Somewhere out there

Adieu

2010-01-06T17:51:00.002+05:30

He walked the paths of the flume,
lined with trees all yellow, red n blue,
where once upon a time in yon,
logs were sent – top to down.

He walked along the riverside,
loving the life by his side,
all around the wind was cold,
and yet there was a warmth behold.

He walked the seashore point to point,
watching the rock stopping the tide,
shining stone held in the hand,
and a coy smile by his side.

He walked against the tides of time,
and against the family line,
waging a battle to win them all,
unrelenting till he had them all.

He walked the distance from afar,
with helping hands and words and ear,
gave some strength like a lord,
miles made easy on the chord.

He walked with joy, he walked with pain,
he walked with gold through sun and rain,
he walked the present with the yore,
until he could but walk no more.

I Talked To God Today...

2009-09-11T11:37:00.001+05:30

I talked to God today … couldn’t talk to no one else…. I asked him why he did he not fulfill his promises…things that he had promised he would do. He replied “have you fulfilled your promise to me?” I had no answer.

I asked him why did you not do, what I did for you. I stayed up all night praying for you and when I expect you to do the same, you don’t. He replied “Can you do things that I can? Would you be able to do the things that I do for you? Why do you then expect me to do the same, whether or not I am capable of doing it? Everyone has different capabilities. I don’t have some of the qualities that you do. I cannot care for one person as much but you can since I have the whole lot to care about. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care at all does it.”

I asked him why I should not shun you for hurting me so. He replied “Did your mother shun you for all the times you hurt her? Did she not forgive you and accept you and your actions despite the hurt? She did so coz she loves you unconditionally. Do you love me unconditionally?”

I do!

~KK

In the end...

2009-09-05T02:15:00.000+05:30

N so a song by Linkin Park goes.. You tried so hard n got so far..in the end it doesnt even matter..

I could type in da whole song bt its mre fun listening to it. I for one believe 100% that songs can say a thousand words more than any orater can speak or a writer can pen...be they hindi songs from bollywood or head-bangin stuff from roads to revolution. Simply awesome.!

La finit,..,..!

Ride to Nariman Pt n more...

2009-08-09T20:55:00.001+05:30

Was contemplating all day abt what to do.What startd as a plan to ride to Malshej turnd out to be a damp fib. Dint wake up on time. Lazing around all day ended up in me finally kikstartin my bike at 5 n leave.
I am now at nariman pt typing this post. Got to talk to a dear friend aft a long time n gt da news that her marriage is fixd :-)

This place is packd with people yet there is this eerie calm these stone barricades all piled up.

hehe...
Gud luck, God bless n Gud bye KK

Da Fight....

2009-08-03T22:04:00.002+05:30

Had an earlee morning waiting for the sun to rise... but the wait was tiring and i dozed off again... only to be shocked out of slumber by a thought that i was verry late to work... which thankfully I wasnt... yet!

N then the incredible happened... my bathroom was invaded by a medium size domestic lizard n it just dint want me to get on with my prep... so had to fight it off ... took 20 mins of my precious time..10 mins to get it out of the bathroom n 10 to direct it out to the balcony. phew...

Then it was all smooth sailing till I reached work :D

Mee so thinking that mee gonna hv much more encounters of the creepy kind henceforth. Hope n pray I come out of it unscathed.

~KK

Livin out'f a suitcase....

2009-08-02T18:42:00.004+05:30

M back to living out of a suitcase … :) Its funny how some things are synonymous with one’s existence. Considering how long I have been doing this, one would think I would like it to change. Probably in some way I do want it to change but some things ….well they just never do whatever you may do. I was kind of not-living-out-of-my-suitcase for the past 6 months but that had to change… and it did… today.

It’s friendships day today. Its been a long time since I connected with a lot of my friends. Thats how things change after college or after moving away from your group. Friends are important but then they are not a priority. You may be bosom pals and share everything but when your paths n priorities change then it takes a back seat. Good thing is you will always have new friends to supplement the changes. Such is the way of life.

Times are such that when you sit down at the end of your day and try to think about stuff other than your work, you realize how mundane your life has become. Same with me. Works killing. It’s actually hectic. So hectic that I only spend 15% of my time at home.

Neways Wish you all a very happy friendships day. May you never face a situation that you don’t have your friends to talk to … when you need them and even when you don’t…

Stay Kool.

~KK

Live News ... 07-31-2009

2009-07-31T07:33:00.000+05:30

An early morning after dozing off late yesterday... happened to see the sun tryin to sneak out between da clouds ... couldnt resist :)

Good Morning To All n Hv a rocking day ..

~KK

Project Bedlam...

2009-07-30T21:46:00.001+05:30

It’s been chaotic to say the least … these past few days … well past month I would say but last ten days have been like the final assault … Normandy landing … operation desert storm … project bedlam I can call it… just that we are not even at the climax …. If this is the pre-cursor to it all who wants the climax … rite..?...

I have forgotten what dinner is … for the past 10 months I guess … but these days it McAlloo-TIkki n Coke that’s keeping me runnin… this would probably kill me but there’s no way out … Ah but there always is …. It just needs to be found … in the right place … so sayeth Dumbleedore :)

The moon is out after a long time today … surrounded by dark clouds but still able to radiate. It’s good to see it … lots n lots cometh back ….
We had the quarterly open house today … No increments this year was the bottom, top, middle line … the crux of 3 hours of precious, billable time spent. @-)

On a parting note …. Lights will guide you home …. And I will try and fix you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI-o25K6B-E

~KK

Luc n Late Nites....

2009-07-25T03:08:00.003+05:30

Just saw a distant cousin (whom I have never ever met and the only connection I have with him is his mom is on my fb friends list) sing this amazing Tamil song with just his voice and no instruments … will post the link here after getting permission over here … but it was very good and I am not such a big tamil music fan – ironical but true. Its funny come to think of it… he has been born n brought up in the US and he is a better exponent of classical music that quite a few people I know who live in India … n that includes me. People out there give more importance to Indian culture (in some ways) and this is a subjective thing absolutely… guess its natural. We mortals, sitting here in India try to ape the west while our country people there try to bring the India to their cold n dollar rich homes there. It may be coz my earlier generation was born n bred in this country and went there post 20+ years of India stay. Will the same case be applicable for those in my generation who have been born n brought up there? Parental n community pressure may have had them learn karnatic classical music or Hindustani or tabla or harmonium but will they go ahead and put the same pressure or have the same expectations from their kids? May be …. May be not … have some relatives there and also a lot of friends so it is always the same thing that I hear or see. Ah well such is the way of life… :)

Saw Luck and it was the most amazing DKD read Dimaag Ka Dahi movie …. Shruti Hassan was disappointing to say the least … her father n mother’s shoes too big to be filled may be… but she looks sweet. She has brown eyes… but with some white marks in the cornea (would that be the brown part of the eye? )…. Oh but Harry Potter was awesome last week. Totally !!! Expelliaramus !!!

What am I doing here u may ask … up so late … n I would say work… still in office … damn these bugs n payments n bills … they are killing me :(( sneaking in some lines before I go back …

Waiting for some news … anything good … a bike ride in the rain perhaps… or is it too risky…

Bon Nuit mes amis
~KK

Updates...

2009-07-23T14:40:00.006+05:30

It’s been a while since I penned down anything … Has been a bad 6-8 weeks with work pressures reaching Godzilla levels … it still continues and probably would do so for the next couple of months atleast… damn! Wish I had won a jackpot and could relax off its interest.
Add to this has been the pain of moving to a new apartment….. Apartment … hmm I say that for ease of understanding but its Bombay so apartments can also be a single room n so is mine … I could have called it a studio apartment but then typical studios are supposed to be huge and mine is miniscule :D The only saving grace is a balcony with a view anyone in Bombay would kill for … Ah well maybe not kill but you get what I mean … just some snaps to corroborate my claims…

Seems like I live in a bird sanctuary but nope...nadaa..illay...nahi... it still is Goregaon-Mumbai!

Bombay aka Mumbai is on a tsunami alert for the next couple of days and offices have been doing a lot of BCP (read Business Continuity Planning). Many companies worked last Saturday and have declared Friday as off while some (as dada, my colleague here just mentioned) have allowed their employees to work from home. Not our company, at least nothing officially yet coz we are in Goregaon which is on a higher level comparatively. Let’s see what the morrow brings …

Got usurped by an evil warlord so had to take a break …. But just came back from the dome in our office building and gosh is it windy today. Bombay can take over the title of windy city from Chicago by the looks of it…
Work beckons … so more later… Ciao
~KK

A Forward I Received ....

2009-07-13T20:23:00.005+05:30

My Father sent me this forward today... (he does that a lot these days) and it got me thinking ... of so many things ... least of which was about a sparrow...

Gr-attitude has 3 Ts.
Trusting, Trusworthy & Tolerating.....
The first 2 persons in our life showed us this from day 1
Is it not long since, we have forgotten.

We may Remember Occasionally
who guided us WITH LOVE& doting
when we could not understand- right& left shoe.
We are son or daughter or SIL or DIL to some one, who are unable to sleep thinking about: whether we remember them at all.

We are so busy in our own wonderland, we forget 2 things:

1. That someone is eagerly awaiting for our call/ care.
2. One day we also would be in their shoes doing 2 things.

a. Eagerly awaiting for the call/ care from someone whom we could not learn to stop loving AND......
b. How we did not give a little time for our own care-givers when they needed it as badly as we do now.

But would that not be too late !!!!...

Watch this Video & give a little thought; we could avoid that
guilt atleast in our sunset years.....

Ticket .....

2009-05-06T00:39:00.002+05:30

Today was a special day. I got my first ever traffic violation ticket in India! Sounds absurd? It is! I have been driving for the past 16 years now… and I have been caught by the traffic cops a few times during this while in India. But I have always managed to get out without a ticket. Today was different. I chose to get a ticket 

It so happened that I was in a hurry to get to Bandra from Goregaon and it was 7.40 am so I was firing on all cylinders. At a signal, I took a left thinking there was a free left and there wasn’t and there were cops ready to pounce on ignorant souls like myself and I was trapped. I argued with this sloppily dressed kaka - it was not even a mama (kaka is slang for a cop in khaki colored uniform and mama is slang for a traffic cop in white :D don’t ask me why… that’s how it goes around here) so I tried telling him that there was no sign saying it wasn’t a free left and his only explanation was that there were other vehicles waiting so that meant there wasn’t a free left. Give me a break man… how absurd can it get. No explanation of mine helped. He asked for my license and I gave it to him. Then he asked for insurance and registration and to his utter shock I had valid ones (thank god I remembered to carry them along) and the cat had caught his tongue. So he asked another “mama” to write the ticket and I thought of trying to weasel out of it by offering to settle it without one but I somehow resisted. I don’t know why but I did. Probably the voter in me had woken up against corruption or whatever but I let him do his job. I did not stop arguing with the main guy though coz I could not accept his logic.
Well all this while I was on the defensive and he was on top, enjoying every moment of it so to speak. I decided to play offense. I removed my cell and looked at his lapel for a name tag. There was none. So I politely asked him his name. Now 11 times out of 10, people like to flaunt their names especially in situations where you are the king. This time was not one of those. This guy went mad. “Why? Why do you want my name? Who do you think you are? I won’t give my name. You do whatever you want… call whosoever you want?” OMG! The transformation was 180 degrees. I was the man on top and this guy went on the back foot like there was no tomorrow. I had never intended to complain nor did I know any soul in Bombay who had the remotest influence. It had been those spur of the moment reactions and I had hit jackpot. Wooohoooooo …. I loved it. All the anger, tension, worry of getting to my destination was forgotten. I was not rude now was I swearing that he could do anything about it. His subordinates came to his rescue and tried to explain to me that I was wrong and I had broken the signal. I wasn’t thinking about that. I just wanted to know this guy’s name and he did not want to give it. Hehehe… in my mind I was ROTFLMAO and I was enjoying it. So whilst it had started with me being the culprit, it ended the opposite. I took my ticket, still telling him that if he was so very correct then he shouldn’t be frightened to give his name. he tried saying something in Marathi but I was upto it. I replied back to him in Marathi and he couldn’t say nothing. Take that you corrupt swine … I wanted to say (the swine flu news is responsible for my choice of swear) I resisted as I had to be at my 5* destination asap. So I took my 15 day ticket to break as many signals I liked without having to worry about losing my license, left my original license with them (I would need to pay the fine at the nearby chowki and collect it in the next 3 days else I would need to go to the traffic police main branch in Worli) and left.

All in all it was a very bad start to my day. I slept at 2 am, was woken up by my aunt asking to me to meet her at 6.30 and was caught for taking a free left (I still protest) and my license was impounded but I had managed to ruffle a crooked cops feathers, tail, branches – you name it. And the irony of all of this is that this is my first ticket in my 16 years of driving in India. The only other ticket I have got was in the US so I managed to achieve something unique today.

Sleep comes. So I bid adieu  Hope to get back my license tomorrow with least possible fine. Will update on the amount ;)
Ciao.
~KK

Voting and Status Updates

2009-04-29T00:55:00.001+05:30

I voted in the general elections last week! For the first time ever in my life, I saw an EVM and pressed a button to cast my vote for a candidate. For an existence as long as mine in the largest democracy in the world, that seems ironic but it’s true. It had become very important for me, nearly bordering on obsession, so much so that I had to defy my superiors wishes not to take a leave to travel 170 kms and vote. In a long time, I felt as if I had done something worthwhile. Don’t know if that’s the correct feeling but still. “Jaagore” had done its work on one person atleast 

In the past few months Twitter and facebook have really caught on. They have been in the virtual world for ages but its as if I am seeing its effects only now. People put up their statuses as to what they are upto at any given point of time. Celebs have twitter accounts and they supposedly use it to stay in touch with their fans. Ha … as if they would divulge any juicy facts online … nevertheless they are there … and by the looks of it, to stay.

I too have been doing this on facebook (haven’t come down to twittering yet though I have an account – who would take the trouble of building up a group on yet another networking site). And its fun. I can actually let people know when I am travelling, where I am or how the weather is in my suburb or what’s for lunch today or what I am working on and so on … and I also get to read about their stuff. Why take all this trouble and let people know … its not vital to ones existence and I have come across this question multiple times these past few weeks on some medium or another. Or for that matter, why blog? Who wants to know what is happening in Big B’s life or in the dressing rooms of KKR back in Zulu land – courtesy fakeiplplayer ;).

My take is people want to share, their happiness, their thoughts, their queries. You can always do that with your family or your close friends at work or outside. Why then take the help of these novel yet peculiar mediums? I personally feel like telling people. When I can tell a larger audience using these methods then why not make use of it. I can use my cell phone to get on the net and do this same stuff so I don’t have to be in front of a pc or open my laptop to do it. Everyone needs to share various things. Of course some personal things one would not put online but the general, seemingly mundane, everyday things can surely be shared. I was outside a hospital ICU recently, looking after a sick relative and I wanted to share it. I couldn’t call as it was a silence zone and I surely can't call 100 people so I used FB. And people were worried which is obvious and I got a few brickbats too for not being clearer as to why I was in a hospital but because of that status message my cousin got the news of her grandmother being in hospital, while backpacking in the Australian outback. And I talked to a friend of mine who is posted in Sikkim in the armed forces. He got worried and called me up and all in all I was happy talking to him. So it was all for the best.

It’s funny how these things work and they are popular cause of the features. We are moving towards a hi-tech world, much more hi-tech than it was a decade back. And I love it. If I can use technology to stay in touch with people I want to be in touch with, why not use it. You can't always talk to everyone – whatever the reason – but it feels nice to still be in touch.

So until there is no one to update about my status or no friends left to talk to or no family members in faraway lands, Facebook, orkut, blogs, twitter et all will be in business!!!

I missed blogging for past few weeks due to atrocious work pressures and other issues but I kept thinking everyday that I can blog about this and I can blog about that. Half of those topics have been washed away now (old age catching up) but new ones would surely come up here 
Guten Nacht
~KK

Troubles - Newfangled ...

2009-03-17T17:33:00.011+05:30

Elections have been announced… and all the rogues are out in the open wooing their vote banks … I have never voted ever … hope I get to vote this time … I probably am the oldest citizen not to have voted in India – probably not but I feel like it :p

Have been getting these real bad headaches for the past couple of weeks … went to the office doc (coz his consultation is free :D) and he tells me in a matter of fact tone “Karthik, you should get a CT scan done” Woah man … CT scans are for brain tumors & not for headaches … what are u doing scaring people like this … As if my leg wasn't enough! Well thing is now I am having to get it done … have to take a leave for that – which would have been welcome under different circumstances but it has my folks worried so … d-day on the morrow.

Working on my Murud-Janjeera trip log … will post it once I am back (hopefully with not much to worry about :) )Here is a teaser though.

I had a funny moment today... A friend of mine comes and tells me.. "Dude, If you were working as a barman and someone asked you for a gin and tonic, you would always make it Shaken & never stirred...the way you are" I was about to say thank you, considering it as a compliment until she said the last part, "I would never take a drink from you" Grrrr .... >:P

Oh btw … does this blog of mine sound like I am giving a daily update on my end? Pray do tell me if it is … I aint no Big B to be doing it … nor do I have an extended family like his that people would like to know or follow it on a daily basis.

Cheers and May your weekend be a great one.
~KK

Ride Aur Holi!!!

2009-03-11T23:37:00.004+05:30

Another day and another ride :D A short one this time ...
Drove to Pali - Ashtavinayak temple known as Sri Ballaleshwar temple after Pen in Raigadh district. It was a special day today and a Holi-day too so a ride beckoned. I left @ 05:40 and returned by noon ... a total of 256 kms travelled. The ride back was unusual as there was NO traffic ... it being a holiday in most places.

Somehow had a craving for Gajar ka halwa but did not find time to plan the preparation. I would have had my wish had I gone to Pune but it was not to be.

Hehe ...reminded of happenings ...

Neways ... took a few interesting pics ... will post them later.

Happy Holi and my Best Wishes to all.

~KK

Velneshwar Trip – Day 2

2009-03-09T11:35:00.011+05:30

~2/22/09

Day 1 can be found here.

I slept light … got up a few times in between and the lullaby put me back to sleep. Everyone should try sleeping with the sea waves in the background. It is some experience. I was up by 6, out with my camera to catch the sunrise. We were on the west coast of India and the sun still rises on the east … but the morning calm is with day light slowly creeping in over the sea shore is a dream beginning to the day. And I was there to catch it all. :)

A loooooooooong walk was in store again. I know … what else one can do on a clean, sparsely populated beach! By the time I got back, the sun was well n truly up and so was Rahul, ready with his cam … Dude u had missed the sunrise … ;) well he was off while I got ready. Cleaning the wound on my foot was a pain…trying to pry out the sand especially. I got hot water thanks to Maruti the caretaker at the resort. He was one more chatter-box who was itching to tell his life story but I got away … we had to hit the roads soon if we were to see the places around and that wasn’t gonna happen if I sat down to pen an autobiography. So all ready, both of us got to the courtyard to have bfast and it was “Kanda Pohe” maharashtrian style … doesn’t it look amazing? It tasted amazing too … I had to word real hard to stop meself from eating another plate :D

Once done with breakfast, we settled the bills … it cost us a total of 730 + tips (haatbhet as they refer to it over here) for a day’s stay and 3 meals which was real cheap for the beauty of the place. Bade farewell at the resort and rode down the village to the temple. We had darshan there and then proceeded towards Hedvi which was another village 9 Kms from Velneshwar. It had a temple was what we knew but it was another paradise situated in a valley with lots of palm trees all around the place. Visited the Dashabujha Ganpati temple at Hedvi and then fulfilled Rahul’s wish of tasting maadi. I did too but I had never liked neera which is the next stage of maadi in fermentation so ……

Now we were ready for our trip back … It was 11 am and I was in two minds whether to go to Pune with Rahul or head back to Bombay. I had an extra day off Monday so that wasn’t a problem but the strain of driving from Pune to Bombay on the morrow was weighing on my mind. I decided that it would be seen on the way … and we rode off … back on the same route towards Chiplun n NH-17. Riding on the road, fresh and charged up was an even greater experience than our trip to Velneshwar. Zip…zapp…left…right… it was breathless :D We reached the highway in no time and stopped for lunch … at 1.30 pm itself, fearing we might get carried away and miss out on it like yesterday. That’s when I noticed some chemical industries near Chiplun … and a Sandvik plant … so Chiplun wasn’t only about fishing … it had its own industries as well.

Lunch done (again fish for Rahul and some Solkadhi before we left Konkan :D) we got on to crossing the ghats; Parshuram Ghat, Boste Ghat and then the uber kool Kashedi! This time around Rahul checked the distance and it spanned 19 kms. I can rave on n on about it but I rest my case and leave it upto y’all to experience it. We reached Poladpur and stopped for tea. I didn’t take longer than few seconds to decide that I was gonna see Mahabaleshwar (for the first time ever :P) and go home for the night. So Pune it was.

We took a right @ Poladpur and sped off. It was a ghat road again, with views of the Pratapgadh fort and bigger mountains than the earlier ones… but the road, sadly, was sad. Not maintained at all considering people from Bombay use this road to go to M’baleshwar. It was bumpy all thru to the hill station and our backs were jammed up by the time we reached our waypoint. Add to that the narrow road and rash state transport buses which we couldn’t pass and it made it even more frust. Rahul had been here many times for his treks so he was aware of it … I was worried about the state of the petrol in my bike as I had decided not to fill up at poladpur and ride on instead. But the steep climbs were guzzling the fuel and the pointer was on “E” all throughout. I was hoping that indicator was not too accurate so I would reach the next gas station without having to resort to pushing it at this altitude.

I was spared … for we entered Mahabi at around 4 PM … and arrived into a traffic jam. It’s a hill station, on a Sunday evening and we have to endure a traffic jam … I had heard how crowded it had become but saw it for the first time. We filled gas and then left towards Panchgani which was the next destination. At one point, as I slowed down at a jam near the lake, I felt a vehicle hit my bike from behind…. On the left side near the exhaust (m talking abt the bike here …) I looked back, ready to curse the soul and saw Rahul grinning … rolled my eyes and moved ahead. People were leaving after spending the day and it was chaotic … not as bad as Bombay or the Pune peth areas but for someone who has a sore back and a lot of bum sores, this was enough. On the way I saw a board “Strawberries and Cream” and I had to stop. Wimbledon and Mahabaleshwar were the only 2 places which were famous for this concoction. My friend Dodi was planning on going to Wimbledon so I thought let me check this location. So we had a huge tumbler full; it looked super and tasted yummy.

The setting sun reminded us that we had a destination to reach and we would need to ride in the dark. So we bid adieu to Mhabi (that’s short name for Mahabaleshwar which has been used by a lot of us folks in Pune for a long time so ….) and rode towards Panchgani and Wai. Panchgani is, as we all know, a hill station famous for its boarding schools… it’s the dehradun of the west if I may call it so… and true to it, we saw a lot of students with their parents walking around the town … but thankfully there wasn’t much traffic here… that is it was flowing … as we crossed the town area, we came to a place with lot of cars parked. It was called Parsi point and it had a beautiful view of the Koyna valley. So we had to stop … The sun had just set so we still had some light to catch our final snaps of the trip.

All done, we started off towards Wai and NH-4. My bums were hurting bad by then and after a break, I just had to ride 15 mins and it restarted. Well we rode down the panchgani ghat and entered Wai which is a decent sized town… made famous by Prakash Jha who shot for all his movies based in Bihar over here coz it had the same feel and also Swades, which had SRK serenading around the town. It was past 6.30 and twilight time… the most dangerous time to drive coz the fading light mixed with the headlights of the oncoming cars can play tricks and make the drivers judgment flawed. This was India so we had to face vehicles with no headlights too, as if it wasn’t enough. Well both Rahul and I managed to drive through … infact we zipped through :D

On the crossroad a.k.a naka where we had to join NH-4, we both stopped, looking at each other to see if the other person needed to stop but honestly it was mainly to give our sore bums some respite. We wanted to get on with it we zoomed off, joining in with the traffic coming down from Bangalore, Begaum, Kolhapur and Satara …

If Kashedi ghat was a joy to ride with its turns and curves, NH-4 was the exact opposite. A straight 2 lane national highway, with a whole lot more cars and trucks speeding past. As I joined the flowing traffic and started zipping through, overtaking the slow moving trucks from the right by giving the indicator and then moving back into the left lane, letting the faster cars pass and all this at speeds of 70-80 kmph, It was pure adrenalin rush. I was reminded of my drives in the US when I drove a Chrysler 300 back from Yosemite on I-5 at 80 mph, zipping through choc-a-bloc, long weekend returning traffic or the time when I drove to and from Grand Canyon at 80+ mph in a Chevrolet touring (I think). That was then (in a car) and this was now (on a bike) and were they both wow-experiences or what!

Rahul had sped along long back, as if he had been transported into a different world, totally at home under these driving conditions. Trust me when I say, the speeds that we were driving at, if we had hit a pot-hole or encountered a villager trying to cross the highway, we would have been dead! No if and buts on that. But that’s where it was a test of our presence of mind and god was looking over us of course so we can die another day :) All said and done, we did come across a couple of tractors with trailer which didn’t have any tail lights and I realized there was a vehicle ahead of me only when I got some 100 meters behind it.

We entered the Khambatki ghat and the Khambhatki bhogda (tunnel) and I was doing 90 kmph, whooping as if Whoopie Goldberg had been possessed (remember Ghost?) Rahul was ahead of me and as I passed him I let out a war cry and it probably startled him up a bit or so I thought. I was right coz when we stopped after the ghat, the first thing he said was “What happened to you mamu? I could hear you over all the sound” :D it was fun!

We reached Khed Shivapur and this was where the roads split – one, the dehu road bypass which went on to Bombay – which was the one I had to take and one to katraj, swargate and Pune city which Rahul had to take. So we said our goodbyes, thank you, etc, reminded each other to send an sms once we reached homes and parted. I took the turn at Baner phata and headed home. By now, I had started to long for home and I did not want to stop anywhere on the way. The very thought that I would be off the bike and my sore-ass would find some much needed and well earned rest was egging me on.

Once home, I parked and took the readings of my drive thus far. It was 9.20 PM on day 2. I had travelled 635 kms through 5 districts and it was all that I asked for from this trip, which technically wasn’t over yet coz I had to ride again tomorrow... Mom & dad were waiting for me and I was glad to see them too. I know it would have been apt for me to take an end-of-journey photo but I was all black with the dirt n grime from the NH-4 drive (coz I had to drive with my visor up as the oncoming lights were distorting through the visor and making it difficult to gauge the traffic ahead) and had no energy to even remove my camera – let alone take a snap. I did not even take a bath… just washed up and ate dinner while I answered mom’s questions.

I had forgotten about sending an sms to Rahul and remembered only when I received one from him. It went like this: “Reached home. Mamu, the 2 best days of biking. A Great trip it was. Loved the ride too much, we will do it once more” Guess that said it all.

The icing on the cake was that I got to see ARR & SM win the Oscars. Day 3 was not much… the normal drive back to Bombay which I have done earlier. The bike did give me a few hiccups and jerks while drove down the khopoli ghat and my hands were trembling bad … probably because of the fatigue. I don’t know how long I can keep going for such ride on my bike but till I can, I will! :)

Came back to Bombay and slumped on the bed … not feeling like going to work. Thanked my stars that I did not have to travel to get to work :D Got an update from Darth that his solo drive to Jaisalmer had to be abandoned at Palanpur itself as his P200’s electronics were fried. Ah well, I guess these are part n parcel of it all. But I know he will ride on…

It was a grrrrrreat trip… and it’s been a long trip-log but I enjoyed it every bit as I did, riding. Hope there are a lot more of these to come :)

“Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi Ke Harr Khwaish Pe Damm Nikle …. “

~KK

Ps. All the photos are not published on the blog but you can find them here.

Velneshwar Trip – Day 1

2009-03-06T18:41:00.021+05:30

~2/21/09

My excitement was palpable by my sleep pattern the night before I left on this road trip. I couldn’t sleep! Not that it was something out of ordinary but still there was a reason this time around. When I am eagerly looking forward to something, I normally beat the alarm … did so on this occasion too. I had called up Rahul – my partner in arms for this trip – the night before and he was out for Delhi-6 :P so he would be sleeping late and would wake me up before he left Pune @ 05.30. I beat him too coz my alarm had been set to 04:45 ;)

It was chilly so needed hot water … while I waited for LPG to do its job, I posted the blog entry from the night before coz my net had ganged up on me earlier. Plan was to meet up with Rahul @ Shri Datta Snacks on Panvel naka at 8 AM and head onto NH-17 towards Pen together. He had a long way to cover – crossing whole of Pune and then making his way across old Mumbai highway (NH-4) so 2.5 hrs lead time sounded good enough. He did have a fairly new, borrowed Pulsar 150 at his disposal so he could rip the 110 Kms. I assumed! But murphys law is not hypothetical.

Well, as per the plan, I was all suited up, bag packed, medicines taken along (for my corny leg :P) and at my bike @ 06:10. My Discover was Reddy-serviced the day before so dint need to clean it up much. I was on my way at 06.15 sharp hoping to reach Panvel by 07:15. Took the JVLR – Airoli – Belapur route as people were setting off for their morning walks. I prefer this route in the morning coz it is less crowded and the air is full of fresh, unadulterated aroma of chemicals which line the route from Airoli to Belapur.

Hehe … it took me 55 mins to reach Shri Datta which is decent speed. I just had to stop midway to chuck away my gloves as it was getting warm and I wasn’t used to riding with them on. But I am glad I took them along as I will point out later on.

So Panvel naka @ 07:15 and I was joined by a Bullet gang … guys n gals (as pillions) – around 10-12 of them waiting at the naka … I got about waiting for Rahul, restraining myself from calling him up so as not to slow him down. A hot cuppa adrak-chai and some rising sun photos were followed by my favorite pastime – watching the myriad flow of humans out for the weekend in their cars and trucks and bikes. I had my eye on the bullet gang who were enjoying poha (another important factor on this trip) and not eager to get back on the road at all. I later understood that this was their meeting point too and they had a few more bikes to join them before they proceeded … so I had company. I was restraining my urge to gorge on poha and kesar shira and sabudana khichadi – just so that Rahul could join me. Our rendezvous time was 8 AM and I knew he would be late but I called him up at 8 sharp to check where he was. He did not take my call but I got a call back in 2 minutes saying “Reached Khopoli…where next?” told him the directions to this naka lest he go all the way to Panvel town as that was 5 kms further on. “On the crossroad of JNPT-Mumbai-Panvel-Goa, take a right and you will see this place with lotsa cars parked … and a Bullet gang ofcourse.” 30 minutes was what he said. He was almost correct. 36 mins it took him to cover the 30 odd KMS … and I was there to lead him into the parking. Black visor helmet n gloves … he was decked up too. He asked for the bullet gang but they had just left, having collected all their latecomers … once all of them were on their steeds, there was some heavy duty, synchronous honking – as if to announce “Make Way Y’aal … here cometh the mean machines”. They sure sounded mean.

The dude a.k.a Rahul, had missed the turn from Aundh to Hinjewadi and so had to double back …hence the delay. Well he was there and that’s all that mattered. I had breakfast swimming in my eyes and ears. So I dragged him along and we were soon hogging on poha, shira and khichidi as I had promised myself :D Pet pooja done, we were ready to move towards Pen and Konkan… We had to take the Goa highway which was fairly easy unlike the online map that I saw on some site which said take the NH-4B but there was no board saying which part was NH-4B. Well Goa highway was simple.
It was getting warmer especially with the jacket and the helmet on but once we were hitting 60 in moderate traffic, all was forgotten. After reading several posts on BN and having done some driving earlier, I knew driving in a group of bikes can be tricky but we were just 2 bikes so wasn’t much of an issue. I know one thing that one needs to have some logic and general presence of mind to drive well – where you are capable of taking driving decisions – and Rahul was kool on those lines.

So we passed Karnala Bird sanctuary (where it suddenly cooled down for a few minutes) and rode with the wester ghats on our left ... and a decent green countryside on our right. Pen came and we hit the Nh-17 to Mahad and Chiplun. There was some moderate car traffic but we guessed that it would be till Mahad where people go to visit one of the Ashtavinayaks there. Otherwise driving at 70-80 kmph was oooh-la-la  Rahul was driving safe, not taking his more powerful bike to full throttle while I was taking my bike to decent speeds considering my lower power. But we played one up – one down on each other … he would overtake me and go ahead and then I would catch up and go on ahead … this was fun as it kept your mind alert. One thing that was going on in my mind while I rode was what all I could write in my blog :D … it was funny coz later on when we took a stop, Rahul mentioned the same thing going on in his mind too … though I bet he aint gonna come up with anything … right mamu?
Mahad came around 11.30 … and we had taken a couple of stops already .. one for petrol for rahul’s pulsar … well actually Aasif’s pulsar which Rahul was driving and one for quenching our parched throats coupled with some back water photo sessions. This was a well shaded garden hotel with lots of place to laze around and it a soooper view of the backwaters … both our backs were also creaking by now … Rahul had driven a lot more than me but he was much more fitter than I am so we were at par … but I wanted to get back on the road coz that was what I come for … so we paid up our cola bill and left … headed towards Poladpur which was our next waypoint.

But before we hit Poladpur, there came a town called Manegaon which had a detour towards Guhagar and Velneshwar but through inside roads … some of which would go by the sea … but the roads were not so good supposedly so even though Rahul slowed down there, I signaled him ahead to stick to Nh-17 which was makkhan really – which for all means the road was smooth as butter … well almost!

I knew and had heard from people – darth Lucifer n others – about the ghats on this route so I was waiting for one … that’s when we came to Poladpur … and here we saw a turn towards Mahabaleshwar going towards the left. That was one of our return route options … atleast for Rahul as he would head home and so a mental note was made … the other option would have been from Mahad and through the Warandha Ghat … or via Tamhini ghat and Paud …

So with that in my mind, we crossed Poladpur and came to a sign which said “Kashedi Ghat starts here…”. Hurraaaaaaaaaaah ….. this should be fun I thought … and we zoomed off with renewed enthusiasm … Within the first 2 minutes after that moment, I could feel that “renewed enthusiasm” was way too mild … Kashedi is a bikers delight … constant twists n turns … (I am shaking my head as I write this … )that was how it was … we drove in these twisties for around 20 minutes and I can say for myself that It was pure adrenalin rush experience … I actually did a (left – right – left) * 2 curves, turning at a slope of 30 degs … which for a novice like me is a lot … if I probably had a faster handling bike with tubeless tyres n all .. I would have loved to go 45 degrees + … In this state of mind, I stopped at a wide turn ahead … and removed my helmet and looked back …. Rahul was slowing down waving his hands in the air like he had made a touchdown or hit a homerun (this the baseball home run for all those dirty minds) or some other great achievement. I was in a wide grin but his reaction made me go all toothy. We clicked away here and took in the road traversed
and the valley to our left … with the glory of the Sahayadari around it … it was well past noon and the remainder of our journey beckoned so we left, back to curving n curling down the Kashedi … I thought we would go down but there was still some climbing to do before the slopes started.
We were enjoying it all until we came to the foot of the ghat and were flagged down by traffic cops (or mama’s as they are referred to in this part of the globe). Probably a check post was what I thought till I saw the overturned oil tanker … we were heading towards an oil spill … all crude … cheap crude as it has been in the range of $35/barrel … so we slowed down to a crawl … carefully making our way through it all … the road was semi slick and dangerous to drive normally too … and so it remained for another kilometer. As the road got better, we had taken up another ghat – Parshuram ghat – so named after the warrior avatar of Vishnu. Up we went again … into some more curves … and after some time the sight that beckoned us to our right was magical. A valley … green like it was august and a wide river flowing through … Konkan, as I knew and had read about had arrived.
I have been in Maharashtra all my life and have come till harihareshwar but this was a totally different land – new for me … and do I regret not having come here before. This sight would explain why the Konkan railway is so popular … the train line passed right by (as can be seen at the bottom of the snap) but no snap can capture the visual delight that my eyes saw. Further on, we came to a signboard which said Chiplun – 20 KMS straight and Guhagar – 40 KMS to the right. Rahul was hungry and it was 2 PM but I convinced him to hold back his hunger till we reached Guhagar. So we turned towards our destination. The river that we had seen from up above was the Agastya river (named after Rishi Agastya) and it was in full flow. The currents were so rapid that it would have pulled us down river in no time. So that changed our minds and we skipped the idea of taking a dip.

40 KMS was the distance to Guhagar but this road was equally pleasurable to drive on … a fairly decent road … not makkhan but we could still hit 70 and there were a lot of twisters here too. We were eager to reach Guhagar/Velneshwar so we were zipping on the near empty roads. But 20 Kms down, we came to a crossing with another signpost pointing to the left saying Velneshwar 29 kms. Both of us stopped … confused … my idea had been that we have to pass guhagar to reach Velneshwar so this was unexpected. Asked a local and he said this was a direct road which was better than the one through Guhagar … so I smiled and Rahul and we took the turn – his stomach growling over the engine sounds. 50 – 60 – 70 and we were zooming closed to Velneshwar, on top of this mountain. Signpost said destination 4 kms but we were on the top of a mountain and no sign of any water … forget the sea.

Rahul’s hunger had now found volume … and we slowed down … we should have eaten before chiplun itself, he complained … 4 kms more dude … I went off and he came behind. That’s when I saw the sea at the distance … he passed me and said you are hallucinating mamu … chal aage …but I aint one to hallucinate at least this time … we reached a curve and we got our 3rd thrill of the day … a beautiful beach nestled between mountains, lined with palm trees about a km below us and we were on top of the mountain. Check out the photo lest am accused of over-reacting. This was Velneshwar. Thank You Darth for suggesting this place.

Some asking around and we reached Kinara beach house …right by the sight we saw from the top. Enquired and took a room – just 2 beds and an attached bathroom and nothing else … not even a fan … but a sea facing view with the waves at a distance of 200 meters from our door. What more could one ask for. We asked the owner if we could get lunch … it was already 4 PM … but he obliged us saying “aamti, bhakri only” … god bless you mate. Freshened up and came down in the backyard where there were tables setup and hogged on the aamti-rice bhakri (as is common here) – rice and mix vegetable generously made in coconut gravy. The taste was different but I was used to this at home so no complaints at all. Rahul took his own sweet time to finish as his habit is while I enjoyed the sun, coming down to meet up with the Arabian sea in the horizon. There wasn’t much noise except for the road of the waves – at 5 pm … so one can imagine how sparse the crowd was at that time. We sat talking and then we stopped – both of us had dozed off in the chair itself … I woke up to some noise behind to see some more tourists arriving and when I looked right, Rahul was dead … of exhaustion that is … the sun was almost into the sea and we had slept there for an hour. I woke him up to tell him that we had to get the sunset but all I got was a “hmmm get my camera…”. I ran up… well limped up actually as the ride had made the corn on my foot painful. But I didn’t want to get into my shoes and I dint have no slippers … so I raced off to the beach and the water edge and into the sunset … while Rahul continued his evening siesta.

The beach was empty … by city standards and it was clean … and the sand was very soft … and it was beautiful… and it was calm… one can only dream of these adjectives, staying in Bombay. I was only a few hours in Konkan and I was loving it. The people here – a mix of Marathas and Brahmins – were different than in the plateau regions inland. The way they spoke Marathi was as if they were singing. Puneri Marathi was supposed to be flowery but it seemed phony compared to this. “Hey bagha … pudhe jaoon davya bajula disel agdee samorach tumhala” :) No need to draw ur guns here … all I want to say is that it seemed a different world to me. Almost every other kid I saw, had green or brown or blue eyes. There were still old houses – wadas … it all seemed surreal for me.
Rahul had joined me and we had a long walk … the complete beach was around 2 kms long so it was easy. Walking in the soft sand was less of a worry for my feet and we reach the other end where there was a fishing village and the Velneshwar temple. There were a few more beach houses between Kinara and the village and we could see some city slickers at the beach now. Beyond the village in the distance was a power plant which we later found out was Jaigad Hydroelectric power plant – so the sea water was being put to good use. As the fishing boats came in for the day, with their catches and lights bobbing in the sea, we headed back to our haven.

Rahul wanted to feast on fish and only fish for dinner so we told the owner. That wasn’t a problem at all as fish was what people came here to eat. So I was da odd man out coz I asked for veg food… can’t stand the smell of fish let alone think of eating it… that’s me! A group of people had come by now… were from Karad… seemed like government babus and they had started on their boozing so I went back and lay down by the sea of water and beneath the sea of stars. This natural sight beats the planetarium anytime. Gazing at the stars – sound of the waves in the background and just your thoughts engulfing you! Hmmm … Rahul was busy playing sms-sms with my cell as his idea didn’t work there. I would have probably dozed off if it hadn’t been Rahul’s fish craving. So we went off to have dinner.

As we waited for it, the owner’s father came to chit chat with us … enquiring where we were from and what business we are into and he nearly lost his few remaining teeth when we said we had come on bikes from Pune/Bombay. It was really a nothing trip but for him and few more people there, it was a long trip to do on a bike. That was konkan. In the 20 minutes that he talked and we listened, he told us how his childhood had been spent there, when he got married, how he came about this land by the sea side, how his son started this business, how he has been barred from climbing the palm trees to collect “maadi” which is the pulp from the palm trees… how he was surprised to find that we were the only people there who were not boozing …! Phew! It was as if he hadn’t talked to a human being in ages. But it was nice listening to him. Some people can open up so easily with strangers. I find that very difficult but probably its coz of the simple life that he led …

Food was there and fishes were gobbled down while I enjoyed the cabbage and peas curry with a lot of grated coconut and bhakri and a special appetizer called Solkadhi which was made of mainly kokam. It was my first time having it and I loved it... Somewhat like jal jeera but has a lot more ingredients. As we were having our dinner the owners wife came down and kept asking us to have more of everything. These people have no MBA’s or service industry experience. Yet they cared for us like we were their only customers (which we weren’t). I have seen this in a lot of small town India and in the US too … people in the rural parts are much more hospitable and sweet than city dwellers. They don’t expect a lot in return and that puts us at ease.

Ah well …. Dinner was over and we hit the sack, totally bushed out … no strength left to do anything else. The sound of the waves was like a lullaby constantly trying to put us off to sleep. And that wasn’t a difficult task.

Disclaimer: This is long one. I know disclaimers are supposed to be at the start but hey at least you reached here ;) This is just day 1 btw :D

Back ....

2009-02-26T12:30:00.003+05:30

Spite got me nowhere and I fail miserably in fulfilling any dreams which stem from them. This ain’t no place for speaking your mind they say but hey … where do I go!!!

M back after a memorable ride last week … a bike ride to Konkan … having seen the beauty of nature while in US … I forgot that I am a native of this land which has equal natural beauty if not more. It may not have the beauty of fall colors or have the Grand Canyon but it’s got its own mountains n rivers n trees n beaches n ghats (mountain roads) n vales… and above all its people which make it a travelers delight.

Still penning down the thoughts that ran thru my mind whilst I rode … it will take awhile but I will put it up here. No one may care to read but I care to write ;)

As Petey would say … Stay Cool Y’all !

~KK

Delhi 6 & A Long Weekend!

2009-02-20T23:54:00.007+05:30

I just saw Delhi 6 … Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has done a good job. It has a message like his last movie RDB… AB Jr. is very good and Sonam is sweet but the end of the movie screws up the whole thing … it did atleast for me. I mean first I thought that it would be a sad ending again …then there was heaven and near death experience and all that … I mean I was reminded of the part from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where HP goes to heaven and meets and talks to Dumbeldore and then returns … and AB Sr. was nothing like Dumbleedore!!! Cmon ROM … you dint have to blatantly pick that up… But overall … its shown as a Delhi 6 ka movie but it is a movie about India … with its good things and bad as seen from the eyes of an ABCD.

Big goof ups – Abhishek Bachhan is an ABCD who speaks English with an American accent but his hindi doesn’t have any accent. WTH!!! Masakalli was picturized beautifully with American hip hop steps and all :) My friend fell head over heals for Sonam Kapoor (whom I saw for the first time as I dint have the courage for Sawariyaa) and she is sweet n simple n beautiful (am I overdoing it?) Allright she was OK. But she dint have too much of a role … TOI has given it 3* … I concur!

So the long weekend is here … and after a lot of uncertainties, I am going on that road trip. It was fun doing the planning, printing maps, checking the best routes, enquiring around for the best roads and most scenic ones. It reminded me of all the planning I had done for my trips while in the US – Yosemite, PCH, Niagara, Vegas, Grand Canyon and lot more. That was fun and people who were with me would surely know. It would be the farthest I would be going till date on the Konkan side, into the land of Kobras. :-)

My leg hurts … and I am scared of what is gonna happen when the salty Arabian sea touches the wound on my leg … but what the heck. I have to do this!!! My colleague from work is doing a solo Mumbai – Jaisalmer – Mumbai in 3 days. And he has left after work, driving the night on Ahmedabad highway. Drive safe dude. Some do it for work, some for the sheer pleasure and love.

One more first happened today … a rickshaw rear tire ran over my toes while I had stopped at the signal … it pained a bit but seems ok now :D I know … too many randomly insane things happening with me. What to do… I seem to attract trouble like there’s nobody else.

All right then … Will be off. Hope to have a good ride and come back to tell it all here … Exclusive! So keep reading ;-)

Adios.
~KK

Ps. Burger Chaap…. That’s what Sonam calls AB. Corny, n’est ce pas …………
Ps2. Wrote this last nite but cudnt post it due to net trouble so doin it now.

2/19/09

2009-02-20T00:36:00.003+05:30

Another day gone by... and have I had a lot to eat or what ... yesterday mom bought stuff from home ... then managed to hv bfast too ... and we had a Pizza party today (Big Boss ka budday) .. then cake ... and as I came home in the evening I realized that I am not used to this anymore .. having 3 meals in a day... well make it 24 hours .. coz I skipped dinner .. I just couldnt eat anymore!!!

My leg hurts .. the bluddy corn is killing .. did some surgery yesterday nite .. but its there ... may be I should visit a doc now. I plan to go for a road trip this weekend ... with it being a long one ... dont know if my leg can take it but I so badly want to go!!!! lets see ... tomorrow I decide!

So till then ... hope to get my bike serviced :D

Hasta Luego!
~KK

Damn this recession

2009-02-18T11:34:00.002+05:30

Came in this morning to news of how the recession is killing the big 3 auto companies of Detroit, Michigan, USA – GM, Ford, Chrysler … There might be a lot of job cuts – reports say 47000 only at GM and a lot of brands would be cut down or closed to justify the need for $15 Billion + requirement from the government. One of the brands which is going to take a hit is Pontiac which is part of the GM brand wagon. That is soooooo bad … love those cars … particularly the Pontiac G6 … that was the car that I gave my driving test in, for my license back in the US … shiny red and great handling. I cleared the test in my first attempt which was an achievement given the history of the number of people at my company, clearing the driving test on the first attempt. I will not give all the credit to the car coz the person behind the wheels also matters but then again … it was one amazing car. Check it out.

This is now going to boil over into India too. And with no social security unlike the US, its gonna be bad for people laid off here. I mean GM - with Chevrolet and Opel brands & Ford are present in India too with big investments ... Aaargh!

It’s sad to see the repercussions of bad times – things you liked doing, places you loved to visit, people you liked being with… at work – so many things have been affected. Sure life will bounce back and all the other blah blah blah are true but hey that doesn’t mean you don’t feel the pinch – and sometimes these pinches hurt bad!

Well I only hope I get to drive a Pontiac G6 sometime in the future … and a G8 and a Solstice and a Chrysler 300 and a Hummer and a Saturn Vue and a Saab … I won’t buy them all of course - Enterprise Zindabad ;-) (Translated as Long live Enterprise – which is a car rental co in the US and was our lifeline there – 1-800-Enterprise)

Have a great day folks...!
~KK

Blade Goner ...

2009-02-18T01:38:00.004+05:30

2.18.2009

Wanted to have another round of surgery … did not get a new blade so thought of sterilizing the last one and re-use it. Boiled it for 10 mins and then let it cool down and then use it … guess that’s where I goofed up. When I picked it up later, it appeared to have some brown residue on its edge. I saw it just as I was about to put it to use… Didn’t do it then … Not sure how that formed … may be some kind of chemical reaction. Anyways, I will get a new surgical blade on the morrow (my sis is gonna kill me if she reads this – she had warned me against this same thing)
It is amazing how tedious a task it is to clean an 8 X 10 foot space … which is ofcourse my room. I tried to make it clean …swept it, mopped it… had a sore back at the end of it. :D

My mom’s coming tomorrow to see where her son is hiding. So I had to do it… it was a long pending to-do anyway … It is not an easy task believe me …

All right … here’s to a botched up attempt at surgery and a back breaker of a clean up job… will be off to sleep now… got a call early tomorrow morning :(( (damn my american pm)

Sleep tite folks … and those at work … take an afternoon nap … khi khi khi!!!

~KK

Tezaab ....

2009-02-17T01:30:00.003+05:30

2/17/09
I am listening to “So Gaya Ye Jahan …” from Tezab. 1988 it was I think when it released. Nitin Mukesh’s voice – very different and soothing music I guess from Laxmikant Pyarelal. Brings back a lot of memories. It was the first song that I sang in a competition at Don Bosco summer camp in Nasik and won first prize there. Yes I actually used to sing well. My voice is no longer there… lost it over time. I still remember that day. I was so elated at getting that prize. It was just a certificate and 10 points for my group but an achievement for me nonetheless. Was a kid so that explains ...

No practice coupled with other stuff has snuffed out the decent voice I once had. I would love to go back and start back. My mom had put me into a Carnatic music class with MaPaMaPa maami (as I used to call her) but I left after a year or so. I know I should have continued :(

Well now I record my voice and it is so bad that I don’t dare record it again. I have actually sang and recorded songs – a whole 90 minute cassette (Irony is I don’t even have a cassette player now :D) but then it was an in thing till a few years back. And the cassette that I recorded – don’t have it too. Gave it to a friend so … that’s another claim to fame gone down the drain (wow that rhymes)

Allrite .. Sach me So Gaya Ye Jahan .. So Gaya Aasmaan (translated – the whole world is asleep… so are the skies) I should sleep too now.

2 posts in a day for me today. Will doze off to Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell & Is there anybody out there!

Bon Nuit Mes Amies!

~KK

Ps. try listening to "Is there anybody out there" with the lights off .. the starting part is creepy till the guitar starts ... :D

My Wish List

2009-02-17T00:08:00.004+05:30

2/16/09

Everyone has a wish list. If You don’t then you should. I have one too. And the item that’s stands on the top of my wish list is A Washing Machine – Fully Automatic! Coz I always seem to be washing clothes. I mean they never seem to end. I don’t have so many clothes then why is it that I am washing clothes all the time??? Hehe I have no idea as to what the whole deal is. It would be great if I had one. I have other things on my list but as of now … I am just off a session. Tedious coz its all manual. Soak ‘em, brush ‘em, rinse ‘em and then rinse ‘em all over again. Then dry ‘em.

Come to think of it… it would be a great business enterprise to set up those pay and wash machines here in India. It would be a roaring business especially around colleges and places where a lot of bachelors live. Hmm … I should contact some venture capitalist with this.

On a more casual note, if someone were to gift me a washing machine then they would need to give me a new pad to stay coz my studio apartment … well not an apartment actually but studio “kholi” wouldn’t have enough space for one :D

So until I can get myself into a larger room or a real studio apartment, will have to continue this manual labor. I have other options but what the heck… this will keep me busy in my off office hours ;-)

~KK

Cupids Day ...

2009-02-14T17:55:00.002+05:30

Its 14th Feb today. 2009

Wish You all A Happy Valentines Day.

News should be coming in tomorrow of a new business venture starting in the city of Mangalore tomorrow by the leader of a self proclaimed cultural police group ... He is starting a business selling Pink Chaddis (The link would give you all the info regarding this new venture.

Njoi and take care of all your loved ones :-)

~KK

Realizations ...

2009-02-14T17:42:00.001+05:30

12th Feb, 2009

Saw Dev D! It had received 4(*) and 5 (*) in the various reviews – rave, all of them.
How much loss should a person incur to realize that he/she is wrong? Acceptance is difficult. Accept that what you are doing or what you have done is wrong. It could be anything. I once shouted badly at a lady driving a car for nearly running me over. She was wrong but my reaction was too. A friend pointed it out to me and I argued my side, argued like there was no one more right. But I realized I was wrong – albeit late. I couldn’t go back and undo anything. I probably learnt something from that realization.

Deep thoughts you would say. But people don’t get second chances many a times. That why I write these down so that some day if I forget it and shout at somebody or harm somebody, I can realize and say that I am sorry!

Well yeah Dev D did get this thought process going. It’s a well made movie. I liked it. I read in the mirror that anurag Kashyap – the director – was himself a drug addict, alcohol addict and in bad shapes. He has made this movie today and made it well. Guess he realized somewhere that he was wrong and made amends. He was not too late from the looks of it. Critics say that Abhay Deol is a great actor. He is good and he is also making some good movie choices. I mean his previous movies “Ek challis ki ..”,” Oye lucky ..”, “Manorama …” and “Dev D” - all have been unconventional and have worked well with the audiences. From the promos this seemed like a sleazy movie but it wasn’t. I eat my seemings (no such word, not on ctrl+alt+W but chalta hai). I mean it does deserve an A rating but its well made. It shows the dark side of Delhi life – the Delhi (under)Belly - only pun intended at Aamir’s next movie :-D

Surely not a 5* but I would give it 4! Am no Rajeev Masand or Khaled Mehmood but hey I have my opinions - I know, I know … who cares but I like to give it anyways ;-).
I didn’t blog last week - was pre-occupied and I also had a surgery. Operated on myself, did I. Cutting yourself up with a surgical blade can be scary. It was actually, especially given my shivering hands :D But it had to be done. Probably might need one this week too. Have a painful corn on my foot which is turning out to be truly abominable…

Couple of weeks back I got a comment from a friend that I write well. I thank you my dear friend for the compliment. Though I don’t know if I really do write well but Yes … I do like to write. It’s a different feeling altogether when you read it after a few years when life has changed (for better or for worse) and you see this note. Its like a you seeing your childhood photos and realizing that you looked so cute then - What happened now!! ? !!… khi khi khi ….

A lot of realizations here so let me label this entry with that.
The weather outside is chilly and people are falling ill so take care all.

~KK

Some News & A Tale...

2009-01-29T20:04:00.000+05:30

A very good friend of mine – AA – became a proud father of a cute baby girl today :-) The joy in his voice when he called up to give the news was palpable … so much different than any other good news that one can give… I am very happy for u dada … may a lot more happiness come your way with this new sunshine in your life.

Aah … now for the kholi on fire wala kissa …

Last week … early in the morning around 8 … I got up to heat water – aint got no geyser so use an immersion rod … so I started it up and went back to enjoy some extra slumber - who can resist that eh (actually a few names do come to my mind … but discount those souls will ya …) I don’t know how long I had dozed off but my sweet dreams were broken by a crackling noise … I opened my eyes and my main switch board was on fire … where the heater is plugged in... real flames … I was livid even in that state … why is this happening was my first thought … I got up thinking what should I do to put it out when there a loud “Phaaaaaat” sound and then a calm so unnerving that I dinno what to do. The stench of burning wire was the only thing that got me back to present and I sat down on the floor grateful that I was safe and more so .. that the room and the building was still standing. And the worst part about this whole thing was that I had changed the electric plug 3 days back … dunno whose fault it was … (da plug or the heating rod – I don’t want to have any more suspects to avoid any more complications …) but I was left with no power and lukewarm water to move on with my day. I am in Mumbai so that wasn’t much of a problem. Rushed off to work with a to-do in my brain to get mr. gawde ..the electrician and give him some work.
It was all ok when we got down to checking it later in the evening. The main fuse had blown off along with the heater 3-pin plug thereby putting out the fire (which was the wire burning) and saving the plug point … and my shoes … and my clothes … and last but also the least yours truly ofcourse!!!
So today I live to tell my tale and give da plug another chance to wreck havoc in my life! (Trying to do some mandavli on that end… wl keep u updated)
And yea ..for the one soul who asked me - & for any more who might be playing with the idea (which I doubt going by my hits) - Amelia Bones is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement... heard of first in Order Of Phoenix and then dying in the Deathly Hallows.
:-)
~ KK

Long Weekend !!!

2009-01-28T19:55:00.000+05:30

Back after a long weekend at home in Pune. Funny how this term "long weekend" has become a norm after being in the US … it gives the word “Weekend” a whole new meaning, what with the one extra day added ;-). So this was a special weekend at that … My parents 31st wedding anniversary :-) (Though this fact also brings to the fore some ominous truths, i am more than happy to go into ignore mode with no retry in picture .. :D)And also my sis was coming home since diwali so it was a reunion of sorts … with all of us together … first one in 2009. Moms health issues apart, it was a good 3 days spent eating, shopping (for gifts ofcourse) watching T.V. and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeping A LOT. One would think I don’t get to sleep in Bombay but the eating and sleeping combine make for a lethally inviting proposition – one which ain’t possible here :-)
One more thing I realized while I was TV surfing was that there are a lot of good movies – read movies worth watching even if I’ve already watched em a zillion times before – coming on HBO & Star. It hit me even more coz I have no access at all here. Took my ol’ LT along to download some movies only to find that it’s monitor had conked off, going into its relapse blanking illness. And to think that was the only reason I did not discover my way to pune and chose to Volvo instead.

This thing with Harry Potter seems to run in the family I guess. My sister and I are both HP aficionados - actually she has overtaken me – quizzing me on HP facts coz I surely did not remember who Amelia Bones was even though I had done a marathon book 1 to book 7 over the New Year. Well point is we got mom n dad to watch chamber of secrets on cartoon network (yea they also show real people on CN these days…. What ever happened to Johnny Quest and Swat Cats and GI Joe I wonder!

Well all in all a good long weekend. But now back to the grind … suddenly have a lot of work … stuff which would even give cheap manual labour a run for money but then what da heck… I aint one to complain am I.

Oh I forgot… I also shocked my folks with the story of how my kholi caught fire .. well actually how it almost caught fire. ;-) Will update on this later-gator (3 guesses on what my next post would be!)
Au Revoir…
~KK

Elementary My Dear Watson ... !!!

2009-01-13T21:14:00.002+05:30

So goes the famed line oft repeated by Sherlock Holmes ... to his sidekick Dr. Watson .. and 11 times out of 10 it was something complex ... and so not elementary at all ...!
Well i was cooking sometime back and had oil all heated up in the pan .. and i did something elementary which one shouldnt do ... dropped some finely cut tomatoes in the oil .... and blast ... there was oil splattering all over .. and on my hands ... :D thats something that would have failed me in my cooking exams .. if i was trainin to be a chef ... aint it not!

Talk about all things elementary :-)

Bon Appetite folks ...
~KK

Welcome 2009 !!! :-)

2009-01-12T18:37:00.000+05:30

Welcome 2009 !!! :-)

The New Year is well and truly away to an explosive start – what with the Satyam fiasco and job uncertainties prevalent all over. Personally, I welcomed the New Year in a pretty much quiet manner. But like it ended with me attending a couple of marriages, the New Year came with some good news of marriage almost fixed… No, I am not the one getting hooked… it’s a close friend … infact 2 of them who would be tying the knot in 2009. Other than that it was rocky with job worries et all.
I also had my first bike ride of 2009 with a trip home to Pune on the weekend of 3rd. it was fun zooming at 80-90 KMPH on my modest discover on the NH4 stretch. I had a scare though while returning back to Bombay, ironically in the city itself while driving on the western express highway near andheri (2 kms from home) when a truck carrying rocks and gravel went a wee bit too fast on the bump and showered the people behind with the gravel n rocks … I was the one directly behind it and managed to slow down and avoid the falling rocks else god knows what would have happened … but that’s all in a days drive :-)

Hope to keep writing more on this blog now and would surely be more regular once I have a net connection @ home.

Here’s wishing one and all a very happy 2009 with all your dreams and wishes coming true.
Oh yea… I will also get married sometime this year – Definitely! Maybe! …

~KK

Scared…

2008-12-19T10:59:00.001+05:30

12/19/08

These are scary times. .. And I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t …

~KK

The week that was & its effects!

2008-12-01T15:16:00.001+05:30

The train had just passed Kalyan Jn and was speeding towards Mumbai … I had gone to use the rest room and that’s when I heard this man talking outside the rest room. He was probably on the phone asking if it’s ok to be kept at the station. There was nothing out of the ordinary in that until he said “more would die there”. I was rooted to my spot. Then for a few seconds there was silence. I opened the door as stealthily as possible and peeped out. A man, wearing pant and shirt was standing a few feet away with his back towards me and was fiddling with his cell phone. I did not know what to do. Not having any thing to use as weapon, I just pushed him with all my might and started hitting him. He fell by the compartment corridor and the few people who were there in the compartment, looked out on hearing the noise … I was shouting he is a terrorist but there was no reaction as such … then a man came hurriedly towards us and shouted something which I could not understand. I looked up and saw that he had a gun in his hand … he did not look like a cop so I assumed that the man I had jumped was not alone. All I could do was shout on top of my voice … this new guy was also shouting until he raised his gun and fired at me … All I felt was a push on my chest and then I don’t remember anything …
No! Not coz I was dead (which would be obvious) but because I had woken up …feeling terrified and disoriented … the darkness around me seemed scary till I heard a dog bark and it brought me back to my senses … I was not dead… I was at home … on my bed … no guns, no terrorists … I was safe … that was what I was saying to myself. I saw this dream yesterday night … I looked at the time on my cell and it was 1.25 am … thank god it was not an early morning dream …(for they say that early morning dreams often come true … though I haven’t had any such luck …) I could still remember the guys face … and that unnerved me all the more. Tossing and turning, I tried to close my eyes but it was not so easy going back to sleep. Probably watching all the Bombay attack on tv and reading about the experiences and the deaths for the past 5 days had taken its toll on me … lying there in the dark, looking at the silhouette or the fan, I realized that it was such a big thing … being alive!

I could not go back to sleep after that. After a few minutes, I looked at the cell again. It was 2.40 am … more than an hour had passed since I had woken up. There have been continuous reports of how the terrorists had come in to Bombay or Mumbai … how they attacked the Taj and Oberoi hotels and ghastly recounts of how people were mercilessly gunned down at the CST and Leopold and Nariman house…. It could have happened to anyone… I might have been at one of those places and I would have also perished… it hit me then as if a basketball had hit my face (ever had that happening to you? It is sheer agony, trust me). What could I have done? I couldn’t have dodged those Kalashnikov bullets … I couldn’t have stopped time like Mr. Anderson did in matrix and blown them bullets away (though I wish that was possible)… If The Dream I saw, had not been a dream I would have been dead! As simple as that…

6.30 AM - The alarm went off but I was ready for it … I picked up my cell and called my family … though I could not talk to all but did manage to catch my mom who is usually up well before 6.30 … I just wished her good morning and did some small talk … but I what I really wanted to tell her and other people of my family was that I really love them and they mean the world to me …. I wanted to hug each and everyone but they were too far away for me to do that… we don’t know what’s going to happen … to whom and when … this has always been the case but when such incidents occur, it makes you realize all the more. Why have regrets … why feel shy or think twice or postpone telling a loved one that they are special. It may or may not cost you to do that but it’s worth every penny spent, every moment lived.

So the next time I meet my family, I am going to give them a big hug … hopefully it should be soon.
Like SRK said a few years back … Kal Ho Na Ho!

~KK

11/27/08 – 7.22 PM

2008-11-27T19:32:00.000+05:30

The gun battle still blazes on @ Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman house … so many innocent lives lost to these fidayeen terrorists … crazy psychophants … its really been a slow day … following the goings on from work … a feeling of pain engulfs just seeing the images … what will happen and when .. no one knows nor can one predict. Hope things get better.

As I write that … realization strikes that so many things can go bad or wrong. The financial crisis, this … problems don’t stop coming do they … one after the other … we have to soak it up and come out stronger … scathed may be … but surely stronger!!! Easy for me to say … I know … just scribbling my thoughts here …!

~KK

11/27/08 – 10.36 AM

2008-11-27T10:40:00.000+05:30

Bombay is burning with terrorists attacking the city making it a war zone and a city under siege. 101 people killed. I wish they hadn’t died … Innocents lost to crazy ideologies and brains working in the wrong line …

~KK

Recession has hit us too …

2008-11-26T14:01:00.000+05:30

For those who thought India was not going to be affected like other places w.r.t. the recession and those in my organization especially who thought so, were in for a rude awakening… Today morning we got a general mailer from the head of HR and Admin stating that the evening snacks that were fully subsidized (read as fully free) were no longer going to be … starting 1st December. Also the bus travel which was partly subsidized will also now be on cost basis … That would be at the most a 1% saving for them but then the scary part is what is going to follow!!! For sure something is going to happen. No one can remain totally unaffected by the happenings @ Wall Street and other places around the world. So in the corridors and the meeting rooms and the pantry and the parking lots, people are only discussing this topic.

Moreover, for an organization which boasts of no retrenching since its inception in 1988, can we be spared of any pink slips this time? Considering the fact that the pundits are hailing this as the worst ever recession to hit the globe yet!

So although we won’t be having those free ragda-samosa or the pineapple juice, all would only hope there aren’t any unscheduled “come and see me mails” or any more shocking general mailers.
Wish us all a bon appetite :)
~KK

The Visitor ………..!!!

2008-11-21T13:53:00.002+05:30

Since I shifted to my new “kholi” or apartment (if I can call it that), I had a first visit of the rodent kind. It all started yesterday night around 1 am when I heard noises and knew that there was an intruder around but I shooed off the thought thinking it was not “inside”. Today morning after I returned home from the gym (yea yea yea I know .. it’s a recent phenomenon) and sat down with the paper, the rodent a.k.a. house rat or mouse or whatever made its appearance, scampering across the floor from point a to point b. As a startled and shocked onlooker, I was rooted to my spot. I don’t have a cot or a bed and my mattress is basically on the floor so I dint have any elevated place to jump on to also (well I ain’t a big fan of rats and mice). So my next few moments of existence were spent trying to figure out what to do.

Managed to come back to my senses and grabbed the broom though I had no intention (nor the guts) to kill it. Once I had moved the mattress onto the chair, I opened the window and the main door so that it has an escape route out of my kholi. Then I started tapping around the place where it was hiding and all it did was run across the room to hide below the cupboard which was next to the door. So that was now my intention, to lead it to the door … broom tapping restarted and after a couple of minutes, it ran n slid across the floor as if it was the most terrified being in that room (no two guesses as to who was…) and managed to dash out of my kholi! (“Phew!”) While I was left to recollect my senses and let the fact sink in that I had just had a visitor who probably was looking for some grub but had to be shooed away.
It’s been a while (last visit was at my bund garden apartment) but I hope there aint no more such visits. One thing that this visit has done is I would be entering my house for the next few days tapping away to glory and making silly noises to see if it’s around. :D
~KK

Ps: Visitors to my blog … please feel welcome to put in any comments on any of my posts … would love to hear from all.

Rolle Models!

2008-11-20T18:38:00.001+05:30

I came across this article in NY Times about a Football Star who doubled up as a Scholar. Sounds out of sync, do I? Not this time. You can check it out for yourself.
Myron Rolle is a Florida State University Football player whose presence in the Seminoles team makes him a star. He also holds a degree in pre-med and a GPA of 3.75 and is vying for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship – only 32 people can get it. The article mentions how it is a proud moment for the university if he does get it and how it can be a great PR. Well sure… that it is going to be but it would be a bigger PR for all those African American children who look up to these Football and Baseball and Basketball stars in the United States of America - a must for a society which has seen literacy and education going down on a large scale and more youth taking to crime and drugs. As his name says, he is truly a Rol(l)e Model for all.
Having said this, I am inclined to look homewards and look at the P.T.Usha’s, Vishy Anands, Virendra Singhs and Abhinav Bindras of India who have achieved a lot in sports – some with a silver spoon at their disposal, some without but all of them having put in the hard work and perseverance in achieving what they have. We tend to look at sports-persons as larger than life figures and try to ape them be it in playing like them or drinking the same cola as they do (or at least they endorse). There are only cricketers who form the main pool of world renowned sports people in India with a few more interspersed in other sports like shooting, boxing, chess, etc. Maybe we need more sports stars so that there a lot more options for our coming generations (I speak as if am an oldie but I am surely getting there :D)

BTW India is now down to whopping some English A*** very elegantly in cricket.
~KK

..... Times ....

2008-11-18T16:21:00.000+05:30

All the websites – local and global, are having news about the problems companies are facing. Europe is down – officially announcing recession. Ireland and Germany started it out and the EU followed suit. America on the other hand has not yet announced officially that it is in recession but the state of affairs of the economy and the apathy of the people is very sad. More than 180,000 people would have lost their jobs by the end of this calendar year in the US alone; the number now stands at 152,000. So all these people would opt for unemployment benefits which amount to $650 approximately for a period of 39 months. It sounds scary when you come to think that India is not at all good when it comes to severance pay and unemployment benefits, in fact there are no unemployment benefits. So what should one do? There was a time in the late 90s when VRS was an in thing but now the companies don’t go for offering VRS to their employees as they discovered that it was not beneficial for them.
As I was typing the above write, I received 2 forwards talking about Citi Corps 52000 job cuts and HSBC cutting more jobs. The rut that has built up now with these news items is depressing to the core. Where are we going from here?
But hey … in all this chaos when you hear about people getting a job, it brings a smile to your face.  Lets us all know that this is not the end … this is a new beginning and we have only one way to go – up and by this I mean progress.
So hang in there all … don’t give up! And don’t stop trying …!
~KK

Surprise!

2008-11-17T11:57:00.000+05:30

Last week was quite eventful & fruitful for me…. Got some long pending things done finally.. Like getting my bike insurance renewed and Saturday saw me finally getting down to servicing the bike after a lot of postponements :D
Also had to go to office for some work on Saturday so couldn’t go home to Pune. So when Saturday night arrived, I had this “keeda” to do something whacky. And thats when I decided that I will have Sundays lunch at home!

Had to get up early for that … 4.45 alarm made me get up and keep the water for heating but I went back to sleep. Luckily I had my backup alarm going off in25 minutes (I do know my habits) so got down to getting ready.
5.55 AM: all geared up – jacket, helmet & backpack (sadly couldn’t carry my camera as the rechargeable cells have become useless. Have to buy new ones) and was off from g’gaon. Decided to take the Airoli route which I had no idea about so once I reached the eastern express highway off Kanjur Marg; it was all dependant on the road signs and whatever little I could remember from google maps (yes! Google maps for India are working though it doesn’t give the route and all as in the US). To my surprise, the signs were always there and I safely joined the Sion-Panvel highway off CBD Belapur. Zooming down the road, at a constant 60-70 kmph, I reached Panvel at 6.55 AM.
After stretching my legs and downing a chai (no tea latte to go with it :D), I was off towards my next way point- Lonavala via NH4 and passing Khopoli and Khandala. As I crossed Panvel town and went down the NH-4, I was passed my 4 high end Suzuki, Yamaha &/or Honda bikes, zooming across the roads at 120 kmph at least. Mostly on the way to Amby Valley for the weekend ride. Also saw many college folks and other enthu bikers on their rides – Pulsars, Apache RTR, FZ-16s and what not. My discover seemed like a minnow – well it was one – but I didn’t care as long as I was doing fine.

8 AM: was at Lonavala after safely crossing the 12 KM ghat from Khopoli to Khandala. Had steaming hot idli-vada sambar @ RK’s and was again back on the road towards Pune. This stretch of the NH4 is really smooth and well done – not too many unexpected pot holes (thankfully) and since it is also a tolled road (though not as much as the expressway and best thing is no toll for bikes :P) they have managed to maintain it well. I was able to hit 85 KMPH on this stretch. While I was leaving Lonavala, mom called to ask if I was up. I told her that I was outside but nothing else …. (I don’t know why I like giving people such shocks …they call it shocks, for me it’s giving them a pleasant surprise; like arranging a surprise birthday party for your friend and getting the chance to shout “Surprise” when they enter and lights go on and then being able to see the mixture of joy, shock and a myriad of other reactions on their face; some people don’t like it always but even then it’s just that their anger is a wee bit more than their happiness; so that’s ok)

9.05 AM: I was turning from the NH4 on to the Dehu Road – Katraj bypass which goes 10 kms from my home. Another 20 KMS and I was knocking on my door at 9.25 AM, exactly 3 hrs and 30 minutes since I left goregaon. Mom was surprised but when she heard I came on the bike she was shocked. Got some gyan from her n my grandmom. Then it was dad’s turn when he saw me. “It’s risky!”. Very true but it was fun too and something I like doing. Much better than sitting at home and just reading paper all day anytime. Total distance travelled was 165 KMs.

So I got to have lunch at home, got too see Harry Potter & Order of Pheonix and do small talk with mom & dad.  5 hours at home and time to leave. Did not want to do night time highway driving since it has been a long time. So I was off at 2.30 and it was decent till Panvel but then the traffic of Bombay came into picture and I took 2 hours to go from Kharghar to Goregaon. Ah well that’s the norm these days so nothing to complain.
Was home at 7.15 PM – a total of 330 KMs travelled. Yet to calculate the mileage I got but it should be decent I guess. The bike is doing pretty well.

It was a spur of the moment thing (Kal's gonna curse me ;)).
Hopefully should have a chance to go riding again very soon. :)

~KK

Hope floats ... !

2008-11-10T21:25:00.001+05:30

The mind plays a thousand games ... raking up thoughts and ideas .. dreams and nightmares ... hopes and disappointments ... we have such a myraid of options to consider and dwell on .. why then do we look at things which are bad or which would have a negative effect on us ... is it because we tend to look at the worst and plan for it or is it because human being at his/her core is fear personified? Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of hurt and pain? Why do we not look at the good things we can achieve by our actions and build on it? Why should we let go of the hope that the morning would bring a sunshine so bright that it would show us the bright side of everything and the evening would be lit up by the moonlight albeit with its own luminosity. There would be nights when there would be no moon .. there would be cloudy days ... but these would only give in to a day filled with light. isnt that how life is? We should look at our life in the same way .... n'est ce pas?
Mais oui - But ofcourse as the stylish french would exclaim!
Someone once said "If I let go of the hope that I will prosper, I would not have been nourished in my mothers womb! The day hope dies, i would cease to see a planet full of the creations that come with it"
:)
Oh BTW ... India kiked a bunch of kangaroos at their own game, made em eat "apne desh ki mitti" and are now touted as future champions. Hope floats there too :D.
~KK

Scribbles while in mayhem - II

2008-11-07T16:30:00.000+05:30

November comes with new developments globally. United States of America has new President Elect - An African American by decent - A Black in crude American lingo ... (I won’t go further down as it is uncouth). But fact is it a first for USA after all the talks of world power, world supremacy and what not. Barack Hussein Obama is the person who has managed to ride the anti-incumbency wave and the credit and world financial crisis and the Wall Street collapse and come into power. He has the same middle name as one of America's former enemies - Saddam Hussein and has a last name which sounds a lot like another enemy of theirs Osama. But he has done what no one before him could do - become the first black president of USA. Kudos to him!

For the past 2 weeks, America had shut their eyes to the problems ... preferring to debate on democrat or republican instead of rising interests, reduced holiday spending and job losses. But with the decision made in a land slide manner, now it is back to counting its losses - again and people in the thousands searching for jobs ... their stock markets crashing every day to new lows .. Losses rising to levels unheard of before... And this is affecting the whole world. Because America, after all is a world power! :)
Back home, Diwali is over, people are back to working knowing that there is Christmas and new year to look forward to. We are also picking up the pieces of the destruction going on because of the recession – which one can safely say is here. Vegetable prices are oscillating daily like a yo-yo.
Am I complaining a lot here? Guess the environment is like that.
Well amid all this chaos, life goes on!
~KK

Twin Towers ....

2008-11-04T20:28:00.000+05:30

Twin Towers ... of INDIAN CRICKET!!!
It would not be untrue if they were called the towers of Indian cricket…. Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman. The veterans of many a famous Indian victories over the past 20 years …Pillars around whom the Indian team has evolved with its own fair share of ups and downs.
And with this India-Australia Test series, having reached its finale at Nagpur starting 6th November, India would be bidding farewell to 2 of those towers, pillars, legends! Anil “Jumbo” Kumble and Sourav “Dada” Ganguly, both announcing their retirements with Kumble having already played his last test @ Delhi which ended yesterday.
They have truly been great servants of Indian Cricket (as Gavaskar put it) and as a cricket fan, I have enjoyed seeing them play some great cricket. If I had to recount any memory of each of these two; Kumble taking the last wicket in the 1993 Hero Cup to defeat Windies with a class act of 6 for 12 or his 10 wicket haul against arch rivals Pakistan at the Kotla in 1999. Dada .. well his best moments were when he danced down the wicket to hit spinners for a six or his running around Lords, waving his shirt after India managed to pull off an astounding victory against England in the Natwest Trophy.
I specially admire Kumble for the person he is .. soft spoken and fully dedicated. “Shabaash Jumbo …. “ (as Mongia used to shout from behind the stumps :D)
Thank You Jumbo and Dada for the wonderful moments that you have given us cricket fans.
~KK

Alas for Red Sox ... and more !!

2008-10-31T13:39:00.000+05:30

Well I could not update last week but the news is that RS did not make it ... they had a tremendous comeback to catch up with TB Rays (sounds diseased :D) to tie it 3-3 but lost the last game to allow Tampa Bay Rays to go into the world series. Well if it is of any consolation, TB Rays lost to the Phillies in the World Series finals. So bottom line was that there was no Boston .. no LA .. in the MLB finals (that would have been some match-up for me as a supporter 
This past 2 weeks have been very happening … I officially got work … Bombay a.k.a. Mumbai went to the dumps with riots following arrest of a local political honcho. It was a pity to see public transport and property damaged and burnt .. with the perpetrators not realizing that it was public tax money being wasted. I failed to understand how any of the actions that took place helped the people of Maharashtra … Politics has this dirty way of ridiculing the common man, time and again by showing its ugly a** & face frequently.
Diwali was calm n tumultuous (in the right sense) for me, at home with family. Managed to gorge in a lot of sweets and gain some weight :D … and then back to the grind …
And then, yesterday, some more blasts, in Assam this time … an earthquake in Pakistan … so many deaths … as if god is orchestrating a population reduction agenda… gets one thinking where the world is heading and what would be there for our generation and the future generations to come.
And the biggie is the recession slowly descending over the world … US being the worst hit and the rest of the world following suit … the US dream and the H1B bubble seems to be a very bad idea now all of a sudden. I hope people think 10 times before taking any rash steps … cause the worries that it can bring will affect everyone connected to them … it is sometimes a good thing to listen to others in addition to yourself and take any advice positively … n’est ce pas? (Is it not in French)
Hope things change for the better soon world over. (Do I sound like AB Sr. here hehehehehe)
~KK

One more for the RS??? Lets See ...

2008-10-19T14:29:00.000+05:30

Its October 2008 ... 19th day to be precise ... the year has gone by and a lot of changes have occured ... I have moved on to a new job ... a new city ... well come to think abt it ... i now work in a bigger company ... which is in a bigger city .... and a high salary (I cant call it big :D) ...
So yeah .. .things have changed .. but then again seems like nothing has ...
Oh! ... one more big thing .. we have a BIG recession which is hitting people globally in places where it hurts a lot ... !!! lost jobs .. rising prices ... growing stress .... so that kind of explains my statement earlier that seem like nothing has changed ... :-)
People still discuss cricket and politics while travellling to work ... it now is T20 instead of test cricket .. but the bat n ball are the same ... Last year around this time I was in the US and there was this talk of will the Red Sox be able to win the World Series .. well they did .. and guess what this year also they are in with a chance ... 3-3 in the ALCS against Tampa Bay Rays ... tomorrow morning is the game 7 ... lets see if they can win and go on ahead like last year ... hmmm that brings a lot of memories with it ...

Ah well .. I am just a blabbering and clattering away on my dads laptop ... oh so badly miss having one of my own ... probably that shd be the next thing i buy .. and soon .. else m gonna go crazy ... coz my new work place doesnt allow me to chat or surf the net or see videos on utube or any of those timepass stuff that we could manage to sneak in .. between our work @ PTG ...

well I have said a number of times and thought even more that i will make this clattering a regular part of my daily schedule .. but have failed to do so ... till now .. (sounds like some new year resolution ... but nope ... just that it gives me a nice feeling typing my thoughts ... :-] )
Hope to do it this time .. !!! lets see :P

will update later this week on how things work out for the Red Sox ... Go RED SOX !!!

Ciao,
KK

Sarkar Raj ...A Big(B) Blunder?

2008-06-09T12:21:00.000+05:30

I remember 3 years back I had typed a review for Sarkar which was an atempt to renew the Godfather magiv on the hindi cinema scene .. The same director has come out with a sequel to it ... named Sarkar Raj .. much on the same lines as Godfather II. And I watched it yesterday .. It was no-where near the hollywood sequel.
If it has to be a described in short, Sarkar Raj was an attempt at bringing together the Bachhan family together on the silver screen. How else can one explain why Anita (played by Ash) who is a London based businesswoman takes interest in family history of Shankar Nagre (AB-Jr) who is a powerful Mumbai don icon's son and why Shankar and Subhash Nagre (AB-Sr) discuss business in front of Anita - which they avoid doing in front of their reel life families too. I mean come on ... the watching public is no fool.

A story line capable of creating an excellent movie and startcast capable of giving stellar performances was wasted by RGV ... It instead turned out to be a movie with some forced political objectives apparantly and sadly, a slow-mo fizzle.

RGV has done better stuff. Whats wrong now? Probably this was payback time for him.. paying back to the Bachhans :-p

Advise: Watch at your own risk.

Resurrection

2008-05-11T16:09:00.000+05:30

Been a long time since I have been dormant on this front .. So many things have happened .. so many new places visited .. so many new people, I have met ... a few accomplishments on the professional front too .. Pity I did not take the time and effort to keep this endeavour going... but now its time for resurrection !!! :-)

The Comeback …

2006-08-16T05:36:00.000+05:30

It’s been such a loooooooooooooooooooong time since I scribbled here.. Don’t know why… Just didn’t get around to typing stuff in a while… Life has had a few turns in this period. Work was always good in Nagpur, considering I am in the IT industry and Nagpur ain’t no Silicon Road, forget valley! But the very thought that work would give me a chance to fly from Nagpur to USofA after just a year in office… that I had not thought. But that it did … A chance to visit the country which I had made a few efforts to raid before. That I got the visa came as a pleasant surprise to people at work (spelled HR) but it was easier than a cake walk… After some rushed stopovers @ Home a.k.a Pune, I flew away… albeit for a short time which I realized was 3 months after I met the immigration people at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). M kool with that.

Bangkok and Hong Kong were nice stopovers on way to LA. Being the first trip outside of my country – India – it felt great seeing cities which have never stopped amazing Indians with their advanced infrastructure and progressive achievements especially in comparison with India. And I could see why!

Enter American airspace @ 9 PM Pacific Standard Time and the shimmering lights visible just across the pacific ocean coast was awesome. Home to Hollywood, Lakers, Dodgers and one of the biggest cities in US, Los Angeles Rocked. I have always seen the dome shaped structure which denotes LAX in movies and TV serials… and that was a pretty sight to catch from a Boeing 747-400.

Now, its been 6 weeks since I landed here and my ideas about America has gained substance. Seeing the people and the way of life here, I understand the truth that is America. Maybe not the sole one but nevertheless. I will pen my thoughts in the days to come. So keep watching.

Ps. Today is 15th August and though I never make the effort to go for the flag hoisting at office, I sure do miss that sitting here in an alien country. God Bless India - Jai Hind!!!

My Travelogues....

2005-10-11T20:21:00.000+05:30

Ahoy Mates....

Needed some place exclusively for jottin down my sashays...

hence this new blog... My Travelogues

Hope yaal enjoy reading it as much as I njoi travelling and writing about it....

Happy Travelling....

Visit of The Apes

2005-07-17T15:21:00.000+05:30

Oh ya.... The apes did give us a visit ..Early in the morning at 7.30 ... on a weekday...

1st sighting:

Well to imagine that one cud see a monkey in the bang middle of a city like Nagpur is something that i wudnt have believed until it actually happened... & Thankfully my mate Ashish had his digicam handy with some useful zoom lenses that helped us catch this rogue in a chip ...

Well this new flat that we moved to recently has an amazing, small terrace with a Jaamun tree overhanging... & This Jamun tree was what attracted the 2 black faced monkeys commonly called Langur...

We were at first wary of going too close lest it attacked so we preferred to watch n shoot it from inside our house... A long tail n a black face .. the monkey was living upto its name, innocently plucking Jamuns (black berry) from the tree and eating it while keeping a watchful eye on us...

Well we managed to sneak closer to it, gaining courage with every snap we took and at one point Ash was at the edge of the terrace with the primate at a distance of 5 meters ..

At one time, he was in a playful mood... lying down on da tree branch, staring at us n da camera... Dats da one below...

hmm... here are some more of da pics

We were delayed to for work dat day but the experience was amazing... Just having nature so close to ur daily life is a nice thing... :-)

Cheers..
~KK

Go To The Mattresses … (With Sarkar)

2005-07-09T14:52:00.000+05:30

That’s what Clemenza says in Mario Puzo’s Original classic “The Godfather” … am stressing on Original bcoz there are many adaptations and inspirations that have been made into movies …. & One among those many is Sarkar …. Ahem…

When u see Sarkar, the first thing that comes up on screen is a note by Ramu(a.k.a Ram Gopal Varma) saying it is inspired from Godfather… Inspiration is fine but then he forgot to mention how he changed that inspiration into a bad one by having a pathetic screenplay and failing to cash in on the thrill that is abundant in the original…

AB sr. and AB jr have turned out classical performances, where Bade Miyan is gr8 as Sarkar… His talent comes out in all the scenes. Bunty has also done a good job. Hats off to them both… But otherwise the movie as a whole is insipid and lacking the tang.

Ramu has changed the story to suit the Indian audience… Put couple of bimbettes who are grossly misused… With the same story, he could have done a much better job so that the thrill is maintained as was seen in the original. For eg. In the scene where AB jr. & his assistant are caught by the villains and are going to be killed, he could have directed the movie in a way so that the fear wud hv been visible in AB. Jr’s eyes.. But it wasn’t upto the mark…

The reason why I am disappointed is that I have read and seen the original Godfather many times over. So there is bound to be an automatic comparision when a similar scene is shown here and when there is disappointment then obviously this wud be my reaction. I’m sure those who saw both the versions wud have been disappointed with Ramu’s stuff. But again a whole lot of people have never seen or even heard of the original. So Sarkar is and will do great…

Alas! For what it could have been…

Shifting Pain !!! :p

2005-07-02T19:23:00.000+05:30

Oh no no no.. dis aint any post about a chronic pain ... But about the pain that is part n parcel of shifting houses... :D

I shifted yesterday from our company guest house which was a haven as it was free to a rented place ... which is another haven but a paid one ;-) But yes it is a kewl place... & best of all its fully furnished at no extra cost for us ... as its my boss's house .... :)

Our shifting (Our meanin my roomie Ash & myself) pain was not as much connected with the amount of luggage as it was with the time at which we had to do it... Since it had to be done b4 9.30 am (thats when we hv to b at office... No rahu kalam probs here ..) we had to get up at 7 am ... that was followed by the hurried stuffing of dirty clothes & other dumpable things intp the bags ... This was a torture for me somewhat since I hadslept at 2.30 am (wat was I doing ,.. dont ask) so it really screwed up my sleep clock which had lost 2 & half hours from its daily schedule...

But once we had dumped all our luggage at the new flat we were visibly relieved... ready to hit the offices, back to the daily chores of cuking up documents & convincing fellow mates to do some constructive work while self indulging in doing... nothing !!! :)

This flat where m now based is a small, cozy place with 2 rooms et a kitchen & a balcony & a small terrace for ourselves... Best is that both da balcony & the terrace have dence trees overhanging.. which brings in the nature rite in to our place... & personally.. I love it when I hear squirrels n birds chirping.. cuckoos & wood pigeaons .. Gives an illusion of being in the wild even though we r rite in the middle of the city... .

Well .. the weekend's here & I hope to njoi some nice F1 racing and movie watching whilst settling in to our new sanctuary !!!

~Karthik "KK"

Paheli.... Different or Full of C*** !! ?? !!

2005-06-26T19:03:00.000+05:30

Happened to catch Paheli 1st day, last show on friday... & believe me it's a mix n match of some amazin technical aspects of film-making coupled with some very illogical cr***y happenings ... A very slow movie to start off with most of the 1st half getting u into a go-to-sleep mode :D
Later on in the 2nd half, we do have some kinda pace which is useless if u have already fallen off to sleep :D

Ok..Points to appreciate in the movie... Some amazin camera work by Ravi Chandran.. who has been there & done that... with count-less hit movies in Bollywood as well as down south... So accolades to him... & Amol Palekar has done a fine job with SRK... The King Khan at his best playin out a role.. (this may be largely bcoz he's producing the movie - Red Chillies Entertainment.. Where were the chillies :O )

Rani Mukherjee... wat to say of her..she is back to her normal ways post Black.. (4get B&B...dat was even cr***ier... )

The most indigestible part... the heroine gets herself impregnated by a Ghost... gosh... how unromantic.. & this friendly ghost unlike the others (Casper, Black Beard's ... ) can be tickled by humans ... woah baby.... Out for a toss goes Mr. Bhoot's reputation .. lol ..

And one more highlight of the movie is the camel race... Hey Amol.. Y o Y did u have to put this in the movie .. ???

Big B comes on for just 5 mins but he is classic... & also good to see Juhi , Sharvari (from bindhast-marathi), Dilip Prabhavalkar... All popular in the Theatre & Marathi movie circuit...

Nyways.. if ur a Die hard SRK or Rani Mukherjee fan..then yes do go to see the mooovie... else dont spend time solvin this paheli... u'd be better off solvin a Mid-Day crossword instead .. ;-D (No offence King Khan... mayb ur Red Chillies need more spice the next time .. :D )

THE SERENDIPITOUS VICTORY…

2005-06-21T19:17:00.000+05:30

I am sure Schumi also doesn't disagree with this coz the truth is that he tasted victory when he least expected it & in the most bizarre manner possible. And if I could speak for the millions of Tifosi (Da official word for Ferrari fans) even they hadn’t expected Schumi to lead the race from start to finish… then again, Michael Schumacher has always been, arguably, the luckiest soul in Formula 1 racing for the past 5-6 years. And that was shown yesterday… again!!!

Michelin, the culprit at the bottom of it all, somehow managed to make a blunder in their tyre settings and ended up having a tyre, which was deemed “dangerous to race”. The only hitch was that 7 teams out of 10, i.e. 14 cars out of 20 were using their tyres. Talk about monopoly eh! Michelin, after Ralf Schumacher’s accident on Friday, found out about this glitch on Saturday. They could have reported it immediately to the FIA(International Automobile Federation) officials. Instead, they waited until Sunday morning for reports to come in, 3 hours before the race was about to start, to bring this out in the open. According to them, the tyres were not safe under race conditions and race distance at the high speed turn 13 on the Indy circuit, which the cars traversed at 200-mph. Their solution was, to slow down the cars on that turn…
And that was easier said than done… FIA & race officials responded with a curt “Sorry, No way Hosé”!

Since all options were rejected, the Michelin drivers just took the customary warmup lap & returned to the pits to their respective dens... What a sight that was... ! A black day for F1 racing, especially in the US where they are , naaah, I shd say, They were trying to get a share of the large motosport following... But alas .. Its hit red flag now...

All said & DOne... M a Ferrari & Schumi fan.. so m happy atleast he is within striking distance of Alonso, da leader in the points table right now... Hope for some upward revival for La Team Scuderia !!!

And also much more to cheer about as an Indian, for Narain Karthikeyan - The fastest Indian in the world .. :D HE earned hi first points of the season, points which he wudn't have got if all the players had been in the fray... points which are precious few for a weaker Team Jordan...

& this also might have cheered the dissappointed Indians who spent hundreds of dollars in going to Indianapolis to watch the deafening roars of 20 mean machines fighting each other....

Lots more to look forward to in the forthcoming races.. so hope to post some more positive writes as a Tifosi .... !!!

Cheerio ~ * ! * ~

We Dont Need No Education !!!

2005-06-17T17:20:00.000+05:30

We don't need no education …
We don’t need no thought control …

Pink Floyd

Must be dream lines for every student who’s studying for his exams… They are, at least for me. Exams have always been a harrowing experience for me… Smooth at the end when I get my results but rocky when am giving them… touchwood!

But today, I find myself at such a juncture in life that I don’t feel too good… wondering why??? Its because I am done with all the exams, well at least I am done with all formal education that one can hope to get… Bachelors in Engineering, Masters in Business Administration, spiced up in between, with a Diploma in Computing…it ain’t that much if you compare it to some of the qualification collectors out there but more than enough for me.

I just finished with my MBA from Pune University – PUMBA, as it is famously known… The last exam schedule marked the end of a period in my life, which was one ride that I loved going on… School was fun, Junior College was a picnic, BE was more fun and MBA was all of the above… Something that I would cherish all my life…

It wasn’t always smooth since it had its share of troughs and crests. The petty arguments with dad, the tenshun of placements, the souring of relationships and the flowering of others… Fact is that the negatives were outdone by the positives: the bonds shared with friends, the joy of seeing old school friends getting married, the total time pass done at the various canteens laced around the PU campus, the discussions at OC(Open Canteen) over various topics right from politics to business strategies to movies to teachers to da fave of them all – Gurls !!! ya ya ya… Discussions about the opposite sex took new meanings and attained new heights when they were discussed in the OC’s and IC’s (Open Canteen & International Canteen in Pune University campus) lol…

Well now that phase of life has passed by leaving behind memories to be cherished and it is time to move up the ladder to some serious stuff… so that those classroom learning’s could be put to test - only to find them fail in the actual real world scenarios and thus learn the practical aspects ;-)

Agreed Education is over but the learning will not end here… as the cliché goes!!!

Best wishes & here’s to “Waaaaaakh all the way to the top”, Cheers!!! ;-)

Somewhere Out There...

2005-04-25T17:11:00.000+05:30

Somewhere out there Someones saying a prayer That we'll find one another In that big somewhere out there ---Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram

And so this song goes, a Grammy award winning composition by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram. "...in that Big Somewhere Out There!!!" So is there really someone saying a prayer out there in this wondrous place around us… Is there???

In today’s world where even a beggar is so busy hauling in the moolah in his own unique way, who would find the time & patience to go praying for a person who is personified only in your woolgathering. It would be like trying to catch the smoke from a freshly lit Cuban – visible yet out of reach, odorous yet untasted…

But the fact remains that even in this manic pandemonium, one is longing for affection and warmth at every stage in life. Be it as a toddler, a kindergarten kid, at school, in college, at work or in your everyday personal and social life. This quest for warmth is what drives us to dream of that special someone who would make us feel wanted;

And when your search zone is the whole wide world, from Mumbai to Kyoto, from Aden to San Diego, one certainly needs more than a google search to zero in… why even google doesn’t give you the best search result on the first page. So the “Big” in the lyrics would actually turn out to be “BIG” in reality, which is put in a beautiful way by the writer.
Here’s to hoping that all find their “special” person, one to whom we can say, “You made my day!” every single day…!