February 23, 2004

Musical Rendezvous

A memorable weekend passed by and we had a great time. Saturday was time for some last minute shopping for home and thought of meeting maddie but then gave up the last minute since my list was running long and I was running short of time. So huff and a puff I ran along the lanes of MG road buying this and that, counting my items as I trudged along... Finally when I reached home it was 7:30 and well my hubby Rocks had asked me out on a date to go to a rock show... some 30 kms away from Bangalore.. He and another rider friend were planning to be there at this gig and well it was supposed to be good. It was going to be an evening of music and I am game for any music Thermal and Quarter, Zebediah Blush and Galeej Gurus... Out of the three I was familiar with TAAQ and I liked their music... As rode along the road it was thrill to feel the concrete under the tyres and it was a cool ride along the highway to Kanakpura since the traffic had slowed down. The venue was Trans Indus and it was way way off the main road tucked in somewhere in between nature where you had all sorts of birds coming in (this I saw written in the posters put up there ) There was this little lake by the side of which the stage was set. It was enclosed by a small gallery which could accomodate some 50 odd guys and there was ample space on top to lounge and listen to the band.. It was a private amphiteatre with a live show. What more could one want... made ourselves comfortable and totally gave in to the music.. The occasion was the Rainseed Festival where you could listen to good music in Bangalore. This is a monthly event which occurs on teh second saturday of every month. You can get to listen to different types of music along with eating good food. This time the special was rice and thai chicken besides others... Zebediah Plush was playing by the time we reached there and I had never listened to this group. What made the music good was the acoustic and the crowd who were all rockers.. We had one hour of music from all the three bands. TAAQ started playing and oh my oh my ... though i had heard only a few songs .. i am totally rockifullied by this group.. they are good. and I am totally smitten by the drummer... drool drool... he is so cuteeee !!!! and he plays awesome... And can I be exempted from any wierd happenings ... noooo ... how can that be.. ? well there was this guy doped and drunk and possibly a fan of TAAQ and his favourite word for the period was SPARROW. I ssume that this is a famous song by TAAQ. So everytime Bruce stopped to talk to the crowd he would shout at the top of his voice whining ... SPAAAAROOOWWWWW... SPAAAROOOWWWW like a kid wanting a toy and not getting it... this went on even in the middle of some songs and well the band at one point just shouted somebody to give him some sparrows or whatever shit and shut him up....LOLOL somebody then took pity on him and tried to divert him by giving him a bottle of beer or something still he went SPARRROWWWW... SPARROWWWW.. COOOMEEE on YAAAARRR.. SPAROWWWWWW .. LOLOLOLOLOL well his sparrow did not fly that day... LOLOL Anyways dinner was good with yumm rice... I spotted Vasundhara Das at the counter and well I wished we could hear her sing.. it seems she used to sing ina rock band with an ex colleague of mine.. It was Galeej Gurus' time and it looked like that the band was not well rehearsed but we cheered them on. The lead guitarist with a hat on his head was the best. The main vocals guy kept having a problem and well we had had enough so we made our way home... All the three bands were unique in their own way. Zebediah Plush had a female base guitarist which I had seen for the first time. They did a great version of Hush. The lead vocalist has got a great screaming range. LOL TAAQ had all of them doing the vocals and they had some interesting musical instruments made of shells. I adore Rajeev the drummer... he rocks ... he he !! Bruce is also a dude with his humour and his vocals and amazing. Rzhude and Meher are good with their stuff too. They make a very good and professional team together and its a pleasure hearing them. I hope they go really far... after Rock Machine later on Indus Creed, we need a hard core rock band who have great lyrics and rhythm and of course support and they do if I am not mistaken. Parikrama is one of the other bands that I like but after listening to more than an hour of TAAQ, I swear by them.. All the songs that they sung were composed by the band and it was a good feel to listen to some originality rather than something famous sung by so many singers. Galeej gurus was also unique with the drummer doing the main vocals. His voice reminded me of Jon bon jovi.. and some of GNR lead vocalist.... its very difficult to keep voice coordination and the beat what we call in India "Taal". I used to have a major problem during my classical training days. I salute him but this band needs more practice and maybe do more original music. All in all it was a good melange of music and I think it was very well organised and the crowd was small and decent so it was really chill out.. it was musical heaven for me... yes it was.... ************************************************** Tomorrow I am scheduled to take the flight out of Bangalore with Rocks for home but it seems that Calcutta is on strike so we cannot make it... so our travel has been rescheduled for the day after.. BUMMER...BUMMER BUMMER !!! are the heavens speaking to me... I am keeping everything crossed so that we can at least make it day after !!!! Some more on Rain seed.. click here This is the map to reach Trans Indus if you are interested to check this place out ... visit this site and click on the map link for the map. ************************************************************************************ Caught up on a few movies.. Watched Market... well it was going on well in the beginning but the 2nd part spoit it all with all stupid emotional dialogues.. I am so thankful that I can finish up watching hindi movies at home. And thank god for the Fast Fwd button.. he he !! Manisha is putting on weight like nobody's business and well it was not very pleasant to watch her. Suman R and the other babe were cool and the actor did an OK job too.. My take : you can very well give it a miss.. My next movie was Jhankar Beats. I had missed it on the tele and in the theatre so was keen on watching it. Time was the only factor due to which I could not watch this movie. Anyways, finally got to catch up on this movie and it was a pleasure watching the antics of the characters... I found that Sanjay Suri and Rahul Bose did a great job. Found Riya Sen and the third guy's performance very plastic. Juhi was her usual bubby self and well Rinkie Khanna .. ummm well she did not have much of a role to play...The whole theme is on RD Burman's music and winning a show. Liked the editing and the humor portion of the movie. But I would just watch it once. I have yet to watch a good hindi comedy. I think Humgama was the last I watched.. that was fun. Then came Ek Hasina Thi . As I progressed into the plot, it was interesting but I had a feeling of deja vu... of reading the same plot somewhere and it was a mish mash of If Tomorrow Comes and Double Jeopardy with the hindi masala thrown in.. a plot well made I must say but the theme is the same. If you are familiar with these two stories, the movie plot seems to be very predictable but if you are not aware of it you will enjoy this story. Again well edited and well picturised. No matter what, Ram Gopal Verma brings out the best in Urmila. I guess its the chemistry. LOLOL Well thats that and I am still looking for the eusive Maqbool which I hope to catch tomorrow ... since I shall be at home. Tomorrow is a surpise holiday for me.. yeaaa since I already took leave but flight got cancelled. So will be pampering myself thoroughly.... Aromatherapy here I come..... ************************************************************************************ Oh yes got to visit my fav bro. Have not been in touch with him lately but that family is always on my mind. Its so easy to get lost in the daily hassles of running a life... that you forget your close ones very often.. SIGH !!!! Goodbye to all my friends... will meet ya on the 3rd of March hopefully with lots more stories and pics !!!

February 19, 2004

Its Friday

Along comes another friday, the end to another week and just three more days before I fly home into my personal haven.... YIPEEEE DO DAI DOOOO Ah... yes... the hills... the mountains... blue then a shade of green... and then blue again.. the very fresh air beckons me .. Shillong here I come.. This time I promise to visit you and breathe in your essence, the very thing which gave me my soul and my existence .... which held me in her arms and showed me the meaning of strength and perseverance... I can still transport myself back to the hills where I used to frequent with my books and sit there without having felt the concept of time passing by and suddenly watch the rain drizzling through the different levels of the hills as it finally pours down on my face giving me fresh burst of energy.... I am waiting to sit in the midst of pine needles and breathing in the pine trees and hearing the silence which spoke volumes... I am waiting to walk the once frequently trodden path which led to the beautiful unexplored places which only few kids knew... Yes I am waiting ... for four long years I have been pining to be there in your arms, feel the strength and imbibe the gust of earthy freshness... and give myself new life... I am jubilant, excited, exhilirated, intoxicated, enthused to just think that I am so near to reliving the joy of the misty mountains and to go back to the place that I was born and spent so many lovely years... yes I am .... ************************************************* Back from my musings.... And back I come to bangalore where the digging session has begun again. The roads near my house is a mess... I do not know what they have with the digging scene... First it was digging and the contractor fleeing the scene.. leaving the muck and a wide length gaping hole which was the death of us since it was raining. As soon as the dug up place was covered they started digging on the other side which they covered up pretty soon.. then they started redigging the recently covered up place on the opposite side and it was back to muck... but thankfully it was not raining now... Now when they finished doing this three to four times... it was decided to dig across the road... ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am so frustrated at these guys... the roads or whatever we had in the name of roads have been replaced by mud and well its worse than a village roads... where the soil is slippery and its difficult to ride let alone walk... Its like morning the road would be normal but in the evening when I come by the road map is thouroughly changed.. now due to that I have found out four different ways to my road and on Sunday... three of the four routes were blocked .... can you get that ??? I just wish they are done with everything and let us live in peace... GRRRRRRRR !!!!! Feel like clubbing them with a club !!! Like a cavewoman !!! YEHAWWW !!!! Its as if they are shaving the road more often than a man shaves himself... LOL... ************************************************* Birds beware And I feel like eating a bird today.... my apologies to veggies... but I have this irresistable urge to eat a bird but am kinda scared of "birdie thing" spreading all over... SIGH!!!! But what of the urge !! He he !! Updated my photo blog .. this time Wayanad and Kovalam...

February 18, 2004

That time of the day ... mumblings of a mumbled mind!!!

It is that time of the day when you take stock of what has happened for the past working hours. It is that time of the day when I am thinking to myself what the heck I am doing here typing stuff It is that time of the day when I look forward to the end of a stress filled session It is that time of the day when I am thinking I need a change in my life. It is that time of the day when the weather is almost perfect for a walk or a swim. It is that time of the day when I touch base with friends. It is that time of the day I when I used to get a hot cuppa tea at home prepared by Ma. It is that time of the day I dream my best dreams. It is that time of the day when I am thinking why I am what I am... It is that time of the day when my brain cells are slowly shutting down. It is that time of the day when the I am going nuts It is that time of the day when I need a coffee break.. It is that time of the day when I have to go for a coffee break !!! SIGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is that time of the day..............

February 17, 2004

This and That

The rider mania event held in Goa has been published in the Royal enfield website... by Royal Enfield.. with pictures and write ups... You can check it out here if you are interested.... ******************************************************* Watched Mad Max I yesterday. Rocks was so enthu about the whole movie that he wanted me to watch it ... maybe I was not in a max mood... I did not enjoy it except for the last bit... Mel Gibson sure looked cute... its his first movie... Maybe I will like the other two parts... Ii am planning to make a collection of good classics but unfortunately very few are available in India.. Have got the absolutly marvellous collection of Dire Straits the other day... we picked it up immediately since it was limited edition... I love Mark Knofler... The song that has hit me recently was private investigations because of the guitar piece there... its awesome... The lyrics are minimum but the music just rocks... It's a mystery to me - the game commences For the usual fee - plus expences Confidential information - it's in a diary This is my investigation - it's not a public inquiry I go checking out the reports - digging up the dirt You get to meet all sorts in this line of work Treachery an reason - there's always an excuse for it And when I find the reason I still get used to it And what have you got at the end of the day What have you got to take away A bottle of whisky and a new set of lies Blinds on the window and a pain behind the eyes Scarred for life - no compensation private investigation I love all the songs but this I had not heard yet... Now that I have some more time on hands... sans francais... got to organise my music and my books.. just started Alchemist by Paul Coelho. 1 more week before I make a visit home. To the North East. Yeaaaaaa !! I am so looking forward to meeting my folks... and hogging on all the home goodies.. yummyyyy..

February 15, 2004

Weekend Masti and Bangalore Blogger's communion !!!

Ya ba daba doooooooooo !!!! I have so many thooughts in my mind... today weekend was a great affair to remember.. I must say this... First Valentine's day came and went and I had the pleasure and the surprise of my dear maverick of a hubby cooking me a handsome lunch which pleased me to the core and I am still angling for my materialistic gift of a life sized well almost a life sized teddy bear... I do not lose hope... I have given him a LARGE hint that I want a large teddy bear... YUP !!!! Age be damned !!! HAH !!! Anyway in the evening I went to a rocking party where we had a great time with 'ol friends.... with lots of rib tickling laughter and well basically going nuts ... The big day came and I woke up on Sunday with a feeling of great aniticipation since I was meeting one of my favourite people Maddie for lunch and guess what!! I was meeting morphie and apple too... I was thrilled meeting these two and all the way Apple and Morphie kept me entertained with their patter ... Maddie has this serious but an adorable niece who was a pleasure to watch.. The three of them chattered to glory while I familiriased myself with the blogging world ... it was fun to watch all the three ... and I was happy to be there... Morphie being the only cute guy among the three of us was the butt of Maddie's and Apple's jokes... I think he handled himself very well .... while having a hearty and traditional yummy lunch, we decided to watch a movie... but were disappointed since the movie we wanted to catch had a different timing altogether... So we decided to do some timepass on MG Road... As any normal Banglorean who glugs... we decided that we would while away a few hours at the pub... went to " Underground" sat around for sometime and then just walked out of the pub since the crowd was pretty cidey.... We then went to "Nightwatchman" one of a fav haunts and lingered there. Maddie was a happy gal with gin, lime cordial and ice ( one of my favourite combo with vodka too). Apple went non alcoholic since she was wary to try out new drinks... morphie was egged on to try the "bloodymary" but after a few sips the drink fell flat and he also leaned on to Maddie's combination and both were happy human beings... I was content with my lime juice since I am off drinks for sometime... self control is something which I am learning with great difficulty... Moony met us at the pub. My first impression of her was that she suits her name to a "T". Wonderfully moonstruck !!! he he !! The evening was drawing near and we strolled on to Barista at MG Road and settled ourselves. We were early and hoped that we were looking forward to meeting lots of people... As we were ogling at a a scrumptious cake which was in the shape of a heart, in came the bloggers one by one... the routine was ... LOST LOOK.. QUESTION... and then a JUBILANT LOOK... It was easy to identify the lot... though we met some non bloggers with that LOST LOOK... who passed by without popping the question... As we settled in with the introductions we started yakking away to get to know each other... Typical of Bangalore Meet was full of techies and we could not help talk shop but then we resisted ... trying to talk about normal stuff.. I took some time out to be nice to the bartender at the counter... who was so impressed with the order that I kept giving, he was pleased to give me a free complimentary cassette.. LOLOL... AHH the joys of being a woman... LOLOL (yesterday was a day of getting free stuff for me... got another four plus one free VCD when buying a collection of Alfred Hitchcok movies... ) It was amazing meeting everyone !!! Semantic, Viggy, Maverick, Pradeep, Arun, Pradeep_bs, Harty.... basically everyone... I think we all should meet up again soon... Among the late arrivals were Toinky's friend Laloo and his wife and his friend Swati. It was nice meeting them too... Time came when I had to leave since I had a date with my husband who was planning to take me out to dinner.. had a replete dinner and crashed back... It was good weekend... Missed Aqua at the meet. Hope to meet you soon after you are well. ************************************************* Watched Khakee and well was not that impressed. But it was not that bad. I liked "Company" better in terms of direction and script. Khakee was good in some parts but then somewhere in the middle it started dragging and then it went back to the well trodden path again.. I am planning to watch Dhoop sometime soon. Heard that it was a nice movie... So there now its back to work....

February 13, 2004

It happened one thursday evening.....

Just when I had finished ranting on the blog I was dreaming of a long shower with some nice dinner to prepare... had a new recipe to practice ... my mind was free though I had a niggling headache and thought that I would for once pamper myself and took my time riding home... went to the mall picked up some stuff that I had to and then ... rode my way to home sweet home and as usual got ready for shower... and was singing my throat off and with hy head full of lather... suddenly the water trickled down to tiny droplets.... AAAGHHHHHHHHHH !!! I groped here and I groped there... opened all my taps.... GAWKKK SCREECH No water ..... Then I got a brillant idea.... The little angel next to my shoulder was telling me patience Pallavi but the devil on the other side told me PANICKKKKK you are KHALLLASSSS dudette. !!!! Here I was not a drop of water left and no water in the bucket, blind with lather and I was left with half of my song on my lips and what was i to do ... think think think !!!! EUREKA !!!! I realised that sometimes the kitchen tap has some water left .... this happened only twice in two years and I had always found water there.... SO I ran to the tap .... was damn lucky to get half a bucket of water and could just manage to wash my hair.... I was so not in a good mood.... GRRRRRRRRRRROWWWWLLLLL I cooked silently fuming and fussing.... everything was so not going as I planned.... my hubs came in and when I told him of the situation... he was like " great now people will realise what happens when you dont have water" ( there is another story behind this) I was frankly not in the mood to be patronised or to be the social do gooder at that moment and my headache was like tiny soldiers trying to hammer little pins of pain in my nerves.... EGADDDDDDDDDDD !!! my little devil told me .... which was also retold to me by hubs that the society guy must have closed the tap to teach us all a lesson.... my little angel told me ... that it was for our good... HUH !!!!! Well he chose a fine time to do that I was thinking and was mighty pissed... And all this I think was indirectly due to me... I am having this plumbing hassle at home and because of that the main valve in the building had to be repaired... the old valve could not stop the water flow... Now the new valve due to our valiant efforts can stop water from flowing and this guy thought that he would play a little joke on us...... FUME FUME FUME.... its like do a good deed and get a slap on the face.... Taught me a very big lesson on how to keep my mouth shut and also taught me to preserve water and never take it for granted..... ANd just as predicted the water came back with full gushing strength in the morning and I was a happy gal again... but I hope that whatever lesson the guy wanted the apartment members to teach was taught........... What an evening..... today I filled all my buckets ... to the brim... Then again on the flip side the society guy is not without blame. He has been trying to tell us that the increasing population in our area has given in to increased digging of numerous bore wells which is sucking water like nobody'd business and we should take the steps required to manage water but nobody listened.. so I guess out of frustation he took this step.. It is very easy to talk but then when it comes to work , its very difficult to make it happen.... SO there One Thursday Evening gone down the drain...... !!!! Now its waiting to be the water under the bridge !!!!

February 11, 2004

Oooh lala

Oooh lala I have finally finished my french final exams and I am sorely wishing that I will get through. The grammar was tough but this time the level was the most boring and I had missed a couple of classes too .. He he took two days of leave to study but anyways.. today my teacher was telling me that the theme that was given to us.. my concept was the best but stupid grammatical mistakes... This has always been my habit making silly mistakes and then we have a girl who is over enthu about everything and she is studying in STD 9th. Makes me feel like an old lady in the class. Where does she have all the energy... seems like a long time ago when I had the patience or the impatience to jump about... Anyway, she keeps going on and on about how good she is and well that is definitely giving me a complex though i like to think that i do not suffer from complexes... but I am so not having faith in this exam... working and studies definitely does not bode well.... and I have been doing it just because I wanted to do something more in my life and look where it has got me... I am a shattered soul full of mistrust in oneself... Anyway, I just hope I can get through to do the Diplome de Langue course but I have about 4 months of break since its one of the master level course... and will take some time to start.. till that time I can very well hope that I get through and have the will to continue... My self confidence has seriously taken a beating.. .... :(:( But I think I shall just go and boost it up with a little dish which I am planning to make... cooking always helps me and yes definitely also blogging... thank god for that.. and to think that I was never the type to write a journal... PS: thanks dear friends for giving me so many feedbacks on the blog will work on it as soon as I get it. I am no expert.. just experimenting !!! I have also got the time to update my photo blog.... just put some snaps from my different trips... undertaken in the country... I am free for sometime now... so am doing lots of RND on blogging and templates and stuffff..... its fun !!!!!!!!!!

February 08, 2004

Yet another manic monday ....

Came to office and had to shift from one floor to the other... man this is the umpteenth time I am shifting my workstation and its a pain.. just when i think that i am settled and done... I get this instruction on shifting here and there.... yeeeshhh... but then the flip side of it is I get to have a change and well thats good isnt it ? so here I am in my new location which is a single cubicle but unfortunately directly in the path of one of my boss's look.... which is a teeeny weeeny bit of a discomfort but then i can handle this... ( i like to think).... new bosses are always difficult to manage sometimes, they think that they own the world and well it is very difficult to keep on being diplomatic with them specially if they are like a brick wall not trying to understand the other's point of view... I am keeping a tight rein on my impatience.... so its "buddham sharanam gachhami" for me.... WORLD PEACE WORLD PEACE.... and I love you all....... ( with tears in my eyes) LOLOLOLOLOL And then I watched Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King... The movie kept me on the edge of my seat ... I wanted to catch the movie before the scenes were edited by the cinema guys and yet found that they cut some of the scenes... one thing about the movie.... was that just when you think the movie would end it would start again... LOLOL.... And there were some LOTR enthusiasts who kept on giving a running commentary of the movie to his partner till I had to literally ask him to tell me and the rest about the movie so then I would not watch the movie... LOLOLOL.....Why do I get to sit in front of such characters ... I guess I attract situations like this like a magnet... bad karma... :) Anyways, the movie started with a nice description of how Smeagol turns from a hobbit to a Gollum because of the ring. On one side Smeagol is plotting how to take Frodo and Sam and trap them ... into giviing him his precious... the ring on the other side Gandalf is getting ready for war and warning all about the incoming enemy attack... There are a lots of things happening at the same time specially the siege of the beautiful white city of the Minas Tirith. The visualisation of the city is amazing. The cinematographyof the movie is as always was very amazing. Along with the cinematography, the movie is full of anticipation and excitement and twists and turns. The eye of Sauron was amazingly depicted.... The war scenes were fabulous..specially the attack of the mammoths and the orks... I have nothing more to add.. it would be a looooooooooonnnng post ...Suffice it to say that the movie was worth every penny we spent.... and you must watch it if you are a fan of the novel and of the movie....yes yes yes.......

February 05, 2004

hmm

I was going through a dear friend's post and it just hurt me so badly... it was about pining for one's mom who has passed on... I live far away from my folks and it touched me so much to read about my friend missing her mom who is no longer there. My ma is not keeping well and I always go blank at the thought of losing her and not being able to talk to her and do the things that I do.... Death is something we deal with a lot in the metaphysical aspect of my practices. Yoga and other techniques teach us a lot about self control and overcoming the different attachments to the very physical and real life that we lead. My tarot cards and my spiritual techniques and research tell me that there is a world beyond. A world where souls are reunited and born again in some other human form. I believe in reincarnation and karma and yet it is difficult to just let go and lead my life on the basis of this logic and philosophy. But i am sure that us being human beings, nothing can make us ready to face the death of a loved one. Its easy to be the dead one but its always difficult to imagine to go through the loss of someone you hold dear to you. In my short lifetime I have lost many close friends and relatives and each time it has taken some amount of strength from me... each time I become more and more vulnerable to the word LOSS. Knowledge of the beyond and the cosmic universe, experience and logic, maturity and acceptance still does not diminish the power to shock us when a loved one is gone.... These words have been out of the deep despair I felt on reading a friend's blog.... how does one react to such longing.... how does one console this little soul ... how does one continue.... its very easy to preach but when it comes to practice I am the very novice that i was when I started my life..... I remember the lines of a song that I used to listen Blame it on the rain, Blame it on the sun, whatever you do, dont put the blame on you.... And Life goes on....................

February 03, 2004

An eventful morning !!

Today, I had a lot to do on my list, get my address changed from the Airtel phone bill, Give my bike for service and then some more.. Here I was speeding up everything trying to finish everything and reach office not so late but sometimes lady luck just has some other ideas as to how to go about stuff. Or its just me. After my French Class I went to the Airtel Centre but that was closed so thought of just going ahead and giving my bike for servicing. After that as usual I took an auto. The auto fellow was a young thing and took me by some other way ... and almost threw me and the auto and himself in a ditch.... It seems he did not hear that I wanted to go to the RTO... ........ %$@*#% ...but you see I had learned a lot of patience through my meditational practice so I was just leaving it upto fate saying that let me reachthe airtel office safely and I shall give you many ladoos... so many laddoos overdue but i think I did not make my ladoo payment this time .... So as the auto tagged along the small roads, there was this madame blocking the way with her expensive car.... and my auto driver kept shouting at her to remove the car .... which was not necessary but who am I to argue... I was praying for peace and literally WORLD PEACE with a V .... But just then a young guy dressed like a tapori ... must be a college going kid... started shouting mildly at my auto driver not to shout and to take it easy... my auto driver naturally got a little ruffled and a small argument ensued and the guy got his kinetic honda near the auto and then after a split secong slapped the auto hard.... now I was like really praying for world peace... but I think god was on a holiday for me... The auto driver then slapped the guy back and a whole 3 minutes fighting session commenced where both this guys came to silent but painful blows... I was imagining Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and Sholay being combined... I got down from the auto and stood by helplessly seeing both this guys scuffle it out and here I was getting late fr everything... The auto guy landed a couple of good blows to the other guy and I was admired at his fighting skill... I think it was good that he gave the other insolent guy a good beating.... should teach him not to mess with somebody else's business... Thankfully there was this senior auto and the general public who came to these two's rescue and I was back in the auto a bit shaken but more worried about having woken up the wrong side of the bed today... LOL. The auto was cursing in Kannada and explained to me and told me not to worry " bejaru madko beda" I said yeah "Sumane...." Well then I felt bad for the young auto fellow and took his auto back again from the airtel office to my office... and gave him some extra money.... PHEW !! I think one must keep cool during these situation but just because he is an autodriver, the other guy should not have slapped him... and I think it served him right to have got it back from the auto guy... I am not condemning anyone or taking any sides here.... both were wrong... but I do not believe in turning the other cheek when somebody dares to slap me.... and here I am looking back at the humor of the situation and laughing my head off.... in retrospect, it was just a case of yound hot blood getting hotter... LOLOLOL but what a morning.... ******************************************************************** A show worth seeing Last to last weekend we had been to the circus and it was an enjoyable evening. It was a long weekend and me and hubs decided to do something since we were not riding.. Movies were ok but there was this circus happening... "The Great Royal Circus". Both me and Rocks were very excited since the last time we had seen a circus was when we were kids. And we had good memories of those shows. I was curious to see the animals but I read in the newspapers that animals were not allowed and i did not know what the performers would do without the animals but then I thought what the heck... we might as well go and see it. The tickets were easily available and it varied from 100/- to 20/-. We took the 100/- which would allow us to see the show right from the first rows. Was happily settled when the show started withe trapeze artists. I was impressed by the show but not so with the costumes. The costumes seemed like superman having had done his dress by a tailor who was color and design blind. Imagine rin white body suits with pink underwear type shorts worn on top of the body suit... that too a shocking pink. It was a riot. But the performance was well coordinated. Then came the clowns and they made us laugh with their antics... The music was live and blasting away to glory. The guy up there was announcing something which was for you to guess and decipher.. I left that up to my not so sensitive ears to catch whenever possible and concentrated on the show. Then came the body bender who looked like a grown up Farex baby with very very sad silver costume again... but the feats she showed with her body was amazing. Then VIOLA !! the animals... oh they were there... the horse did a great show of supporting the acrobatics shown by one lady. There was the elephants who played cricket with the audience. ALl the kids were waiting to catch the ball. The parrots were amazingly cute and showed us how to cycle and then play see-saw and then jump through fire rings... There were this colorful huge parrots who balanced the stick while the white parrot would go down and up from one side to another... giving the see-saw effect. One of the parrots was a rebel and was not listening to the orders but it was controlled. It was very amusing to see that. The dogs were also amazing in their tricks, there was one who could recognize numbers and kept us in suspense as he went in search of the said number... just when the kids thought that he would not be able to pick up the number, he did it and the kids along with myself were overjoyed... I was enjoying myself so much that the kids in front of me just turned and stared at me... ha ha LOLOL.. kids nowadays are so serious... LOLOL...anyway.. I was having the time of my life. Then there came the kids who astounded us with their somersaults, balancing acts and acrobatics... and lots of other tricks... THey actually stole the show... they were the best... There was this fire eating guy and then the one who threw himself beneath 5 swords without getting hurt... The Russian belles came in and it was a wonder seeing them perform their stunts. Well they had the proper circus bods and the costume and it was a pleasure watching them move and flex the nmuscles as if there was no bone. There was this family of Father, mother , daughter and a little son who stunned us with their gymnastics... The little kid was awesome and cute... and they were very dramatic tooo... LOLOLOL. One of the girls did a hoola hoop trick with as many as 20 hoops at one time. Then she proceeded to do a balancing act which showed us that anything was possible. Our Indian equivalent also I was impressed with one of the Indian girls who did great feats with her bicycle. She showed us how many different ways she could ride that one bicycle... people just were awed.... It was a relief to see that the performers were all wearing the safety cord so as to avoid any accident... Finally after more than 2 hours the show was finally over with the camels saying taking the final bow. I thought this show was better than anything that day and since it was a dying art, it was all the more necessary to keep this art alive. I read in the newspapers that this circus show had performed all over the world in different places and were pretty popular. Well the show is something you must take your kids to or you could also go if you just wanted to see something different. I only wish that they would get enough money to design their costumes better so that the audience also has a good visual effect. Thats putting it rather diplomatically and yes reduce the excess amount of fats in their physique which really portrays a bad diet and maintenance of the circus performers in comparison to other professionals... these are points which I personally thought could have been improved but at the end it is the show that matters and it seems that it was a success.. going by the crowd and I am happy that they are keeping this art alive.... ********************************************************************* And now its back to work...................

Day 5 Jan 12th Monday.... THE END

Woke up fresh and ready to ride to Bangalore. Started early by 8:10 from Honnavar. Planned to stop by at Jog Falls. The ghats were beautiful during the morning. While going through the ghats we could smell fresh flowers and it was a beautiful feeling riding through all the greenery. This ghat section has lot of sharp curves and one has to ride slowly and carefully. The bike was choking at fourth gear and Rocky kept a steady third gear and carried on. We stopped at the Sharavathi River vIew point to click some snaps. We went inside to see Jog falls but was disappointed again since there was no water at the falls. It was a mere trickle but we had a good break there. We were joined by the Madras bulls and Indrajit and then by Siddharth and Dubyaman. We had a nice breakfast of bread and omeletes and maggie. When one is hungry anything tastes good. >We started off after an hour. Some of the guys decided to wait for the rest of the gang coming by in a while. The Madras bulls took off with us since they also had to go slow as Navneet's engine was running. Siddharth and Indrajit took turns in dragging while doing the ghats and Sid is a speed freak.. He almost missed a curve once it seems but it is fine. Speed can be addictive as long as one is in control of one's vehicle but personally I would prefer steady riding to speeding up. We took some time off to take a snap shot with the bikes and then we were off. We finished the ghat section pretty soon and reached Sagar. Continuing riding we had lunch somewhere at a good roadside dhabha in Shimoga. We had news that most of the group were catching up with us and then we called them there. We had finished our meal then and while they were settling down we were on our way. Someone from the Madras bulls was lost, i think it was Brijesh but he found his way and all was fine. On our way from Shimoga we took a wrong route and almost went the wrong way when suddenly I saw the landscape change. Thats when we turned and headed back on the right track after asking the right route. Its very confusing to ride through the big towns... one must keep to the bypass as much as possible. Took a short break in Arisekere and then proceeded towards Tumkur. I was impatient to reach home now. Fuelled up the bike here even though there was some gas in the tank. The sun set just a few minutes before entering Tumkur. I must tell you that highway sunsets are amazing and red. This is the second time we were watching a sunset by the highway on our bike and it beats any glorious sunsets... that we have seen. The sun becomes a beautiful red ball of fire and spreads the glow all over. Its a wonderful moment. I clicked my last snap there and was content. After Tumkur we reached the main highway where the Golden Quadrilateral work was going on. The highway is painful to ride with so many diversions. We reached our starting point at 8:45pm and I thought that we did a good timing steadily riding. I was happy with the ride since we not only stopped where necessary but we also managed to see some of the places on the way. All in all it was a great trip and I am waiting for more. Lessons Learnt All rookie riders should carry spares. Though a list is given at the beginning of a trip one must be extra careful on long rides. Avoid Carrying bags with too many dangling loops. Note: Kamat has a great service going in the highway and thats the best place to stop on your way if you are travelling by your own vehicle.

Day 4 Jan 11th Sunday

As decided early on in our trip myself and Rocky left early at about 10:30 - 11:30. We decided to skip the group ride and do some sightseeing by ourselves. Since we were slow and steady riders we were sure that the group would not be far behind. As we passed Goa we went through quaint Goa roads which was a pleasure to ride. As it was Sunday, there was no crowd at all and everything was pleasant. width=241> As planned we spent sometime in old goa and visited the St Francis Xaviers Church and then the museum. Had lunch and then pushed from Panaji at 2:00 in the afternoon. Hitting the highway we did a good speed an average of about 60kmph and crossed the Goa Karnataka border. Passing by some local churches, I saw a big crowd at each one. The crowd would have flocked there for their Sunday prayers. At the border we were stopped by the Border cop and after asking a few questions we were allowed to pass through. Karnataka, aaaahh familiar ground and the air just seemed different. Reached Karwar and decided not to wait at Karwar but had something further down at Kamats. Filled gas at the station and decided that after every 100 odd kilometres we would take a break. On the way we entered Gokarna and decided to watch the sunset. This is a small town boasting of the famous OM beach. It seems only the foreigners are allowed there or if you have your passport and all other documents. The beach is thus named because of the shape of the beach. We had to make do with visting the Gokarna beach, the road to which was crowded with shops and temples and people who were all making it to the beach to spend the sunday evening there. Reaching there it was a disappointment but it was ok i guess. We saw something of Gokarna at least. Started for Honnavar and reached by 7:15 pm. Stayed at the same hotel and had a great dinner of the fish fry , fish curry and vodka. I was glad that I did not get to miss the scrumptious food after all... LOLOL. Guys if you are going towards Shimoga and then taking a break at Honnavar, before proceeding to Goa... do stay at Hotel Siddarth next to Kamat's Inn. Excellent room service and excellent food and great rooms... we recommend it highly. The group reached Honnavar at 1:00 in the night. There was a hassle with Andrew's chain which cut due to the bag loops which were dangling near it. They were safe but they had to spend 3 hours fixing it in Karwar. Andrew being a rookie rider did not think of taking a spare chain and well thank god Dubyaman had one extra. So all was well with the riders. Part of the group spent some time at Palolem beach. While returning the Madras Bulls Dodo, Navneet, Brijesh and Indrajit from Calcutta also joined us.

February 02, 2004

10th Jan Day 3

Woke up to the beach and then went down to the shacks for tea and breakfast. The food is much cheaper there and the service is great. Had nice fish sandwiches and a lazy tea appreciating the beach and the water. The weather was cool and peaceful. Many of the foreigners were already sun bathing on the beach beds... Lots of people and of all things lot of cows. We were crowded with a herd of cows as the sun starting going up. I thought i had enough of cows in the midst of the Bangalore traffic and them too in the beach.. I think they lost their way or something. I must say that there were a lot of friendly dogs wandering about who would come and rest by your side. They knew that food was available and they were pretty well behaved. I had a nice time watching them frolic and amused myself seeing the way the dogs got their food by putting their best paw.Took a few snaps and proceeded back to the hotel to leave for the venue where the ridermania would be held. The Venue was Riva Resorts where all the bikers would gather. Some early birds had already booked shacks at the venue... lucky bums. It was a pleasure seeing all the bikes that had gathered there. The Pune Roadshakers had got along Ten Sports Channel with them. They were shooting the whole thing. On our way we saw a sign welcoming us saying "Rider's Mania 2004 welcome.. " instead of Ridermania 04.. LOLOL... Guna's bike a 1959, Made in England, was the talk of the crowd. This bike is my favourite and it had a lot of people wanting to buy it. Guna was impressed and all set out to sell the bike but we deterred him from doing so. It was a collector's item and was running well. We advised him to sell in online at a good price. We lazed around in the beach for the whole day. I spent some time reading, had some good lunch, some beer. Kings is the best beer one can find there. The evening was full of dance and beer flowed like river among the crowd. To be honest, we were expecting a lot more interaction with the other groups and some group activity but it did not happen and we were left to fend for ourselves and do what we wanted and well that did not seem so bad since we had the beach to ourselves and a lot of shacks and beach beds to soak in the sun. I think we could have seen more of Goa instead of languishing there doing nothing. Maybe we were so used to doing something that sitting and doing nothing was something we were not used too. It was getting hot and the beer too stopped flowing on the house. The shacks near the house were also expensive but very romantic ifyou would want to spend a honeymoon there. One would have thought that fish of all food items would be cheap in Goa but no a plate of fish curry with three small pieces and plain rice in a small bowl would cost you some 200/- thats scandalous considering that fish was the staple food in Goa. The food rates differ depending on the location I guess. The rest of the day was spent with guys ogling with bigger than big eyes ;) at the display of very beautiful upper assets of the female bodies sunbathing and walking by. Someone had a pair of powerful binoculars just for this purpose... what a feast it would have been for the guys.. .he he !! I pored my nose in a Sidney Sheldon book acquired from the shack and after sometime I called to the women who sold junk jewellery and do some timepass and in the process bought some junk which I think was pretty. Anyway, the venue was high up in North Goa far away from main town and no one wanted to get lost. So most of the crowd stayed put by the beach. Some frolicked in the water while others waited for the sun to go down to have a nice swim in the sea. Rocky took a swim and a long run as the sun went down and I took a long walk by the beach too. It was a good time of the day with the wind whistling through and many came out for a walk by the calm sea. The party started by 8:00 and the dance floor started to warm up. We started dancing and others followed. The party went on till the food came on at 10. There was great cheering about the groups from Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai. Praveen from RTMC was doing the jumping jack act continuously and jumped on my feet twice. OW OW OW!!! And then he went on to the DJ took the mike and kept shouting RTMC yea yea yea !!! LOLOL That was fun. I think the Bangalore group was the noisiest. For me it was dance and then OW OW and then dance.... and then i started moving sideways to where Praveen would not jump... LOL. Mahendra and Easha were blown and drowning in beer and something else... godknowswhat... JFK who spent the whole morning sleeping in the beach was up and dancing the whole night with Anita. Suraj was displaying excellent facial expressions and looking for a gal. Guna succeeded in persuading not one but two gals to dance with him and all eyes were like ( GAWK) LOLOL. He is the gentlest of them all and all guys had a great time dancing then. The shy Jahangir also let his sleeves down. ( i say sleeves since he does not sport any hair) and freaked out. RTMC ruled the dance floor. Praveen continued to step in many's toes and shouting.... Each time I would sit down to take a breather he would jump and dance towards me to ask me to move... and i started to avoid his direction for fear of being stamped again and again... LOLOL... The Roadshakers from Pune did their jig with their jackets on... there were couple of good dancers there... then there were this group of sardarjis who did a slow bhangra with all the numbers and moving round and round all over the floor with his arms stretched out.. OYEEEEE........ They were being shot majorly by the crew that they got. Once when I was dancing with Rocks I see this camera suddenly appearing from below and I got a mild shock seeing the black lens proceeding up from below... YEESSHHH !! Well the food was much left to ask for and it was a laugh. The only thing which was edible was the fish fry. The rest was a mockery. Some butter chicken and then there was some prawn curry. Prawn curry was just curry and no prawns and well dinner was not that a great affair. Anyways after dinner we made our way to our rooms at Alcove and crashed off. Here are a few pics of the venue