The evening sky with various shades of orange and blue.

Its been a long time since I went to a theater to enjoy an Hollywood movie, so last night me and a couple of colleagues from office decided to watch Ghost Rider 2. I had watched the first movie and was really looking forward to part 2. However, the movie turned out to be pathetic. The graphics, as usual with all Hollywood movies, was good, but there was no storyline in the movie. I felt the movie was made because the 1^st part was a hit and thus part 2 was mandated. In the end not worth watching unless it comes on TV, which it will after a few months.

This last Saturday, me along with my wife and my friend R and his wife decided to take our bikes to Marine Drive from our homes in Borivali/ Thane respectively. This was my first time riding the bike in South Mumbai. On previous occassions, the farthest I have travelled is Mumbai Central, so I was really looking forward to riding in the island city. The ride in itself was very comforting and relaxing. With saturday evening traffic, the 45 kms or so were easily covered in approx. 1 hr and 15 mins. After we reached Marine Drive, we parked near the Trident and enjoyed the sun set. Sometimes the simple pleasures of life – enjoying the sunset with your best friends – can leave lasting memories.

We then decided to go to Bade Miyaan, where R, his wife and G decided to hog on delicious non-veg food, while I was having Paneer Bhurji :(. The food was alright, somehow it seems the quality of food has deteriorated over the last couple of months (feedback given by a few friends). We decided to stop by Haji Juice Center to have desserts. The creme of Custard Apple was awesome and we decided to take the parcel home.

The evening ended with the ride back home. An evening well spent in the company of best friends.

The last few weeks I have started to do all the activities which I really like doing I.e. blogging, listening to my fav music, reading books/ papers, going to gym etc. I always used to procastinate about doing all these things and my reason for the same was that I don’t have time for it or I am too tired to do that etc. However, I have realized that there is life after office also and I need to pay equal attention to what I like doing and devote sometime for myself.

I recently received my Vodafone bill for the month and was shocked at looking the monthly charges which were higher than the usage charges. I recently converted myself to a Blackberry user and have a Blackberry plan from Vodafone. Previously I used to have Vodafone Mobile Connect wherein I used to pay Rs. 250 every month for the same. Now once I moved to Blackberry, the VMC plan became defunct and it was not automatically removed from my plan. It is common knowledge, which even Vodafone acknowledges, that VMC and Blackberry plans dont go hand in hand. However, for that month I was charged with VMC plan charge and Blackberry plan. I called up the customer care center and asked them to deactivate the VMC, which they promptly did and was assured that in this month’s bill the same would not be added. However, to my surprise the same was added in the bill. I immediately called up the Customer Service and asked them about this. The rep said the same cant be reversed as I have chosen to deactivate the plan after the cycle has started. On top it, the customer rep was raising his voice the entire time he was speaking with me. I remained calm and asked him to arrange a call back with his superiors as he was of no help to me. This is one way to rip customers off as most people dont care as to when they deactivate/ activate the plan. Ideally the same should be on a pro-rata basis, from the date on which they choose to activate/ deactivate the plan, but Vodafone chooses to make extra money by charging the amount for the entire month, which is like stealing in broad daylight. I am seriously thinking of filing a complain in the consumer court. I know the amount is trivial but it is more to do with the what is right.

So the petrol prices have risen again, increasing the cost of living for everyone. The prices have risen Re 1 per month for the last 24 months. The impact for me personally has been restraint use of traveling on the bike. So when I am traveling on the Western Line, I am now commuting via the local train. Only when I have to travel to multiple locations, I prefer to use the bike. The fuel prices are further expected to rise by another Rs. 5 per liter in the next few weeks. Wish the government reduces the taxes it charges on the fuel prices. I wonder how the common man is going to survive with such rising costs.

So after a very long time, I have decided to start writing again. I am going to use the 80-20 rule which is currently being used by a lot of people. Spend 80% of time doing what you have to do and remaining 20% of time doing what you want to do. There is a huge difference in doing what you have to do and what you want to do. I am just trying to do what I should have done a very long time. To resume writing.

I could have written this on my old blog, but I want to take this as a new beginning and see how things go from here. Lately, I have also started to read a lot of books. Reading and Writing were one of my passions as I gave them up in pursuit of something else. Always giving excuses that there is no time, and that I am very busy etc. I have realized that if you really want to do something, you will always find time for it. So I am determined this time to keep writing and reading and not give up on things which I want to do.

Welcome to my blog.. I hope to update this place frequently. To view my other blog go to http://akshayv.blogspot.com