I got LeH'd

August 5, 2010. 27th candle on the cake. Man, am i running out of space in the cake?? Its time for the birthday party, friends, birthday bums and what not. Aint that the same thing i do every birthday? Its time to make and exception.  

Take out the dusty leather jacket, fire up the thunder in good ol Royal Enfield and ride up the Himalayas. This birthday, I wanted to feel ALIVE. 

July 29th, I started from Dublin to Bangalore. Round up my pals and picked the next flight to Delhi. Flight to rickshaws to train to Innova and finally the Royal Enfield. Himalayas, here we come.

Exactly at 12 midnight, 5th Aug, my roommate, Jomy and friends came over with a makeshift Birthday cake. A stack of Bread with Butter, Jam and candles right in center. A birthday without cake on my face!!! I dont remember a birthday without cake on my face. By night, we had reached Leh, checked into a home stay in Leh. After days of riding all day, the whole team was tired and decided to hit the bed early. by 12, i was in deep slumber. 

half an hour passed by, i woke up to the huge noise my friends were making around me. i barely open my eyes to notice my friends standing on the bed. I stepped out of my bed and suddenly, the bed rose up and I am standing waist deep in water. Imagine waking up in a strange place, your bedroom is flooded with water and it is supposed to be a place where it never rains. 

The Flash Flood

It took some time for me to realize that I am in a flood. and the water level is rising by the minute. We jumped out of the room. in the meanwhile my friends in the other room had also gotten up. Six out of the nine people were in this cottage. While the other 3 was in a cottage on higher grounds. 

I tried to open the main door. But it simply wont move. Its stuck with debris from the flood accumulating on the other end. Push the door, break the door, do what ever possible, but we had to get out. And thats excatly what we did. As soon as the door gave away, the flood pushed more water into the room. All of us made our way to the higher grounds. Frightened, with no clue on what i happening around you, we stood there in the rain, drenched, covered in mud but relieved that all of us are safe and in high grounds. The house owner ran came running to us and told us to flee from there. All the building are made of clay and is not built to withstand water. With no buildings nor any trees or any structure to hold on to, my nightmare had just begun. 

Time to run. Run for your life.

We ran out to the Innova. thankfully the driver was already ready, and had the engines running. We left the bikes there and climbed into the Innova. The owner of the homestay helped us and some of us got into their Scorpio. And we hit the gas. The vehicle simply wont move. The water had got the wheels stuck mud, debris and what not. Was it fear or was it desperation, but out of nowhere, we had the strength to lift an Innova out of the dirt. 

With both the SUVs clinging to our very life, we hit the gas. In the dark, both the SUV went in different directions. We kept going for another 15 mins, pulling the SUV out, whenever we got stuck. And stoped at a rock where it felt a little safe. 

In a strange land, drenched in rain and covered in mud, wearing just a shorts and banyan, cold, scared, puzzled we sat in the car. Running the heater intermittently so that we dont run out of fuel. Where was the other SUV? Are they safe? I guess we were very tensed. It dint strike anyone of us to ring someone in the other SUV. Not until couple of hours passed. Once we heard from there, we were very relieved that all of us are safe. Till now. 

The locals were all puzzled on what is happening. Stories of missing people and death filled the air. We decided that on day break we will hike down to the room and will meet up with the whole gang.

The next day.

By early morning, some of us had to use the bathroom. Guys are sure lucky, nature provides a lot of places and aint have to hunt for a restroom. Then again, its not a all guys gang. A Monk invited us to his house and allowed us to use his restroom. It was then he told us that this was a flash flood and this part of the mountain had been wiped clean. I still had no clue what a flash flood meant. We continued on our journey to the rooms. 

I was walking barefoot as i did not have the time to grab anything  last night. The local people gave me slippers and insisted that i should take it. I have never seen this man before. And they very well knew that i may never see him again. but still, he gave me his best pair of slippers. I am so touched by him. I cant imagine someone in Bangalore doing this. Or will they?

We met our friends by the time i reached our room. The flash flood wiped clean the whole side of the mountain. Tears of joy ticked down as i hugged my friends. Last night, I was not sure I would see them again. I was not sure i would see anyone again. And here I am, feeling .... ALIVE. I guess, I got my birthday wish.

Canon D500 it is

Last two weeks have been really hectic. Running through tons of sites, shops, reviews. All i could think about is whether Canon is better than Nikon? Is a Canon D1000 with good lens better than Nikon D3100? What is the best deals that you can get? I nearly knew the prices and offers in various sites inside out.

This is when the impulse kicks in. I went to Kochi, Kerala, for Christmas. And the Christmas feelings got my impulse racing. Thats when I ran right into Camera shop and bought the Canon D500. Wait, did I say D500? Now that is not the one i been researching all along? Well, like i said, its Christmas.

But on a more serious note, the Canon lens gives slightly more options than a Nikon lens. It especially makes more sense as its a pocket friendly lens ( as long as the pockets are fairly large). I also heard that Canon provides an excellent training on SLR photography. Little did i know that Nikon also provides the same.

In Essence, My cupboard now hosts a Canon D500, Canon 18-55mm lens, Canon 55-250mm lens, UV filters, Polarized filters and me on the other end.

Its time to get creative. Its time to move my butt.

In Pursuit of a Camera

Pictures says a thousand words. Or so they say. In that case, some pics can be called short stories while the others can be classified as Novels and yet some, the encyclopedia.
And this is where my mind has been stuck for last few weeks. I am looking for a camera, that will write Novels. really nice novels.
To give a little background, I started my photography lessons on a sony cybershot W150. It was a smooth sail until one day i got a little too near to the sea. I could say, i was not firing on all my cylinders that day. Anyway, shortly after that I got myself a Canon sx20IS. Now that was a really nice camera. Until i got stuck in the Leh, ladakh flood in 2010.
And here am I, Wondering which is the next camera in line for me. An amateur photographer. I am very keen on getting myself a SLR this time. taking my history, i should look for a SLR that is waterproof, impact proof, nature proof and more importantly, Dileep Proof. Now since that is not an option, lets get down to practical ones.
I have narrowed down my search to

Canon D1000 ( cos of the price tag )

Nikon D3100 (Nice feature set)

Nikon D5000 ( I really love that swirl LCD screen. I guess its the impact of my prev cam)

Sleepless nights spent on Google, reading reviews, and more reviews. Comparing prices, vendors what not. One is sure overwhelmed with information these days. Different people, different opinion. No wonder they have so many choices.

Anyway coming back to topic, the cameras, the Canon is ruled out. the basic D1000 is little too basic. its not gonna be long before i out grow that, and the next cam in the series is nearly double the price tag. And by that time, i would have invested in lens and can not move out of canon brand.
That leaves me 2 of the nikon series. One side , i have a newer, 3100, 14 megs ( tho that really dont count), full HD, more hard keys are pulling me to this side. while the swirl LCD screen is a real weakness for me.


But should i be breaking my head on this or on the lens that i will ( read as may) buy.
The battle is still on. I guess, ill decide within a week. Let the better side win.

Maddening People

As I walk through the streets of Dubai feeling the cool breeze of Feb sky, I could not help but to compare just about everything with India. One thing that struck me quite a lot is the road manners that the people here show. Almost (if not all) everyone follows traffic signs. You wont find motorist on the wrong way, nor speeding, nor driving zig zag. But everyone is following the lane, driving at a constant speed, keeping well distance from each other. They will even stop the vehicle for the pedestrians to cross the road. 

Compare this with the maddening traffic in Bangalore. You will have no clue where the vehicles are coming from or when they will ram the brakes. or for that matter, what hit them. but is it not the very same people who was once driving back in India, who came here and became so nice people? How did this transformation happen? why does this not happen in India. 

The answer came knocking my doorstep today. It was heavy rain last night in Dubai and this usually leads to clogged roads and more traffic. And as the traffic increased little by little, i started to notice few people jump lanes, taking the side path to skip the traffic. When one hour of bad traffic brings out this behavior, what will a lifetime of traffic jams make people to do. Now when i think of the same, adding the reality conditions also into perspective, the traffic and the road sense is not really bad. We just need to look at the whole perspective. 

Isn't it funny how the environment variables really change the behaviour of a person. When he has plenty of resources, he is polite and patient. But when the resource gets scarce, the animal in him comes out. I guess this very basic instinct is what really made us the dominant creature in the planet.

Dumbstruck tourist @ Dubai

I bid adeos to the good looking Emirates Airlines Air hostess. The flight had stoped at the main terminal and had a direct duct into the airport. From a air conditioned flight to a air conditioned airport. 

I took my natural instincts and followed the crowd. Its like everyone knew where to walk to. No one is bothered to look for any sign board or ask anyone. Then again, the plane was loaded with good looking girls. So i really did not think twice when i was following them out of airport. they took the elevator, so did I. They took the stairs, so did I. They stood in queue, so did I.

Little did i realise that they all were transit passengers and were walking right into their next flight. It was then the security asked me for my tickets for the next flight when it struck me that i am following them to the transit terminal for the next flight. :) Silly ol me. :)

This time i asked people and found my way out. To the Arabi land. The second i stepped out, i felt the heat. The desert heat struck my face. I guess a preview to what ill be facing for the next few weeks. In short time, I was already in my bro's house and lil more later at a private beach with the sea lashing on my face. Surprisingly, i was feeling cold at 2 in the afternoon. Thats a shocker for a desert. and to top it, we had heavy rain in the night. This was the first time that bro ever had to run his car with Wiper in full blast!! Hmmmm...looks like i have started a storm out here :)

Time Management

Recently I went for a Time Management course. I did not have any particular expectations out of the course, but when I heard that this is being scheduled in the office I jumped in. I would say the primary intention will be that, I can spend 4 hours out of the busy office schedule. Added to that,  you don’t even have to pay for it.

The session was post lunch, and I was half in my own world. I say, a nice yummy biriyanni for lunch can have that effect on your brains. Most of the ideas went bouncers right over my head anyways.

So what is time management really? How can you manage time? Time is certainly unmanageable. Its will always tick on and on. No matter what you do, it will tick. So why is it called time management if you cant really manage it.

But then suddenly, he popped a question as if he was trying to wake me up. How many hours do you have in a day? He was trying to bring out the difference in the attitude “I have ONLY 24 hours” Vs “I HAVE 24 Hours”.

So coming back to the question, I asked myself. In that 24 hours, how many hours do I really have for myself.  Funny, I really had a very low figure for that. After all the efforts I put in to make my life cool, I really aint spent any time to enjoy it??? Strange…

The Golden Years called College

Its so true. You never get to know the importance of things close to you untill you no longer have it.

It was the same for me in college. Those days, those golden days, when you laze trough all morning, chatting, looking at the misty mountains out of the window, thinking whether to go for ride in the evening or to settle for a game of cards.

For those who do not know about my college, I studied in the misty, foggy and cold hills of munnar in gods own country. A college blanketed by beauty in all the directions.

With friends all around you, and a sense of belonging, you live each and every moment in it. We were a the first batch in the college of engg, Munnar. When all the other colleges formed party unions and fought for party reasons which makes no sense for the students, we made hostel unions and fought for no reasons at all. With each passing day, we formed a stronger and stronger bonds of friendship. And thus , the TAJ boyz was born.

Lovely were those days, where you go to college, having fun, ragging the juniors, running around the corridors, calling the proxys, copying trought the exams and what not. Wish we could live trough those days once more. Wish we could freeze those moments . Then again life moves on. and on.

Into the Unknown

Life is so simple yet so complicated. It was only a few days back, when everything was going very simple and easy. Good job, decent pay pack, easy living, happy family. what more can one ask for.

And now, I have an offer with me. An offer that lured me with from my simple living to a complicated one. An offer which showed me how a happy mind can so easily turn itself to an unhappy one, asking for more and more.

Money, the Gandhi notes. I find this to be the biggest irony of all. Printed on each face of the currency is the face of a man who prophecies equality, selflessness, and love. Printed on that note which is the core reason for all the greed, selfishness and violence. Life sure is strange.

When I received the offer, Am I not worth more?

What is it that I want? They say, Man is considered successful when he earns more than what he can spend. For that matter, when he earns more than what his wife can spend. And a women is considered successful when she finds such a man.

But jokes apart, Will money ever satisfy anyone. Is money everything? Money, lack of it will certainly give a lot of unhappiness. But having plenty of it will not guarantee any happiness.

Then what is happiness? This is a question that everyone has to ask to him selves. To seek within one selves. To do find out what one really wants to do in life.

Coming back to my primary confusion, should I opt for the new job which offers me the the heaven and the world as claims the HR. Or should I opt for the same happy life, which has been spoilt by the offers the world offers. Whether I should leave my comfort zone to explore the vast unknown, to face new challenges, and tackle unknown problems.

I choose to keep moving. keep sailing. On the ocean of life. sailing on the sea to the vast unknown. Into the vast unknown.

The running man

 wake up early every morning. To see the golden ball of fire go up in east. The morning breeze in your face. Up and ready for a bright and shiny day ahead.

Who am I kidding. I open my weary eyes, to look at the clock to find if I can squeeze five more minutes in that cozy blanket. And before I know it, the sun is already over my head. The office shuttle is already in office. And there I go, running the race of time. In no time, I am riding my dusty flaming red pulsar ( My sweet superbike ), down the crowded roads of Bangalore. I turn the throttle and she roars to life, to overtake that vehicle in front. SLAM! I hit the brakes. There is a big traffic jam in front.

Bangalore is well known for the traffic sense among the drivers. So I think no more when I see little gap on the wrong side of the road leading to the narrow lane, which leads to God knows where. After all, All roads leads to “ROAM”.

I reach my office. Rush to the meetings where my boss asks me whether I submitted that important work to be submitted yesterday. Whoops Yesterday!! I somehow manage my to sleaze away this time. And back to ol monitor. Working my way, and in no time, I realize, its time to get running, away from office, away from work. To do those things that you desire.

Now thinking again, Was there anything there to do? The same old malls, the same old theatres. What is there to do? I then decide to come back to my room. Surf the idiot box, the same ol reruns of movies that probably have already been shown a million times over and over again.
I turn around and I see a cozy invitation, my pillow and blanket. Before I know it. I am inside my blanket. Leaving all worries and tensions to the next day.

And the next day, I wake up, Look at the same clock. Do I have another five minutes? Do I start running just yet?

Running behind the Greenbacks

Want to fly the seven Seas. To see the flourishing land of green backs and babes. With big dreams, I slept off preparing myself for the Visa interview the next day.

6.30 AM flight, I reminded myself. It will be difficult to get a cab. Why not have it arranged previous night itself. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the number for the call taxi. Hello said a sleepy voice from the other end. " I need a cab to take me to the airport tomorrow at 5.15 in the morning". All right said the voice from the other end.

Ahhh... now the cabbie will wake me up in case I over sleep. With a big smile on my face, I slept off. Dreams of checking one more country in my world map. Picturing myself walking out of the airport there. 

Next day, my room mate pushes me out of the bed. Askin me.. What are you doin here? dont u have a flight to catch?? Sleepily I ask him, whats the time. Its 5.40. WHATTTT, suddenly , I am all alert. Oh shucks, I over slept!! what the #@$ was the cabbie doin? he never called me. I rush myself and get ready. Quickly ensure that all my docs are there with me. I drag my roomie to the bike. And shift gear to the Hannuman gear and she roars to life.

6.15, I am at the airport. I rush to the Kingfisher desk. Wait, I am there to fly to chennai. stop the planeeeee. " I am sorry sir. We have already completed the boarding for this flight." What ??? the flight was not delayed? It is running in time>> what happened to the bangalore airport conjessions?

all my dreams were begining to burst. Then I decided. What the heck? I will fly to chennai and see if i can get an interview however late I am. Took the next flight to chennai. Heck that one is running late.

Two and a half hour late, I was standing in the line at the US counsulate. I managed to get in. While I was getting my documents verified, a person comes and calls out, Is there any one left for the 10 AM interview. ( 10.AM?? hell , I am 8.45 AM interview candidate ) . I walked up to him and told him I was sheduled much earlier. HE looked at me puzzled look ( "Where the hell were u all this time ?") he asked me to rush to the next building and get on the queue.

Fortunately the person in the other end of the glass box did not check the interview time. He just asked me a couple of questions and he said " Sir, your Visa has been approved. We will send your passport to you in six days ".

I got my VISA stamped!!! the dreams did not burst away!!! Well, and life rolls on.