Today, today, today...

Imagine yourself on a regular work day..
You wake up, go to the office, work, and enjoy, if you can, come back from the office, do some things, eat something, and sleep..

You wake up the next day morning, and wow! Deja vu! Everything is the same, like it was yesterday? Has it got something to do with the Hotel, or the town, or is it a dream!Today is what was yesterday ! And the next day too, and every day in your life is going to be the same day, the same circumstances, the same people, the same incidents, the same weather, the same everything..

That is the story of "Groundhog Day"[what is], a movie featuring Bill Murray. The movie is a classic, in the truest sense, and the performances have been brilliant. It talks of a weatherman, living his life, each day being the same.

There was a theory that if we are let to do whatever we want to, without any fear of being accounted for, the world would be a chaotic hell! But there have been observations that, 70% of the humans, still did respond in what can be considered a desirable way.

This movie too, starts with Murray taking advantage of his situation, and desiring and doing all he needs to, to cater to his desires. He gets drunk, robs, has dates, and one-night stands (and he has no option either, because the next day he would be back to today!), steals cars, blows away his money in Casinos, then gets bored, starts killing himself, runs his car into valleys, over the mountains, hangs, electrocutes, doing all to kill himself, to find himself in the same bed, with the alarm singing the same music. And then he starts doing what he feels to do, and that is when the theory gets negated.

The movie, the narration, and the incidents in the story are hilariously meaningful! A must watch for anybody who has not yet.

One can't avoid relating oneself to such a situation, and so could I not. How would we live, if we realise that all we are going to do each day is the same thing, and there is no way of getting out of it? And then, why do we live, the same way, every day, inspite of knowing of a better way to live!

Let me know (better if, after you watch the movie), and I am counting on you! :)

A funny incident..

Ever felt the urge to do something different, something naughty?
I felt. I did.

It was around 8pm, as I was hurrying off from the office, to get on my bike and hit the road before the Infy buses jammed it, we - Mahantesh and me, placed ourselves in an un-enviable position..

We took the elevator, and somewhere on the way down, i tried to pull open the door. I had done this before, and then, the door had opened, and closed, no frills. It was a nice view, to see up and down the lift, and all the cables running et. al. But this time, such was not my luck. The lift stopped, the door opened, and that's it. Every time it tried to close, it got stuck, made a loud bang, and opened again. This continued for sometime, and the despair began! It was 8 in the evening, the buses are leaving, most of our colleagues have already left, the lift operators would not be around to come immediately, and I was not game for sleeping the night in the lift, with a loud bang every 10 seconds..

We thought of calling the security downstairs. But the phone in the lift did not show up his number. After a few minutes, with the despair subsiding, we called up two of our friends, Karthik and Jagdeep, who were still up in the office, to call the security guy. Meanwhile, we explored where we were, and realised we were half the way to the ground floor. Karthik had called the security guy, and was talking to us through the lift door. He tried to open the outer lift door, but could not. Mahantesh found out a pulley, a pulley which could open up the door to our freedom, and pulled it!

We cranked ourselves through the gap, and jumped off the lift. He jumped off, inspired by the movie Speed, and I followed, remembering the movie- the "Final Destination". :D

Lessons from a journey..

A few days back, I had been to a trip, a journey, with my friends. The trip was to Goa, something which every youth looks forward to go to, some, infact yearn to! We went in a hired car, and covered a few places in Goa along with the Banawasi temple in Shivmogga district.

Perhaps, the most valuable things in this trip, were the lessons I learnt..

Here are a few ones-

1. Trust yourself- your ideas, your thoughts, and your wishes. If you dont trust your wisdom, bet no one will.
2. People grow, like everybody does. They may change, for good, or for bad.
3. As a person grows, his/her ego grows too. Learn to manage it, your's as well as other's.
4. Watch your actioins, and your words. They may have life of their own, but show them who the boss is.
5. Don't compete for the little pleasures of life. If it comes your way, don't reject it.
6. Go tripping, knowing the personalities you are going along with. If you don't, be conservative.
7. Not all are friends. Realise it for your own good.
8. Don't expect to be trusted. When somebody does, be thankful.
9. There are a few gems, but a lot of them won't suit you. Nevertheless, they are all valuable.
10. Bring energy and enthusiasm in the group. If you want to be alone, why go in a group!?
11. Learn the lessons, move on. There is no point wasting anything for nothing.
12. Being cool and casual, may not be the best for you. You certainly will not be popular, but you wont attract the pests.

Guru Greg!

In a country where the spade is worshipped as God, an Aussie dares to call a spade, a spade. Guru Greg, welcome again!

With the cricket fever catching up, I could not avoid getting bitten myself too. The other day, I spent over an hour listening to Chappell’s interview, in Rediff, and I was amazed with the clarity of thought that he displayed. He has always done the things which he believed were right, irrespective of what the consequences would be. And that attitude commands a lot of respect.

Much has been written about the (now) famed Indian batting order, and the coach has come for a lot of criticism. In the interview, Chappell makes it clear, that his decisions have sound logic behind them, what he calls as cricket-logic. Imagine a bowling order, in lines with a batting order. Imagine Zaheer, Agarkar, Munaf, Pathan, Kumble bowling in an order, until each one tires out. Isn’t it giving the game away, on a platter? If such is the case, isn’t fixed batting order too, giving the opponent a fixed target, and make their task easier? Who would you want to play in the crucial overs of 35-50, after the fall of, say, three wickets- Dhoni, or Dravid?

With Chappell, the Indian team has seen some innovative, non-conventioinal ways of thinking, and beating the opponent. The players are given specific roles, and they are given unconventional roles too. In the process of these trial and error methods, a few have lost some of their specialization, but in the longer run, they have gained much more than what is apparent.

Often times in the recent past, the batsmen have failed in their roles, and the bowlers have been a revelation with their batting. Such was not the strength, of the Indian team, and the tail never really used to wag. Even though today too, we often see the lower order crumbling, a fight back is as much expected today!

If today we see Saurav and Zaheer making such strong comebacks, it is as much because of their unnatural strength as it is of the circumstances they were put into. Though, I must admit, I was disappointed with the way Saurav had been handled, and hats off to his spirit. Anyway, tougher situations call for tougher people.

The experiments, had some exceptionally good success rates and exceptionally bad ones too. And some of them were plain dumb. What we forget is, the coach too is learning with the experiments. And any experiment has an equal likelihood of an expected result and of an unexpected result. Mind you, both results, result in a success! The team knows what to do, as well as what not to do.

The Guru's experiments have sharpened the learning curve of Indian cricket itself, and the coach has been a great leveler, like the game of cricket itself. He has gained yet another fan here!

Day 2, and Night 2 (for the night too was an eventful one!)

The day began with a relaxed, lazy attitude, as if we had nothing to do, no where else to go!
We started the day with a lazy, long bath, and went to the temple for the darshana. This was turning out to be a Thirtha yatra! We bought some local special eateries, the ones which you find only in the Dakshin Kannada. Some delicious breakfast hence, we decided to move.

The Gang, From Left: Myself, Sanjeev, Kushal, (sitting) Hrithik (nick) , Patil, Roopesh,(sitting) Go-Pande and Karthik

But go where? We were running out of ideas, because, we wanted to be back home by evening, and take rest the next day, and all the good options asked us to stay for longer! Also, the previous day’s journey had put a question mark on the objective of the journey; the ride was good, the terrain was good, but finally, c'mon, where are we going to? Isn't there a destination, reaching where, we can feel we have accomplished something? After weighing all our options, we decided to go to Agumbe. Thanks to Sanjeev for that! But for his persistence, we would have been heading back.
On the way to Agumbe

Heading north, towards Agumbe, we left Shringeri around 10.30 AM. This was a bit of a bumpy ride, with the road springing surprises every now and then! At one point, we were cruising at around 60, when I miss-judged the hump, and found ourselves flying! Well, as the saying goes, I felt The Lump in my throat! To make matters worse, the helmet was a bit of a loose fit, and it rose upward blocking my view! All this could have hardly been for three seconds, but that could have been enough to bring us down. Luckily, we made it through!

Agumbe is around a hundred kilometers from Sringeri; the western ghat roads which were so magnificent yesterday looked the usual today! We reached Agumbe, and headed towards Kudlu Theertha, around 8 kms to the interior from the main road. And waited for the rest of the roadies to catch up, that was a chance for us to soak in the beauty around; there were so many girls visiting the place that day! We found out from the locals there that we need to trek about 2-3 kilometers to reach the water falls! This was turning out to be a complete trip, with biking, trekking, and swimming involved, not to miss the thrill you find on top of a peak, or the one that you find under the water falls! We chose to ride till it was possible on the bikes, and ended up doing some dirt biking, one of us ending up in knee high water, and the bike getting a free service, including the interiors of the silencer! J

Finally, with the roar of the water fall guidingus, we made it there. The water-fall was around 200 ft high, and was like a huge water shower! This was a pleasant surprise, as we never envisaged such a water-fall.. Along the water-fall, surrounding it, there was a magnificent rainbow ring! Just imagine, and you will feel the joy!

We spent over a couple of hours there, and came back to find one of our bikes punctured! Well, this was expected, for the dirt ride would definitely have taken a toll! Spent another three hours getting the bike ready, having had a tough time to find a mechanic to do the job, the day being a Sunday! Pity, Ravi did not find a spare tube.J

Finally, we came back to the restaurant, in the outskirts of Agumbe, where the proprietor was a young pretty lady, whom we could not avoid gawking at! She was a pleasant beauty, and we had our fill of Neer-dosas and Cocum juice.. By the time we left Agumbe, it was over 8 PM, and we headed towards Shimoga. I was tired of all the riding, and knew had more riding to do in the night, and opted to rest in the car, while Karthik took over. Am mostly blank about this part of the journey; all I know is the riders had a time of their lives riding through the ghats in the pitch blackness at over 80kms an hour. The cold was extreme, with the riders unable to feel their fingers! Finally, we reached Shimoga, at around 10.30, and went for tea in the KSRTC bus stand restaurant! Some mugs of tea and a few idlis later, we were ready again to head back to Bangalore. It was mid-night.

We decided to stop every hundred kilometers, take rest, and start again. With only the buses and the trucks giving us company, and the road throwing quite some surprises, we managed to hit consistent speeds of around 90, but found ourselves in unpleasant situations time and again.. I was to lead the pack, as the headlight of the bike I was riding were very powerful, the second bike needed protection, as it looked fragile, and the rear was made up by the CBZ. We had decided to move in packs, and this gave us an assurance that our guys are around in case of any eventuality. Finally, after about two hours, the road smoothened out, and we went at full throttle, and reached Tumkur, four hours after we left Shimoga.

I was exhausted, and sleepy, with a stinging pain in the shoulder blade. I decided to rest, and another hour later, we reached Bangalore. The mist was dense, and the riders were all soaked. We stopped at SLV Ragigudda, for one last coffee together, and dispersed for the day!

The rest of the day, and the night, was spent in deep sleep; such was the tiredness of the journey!

Western Ghats Beckon..

On wednesday, I called up sanjeev to join me for a cup of tea, and he proposed a trip, on bike.There was an uncertainty in me, as i had never made a ride as long as this one was going to be. Could I last long enough to complete the journey? Anyway, I jumped in, throwing all care to the winds!

A trip plan was made for the weekend, until 1 am, the night before, and finally planned to plan on the fly! :-) We set off the next morning at 5.30. Three bikes, six roadies. The guys coming in the car, caught up with us around a hundred km through the journey. We met Roopesh, Karthik,Pande, and Mahesh- the driver, and started off again. All the way until now, I found Ravi looking for something, ah, a tube for his tyre, just in case if he needed one, during the trip..
Pity, he did not find one. :)


The destination was Haasan, and we hit the road- the NH-48 - The highway to Haasan! Racing along the cool winter morning at full throttle, the sun's warm rays touching the skin, the smell of the freshly watered mud, and ofcourse, the speed! We stopped at a Kamat restaurant around 10 am, for the breakfast, and also to rest our ass. We had some sumptuous breakfast, got to know the other roadies more, freshened up, and hit off again, deciding to stop again, at Haasan. Just before we reached Haasan, we turned towards Belur. Infact, i had to come back a good 3 kms to where our pals were waiting for us, we missing the deviation. The road is a treat for any biker, with its smooth roads, curves just about right, and the villages along the way. The good thing about this trip was the fun was not just in the destination. The fun was in the journey itself!

On the way to Shringeri, through Kudremukh

The beautific and scenic western ghats beckoned us, and we were more than ready for it! The sharp curves, tested us, and the fellow bikers inspired us. The roads punished us, and the beauty consoled us. We were even more spirited when the girls in the cars looked at us, the way that makes one smile.. :) My pillion rider gave me valuable and interesting gyaan about the local bio-diversity, about the kind of trees, and plants, and showed me some interesting views all the way.. Making it a learning experience as well. We finally reached Horanadu, took rest, had lunch, visited the temple, took God's blessing, and went ahead to our next destination- Shringeri, through Kudremukh.

This was a smooth, curvy 70 km drive. There were no demons on the road for us to be careful about, and the scenic hills dripped in the warm sunlight of the setting sun was just the tonic that was needed to keep us going.. The musky scent of the forest added to our senses, and it felt like an overload for our senses to take. The sun soon set, and we were plunged into the darkness of the forest, and the only lights were those of our bikes.

We halted for the night in Shringeri, tired, hungry, and sleepy. Surprisingly, some of us had enough energy to have a few hours of card games! Hats off to their energy levels! Me rests, in peace!