The evening sky with various shades of orange and blue.
Ghost Rider 2
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 1st 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.
WTF..
Dil aakhir tuu kyu rota hai
Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya
Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Duniya mein yunhi hota hai
Yeh jo gehre sannate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi nam hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Bike Trip to Lonavala
Last Sunday, it was my wife’s best friend’s sister’s marriage in Lonavala. My wife had already left with her friend for the wedding on Saturday and this gave me an opportunity to do a solo bike trip to Lonavala, which is approx. 115 kms away with a riding time of about 2 hours. I have always been a city rider and had never driven outside of the city since getting the bike a year ago. So this was an ideal situation distance/ journey for me to get some practice before going on much longer rides.
I started for the journey at 6am. I did the customary checks to make ensure the headlights were working, brakes were in order and fuel was sufficient. I was a bit low on fuel, but decided to fill the tank on the way. I decided to go via Ghodbunder Road as suggested by Google Maps. I have traveled on Ghodbunder Road many times, so wasn’t expecting much on that route. On reaching Thane, I took a left towards Mumbai Nasik highway. This for me was the beginning of the actual journey – road never traveled before. I took a left at the toll road towards Pune and kept riding on the Mumbra Kausa road. The road has been built by cutting through the mountains and it is a pleasure to ride on the same early in the morning. Once the toll gate is crossed on the other side, the road is full of potholes until I reached Shil Phata. The road from Shil Phata to Panvel passes through the MIDC area and since I had left home early , there were hardly any vehicles on the road. Also I got the opportunity to view the sunrise beyond the hills. The view was magnificent. I wish I had a camera to capture the moment.
On reaching Panvel, I refueled my bike and grabbed a cup of hot chai. The crisp morning along with a hot cup of chai and an awesome ride so far had really made my morning. I was excited and looking forward to the next phase of the ride from Panvel to Lonavala, which was another 60 odd kms. I set out on the Nh4 highway which is a two lane highway with a divider and really nice roads. In no time I was cruising at 80kmph and passing through villages in between. The performance of the bike was exceptional; there was no drag, no vibrations just pure power. For the 1st time, I rode at 114kmphs and was absolutely thrilled. I reached Khopoli, crossed the ghats and merged on the Mumbai – Pune expressway. It was my first time riding on the express way and I was a bit apprehensive with cars driving at breakneck speeds. However, I managed it just fine. Reached Lonavala, and was searching for the marriage venue when I saw the venue board with some directions marked on it. I parked my bike on the side and thought the bike stand was in place, however, it slipped due to loose gravel and the entire pressure fell on my left leg and I fell down from the bike. The left side mirror broke, but not completely. Reached the venue on time but was feeling a bit disappointed because of the broken mirror. After the marriage ceremony got over, took the bike to the local mechanics to check whether the mirror could be fixed, however, they couldn’t fix it. We tried the Fevikwik which says “Chutki mein chikaye, anything” even that didn’t help. So I had no option but to ride back with a broken mirror.
The return journey was equally awesome with riding in Lonavala early in the morning and watching the sunrise. All in all it was a very good and learning experience. Hope to have many such wonderful experiences going ahead.
Long Drive
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.
Interesting Conversation with a Stranger
Last Friday, my wife was running really late and asked me to pick her up mid-way from her office. I reached the destination point a few minutes early and had just parked on the side of the road, when I saw a man staring at my bike. At first, I didn’t pay much attention, but then I made eye contact and asked him what the matter was. He didn’t respond, but just kept staring at the bike. After a couple of more minutes of staring he asked me:
Stranger: “Which bike is this?”
Me: “Yamaha R-15”
Stranger: “How fast does it go?”
Me: “I have read that the bike touches 150 kmph”
Stranger: “How fast have you driven?”
Me: “Approx. 105kmph, but my brother has touched 130kmph on the bike”
Stranger: “How much does it cost?”
Me: “Approx. Rs. 115,000”
Stranger: “Wow!! Even more expensive than Thunderbird??”
Me: “I think they are priced more or less the same”
Post this, he stared the bike for another minute or so, smiled and then left. Reminded me of the conversation I had with my cousin a few years ago when I was in Michigan. He had come to pick me up from the bus stop in his Jaguar and I asked him why you didn’t buy a BMW. He replied back saying that “A Jaguar will always turn heads”. I guess I can now understand what it means. An R-15 will always turn heads 🙂
New Beginning
I have recently moved to a new organization. It was difficult to say good bye to the team members and colleagues at my previous organization, since I have worked with them for such a long time. But as they say, all good things come to an end. My association with my previous Organization has also come to an end. Well my current organization is very different compared to my previous organization, starting from the culture to the nature of business to the way of dressing.. everything is different. While different isn’t bad, adapting to changes all across can get a bit challenging. However, so far, I feel I am doing alright. My team members are really nice and helpful. They have been setting up meetings for me with different people who have offered valuable insights into how this place operates.
Personally, I feel I have been given a gift of time. May be that feeling will change once I get involved with work here. In my previous organization, due to workload, I was really starved for time. Working 6 days a week, didn’t leave me with much time to do anything else. However, with 2 weekly off’s I feel I will be able to pursue some of things I didn’t have chance to pursue earlier. Earlier, a lot of my time used to go in traveling – may be approx. 4 hours a day. With my new job, the travel time has been reduced to almost 40 mins both ways. That has ended up saving a lot of time. I have already started going to the gym and the next thing I am looking to do is work on my writing – add new posts, write short stories, work on things I am really passionate about. So I am looking forward to a lot of things. I hope I am able to work on the same.
Visit to Lalbaugcha Raja
It all started with a phone call from a colleague of mine. I had told her a few days ago that I wanted to go and see Lalbaugcha Raja. So she called me last night asking “Do you want to go and see Lalbaugcha Raja? Can you come tomorrow morning at 7am?” I replied in affirmative and was feeling happy that finally my wish to visit Lalbaugcha Raja was going to be fulfilled. As agreed with my colleague, I reached the destination at 7am. On reaching there, I was amazed looking at the number of people who were over there. I heard the announcements that “mukh darshan” will take approx. 15 minutes.
I stood there, not knowing what to do and where to go. I just followed the crowd who were heading to the darshan. My colleague called me and asked me where I was, I told her I am in the crowd and don’t really know which way to go. She was like come towards a particular building, where she was waiting with the volunteers from mandal itself. I asked a couple of people where this place was, however, no receiving no specific directions, I decided I was better off sticking with the groups of people and following them. So I kept following the people and ended up in the line for the mukh darshan.
The line for the darshan was not very long and it took approx. 40mins for us to reach near the mandap. In the “mukh darshan” you can come upto 30 feet of the idol. Inspite of all the jostling of people around me, I got a very good darshan and enjoyed every minute of my stay over there.
On a side note, inspite of blasts happening in delhi just 2 days ago, security at the mandal was very lax. I was carrying a back pack with my laptop etc and it was not checked even once. There were a lot of security personnel, but most of them were just standing/ sitting and idling their time. I am not sure why they were even standing there, if they were not checking anything. Such things make me worry, whether there is anyone really in charge or are we left to fend for ourselves?
Coke Music Studio
I watched a video of one of the songs which was being performed on Coke Studio yesterday and was just blown away by it. It is an awesome platform for artists to come and perform and showcase their creativity. Sharing the link for one of the best songs which I have heard in recent times.
My thoughts...My story 