Day 66/ 365 – Desires of my heart

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

I have been thinking on this for quite some time now. I have been working since the age of 18, doing what I need to do to survive in this rat race. There have been lot of choices made – some intentional, some out unintentional and some out of compulsion. Those choices have basically changed me to become the person that I am today. However, what I truly want to do right now is to simply drop everything and explore the world on my bike along with my wife, and take tons of pictures. I have been bitten by the travel and photography bug. Want to live my remaining life on the road like a nomad – there would some thrill in doing that. Want to sleep under the open stars, wake up and watch a beautiful sunrise over the seas, over the desert, over the mountains. Walk through shallow rivers, dive in freezing waters, jump from the sky, and glide like bird. There are so many desires and so many things which I want to do. May be one day I will do those things – hope keeps me going – until then continue to enjoy what I am doing right now.

 

Day 65/ 365 – Traveling on RAC tickets

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Recently we booked train tickets to travel to Tarkarli. The booking for the train tickets normally opens 60 days before the date of travel. We booked the tickets on the very first day when the ticket booking opened up. However, since we were traveling during the New Year – and it happens to be one of the busiest period to travel  – by the time I could book the tickets, we were already in the waiting list. We were originally 11th or 12th on the waiting list and since we have traveled so many times, we were under the assumption that by the time the travel dates would come near, we would have confirmed seats. Only this time we were wrong.

By the time our dates of travel arrived – our seats had moved from waiting to Reserved Against Cancellation (RAC).  Basically this means that we have been given one berth between two people. Normally one berth is allotted to one passenger however, in this case the same berth is allocated to 2 passengers and both of them are suppose to share the berth. A berth is split into 2 seats for 2 RAC ticket holders, if there’s any last minute cancellations, or if any quota allocations remain unsold, or if any confirmed ticket holders are given a free upgrade (more later), an RAC ticket holder is given the empty berth, the other RAC ticket holder can then convert the 2 seats into a berth.I have never understood the concept of RAC – either you have a confirmed seat or you are in waiting list. The RAC seat always causes a lot of discomfort for both the passengers. In a lot of cases, you are sharing a berth with a complete stranger and it can be an awkward situation.

Between the 7 of us, we were allotted 3 RAC seats. We boarded our coach and settled on our individual berths.  I was kinda worried as to how the 7 of us would manage on 3 berths – especially side lower berths which had been allocated to us. I am not sure, however, I feel the side berths are a bit smaller than the normal berths. So two people sharing the berth can be a little difficult. The ticket checker came after a few minutes and we told him about our situation.He told us to wait until Panvel and he should be able to help us out by then. This guy was genuinely good. Panvel arrived after 90 minutes and we asked him if there were any empty berths. We got lucky and were given 4 additional seats in the same compartment. The rest of the journey was uneventful. However, it got me thinking as to why would Indian Railways sell tickets on RAC. However – that’s a post for different time.

 

Day 63/ 365 – Bringing in the New Year

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

This year we, me and my wife – along with some of my best friends, welcomed 2014 in the most unique manner. We celebrated New Year’s at Tarkarli – which is some 500 kms away from Pune. Tarkarli is famous adventure water sports – one of the few places in India where you can do scuba diving, and snorkeling. We had already finished doing the water sports and decided on the spur of the moment to hire a boat and celebrate New Year’s eve on a secluded island. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about doing this as I had never done something like this earlier and was not sure how it would turn out. However, Saurav and my wife, convinced me otherwise and we decided to go ahead with the plan. We got our food and drinks packed, got wood for the bonfire and also got firecrackers. With our stuff all packed, we headed out to accomplish our plan.

As it turned out, the skies were clear- and we got to see plenty of stars something which is a luxury in a city like Mumbai where we have way too much pollution. Under the starry sky, we were in the boat in the middle of the Karli river and not a soul was around us. This was just too good to be true. As we reached our destination, we found that due to high tide the whole island was submerged and it would take atleast another 30-45 mins for the low tide to occur for our island to appear. The same island is used for water sports during the day and we could see the bamboo stands in the middle of the water. It seemed like, we would not able to celebrate on the island after all. The boatman who had accompanied us told us that we can use one of the stands to get the fire going and wait for the low tide. It was around 11:30pm by then. We were in two minds – whether we head back or celebrate in the boat or get down here and wait for the low tide. This is where Saurav and I got down to evaluate the depth of the water and found it to be about knee high. We decided that it was good enough for us to celebrate and decided to get the fire going on one of the stands.

With the fire going, the spirits started flowing and soaring. Come 12am, we started bursting firecrackers and welcomed 2014. This was very different compared to the way I have been celebrating the New Year’s eve. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to bring in the New Year. Thanks to Saurav, Geeta, Tushar and family for making it an awesome evening.

happy-new-year-2014

Day 61/ 365 – Retrospective for 2013

~ Akshay ~ 1 Comment

Wow.. 2013 is almost about to be over. Cant believe time has flown by so quickly this year. Personally this year has been very satisfying for me. Though I didn’t really set out with a to do list for the year, did manage to do some of the things which I wanted to do. Here are my top 10 things for 2013

  1. Trekked for 2 days in Himalayas – this was one of the best trips ever for me. I am never going to forget the time I spent in the mountains.
  2. Visited Leh – Ok – this was in continuation of the trek – but if there is one place which anyone should ever visit is Leh. It is just beautiful.
  3. Brought my first car – Always wanted to get a car and was finally able to get one. Really happy for that
  4. Donated blood for the first time – Had never donated blood ever in my life. Thanks to Saurav Roy’s persistence, was able to donate blood and felt proud about the good deed done.
  5. Clicked a lot of pictures – Captured a lot of pictures this year and learnt quite a bit of photography and thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures – birds, landscapes, covered an engagement and a  wedding.
  6. Ran Vasai Virar Marathon – this is something which I am not too proud about – finishing a half marathon in 3 hrs and 17 mins without much/ any practice.
  7. Scuba Diving/ Snorkeling – Ok.. this hasn’t been done yet, but will be done in the next couple of days. Saurav Roy, this better be good else I will have to take this off my list of achievements.
  8. Started Project 365 – Started writing again. I know I am running late by approx. 10 days  but what the heck, I am enjoying writing down my thoughts and sharing some of my photography work with everyone.
  9. Completed my Executive MBA – Ok. This is also not yet done. But would be completed on Saturday. After almost 18 months done with it. Finally Saturday’s would be mine, mine and only mine.
  10. Discovered a passion for traveling – covered so many places this year – Indore, Manali, Ladakh, Nathdwara, Pune, Nasik, Bangalore, Chincholi Morachi, Tarkarli (will happen in the next couple of days) etc.

The next year will bring about its own share of adventures. Looking forward to them eagerly.

 

Day 60/ 365 – Piano Man

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

I have been in love with this song since I heard it for the first time. I enjoyed it even more when I attended a Billy Joel concert in Washington DC in 2005 and he played this song as his closing number. I think it is one of the best songs ever.

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday
the regular crowd shuffles in
There’s an old man sitting next to me
Makin’ love to his tonic and gin
He says, Son can you play me a memory
I’m not really sure how it goes
But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man’s clothes

Chorus:
Sing us a song, you’re the piano man
sing us a song tonight
Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there’s someplace that he’d rather be
He says Bill, I believe this is killing me
As the smile ran away from his face
Well I’m sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he’s talking with Davy who’s still in the navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practising politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinking alone

Chorus:
Sing us a song, you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight.
Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feelin’ alright.

It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday,
And the manager gives me a smile
‘Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been coming to see
To forget about life for awhile.
And the piano sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say “Man, what are you doin’ here?”

Chorus:

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight.
Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

Day 59/ 365 – Peacocks at Chincholi Morachi

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Last Sunday, we visited a village called Chincholi Morachi. The village is approx. 50 kms away from Pune on Ahmednagar highway. Chincholi means Tamarind trees and Morachi means peacock, thus translating name of the village as Village of Tamarind trees and Peacocks. The drive to the village is very pleasant with rolling hills on the side.  I had been here earlier along with Saurav Roy in December last year. As soon as we reached the village, we spotted a peacock  but before I could take a picture,  the peacock ran away. We then parked ahead on the side of the road and then entered the fields to observe some peacocks. We also ran into a local villager who told us how he feeds the peacocks on the daily basis and they are running away because we are strangers. By this time, we had already spent like 45 mins there. The villager asked us to stay back for some more time and the peacocks would come. However, we decided to make a move and head back to Pune. Overall, we had a good trip.

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Day 57/ 365 – Reminiscing Old TV days

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Today while having lunch we, me and some colleagues, started reminiscing about old days when we just had state sponsored TV channel. In the early 90’s satellite TV had not yet arrived in India and there was just one state sponsored television channel, Doordarshan, which was free to air for everyone. So we were discussing about the various shows which were telecasted during those days. I believe the content quality of those shows is far more superior to anything that current TV shows dish out in the name of family entertainment. There used to be shows like – Malgudi Days, Gul Gulshan, Gulfam, Wagle ki Duniya, Nukkad, Mungeri Lal ke Haseen Sapne etc. The quality of those shows was simply amazing. I think even now a lot of people watch them on Youtube. I remember my parents watching Rangoli every Sunday morning – a song – which would play songs (old and new), then me getting all excited to watch cartoons – Duck Tales, Talespin, Jungle Book and then we would sit and watch Mahabharata/ Ramayana any of the two which is ongoing. Then at 1pm there would news for mute and deaf – where one news reader would read out the news and the other would use sign language to convey the same. There would also be a movie on Sunday afternoon. The evening would begin with regional news followed by a Marathi program – Aamchi Maati Aamche Manasa. On Sunday’s you would also have Surabhi – show where they would showcase different places in India along with other interesting topics, followed by English language programs. I remember I was so excited when Doordarshan came up with another channel – DD2 Metro. It was supposed to showcase some of the favorite shows during certain times of the day – everyday. So now instead of watching TV only on Sunday, we could watch some shows on DD2. With the advent of satellite television in India, Doordarshan gradually lost its place and now is probably only watched by people who cant afford to have a satellite connection.

jungle-book-mowgli malgudi-days