South Indian Motorcycle Diaries

It was a truly phenomenal journey and it was for three of us (including my colleagues, Tushar and Lawrence). We set out on this 4000 km road trip on 1st of December and returned home on evening of 15th December. Needless to say, hardly anyone from my family was approving of this endeavor and most wanted me to stay back and don’t even think of it. But thankfully, my Amma was in Manipal at that time so it was pretty easy convincing my dad!

Well, talking of this trip, statistics don’t count. 4000 km or 15 days on road or 5 states we touched, hardly matters. What matters is that we made 2009 memorable. We decided to do something and we did it. It was Tushar who masterminded everything from the roadmap we’ll be following to the halts we’ll be taking. We had just two bikes, as I don’t own a bike so I was pillion-seated most of the time with the camera and handycam in tow.

We crossed Maharashtra and stepped over to Karnataka through Solapur and then circled Karnataka around Bijapur, Badami, Hospet, Hampi and sticking in via Shimoga, Jog Falls and then stretching downwards toward Mangalore and Manipal. After this, we decided to sneak into Kerala and we vroomed till Kasargod, visiting two completely empty and beautiful beaches on the coast. After returning back to Manipal, we were to draw into Tamil Nadu so decided to catch NH-48 and reached Mysore, touching Hassan and Shravanabelagola (Gomateshwara) on the way.

After Mysore, it was upward climb of Chamundi Hills and Nilgiri Hills!! We then crossed the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border through Bandipura Forest (former lair of Veerappan!!)and reached Ooty and I have to admit it was a lame trip since the climate was too chilly for us and the ambiance was for hunky-dorky honeymoon couples, not for sunburned bike-runners. So we came back to our base, Manipal, suffering bad roads, rowdy truck drivers and reckless bus drivers.

Now the real road was waiting for us. NH-17. The road which I first saw in that movie, Dil Chahta Hai and fell in love with it. Its one of the finest roads in all of India and best suited for bikes. We invaded Goa and frolicked naked feet on beaches where foreigners seem so homely compared to our novelty. After Goa, it was ride home and we left Panjim City early morning and took the northward direction towards Panvel and rushed home safely with no casualty.

We took lots and lots of pics and videos too. It amounts to more than 17 GB on digital scale. But frankly speaking the moments we had on road were the real gems, the real souvenirs. There were kids waving hands to us from road side, farmers herding their cattles, womenfolk carrying water pots on their head, birds of different color and cry, hills and landforms unimaginable, good road, not that good road and bad road, bridges over rivers, endless trails of human faith, heaps of filth and garbage, surprised looks on youth thanks to our cruisers!

There was hardly any mis-happenstance. Everything was so cool and so fine in detail that it felt like a movie. This was the longest in recent times I guess when I was sans any Internet facility. No newspaper. By the way we were surprised to know that Telangana issue was burning while we were happy burning petrol.

All and all, I can say it was a job well done. The only crease was Lawry losing his cellphone and Tush, his glares! Other than that, I guess it was smooth. Oh, I almost forgot to say, I lost my nose out there on the road. Its still a bit burnt. But I am happy 2009 is leaving me on a happy note and I hope that 2010 brings with it more road trips, more traveling and less stagnancy for India is too huge a country to cover in one lifetime.

Wishes!!!

Well this is a day when you were born
Gifted an angel by a god unknown

Being naughty is your trait
And is well received by those who have fallen in your bait

Forget the past as the passing years can never mar
It is the experiences great and small that has made you what you are.

Love

It’s a rainy afternoon, streets bustling with crowd and the only view that can be seen from a 10 storey building is of streets covered by umbrellas depicting of a huge roof covering the streets and between these potholed streets a incident occurs that could be forgotten after few days but a lesson to be learned at that moment.

It’s a story about….you will figure it out just after 5 mintues…..Read on…

July 23, 2008 – 1:00 PM

It’s raining heavily and everybody’s busy trying to keep distance from the overflowing gutter caused due to heavy rains. But somewhere between this noisy activity, a distinguishing voice can be heard a rather painful one asking for something which is weird in itself. And as you follow the distressed voice, you encounter a young boy in his teens (i will name him Sri), shabby and torn clothes, injured knee, seeing his condition no one would argue that he is a slum dweller but why is he crying???

Emosanal Attyachar – Emotional Blackmail

Emosanal Attyachar

Readers Discretion is Advised

All Characters and incident in this write-up are imaginary. Resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

Well it would be a surprise for me if you haven’t heard the “Emosanal Attyachar” song from the soon to be released ‘Dev D’, a modern version portrayal of the classic Devdas. Back to “Emosanal Attyachar” the hot favorite of everyone right now and you cannot put it in any specific genre, you’ll have to create one .

Why I’m writing a post about this is because I can relate to this song like most of you and “Emosanal Attyachar” is about each one of us dealing with reality sometimes on a serious note and sometimes the reasons are funny.

“Emosanal Attyachar” holds different meanings to different people but to sum it up in one general term “Emotional Blackmail” . Let’s get to know why I find this ‘two particular word so interesting’… come with me….. 1-2-3—dusssshhhh….(flashback)

Well, it’s me 121.7 cm tall, 7 years old at the peak of my notorious career, as it was god gifted to me so can’t do anything about it. Well, to be a professional in this has its own rewards or to be specific “risks” and and it was my mom’s watchful eyes 24/7 on me.

Schools were a way to torture us and homework’s were kind of “Welcome to Hell, Dude”. And with parents nagging with their cliche dialogues, “you have to become this in future or finish this” and the only thing that was in my

Doggie Bewafa – Heart Broken Dog

Hum Dum – Remix

D.R.E.A.M.S

There’s been a time when we were decided
Making us feel completed
Now here i am standing undecided
Puzzled with a question who i am

Acquainted by loneliness,partnering our side
Searching answers in the empty sky.
Stars sparkle but are meant for others.
Where do i stand between these fakers.

Trapped

John had a life which others thought was a life to live for but John had some other notion for his life which he quoted as a “A life of a poor soul trapped in a sack of money”. He was a well off person working in a well renowned bank as a Branch Manager with a beautiful family. His only routine was to wake up and get ready for work and come back home.

Distractions of Love

Distractions of love

The fragrance and beauty of rural ….India…. is still alive today. And it’s the same case with the ….village.. of ..Ambalpadi…. where the people are known for their honesty, loyalty and kindness. Among them was, Vivek, a 12 year old boy who lived with his widowed mother Indira. Indira used to sell coconuts to earn a living for her and her young son. She toiled hard to give Vivek a better education in the hope of securing a better future for him. ….

My Ads

SHAMPOO

.. A Bald man is standing and waiting for someone, at that mean time a lady with rough-frizzy hair comes by scratching her head as she crosses the bald man her hair abruptly becomes smooth and silky; she stops scratching her head and walks off happily. Seeing this, the bald man is shocked and surprised. Then a beggar comes by; his hair is dirty and rough he also scratches his head. As he crosses the bald man his hair becomes clean and smooth and he is spellbound and walks by. The bald man again gets shocked and surprised. Then a “Madari” with his monkey comes by, the monkey is scratching his body as he crosses the bald man the monkey’s hair becomes clean and shiny and the monkey stops scratching. The bald man is shocked and totally confused and sees here and there and thinking what’s happening around here. Then he looks up, as he looks up, what he see’s? Its a Shampoo hoarding up there…… ..

ANIMAL RIGHTS

..A poor girl is walking on the streets with her dog (only girl in fame). She is walking on the footpath and talking with her dog about how much she cares for him, about the fate of her friend’s dog, and other things. While she is busy talking with her dog; the people around the footpath are laughing at her. But she is incognisant about it. As she walks she suddenly stops and tells her dog “phir gir gaya khade me” as she lifts her dog up. (In frame the girl with her stuffed dog toy dirty and torn) ..

Anti-Smoking

.. A guy is busy reading a book and is smoking simultaneously. As he puffs the smoke out it passes by his hand as it passes the 1/3^rd of his life line in his hand vanishes. Then 2^nd time the same thing happens and half of his life line disappears. The 3^rd time as the smoke passes by his hand, the smoke turns into a symbol of a skull (danger like sign). ..

BANK – (MUTUL FUNDS)

..(camera is still- mid-shot) A very thin guy with a sophisticated look is exercising in a garden doing pull-ups. First he does pull-ups with both his hands then goes down. Then he removes his 2^nd hand and does pull-ups with just one hand, then again he goes down. Now he removes his other hand too. There’s a pause for few sec, complete silence for a few seconds’, just sounds of birds chirping around can be heard. Then with full power and aggression in his face he does pull-ups’ without his hands. The camera shakes a bit and the camera pulls back. What you see — The guys is doing pull-ups with the help of a stool…

.. ..

“WE SUPPORT YOU WHEN YOU NEED US”….

.. - xyz bank..

DESIGNER WATCH

..A stylish boy in a college walks through the college corridors as he passes by a group of girls. The girls look at him coquettishly (the boy has a habit of moving his hand through his hair whenever he sees a girl). The girls follow him. He gets excited the girls are following him. He goes to a solitary area of the college and even the girls reach there and surround him. He gets excited. The girls pounce upon him. The guy is standing with fervor. The girls go down and the guy has closed his eyes. Suddenly, the guy hears girls giggling. He opens his eyes; sees down nobody’s there and he sees what, the girls walk away with his watch beguiled. The guy first is embarrassed with the situation but later laughs at what had happened…...

FEMALE INFANTICIDE

.. (Back shot of a guy) - A guy is walking with a bouquet of flowers. Suddenly, a flower falls down from it on the ground. (Camera on the flower –dusty wind blows) The flower is moving to and fro because of the dusty winds. Suddenly, a man inadvertently stomps the flower and walks away. The flower is spoiled…

.. (Camera zooms into the flower)..

.. “Flower spreads fragrance – then why?”..

.. SUPER- Message about FEMALE INFANTICIDE..

INSURANCE

.. A fish bowl with 2 same species of fish in it; both the fish are seeing upwards. A piece of fish food is hanging above their bowl. One of the fish with lot of force springs out of the bowl to eat that food as it jumps out a cat quickly and suddenly pounces on it and eats it up. Then it looks cunningly at the other fish which is in the bowl. The fish in the bowl gets scared and goes to the very end corner of the bowl…

.. ..

“Unknown happens unknowingly”

–XYZ Insurance

DEODORANT

.. A guy with good personality is walking in the streets styling his gelled hair. He passes by a man who is wearing a flower printed t-shirt as he passes by the man, the printed flower in his t-shirt dies. The man is shocked and surprised. The guy then passes a group of girls. The girls fall down like dead leaves. The guys thinks (cloud bubble) “ohh… my personality must have bowled then”. Then a small kid with cloth clip in his nose comes up to the guy and gives him xyz deodorant and gives some coins and says its of Rs.55 keep the change and please use it...

POVERTY

..A poor beggar boy sees a school boy boarding a school bus just then he sees the school boy’s mother coming hurriedly to give him his ….Tiffin…. box. Seeing this the beggar smiles and he also places his hand forward just like the school boy expecting that even his mother will give him a Tiffin box but his mother gives him his begging bowl. Seeing this tears falls from his eyes and rolls down his cheeks and into the empty bowl…