So Near, Yet So Far!

How long do you take to plan for a trip? A month? Two Months? A year at max? Well, i was planning for this trip from last 3+ years. The reasons were very normal for this abnormal trip. At least 15 days required. Your life is at danger. Finding people as enthusiastic as you are. Yeah, I'm talking about a bike trip to Laddakh.

When your parents start pressurizing you to settle down, you start thinking of all the wild things which you should do asap. And first thing that I had to do was a bike trip to Laddakh. So, I started that thread of Laddakh trip after talking to Himanshu (one of the most enthusiastic bikers I have ever met in my life!) and took in loop Pandeyji, Ankit, Sarwan and asked Tanu (my buddy from my native place) to join in. Time decided was 12-Aug to 25-Aug as that would take care of few public holidays as well.

But has it ever been so smooth? Finally it was left to Tanu and myself to go ahead on this trip and we decided to give it a shot. So, I called Ankit to book a bike for us and take care of all the logistics. And then we started on 12-Aug.

Day 1: Plan was to reach Manali (550 Kms from Delhi) by end of the day. But whole night driving took its toll on us by 6 in the morning and we took 5 hours rest at Ambala. When we restarted from Ambala, we were greeted by persistent rains. So, we took it slowly and kept moving towards our destination. In between, I kept wondering if we are making a mistake by not going in a group? But that question was answered when, at a dhaba, we met a guy going alone on his 100cc bike (and we were skeptical about our Pulsar 150cc!). Well, you start ascending after just 40-50 Kms of Chandigarh and then you really feel like going on a trip. But because of rains, it was clear we would not reach Manali by end of the day, so we decided to drive till 10 and see where we are. We reached Sundernagar (140 KMs before Manali) by 9 and then came the first adventure for us: a bridge between SunderNagar and Manali had collapsed! But then someone told us to take a village route which can take us to Mandi (110 KMs before Manali) and we could spend night there. So we decided to go via unimaginable route and reached Mandi by 11:30PM. But guess what? Another surprise! River Beas was flowing over the bridge between Mandi and Manali, so many people did not reach Manali at all and were staying in Mandi itself, which explained why so many people were roaming at that hour on the roads of Mandi. They were not roaming, they were searching for an accommodation. After an hour of search by myself, it was decided that we will sleep in front of a shop in the night. Then i thought if this is the worst, nothing more can happen. I went to a Dhaba wallah and asked him for some place to go (these guys have good contacts btw). He refused initially but then told me to go to a place a little far from the main town. We went to that suggested place and found one Sardarji at the reception. I asked him in punjabi " Sardarji, assi toh fass gaye si. Sannu raat guzarne waaste twadda sahara chahiye". He said politely that he don't have a single place and he has made some temporary arrangement in the Varandah where people were sleeping on the beds. I exclaimed: "woh hi dedo ji" as if someone has offered me a suite in Taj. But anyway it was better than sleeping in front of a shop. Thanks to Sardarji!

Day 2: The trailer of our trip was very clear from the day 1 (nothing is going to happen as per the plan). I woke up in the morning with the murmurs of bridge still under the river, landslide, and worst was when i heard that 4 bikers died because of a landslide! Well, on enquiring further, only first murmur proved wrong (big incentive!) and the news was that road to Manali was opened now. We started from Mandi asap and then reached Manali by 3:00PM. The way to Manali is very beautiful. You have mountain on one side and river Baes on other! We went straight to a mechanic and got our Bike a little serviced and by the time our bike was ready, it was already 5:00PM. So, we decided to go till Marhi (40 KMs ahead of Manali) and stay there at night. And we did reach Marhi by 6:30PM and took a room straight away. Here only i experienced what they mean when they say the winds could blow you off your feet! It was freezing like anything.

Day 3: Woke up to a chilly morning but refreshed mind and body! It was raining persistently but we decided to go ahead and cross the Rohtang pass (15 Kms up from Marhi) which was the favorite tourist spot for all the Manali visitors (It was en route to Rohtang only when I witnessed the only snowfall of my life last year). So we started with new resolve but guess what? It was one horrendous jam!! Every vehicle of the world was stuck on the way which had muddy road (if you call it a road in the first place) with mud as high as 2 feet. I asked Tanu to go ahead with the bike alone (as that was the only option) and I started walking. I must have walked for 6-7 Kms and we finally managed to reach Rohtang (a distance of mere 15 KMs) in next 4 hours! We had now almost lost a day and a half! Rohtang is not a place from where you can just pass. You got to stop and admire that beauty! And we obliged too. We fed our bellies with Maggi (50 Rs per plate!) and did some photography. Now, the plan was to reach Sarchu (220 KMs from Manali) by the evening. The funny thing was that we did not meet our plan on a single day but that never stopped us from making plans! And rains did not stop on this day too which limited our speed. Roads (if any) are worst in this part. And then because of a landslide, we again had to take a diversion over the mountains to cross "Paagal Naala" near Koksar. Somehow, by 5 in the evening, we reached that spot which i have seen so many times on internet: Last Petrol Pump before Leh! It was impossible for us to reach Sarchu that day, so we decided to stay put where we are: at Keylong (110 KMs from Manali). We took one room in a hotel and took shower with hot water. This was the most demanding day of the trip as there were bumpy roads, rains throughout and a bag on your back! We met two guys from Bangalore and i casually asked them: "whats the plan tomorrow?". One of them said : "Don't know, we are stuck here from last 4 days". OMG!! And then we heard that roads are closed from last 4 days and then I thought we are not so lucky that it'll open tomorrow. And here only i met one Irish guy, Roy, who has been on his 7th trip to India and was cycling all the way to Leh from Shimla but now had decided to go back to Shimla. Had a long chat with him on many topics. Also met one more enthusiast Sardarji.


Day 4: We had decided last night only, come what may, we are going to start at 6 in the morning. And we got ready by 6:00AM. But had to unpack again when we saw many vehicles coming back as there was a big landslide. Well, this was getting too much! We roamed around till 10 and then met 2 other guys who were on a scorpio and then they pumped us up. They said go till the landslide point and decide for your self. And that is what we did. We two, two guys from Bangalore, one sardarji and those two guys on Scorpio started at around 11 30. And guess what? We crossed that "Landslide" point without any difficulty. When we reached "Darchha" (30 KMs from Keylong), we saw vehicle parked here and there. I thought, one more jam is there. But it was not a jam. Police were allowing you to go ahead only after you sign a bond. I went straight to the police station thinking that it's not a big deal. But believe me, you will start shivering when you'll write on any paper this line : " I'm responsible for any incident that happens going forward and I'm going ahead at my own risk". Well, the scenery on the way is so beautiful that we had to stop every now and then to capture those moments. Though roads are bumpy and you start feeling a bit uncomfortable (we were now at around 15000 feet above sea level) because of lack of oxygen but who cared about all these things when you are in heaven? I was wondering what lays ahead. Can it get more beautiful? I was thinking this when came the final blow. Our bike got punctured. But we were prepared. We got the puncture kit out and repaired it, somehow, in next one hour. It was 4:00PM. But while putting the tube inside the tyre, tube got two more punctures! We redid the whole exercise and fixed that too but it still didn't work. It was 5:00 PM now. The other guys were getting late because of us and we could hear thunderstorms also. It was then we decided to go back and get the tube changed and return back. We saw one Army truck going backwards and they offered us the lift till wherever we want. But knew that now we have lost it. We were tired like anything and Tanu was having a little fever. I thought we can deal with bike not being 100% fit but not with any one of us getting ill. We did not find any puncture shop on the way and had to come back from where we started: Keylong. A bumpy ride on the back of an Army truck is something which you should never do. This day killed our spirits. We had already lost 3 days now and we did not have a clue of hows the weather up there. And we didn't know how much time it'll take to come back: returning back from the same way would be suicidal and the only other option was Kargli-Srinagar highway which normally takes a day longer. Keeping all these things in mind, we decided to get our bike fixed and return back. We have had enough adventure of our own by now.

We needed at least 12 days more, if weather behaves, to finish off our trip, if we still wished to go ahead. But it was not possible for us anymore. Fatigue and delay has broken us completely. And nothing ever goes as planned on a trip where you are dependent on only one thing: weather. So we turned our bike back and then it took us 3 more days to return back. I was a little disappointed and was consoling myself all the time. But our decision to return back proved lucky as our bike again got punctured on the way to Rohtang. And Just after Rohtang, there was a landslide jam which gave us three options: stay there and die freezing, stay there and die hungry or go ahead and die by rocks. We chose the last one and triumphed unscathed!

Well, our trip was shortened (we covered only 1600 Kms against the planned 2500+ KMs) due to the reasons beyond our control but I'll cherish this trip my whole life. When we started, i was feeling "Are we fools to go on such a trip?" but when we finished it i was feeling "We were fools not to do this earlier". I know I cant do justice to this trip in my blog. You can see the pics just to get an idea of what we have witnessed.

PS: What a coincidence that my 50th post is a description of this trip!

Living Life!

Not very often a movie comes which portrays exactly what you believe “is the way of life”. Well, the movie which I’m talking about is ZNMD and my belief, which it portrays, is living the life.

We all got life (You know this). But how many of us live our lives (Are you sure you know this one?)?

I have always believed in two things: Don’t regret anything and live your life completely. I have already written a piece on my first belief, so I won’t spend much time there. This post’s topic is the second one.

We hear/read from many self-proclaimed gurus who tell you “How to live your life” and as I hate all of them, I’m not going to tell you how you should live your life. Actually, no one has a right to teach you what you should do and what you should not. It’s completely your take. I just want to write about what I feel and what I do to make this second belief a reality.

If I’m very particular about one thing in life then it’s living it on my own terms. I don’t set too many rules that may spoil this party called life. Yeah, we need to follow certain pre-defined paths, but no one’s stopping you to make few amendments which may make those paths a little more enjoyable. Classrooms and libraries are necessary to complete your BE/MBA, but so are corridors and canteens. And believe me, few years down the line, you’ll cherish corridors and canteens only. And if you are working, official calls/mails are necessary to grow professionally, but so are personal mails and calls from family/friends.

I always feel lucky because of the people I have in my life and it’s important to put people who matter to you on the highest priority. I never miss a chance to spend time with them. Because I know I'll not remember how fantastic my project was but I'll definitely recall those little moments spent with the ones I love.

Over planning is also something which I avoid. I don’t want to regret missing out things today because I was working on my future. Of course future is important, but not at the cost of present. I meet many people who say “No, we didn’t do that as we were busy doing that other thing. But now, we regret it”. My worst nightmare is to say this exact thing to anyone else! And the best compliment I have ever got is when one of my friends told me once “I’m jealous of the way you live life”. I could only say “Thanks” and thought that “it’s not about these compliments, it’s about my life”.

These are the things which we already know and we don’t need anyone else to remind us. But do we really follow what we already know?

I have made a promise to my life that I’ll live you. And I’ll do anything to keep that promise.

PS: Not the ZNMD effect, but embarking upon one of the best trips of my life tomorrow.

Those 15 days!

I experienced yesterday how a single line can rewind all the memories within a flash. One of my ex-Infy colleagues put his status message on FB as “For all those June 26, 2006 batch employees of Infy, congratulations on the successful completion of 5 years”.

Well, I left Infy 3 years back but there are so many things associated with me getting into Infy, that it brings back so many special memories. The summer of 2006 was one of the worst and then the best time of my life.

Worst. If there’s one thing I can say that I worked hard for in my life, that would surely be an MBA seat. So as I said, I worked very hard for all the written exams of 2005 and got interview calls from some of the elite institutes of India. But I could not convert those calls into final admission. I received bad news one after another (of me not getting into any of those colleges) in all those terrifying months of April, May and June 2006. And I did not have any choice other than to prepare once again and wait for that elusive seat. Now, the problem was that I was working in an industry where I did not want to make a career. And MBA was then the only way to get out of that industry. So, I had to start all over again for my MBA aspirations. I once said to one of my friends “Its difficult to light that flame of desire every June”.

Best. In between those working years, in that industry, I tried my hand in getting back to my industry: Software, which was actually my plan B (I’m a “qualified” software engineer, btw;)) And then I got, finally, into Infy. But to be honest, getting into Infy was only half of the reason why I still believe June 2006 to be one of the best months of my life. When I broke the news to my friends, they were happy and sad at the same time. Happy because of Infy and sad because I had to leave Pune. But then it was the best option I had at that time. I had around 15 days before joining Infy. And I must say that those 15 days are right there on top. How I wanted to spend every second with my friends and enjoy the little time I had! So from 7 in the morning to 12 in the night, I created memories that would last my lifetime.

I believe it happens with everyone that you always get, at some point in time in your life, few precious days that are permanently inscribed in your heart. But those days are special because I had those special people. They made me feel like I was on top of the world and told me things that I did not expect them to explicitly say though I knew every word they said.

It’s been 5 years since I left Pune but it still feels like all that happened yesterday only. Now, I don’t meet those special people very often (have not met few of them even once since then) but still if given a choice, I would like to relive those 15 days.

If there's any reason we should appreciate our life, then definitely its days like those and I feel that I'm the luckiest person as I got the chance to meet, befriend and spend time with those idiots. Precisely the reason why Pune is my favorite city!

What's the worth?

After midnight and pre-dawn calls from home are the ones that can make your heartbeat racing. I got one such dreaded call a fortnight back. I saw 2 missed calls from my dad at 6:15 in the morning after I came out of showers. First thing I did was to pray to the God and then call back to my dad. By the time my dad picked up the call, I made numerous guesses. And then finally, dad broke the sad news of my Mom’s uncle’s sad demise due to two back-to-back heart attacks. I was stunned.

My dad told me in clear words that I don’t need to rush to home, as I would not be able to attend the funeral and advised me to try to come during “Terahvi” (the thirteenth day), if possible. Though there was no doubt that I would come but it shows my dad’s understanding of the problems I may face while coming, when he used “if possible”. Well, I somehow managed to go after overcoming many “problems”. Being with your loved ones during these testing times is something we all want to do.

Amidst all the other benefits of life that people like me who live 1000 miles away from their hometowns enjoy, this is one of those reasons because of which we sometimes feel sad, cursed and even ashamed. I have always felt that pinch of missing out so many events because of only one reason: I was sitting far away from my hometown. But never I felt that pinch so strongly as I’m feeling from last 15 days. What’s the use of all those luxuries of life if you can’t be with people who matter, in times of need? I know I cant do much other than rendering a shoulder but isn’t that the most important thing at these times?

This is not the first time nor is this going to be the last time. This whole thing reminds me of that “one-Bedroom-home” story of a man who roams around the world so that he could afford a home but misses out being with his loved ones his whole life and finally at the end sits alone thinking about the worth of his life.

But this is the price that I have to pay and I have known about it from the beginning itself, as that was the trade-off. I’m living my dream, professionally at least, and have done and achieved much more than what I thought I would be able to, but I think there’s a line which needs to be drawn before its too late. I know I can’t go back to my hometown permanently but the distance can be reduced.

That impending US visa interview is no more exciting and maybe its time to consider those opportunities in Noida/Gurgaon/Pune.

I want to Break Free

Every person comes at this cross road once in their life. And my respect for the other “already-done” folks only increases with the amount of time I spend at this cross road before actually crossing it.

It all started once my sister got married. No wait. During her marriage only, my distant aunties will call me to meet their distant acquaintances. Initially I would think it’s just a customary introduction but their questions made me think otherwise. I mean, I’m ok if someone’s asking me about my company, my profile and even my package but then come the irritating questions like “Whats your DOB”, I will answer that as well but then aunty will say “No, no..I mean full DOB with year” and then the time of birth, the place and all. I wished I could say to aunty “Just give me a second and I’ll tell you the name of the hospital and the doctor as well”. Grrrr..

Just imagine that you are trying to make everything go as per the plan at your sister’s wedding and out of nowhere you are subjected to an impromptu interview! And every other person telling you “Ab teri line clear hai” with a wink! I’m used to this kind of winking from my friends and would love it if any girl does that to me but it’s really scary when middle-aged aunties do that. Really, really scary!

And then there are friends who are getting married. Every now and then I get one wedding invitation. That makes many of friends ask me “Sharmaji, aap kab kar rahe ho shaadi?”. “Ab umar ho gayee hai”, “Aapse kam umar ke logo ne bhi karma shuru kar diya hai”. And most of them are my close friends and they have their own reasons. Sample these: Pandeyji, Kakke and Ankit say “ Bhagwaan kare teri biwi tujhe utna hi sataaye jitna tune humein sataaya hai” or Chunnu who says that he’ll get married only after me because then I’ll attend his wedding with my wife and will sit quiet! And I know these are just the few names out of many;)

I have few answers for some of the questions I could not answer. They are:

Q: Beta, kaisi ladki chahiye tumhe?
A: I really wanted to marry Preity Zinta few years back but now I’m not sure.
Q: Education kis level ki chahiye?
A: Should have been nominated for Nobel prize twice.
Q: A Housewife or a working wife?
A: Doesn’t matter. If she’s a housewife, she should be able to cook 100+ cuisines and if she’s working then she should earn 1.5 times of my salary and then I’ll become a househusband.
Q: Ladki ka family status kaisa hona chahiye?
A: Her father should be able to take care of me if decide to retire next year.

And the list is endless. Well, jokes apart, I believe this is something which has to happen but it should happen when it should ideally happen. Who doesn’t want a companion for whole life but just wish that the process of finding her could be a little less tedious. And to be honest, even I dont know the answers for above questions. And I firmly believe that when the right time comes, everything happens in a right manner and you meet the right person. Till then, its Laddakh in August;)

And this one I read somewhere long back:

“Tum mile ho abhi-abhi par aisa lagta hai ki tum the yahi-kahi”

No Regrets!

One of my friends called me last week and said: “Munna, there’s a bad news that I must share with you”. I asked eagerly: “What?” He then told me that the prices of Sony Bravia, he also bought one along with me, have come down and now he’s feeling bad. I snapped back “ What’s bad in that? Wasn’t that the best bargain which we could have got at that particular time?” Well, my friend then jokingly told me how he admires my way of thinking and how it’s not that easy for everyone to think that way.

I wondered what’s so difficult about it? The example that I gave above is just one more reminder of the way life goes on. You can’t deal with past. Or in other words, you can’t change past. And that’s the very reason that I never regret what I have done in past. Of course, there are few decisions that have not turned out the way I expected them to, but those were the best decisions that I could have taken at that point of time. Or at least, I would like to believe so.

I believe in living life without any regrets and respecting all my decisions is one of the ways to do so. Because respecting your decisions also mean respecting yourself. And if any our decisions have really gone bad, we make it worse for ourselves by thinking too much about it. If possible, take corrective actions, otherwise just take it as a lesson and move on.

I know it’s better said than done. But do we have an option? Don’t want to make this post too philosophical but it’s very important that we don’t take notice of things which make us unhappy. There are so many things in life we can be thankful and be happy for!

And Then I Cried Again

March, 1996: I got the first experience of something that you feel when your dream gets shattered. I couldn’t stop my tears when India lost to Sri Lanka in WC Semi-finals and then had my little sister consoling me.

March, 2003: So near and yet so far. Had matured with age, so I didn’t cry this time but was devastated when India lost to Australia in the WC Finals.

Everyone in India is either a cricket expert or a movie critic or a political advisor. As an Indian, you get one or more of the three things in legacy from your parents: Cricket. Movies. Politics. I got a bit of all three but then got more passionate about one of them: Cricket.

I, like any other Indian, have lived cricket. Played in 45 degrees of temperature. Involved in those fights during inter-colony matches. Watched the whole night of cricket of Indian tours to West Indies. Bunked school for even a match against Zimbabwe. Stood for almost 8 hours in front of pawnshops. I, like all Indians of my generation, have heard those stories of our team’s triumph at the Lords in 1983. And then have watched umpteen times the highlights of that final and listened to the ’83 champions before every successive world cup. And had only one wish: India be the World Champion again.

There were two instances when we had a good go at the title. But the tale in 1996 was the same as of any other matches of nineties: India surrendered meekly after that One man got out. And in 2003, we really played like champions but lost to a better team. To a better team or a weaker team: we lost. I always felt that pinch of not winning that elusive trophy.

So when everyone tipped India as the favorites for this years WC, I was a little skeptical. Yes, we had the strongest batting lineup but still..Who knows…And the group league matches vindicated my suspicion. But then came the QF against Aussies : We avenged the 2003 loss. And SF against Pakis: can’t say anything about that match. But it was the final which gave me butterflies. Is history going to repeat itself? Are we again going to succumb the ’96 way?

But this is 2011. New India. New team. And the team that fulfilled the dream of 1.2 billion Indians. That massive six from Dhoni was like a punch to the whole world and the announcement that we are not only the economical power of cricket but also the on field super power. And then we all erupted in joy! I was so overwhelmed that I could not shout. I was holding my tears back, somehow, but couldn’t stop myself from crying when I saw HIS eyes in tears.

The whole context behind this win was required to show how fans like me are feeling right now. People who have seen India crumbling in every world cup and waited all this while. Just imagine what HE must be feeling then!

I have already written a complete post on HIM but is anything ever going to be sufficient when you want to write/say something about HIM? HE participated in 6 world cups and I have seen all those world cups (though I wasn’t a complete fan during ’92 WC but I still remember HIS destruction of Pak and NZ). Have seen HIM disappointed after every world cup. Can’t forget his face when he received Man of The Tournament for 2003 WC. Have seen a burning desire in his eyes to get hold of that only coveted jewel missing from the crown of the greatest cricketer ever! (Who’s Don Bradman btw?) This cup is for YOU. And Virat Kohli actually summed it up when he replied to a question asked by a journalist why they were carrying HIM on their shoulders “ Well, HE has carried the country for 21 years on HIS shoulders”. YOU did not owe this to YOUR country. We owe it to YOU. Thanks for being born an Indian and giving us one more reason to be proud of the fact that we are Indians! So now, that great man got what HE wanted. And also, a South African became an Indian forever. I think I can go on and on.

And then after the presentation ceremony, we went to the MG Road. I remember watching on TV how about one million fans thronged the Eiffel tower when France won the ’98 Soccer WC. Well, this was our day. It was tricolor, dhol, chants of “Indiaaaa-Indiaaaa”, “Sachinnnn-Sachinnn”, “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Vande Matram” everywhere you can see. Headcount should be almost 100,000!! And we danced, hugged and cheered with total strangers with only one thing in common: We were Indians and were on top of the world! The world should hear the noise when 1/6th of the humanity celebrates.

02.04.2011 will go into the history as one of the happiest days of any Indian’s life. And it should be like that only. We will remember our whole life the exact place we were at when Dhoni hit that six. This feeling is unmatchable and will take some time to sink in. Till then, Indiaaaaaaaaa-Indiaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

PS: When I bought Sony Bravia LED TV just before WC, I told everyone that my TV will be lucky for India. And it proved to be!!