companies in my hometown for some sponsorship for petrol and other arrangements. I was asked “supporting documents”, I was out of words when they asked for supporting documents. I do have decent connections with the local politicians but what can a common man do when he has aspirations like this? Well I just wanted to be a common man’s dream.I’ve met several people who admired my trip and how badly they wanted to do something like this which now they can never do.

Travel is an art which majority do not understand, the feeling one experiences when he visits a certain place is unexplainable. Experiences that are both good and bad can never be explained in words. A picture speaks a thousand words but how many words can I or infact anyone can write about a feeling they’ve experienced? Some are good at it and they might come close to a hundred words, in my case its two or three. It’s a feeling; it can only be experienced and can never be explained. Most of the people who love to travel and travelled would certainly agree with me. If someone asks me about experience about my work I could show something but I or anyone for that case wouldn’t get any degree or PhD for travelling.

Suddenly a police man was waving me to stop and I came back to earth. He asked me all the documents of the bike which I produced instantly. Unfortunately I wasn’t carrying the insurance papers. I’ve never checked from the rental guys about the papers, they just handed over the pouch and I took it along with me. He refused to let me go, I was quite sure that it would take a while to let me go and it was getting dark. Suddenly I asked where the Senior Inspector was, he was the in-charge of the area, to my luck he was at the exact location. I approached him took out the newspaper article which was published yesterday with my photograph on it, explained about the entire trip. “Good, you are doing something different and I appreciate that, have a safe trip” I was on the road again. Media surely helps…

The nearest town was around 80km (Ongole) where I could stop for the night. Around 5km from the place I’ve left, I saw a police man waiting for a bus. I got a wicked idea, stopped the bike near him and asked where he was going. To my luck he was heading to the same town as I was, I offered him a lift for which he happily agreed. There were three police check points on the way to Ongole, I never needed to stop or show the papers. He just waved at them and woohoo! We were unstoppable.

An hour and a half and we were in Ongole. He informed me where I could get a cheap accommodation and went on his way. I started to feel tired all of a sudden; maybe it’s the same with most of the people once the destination is reached all the energy just leaves us. I drove around the town for about an hour inquired about the prices, had a couple of fresh coconut’s water and filled the tank with petrol for the next day.

Finally I took myself to a stage where I was completely drained and ended up in a small hotel for the night.

Episode II

2011-10-18T11:15:00.002-07:00

The night before I started my trip, I got a call from one of my friend Mr.Srinivas. It was just a casual call inquiring on how I was and how the job was going on. When I informed him about the trip he was happy. We share a lot of common ideas and both are equally mad about travelling. Since he had to look after his business he doesn’t get much time to travel. Hence he was really happy that I was heading on a journey which he couldn’t.

Within an hour he called me back asking me to visit Kakinada his hometown and have lunch along with him. I had to take a detour to reach his place; since my journey wasn’t planned on which route I’d be going I said yes straight away, little did I know that he had a surprise waiting for me.

On the day of the journey I called my friend Hugo who was in Australia and informed him about the trip, I felt it was my responsibility to inform him as he was the one who gifted me the helmet and the biking jacket which flew all the way from Ireland along with a book called Jupiter’s Travels. The first question he asked was whether I planned the trip. I said I haven’t, on hearing this he was immensely happy and said “If you want to make god laugh, then plan”, since he was a biker himself he cautioned me in a mild manner “Kaly, there will be good times, bad times and sad times but all of these will be memories. All the best my friend” with this we ended our conversation. These are two most important lines which would linger in my ears for a longtime.

I took blessings from my parents and went straight to the place where the media and the Ex-minister would flag off my trip. Within minutes I was on the road all by myself. It was a great feeling, a feeling of freedom, absolute freedom.

What would happen if the bike breaks down? What would people think about me? Do I really want to do this? Deep inside I knew I really want to do this but with our social lives linked with likes and comments, I was a little worried. Within an hour I was on the highway leaving my city on its own, my mind was clear and I had no thoughts. The beauty of the road and the sky were the only things in my mind, I was in trance and felt liberated from everything around me.

Three hours down the line I was at Mr.Srinivas's place, he was waiting for me with friends and family. He introduced me to everyone and congratulated me for starting a trip like this. After finishing our lunch he said that he arranged two sessions at two schools where I would speak, I was a little taken aback. On asking him why, he said he wants to see children get inspired and even if one or two students do change then his efforts will be rewarded.

We arrived at our first school Nalanda Vidya Niketan, there were around 200 students from age 7 to 14 waiting for me. I’ve never addressed students before so this was a new thing to me, the teacher introduced me but his words were describing me with characteristics of a hero which I certainly do not possess. Within minutes we started our session and it was interactive. I did not want to speak but I wanted them to speak which they did and it was wonderful.

One key thing which I’ve noticed among these kids was that they didn’t hold back to ask anything. How many provinces/states of India I have visited to which was my favourite place. Suddenly a 7 year old girl asked me “Sir, I know India is great and we have so many languages, so why are you doing this trip what for, what will you get?” I was dumbstruck by the question. I didn’t know how to answer, I somehow managed to answer the question and went on to the next, without our notice a fifteen minute session lasted nearly an hour, I was thrilled. One thing I’ve noticed was kids didn’t know what fear was and never thought how I would feel, they just asked and asked more which when we grow up gradually reduces and will be conditioned by fear all through education and professional lives, the kids were fear-free and I felt bad since all these kids would be conditioned to fear everything and act according to the system. I bid farewell to the kids and the teachers and was heading towards my bike, the same 7 year old girl gave me a small yellow rose and wished me all the best with a lovely smile, I nearly fell into tears and left.

The second school was in a small village called vetlapalem, I was scared to speak in front of these kids. The school is Ramakrishna Mission School, they teach meditation and deeper thoughts about life. What would I teach these kids infact they are the ones whom I should be learning from! After about half an hour session we left the school and were on the way to Mr.Srinivas’s house.

After reaching his house I relaxed myself with a cold shower and we all went out for dinner, What Mr.Srinivas said during dinner had sparked a small challenge within me, he quoted that Ted Simon the author of “Jupiter’s Travels” had a cast iron stomach as he tried different food on hearing that I decided that I would live only on street food, local water and local cool drinks but never touch anything international and that challenge certainly did add spice to my journey.

The Freedom Trip: How it all began...

2011-10-15T02:33:00.001-07:00

All great journeys no matter what distance they are have always started with one step forward. This journey like others started the same but I had never thought that I would do something like this. After six months of desert life I was on my 4 week vacation, the moment I started from the desert I decided that I needed a break from everything. It was an 8hr journey from the desert to Muscat and my flight would leave the next day. My constant thoughts were leading me towards Goa and its serene beaches. I was sure that the moment I landed at Hyderabad, I’ll catch a flight to Goa and relax myself for a week and then head home for the rest of the three weeks, and it was a decent plan by all means. But I realized later that “If I wanted to make god laugh, then I needed a plan”.

Ever since I boarded my flight from Muscat to Hyderabad there was something inside me which was telling me not to go to Goa. Some call it the inner voice and some call it stupidity. By the time I landed in Hyderabad the entire plan had gone for a toss. I was supposed to take it easy for a day or two at Hyderabad and then head home.

That didn’t happen either, the moment I landed I was eager to go home and by afternoon I boarded the train heading towards Visakhapatnam my hometown. It was quite strange and I was restless as all my plans were gone with the wind and I didn’t know what to do. I was under pressure to relax myself and it was quite an issue inside both to my head and heart.

In a couple of days I decided to go on a bike covering a distance about 200km which over a sleepless night turned into a 3300km trip. I needed to relax myself myself and myself these were my constant thoughts!!! Suddenly I realized that I was so full of myself and was constantly thinking about me me and more of me. But happiness never lies in me it always lies in making others happy so why was I so stupid thinking about me? Well, I have no answer for that.

One of the reasons maybe work, where one is constantly under pressure to deliver and to get recognition and rewards. This applies not only to me but to people all over the world irrespective of gender,caste, colour, religion, language or country.

Suddenly I remembered my dream which was stuck amidst so many thoughts about my professional life. Hugo my Irish friend who probably is the only co-biker I will ever go with and I always wanted to embark on a journey travelling allover India for a month or two. With this thought I knew what I was going to do and within minutes I was calm and at peace and my inner voice was right.

The first thing was to inform my parents about my trip and get their permission; the news on the television was showing about the number of people who got killed involved in bike accidents. I sat beside my parents and informed about my trip to my surprise they readily agreed without any hesitation but I always knew that they were really scared inside. All my Mother said was “Remember that there is someone waiting home always thinking how their son is?” I assured her that I would be responsible and call them at every stop.

When I was renting the bike the day before the trip the owner of the shop said “why don’t you inform the media when you are going on such a long trip, I am sure they’ll be interested”. I thought I wouldn’t lose anything, all I needed was to pass on the information; if they arrived it would be good and if they didn’t, it would be very good.

Finally, on 19^th of September at around 10:45 am the local politician Mr.Ayyanna Patrudu Ex-minister of our Province/State flagged of the trip which was named “The Freedom Trip”. It was quite a sight a guy with a huge bag, a biking jacket and a helmet being flagged off in a busy traffic area, I was looking more like a clown than a biker. Everybody around me was so busy about their lives; I was more like a specimen who was going on a mad trip. After a few video shoots for the local media and a few interviews, I finally started my dream trip. What happened next will be updated in my next episode.

The end of a trip and start of a new life!

2011-05-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

I was at peace would be an understatement and in no way I was ready to descend, but I had to as it becomes dark by 4pm and I’d be lost.

After nearly three and a half hours of knee crushing descent I arrived at the foothills, halfway through the descent I met a family who were on their way home after their visit to the monastery. The group comprised of two elderly women, two teenagers and small kid all in their traditional Bhutanese outfits.

The Bhutanese locals certainly made my walk easier

It was around 3pm and it started getting cold, I didn’t bring enough winter clothes out of my enthusiasm in other words stupidity. One of the elderly women understood my difficulty and handed me a betel-nut soaked in water some lime and a leaf with some strange coloured substance on it. She rubbed a little bit of limestone over the nut and wrapping it with the leaf and chewed it and signaled me to do the same.

Me chewing the betel-nuts along with the Bhutanese women

It tasted awful and was the smell was worse than that but within a minute my body was getting warm and I wasn’t cold anymore it was a great feeling, I dint feel awful about the leaf mixture anymore.

The rest of the descent was not much of an issue as I was with the family and we were talking a lot about my trip, their lives, how they feel about India so on so forth. It was exciting enough as they helped me to get into two more monasteries at the foothills which cannot be seen as the trees and the forest floor is quite dense. They promised me a lift back to town (Paro) as their uncle would come and pick them up. Well there was no space and their uncle had a couple of his friends so we bid farewell and I was left alone as usual all during this trip.

Monastery at the foothills of TakSung the famous Monastery of Guru Rimpoche, a small white speck in the middle of the picture above the white sacred structure.

I had 27km of lonely road in front of me; with no dinner the night before, missing breakfast out of enthusiasm and no lunch during the trek and now it was nearly four o clock in the evening. 26hrs without food nearly 19km of tedious walking and I wasn’t finished yet!

This time however I didn't call Jesus or Guru Rimpoche who was right up there on the top of the hill. I simply needed to be tested on how much I can put up with.

Albeit walking 19km without food I was active and energetic, with no help coming or expected I started to walk. After walking about 8 km I saw a small shack which served food there were a few houses nearby. I was delighted but decided against it as I saw a parked outside one of the houses.

I knocked the door and spoke with the owner. I was delighted to know that he was heading the same direction as I was, but the lift would come at a price of 150 rupees. 18km 150 rupees (two euro) and a tired me, it was one of the easiest choices I made. Before we could start on our ride he invited me into the house showed me around as he runs a business of Bhutanese handicrafts, he knew I wasn’t going to be his customer but still he offered me a trip of window shopping.

Meanwhile tea, biscuits and cereals arrived. A few biscuits and sweet tea and I was rejuvenated 20min down the line I was standing in front of my hotel. I walked up to the ticket counter to book a seat in the bus heading towards the border; the empty counter had a good old smirk on its face! BACK TO THE HOTEL!!! Someone was shouting really loud in my mind.

A couple of datshi dishes, fried rice and a beer were just what the doctor ordered. A sumptuous meal followed by an aimless walk for about an hour a hot shower and a wonderful sleep it was such a beautiful sequence.

Rise n’ shine, last morning in Bhutan I wasn’t ready for it but I had no other choice. A quick breakfast and out of the hotel straight to the ticket counter for the 7am bus. SOLD OUT!!! Waited for three hours for 11 am bus and at 10am SOLD OUT!!!

No more buses for the day, no money left in the pocket, no ATM’s around quite a challenging position to be in. I had absolutely no clue of what I was going to do. If I could go to the border I could draw the money but that’s a good six hour drive! So how do I do it? No idea… but I was at peace which was quite unusual of me, I wasn’t worrying either. What’s the best way or the best plan to follow to get to the border was the only thing on my mind without worrying about the result.

I walked to the taxi stand hoping to meet the same taxi driver who drove me to Paro. It worked ! Although it took a good hour and a half the plan worked!. I explained my whole situation to him, he offered me food and shelter for the night and early next morning we could leave to India, provided we have the other seats filled, I wasn’t ready to hire the full vehicle, cheap me!

At around 4pm we were at his place a typical Bhutanese wooden house, he translated everything to his family while I spoke to him. I enjoyed the authentic warmth of Bhutanese people. Most of us know for a fact that “There are no free lunches” I agree but there are free dinners and I was going to enjoy it.A delicious datshi dish salted pork and tea was just the mix I needed.

Taxi stand where me and the driver were headhunted for passengers to fill our taxi

Early morning in Bhutan was 8am, at around 8:30 we bid farewell and started to headhunt for passengers who were heading towards the border. There was enough competition and we had to fill all our seats before our competitors since a half filled taxi meant that I have to travel the next day.

Two hours down the line our taxi was full and we were on our way. Half way through the journey the taxi driver paid for lunch, its true “there are no free lunches” since I paid him back.

In another three hours we were at the border. I quickly ran to the ATM withdrew the money paid the fare and lunch money along with a bottle of wine, I insisted but he blatantly refused to take it. Thanked him for the help and was on my way.

Jumped into an auto (tuk-tuk) to the nearest railway station, the last train was at 5.40pm and it was nearly 5.20 if I miss it, I’d have to stay for the night and it was certainly not in my plan. Chaotic traffic yet undeterred driver “Welcome Back” was the message I could decode from it.

14hr journey to Kolkata and another 14hrs from Kolkata, so it was just around 30 odd hour journey and I am home.

I boarded the train and the journey was 18hrs instead of 14 and I arrived at Kolkata. I had a choice of another 14 or 16hrs single journey or two 6 hrs journeys. I chose the latter and was quickly into an intercity express and found a seat without much difficulty. Couple of hours into the journey the entire three and a half weeks of the trip was being played like a movie in front of my eyes. My family, the Taj Mahal, the wedding, sudden acquaintance of the Army officer, Jai kumar favor in Bhutan and not to forget the taxi driver help.

What I went through was one of the best experiences I will ever go through in my life, now after five and a half months of one of the “Unexpected Trip” it changed the way I looked at the world and me. Knowing me and understanding me was the biggest outcome during this trip. If I understand me I can understand the things around me , how can I understand anything If I don’t have an idea of What am I? Unless we know ourselves we can never understand anyone.

As Tom Harris says: “Where does the difference between the past and future come from? The laws of science do not differentiate between past and future, yet there is a big difference between past and future in ordinary life”. Yet that is the beauty of life!!! Pretty strange but it is quite true.

Is my view about life is too narrow or too hasty I don’t know, all I know is that I was me but I was not the same me anymore I used to be! And quite hopeful of welcoming new experiences, twists and a new me in a journey called life.

Part IX

2011-05-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Feeling at home is the greatest gift to me by god, whether home or Dublin, east, west or north India I have always felt at home. All through the trip I slept at various places and ate different food but never felt like an outsider. It never really bothered me where I slept what mattered was that I SLEPT! Few days into my trip I understood how to choose my meals and when to choose them; I knew how to control my bodily functions.

After bidding farewell to Jai I was standing at the bus stop to catch the first bus heading towards Paro, My final frontier, the place where I wanted to be and I knew I was only at an arms distance. Paro is the only Airport city of Bhutan and blessed with serene natural beauty.

As Usual the tickets of the next three buses were sold out and I need to wait another 5 hrs to get on the bus heading towards Paro and I was no way ready for it. Paro was only an hour’s distance from Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. SO I walked a bit and found a couple of shared taxi’s and quickly got into one of them, the damage was 150 rupees. I was able to afford it courtesy Jai.

It took three quarters of an hour to start our journey to Paro as we were waiting for the other three prospective travelers along with us, it’s a shared taxi. I did a bit of sales myself and we were on our way. We were almost into the city and we had to stop due to Traffic jam, being an Indian I thought some politician or a major filmstar was travelling on the same road and we the normal people have to give way to those so called privileged people! Well I still can’t understand why they have such a special treatment. The driver informed me that it was the flight landing and take-off hence we had to stop until it was finished.

The road is almost parallel to the airport runway and so traffic will not be allowed to pass when the flight lands or takes off. I was out of the car in a jiffy and waited for the flight. The airport of Paro is surrounded by the hills the flight performs contracting spiral motion and finally lands. It’s quite an amazing scene and it’s actually more exciting to watch it than actually sitting inside it. 20 min and we were back on the road.

By the time we reached Paro it was around 1130am. There was no chance of heading towards Taksung as it was a three hour trek there would be no chance of getting back by 5 and it gets dark pretty early in winter, so I decided to stay in Paro and start early the next day. I managed to find a hotel for 300rupees (4.5 euro) and I was free from my luggage. A quick hot shower new clothes and I was out of the hotel. I strolled aimlessly for a couple of hours and I enjoyed it, my mobile wasn’t working since a couple of days and there were no internet café’s around. I felt so free and aimless I was at bliss.

On the way back to the hotel I found a small shack where I ate dried salted pork and kewa datshi I fell in love with datshi dishes instantly. Love at first bite!

Since I had nothing else to all evening I walked back to my hotel as the next day was going to be a long day of trekking. I fell asleep in no time and when I woke up it was around 3am and zero degrees outside. Slept more and decided to have a decent breakfast but Guru Rimpoche had other plans.

I was up early and quite refreshed after a long rest unfortunately the shops open only after 8 am so had to quit breakfast for Taksung. A damage of 200 rupees landed me near the foot hills and there it was placed majestically on the edge of the cliff his holiness Guru Rimpoche’s Monastery.

I was speechless for a minute or a longer, a mix of divine nature, man-made wonder and common sense is what made it look so wonderful. With the surroundings green, crickets in the background, birds chirping and that’s it! There is nothing else around you! Once in a while you’d see a fellow traveler going downhill and that’s it. Quite a task to find a place like it, moreover it exactly looked and felt the same what I dreamt of.

My heart sank since I knew I will not be able to do a 9km trek and with no proper walkway it was even harder. I thought to myself, let me see how far I’d go and if I can’t make it I guess I have to live with that. I walked and was pleading Guru Rimpoche to give the strength to walk to his Monastery and yes he did send me some energy and I managed to walk the whole way albeit taking an extra half hour than the rest of my co travelers.

Bring a couple of energy bars and an empty bottle for the trek since water is available all along the trek. It flows through bamboos and streams and waterfalls, and hell yeah it tastes much better than any other over hyped mineral based water advert on the telly. A triumph at last, from Google images to reality I guess I was lucky since I dreamt of this place only a month ago and I made here

Part VIII

2011-04-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

The bus starts at 7 and I was there at 6 , It was just by pure chance that I was early by an hour. I was lucky there since the tickets are given on first come first serve basis which I came to know later in a bitter way. The bus started and finally I arrived at Bhutan, my dream destination from google images to land to the place where I wanted took quite some time and travel.

I was eager to go to the other side of the border then there were papers!!! There were agents all around who charged 300 rupees and could get a permit by evening, I was not ready to wait until evening so I decided to walk into the office and the procedure was very simple it was just a long queue apart from that it was not a big task. One of my co-passengers was Bhutanese and suggested we stay at a hotel for a night and then head to the capital, out of courtesy I agreed and checked into a hotel but never walked inside the room and paid the full amount.

The moment I got the permit I ran to the hotel spoke with the manager and said I am not interested to wait for the whole night and start the next day, to my surprise he didn’t say a word and gave all my money back without hesitation, quite friendly people.

I walked towards the bus station, Thimpu the capital of Bhutan is around 6hrs by bus which leaves at 4. It was only 2 0’clock so I decided to stroll around eat some food. I walked to the counter at three and asked for a ticket, he said the tickets were sold out by 10 am and the tickets for the next day were sold as well. A seat in the bus costs 150 rupees and a taxi would cost 700 rupees and I was in no mood to pay for a taxi. I requested, pleaded and did every possible coaxing and finally the guy at the counter pointed at the driver me and said he might do something. I immediately approached him and started all-over again but all in vain. I was pleading him for about half an hour but nothing could shake him. Well I walked out from the counter sat at one of the kerb with absolutely no idea where to go or how to go.

Ann Doyle one of my Irish friends gave me a Celtic cross which I wear around my neck always, I held onto the cross and said “please Jesus help me! PLEASE!!!” Miracles do happen for people who believe whether that’s true or false I have no idea but yes a miracle did happen!

The unshakeable bus driver comes running towards me and asked whether I was ready to pay 400 I replied “Sir I have little money”. Finally 250 was the price I paid! I was a bit disappointed since I had to shell out an extra 100 rupees. I walked towards the bus and the driver said there is no room in the bus, there is a small pick-up which is heading towards the capital so I found a place for you. I was excited since there will be no stops and the journey will be finished in about 4hrs.

The driver of the pickup didn’t seem to be a normal person, later I came to know that he was from India just across the border and owns an entire shopping complex in the capital! He said he was bored to travel that far alone so he spoke with the driver and asked if there are any extra passengers so he could do with some company which was normal there as everybody doesn’t get tickets. The bus driver took the entire money, which was ok with him as he just needed company for the drive and yes I was delighted!

We started and at every check point every official knew him, I was in some great company. Finally after gruesome twisted roads and rocky broken roads we ended in the capital. I said I cannot afford a costly hotel so wanted to check-in to some cheap hotel. He replied chill mate, I own a hotel there is a small guest room in the complex so you can doze off for the night for free and the dinner is on me!

Initially I was not happy with Jesus he made me shell out an extra hundred rupees but he had other plans for me of which I had no idea whatsoever. Jai Kumar the owner of the Hotel “RAVEN” shows my room and asked me to get ready to head out. Three games of Bowling and a few beers then to my room all on the house- I cannot say it that this was in my dreams since I never dreamt of these situations would happen neither do you I guess but yes these things happened.

It was quite a cold morning, I was up by 7am had a hot shower which was pure luxury! And even better when you don’t pay for it! Breakfast arrived along with piping hot tea. Jai Kumar dropped me at the bus stop and bid farewell to me, and gave his number just in case I needed help in Bhutan. A true gentleman to the core!

Belief and urge within were the two keys things which made this trip possible, I remember a conversation over the phone with my friend Wahed who felt sad as I had little money to travel and wished I had more so that I could travel more, I replied I have time in my hands now tomorrow I will have money but I will not be able to travel which is true, when god gives a holiday don’t deny it!

I could have written about this trip immediately but that would be full of motivation and positive language which I wanted evade. It would only give you one sided approach which I didn’t want to portray, besides I wanted to take time to digest the feeling and relive it through words, it’s quite a task but that’s the way I wanted it to be.

Last part coming soon…

Part VII

2011-04-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Reality Bites guess there is a reason why they say that! With a 20 kilo bag on my back and a 10 kilo in the front and it was quite a task to find some information with all the lugguage on me.

To be honest I’ve never planned this trip, I just had two things on my mind before this trip one was to attend the wedding and the other was to experience either Nepal or Bhutan. When I checked with my friend Rohini (the bride) she informed that Nepal was around 34 hrs away from her place while Bhutan was about 14hours. That was enough for me to decide where to go. It would take only an hour or two but that would be by air but tests proved that I had a deficiency of Vitamin M hence bus, train or a shared taxi were my only options.

Bhutan was decided and yoohoo a click on Google images showed me a glimpse of what I was going to experience. Taksung “tak” = Tiger “Sung”=Nest. It is said that Guru Rimpoche flew on a Tiger and the tiger took him into the hills and took him to her nest. The moment I saw the picture of Taksung I decided that no matter what happens I had to be there! The picture was strikingly beautiful and serene.

I then checked on how to reach there and the required papers to enter Bhutan. The route I have to take in order to reach Bhutan was registered in my mind. All of this was just being played like a movie and I was the hero in it. OYE! And a Push brought me to reality! I nearly had a fall unable to balance the weight. Someone yelled again at me to stop dreaming and walk ahead in the Q. An hour ago I was treated like a prince with all the army personnel saluting me and driving me around the province and here I am back on my travels living on meager sum, so anyway Bhutan was my next destination. Well atleast I thought so…

I knew that I had to go to NJP and then board a bus to the Indo-Bhutanese border courtesy Google. I was at Dimapur Railway station so around 8 hours travel by train to guwahati. Another 6 hours journey from there would lead me to NJP. Once at NJP I would get on the bus for about 7hrs and reach Bhutan. I had my plans set and was raring to go.

Luckily the train which was supposed to go earlier was delayed by an hour or so, everything was just falling in place. I boarded the train and a good few of my co-passengers were from the army, I said hello and dived into my book. The train was almost nearing Gawahati as I broke into a conversation with one of the army officials. When I said that I was heading to Bhutan he told me that there is another border which is only 7 hours form gawahati. I was delighted since my journey time will be shortened by atleast 12 hours.

I got off the train and thought of having some dinner if possible a beer and rest for a night in gawahati and then head towards the border early. As I was walking down the road I saw a small shack where hot food was being served. I immediately ordered my food and a beer along with it. I was delighted as the food was 40 rupees only (around 60cents for my euro friends) and quickly emptied my beer. When I asked the bill and it was a real shocker!!! Dinner was 40 and beer cost me 300!!! . I was nearly kicking myself, till that day I was in such control of my finances moreover I always inquired on the price before ordering my food. Just one mistake and I had to shell out 350 rupees. That was my dinner, a night stay at a hotel and my breakfast price! That was gone in a jiffy.

I was in no mood to spend even a penny from my pocket that night. Tired as I was, I walked back slowly towards the railway station, saw a lot of people and a few army personnel sleeping on the platforms and thought why not spend a night on the platform? What sounds like an adventure to me is a bedroom for millions of people. I grabbed a few newspapers, set up a neat bed and hugged my big bad while the smaller one acted like a pillow.

I had no idea of how long I’ve slept but it was quite refreshing. I was up early and walked straight to the information counter found out when the next train is for Rangiya (a small station where one gets a bus to Bhutan). I bought the ticket and was in the train in no time an hour or so and I was at Rangiya. So delighted I went to the bus stop. I was greeted by a lot of people shouting Bhutan! Bhutan! And got into one of the buses which was probably purchased in early 20th century. After 45 minutes the bus started and roared to reach the distance of 120 kilometers in 5 hours. I wasn’t even bothered about the chaos or the overstuffed bus the only thing which was on my mind was BHUTAN! My dream!

I got off the bus at around 4pm in the evening and was planning on how I’d go about my rest of the trip and where I’d stay and so on and so forth. Suddenly I was standing on front of Indo-Bhutanese border; I was delighted nearly shouted with joy, walked calmly to the office showed my id’s and passport. The beautiful Bhutanese girl simply smiled and said you should be back by 530pm I hope you know that! I was baffled on hearing that and said sorry I am here to stay for a few days, she replied I am sorry you can only stay here for a few hours!!!

On hearing that I nearly went mad! I asked her what’s the problem and why am I not allowed she said that at this border Indians can come early in the morning and head back by evening. Since it was close to 530 she said I can leave my luggage and have a look around if I wanted, It was actually a kind gesture from her. I was unable to bear the idea that I cannot stay in Bhutan! Finally I was notified that there are three Indo-Bhutanese borders of which only one (my original plan) is the official way for tourists.

I wasted the night on the beer and today a whole day of the journey and the money along with it, I was furious at my utter stupidity, I had a plan I knew where I was going and suddenly I changed my course. I had no other choice apart from heading back to where I came from and take a 6hr train and a 7hr bus to the official tourist border.

The last bus which takes me where I started had already gone. I dint even have transport, I was all blank for a couple of minutes. Suddenly a lift by a pickup truck and then to another and I nearly finished half the distance. 3 shared tuk-tuks and I was back to where I came from the famous Rangiya railway station. Within an hour I was back to gawahati , I hardly hard any strength to walk with all the journey and no result. Found a small hotel “Sun City” 200 a night was good enough for me and I dozed off.

Early next day I wanted to see some other place from gawahati before heading to Bhutan, since I was a bit frustrated I didn’t want to be there in a bad mood. Checked around and found that I could go to shillong which was 3hrs in a shared taxi, quickly jumped into one and was in shillong in no time, it was a colonial place lake, boating and lush green fields. More like a poet’s or a writer’s dream location apart from a further walk lead me to filthy roads and small markets which are a common sight in many parts of India. I quickly finished my trip and walked back to the taxi stand and was on my way back to gawahati.

I reached at around six in the evening; I found that there was a train at 8 which goes to NJP. I quickly checked out of the hotel, had a quick dinner in one of the shacks and boarded the train, around 4 am I reached NJP. A quick breakfast and I was at the bus-stop!

Reading The Motorcycle Diaries by Che and Ted Simon made quite an impact on me, Their books are not like the ones we find on the high street stores which explain how beautiful the city is, How beautiful the expensive spa and the 5 star hotel looks and feel for about 350$ a night. Well every city looks beautiful but what matters is that one should look for reality. A reality which shows the warmth or the coldness of the citizens but not the plastic smiles looking for a decent tip or a someone making a fat commission on my so called Luxury holiday. Realism brings a sense of togetherness. It brings surprises, the highs and lows, the adventure, the warmth.

Living in reality gives us a taste of all these in life, but when I do not choose reality that means I am choosing what I want to see than what it actually is – I guess that’s the reason why people say Reality Bites

More to come ...

Part VI

2011-04-07T02:14:00.000-07:00

The next day was pretty early, around 6am I got a call from the major abd he informed that he arranged a vehicle to Kohima and then to Kisama and back.

Kisama a world heritage site where all the 12 tribes of Nagaland come and exhibit their culture this happens during the first week of December (1-7), once the festival is over they go back. Its called the Hornbill Festival.

Colorful exotic are the words one would not be satisfied with when they arrive at the festival. It was quite a spectacle, I wandered for a while window shopping through the ethnic shops and finally settled to watch the tribal dances. Photographers from all over the world with high end cameras were present and Kaly with hi small Sony camera looked like a misfit there.

Around noon I finished my tour and opened the bag to go ahead with my lunch, major made sure that my lunch was packed. A cup of tea two omelets and four slices of bread quite filling.

I left for Kohima after lunch to spend some time in the II World War cemetery where Indian, Burmese, English Irish graves were systematically placed, a moment of silence and I started walking to the local Naga market.

Baby frogs, snails, dogs and salted meat were the main items in the market, One also gets to see vegetables, fish and eggs. Christianity had quite a presence in Nagaland.
That was the end so I took the vehicle back to the army camp, the servant was constantly in touch with me as the entire road and the locations I went through were heavily guarded due to the insurgence issue.

By the time I reached the camp another vehicle was waiting for me! Major made sure all were in place even my clothes were all washed and ironed. Shoes polished and dinner for the night and breakfast for the next day were also packed. I bid farewell to the camp amidst salutes and 40 minutes down the line I was on my own at the railway station wondering whether the things happened over the last couple of days were a part of dream.

Either way I was living a dream…

More to come…

Part V

2011-04-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

The major greeted me with a warm smile and informed me to shed all fear and to feel at home since I’d be there only for a day or two so it was no use if I was unable to enjoy those moments. Meanwhile the servant took my luggage and I followed him to my room. Tea was served and we started to chat on how the journey was and how the wedding went on so on and so forth. He spoke a lot about his hometown and stuff about the army. Suddenly I realized that I was in a tree house since I was too engrossed in the chat I didn’t really observe.

I was greeted with around 10-15 salutes by the soldiers at every check post and finally arrived at the major’s quarter. Every salute was more or less like a slap on my face. Here are the men who guard my country day in day out facing betrayal from the locals, harsh climatic conditions and death always lingered around them but our politicians are too busy trying to fill their pockets and fighting over trivial issues. Their corruption levels had gone to such pathetic levels that even the bullet proof jackets supplied to the army are hardly bullet proof; it’s a fact that quite a few people lost their lives. Me a part of the civilian community was a part of the same corrupted system and actually had no moral right to enter the camp.

A Tree House in an Army camp! It was built at the highest point of the camp with good visibility range of his entire area under his control for surveillance. I was speechless for a moment, on watching me in such bliss the major signaled his servant and I was having breakfast along with him in the tree house! No man/woman with any amount of money in their pockets or bank accounts can never enter the camp forget about the tree house and here I was travelling on the money contributed by my friends, in other words a penniless Indian getting into an army camp and getting the highest possible treatment ! Quite a story for the papers huh!

The major was a middleclass man with a daughter and a wife. He was selected to lead one NATO peace keeping forces in Sudan for a UN Project. Army people would be delighted and jump on a chance like that as the payment is 10 times more than what our government pays.

He plainly rejected the offer without any second thought informing them that his job is to protect India and India is always his first priority and did not join NATO this was told by one of his commandoes not him and thinks the major was foolish to reject such an offer.

In the corporate world a 30% hike makes you quit the job and a 70% hike makes talk nonsense to secure the job at any cost. Here is a man who was offered 1000% hike on his salary and he rejects it. I said “Sir, I am really privileged to be with such a great company”. He replied “Dude, you are the person who brought yourself here not me; with the eagerness to travel and attitude to match that I was bound to invite you!” I was really delighted.

After a long breakfast session he left to attend his daily chores and said that he’ll be back in an hour and left me in the company of myself and I. I took a power nap to relax myself and get ready for later, the major arrived in his full fledged army attire , yes the same way as its portrayed in the movies, I haven’t seen someone like that in my entire life and here I was!

A guided tour through the forests and heavily guarded areas along with him followed. One of the commandoes goes ahead of us checks the area signaled us and we follow and he would tell me about area. After a daunting Off-road couple of hours we returned to the camp where delicious hot lunch was waiting for us, during lunch he inquired about what I drink and we quickly moved onto other topics. Another guided tour followed this time inside the camp where the major had a small make shift yard for rabbits, a vegetable yard and a small room where he was planning to start off on raising mushrooms!

At around 4 in the evening the major received a call and had to leave for a couple of days on work, he knew what was going on in my mind, he insisted that I stay for the night and leave the next evening. Next evening! Why would one say next evening? I wondered.

Before he left he made sure that everything for me were in place and gave me a hand-made bamboo pint glasses as a souvenir and a couple of bottle of wine. That made a total of five bottles in my bag. Two from the wedding as a return gift and one I bought for myself and two from the army! yoohoo! No, I did not open any if that’s what is on your mind.

I was watching the telly and the servant comes with four plates of snacks and a glass of whiskey. I was a little shocked but he informed this was set even before the major left, they were ORDERS!!! I now remembered the conversation about alcohol during lunch. I finished my glass and continued to watch the TV, the servant comes and replaces it with another glass this continued to happen for about three times and the dinner was served.

I fell asleep after a long hectic journey and a day full of events and I was nowhere connected or related to the series of things which were happening yet I was an integral part of it!

More to come…

Part IV

2011-03-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

After reaching Gangtok the next three days were filled with fun and celebrations and local trips around the city. On the second day we managed a trip to Indo-China Border one of the highest places I have visited it was 14000ft a brilliant experience with Milton da and paramjit paaji!

On our way back I was awestruck on seeing a majestic mountain buffalo also called as yak herd! YAK HERD! I shouted with excitement and Milton da said dude we can also go for a ride if you want to on the yak. I was left with no words to express. Ever since I was a child while learning English alphabet we used to recite A for apple B for ball and y for Yak. I always wondered how it looked because I’ve never seen one in reality and I always wanted to see it in real. I’ve not only seen it but also went for a ride for about 200m. Imagine something getting fulfilled which was your childhood fantasy the second time within a span of three days!!! Very few people can experience those feelings.

After all the excitement we all started back to the wedding place. The wedding was a symbol of India’s national integration as people from 9 different States/ Provinces from all corners of the country. It’s a pretty rare sight only diplomats or VIP’s are privileged and my friend Rohini is no less to them.
Every good thing has to come to an end so did the wedding and the celebrations, I bid farewell to them and we started the journey back to the nearest train station. Meanwhile I contacted the Major and informed him that I will be on my way and also booked my ticket online.

I boarded the train or should I say I squeezed myself into the train, finally I went on to my seat which was already occupied by someone. When I sat he was shouting at me to get up with his voice raised to the hilt. I said Sir I do have a reservation which actually irritated him more and he wanted to check my ticket. On confirming the ticket he allowed me to sit but he was not happy about it! Well it might come as a surprise to many but it happens in India.

I was pretty pissed off at the number of people in the train and was also a bit Lord Snooty for a while. So I started reading something strange happened! Ted Simon gets Stuck in the middle of nowhere for a couple of days and he’s trying to contact everyone to get him out of that place as there was no mobile signals or telephone connection. Later he realizes that how stupid he was since there are hardly any places left in the world untouched and abused by mankind and he was blessed to be in such a place and he wanted to runaway and I was doing the same thing!

I was on a trip to know more and live more and experience more about India, I happened to be in the centre of the buzz and I was trying to escape from it! How stupid one can be! Well that was quite stupid by me. I realized my mistake and started a conversation and all of a sudden within half an hour the entire group was chatting away helping me on how to handle myself, where to get cheap stay which places to see! Life is quite amazing and it is not good or bad it just depends on the way one see’s it! It was a Big eye opener for me!

Meanwhile the train was about 8 hours late which was quite common at that time of the year due to fog! (it was only 8hrs unlike the fog in Europe where passengers were stranded for days in the airport) I called the Major and he informed me to wait about 20min at the station. 20min and I see four soldiers with AK47s salute me carry my luggage and I was chauffer driven to the army camp. I will not say that my dream came true because this was never even in my dreams!
More to come…

Part III

2011-03-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Little did I know that the trip which was totally unplanned would open up and become a trip which would be remembered in my entire life.

To continue from where I left at the second part, i.e. on 25th November I started off in Rajdhani express, travelling by this train was one of my childhood dreams. I guess when I was 7 years old I first heard of it when one of my friends in school boasted that wwe e could eat as many chocolates as wanted and it’s been 22 years since then and I still couldn’t manage a seat in that train, education and work clattered and this dream fell into some unknown region.

One can call it fate, luck or by sheer chance I boarded My dream train from Delhi to New jalpaiguri the nearest train station to Gangtok where my friend Rohini’s wedding is taking place in a couple of days.

The train started and I was delighted and had a strange gleam on my face like a kid getting his favorite candy. Within an hour I opened my most prized book which flew all the way from Europe to a small town in India sent by my buddy Hugo, it was “Dreaming about Jupiter” by Ted Simon. I quickly cover drove into the book and forgot about my surroundings. Delicious food was served every couple of hours but I paid little attention towards it, I now feel miffed as this was the experience I longed since my childhood and I paid hardly any attention towards it- probably that’s why we call it life.

The journey was about 22hrs and I reading the book for nearly 14 hrs the rest comprising of sleep, something strange happened an hour before my destination. I was making sure that my luggage was ready suddenly a voice said, I haven’t seen people reading like that in ages I replied that I was on a trip and loved reading travel books. He said he loved travelling too but he is unable to and welcomed to his place for a couple of days after the wedding. He promised a princely treatment in Nagaland one of the insurgent provinces of India which is highly guarded by the armed forces; I was taken aback and asked him what does he do in there?

He wrote his number on a paper and handed over to me a while ago which I never paid attention to, he then reminded me about the paper when I read it I was taken aback once again! Little did I know that the person I was talking to is a Major in the Indian army and commandos worked under him. I decided to go but didn’t say it on his face and requested time till evening.

I got off the train bid farewell and took a shared vehicle to Gangtok. Gangtok is the capital of Sikkim province around 80 km (4 hr drive ) as it’s a hilly road.

The Trip that Planned Me! (Part II)

2011-03-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

We then boarded a train on 18th November towards Delhi, it was another 25hr journey. finally by the time we reached my Uncle's newly built house it was around 11 at night. We were all surprised as we met my Uncle's younger brother who lives in Greece and haven't met him in around 7 years or so. It was more of a family Reunion aunts Uncles,grandma's everybody were present.

After a good night's rest I drove my parents and sister allover Delhi and visited another Temple Akshardham. Actually I was planning to drive all the way to Taj-Mahal and Jaipur over the next 3 days so for me it was all about getting my bearings right with the traffic.

I was awestruck when I saw the temple it was just amazing! I've been to Delhi around 20-25 times and this was the first time I was ever saw this marvel. It was a delight to the eyes more to me since I was with my family and My parents were pretty happy and content, All I wanted was to see happiness in their eyes which even MasterCard cannot buy.

We all gathered for dinner with kids around it was all fun. with the help of my uncle and his car I decided to start early the next day, We planned to visit the TajMahal and Jaipur and head back to Delhi within three days around 1200km drive.
By the time we reached Agra It was around 4pm in the evening as we stopped at another temple on the way!

My sister wasn't happy at all as it was already early evening and due to fading light she couldn't enjoy the sight of Taj Mahal. I had the privilege of enjoy the view of Taj ten times in my life and even now I get excited the moment I see it, it's something amazing to watch and I am always awestruck by the sight of it. We decided to stay for a night at Agra and leave by Mid-day the next day.

We were at Taj by 6am it was an amazing sight, no words can describe the sight, its just an experience and it has to be felt than said, I spent 3 hrs watching this beautiful sight I was blank or should I say Happily blank. A feeling of bliss, it was a moment of triumph as it was the first time my mom dad and my sister saw the Taj and I was the person who took them and lead the way, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I felt that I was lucky to have a chance to fulfill my responsibility as a son. My mother always watched the Taj on TV and always wanted to see it in real but never revealed to anyone which she informed me later in the evening.Mothers are always the same I guess! It was a moment of realization for me that how busy I was with my professional life, sometimes unemployment is a blessing in disguise!

We left Agra by mid-day went over to Fatehpur Sikri and left to Jaipur. Jaipur is famous for forts and architecture, its known as the pink city. We stayed overnight and visited all the historical places and were on the way to Delhi. It was quite a daunting task to keep driving as it was only me who knew how to drive but I hardly felt tired at all, I guess its the togetherness I missed all these years which was helping me.

We did some shopping in Delhi for the next few days, stayed indoors and I decided to leave for my friends wedding in Sikkim a day before my family left to my hometown. The first of my childhood dreams came true While I was starting from Delhi towards Sikkim... more to follow

The Trip that Planned Me! (Part I)

2011-03-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Fulfilling three childhood dreams in one trip is not a small feat, well for many childhood dreams stay as dreams and get lost in time and stay buried somewhere deep within our minds once in a while in a movie or through someone's experiences we get reminded of them. I am one of those people who always thought about my childhood dreams all the time (well atleast I thought so) but until my dreams came true I did not realize that I had quite a longing for them to happen since my childhood.

This trip is happened in three parts one was a visit to Shirdi the holy place, second Delhi the family Outing and my lonely travel for a wedding in Sikkim and trip to Bhutan.

17th of November 2010 we boarded the train to Shirdi at 5 in the morning, I was all set for a couple of week’s trip with the family and it was a 30hr travel. During the journey I had a chance to dwell on things that were happening in my life and family.
I was out of job for quite a while and was supposed to join my new job a month ago during September, fortunately or unfortunately the structural designs had to be modified and the job was stalled for about two months.

I was disappointed and was wondering when all was set why on earth the job had to be stalled. I was talking to my dad the same evening suddenly he reminded me that it’s been a while that all four of us went on a holiday and said he was planning a trip to the holy city of Shirdi and a visit to Delhi for about 10 days, he was also a bit nervous about the trip since my mom and dad were not used to travelling outside our province on a regular basis whereas I was a travel junky.

I looked at the sky laughed at the divine plan and informed my dad that my job is stalled for about two months and I am free to join them. My dad was elated and said that this would be our first decent holiday since 2003! Jeez that was a longtime and I suddenly realized how time flew and how we forget the value of family lives and become obsessed with our professional lives and so the journey started!
We reached Shirdi visited the holy shrine of Sri Sai Baba and left the same evening to Delhi to visit my Uncle but I never knew that this was a journey of a lifetime! More updates soon…

Grated coconut and Potato muddled with Capsicum

2010-11-09T00:44:00.000-08:00

well this is an age old dish revived by me simply out of the interest and the idea of bringing a kind of nostalgia to my dad. pretty simple to make and great to eat along with boiled rice. Its pretty yummy so make sure you cook an extra portion of rice.

cooking time around -20 min in a Pressure cooker if not 35 -40 min.

Ingredients:

Potatoes- 6
grated coconut (half coconut)
6 green chillies
2 Bay leaves
4-6 cardamom
2 elachi ( dont worry if you do not get elachi in your country just add some herbs)
half spoon paprika
2 medium onions
100ml milk

in a cooker or a Pan pour 4-5 spoons of Oil and fry bay leaves, cardamom, elachi and green chillies after a few min once the aroma hits your senses add finely chopped onions and fry them until they are golden brown.

Now add skinned chunks of the Potatoes and fry them for about 5-7 min, add milk and stir it, if you think you are missing the aroma then add one more bay leaf or basil or coriander and sliced Capsicum (Peppers in other parts of the world)

Once the whole mix starts boiling add the grated coconut add salt according to your taste ( 2-3 spoons) add some water (300ml) let it boil for a min or two then close the lid of the cooker and leave it for about 5 min.
If you do not have a cooker then just boil the whole mix stirring every five min or so.

- You are ready to Rock n Roll- folks

P.S: Do not add turmeric or red chilly powder or coriander powder it just gives the regular curry look which kinda becomes routine.

MOvember

2010-11-08T07:03:00.001-08:00

I was wondering why people say Movember and especially one of my mates HUgo walking around in his weirdest Moustache. Well then I came to know about this Movember movement which is kind just.

People come up with various taches and flaunt them the entire month and raise money for Men suffering from Prostate cancer and depression. It was just a small thought which came up in a pub in 1999 and now its in majority of the nations. I am loving it as at last there is some light thrown on the depression especially in men which most of the time goes unnoticed.

Men are known to rule the world to hold on to huge responsibilities and yet stay Stone-hearted but they are mortals too and they suffer from depression too! This is a great way of showing Manliness through taches and creating awareness among the crowd - The irony is flaunting a confident tache to support and raise awareness about how weak a man can be and so near to the suicidal scenarios.

Hail the starters of the movement-Kaly takes a bow - Kaly raises a tache and show his support (which is the only gesture which he can afford at the moment)

Liberation=Biking or is it more into it???

2010-07-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

I just found this experience since last month. been driving or riding a bike a lot. did 1600km in about 3 days and 700 km in about a couple of days. There are so many people with a lot of issues on the planet. I myself was unemployed for quite a while and my head was reeling and was in a totally confused state.

The moment i did my first drive after a while I felt my issues and the state at what I am is absolutely trivial. It did not seem that I had any issues at all and every issue was totally solvable. My mind suddenly was filled with positive attitude or should I say realistic approach towards life.

The times when the road was absolutely lonely, the times when I used to speed away, times when bike ran out of petrol and I was stuck in no-mans-land and help came from unexpected corners and unexpected people whom you will probably never ever meet in your life again! which only proved that there is always help and guidance waiting somewhere if you have the heart to do something.

Liberation thats the only word I can say about how I felt during those drives. I was not a son, friend or a brother. I was just liberated from everything thats a very strange feeling and it was all about me me and more of me and who I was and how I want to be. its simply amazing which I never felt. The strange fact is the moment I finished my ride I am back to my senses and I am a son a friend and a brother.

I found this feeling in biking maybe the bikers allover the world feel the same and thats one of feeling which lets them speak their heart and do what they want-they are treated as crazy people but I just wonder "who are crazy" and let things lead their life rather than leading life by themselves.

I found in biking someone else finds in painting and someone in something else!

I am not a biker I never will be but I guess I had a taste of what a biker feels when he goes on his soul searching drives. Its not the bike but the biker who feels liberated but the bike actually liberates the biker strange isnt it???

Bike trip from Hyderabad to Ahmednagar

2010-06-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ah finally I started on my way on my most awaited bike trip. I wanted to do this from quite a longtime; unfortunately I could not do the first and the most dreamt bike trip me and my buddy Hugo from Delhi to Taj Mahal. Well some things happen and some things do not but atleast we should try to make things happen which seem unlikely to happen and that’s where the joy of life lies.

A pulsar 150cc with the jacket gifted by Hugo and 20 kilo bag on my back I started my journey. After reading a lot about bike trips I felt really excited. Initially it was chaos driving through the traffic filled roads of Hyderabad once out of the city the drive was pretty smooth. I was hitting 100kmph on a regular basis and I was feeling good about it. After completing my first 150km I took a smoke break at a small chai adda (tea shop) had a decent triple egg extra chilli omellette and a smoke. Called up my friends to update my status and I started on my way.

I stopped after 200km passing through three states Andhra,Karnataka and Maharashtra there was hardly any change in the terrain as the three states fall in deccan plateau region so they all have similar terrains, yet it was lovely site driving through lonely roads, steep hilly roads. The other important factor was that it is just the start of the monsoons so every place I drove is budding with greenery which was a feast for the eyes. I stopped at a small restaurant ordered a coke and a couple of smokes, updated my friends again as they were the one’s who were yelling at me not to do this as it’s freaky. To be honest they do care about me hence they suggested it was not a great idea.

50km after my second break the bike just stopped drop dead in the middle of the road. The nearest village was 15km. I later found out that there was hardly any petrol no money in my pocket I tried at a few ATM’s but they were not working so I just had ten rupees which helped me for a chai and smoke. I was smiling and enjoying the situation, I wanted trouble because whats the point in finishing a bike trip from A to B without any blips??? Drive as fast as you can and end up at the destination this aint racing at all is it?

After the chai, I went back to my bike bent it completely so that whatever petrol was left could be utilized. Suddenly the bike started and I started to drive like hell, after a couple of kilometers the bike choked and choked ,finally died on me due to lack of petrol, the scene was more like a situation straight from a bollywood scene as the bike stopped exactly at the main door of “SAI BABA” Temple. I prayed for a minute, laughed out loud and started to push it towards the village where they had ATM and the Petrol station, all of a sudden a guy comes from nowhere, enquires whats the problem with the bike, He asked me to fetch a bottle, I found one beside the road, Thanks for the abuse of plastic all-over the world. He took out the bottle and filled a small amount of petrol, I was a bit too embarrased so I said that should be enough and poured into the bike.

Eventually my bike stopped again he followed me and he gave me some more petrol I took off my watch and gave it to him and folded both my palms and said I don’t know what I would have done without you!He simply ignored the watch and said “dude, I am a proud Maratha and I am here to help you, If I help you somebody somehwere will help me some other time” and please keep the watch inside saying that he left me.
I finally found the ATM with the help of the locals and just managed to reach the fuel station with whatever petrol was left in the bike. Filled the bike with petrol and started driving again towards my destination which was about 140km, It was getting dark quickly so I decided to drive towards the nearest town which was about 80km and rest there for the night.

While I was driving came across the guy who helped me with petrol, spoke with him while I was on the bike and left him, I saw a guy pushing his bike and his father walking beside him, I wanted to stop but I did not I felt ashamed and felt like shouting out loud at me, luckily within the next 100mts I saw a fuel station and I was relieved.

I was happy again and reached the town at about 9.30pm checked into a hotel, had a quick shower and a quick large chilled beer and drove to find the best biryani in that town, after completing my quest for biryani I had a great Navratan meenakshi pan and a smoke to top it all. I reached my hotel content with the events happened during the day and slept before resuming my trip the next day.

pictures will be updated soon

Lamb biryaani my style (veggies too)

2010-06-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Lamb Biryani : Traditional Indian Cuisine

(for veggies- use Potatoes and any other veggies, and veg is much faster and lighter on your tummy)

Food will be sufficient for four

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice(500 gms or half kilo) (normal rice can also be used-not a bother at all)
Two medium sized onions
three meduim sized tomatoes
2 to 3 green chillies( dont chop them just make a long slit, choppin makes stuff spicy, slittin makes stuff tasty)
turmeric ( half spoon)( ask in the indian shop they ll giv it to u)
Sunflower oil 3 to four spoons max
red chilli powder half spoon
salt 1 spoon
cloves 6 pieces
three crushed garlic cloves
one piece of ginger medium size
fresh coriander for aroma
spoonful of coriander powder
spoonful of Biryani MAsala( Available in the indian shop)
two cups of yoghurt
500 to 750gms of lamb ur choice.

Cookin instructions:

wash the lamb for five minutes and let it boil for atleast 20 min. Once its 20 min, take a new pan pour 3 spoons of oil into it once the pans is ready, fry the two chopped or diced onions in the oil for atleast 5-7 min

add 3 chopped green chillies, freshly chopped tomatoesand leave it for 5min. now add turmeric , chilli powder, cloves , finely chopped ginger n garlic, coriander powder and fresh coriander one by one. make sure all these ingredients are cooked on no4on the oven.
if the stuff is too dry add 150 ml of water and let the entire stuff boil for atleast 5 min.

now add the semi cooked lamb which was boilin earlier on to the entoire ingredients. make sure u only the lamb but not the water in which it was boiled. mix the entire contents with the lamb and let it boil for the next 25-30 min( lamb must be almost cooked wen u take it out of the pan.) add the two cups of yogurt and salt to the entire mix)

while the lamb is boilin soak half kilo of rice in cold water for 25 min. After soakin for 25min boil the rice to semi boiled state ( make sure its semi boiled this is the major turning point of the entire process the rice should be half cooked!)

now by this time lamb will be tender and almost cooked if u think the ingredients are dry add 50 to 100 ml of water and let it boil so that the mix is not too liquidy or too dry.

take a new dish and put it on the oven heatin level 3 - apply half spoon butter on the floor of the dish, this helps the rice not to get sticky.

drain the entire water from the rice and fill nearly 70% of the rice in the new dish on the oven.
now pour the mix which we prepared over the rice and cover the entire contents using the rest of the rice.( Taste the mix before u fill it over the rice if u think u need salt of spice add accordin to ur tast!)

now cover the dish with a lid and make sure there is very less chance of air escapin the dish. now turn the oven heatin level from 3 to 2, and take a step back walk towards the fridge grab a glass of wine or a beer or orange juice( ur choice!)

have a lill walk check wat stuff is happenin on the telly call ur mates or family have a lill chat with them- all this shud not be over 15 min.

now get back to our dish and mix the whole contents thhorouly at this point add freshly chopped coriander, mix the stuff agian , close the lid. after nearly 20 min or taste the stuff if u think the rice and lamb is well cooked take it off the oven st away and put it on the table.

there can be a curry to go along with it or a simple youghurt mix( 3 min stuff). curry will be in my next mail. yoghurt mix is as follows:

2 cups of yoghurt
finely chopped meduium sized tomato
fine fine finely chopped coriander leaves
one finely grated carrot.
all mixed together properly is the mix for biryani!! ( since biryani has good enough spice and all other mix- this mix will help u to cool down.)

enjoy the food, any doubts gimme a quick email, will solve it for you

Idiot or a genius, hell or heaven???

2010-03-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

Its funny strange yet interesting, thats what I thought when I got this idea. I was at a meeting where original writeup's are submitted and read in front of a crowd, I read my writeup which was "Who is "I"? , The moment I finished reading my article on of the member from the audience asked me "Can you explain that in English?", I was taken aback for a second, he started explaining from his point of view. " No one can be sure of what one wants, things just happen in life. If one knows exactly what one wants they are only the people of utmost knowledge, The saints I mean" thus he conveyed his message. I was a bit upset initially as my article was truly personal and an experience in itself.

Later I was lost in thought and a strange idea came into my mind, As per the member of the audience he was correct, ironically there is a strange case in front of us. There are only two people on the planet who are totally sure of what they want, one as per him a saint (genius) the other is an Idiot. By close examination we can understand that both characters are always sure of what they want and what they want to achieve but one rarely understands them as they are above our frequency levels of thinking. Many great scientists were termed as idiots and eccentric when they submitted their ideas and logic. Some were even killed !. What does that mean? Is an idiot a genius or a genius an Idiot its complex I do understand, but Understanding is really difficult here. But thats how the world we live is, An idiot today can be a genius tomorrow and vice versa.

Another interesting or a funny thing which came into my mind was Hell and heaven, I was discussing this with one of my best buddies, He came up with the logic, " we were conditioned from generations that if we do bad or evil things we will end up in hell, and by doing the opposite we will be in Heaven.

So If a person with evil deeds and intentions ends up in hell, then he is really in heaven. As he relishes doing bad deeds he will always feel at home. But if he is sent into heaven thats a real hell for him! So is the idea of god a perfect plan? Seems so isn't it? Both parties are always happy in their respective places.

So a hell can be heaven and a heaven can be hell doesn't it???

Who is "I" ?

2009-12-03T23:43:00.000-08:00

As I lay on the sand, I was in bliss. I did not have an alarm to push me to work or my mobile to call me for an early meeting. I did not need to rush for a shower or bother about polishing my shoes, I lay still watching the sun rise slowly very slowly as it was thinking it might disturb the folks who just came back from a graveyard shift or a late-night party. I felt so trivial looking at the Tides and the enormous sea.

I, yes who am I? How do I want to be remembered? I was known as a great mentor and an easily approachable person during my college but not as a representative of the Civil engineering Department. I was known as a great guy who always had a great smile and a warm nature but not as a Customer Service representative in Thrifty (My previous Organization), I was known as a Crazy Indian by almost every member of Clontarf Cricket Club. When I think of those days the “I” whom I am talking about was a person who just breezed through life. A great guy who brings smiles on everyone’s faces a sense of assurance and a feeling of warmth.

Today I am known as BDO (Business Development) or CAO (Chief Administration) of a certain company. I am more materialistic or should I say “Just materialistic”. The name, fame and the identity I possess is due to my position in the company or the business card I possess but not because of Who I Am.! Yes it is the same person but a different Identity or is it Loss of Identity?

With the global recession many "I's" have lost their Identity and are left wondering "Who am I?"

Not only me I’ve seen several faces around me undergo the same process, many faces fresh with New talent with great deal of innovation and enthusiasm but gradually put into several sessions of indefinite control and fabricated into the same crowd so that they are one among the hundreds and thousands of fabricated people. They feel they can rise on the occasion but they are told to shut up and on many occasions. Their ideas are mocked as idiotic or too good to be real, which nobody understands as they have no clue or they dont even even give it a thought to understand. In addition to that they just write them off quoting “New zeal has no specific direction or experience”. Yet they give it a fight or two and finally compromise and fall into the crowd but never think of the third fight or more than that, as it would affect their job and would end his earning.

Is it only I who think like this? I guess not, there are several people all over the planet irrespective of language,race or religion with the same intention but never come out of the safety zone fearing that they might be called as a radical in a homogenous mixture of uniformity.

Many of these “I’s” stay buried within us and live to tell stories to a new recruit “I was like you when I started” but we finally succeed in diminishing the new talent that is ideas will be thrown away as they did it in the past and he should just shut up and follow the crowd.

I appeal to all of us “I’s”, let’s not give up the fight, Let’s try to be atleast what “I” want to be rather than living our whole lives being someone when we are not.The “I” who you are, who you dreamt you want to be.

I started my long walk back to my bike with a new energy and a new ‘I’ in Mind envying the little shipping boats,the sea and the sun who have always been live examples of "I" .

Ban Ragging in colleges -Great Move

2009-07-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

Ragging - Its one of the most fearsome word for the students entering into their first year of their degrees. The number of student suicides and causalities due to this social evil are numerous. No matter which part of the country one hails from almost everyone tastes the bitter experience of ragging. It is a great start and yes it should seriously be banned.

On the otherside when I go back to my college days, ragging was fun and yes there were a few instances when it has gone offhand. Seniors who we were afraid o in our first year were the most sought people for help from the next year onwards. Many of us were guided by them on ho to behave with certain lecturers, many of us got text books for free, free guidance on future study prospects and employment.

There are many instances where we secured jobs due to the guidance and references our seniors gave. Would all that be possible with the Anti-Ragging law in place?

sometimes there are issues which we were not able to discuss with either parents or lecturers but we needed guidance , and the first person we approach are our seniors.Would there be the same level of healthy relationship as many of us enjoyed with our seniors?

Why should a senior even care for juniors who they hardly know, when one hardly knows their seniors how can they ask for guidance? Even if they ask will they get good guidance???

All I wish to say is "Do not ban ragging but ban the atrocities and abuse which is happening in the name of ragging"

The interaction and a healthy relationship between seniors and juniors is necessary and its invaluable as it helps the student to understand the real life.

I always believed "Suppress the cause, not the effect for a permanent solution" but we are suppressing the effect which might come in a different way and the issue might be much stronger and dangerous.

We as parents ,relatives and the system are solely responsible for this. From nursery till intermediate or +12 kids are put into serious amount of educational pressure.That is 14 years of serious educational pressure from parents,relatives, family members and colleges.

What would have gone through the child's mind all these years? Where is his freedom? freedom to play and enjoy.Their entire freedom is curtailed all these years. If a student plays more games or what he likes as a part of a team, he is more likely to be mature. Games bring in team spirit, Games bring in collective effort which decreases the "me" attitude in them.So by the time they enter into colleges they are mature enough.

Unfortunately thats the the scenario, and 16000 students all over India have committed suicide due to the pressure of education! and they are all below graduate level education.

Students who manage to walk into the colleges are not mature enough and they are afraid as the media frames ragging in its worst shape possible. Interestingly students who torture the juniors in the name of ragging are mostly immediate seniors in most of the cases. Since they are also a product of the same 12-14 years of torture, freshers become a perfect target to release their frustration and hence use Ragging as a tool to commit various atrocities on them.

I was speaking to a teacher recently while I was travelling to Delhi, he quoted " The key to the development of any kid is language, writing skills, discipline and freedom". If we imbibe these qualities by the time the kid is 8 years old, one can be rest assured that he will surely succeed.

Well I was working on this since a year asking different people of different age groups. Either way thats my perspective of looking at things.