Roadtrip No1 in the Lancer

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... Finally have my own set of wheels in Mumbai which I had been craving for a while for.. It's one of those cars which I always wanted to own.. Mitsubishi Lancer (It's a used one though)...

Ok.. Got my set of wheels.. First weekend.. Where do I go with it?? Anuj --- My friend for 6 years and flatmate of close to 4 years says, "Dudie, am planning to go to Pune one of these days". There goes the light in my head..

"Why don't we skip work on friday and drive down to Pune? From there, we can do a trip to Shirdi (Long thought of plan to visit the place once I had my car) and return to Mumbai..

Though not a big bhakt of Sai Baba, strangely, I feel at peace in Shirdi..

So, planning done for the trip.. It's all set for friday..

Friday 2:00 AM - Just back home from office and my roomie wakes up, "Are we going in the morning?"

"Ofcourse yes, why do you have doubts on that?". I ended up watching TV till 5 and the next realisation was my roomie waking me up at 7.45 - "What time are we leaving?". Still groggy, I said, "Another half an hour".

8:30 AM, And, off we go... Took us an hour and half to get out of the city.. Blame it on the bottleneck near IIT, Powai..

Mumbai- Pune expressway. One of the best stretches I have driven on in a long long time. The needle on the speedometer says "170". But, the car glides along without a hitch.

First stopover at the highway restaurant halfway between Mumbai-Pune. After a good breakfast, we are all set to leave again. Except that, the car sounds a little different. Whats a trip without a little aventure- Is it? The exhaust pipe picked up a leak. Probably the effect of something which I went over.

The next 70 kms, the car noisily creeps along at 80kmph (which on that highway seemed like 30-40 kmph).

Pune city - Here we come... And the first stopover is an auto garage to get the exhaust leak fixed. A full 3 hours is what it took to get it done.

3:00 PM - We walk into campus (Its been over an year since I was on campus). Head straight to the cafeteria for my cup of "chai" - Used to be my survival kit during days in college. The taste hasn't changed over the years. :):)

What do we do on campus??? I met up with both the juniors who had interned with us during their summers. One of them had got placed a day before. Feels good when people suceed. :)

An hour of chatting on campus, and waiting for my flatmate to wind up his session of "collecting campus updates" ;) (Incidentally, he is more aware of whats happening on campus than people who are still on campus)

Late lunch at Sweet Chariot in Pune. Evening spent catching up with a colleague who was in Pune as well..

9:00 PM. A small discussion on whether we stay back in Pune for the night or head to Shirdi straight away?? Shirdi it is. A brief stopover on the outskirts of Pune for dinner and off we went again. Amazing night drive, especially with the low visibility thanks to the windshield with loadsa scratches.

2:30 AM - Drive into a small lodge with the last 30 kms having been driven in my sleep ;). Check in and 7:00 AM we are up and ready again for the darshan. Surprisingly less crowded for a saturday. We are done with the darshan by 9:00 AM and out of the temple.

A heavy breakfast and an hour to relax and pack. 11:30 AM, we start off on our return journey to Mumbai. Loved the roads and the view.

4:30 PM - Totally exhausted, we drive into the apartment parking lot and the trip is done.

32 hours. Close to 700 kms. 3 cities. Not bad at all for the first trip in this car. Loving the car even more.. :):):)

looking forward to more trips in the future.

Kiran

"Solitude is Bliss"

"Solitude is bliss"

One of those statements heard so often. But, have we ever wondered how many people actually believe this statement to be true? What is "Bliss" and What is "Solitude"?
Solitude- a state of being or living alone. Seclusion.
Bliss- Supreme Happiness.
So, just combining these 2 words gives me the meaning, Seclusion is supreme happiness. :):)

I, for one, believe in this statement one hundered percent. Why do I believe in this?

• Helps ease the mind and clear it out


• Can think more clearly


• Most importantly, free to do what I want without any disturbance or distractions

For a while, I would keep my cellphone away for an entire day (Sundays). No calls no messages. Add to this, the luxury of sitting quietly by the seaside watching the waves consistently lapping against the rocks (Yep. These are the rocky seasides of Mumbai. Nowhere close to the sandy beaches of North Canara/Goa. But, have learnt to be content with that for now. :-)). Unfortunately, have been unable to do that for sometime now.

There are times when you are physically surrounded by a lot of people around you. But, mentally, you want to be far far away from everything around. There are rare occasions when I am successfully able to acheive that. Totally love that time.
October was a month when I was really lucky and got to enjoy the bliss of solitude. With my flatmates being away on vacation, I had the house all to myself for almost the entire month. Listening to music and some books which I had been wanting to read for a while. I must say I had an amazing time and actually wished my flatmates had longer vacations. ( I hope they don't read this post ;-))

During college, the best stress buster I ever had or my "think tank" if I may call it was the bike. Any time of day/night, when I was stresed/ had to clear out my mind, all I had to do was make up some excue and get out of the house with the bike keys. Do some aimless wandering on the bike alone with no destination in mind. When the mind eases out, head back home. This is something which intend to continue. Just waiting to get my hands on the steering wheel of a car of my own.

Does all this mean I am a "Loner"? Hell!!! No!!! I have my time with friends enjoying myself. And, I am not somebody who dislikes people. (Though one of my friends prefers to call me "Asocial" or "Anti-social" since I do not socialise as much as he does.) But, I enjoy spending time by myself. The "Me time" as some people refer to it.

Most importantly, I get the opportunity to put these thoughts on this blog only when I am enjoying some of "My Time". Lots more to say on this but not able to put them together for now. So, i guess will stop it here for now.

Hope to spend lots of time in a state of Solitude and Bliss. :) :)

Regards,
Kiran

Nomad's day out

A jobless wanderer + weekend + confused mind.
What happens when all 3 are together?

Date: 18th Sep 09
Time: 11:30 PM
State of mind: Cluttered and Confused.
End of a hopeless week at work. Add to it, the uncertainity over next week at work, thanks to the previous week. Nothing worthwhile to watch on TV and no mood to read.

Date: 19th Sep 09
Time: 1:30 AM
State of mind: Thinking
A lot of time spent on thinking about work. Realisation that it's the weekend. I can worry about work on monday. But, what's the big deal about the weekend anyway? Not that i have lots to do on the weekend. Brings about thoughts about complete boredom. It's been a while since I did something I enjoy. Haven't gone biking in a while. But, Bike lying unused during the monsoon's. So, can't take that out. Haven't gone on a trip or hit the road in while. One of those times wishing I had a car. A light flashes somewhere up there.Why not go on a trip? What are the options?? Someplace where I can go and comeback in a day. "Shirdi" - Here I come. Set the alarm for 5.30 AM and attempting to sleep

Date: 19th Sep 09
Time: 5:30 AM
State of Mind: Blank
The alarm goes off and so does my "sleep". Should I do this? So long since I did these kinda things. What the hell? Let me do it anyway. Time to hit the shower.

Date: 19th Sep 09
Time: 6:15 AM
State of Mind: Wandering
The guy at the counter says "7:15 ka Volvo full hai. 9:00 baje ka chalega?" Who wants to wait till 9:00? Not me. So, after haggling, manage to get a ticket on the 6:30 AM non-Volvo bus. Off to Shirdi now.

Date: 19th Sep 09
Time: 3:30 PM
State of Mind: Cluttered again
Thoughts about the last 2 trips to Shirdi flashing across. Get into the queue for the Darshan. Just made inside the premises before it shuts for the 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM window. Don't know why they shut it though. Luckily, crowds are much less than expected inspite of it being a long weekend. Get to finish Darshan in less than an hour. Sitting in the temple premises just listening to a lady updating 2 firangs about Sai Baba and things at Shirdi. Find out things I didn't know before. slowly, the mind blanks out for a while. :) Leave the premises and find out about tickets back to Mumbai. First bus at 8:00 PM. So, got to wait for 2 hours.

Date: 20th Sep 09
Time: 3:00 AM
State of Mind: Happy
Finally, reach Mumbai and get off the bus on the highway. Weather is good enough for a walk back home. Slowly, trudge along and make it back home. Quick shower and hit the sack. Content with having done something I liked on this weekend. :)
Looking forward to more such impromptu trips. A car would increase their frequency. :)

Kiran

"Self Respect"

"Self respect" - A term which people hear constantly. But, do people really understand the term? I don't know. But, at times, I think why this ambiguity on a term which sounds as simple as this - "Self Respect".

The simplest meaning that I can think of is, You respect yourself as an individual and do not feel ashamed or feel disrespectful of the things/activities that you do. Why is it so complicated then? For the simple fact that it starts with "Self".

Is it not we as individuals who define Self respect? I decide when I respect myself for what I have done. Inspite of this, why do we keep hearing the phrase, "If you have any self respect in you, you wouldn't do this or you wouldn't do that". Is it not that the person who is saying this is enforcing their definition of Self Respect on you and is wishing you adhere to this? Basically, getting something that they want to be done, done. If we still go ahead and do it, are we safe gaurding our "Self-Respect" or is it "Self- Esteem"? Self- Esteem- A term which is very similar to self respect but which hinges on earning respect of others and acceptance.

So, aren't we compromising on our self respect when we do something for self esteem? Do we compromise on this willingly or does it just happen?

I believe we do this willingly. But, why would somebody do this? At times in life, there are some people whom we respect more than we respect ourself e.g my parents, brother and a few friends in my life. So, essentially we value earning their respect more than how much we value our self respect. Would i feel unhappy about this? No, I wouldn't.

A few quotes about self respect which I found to be interesting -

Frederick Douglass:
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."

Joan Didion:
"To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves -- there lies the great, singular power of self-respect."

Mohandas K Gandhi:
"They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them."

The best one of them all -

Mark Twain:
"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself."


I have faced quite a few conflicts on this term. With people trying to enforce their definition of "Self- Respect", it was bound to happen. But, by not adhering to their definition, have I lost my self respect?

NO WAY.. Isn't doing what you believe is best for you actually earning you self respect? I did what i believed was truly best for me in those situations and am glad I did that. Whatever stand I took then only earned me more Self Respect. But, the actual conflict in those situations was of "Self- Esteem", which I did compromise on. Would I want the individuals involved in those conflict to respect me?

Yes. But why? Simply for the fact that those individuals are those whom I respect and would want that to be mutual. I don't know if i would get that opportunity.
. .
Just some random thoughts which kept sleep away from me for a while. :) :)



Kiran

Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk

"Fight Club"- A book by Chuck Palahniuk published in 1996 and made into a mobvie in 1999.


A boring sunday afternoon when I had nothing to do and was exercising my thumb on the TV remote, saw the title of a movie "Fight Club" on Star Movies. The title caught my attention and was hoping it would be some action flick with Van Damme or some other bloke on the lines of Rocky, etc.


Saw the first half, couldn't make head or tail of the happenings on screen. But, the concept was kinda interesting and switched off thinking I shall watch it again some other time.


A couple of weeks later, saw the movie again and this time, watched the full movie. I could make some sense out of it.
Finally, got hold of the book and totally loved it.
A scary book to read when you are going through a phase where you are losing sleep and are sleeping less.
You start thinking on, "Where is my Life headed?". Don't know how many people would understand this. But, there are times in my life when I have thought of doing things if not crazier atleast on par with some activities part of "Project Mayhem". Did I let "sanity" prevail by not doing any of these or was it just fear of the consequences? Don't have a clue on the reason. Just the thought that I ever thought of such activties brings a smile onto my face. :)
Some of the quotes from the book which I ike-
1. "If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't"
2. "You just are, all that happens just happens"
3. "It's only after you have lost everything, that you are free to do anything"
4. "Maybe self-improvement is not the answer.. Maybe Self-Destruction is the answer.."

Really love the second one, "You just are, all that happens just happens". A very simple statement which I invariably believe is true when I think about it.

A disturbing book which might take away your sleep for a while. But, a book that I would recommend reading. :)

Kiran

The title

" I am forever mine" - a random phrase that just struck my mind and got me thinking about it for a while. What does it mean?? I don't exactly know. But, i still like it and think its true. :-)
The same phrase was put up on my orkut status and an old friend asked me what i meant. One thought that crossed my mind was "I" have complete belief and faith in me, my values, my abilities - everything about "me". Does this make me Self confident? Maybe it does. Does this also mean i am selfish and self obsessed? I think it does. But i know for sure "I" am forever mine and will always be there to back "me"', take responsibility for "my" actions and importantly give that sense of belonging.