My first attempt at Poetry !!

This is my first attempt at poetry writting. Written sometime around November 2014.

The poem is dedicated to one of my closest friends and fellow adventure seeker; when he announced his wedding and the thoughts that followed.

"GUBU"

As time passes their numbers grow, 
as he settles, their count is up one more,

Mountains, ravines together we explore,
Gorging on natures beauty we adore,

People and places we love to discover,
Being restless and weary, we simply abhor,

I pray to thee to not curb those urges,
Just ring me when the child in you surges,

Will he stay as carefree as days of yore,
Or will he became an old wedded sore?

Our Deepest Fear

This inspiring poem on our deepest fear is taken from Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love.

I first came across this poem whilst watching a Hollywood film Coach Carter. The poem is recited by one of the student when asked by the coach regarding their no-show. The poem imbibes the confidence in the student’s to give out their best and importantly shed all inhibitions.

It also highlights our reluctance to openness and being content with mediocrity.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? 
You are a child of God.

Your playing small 
Does not serve the world. 
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking 
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, 
As children do. 
We were born to make manifest 
The glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; 
It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, 
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 


As we're liberated from our own fear, 
Our presence automatically liberates others.

How to grow your own fresh air?

This blog is adapted from a TED talk by Kamal Meattle.

Kamal  Meattle is a Delhi based businessman. Some 17 years ago, he became allergic to Delhi's air. His doctors told him that his lung capacity had gone down to 70 percent, and it was killing him. With the help of IIT, TERI, and learning’s from NASA, he discovered that there are three basic green plants, common green plants, with which we can grow all the fresh air we need indoors to keep us healthy.

The three plants are Areca palm, Mother-in-Law's Tongue and Money plant.

Areca palm is a plant which removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen. We need four shoulder-high plants per person.

Mother-in-law's Tongue, which is again a very common plant, and we call it a bedroom plant, because it converts CO2 into oxygen at night. And we need six to eight waist-high plants per person.

The third plant is Money plant, and this is again a very common plant; preferably grows in hydroponics. And this particular plant removes formaldehydes and other volatile chemicals.

An experiment conducted by them in a 50,000-square-feet, 20-year-old building having to 1,200 such plants for 300 occupantsshowed 42% probability of one's blood oxygen going up by 1% if one stays indoors in this building for 10 hours, reduced incidence of eye irritation by 52%, respiratory systems by 34%, headaches by 24%, lung impairment by 12% and asthma by 9%. Also a reduction in energy requirements of the building by an outstanding 15 percent.

Vedic Wisdom - Eating with one's hands

Eating food with the hands per an old saying- “eating food with your hands feeds not only the body but also the mind and the spirit”.

The practice of eating with the hands originated within Ayurveda teachings. The Vedic people knew the power held in the hand. The ancient native tradition of eating food with the hands is derived from the mudra practice, which is prevalent in any aspects within Hinduism.

The hands are considered the most precious organ of action. This is linked to the Vedic prayer of

“Karagrevasate Laksmih

Karamule Sarasvati

Karamadhye tu Govindah

Prabhatekara darsanam”

(On the tip of your fingers is Goddess Lakshmi, on the base of your fingers is Goddess Saraswati; in the middle of your fingers is Lord Govind), which we recite whilst looking at our palms. Thus, this shloka suggests that all the divinity lies in human effort.

Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements. The Ayurveda texts teach that each finger is an extension of one of the five elements. Through the thumb comes space; through the forefinger, air; through the mid-finger, fire; through the ring finger, water and through the little finger it is earth.Each finger aids in the transformation of food, before it passes on to internal digestion. Gathering the fingertips as they touch the food stimulates the five elements and invites Agni to bring forth the digestive juices. As well as improving digestion the person becomes more conscious of the tastes, textures and smells of the foods they are eating, which all adds to the pleasure of eating.

This is a prime example of how many things within Hindu culture may seem weird and unusual at first glance, but once a closer look is taken it is surprising, but a vast amount of knowledge is revealed.

Degree Confluence project - a primer

The Degree Confluence project is an all-volunteer web-based project which aims to have people visit each of the integer degree intersections of latitude and longitude on Earth, posting photographs and a narrative of each visit online. The project describes itself as "an organized sampling of the world".

The official website states: "The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures, and stories about the visits, will then be posted here."

The degree confluence project was started by Alex Jarrett in February 1996. The country-wise confluence points and their visit information are available on the website. Also lots of cool facts available regarding most visits, highest visits, etc.

[Image above shows the confluence points in Bhutan: 27N89E, 27N90E, 27N91E, 27N92E and 28N90E]

We first heard of the confluence project when our scholarly former CTO and quizmaster posted this as a double jeopardy question during an intra-organization quiz contest sometime in late 2011. Ever since then me and a couple of like minded friends were keen on to visit a confluence point. 

The "thrill" factor being arming ourselves with GPS receivers and wandering off to locate the integer intersections akin to making our very own discovery of a new land, place, people and culture.

Gubbu gang being Gubbu gang, under the tutelage of Gubbu, planned to make our first confluence visit in Maharashtra during August 2012. The usual suspects: Omkar, Vishal, Sourabh and me did manage a very successful visit of not one, not two but three confluence visits in our very first attempt.

We made several confluence visits:

• Maharashtra IN, 2012
• Madhya Pradesh IN, 2014
• Gujarat IN, 2016
• Maharashtra IN, 2017 

I will be writing up more details of each visit soon.

Mumbai - MCGM and municipal elections

        With Mumbai municipal elections round the corner I set out wrapping my head around what, how, when, why questions about the Municipal corporation that I had.

I am going to write the same in Q&A format.

Q. What is the MCGM?
A. Originally known as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), now known as Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is the civic body that governs the city of Mumbai established under the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act 1888. It is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city and suburbs of Mumbai. Greater Mumbai as Mumbai is made of two districts - Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban district. 

Q. What are the roles and responsibilities of the municipal corporation?
A.

• The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the creation and maintenance of roads and flyovers, including the cleaning and lighting of roadways.
• It is supposed to maintain sanitation and health; in this connection it manages hospitals, garbage collection and disposal, the sewerage, and the water supply. As part of its duties related to public health, it is responsible for the prevention of epidemics. The BMC must register births and deaths, and holds authority over all crematoria and cemeteries in the city. 
• It is the office of record for urban property and is also responsible for setting up and enforcing building norms. 
• Its duties include the maintenance of parks and public spaces, including beaches, and the provision of coastal safety in the form of lifeguards at beaches and lighthouse maintenance staff.
• The jurisdiction of the BMC runs over the full island city: from Colaba in the south to Mulund and Dahisar in the north. It maintains toll stations (check nakas) at these two northern entry points to the city.

Q. What is the organisation structure of the municipal corporation?
A.

• The head of the municipal corporation is the Mayor of Mumbai. The mayor is the first citizen of the city but the role of the mayor is merely titular. 
• After the Mayor comes the Sheriff (optional) followed by the Commissioner of Municipal corporation. The Sheriff is a distinguished citizen with a term of one year. Duties of the Sheriff are mainly ceremonial.
• The commissioner is in-charge of discharging the functions of the corporation. Under the commissioner are the Assistant Municipal Commissioners (one per ward) followed by an array officers.

Below image shows the organisation structure within a ward. Image sourced from karmayog.com

P.S. Arthur Crawford was the first municipal commissioner of Mumbai.


Q. What are wards / divisions?
A. The city and suburb are divided in to smaller units for better governance called wards and within a ward are further sub-wards called divisions. Currently there are 24 wards and 227 divisions. There are 227 corporators / councilors who are responsible for overseeing that their constituencies have the basic civic infrastructure in place.

Below image shows the wards and divisions.

Q. How are the Mayor / Sheriff / Commissioner / Councilor elected?
A.

• The Mayor is elected form within the ranks of the council. The party that wins the maximum number of seats holds an internal voting to decide the mayor. 
• The Sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the orders. The post of Sheriff is apolitical. 
• The Commissioner is a IAS cadre officer appointed by the Maharashtra state government.
• The Councilors (Corporators) are democratically elected representatives.

The date for Mumbai Municipal elections (for next term from 2017-2022) is 21-Feb-2017. The results of the same will be declared on 23-Feb-2017.

I appeal to all fellow citizens to go and vote.

I am also crowd sourcing content for my next blog. Please write to me on issues plaguing your ward/locality. I will try and make sure your concerns reach the intended representation.

Let's make Mumbai great again.

Let's also hope that POTUS doesn't have copyrights on the above tagline. :P 

SCMM 2011: first half marathon

My experience of running my fist half marathon.

I participated and completed the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011 in the Half Marathon category.

I had kept my participation as secretive as possible due to self doubt.

It wasn't an easy job by any means to pull a near 90+kg body over 21 km and it become even more difficult after getting a blister, the size of the moon, mid-way through the race. 

Quiting never crossed my mind though, thanks to Lance Armstrong's* following motivational verse:

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

I did complete the run.

Also the song that kept me going was Livestrong by Wideawake on loop.

At the end, all that mattered was that I finished this feat in a little under 04 and half hours.

Though not competitive by any means, it was a personal feat.

* - Lance Armstrong had not come out with his infamous cheating revelations till that point & was an idol.

TIL #2: Indic language classification

Taxonomy is a dear subject to me. So also is study of language families and classification. Up until now I found it very cumbersome to link what I had read so far. Recently though with the help of @drawio and online sources I was able to do a small classification.


The task I undertook is very minimal and only covers some branches of the vast language families in question.







 P.S.: This is not the complete classification.

TIL #1: Western Art Music

#TIL is a very popular hash tag on twitter short for "Today I Learnt".

On the same lines I have decided to write short blog entries on various topics of interest to me that I have learnt something on.

The first one I am writing about is the different eras of Western Art Music or Western classical music. The content has been sourced online.

Era	Approximate Timelines	Characteristic	Notable Musicians
Ancient	Pre 1100 CE
Medieval	1100 CE - 1400 CE	Church music comprising of chants. Mostly written in Latin.
Renaissance	1400 CE - 1600 CE	Music written in the musicians mother tongue "madrigal". Instrument music and voice wouldn't overlap.	Gabrieli, Lasso, Byrd, Palestrina, des Pres
Baroque	1600 CE - 1750 CE	Opera music. Instrument and voice combined.	Johan Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Corelli, Monteverdi
Classical	1700 CE - 1800 CE	Modern Ensembles. Development of Symphonies. Defined in structures and phrases. Some of the structures were used up to 200 years later.	Mozart, Haydn
Romantic	1800 CE - 1900 CE	Orchestra. Programmatic music as part of story telling.	Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Faure, Sibelius
20th and 21st century	1900 CE - present	Many different styles. Serialism, American post-war, Modernism, Neo-classicalism, Minimalism, Post-modernism	Too many to list.

Before this short study I had heard only Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin - discovered almost accidentally. You would remember the Titan advertisement music (Mozart) or the MS Windows sample mp3 file (Beethoven). Chopin was a pop culture pickup from Dexter - Detective Frank Lundy.

I have been latching onto whatever little art works I get from any of the above era and compiling them. From what I have heard so far, I can only say it's going to be a splendid journey ahead. Keep listening. :)

My short love story

It began when one of my friend prodded the idea of touring Madhya Pradesh on a motorcycle. It must have been sometime in Mid-2013. The seed was planted. By October 2013, I was sold on the idea and started urging my dad to let me have this life experience. A dismissive nod and I started short listing bikes.

My objectives were simple: The bike should cost less than Rs. 1Lakh, should have a decent fuel economy rate and should be able to do triple digit speeds. The options were limited. RE Electra (delivery after 6 months … no chance), Yamaha FZ/Fazer (found it comfy but underequipped and underpowered) and the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS (my pick). KTM Duke 200 was a costly option to consider.

I test drove the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS at Bajaj Sai Service Borivali outlet and inquired about the specifics of the deal. Armed with all the information I went home and pleaded with my father for giving the green signal. Sometime in December 2013, we completed the formalities and I took delivery of my love on 28-Dec-2013.

The date of my MP trip were finalized, 04-Jan-2014 departure. I was running short on time to complete the run-in period and 1st service before the long trip.

The very next day 29-Dec-2013 (Sunday), I rode out on to the NH-8 highway. Holding the engine in the tall 6th gear at a constant 55-60 kmph range. I had underestimated the winter morning and the cold kept my adrenaline in check. I couldn’t ride fast even if I wanted too.

That day I clocked around 250+ km. My first ride of solace with my love. Nothing between us. Just man, machine and the beautiful sound of the engine.

On the morning of new year 2014, with only 3 days before the trip, I set out once again on the NH8 highway to complete the required distance of 500 km before the first service interval. This time I did have to open it up at a couple of places to overtake slower moving trucks and it was really difficult for me to keep the speed under the mandatory 60 kmph. 

By noon, I had completed 480+ km and dropped my love for her first service. The guys at the service centre were taken aback that I had completed 480 km in just 5 days. Serviced and shining, my ride was ready for the MP trip.

From 04-Jan to 11-Jan I rode through Maharashtra and MP and my love for the bike just grew with every passing kilometer. I will write in detail about my MP trip. Watch this space.

Post MP, I rode my love to many short and medium trips: Nashik, Pune-Lavasa, Igatpuri, Tansa, Harihareshwar, etc. Not to forget the many sprints up and down the NH8 with friends on Sunday mornings.

But as time passed I wasn’t able to keep up the same fervor and for many months my bike lay still. The maintenance required to keep my love looking new and time I should have given to maintain it dwindled. It was slow and painful. And one fine day I decided that my bike deserved a better caring owner. With a heavy heart I bid adieu.

The memories from all the trips, the smiles from every kilometer is something I'll hold in my heart for a long time.

(Almost) Everyone's first car … M800

The humble and diminutive Maruti 800 made its presence felt in India a little before I was born. It was a no-brainer for thousands of Indians for it to be their first car. All through my family, relatives had owned the Maruti 800 at some point in their lives.

When I finished studying and got to work, I needed my own personal transport for commute. Buying a  new car wasn’t an option so I went to the second hand market looking for, no guesses, a Maruti 800. I got it for a lowly price.

The commutes were the stated reason but deep down I knew I was going to be doing many road trips in this car.

There is an unexplained pleasure in experiencing first hand the open roads and sights of new lands . With the humble Maruti, I too had my share of trips.

My first ever self-driven road trip was when I and my father drove down to NH17. It was a night drive during the winter months. 400kms of Konkan serpentine bliss.

The next trip was to Shirdi and it was EPIC. It has been chronicled here.

The monsoons and the madness in Lonavala with friends. A couple of trips and I had most of Lonavala mapped in my head.

The final trip before I upgraded the car was to Ellora via Shirdi. Loads of fun, a couple of missed exits and a midnight race against time to Bombay (courtesy Golu).

What the Maruti 800 lacked in creature comforts it made up for in character. Simple and Brilliant.

Hum Chloromint Kyun Khaate Hain?

This not so pertinent question stuck with me for a full 10 minutes.

The title of this blog is partially misleading, but not totally irrelevant.

The year was 2007. The final term of the final year of our engineering course was drawing to a close. As part of tradition a class photo of the outgoing batch is takenfor the year book. All of us were required to be dressed in formal attire and gather around the lobby for the class photo.

The whole outgoing batch (EXTC, Comps & IT) had gathered for their respective class photo. There was a lot of commotion and some class photos had to be taken again. Bored waiting for my class' turn, I decided to go get a mint (Yes … Chloromint) from the canteen in the adjacent building.

As it happened, I found someone to chit chat in the canteen and totally lost track of the ongoing outside. My friends too forgot that I was missing from the assembly. The class photo was done (see below). 

And I wasn't in it.

Damn. How can this be? I was sad at first, almost cried. (No glycerin)

But then I went into HULK mode (more so NAUTANKI mode), destroying everything in my path.

But a big thank you to my friends, they organized the entire class for an informal re-shoot within minutes. This time I was very much in the photo. So what if it wasn't printed in the year book, it has been etched in memory forever. 

SFIT Batch '07, you guys rock!!

My experiences with 2-wheelers

I learnt to ride the bicycle when I was about 8-9 years old. In a couple of years I graduated to the BMX styled bicycle. Sooner than I realized I was doing power skids, racing friends, handsfree riding and in general being bonkers.

"Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window".

It was one such incident when I was not supposed to be out on road but had sneaked out of the building compound. My dad saw me in the neighborhood and I raced like hell to reach the building compund going scarily fast on the wrong side of the road. The purpose I narrate this short incident is this was the reason my dad gave me when he put off buying a bike and bought a geared scooter instead - "tu bau rough chalave che" (You ride very rash … and a scooter will keep your speed in check).

I lost that argument and sulked for weeks when the scooter arrived. In fact I remember I didn't even touch it for the first few weeks. Gradually I had to concede that I have to make do with it. The scooter in question was a one off offering from Honda, being the only geared scooter offered by them in India. The Honda Eterno came home on 9th July, 2004. Slowly and steadily it made a place for itself in my heart. The creamy Honda motor was too good to be ignored. Its 150cc engine produced only 8 bhp and due to the non-aerodynamic nature of scooters, I was skeptical that it would be very slow. But soon I realized I could leave 100cc bikes in the dust and even 125cc bikes to didn’t seem like a distant dream. I soon learnt to pull wheelies and race 150 cc bikes on short stretches upto 60 kmph.

"Respect the person who has seen the dark side of motorcycling and lived."

If you have ever ridden a 2 wheeler (motorized or non-motorized) and never fell off it, then IMHO you haven't yet learnt to ride.

I have had my share of crashes. First was due to a daydreaming cyclist riding across the road without bothering to look behind. Honk-Brake-Skid-Slide-And_Back_Up_Again. Injuries … Meh!!.

The next one was a bit scary, happened in 2009. I was riding on the highway, coming back from work with a friend riding pillion. It was around 9 PM at night near Malad. There was a patch of oil which was not very visible. I rode into it only to realize I was losing traction. In a split second we were tilting and about to hit the ground. For a brief period, everything blacked out (this is the body's natural mechanism to save us from the trauma).When I opened my eyes I realized my friend had got off and I was dragging with the scooter for some 20-30 feet before I let go off it. The scooter went some 30 feet further before it stopped. Got up. But this time instead of Meh!! kind of response I was shaken up. No physical injuries, only a mental  block.

Ditched the scooter for a couple of months before I regained the confidence to ride again. But I was still to conquer my demons. The story can be found here .

First 2-wheeler excursion

Prelude : http://baboo1985.blogspot.in/2013/08/my-experiences-with-2-wheelers.html

I was still reeling from the effects of the previous accident and had taken to riding only on smaller familiar routes. My friend "Ojo" prodded me into an excursion ride. I sought permission from my father as he had his inhibitions. But being  a rider himself (Honda Cub, Royal Enfield) he understood the joys of open road riding. With some pointers and sanctification I got the go ahead.

It would be four friends (Ojo, Golu, Vishy and me) and three 2 wheelers. Simple plan: Mumbai-Alibaug-Murud-Janjira-Alibaug-Mumbai. Ojo hails from Alibaug so was the definite leader for the trip. We zeroed in on the 23/24 July 2010 weekend. Golu and I (starting from Borivali) would travel the previous night to Ojo's place in Panvel. We would leave next morning by 6 AM and Vishy (Dombivli) would join us.

The night leg of the journey from Borivali to Panvel, I rode pretty cautiously (with Golu as pillion), covering a distance of 70 km in 2 hours.

Gang* [* - Apologies : our state of mind doesn't necessarily reflect in our expressions ;) ]:

The next morning there were heavy rains. We suited up in overalls and set out for Alibaug. Initially I faced some problems, as the accelerator would just go dead. After a while I realized the engine had not heated up well. Stoped and started again this time waited for a fairly reasonable time.

Moving steadily we reached Vadkhal Naka 50 km from Panvel, where we stopped for breakfast.

Yup!! Yours truly, Baboo.

Tanked up on Food and Fuel and continued further to Alibaug. We  reached Ojo's place and dumped our bags. The journey ahead was us riding on beautiful coastal roads lined with colourful fishing villages. In a short while  we started again southward to Korlai. 25 km from Alibaug lies the sleepy fishing town of Korlai. It has a lighthouse and a fort that was built by the Portuguese in 1521.

After a spending a short while there we moved further 35 km southwards to Murud-Janjira. Murud and Janjira are twin towns. There is a fort of Murud-Janjira which is in the middle of the sea and one has to take a ferry to the fort. The view of the fort from the town is breathtaking.

We reached the jetty but were told that due to high tide we would have to wait for a couple of hours before we could go to the fort. We didn't have the luxury of time so we proceeded to the Murud beach instead. We had lunch and chilled off before starting back 60 km to Alibaug.

We reached Alibaug and dead tired as we were cleaned up and lay lifeless till dinner time. We headed out for dinner at 8 PM (everything closes shut by 10 PM), roamed a bit and had dinner. We all were so tired that we bunked into the lovely beds Aunty had prepared for us and slept like babies. Next morning we  got up leisurely, had breakfast and went to the famed Alibaug beach for a stroll.

On the return leg of our journey, Ojo stayed back home and the rest of us started onwards to Mumbai. Golu and Vishy were taking turns on his Unicorn and within an two hours we were at Sanpada. We parted ways Vishy taking the Thane route and we the Sion route. Golu and I made one last stop at the Sanpada Bhagat Tarachand before hitting home at 4 PM.

No hiccups. No close calls. My total round trip ride was 400 km and the joy of the trip was beyond my heart's content.

Finally!! Inner Peace.

There haven't been any rides after that but watch this space.

UPDATE: I haven't done enough justice to the beauty of the Konkan region. The Konkan region is at its majestic best during the monsoon. You have beautiful greenery all around. The weather is to die for. Only spanner in the wheel is the State highways don't hold up against the rains, marring part of the experience. The other wonderful aspect was the ride along the coastal roads. No words can do justice to that.

Add to your bucket list: Travel on a coastal road till you hit a deserted beach and just revel and soak in the Sun, Sand and the Sea.

Learnings from Sun Tzu's Art of War

I first heard about Art of War and Sun Tzu from Pop culture references.

I was wailing my time on a weekend when I decided to read it. Looked it up on Google Play store and got myself a copy.

Here is a summary of the learning's from the book:

1. All warfare is based on deception.
2. Use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
3. Let the objective of war be victory and not lengthy campaigns.
4. If you know yourself and the enemy you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself and not the enemy for every victory in battle you will suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself you will succumb in every battle.
5. One may know how to conquer without being able to do it - a victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won.
6. Utilize right mix of energy. The combined energy of the fighting men becomes as if it were like a giant rolling stone, crushing all in its path.
7. Strengths and weaknesses. Like water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards, strike at what is weak and avoid what is strong.
8. Understand the temperament and conditioning of the enemy. Do not advance uphill against an enemy nor oppose him when he comes downhill.
9. Variation of tactics - a general who understands the advantages of variation makes his position unassailable.
10. Five faults that may lead to failure - recklessness, over solicitude, cowardice, hasty temper and delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame.
11. Armies on the march. Detailed observations give telltale signs of the state of one's own army and the enemy's army.
12. If you know yourself and the enemy, victory will not stand in doubt. However if you know the battle circumstances, you may make your victory complete.
13. Success in warfare is gained by accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.
14. A ruler must be heedful and a general full of caution to maintain the country at peace and army intact.
15. Foreknowledge helps avert unfruitful events and achieve what ma y seem beyond ordinary.

My most memorable road trip …. yet !

Cars and to a lesser extent 2 wheelers constitute my second nature.

From an early age I have been very fond of cars, so much was the affinity for cars that my birthday cakes were all car shaped cakes.

I began driving as soon as I hit the legal age limit in 2003. But it was not until December 2009, that I undertook my first road trip in the most humblest of cars the Maruti 800. It was an awesome learning curve, driving on the NH17 in the dark of the night, with my Dad guiding me.

My first solo road trip (without parents/guides) with friends was to follow soon. It was New Year soon. This year our engineering buddy was spending the winter in Mumbai instead of US. I knew it was great time to go on a road trip with friends. We decided on Shirdi as I had been there a couple of times but never driven all the way. Hotel reservations were made.

We four friends Hemal, Kalpit, Ashish and me, decided to leave on 2nd  January after lunch, hoping to reach our destination right around dinner time. Plan was to get up and go for the Kakad aarti held at 4 am in the temple the following day.

/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

Hemal has also written a blog about our roadtrip. You can find his version at :

http://hemalavora.blogspot.in/2010/01/shirdi-tripgreat-experience-of-paishas.html

/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

Checklist items ticked off :-

• Battery
• Brake oil
• Radiator coolant
• Engine oil
• Tyre pressure
• Fuel
• Couple of Gandhis, should I run into trouble.
• Munchies for the road ahead

We began at 3 pm and I picked everyone up from their homes. We set sail and immediately were hit by traffic at the Dahisar check naka. 2 hours thereon we just managed to steer clear on the NH3. I have to say the NH3 and NH8 are best surfaces I have driven on, this side of the expressway.

We were inching toward our destination at steady pace of 80 kmph, stopped for tea and were moving along when I started to feel the car dragging. The speed was decreasing and the car literally began to die. Choking and stumbling until it came to a halt in spectacular fashion with white smoke emanating from the hood near Asangaon. We pushed the car off the road to a small dhabba.

Tensed I called my father and he advised to open the hood and let the car cool down. Meanwhile I also called my mechanic, who asked me the symptoms and magically knew the radiator fan had stopped working. He asked me to find a mechanic and callback for the temporary solution.

/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

A radiator fan has a thermostat attached, whenever the radiator temperature increases beyond a cut-off, the fan runs to cool it down. In my case the issue was the thermostat had stopped functioning.

/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- */

We let the car cool and then started moving slowly forward to find a mechanic. It was 7 pm on a Saturday and mechanic's were a rare commodity. I was mulling the option of going back home. Fortunately luck was on our side and we soon found a mechanic. The mechanic was directed and he clipped the radiator fan directly to my battery.

He said that this would work continuously and charged a mere 20 rupees. We set off once again and confidently I pushed hard. We touched Nashik at 9 pm and found peace in the Kamats restaurant. An hour later we started on the 90 km still  ahead of us. This is part of the Nashik-Pune state highway for some 30 km after which it is an internal road for the remaining 60 km.

It was dark and I had to drive carefully as there were no markers to indicate where the road runs off. This is also the time when most tour buses heading to Mumbai have started their return journey. It was a scary drive, judging the run-off areas on the road. I did managed to scare everyone including myself once when the left wheels were off the road and in the gravel. We did get some serious jolts which even woke up Kalpit.

We reached Shirdi at midnight, 3 hours behind schedule. We located the hotel and were in for a rude shock when we were given shabby rooms instead of deluxe rooms that I had booked. Kalpit was in no mood to sleep in the room assigned and he and the others went to the reception and fought to get our deluxe room. Well worth as we needed the 3 hours sleep to Kakad aarti.

We changed and slept soon after. It was around 3:30 am, that we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and got ready to go to the temple. We get there and began a 2 hour wait through the long queue. It turns out we were super late and got to see the Kakad aarti only on the installed tellies in the complex area. It was 6 am when we got Darshan and by 6:30 am we were back in our beds.

We were travelling back the same day (3rd January) and decided to leave after breakfast around 11am.

As Steve Slater (F1 commentator) always says - "the drama simply doesn't seem to end ..."

Surprises weren't done yet. The car simply wouldn't crank up. It turns out the battery had drained out powering the radiator fan.

We tried to find a battery shop where it could be recharged. Being a Sunday two things happened most repair shops were closed and even we managed to find one it turned out that there was load shedding and it would be a couple of hours before the light would return.

Trauma as one would guess. Luckily we managed to find an enterprising chap who was in to make a quick buck. He said "I'll jump start your car, you just prevent it from stalling. Ultimately it will get charged on running a 50-60 odd km".

So there it was, he cranked the car and we set off. This was the most nervous part of my journey as getting out of a crowded town and getting to Nashik without stalling the car. Dare it stall, we'd be stranded for God knows how long. Inching nervously, we reached Nashik, found a mechanic and got a reading on the battery. Our troubles were over, the battery was charged, enough to get us home.

Lunch was to follow and Kalpit instead on a place that he had heard, but roaming the streets of a unknown city proved to be futile and we didn't manage to find it. Time was ticking and I wanted majority of the journey to be completed in daylight. So we started on empty stomachs, cleared Nashik and found a rustic dhabba on the roadside. Kalpit was apprehensive about eating there, but it was a very good meal, as if blessed by God. Parathas , paneer subzi, dal tadka and jeera rice.

Its 4 pm and we have to cover 150 km, I step on the gas and we are doing three digit speeds. Return journey seemed fairly relaxed when the ever attentive Kalpit noticed the temperature rising. Drama again. After what it had been through, the radiator had developed a crack and was steadily leaking fluid. We waited for it to cool and poured water to replace the depleted coolant.

We began in half an hours time and were now moving at a fairly reduced speed. We reached home at around dinner time.

The journey had made us richer in our experience and we together braved some seriously scary situations to triumphantly complete our road trip and a sighed relief went - "All's well that ends well". Indeed.

Happy New Year 2013

New year's eve - 31st December, it's that time of the year, when people are meeting up with friends, going places, engaging in revelry whilst bringing in the New Year.

I personally am not a big fan of the festivities. I had liked to stay indoors through most of my schooling and college years unlike the enthu-types partying-shartying.

But since the last 3 odd years, I along with a couple of friends would make it a point to meet up for dinner or maybe afterwards for dessert and bring in the new year at some peaceful place watching the fireworks.

The agenda-less meet would usually be us recalling how the previous year past and what each one of us planned to do in the upcoming year ... (making those resolutions which we revisit only at the end of the year)

It was 2009, Hemal, Ashish and me met up for dinner. It was pizzas. At that time cheese bursts being the rage, we over ambitious lot order two of those and ate till the point we ended up like stuffed Thanksgiving turkeys. We roamed around Borivali for a bit and in search for solace found our very own tanki*. Our tanki was the abandon concrete stage at the edge of the MHB ground. It has good place to sit and being an open ground we would get good cool breeze.

{Here tanki refers to the tank in the film "3 Idiots (2009)" which was the hangout zone of the three protagonists in the movie.}

The clock strikes 12 and the fireworks in the vicinity seem like they have been lit up only for us. Magic in Manic Mumbai.

In 2010, it was a similar story, though we skipped dinner and met directly for desserts. This year Kalpit accompanied us to as he was in India during the winter break. The hours flew by as like the previous year. Though this year we did plan our very first road trip to be executed in the coming 3 days. Nothing fancy - drive down to Shirdi for darshan and back.

Fireworks, the chill in the air and the warmth of friends … nice way to welcome the year ahead.

Come 2011, and I had plans different from the previous years. We had dinner and met up at Borivali railway station. The plan was to bring in the new year at Marine Drive with Mumbaikars. We alighted at around 11 PM on Charni road, and then started walking on the Marine drive in search for a decent place to sit and chill. We did find a very good place between Marine Lines and Churchgate, settled down and enjoyed the mood of the place. It was a different experience compared to previous years. There were people, loud music and lots of fireworks. It must have been a zillion people with whom we brought in 2012, had fun and then took the last local back home.

Our friend Verus though was always away during this time  and is always given a earful on the phone minutes before midnight.

This year though, my friends are all away, busy with work and studies. We are all going to be missing our annual tradition and therein lies the greatest lesson in life … FRIENDS have a special place in your life … and nothing can be substituted for them ….

I wish all of you a Happy New Year … may the new year bring you lots of good luck … and as Inzi (Inzamam ul Haq) would say "Insha allah - agar khuda ne chaha toh 2013 ka last din saath mein celebrate karenge … "