Independence Rock 2022

You made a rocking come back

After a long kinda sabbatical

The one place where we headbanggggg!!!

Numbing our necks & spines

Till we drop dead like zombies, who just got  maimed.

You welcomed us at different venues

Rang Bhavan is sacrosanct

Chitrakoot grounds was mushy n shitty

Made a dashing return on the docks

Giving us hope for a future

Filled with loads of brand new rock

Memory flashes of our many drunk escapades,

Getting high on a crappy dry day.

With expensive cheap booze in our hands,

We would hire cabs, driving around town

Just to down our coke n rum.

In the end, numbing our toes and cold freaking souls

Nicotine was the air, which we would breathe, till we reached back to our lairs

Screaming our lungs out, to our favorite songs

Getting mesmerized by musicians and bands with their electrifying music and lines

Talented souls who give us so much dope and hope,

This is the closest you'd witness a gig, knowing you will always have your swig.

Independence Rock, your comeback was rocking

You gave us an amazing venue, just by the docks

Filling the air with awesome tracks to remember by

You just didn't make our day, but rather gave us a permanent brainwave.

Which will be cherished till the rest of our days.

Looking forward to the next I-Rock gig

I'm sure it's gonna be better n bigggggg!!!

Cause I'm gonna see u again, hell yeah!!!

In the next year, rocking harder than ever.

Holy Baptism from Hell...!!!

Saturday, 27th January, 2018 was the day my daughter Alanis got baptized. She was welcomed into Christianity with the Baptism ceremony which was held at St. Anthony's church, Malad at 6pm. She was blessed with the Holy water and the Holy oils. It’s every catholic parents wish and desire to get their child baptized. This is the first major function after the life changing event in a catholic parents' lives. Obviously nothing comes close to see your own flesh and blood in person after spending 9 months in the mother’s womb. This event changes everything for the new parents.

 Baptism as a sacred ceremony is conducted after 40 days of the child being born, but nowadays it’s not a mandate, some parents do it before 40 days. Since both the parents are now adjusting to their new life, it’s time to plan for the Baptism ceremony. The parents have to give a name to the child by which he will be known for the rest of his life, which can get a little frustrating at times, because I’m sure every parent would have some disagreements with regard to the names suggested.

The baptism ceremony which is conducted in the church is sacrosanct, and there is a deeper meaning in the child getting baptized, apart from entering Christianity, Lord Jesus is welcomed into their hearts. They become Catholics, another individual joining the catholic faith. Every religious ceremony which is conducted for any religion, is special, pure, conducted with seriousness with a spiritual aura.

My daughters Baptism was a BLOODY DISASTER. The entire ceremony was done in such a hotchpotch manner, the decorum wasn’t that of a Baptism ceremony, but rather that of a stock exchange trading floor. The chaotic ceremony left me, my wife and my family completely disturbed and disheartened. It was an utter failure on how the entire episode unfolded and I blame the church and the priest solely responsible for this ghastly unorganized and painful experience we had been put through. It is shameful on the part of the church to allow this nuisance especially for such events.

My daughters Baptism happened in between a private Communion mass which was deliberately stopped by the priest conducting the Baptism and then while the Baptism ceremony was in progress, he tells the priest to continue with the Communion mass. All of this happened after a wedding mass which just got over and the couple were finishing with their pictures/poses, etc. While entering the church, the priest leading the way ahead of all the parents and their infants, the priest stops to have a conversation with the newly married couple. This is just the beginning of the chaos. After a good minute the priest finally decides to move ahead closer to the altar. As we approach the altar I see this boy sitting on a chair ahead of all the church benches, and the priest indicates to him, to move ahead closer to the altar to make space for us parents.

I didn’t realize till that very moment that there is another priest who is conducting a communion mass for that boy sitting on the chair. And I look at my wife and with a completely disgruntled look, and my wife too gives me a similar look of irritation. We both are looking at each other and wondering “what the fuck?” is happening around here. As the priest begins with the Baptism ceremony, he asks the parents to remove all clothing from the child which according to me is not standard practice in all churches. While the Communion priest was conducting the mass, and me standing next to the priest I’m was unable to hear a single word he was saying. There is so much noise around that it’s difficult to concentrate on what is happening in front of you. The wedding crowd dispersing in the background, the priest conducting the mass and his voice being heard on the loudspeakers. It’s a complete ruckus.

I was standing next to the priest and as I was overlooking what he was reading, and I could notice that he was skipping some parts of the prayers, like he was in a hurry to go somewhere. The parents respond to the baptism prayers saying “I Do”, here I am responding looking at others lips and not what the priest says. After pouring of the Holy Water over the child’s head and blessing the child with the Holy Oil, it’s time to wear the white dress on the child again and receive the final blessings. The priest instructs all the parents to change their children in to the white Baptism gown and get the ”ENVELOPES”. I’m thinking in my head... Are you FUCKING serious???” “Get the ENVELOPES”. Are you doing us a favour by baptizing the child? What shit is this man?? I was getting so livid with this entire escapade. And unfortunately we hadn’t carried an envelope, since we left the house in a rush, the priest was actually asking us again n again. It seemed the priest was only interested in getting the ENVELOPES and not conducting the Baptism ceremony. It felt like the ceremony was rushed through just for the ENVELOPES.

It’s an utter disgrace that such stupid and idiotic incidents occur in today’s age and time. What’s the point in an individual becoming a priest if he is doing it only for money and not for the love for the Almighty and service to the people and the society? It’s sad but true.

We are filing a formal complaint with the Archdiocese of Bombay just to ensure such mockery of divine sacraments are not taken lightly by the people in charge of the Catholic faith and the church. I don’t care if the other families who were part of the Baptism ceremony are not interested in taking this up with the church, but my family and I are definitely escalating the complaint to the highest authorities in the church.

Just another day being traffucked!!!

Travelling to work 6-days a week (Yes, I don’t have a 5-day week!!) can get very tiring at times. We end up spending anything between 2-4 hours on an average on a daily basis commuting to work. For the people from the suburbs traveling by road can get really frustrating at times. Many factors which fiddle with our grueling travelling times.

I have been traveling to office by road for more than a decade and the present traffic condition hasn't improved one bit in the last ten years. The amount of vehicles (cars & bikes) which get added every single day on our roads is one mind-boggling number. I prefer travelling by bike since its helps me maneuver through traffic than driving a car. Over the last year I have been travelling to Andheri to work from Mulund, the average time taken is max an hour. I get done at 5PM and I’m comfortably home by 6PM, either by car or by bike. I just about miss the peak hour traffic. But off late the travel time has increased 0.5 times to a total of 1 ½ hour to reach my destination.

The PWD department of the BMC (Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation) which is in-charge of the roads have been doing a shoddy job for many years, there is no initiative to improve the quality of roads. Bombay’s monsoon season starts in June and ends somewhere in September. The BMC begins the road repairs somewhere in April-June which is targeted to complete before the onset of the monsoons, but going by the BMC’s reputation, that never happens. This repair cycle is repeated every year and is the same without even an iota of difference.

This year has been the worst, since both the main arterial roads WEH & EEH (Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway), although were repaired before the monsoons, have gone completely worse with each highway giving birth to newer potholes every single day, just like fishes giving birth to 100 or maybe 1000 eggs. The roads show a grim picture of how pathetic the repairs have been. There is no genuine quality of materials being used, contractors dupe the authorities to make quick bucks, contract agencies which are created on the fly, eventually the consequences have to be borne by the general public. Which means traffic is at its worst ever on weekdays. There is no respite even in the long term, governments change, leaders who take charge of the nation, seem to forget the ground realities. The common man still suffers. There is no improvement on this front ever.

I take the JVLR (Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road) route which is one of the most important roads that connects the west to the east. Off late due to some never ending underground road work before IIT gate, the travel time just increases by minutes. I remember the underground work starting almost a year back in Nov-December 2015, due to which there is a bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way from the Powai promenade to IIT gate. The journey is so excruciating these days that at the end of the trip you just want to get home as early as possible. But that is never a reality. Right!! Spending so much time in traffic you tend to get impatient which completely ruins your morning and you evening.

Now that we are at the end of the monsoons, the roads will undergo another round of temporary repairs for Bombay’s biggest festival – Ganeshotsav. I’m already dreading the immersion days, where the traffic just comes to a complete standstill. You don’t want to get stuck in this traffic during these days.

Although Bombay tops the traffic density with 430 cars per kilometer (as per TOI), the average time

spent in traffic is at an all-time high. There seems to be no immediate respite from the traffic.  With over crowded trains, buses, autos, private cars, trucks, etc. no proper traffic management in sight, never ending digging of roads which are a perpetual sight on Bombay roads, you will always encounter a jam on your way to work and back home, which eventually leads you to burn more fuel making the oil companies cash in. The other important reason is the basic one, i.e no proper road discipline when it comes to us. Yes us, we are equally at fault for these in numerous traffic jams. We flout the traffic rules every single day, jump signals, change lanes, drive on the wrong side of the road, double-laning, all these factors play a significant role in our contribution towards major traffic jams. We do not realize this because we are always looking at blaming the government or others for this mishap.

If we follow rules just like other populated cities, I’m sure there could be a major difference in the traffic scenario. There is no respect to pedestrians or other drivers, everyone wants to be ahead of the other vehicle, and this is something which is embedded in our DNA. I do not want to be a pessimist, but I see no hope in our traffic issues ever getting solved. No amount of road-widening projects, building flyovers, etc. will ever solve our traffic woes.  We need to get patient first and learn to respect others on the road, then become a disciplinarian by following basic road rules. This could be one of the solutions to reduce the frustration, the stress which we face on a daily basis. Happy trafficking!!!

111.6, 149.1, 346 & 499... Take a guess!!!

NUMBERS…. They have such mystery to it, so much of ambiguity if the context is unknown. We all have grown up on numbers, right from the moment you came into this world, the time of your birth, how much you weighed. Numbers have always been a part and parcel of our entire lives. Even death cannot escape numbers, the time and day of your death in the death certificate issued by the Doctor. Numbers will always have a vital role to play in our lives.

But for me the above numbers are very random in nature, there is no pattern or anything. Take a guess if you like? Although these numbers are in an increasing variance, which in a way represents going higher or growth, simply put they are the cylinder capacities of the motorcycles which I have owned and ridden over the last 16 years.

The first bike I bought was the Kawasaki Caliber in the year 2001 and the only reason I liked the bike was because that was the most comfortable bike for my height, i.e. I had enough of legroom!!! literally speaking. My legs wouldn’t touch the handle bars while turning the bike. I’m 5’11 inches and the other bikes available were kind of small for my height. And the other reason was that it had a round headlight. The others came in weird shapes and sizes. Rectangular, squarish, etc. At this point I never even imagined that I would be riding a 500cc bike today, 15 years later. It’s been a really long time, my preference for bikes changed over a period of time. I used to like sports bikes for their sheer design and their uber powerful engines (800cc, 1000cc, 1200cc, etc. etc.). And yes speed was always an attraction with the bigger motors.

But unfortunately my liking for sports bikes kind of reduced, since I realized I preferred long rides, unending roads, riding to faraway places. I did a Bombay-Goa trip on my Honda Unicorn (149.1cc)
and post that trip I just didn’t want to do anymore long rides on sports styled bikes. I was done, my ass just wasn’t meant for sports bikes. The CRUISER, the kind of bikes which you don’t speed, but enjoy the ride with comfortable seats, handle bars positioned to give you complete control yet keep you alert at all times. That’s when I started riding the Royal Enfield Electra (346cc) which actually wasn’t mine, I had exchanged it with by brother since I would do a weekend ride once a month. It didn’t make sense riding the Unicorn on the weekdays and take the Enfield on the weekend. You do the long rides with the bike you ride every day, that way you are well aware of the bike condition, else you would be surprised.

The Royal Enfield was a bike which I had disliked the most, it was heavy, mileage was terrible, the bike was noisy with serious vibrations - all the more reasons which made me never buy one in the first place. In fact the first bike I ever rode was my brother’s second hand Enfield (Yeahh!! I know it’s a little confusing) and I almost took it on the footpath the first time I rode it. This near collision experience made me hate the Enfield even more.

But looking back, I now realize that I would have been a proud owner of a Royal Enfield Bullet since 2001, had I liked it then. But everything changed when I decided to take my brothers Royal Enfield Electra to Goa the second time around. It was the most comfortable ride I had had in a really long time. I had been to Pune on the Caliber, Goa on the Unicorn, but the second trip to Goa on the Enfield was the best. It was one smooth ride, no qualms whatsoever, I could ride for a distance at a stretch, the bike was steady at 100kmph. We would have to take regular breaks just to go easy on the engine, but it was one of my most memorable rides to date. Enjoyed each and every mile of the 1200+ kms ride to Goa. Looking forward to many more road miles.

Today I’m proud and happy that I have my own Royal Enfield Bullet 500, that I can call my own, I do not have to return it to anybody (I had to return the RE Electra to my brother which I had exchanged with my Unicorn!!!). It’s been an amazing affair so far, like my brother says “The Bullet is my first wife!” I’m sure my wife will be a little envious, but that’s okay. Every guy has a special something with their toys.

I hope and pray that the Bullet 500 helps me travel many a mile, exploring newer places, unknown destinations, new roads and highways and keeps me safe and secure through the many miles that I will travel with her.

Godspeed.

Friend or Unfriend...!!!

Who are "friends", Why are they called "friends", What are "friends", What does "friendship" even freaking mean? Are there any rules by which friends/friendship are defined? There may be some rules, regulations created independently, they may not be universal, but followed within a certain group of friends, but is there a particular way a friendship relationship works...???? According to me there isn't and that is the beauty of it.

There was a recent incident in my life which I have experienced for the very first time in my entire life. I couldn't believe it when I heard about it and I'm still unable to digest it, forget swallowing it. Over a period of time I kind off managed to let go off it, but I couldn't even fathom it that there are certain people who I guess do not have the understanding of what it means to be a friend. I am just shocked that such individuals exist and it really irritates that I spent a good amount of time and because of this irrational, immature and childish behaviour, I have started disliking this person and actually hating.

I always thought this person was a good friend, and this person's behaviour just irks me no end. Especially when I came to know that this person was holding grudges of past incidents the entire time. How can one be friends which such a person? And also this is a repeat since this unfriending has happened once before. This time it was like we were given a second chance at being this persons friend, I don't want any fucking chance with a person who does not understand the basics of being a friend. This persons expectations from a friend are something out of this universe. Its like we didn't meet his expectations as per his criteria. Like in the corporate world we didn't meet our boss's KRAs. :).

You gotta take a break from being in close quarters with such a person, you never know what grudge he/she must be holding against you. It like school teachers who know about their good students and the mischievous ones and maintain a record of them. All I can say is, its too bad that this person has lost good people because of his/her shallow attitude towards friendship.I don't think this person ever understood the word friendship, neither its meaning.

We are living in the 21st century, modern times which are way ahead of the old times when life was slow and bit relaxed. Now its more fast paced, you have to catch up to speed or be left behind. In such times, when you are too busy with your own lives, you tend to not keep in touch, nor message or talk to your friends, even your family members at times. We just do not get the time to do other things when we are busy living our lives. And in between when you receive a message from your friend, you don't go hostile on him/her and get rude in your reply. That behaviours is just fucking insane. Who does that??? It shows that this person is so shallow and immature to not understand the dynamics of friendship. And all this because we "didn't keep in touch". What bull shit man!!!! seriously. We may have not met in person, but with Facebook, Whatsapp in our phones we have kept in touch. Wishes on your anniversay, birthday messages through Whatsapp, Facebook, etc. Social Media has brought us a medium where we do not need to be physically present, I know it sucks this way..., but with our busy schedules, the least we can do is say "Hi" or send birthday wishes through social media.

Im so livid just writing this blog, its making me crazy. Thinking of the moments spent with this person and in the end he/she turns out to be a complete "CHOOTH",  a total asshole. Whenever there were plans made by this dickhead, me and my wife couldn't make it for genuine reasons, its not like we were making excuses to not meet.. We were busy with prior engagements. Just because we couldn't spend time in person this does not give him the right to be rude to us who have considered you as a good friend. Its ok, you unfriending me and my wife on social media, It wasn't any worth while it lasted. A complete waste, all the time spent with you could have been spent with other friends who matter the most.

Its shameful that this person actually showed his/hers true colors. Im glad this came out in the open. I have decided to completely not keep in touch and stay away from such kind of people who do not understand the true meaning of friendship. Especially this person who has ruined the moments which were spent together. Would like to erase my memories of this person of all mediums which have been captured through me. Such a worthless waste of fucking time. So livid right now, might actually break something....

Its not a big deal losing a friend, I have many who would still be happy to see a message/email after months/years of not keeping in touch. That's what friendship is all about, which is worthwhile and meaningful. We all have our fights. quarrels, etc with our friends, and like mature individuals we let go of these small thorns. This is because our friendship roots go deep, which can never be uprooted. Friendships go through highs and lows, good times and bad times, its how we deal and overcome it. This is what makes our friendship stronger day-by-day. Without such friends our life would have no meaning, its worthless living our lives without such friends.

This blog is dedicated to all my friends, best friends, close friends, work friends, all who I consider as a friend and all those who consider me as a friend. Thanks for being an important part of my life, I know that you guys are there when I need you and that I will never be disappointed till my last breath.

Stupid...Stupid...Stupid!!!

This blog has been written after a really long hiatus. Don't ask me why, how come, I just don't know why I haven't written in a while. I guess boredom, being busy, procrastinating, other things have become important, etc. etc.

Recently I had met with an accident and I just wanted to get my frustration out by writing about it. That's the only way I can find some sort of peace with myself, by writing about it. I don't want to brag about myself, but this is my space and I can do anything I want out here.

I have been riding for almost 10 years now, rode to Goa twice, have ridden to most of the coastal places in Maharashtra. On most of my trips, I've never met with an accident, have had bike issues, punctures, seen my fellow riders skid, slip, etc. but I was very fortunate to come back in one piece.

My office team had organised a workshop in Lonavala, and I had decided I would ride to LDA, Lonavala on my Royal Enfield. My colleagues had hired a bus in which the entire team would travel except for one who would accompany me on my bike. We were to leave in the afternoon around 3PM, so we had to work for half a day in office. I was as usual filled with excitement just like the previous times before a ride. And since this was the advent of monsoons, I wanted my quota of getting wet on a ride every monsoon accomplished.

So with a positive frame of mind, me and my colleague headed towards NH4, Old Bombay-Pune highway on our way to Lonavala. Since it was mid-afternoon we were out of city limits in an hour and reached the start of NH-4, stopped for a bit and looking at the clouds gather in the distance, I was excited to ride into the rain and shower. We reached safe and sound to our destination but fucking DRY.... no rains on our way to Lonavala, not even a drop... damn. I was so disappointing, unfortunately for me all the buildup in the clouds was not that heavy to make it pour. I was looking forward to an awesome ride hoping that it would rain like cats and dogs, and to my dismay, not even a drop.

My stay was pleasant at the LDA. we had a 2-day workshop filled with presentations, ideas, planning concepts, brainstorm sessions, etc. Saturday was time to head back. We winded up at 6.30PM, by the time I packed it was already 7PM and it was getting dark. I was a bit concerned about riding in the dark, although there was little light, I wanted to get off the Bombay-Pune Express way at the earliest.

As soon I got off the expressway, back onto the old Pune highway, I felt a little safer cause I have done many trips up and down the old Pune highway. But the only thing different is that all my trips were in the day time and not in the dark. So there was a lil of hesitation on my part,but I ensured I wasn't riding recklessly. Somewhere on the way I stopped for a smoke and was planning the remainder of the route in my mind. This was the second stupid decision of my trip, the first one being not carrying any of my riding gear except the helmet.

I reached JNPT, NH-17 and the NH-4 junction around 8.30PM and took a left from NH-4 towards Bombay onto JNPT to bypass Panvel. This I did thinking I would bypass all the traffic in Panvel and save at least 30 minutes. The JNPT road, is a major road constructed especially for the Port, therefore this road is all concrete, but the screw up here is the intersections are made of tar. And you know what happens to tar roads... They disintegrate and develop large craters which can be deep enough to drown. This road was like most of the highways, isolated with minimal-moderate traffic and without any streetlights. it was pitch dark, and the only light was that of oncoming vehicles and the one on my bike. Probably in the darkness my headlight was the brightest, but it wasn't bright at all.

I was zipping at a speed of 75-80 kmph on an empty, smooth concrete road when fear struck me like a double edged sword going through my heart and spine. I saw a huge ditch which was at least 10 inches deep, and at that speed there is very little one can do to avoid it. I knew it at that moment I'm going to be in a very bad accident. Knowing that I couldn't avoid the ditch, I had to go over the ditch. In doing so, I lost complete control of the bike, and the bike swerved to the right side of the road. My last moment before the fall was, this shouldn't have happened, shouldn't have happened such a fucking stupid... stupid... stupid... accident.

I was on the road, badly bruised, in complete darkness post the fall. Took me a while to get up. I was scared that a truck would go over me, so I tried to get up as quickly as possible, and warn the trucks to slow down.

I was in extreme pain, the front of the bike damaged, both my rear-view mirrors broken and fallen on the road, the leg guard bent on right side. I tried lifting my 220Kg Enfield, but barely made any progress. Few motorists stopped and helped me lift the bike and move it to the side of the road. The adrenaline pumping into my system was making me numb, although I was conscious, I could not forget the fall. Visions of the fall kept playing in my mind in a loop, just like a video game which gives you replay options from different angles. And the worst thing was that it was on auto, I couldn't get it out of my head. And I was getting a headache because of this. One of the motorists said that he would accompany me to the nearest hospital, but I said I would like to go my home in Mulund, so I did a quick self analysis of my self to determine any serious injuries to my body. I had badly bruised my right Elbow, but I could move it although in pain, my denim jeans were torn above the right knee, and it was paining very badly in the inner thigh. I was in excruciating pain above my knee.I checked my fingers, hands, legs, fortunately I was carrying 2 backpacks, one in the front and another on my back hence I didn't feel any sort of bruises on my chest or back. Next thing I did was check the damage on the bike. There was enough of visible damage on the bike, apart from the broken mirrors, there was a dent on the petrol tank, my front mud guard was bent a little. The headlight frame was bent and the headlight unit was dangling by the handle rain cover. Good thing is, it was in a working condition, so it gave some visibility to me, though I would be handicapped without the mirrors. So I decided I would ride the bike to check if I could ride it for a distance. I sat on the bike with a lot of pain, and kick-started it with one go, Rode a few meters and then took a final call, I will ride back to Mulund and get myself checked into a hospital.

Before I could leave, the good Samaritan who offered to escort me to the nearest hospital tied a handkerchief to my right elbow to stop the flow of blood, since It was bleeding pretty badly. He also said that he would ride behind me up to Vashi, just in case and also offered me a candy which would keep my senses awake while riding back. I'm grateful to this person who took care of me after the accident. May you have all the happiness and joy in your life buddy.

I headed back home, riding ever so cautiously so that I do not put my self through this again. The ride home after the accident wasn't an easy one without both my mirrors, my legs in constant pain and even more when I had to break to slow down further. It was a very difficult ride back home, but as I was riding back, was just thinking about my stupid decisions, how it all led to what had just happened, and it was all my doing, my wrong decisions. Had I taken the regular route, had I worn my Rider gear, I would have still been in one piece. Like they say sometimes you have to learn the hard way, and no other way. This was a life lesson for me, especially when I have this riding keeda(worms) in my system, an accident can also be your fault, and precaution and appropriate safety will reduce the damage that you would sustain to yourself, and if you didn't, then pray that you would come out of it ALIVE. Cause riding on the road can be very unpredictable.

If you are a rider, please wear your HELMET at all times, local riding, city or highway. Wear your RIDING GEAR to protect yourself against any unforeseen accidents.

And most importantly enjoy the ride. Ride safe guys & girls.

I need a Thump!!!

Well not everybody would be able to relate to the blog that I'm gonna write. Its a very unique sound heard on Indian roads. You must have heard it while you travel to office, college, market, malls or to the railway station, when your mother/wife/dad sent you to buy vegetables. Yes, most of the vegetable markets are located outside stations. Very Bombay I say...

Yeah!!! well the sound, I digress so easily, its kinda embarrassing. Anyway, I was talking about the Thump. Well no prizes / surprises to the ones who already know what im talking about. I know you do... With the ever increasing noise pollution in our cities, this sound can make everything else silent and would stop everybody on their path and trust me it can get very loud.

Royal Enfield Electra 5S

Well enough of beating around the bush.... The Thump refers to the sound made by the silencer/exhaust pipe of a Royal Enfield motorcycle. You have various kinds of silencers which  have their own specific sounds. We all know how it sounds, dhuk, dhuk, dhuk, dhuik, dhuk, dhuk...... and so. The moment we hear it we know a Royal Enfield is approaching towards us. Enfield lovers/ riders would swear by the sound. The so called "Thump" is the only thing in the Enfield which defines this mammoth beast, cause when it rides... nothing comes in its way. You have to ride it to feel it in your veins.

Every rider before has rode some bike or the other like the Yamaha's, Pulsar's, Honda's, Kawasaki's, Suzuki's, TVS's, etc. but once you ride a Royal Enfield you would want to ride it for life. And this has been the virus which has got many infected to a Royal Enfield bug. There is a certain satisfaction derived from riding an Enfield. Its creates an envy amongst other riders. It gets you on a high which cannot even be imagined, the speed, the adrenaline, the wind brushing your skin, the sights, the Thump cannot be felt any other way. Its music to your ears cause every other sound / noise on the road is just heard, but you would always listen to your thump very clearly without any disturbances.

Its been a few years since I have been riding an Enfield. Have gone on my bike to many places in Maharashtra, twice to Goa with my colleagues/ex-colleagues/friends. Every trip has been one hell of an experience. Every journey differs from the previous one. Some are short distances, some are long. From the hottest of summers to the coldest of winters to the wettest of monsoons, have rode in every season, faced nature and the elements like they were part of me. Me and my Enfield just blazed through, without a single incident. Touch Wood....  I have been lucky to be out of trouble especially when Im on my road trips with hardly any breakdowns, thats the longevity of an Enfield, it just goes on an on an on.

Me on my Royal Enfield

It never stops thumping, it does what its supposed to do, thumping every mile with a bigger and louder thump, silencing the silence on a lone highway. Wanting to thump till the never ending horizon. I love riding the Royal Enfield, it relaxes, it refreshes me and I love riding on new roads, highways, off-road tracks, exploring new places, going to unknown destinations, going where no one has traveled on a bike. I only wish that this passion doesn't fade away with time. I ensure this fondness to ride does not wither away. Have cherished every moment riding and look forward to more exciting rides with my friends to newer destinations.

Ride Safe

"Enjoy the history of Royal Enfield"

Tryst with Nature at 6700 ft.

My wife had informed me that she had a surprise for me for my birthday which was in the first week of May 2013. She informed me that I would have to take a weeks leave from office and that my gift was a holiday which she had been planning since last year. I was instructed that I just had to pack my bags and that I didn't need to know what the destination was!

So I just didn't bother to know what the destination was and that she would reveal it on our day of departure, which she did. Well you see, I love traveling and experiencing a new destination is the most exciting aspect of it. As the days got nearer, I started to wonder, where exactly is my wife taking me on a holiday and I drove her nuts, driving her insane,  just a week before our departure. So the night before our day of travel she told me that we are going somewhere in the north. Just hearing that the probable destination was gonna be in the North of India, my excitement had no end. My wife knew that I had never ever been to the north, and that this was the most wonderful surprise I could ever get. My mind started racing to the few destinations which I knew off-hand, Jammu, Kashmir, Srinagar, Dalhousie, etc. or even any of the North-east places. At the time of boarding the train she finally gave up and she said we were going to Manali. Ive never been to Manali, but have heard so much about it. I was ecstatic, it was my first ever trip to the North and I was going to Manali. Yehhhhh!!!!!

As we boarded the train I started dreaming of being amidst snow capped mountains, lush greenery, cool, a very cold and pleasant weather. I was wondering if I would get to see snow/ice, since it was the advent of summer and I wasnt sure if I would get to see it and feel it. It would be such a disappointment if I didnt get to see snow, going all the way to Manali. We would board a bus from Delhi which would take us to Manali. We reached Delhi around 11am and our bus would leave at 5pm. Since this was my maiden trip to Manali, the excitement didnt let me sleep throughout the journey, I was wide awake from 5pm to 7am till we reached Manali.

The journey by road was an unpleasant one, with the road being the villain giving us jerks and shakes at every kilometer. The road was pathetic, one ditch after another, and this continued for hours. It was a horrendous and definitely a back breaker. I suggest if you have any back problems you shouldn't venture by road to Manali. Most of the people were asleep, since 80-85% of the journey was covered in the night. As the sun rose we were welcomed with huge ass mountain rocks on one side and the river on the other and the bus maneuvering the tricky roads. The driver was well experienced, knew his way around this narrow highway 21, knowing how dangerous it was if he made one mistake.

As we reached Manali bus depot early morning at 7am, the cool breeze freezing the hell out of us. Manali looked beautiful, it was a treat to my eyes, taking all the sights, sounds, the air being so fresh, dont know when was the last time I had a breath of fresh air. We were put up in this Bed and Breakfast place called "Drifters Inn" No. 1 on tripadvisor in Old Manali. The place looked warm and cozy and the owner was very welcoming, our rooms were very elegant, very woody... The best thing was it smelt of the forest, the pine tree forest. I just cant forget that aroma the room had, was just amazing.

My trip to Manali was not the typical excursion, it was more to do with nature, being close to it, taking early morning walks, bird watching, trekking, exploring the place, long walks in the forest. We tasted local cusine, actually ended up eating more than 100 momos on my trip. One dish which was called "Thupka" a better version of noodle soup, one serving would fill you up right upto your neck. Since Manali was a touristy destination, we could get all the popular dishes found elsewhere in India, which was very boring, but we used to go to this one place every single day to fill ourselves with momos and more momos.

One of the day we decided to go towards Rohtang Pass. We had pre booked private cars to take us there. Maruti Alto is the most popular and surprisingly the most durable vehicles for the narrow roads prevailing in Manali. Rohtang Pass was unfortunately closed since it was early May. On our way the driver was insisting we buy the winter gear which is required to be worn before we go to Rohtang Pass, but we said no since none of us wanted to get wet playing in the snow. The Manali-Leh Highway is a narrow road which rises upto 12-13000 feet above sea level. The roads have dangerous turns, hairpins, bends with the one side having snow and the other side a steep fall. After reaching the top, the view down was amazing with the zig-zag, curvy roads cutting through the snow capped mountains. It looked like someone had drawn a black curvy line through the snow. The drive was such an amazing experience, I wanted to come back riding on it on a Royal Enfield all the way to the top. I will definitely do this one day....

My wife has a friend who is a true naturalist, an avid bird watcher, a wildlife enthusiast, and the organiser of this trip, sorry Russ if I havnt introduced you well. Anyway thanks to Russ and his wife Andrea, me and my wife Sheen and few other friends have seen the other side of Manali which most of the tourists visiting wouldn't have experienced ever. Thanks to them we got to see some exotic places, pine forests, picturesque landscapes, waterfalls, and most importantly bird watching. We were with a small group of like minded-people, who had a similar passion for nature and what it had to offer.

Such an awesome experience it was to go into the forest and click pictures of beautiful birds. Their bright colors, shades, patterns, designs, shapes, their behaviour amidst their natural surroundings was such a pleasant experience. This trip just reminded me how much I love nature and the beauty of it is never-ending. Its endless, this experience never gets repeated, every destination has a different  refreshing feeling, in terms of greenery, landscapes, nature being at its best. Our lives are constantly surrounded within concrete jungles, we can never experience what nature, wildlife is all about. Exposure through television, magazine, etc. will never give us the true experience of feeling nature in its raw form. You have to feel it on your skin, in the air that you breathe. Its much, much, much more and im glad I have my wife who shares the same passion and enthusiasm.

This trip would not have been possible without my wife who gifted me an awesome trip which will be etched in my memory for a lifetime. Thanks to Russell and Andrea for organizing such an amazing trip. Would like to make many such trips exploring nature, wild life to the maximum in its raw form.

The Taste of Summer

A trip to Goa is become more like a ritual, custom every year, as far as i remember I have been going to Goa more than once for the last 4-5 years. And the last two trips I went to Goa with my wife and it happens to be one of her favourite destinations in India.

Goa has such a myriad of activities and can cater to every individual, its the most ideal location if one wants to unwind and just go with the flow. Therefore its become a custom for me and my wife to make a trip at least once to Goa every year. And we intend to keep this custom alive as long as we live.

Ive been to Goa during the summers, monsoons and of course during the winters, when its the most crowded state in the whole of India, and its the worst time to go. Whether you are in the North or the South part of Goa its crowded. Though ive enjoyed and have wonderful memories of each of my trips to Goa, the best time to visit Goa is during the rains, i.e if your the kind of person who likes the rains.

This time the temperatures were too high and everybody were of the opinion that this is the wrong time / month to go to Goa, but I didnt care. Me, my wife and my friends had already made up our minds, come what may we will go without fail.

Every visit to Goa, I used to trip on beer and food, and this is like a staple goan diet for me. But this time around my friend suggested why not try Urak, a white spirit which is a local drink very much different than Feni, another Goan favourite local drink. Urak is the first extraction, which is in its purest form in the distillation process after which Feni is derived. Urak, unlike Feni is a little cloudier and with sediments floating at the bottom of the bottle. Its usually mixed with Limca or lemonade.

The cloudiness of the drink along with the smell can be a sure deal breaker for one who is not used to the Goan spirits. But truth is its an amazing drink. Ive always shied away from tasting it due to its smell, but this time I made sure that I will atleast give it a try, and boy did it taste so good on my tongue. It was smooth going down my throat, no kind of burning sensation as it entered my stomach.

Me being a hard core rum & coke person, this was like a super drink. After having a few glasses, all of a sudden the Goa heat just dissapeared around me and it made me feel pleasant and nice. I was taken to a world of an unusual sense of bliss. Little that I noticed that me and my friends finished 4-5 bottles of Urak in one sitting at lunch.

They say that Urak contains less percentage of alcohol as compared to Feni, hence the peg measure was almost a 90ml per glass. They also say that the buzz kicks in later, much later. With the sea breeze blowing around or if you sit in front of a fan you get a nice welcome high....  Each one of us must have downed atleast 9-10 glasses of Urak and at the end of it we were totally satisfied. This was such an amazing experience for me, wish I had the sanity to drink this on my previous trips to Goa, would have made me a better person..... Ya rite... Whatever....

Post this experience, I for sure am gonna have Urak on a regular basis on my future trips to Goa. But unfortunately this drink is only available during summers, thats why its called "The Taste of Summer".

When tongue meets tongue...

As I hurried back home from work I knew I had ample of time to get my packing done. My wifey was surprised that I reached home before the sunset knowing my work timings have been ridiculously insane over the past few weeks. I immediately got to my packing since we were five hours away from catching a train to the one destination every bombayite wishes to go to once a year. Yes one clue is enough for you to guess which destination I'm talking about. Goahhhhh!!!! Woohoooo!!!!!!

Yes its the one crazy desti where you forget yourself and just go with the flow. Images of  Booze, beaches, babes and food starts to flood your mind when you think about Goa. But yeah just to give you a heads-up, Goa is different in the monsoons, not the favourite time for many of us, since the beaches are secluded, the shacks are nowhere to be seen except for a few places in and around. Well this time we decided that our trip to Goa would be to the southern side of Goa. We didnt want to spend our time in the crowded, traffic infested North Goa. We just wanted to chill and relax on our short trip to South Goa.

The rail is the best option after air, to travel to Goa. Its a convenient, cheaper mode of transport. This time we boarded the Mangalore Express which reaches Madgaon by 8.30AM. This train was a new find since you get the whole day to yourself. As soon as we checked in to our hotels we decided to hire bikes which is the best option to move around places in Goa. And since it was an off-season, the rates were dirt cheap.

Being in Goa, it doesnt matter what time of the day it is, your brain automatically adapts to the Goan air and you do not mind starting your day with a chilled beer. And that is what we did after we hired the bikes and headed to have breakfast. Me and my wife both of us being big time foodies just freaked out at the spread of meals that we were devouring at every opportunity we got.

South Goa is an amazing experience especially during the rains. The weather is pleasant with the few special appearance showers that we got during our stay. The beaches are isolated without any soul in sight, except for the lil crabs crawling back to their holes. Though it was a short stay it was a memorable experience since we didnt have the bustling crowd of  North Goa making it very noisy and crowded.

This was my first trip to Goa with my wife, and it was a special trip, our likes and dislikes are very similar, so it wasnt much of a problem adjusting to what it has to offer. Music and food are few of our common interests, with the latter one being the biggest. Looking forward to many more such trips with her in the future. After an awesome 2 days in Goa, it was finally time to come back to our routine lives, but we decided to make it grand and make our stay much more memorable. We decided to have our dinner at Martins Corner which is an exquisite fine dine restaurant in South Goa.

The restaurant was packed and we had 1/2 an hour of waiting before we could experience what Martins had to offer. As we got our table, I was hoping that they would have Kings Beer which is a local beer which is available only in Goa, but as it has been during my stay in Goa this time I wasnt that lucky to get one. And the waiter says that Kings beer aint available in South Goa. To my dismay I settle for a Kingfisher beer and decide what delicious food Im gonna devour on my last night. Apart from the usual suspects of Fish, Chicken, Beef and Pork dishes I find something rather interesting which I havnt had in a very long time and I mean a really long time. My mouth started to water before I could place the order, cause at that moment I was so overjoyed that Im finally gonna get to eat a dish which has wonderful memories attached to it.

It was a nostalgic moment as I asked the waiter " Do you have the Beef Tongue?" and waiting anxiously for his reply, he said the one word which was like a symphony to my ears.... Yes..... Yes ... Yes!!! As I heard the waiter say yes it was like an explosion in my senses, inside me, I was so excited that I wanted to kiss the waiter and say Thanks.. You have made my day and  have made it an unforgettable one.

Im an avid non-vegetarian and Beef tops my list of favoured meats. I could not hold my excitement since I knew I was finally getting to eat a dish which is the most amazing my tongue has ever tasted in my entire life. Since none of my friends at the table nor my wife liked beef tongue, it was left to me to devour the whole plate (With a greedy smile on my face.) by myself. What better way to come to the end of my wonderful trip to Goa. The excitement was so overwhelming with hungry, lustful, impatient eyes, my taste buds were just bursting out with saliva. As soon as the waiter came with the Beef Tongue I forgot everything else and just continued to devour the dish.

The moment tongue met tongue my senses exploded and I was in in another dimension with the soft, succulent meat being demolished by my teeth. My taste buds were in an overdrive, the nostalgic moments came back drawing vivid images in my head. It was orgasmic biting into the tongue, a taste pleasure which I had forgotten for years.Each bite was a different orgasm, had twenty in all.  In the end it left me breathless, and miserable at the same time seeing my plate empty, but I was completely satiated with undone happiness.

Food is the ultimate pleasure one can derive when he/she eats with the tongue and not the stomach.