No (B)road sense whatsoever...!!!

I've always wanted to write about this, but just could never gather my thoughts on the same. It still remains the same but I will write it somehow. It has been there in my head like a brain tumour for a really long time.

I primarily travel to office on a motorcycle, just like the other people riding who look like ants on the roads from a distance. I agree the best & the fastest way to travel to work are the caterpillar like local trains. Bikes make it more convenient since you are at your own disposal, i.e. you can leave for home whenever you want to, because you don’t have to depend on any other modes of transport and it doesn’t depend on a particular time that you have to leave.

Nowadays jobs aren’t the 9 to 5 types where you had a fixed time to get to office and a fixed time to leave for home, but yes reporting to office at a particular time doesn’t change. Anyway this is not my topic for discussion, its something else. It’s about following certain road ethics a certain sense of civility while you on the road. I’m not talking bout observing traffic/road rules while riding/driving, it’s something which is not taught to you in driving schools.

With nearly a hundred new vehicles hitting Bombay's roads and add a couple hundred of 2-wheelers, the ever increasing demand for cars & bikes aren’t going to come down. The soaring fuel prices don’t make a huge impact on the demand. Owning a car or a bike is more like a status symbol, ironically more than a necessity in today’s world. Due to this, we always come across traffic jams, endless bumper-to-bumper traffic in this cosmopolitan called "Bombay". The innumerable flyovers doesn’t help ease the traffic because of the increasing demand of new vehicles. And also the perpetual road-digging that happens at regular intervals.

Due to these traffic jams the 2-wheelers resort to riding on the footpaths, pavements next to the roads causing a huge inconvenience to the pedestrians. This behaviour is not acceptable when you are invading others spaces. Me being a biker, at times break certain traffic rules, but completely avoid riding on the footpath since that’s not my space to ride. If I was a pedestrian and if I find 2-wheeler riders riding on the footpath it wouldn’t be a nice moment. People don’t realise that there are old people, women & children walking on the footpath which is supposed to be a safe place while walking on the roads, and with this kind of behaviour its no less dangerous than the road itself. The psyche of Bombay is that of a fast-paced city, the city that never sleeps, blah blah blah, in a way reflects in each and every citizen living, even on me, and this makes us very impatient. And being a Bombayite, I wouldn’t deny the fact. Every person is in some kind of rush to get back home, to work, to meet his/her Girl/Boyfriend, to deliver something, etc. etc. And being in a kind of rush all the time people resort to taking to the footpaths to get ahead and save some time, but eventually are held by a traffic signal. Thank god the four-wheelers don’t have the luxury to do the same.

All this happens with causing greater inconvenience to the innocent pedestrians walking on what's their space and it entirely belongs to them only. Who are the fucking riders to take it away from them, why do they deserve this invasion of their space? This matter may seem very miniscule, but then why should the pedestrians suffer. The traffic cops just keep ignoring this, infact there has been a few times where I have seen a cop or two on a bike using the footpath to go ahead. If they resort to such practices, the pedestrians would go to incase there is an accident on the footpath. It’s a cliché conclusion that the law protectors become the law breakers, and this doesn’t help grow the trust & faith that the public would want to have on the cops.

People in India don’t have the basic civic sense to respect other peoples spaces, and this irritates me no end. There have been times when a senior irate pedestrian was stopping all the bikers from riding on the footpath, but the bikers weren’t paying any heed to the pedestrian. Why should someone go out of his way to do this? Cause he was retired, nothing more to do in life, that’s the respect we have for our elders.

And this will keep continuing, neither the Cops/Traffic Police will do anything about this nor the infamous Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will do anything to stop this. We the people will always be subject to such inconveniences for the rest of our lives. Bombay will always be subject to such a behaviour from its inhabitants cause even if we keep raving " Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan" we never give it a second thought to make it a better place for ourselves and others to live in. We, the selfish citizens are to blame...

Meter Jam... Who we kidding guys???

Well in its second campaign the so called “Meter Jam” probably didn’t have much of an effect, neither did the first one which happened on August 12, 2010. Well they would probably argue with numbers and say that we got the required support from Bombayites. What I fail to understand is who the fuck are we talking to guys and who are we trying to fool... ourselves!!!!

I may sound pessimistic in my blog, but then this is Bombay guys, nothing changes. Rock bottom… it wont and it will never ever. It has been a bold initiative, but not forgetting the basics need to be clear here. We live in a city where everybody looks out only for himself and nobody else; they don’t give a fucking damn. People are so involved with themselves that they don’t even stop to help out an accident victim in their daily hustle-bustle of getting to work and then returning home. Our lives revolve around a routine which cannot be hampered in anyway, unless the system fails (Public Transport) on that day.

Thousands colour the city everyday in the trains, building, walls, elevators, sometimes other people (I’m not talking bout the festival Holi!!!) from various heights that too. The clean-up Mumbai drive must have instilled a lil of civic sense in all of us but then as I said before, Yeh Bombay hai meri jaan!!! Sudhrega nahi kabhi…

The cabbies, auto guys know that people will use their services and can hold us ransom for the same, cause ultimately it’s we who need them and not the other way round. I agree we are their bread n butter, but with a population of 13.5 million and with more than 2.5 lac + rickshaws & 1.2lac taxis plying the road they are never gonna run short of people requiring their services. A few thousand people who decide not to use their services is hardly gonna create any effect. How will it matter to them in any way? Its not even close to a freaking pin prick.

The only people who will benefit out of this “Meter Jam” fiasco are the people who have thought of this and they probably own cars to travel to work or where ever. Have they ever used the Public Transport in their entire existence? They have got the required mileage out of this so called “Meter Jam” and all will be forgotten in a few months, I repeat it will not make any difference to the cabbies & autos’ life even if this was repeated twice every month. The attitude of these people (Autos & cabbies) will never change, they are their own bosses behind the wheel and they will be the ultimate decision makers on where to go and where not to. And we will keep ranting about their attitude for the rest of our lives. The traffic cops don’t do shit about it, people complaining about it through email n SMS is an alternative, but then its not gonna impact anything. Even if a cop gets you a cab, the cabbie will go ahead a lil distance and ask you to get off, and will say no to your destination.

In conclusion I don’t see much happening on this front, I don’t know whether it will ever change, people who are used to autos & cabs will always use them till they can afford a transport of their own. Autos n cabbies will always say no… they think it’s their right to deny... but when they wear that uniform its their duty to serve the public!!!

Another bike tripin my travelogue...

Another bike trip in my travelogue,
A new destination with memories for a dialogue.

An avenue to rejuvenate our tired brain.
Helps us load off the weekly strain.

Our bikes leaving behind dust n' spray,
Thumping into nature's scenic frames.

Leaving behind a picturesque trail,
Hoping we would re-visit, someday again.

At the break of dawn we move in form,
Not knowing what lies in this rainy storm.

The sunshine was at its peak,
Losing our way and going miles away,
We finally took our long awaited leak.

Lil that it rained,
Made us slip and sprain.
Riding to our destination became kind of a pain.

Heading back the next day,
Hoping it would be a smoother sway.

Nursing the straights & curves
The rain kept pouring along the kerbs.
Holding on to our hysteric urges.

As we reached within city limits,
Was time to say goodbye to the breathtaking sights,
Riding amidst the clouds & nature’s scapes.

Lil did we realize, we were back to our hibernating graves.
Coming back to traffic jams & traffic snarls,
Wondering what all that noise was for.

Moving like snails, we made our way,
Hoping a new place, welcomes our grace.

Two punctures... two accidents.... One Destination!

The monsoons in Maharashtra are a treat, especially for the ones who love what Mother Nature has to offer. With the ample mountainous ranges in the state, the whole landscape has a green cover which can be best enjoyed during the rainy season. And what better way to enjoy these natural beautiful sights, than to ride your bike through the long highways passing villages, green pastures, scenic mountains, and sometimes waterfalls besides the highways.

My group of biker friends decided to make a trip to Bhandardara, 160KM from Bombay ahead of Igatpuri in the month of July. Since it’s become a ritual amongst us to make a bike trip once every month. This was the first trip we were going to make during the monsoons, and the danger element kept staring at us ever since we decided to make this rainy trip, cause a bike, a far away destination, unpredictability of rains & slippery wet roads all adds up to one hell of a risky ride. But then no bike ride is complete without the element of danger. That’s what pushes us I guess!!!

So we decided to leave for Bhandardara at 7:30AM on Saturday, 17th July 2010, and as usual we got delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. We were five guys leaving from various places in Bombay and our meeting point was Mulund (West) toll-naka on the Eastern Express highway. My friend leaving from Goregaon, gets a puncture and has to get his tyre fixed, another friend leaving from Juhu meets with a minor accident, which damages his gear lever, which adds up to the delay. Since I had to tank up my bike and fill air, I go to the local tyre-puncture guy and to my surprise even I had a puncture in my rear tyre. Another half hour added to the delay. The four of us finally meet up at the toll-naka at 9.15AM and we head towards our destination. We pick up the fifth guy from Thane and we begin our journey with excited emotions.

On our way we get a few light showers, but nothing to slow us down. The atmosphere was cool with a light drizzle, enjoying the scenic landscapes all around us. We had our smoke breaks, breakfast stop, pee stops and we were within touching distance of our destination. We got further delayed when we realized we overshot the turn to Bhandardara by 30Kms. But we didn’t care since the roads were so mesmerizing that we stopped looking at road signs.

After taking a right at Ghoti, on the narrow road to Bhandardara we got a moderate shower and the roads got wet and we had our last accident of the trip. My friend lost control of his bike due to the wet mud on the road and broke his left rear-view mirror. Now that’s a souvenir for his bike trip. Lucky for him there was no major injury to him. We had to slow down for quite a while since the wet mud made the road quite slippery, therefore we were moving ahead with caution.

We finally reached Bhandardara at 4PM after a grueling six hours and since we didn’t have any accommodation in place it was another hour till we finally parked our stone cold asses and rested our tired, aching bodies at Yash resort. All of us decided we explore the place the next day, since there wasn’t much light to enjoy the surroundings. The next morning we were supposed to wake up early but then knowing us guys that didn’t happen. We finally got out exploring the place at around 11AM.

Bhandardara has many well known & unwanted crowded spots, especially the Wilson or Bhandardara dam as it’s popularly known as. Apart from that there is a lake which was a little empty probably cause of less rain in the area. But the lake was beautiful and was a very large one which was miles long. We decided to chill next to the banks but since it was quite sunny we decided not to. We decided to head towards the waterfall and we ended up taking a long ride, with the roads ziggin & zagging, the clouds hugging the mountains and the sun shining in all its glory.

This was the disappointing moment of our trip, while we were at Bhandardara, we didn’t get a hint of rain, not even a drop, so we just kept roaming around till we found the Randha waterfalls. From a distance we could see hoards of semi-naked guys/picknickers taking a shower under the waterfalls and also a few local women washing clothes in the same area. That did it… we decided to move on and look for a quieter place. We came back to the dam and decided to chill out for sometime.

After a relaxing smoke by the bank, we decided to head back home at around 4PM, since we wanted to avoid riding in the night. We quickly checked out from the hotel and were on our way back home. As soon as we exited Bhandardara and came on the NH-3 the clouds started roaring and it started pouring cats & dogs. The pouring rain was so much that we had to slow down to a speed of 40Kmph from 70-80Kmph. Due to the heavy pour there was zero visibility & with our headlights & indicator lights on we were moving like tortoises coming out of the water. The weather was just too awesome, though we had our rain gear on, we still got wet and I mean drenching wet. We rode for an hour covering almost 50Km when we came across a dry spell, but then as we moved further the rain gods were showering their blessings on us yet again. It was bliss, the experience of riding in the rains is just too awesome. A memorable experience which will never be forgotten in a long time. The ride back home in the rains compensated for the disappointing weather at Bhandardara. We were fortunate we didn’t have any major mishap, or bike breakdowns, the rain gods took care of us each mile of our long journey.

Looking forward to our next trip in August. Hope it’s filled with loads of fun, coming close to Mother Nature yet again.

40 Days...

It was one day before Ash Wednesday (February 17th, 2010), the beginning of Lent that I decided to follow it. Which technically means that if you are following Lent you give up something that you love, you make a sacrifice. After not much thought I decided that I would give up one of the most favourite things that I love: and that is "Eating Non-veg food" and not only that I also decided to give up alcohol. Cause like other Christians giving up something or the other and the most common of the sacrifices would be to give up alcohol, eating non-veg food, givng up chocolates, etc. etc. Some people even give up sex, well now that is something which I wouldnt want to add to my list of sacrifices. Can give a shot though!!!

But then I decided to give up both alcohol & non-veg food. At the time of making this decision I didnt think of how difficult it would be or whether I would be able to follow it or not cause somewhere it was an impulsive decision. Not many thoughts ran through my head, cause all I knew was that I have decided to abstain myself from alcohol & non-veg food for the next 40 days... Phewwwwww!!!

I had announced this to many of my friends, family, colleagues and the only response I got was that I wouldnt be able to go through this. Everybody knows me as a hardcore foodie and giving that up would definitely be a herculean task. Im too weak to make such a big sacrifice. But then it actually didnt matter whether I got through this test successfully or not, cause my conscience would not let me cheat myself. I didnt have any particular reason to do this, I didnt do this for the sake of religion, or for God or any other reasons. I just wanted to do it, just wanted to test my will power and how strong I am as an individual to go through this.

As I began counting the days remaining for Easter, my craving for meat just kept on exploding inside my head and even more my stomach. Infact during the forty days, I ended up going to places with my friends, colleagues where they would indulge in alcohol, meat and I would have to sip on some juice for the rest of the evening/night. Had to attend few birthday parties and I would just have to strengthen myself and keep myself away from temptation. Its not that I wasnt tempted to break my sacrifice umpteen times, I just had to distract myself from the obvious.

Easter was on 4th of April, 2010, the day I would break my so called fast, and I couldnt help my self counting the last few remaining days. Cause somewhere deep inside I was happy that I will go through this without a problem. Forty days without non-veg & alcohol was something which I have never done in my entire life. I just kept counting, updating my Facebook, Gtalk status and reminding my self of the days that remained for Easter.

In the end when it was finally Easter, It dawned upon me that I got through this abstinence without a glitch. My system would have gotten cleansed with all the vegetarian (Arghhhhhhh!!!) food which I was consuming(No offense to Vegetarians), but then I didnt bother about that so much, cause I was internally happy that I went through this. Exactly at 12.30Am on Easter Sunday, I had my first drink of Old Monk Rum, after Forty freaking days, and it just felt great, being back to my normal self. And ya just 30ml of Rum got me high, which was kind of expected.

At the end of this abstinence stint of mine, I decided that I will not put myself through this ever again, cause it was painful not to do the things which I love. But Im happy I did it cause it has made me stronger & confident and I know that life will throw tougher challenges at you, its upto you whether you are game for it or not?

Routine.. a societal virus.

A virus exists in our society,
It’s in our system, because our lives are too hasty.
It dwells, it breathes, it may kill our desires.
We no longer are satiated with small pleasures,
Since ignorance has become a way of life.
We push ourselves beyond our human abilities,
Mocking the purpose of being alive.
Everyday is like a ritual to survive.

We seek happiness in our materialistic endeavors.
And drown our sorrows over, like sour grapes.
Our life is a drowning pessimism,
Our attitude to life gets stranger each day,
Happiness is an illusion of the previous day,
Today is tomorrow, even before you can blink.
Life doesn't simplify, problems just multiply.
Everyday seems to be similar,
Not one day different than the other.
Routine doesn't let us break away.
We hardly mind that and play a pretense...
Blaming ourselves all the time and hoping it exchanges.

Life is a test, testing our lives everyday of our life.
From the first breath to our dying breaths.
In between is existence and feeding it with survival.
It has much more to offer,
And we excuse ourselves when its being offered.
We need to step back and enjoy the ride,
Pause a bit from our routine.
Life's beauty isn't enough for a lifetime.
Living everyday is what matters, all the time.