Long Drive!

It was a weekend and my sis, jeeju and nephew were here in India. I've been thinking of going for a long drive for long but no companions. So i cancelled it once earlier cos of that. Last weekend i was pretty much determined to go on a long drive and get away from this place as its been a real long time i have gone anywhere out.

So i booked a self drive - Ford ikon for unlimited miles... On Friday i called my friends who frequent to Mysore and checked with them if they would be going to Mysore this weekend, and fortunately they were... I left office on Saturday morning and started to drive. I picked up my friends and then soon we hit the Bangalore - Mysore Highway. It was 7:00am when we started on the highway.

The roads were open and i did not hesitate to floor the throttle... As a perfect petrol engine the josh machine (ford ikon) was at 130kph+ without effort and we could hardly realize sitting inside. The early morning drive was just perfect and the sun was just coming up so it was not too hot as well. I had some old college time audio cassettes and the speakers were delivering music to their max.

The drive was amazing and I clocked 170kph in this car. the moment i saw the needle touching 170kph i started to think how difficult is it to break at this speed and just then i applied the breaks and the whole car started to wobble. That was scary to some extent but i did not give up and did not miss any chance to speed and make it to cross 150kph. It was a great feeling. We reached Mysore by 8:45am after taking a 20 minutes break to have b'fast. I was surprised that i could make it to Mysore this fast. WOW!

When i reached there i met my uncle and aunt and after having a nice home cooked b'fast i left to see my sis, jeeju and nephew. I was with them the whole afternoon and it was fun. I was meeting my sis, jeeju and nephew after a 3 yr gap. We spoke for long hours and had a lot of fun. I was in Mysore for more than 2 days and i had a rocking time with them.

It was a Monday morning and i had to come back to Bangalore. I realized that i was alone on the way back. Jeeju warned me not to drive fast and never cross 140kph in this car as it was a hired car and could break down as well. I kept that in mind and started to drive at 12:45pm.

It was pretty Sunny when i started to drive. I got the tyre pressure checked and just before hitting the highway i bought a couple of water bottles and cold drink. I had couple of packs of potato chips in the car already. I hit the Mysore - Bangalore highway at 1:00pm and i was in Bangalore by 2:40pm. I did not take any breaks this time but i did not over speed too. I was going at 150kph and the car was doing amazingly well with the air-con on all the time. It gave me a great satisfaction when i saw the needle crossing 140kph mark and driving at that speed for quiet some time. Also, it was fun to overtake other cars at 140kph and by the time i used to see in the rear view mirror i used to see them way behind and in some cases not there at all.
Well even though i reached Bangalore at 2:40pm i reached home only by 4:30pm. Isnt that crazy.

Bangalore traffic made me mad but with potato chips, music, cold drinks and a great air-con i was sitting cool inside the car without any hurry to go anywhere. I was driving at 20kph now - just 140kph less than what i was driving a few hours back. ha ha ha.

High speed always is thrilling but one has to be Alert one hundred percent all the time especially on Indian roads / highways.
When i was driving at 150kph i could see a kid running and crossing the road. If i was not alert i would have hit him and maybe realized after a mile what happened... It has happened so many times to so many people.

Its not wrong to go fast in a high speeding zone but its very important to keep ourselves very alert all the time.

All in all i had a rocking weekend after a long time and the drive was Simply Awesome!

Be Happy!

I was in a conversation with a friend and we were sharing our experiences from the past we just found out one thing... Life will never give a reason to smile. We need to find it and enjoy that very moment... We often complicate our lives running behind happiness / money / success and forget that its all right here... all we need to do is stop and live that very moment...

Many a times we think when we have money / success / power we might be happy. Its not true... We just need a good company / companion to be happy. Happiness never comes with conditions... If you are rich not necessarily you will be happy. Happiness connected with money / success and power is not actual happiness... its all materialistic happiness. life comes to us in phases and so does these three things...
Money comes and goes... never stays with you... you cannot buy happiness
Success comes and after some time it fades...
Power... ha ha ha - can power get you happiness... Never

We often get clouded with these things and forget there is one thing for sure that will get us happiness....
Family and Friends...
Whats the money for of you cannot spend it on your own people.
Whats the success for if you cannot share it with your family and friends.
You might be the most powerful person on earth.. what if you dont have family and friends.... u r alone...

Our urge to be on the top and taking shortcuts for the same never works. One thing i've learnt in my life is that... there is no shortcut to success... Shortcuts are for weak characters... they are lazy bums... who dont want to rough it out.

People who reach to the top with out hardwork never get the taste of success... people who get things without struggle never know the value of the same.

The taste of success is very sweet and nice. I have tasted it many a times... I could enjoy the taste the success cos i've tasted failures... maybe more failures than success...

I was talking to one of my elders in family today. She was like i'm sick and tired of being strong. I want to relax. she is in late 60's i can understand...

Me and my friend were talking on the phone y'day and we were saying the same to each other... I'm tired of being strong and all the fight we have given so far to reach here... Our age 24-25... ha ha ha

While talking to her i shared with her about something bad that happened last week. All the time she was thinking that it might have happened last year... when she came to know that it was as recent as last week she was surprised. She was like but "i could never make out looking at you that anything like this could have happened". ha ha ha...

Well one of the things that i learnt from my boss - my guru is to wear a smile. It just masks everything. No one will ever be able to make out what u might be thinking or going thru... ;)
The whole world does not need to know about it as well. It goes without saying that you need to know where to smile and where not to... ;)

Life for some is a cake walk and for some its a battle...
In a battle - you win or you die or maybe you surrender....

Its been a battle of different kind for me all the time... Fighting all odds... I was pushed into this battle at a very young age... I have been in this battle for quiet some time now... I lost sometimes but i never turned my back at it nor did i agree to surrender...

Fortunately todays battles dont come with options (die/surrender)... These options are for weak characters...
We live to see and enjoy our Victory!

WE FIGHT UNTILL WE WIN!

Smile when you loose, Smile when you win!
KEEP SMILING! BE HAPPY!

15th April - The Devil's Birthday!

It was my B'day and when i woke up i discovered that i have some 30 odd missed calls on my cell phone and some 10 messages. So called everyone back and got their wishes... The next thing in my mind was... what should i be doing today??? I had a reason to celebrate... I wanted to do something good and nice today. :D
Unfortunately all my friends were out of Bangalore. Some school buddies are busy with office work and family, my night shift buddies were still sleeping from last night... and my colleagues are busy too... :(

As such mere liye ghar me rehna kitna mushkil hai weekend pe... somehow i just cannot stay at home. even in Delhi my parents and me used to have a difference of opinion on this :(

So while going thru the my phone book i found a number of a friend and messaged her what time she would get free. She replied that she is done with her work today... (i.e. darti ke chakker katna) he he he.. and was free for the day. I asked her out and we decided to meet for lunch. We went to a nice restaurant. Fortunately both of us a non-vegetarian foodies so it was good. The kebabs were AWESOME and so was the rest of the meal. My mouth started watering now just by the thought of those Kebabs.... yum....

After the lunch we spoke for quiet some time. We had already booked ourselves for a movie so we went to see a movie too... I got the tickets in the last row just an hour ahead of the movie time... so both of us did not know if this is going to be a good one. "life mein kabhi kabhi" that was the movie. It was a Pakao movie and at some time or the other she used to say sorry for getting me in this one... ha ha ha well it was our mutual decision....

The movie story was very true to life... but the way it was presented was not good enough...

I don't know this girl for long. Met her recently. When i met her initially i had never thought that we will be good friends. I'm so glad that we are good friends now and we can count on each other anytime... Her company was good and it was fun. She made my day... She is the bubbly, chirpy types... a good friend... well she asked me to write good about her so I'm... ha ha ha
Jokes apart... she is a really nice person and a caring friend... Thank you Friend!

The evening was not that exciting... but it was relaxing. I was at home with family and it was nice and relaxing. Though i had a dinner party planned but i thought of giving some time to my family and cancelled the party.

All in all it was a very good day. Thank you to my friend who spend her valuable time making my day and thanks to everyone who wished me... and also thanks in advance to those who forgot to wish me.... he he he coz i know when they will.. they will wish me saying this is in advance for the next year. ha ha ha

Just wanted to let all my family and friends know that u guys are the best...
I appreciate your patience as I know how difficult it is to listen to me all the time... ha ha ha

Thank you! God Bless!

Night Shift Buddies!

Me and some of my friends are in the Night shift so our day starts ideally at 7:00pm IST. We sit and talk for a couple of hours deciding on what to do and where to go. By the time the decision is made it about 9:00pm and that is the time when we feel like going out of the house and to a nice restaurant for a meal (we dont know what to call it... b'fast, lunch or dinner) This is the only proper meal we have.

So it was my B'day on the 15th and me and my friends started celebrating from 14th night itself. We had just one motor bike that day and the three of us were not in a mood to take chances... as such the cops in bangalore are alert on the weekends... so we decided to go to a restaurant that is close by and went to the Royal Orchid hotel. Its a real nice one. It has a 24hrs Coffee shop and we just went and sat in one of the wooden huts in the lawns. The ambience around was great. There was dinner buffet and my friend decided to take the buffet dinner instead of starters. We thought it would be good as we can have unlimited quantity. ha ha ha

Unfortunately for us there was nothing tandoori etc. in the buffet. There was variety of things but nothing that was up to our taste. So finally we got the papdi and some curds and made chat of it... and our dinner was just that. I dont remember how much of that papdi chat we had.... lol
We had lots of fun but the only thing that we did not like was the food and we could not help it at all. Maybe we were at a wrong place.... ha ha ha

So we spent the whole evening there and we came to Diamond District and then as soon as it was 12am. my friends lifted me and then put me down in the middle of the street... then they jumped on me and wished me Happy B'day! he he he this is the way we wish our friends. Ashu.. ur b'day is also coming... and i'm waiting for it ;)

I was back home by 12:45. I got a few calls from my family and friends wishing and blessing me on my b'day.

Not one of the best evenings... cos we did not like the food.

But spending time with these night shift buddies was great. Thank you guys!

New Life!

Sometimes we take life too easy and casual... without knowing what might be coming next...

It was November of 2005 and i was in Mysore with my cousin. The thanksgiving weekend was around the corner. I was really excited as i thought that this time i will relax totally. A few days before the thanksgiving weekend i got to speak to my dad and i told him about the thanksgiving weekend. He got excited too and said why don't you visit Delhi and spend time with us. Hmmm..... that was a great idea. I packed my bags and left Mysore for Delhi. I took the late night train from Mysore to Bangalore. I had to catch a flight the next day morning from Bangalore.

The train from Mysore usually departs at 11:30pm and arrives in Bangalore at 4:30am. For some reason the departure got delayed by an hour and half. When we started from Mysore i thought the train would reach Bangalore a little late and i slept. When i woke up it was 5:00am and i was in Bangalore. The train was empty and was moving out of the platform and going towards the yard. An old couple who were in the train said that the train will stop at the yard and we shall get down there... I was sleepy and i heard their words. Just as we left the platform a few hundred meters ahead the train stopped. I happily jumped off the train and started to walk back on the railway track towards the platform. The train had just crossed an Under bridge and stopped. The bridge was about 60-70 meters long. As i started to walk on the bridge with my heavy travel bag on my left shoulder, i was taking one step at a time. It was dark and the rail bridges do not have anything except a small thin metal strip in the centre of the rail track which i was cat walking on. When i reached almost the middle of the bridge i could see vehicles moving on the road going under this bridge that i was walking on. Since it was early morning there was not the regular traffic and the vehicles were passing the bridge at a fairly good speed.

All this time till i reached the middle of the bridge i was listening to some honks coming out of nowhere and i really did not pay much attention to it. I was really excited about visiting family and moreover i was thinking of what all I'll do there in Delhi. My brain and senses were really clouded with all those thoughts... About the honks i did look almost in all directions and didn't see anything and kept walking. I was walking really slow cos my travel bag was heavy and i was walking on a railway bridge... if u do a mistake u'll pass through the bridge and onto the road... he he he

So i took another step and i somehow noticed that the honks are getting louder and louder... so i stopped and looked in all directions again and did not see anything... just when i took another step... something got into me and i looked back... i really don't know y i looked back... When i looked back i see a huge yellow X coming towards me...(that's how the rear end of the train is marked) I also saw the same old couple hanging out of the train door yelling at me to move out of the track... That's when i realized that i was on the same track on which the train was coming... This was the same train i got down from... I looked on the either side of the track and i just see the road going under the bridge. The bridge was almost 20-30ft high from the road, for a moment i thought of jumping and then i pulled back saying to myself what if a speeding vehicle comes and crushes me... and even if a vehicle does not come and crush me... i was sure if i jump from that high i would have landed in hospital with multiple fractures... so the only way to get off the track was to cross the remaining part of the bridge and jump off the track when the bridge is over.... for a moment i thought of throwing my bag there and running but then i thought if I'm hit and if i die this bag will at least be my identity as i had some office papers in the bag, even though my wallet in my pocket which could have helped my identity but i was sure who ever will see my body will first rob me of my valuables and my wallet was one. Also, i did not want to die a death of an unidentified person... All these thought came to me in a fraction of a second and the train must have been just about 10 meters away from me and i started to run towards the platform. I'm not a good athlete but that moment i could have beaten an Olympic gold medalist. he he he...

From the point i started to run, the bridge was still a good 30-35 meters long... With an operated knee i ran the best i could... and just when i crossed the bridge i jumped off the track... and that was the time when the train boogie brushed the right sleeve of my Jacket. Had i been a second late and i would have not been alive to write this.

Now i just wanted to get out of the railway station...
I could not stop myself thanking the almighty for a brand New Life!

At that moment i realized the value of life... if you don't have life what is all the money for... we keep fighting all our lives just to get a better living... a few more thousand bucks... and are never satisfied with what we have... even though we are better off than thousands of people....

Life and good health is everything... if u don't have it... you have nothing...

while on the flight to Delhi i dosed off and i see the same rear end of the train with a huge yellow X mark coming towards me and i suddenly woke up and found myself sweating... It was just a dream... thank god.
I was flying Kingfisher airlines that time and just when i opened my eyes and looked on my right one of their beautiful air hostess asked me what meal would i like to have veg or non-veg... she saw me sweating and i told her I'm not feeling well... and then the Kingfisher girls took good care of me :P he he he... guys will be guys...

Later in the day when i arrived in New Delhi i was still in a shocked state... while i was waiting to collect my luggage I thought to myself how foolish i was to do such an act. what if i was hit by the train... what would be the fate of my family / friends.... they would have been devastated... and i would have become a ghost haunting the Bangalore railway station... he he he

I'm really thankful to almighty for everything. Had it not been his grace that day i would have not lived to see the good things in life that came my way after that and had it not been his grace and of course the blessing from my elders and my late grand mother which has been shielding me every time - i would have not been celebrating my Birthday today. Its my second birthday in the new life and i wish myself with many more.... My Birthday is actually on 15th April. Today is my Birthday according to the Hindu calendar.

Happy Birthday to myself!
God Bless Me!

Friends Forever!

I was a kid when i left home. I was not aware of the wicked and cruel ways of life. There was only one thing i kenw well... the difference between the good and the bad... Thank God! That was enough to keep me away from trouble.

The Best gift we can give ourselves is a great friend. Having a friend whom one can depend on means a lot... i'm thankful to god that i have so many friends... Tons of them... I believe that every single moment spent with a friend is an investment for life...

I connected with an old college friend of mine a few days back and we went back in time and re collected all the fun we used to have in college. Sometimes i feel like going back to college and live that life all over again... and maybe imporve on some of my mistakes :P

Where ever I have been i met lot of people and the best part is that i remain connected with everyone... I'm still in contact with my classmates of 5th standard and earlier... though i dont get time to meet and talk to them on a regular basis coz everyone of us is busy with all the work we have... Some of my friends i dont get to talk to them for years but when i talk to them the conversations start like "b******** kya haal hai..."

A best part about this relationship is that even if the whole world changes ur friend will not. Even if the whole world goes against you, ur friend is right there besides u... if u go wrong he will help u out... He will help u no matter what. I go out of way to help my friends... and i have seen my friends do that for me...

We do all the mischief on earth... with all the pranks we make people around us miserable... :P
especially of our landlords... He he he
We break the mirrors in a misterious way, we park our landlords vehicle on the road and park ours in his parking :P... we do bhangra with full blasting punjabi music at 3:00AM... just enough to make our landlord go bonkers...

Any friend says anything is of prime importance... (its actually one person talking on behalf of everyone) like one day we were not in a mood to have non-veg and one friend said "yaar fish khane ka maan kar raha hai" (i want to eat fish) at 11pm we took out the motorcycle and got fish for him and everyone... likewise one day a friend said that he wants to go for a walk... It was raining outside and it was 2:00am... and we quietly sneaked out of the house and went for a walk on the ring road :P
another day i went to my friends apartment late in the night and told them that i wanted to have tandoori chicken... they were about to sleep... we went out at midnight hunting for chicken... and finally got one... he he he

Friend is the person... u cannot hide anything from... If there is something thats bothering u.. he will find out... how much ever u try to hide... u cannot.. coz a friend will know what u r going thru and what u might be upto.

Imagining life without friends is not happening...
The weekend is here again and i'm going to visit my friends...

BMW X5

It was my nephews b'day and i gifted him a Red BMW X5. He was really excited so was i and everyone at home. I have been driving it more than he has... He is just 6 yrs old and does not have a drivers licence u see... :P

well... dont think too hard. its a BMW X5 1:16 model. Its powered by a Ni-Cd Rechargable Battery... operated by a remote :P
It has a Nitro mode for that quick accleration and the doors open and close with the remote... it looks great. The head lights come to life when it starts rolling and stop lights work when the brake is applied... Has a reverse light and reverse Horn and FM music too... good thing is that u can switch off that option... and still drive :P

Well the kid in me is out... and freaking... he he he
My nephew is learning how to drive and i'm just showing him how to use it :P