Road to 800 – 795 – The Bet

More than 5 years now and almost close to 800 posts, its been a long time. Now close to 800 posts, I try to continue with the tradition of inviting guest writers for charity. The response hasn’t been as expected but still some of them did respond.

Presenting a break from my travel blogs and something different

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Pragati write a story with surprising end. Her first venture on Full2 faltu.

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It was a nice summer afternoon with warm wind blowing outside while I sat in my home office and tried to focus on writing something meaningful for the upcoming issue of the “Happy life” magazine. I have to admit I could not decide upon what to write. There were topics ranging from living your life to the fullest by letting the readers know that death is like a prince riding on a white horse galloping closer to you every day or letting them know about the importance of healthy eating and exercise or how communication helps to rejuvenate your relationship with the near and dear ones. My wife was in the kitchen making me some hot cup of tea and a nice alfa alfa sandwich with pesto sauce. She has been awfully interested in cooking lately. Her taste buds seem to be on an overdrive lately.

Every day she comes up to me and asks me what is it that I want to eat and note this is for breakfast lunch and dinner. It is a different thing that I don’t always get whatever I want. I just end up getting whatever her taste buds want. So, after I had my hot cup of ginger tea and my sandwich which was very tasty by the way, I decided to take a short break and go to the wine and arts festival at downtown. This festival boasts of some of the finest wines from the nearby Napa valley and is an annual affair. The community folks get together and the locals have the opportunity to showcase their talents which ranges from middle aged women belly dancing, to young girls performing salsa numbers , to the crazy dragon march.

After I took a tour of the entire downtown I decided to sit outside a Mexican bistro and just watch people. It helps in my profession to just observe whatever is going around and making a mental note of the things.

It wasn’t long after I sat to do nothing that a man with cigars in his hands comes up to me and asks “can I sit here”. I said sure. I didn’t have a problem with that. He doesn’t look at me even once while sitting there and after five minutes says “the economy has taken up a bad shape, many people are losing their jobs these days. I guess I am really lucky to still have my job.” I said I was happy for him. He still didn’t look at me. He was looking at a teenager who was probably 18 or 19 years old sitting next to a brunette who also seemed to be his age. He was holding her chin trying to convince her of something while she was looking down fidgeting with her cell phone and once in a while looking disapprovingly at the young man’s face.

After sometime the young man started walking toward our direction. “Is he coming to this restaurant” the man asked me.

I said maybe. “Well I say he is not just gonna come to this restaurant but also sit next to us”.

I looked around and saw that the entire place was full and we had one extra chair. So as the man with the cigar predicted, the young chap sat right next to us with a disturbed look in his eyes. He took a pack of cigarette and a lighter that made sweet music when he lit it.

He looked up to us and said “this lighter always works. It is a ten out of ten lighter and has never ever disappointed me”. The man asked the young chap if he was sure about it and he replied “would bet my life on it”.

The man raised his eyebrows and bit his lower lip and said “you would not bet your life on it would you?” “Ofcourse I would it is the best lighter in the whole world”.

The man started tapping his foot loudly and took a deep puff of his cigar, kept it aside on the ash tray and said to the young chap “I wanna make a bet if you are willing to take it.” The young chap didn’t look interested so he just sat there without saying a word.

The man continued “I bet my new BMW if your lighter does ten rounds.” He knew he had got the attention of the young chap and said after a pause “and if it doesn’t then for every missed round I will take a finger of yours.”

“You are a crazy man and absolutely out of your mind” I shot back.

“Well I am not keeping a bet with you and if you want you can be the referee”. He said that while still staring at the young boy who looked horrified.

“I agree with the man you are crazy as hell. Jeez I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Well boy, if you are so sure of your lighter then what is the harm in taking the bet. You stand to gain in the end. You get a new BMW for just lighting your lighter” he said that with a scoff. I looked at the boy and he started to smile and he looked pretty convinced to take on the bet.

“You mean you are going to give me your BMW if I agree.”

“Sure, in fact why don’t we go and take a look at it. It’s parked right around the corner”.

It indeed was a beauty when we took a look at it. A blue beamer glistening and sparkling in the hot summer afternoon.

“Okay I accept the bet” the boy said without taking his eyes of the beauty.

“Then lets go to my apartment right across the street and carry on our sweet little deal”.

We climbed the creaky staircase and entered a room that was meticulously kept. Everything in the room was color coordinated, the pillows matched the curtain and the kettle matched the mugs. The room smelled of cigar smoke. The man went the kitchen and took out a knife from the drawer and kept it on the small circular dining table and sat on my right. The boy sat to my left. He took out the lighter with trembling hand and pressed the roller with his thumb, it lit and I said one. He continued again and I said two, three, four, five, six. Before the seventh round the boy wiped his hands with the dinner napkin kept on the table and drank some water directly from the pitcher. He then wiped his forehead and pressed the lighter again and I said seven. The boy looked at me and smiled. He went on to do the eighth round and suddenly the door flung open.

A black woman came screaming in,”So what do you think you are doing here you maniac! Are you bargaining of my car again” she said with clenched teeth. “And what do you think you guys are doing here, he is mentally disturbed and keeps betting cars for fingers.”

She opened the drawers next to the dining table and we were horrified to see fingers kept in ziploc bags with names written on labels.

“I have worked real hard to get back all my cars from this son of a bitch” she said pointing at the man with her index finger. It was then I noticed this was the only finger attached to the palm and the other hand had no fingers at all.

Road to 800 – 794 – An Ideal Holiday…..

More than 5 years now and almost close to 800 posts, its been a long time. Now close to 800 posts, I try to continue with the tradition of inviting guest writers for charity. The response hasn’t been as expected but still some of them did respond.

Presenting a break from my travel blogs and something different

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Snigdha has already written twice for Full2 Faltu. Once during 600th post and the second during 700th post. This is her third coming to Full2 Faltu.

We have our idea of a good holiday. Mine would be getting some wonderful pictures. She describes what her ideal holiday would be like.

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Everybody craves for an ideal holiday. But an ideal holiday for me may not be the same for you, or for somebody else.

For my dream holiday I would chose a sea beach. I had been to the sea beach at Orissa (Puri sea beach). But it is not that clean and it is always so crowded. I would rather prefer a lonely beach somewhere in Kerala (southern part of India) with a beach house, where I can sit down on a comfortable arm chair at the front yard of that beach house, facing the sea with a big beach umbrella above me…And I would need…My camera…A good supply of fresh fruit juice, a good novel, lets say something like the “Love Story” by Erich Segal or some other fictions like Harry Potter, some slow music in my ear, but that should be optional, i.e. I can switch it off whenever I feel like or whenever I want to hear the sea roaring in front of me. I would also like a laptop with internet connection so that I can get connected to the world when I want to share my views with all my friends…Some good vegetarian food…and at that moment, I am the happiest person on the earth.

I would like… to take long walks on the beach, collecting sea shells, taking photographs… to feel the water taking away the sand beneath my feet… to watch that ship floating on the sea, getting smaller and smaller every time I blink and slowly disappearing at the horizon… to feel the warmth of the sun when it rises which seems as-if it just came out of the sea after taking a holy dip in it, water still dripping from its body, rinsing away all the dust from its body and reflecting the divine glow…to pick up a conch and put it near my ear and listen to the sound of the sea…to feel the cool breeze against my body , when the sun sets, which promises to come again and again till the end… to watch the birds fly above the sea… to watch the starry sky during the night… to watch a full moon…and to do such numerous things which will bring a smile to my face.

Well, God only knows whether, by any chance, I will ever be able to go for a holiday like that. But I crave for “at-least” a day like that.

Road to 800 – 793 – Things We Are Slowly Killing Off

More than 5 years now and almost close to 800 posts, its been a long time. Now close to 800 posts, I try to continue with the tradition of inviting guest writers for charity. The response hasn’t been as expected but still some of them did respond.

Presenting a break from my travel blogs and something different

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Avantika has her own blog and she wrote for Full2 Faltu on the 700th post road.

Life changed and so does the situations and things around us. What was a great thing for us may have become obsolete now. She talks about something which we have killed over the years with evolving of technology. Its true. My hands pain while writing now. I may not be needed to sign in some years because of biometrics. You never know

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Writing!!

Quite literally writing with a pen/pencil on paper/any other writing material is dying a slow and steady death.

Why this?

The Fellow asked me to help him out with something and the first thing I did was to pick up a book and pen to do it. Thirty seconds later I was reaching out for my laptop and Ms Word.

Now I know that most people don’t really write write once they’re out of college and the whole exam giving-writing for three hours circus we’re made to go through is behind us like a horrible nightmare. But the fact that I found/realized I could type faster (much much much faster) than I could write shocked me a little bit. I mean I could once take down what the teacher was going on and on about in class almost verbatim (without using shorthand) and now I couldn’t write 2 pages (actually 2 lines) without my hand resisting the unfamiliar action!

I know technology changes the way you live and do things blah blah blah. But I can’t come to terms with the fact that writing will soon become a lost art (if it’s not already) and in a couple of decades museums will carry samples of handwriting in temperature controlled glass cases for school children to press their noses against and look at in open mouthed wonder!

Of course someone living in the 18^th-19^th centuries probably thinks we’re philistines today, what with our ball pens and gel pens and flimsy paper instead of gorgeous ink pens and quills and heavy beautiful paper which were an expensive commodity at one time. If I could I would love to write that way – copperplate writing and everything.

Instead, here I am clattering on my keyboard at full speed with my fingers quite literally losing the muscle strength to hold a pen for extended periods of time anymore.

Road to 800 – 792- Dafan

More than 5 years now and almost close to 800 posts, its been a long time. Now close to 800 posts, I try to continue with the tradition of inviting guest writers for charity. The response hasn’t been as expected but still some of them did respond.

Presenting a break from my travel blogs and something different

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Ankahee had written here earlier. She writes poems and still does not publish them. Presenting her poem titled by me “Dafan” because she did not name it. I promised her I will find a picture fit for the poem. I don’t have any picture matching the beautiful creation. This is post 792

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बादलों के पार उस जहाँ में
है सब कुछ नया जहाँ
ना दर्द है वहाँ
ना सुकून है जहाँ

जा रही हूँ आज इस जहाँ को छोड़
अपने दिल को छोड़ अपने जिस्म को छोड़
कुछ की आँखों में नामी है
तो कुछ की आँखों में पानी भी

आई थी तब देखा था खुद को पापा की गोद में

जा रही हूँ तब देख रही हू पापा के कांधो पर
वो फेंक रहे है मिट्टी मुझ पर
जिन्होने फेंका था पिछली होली पर गुलाल मुझ पर

दफ़्न हो गयी हू में आज
शायद नही क्यूंकी मुक्त हो गयी हू में आज
दफ़्न तो मेरी लाश हुई है में नही
दफ़न तो वह दिल हुआ है में नही
दफ़न वो सारे किससे कहानिया हुई है में नही
दफ़न मेरी साँसे हुई है में नही

Gangotri 4 – Ring Tehri 2

The wrong right turn took us to a round trip around Tehri dam. As we went on the wrong road, we realized that the boards to Gangotri have vanished. It meant that we were on the wrong path. Driving on the same path, we finally decided to ask somebody.

The locals suggested that we go ahead on the same route and cross over from a bridge to the other side of the Tehri. We could have chosen to just go back but thought it was a shortcut to Uttarkashi. We had to drive 80 Kms more and face a 2 hour delay. We should have asked the best possible way.

As we advanced on the road, we were searching for the bridge to cross on the other side. We could see a bridge far away over the valley but from far away it looked like a foot over bridge. But if that was the foot over bridge then where was the bridge we needed to cross over? We kept going on till we reached the bridge we had been seeing from the distance. We asked the police constable “where was the bridge to cross the valley?” and he pointed to the same bridge.

We came from the road seen above

From above the bridge looked shaky and small. But the constable assured us “407 jaati hai ji” (Tata 407 is a small truck from Tata Motors).

We had our doubts but going back the same way would waste another hour. We decided to cross over. When we crossed over and looked back, it was a deep fall down there and the bridge was supported on both the side of the valley with nothing to support the middle. It looks like a frame structure without any solid firm ground.

Its a long way down there

We crossed on the other side to find a dusty, narrow road which was the start of our long treacherous journey to Uttarkashi.

The road from then went just uphill. A narrow dusty road filled with potholes and a view of Tehri dam. We were looking at a deep valley from the car and the car almost touched the edge of the road. The locals who operated the tourist vehicles drove with almost no fear or regards to safety. We stopped many times to give way for a fast moving car. The distance was such that only two cars would pass almost touching each other but we had trucks on the road.

Vijay and me were sitting at the passenger seat on the left and we had the maximum look at the valley below. The valley was a 90 degree drops below and one wrong move would leave us with no chance at all. 

The narrow road and the almost 90 degrees mountain. Tehri lake in the background

The Tehri lake view from the road

The long winding road on the mountains. No matter how much we drove, “road khatam he nahi hounda”

 

The locals could not resist overtaking in the narrow road. The Tata Sumo behind the truck is trying to overtake the truck on a road where the truck is taking all the space. Talk about optimism.

A traffic jam in the mountains where little space created a road block on its own.

Gangotri 3 – Ring Tehri

The reason GPS is not so popular in India is because we have people and paanwalas. Wherever you go, you will find somebody who can be asked for direction. People who frequent the roads and tell you exactly where and how to go.

Before embarking on the Gangotri journey I had researched the way to Gangotri and found out the path including the highway details. As per the map, we had to drive from Chamba to Tehri and then to Uttarkashi.

Tehri dam is the 5th largest dam in the world. An engineering marvel, it was a cause of major concerns and protest because of the environmental and resettlement issues. Built on the river Bhagirathi, the dam is very close to the Himalayan ecosystem.

Till Tehri we manage to make no mistakes and then from Tehri a left turn was mistakenly taken as right. The wrong turn took us to a round trip of Tehri, an extra 80 Kilometers, the most dangerous road on earth and an extra time of 2 hours.

We saw the Tehri project of all possible angles that day.

The Tehri project as seen from the start of Tehri Town. The reservoir is actually that green

A tree survived in the reservoir and is still without a single leaf

The first look at Tehri Dam.

The Tehri Dam stands at a height of 261 meters and generates 2400 MW of electricity in addition to supplying water to Delhi, Uttranchal and Uttar Pradesh.

A bus makes its way on the road around Tehri dam. Behind the bus is a single big rock. The road goes to Srinagar in Jammu or if you take a small bridge, it can take you to Uttarkashi/Kedarnath

Gangotri 2 – Delhi To Chamba

By the time we had left Delhi, It was already 2:00 PM 2:00 AM. The plains were not a problem because we knew that we can make good progress in the plains. Once the mountains started, the progress was to be slow. There was not much on the road except some famous towns which we crossed. But the cities slept was we passed them.

As we go north, the sun rises early. It was 4:00 PM 4:00 AM when the first light hit the sky. We made our first stop for tea somewhere near Roorkee

The Sun rising in the east. Taking the photo when we stopped for tea at Roorkee. Photo courtesy: Mathew

Haridwar and Rishikesh were our last stop before the mountains started.

Har Ki Baudi at Haridwar. One of the sacred town in Hindu Mythology.

The very large statue of Lord Shiva at Haridwar. The statue tower over the whole of Haridwar

The statue overlooks NH94 as we passed Haridwar towards our way to Rishikesh.

The uphill of the Mountains after Haridwar. This stretch of road was one of the best in the mountains. After this the condition of the road worsened to slow our progress

The road to Chamba

Children playing near the road in the mountains

People walk miles to get somewhere in the mountains.

The Tata Safari Dicore, our tough ride up to the mountains

The mountains start and so do many villages which are built on these slopes

Towns are based on the mountains

One of the many temples at the side of the difficult road. This one was one of the more grand one. Most of the temples on the highway are small structures with a small trace of the idol inside. I guess the people here built them to seek blessing and pray for less accidents.

New York (2009)

Kabir Khan’s first commercial movie was about Afghanistan. Aptly titled “Kabul Express” it tried to look at Taliban and Pakistan. Produced by Yash Raj, It was different from their romantic stuff. Even with the usual clichés, it was a good film.

Thats the reason I was more optimistic about “New York”. But the promos did not excite me much. As the promos flashed on all channels, I was expecting lesser and lesser from the movie. I was not that much enthusiastic to watch the movie this weekend.

New York (NY) is a story about three friends and the effect of 9/11 on their life. The movie starts with Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) getting arrested by FBI on the charges of carrying illegal arms. They apply the Patriot act which let them detain a person without any legal obligation.

Omar is forced to spy on his friend, Sameer who is suspected to run a terrorist sleeper cell inspite of FBI having evidence on him. Sameer has married Maya who is now a human rights activist. Omar has not met both of them for more than 7 years.

The rest of the movie is a flashback as what happened in the last 7 years and what is the actual truth behind FBI’s action.

9/11 changed many things in the world including many people’s perspective on religion. The world was polarized and the isolation of humans from each other was accelerated.

NY does not offer a solution neither does it takes sides. But the movie lacks soul. You don’t get involved with the movie probably because its too slow and tiresome. The movie has been stretched beyond a limit. The dialogs, the characters and the situation are clichés. I was expecting the scene to happen and it did.

I guess the makers did not want the movie to be very heavy so spiced it up with songs in between.

Thankfully there are only 4 main characters in the movie. John Abraham plays Sameer Shaikh. He plays his part well showing a traumatized individual.

Neil Nitin Mukesh plays Omar the mole in Sameer’s life. He appears very much out-of-place in the movie. He acted like Fardeen Khan in “Darling” which is quite irritating.

Maya is played by Katrina Kaif who is ok with her heavily accented Hindi.

Irfan Khan plays a Indian born muslim FBI officer. Again an ok performance.

Having 3 out of 4 characters as Muslims really does not help a movie. They might have looked at giving perspective of different people at different side of the law but that makes it so predictable.

The music is so-so and the direction of Kabir Khan is nothing to write home about.

NY disappoints to a large extent because it commercializes too much the main cause of the movie.

Rating: 5.5/10

Gangotri 1 – The Prelude

When Vijay asked me if I would like to join him in Delhi for a short vacation, I agreed. I was searching for a break and also looking forward to meet Vijay’s mother after a long time.

The plan was simple. Relax and roam a little in Delhi and meet Vijay’s mother.

By the time I actually went there, Vijay’s mom had herself flown to Amsterdam and the plan of roaming a little had changed to a full-fledged trip to destination which was changed from Jaipur to Kedarnath to finally Gangotri.

The plan had changed from relaxing to adventure. We were particularly excited about Gaumukh, 18 Kilometers from Gangotri, the origin of Ganga/Bhagirathi river.

As the d-day started coming near the things were getting more and more exciting. There is little information available on Internet about Gangotri and depending upon what I read, it was a uphill climb.

As much as I like to be at the top of the world, I am least prepared for such tedious tasks. I always find myself breathless while climbing up and every time I am out of breath, I ask myself, “Why?”

But then I am back on another mountain, on another height.

I had asked Mathew if he would have liked to come and he kept dilly dallying. My plan too was changing fast. I changed and advance my flight one day before because the road from Delhi was way too far. Vijay wanted me to come one day earlier but no way I could adjust the office.

Two days before I was supposed to go, Mathew also agreed to come. It was booking his tickets again. Vijay meanwhile kept on insisting to come earlier but office was still a problem. 

Finally we were on a flight to Delhi. As if a  prelude of the things to come, the flight was on time but because of the heavy air traffic, we were delayed to land in Delhi. Who could have imagined that one day we would be delayed because of lots of planes in the sky? I could one day imagine a traffic jam in sky with planes honking up above the clouds.

By the time we reached Vijay’s house, it was already 1:00 PM. We had planned to leave the same night and cover as much distance in the night to avoid any morning traffic.

We had our dinner and by 2:00 PM we were out of the house. Little did we know that for the next 19 hours we would be driving to Gangotri almost non-stop. We were just four of us, Me, Mathew, Vijay and Raju. Raju drove us for 19 hours and I could only imagine how tired he must have felt driving through rough terrain. The Tata Safari was tested for the rough and tough image it projected.

For the next 3 days we just saw mountains, mountains and more mountains.

Wahan Kaun Hai Tera?

SEEPZ is a SEZ  and lies midway between Jogeshwari and Andheri and not even remotely close to any railway station. Although a major commercial hub housing many IT and Jewelry export companies, getting to SEEPZ is a mammoth task and getting out of SEEPZ is a much bigger task.

At the stroke of 6:00 PM when most of the companies wind up their day and the employees walk out of SEEPZ, its difficult finding a ride to the nearest station. The buses are full. The nearest bus stop is a long walk from the gate and the rickshaws won’t stop.

Its a case of demand and supply. Before 6:00 PM, most of the rickshaw drivers are ready to take where you want. Its the right time to go home but when the clock strikes 6:00 PM, the rickshaw drivers turn into an alien breed.

They don’t want to go anywhere. The probability of getting a rickshaw after 6:00 is rare. Its better to hang in an over crowded bus than try getting a rickshaw to Jogeshwari.

Rickshaw drivers are on the customer choosing spree. They decide who they want to ferry home. I guess they do the “Eeni-meeni-maayna-mo” kind of stuff and pick their passengers. After 6:00 PM, 9 and half of the 10 rickshaw would say “No” to you.

When you try asking them, the rickshaw drivers;

• Look at you like you just said the worst PJ. They smile at your innocence. Imagine asking a rickshaw driver to take you to a destination? Who does that? Stupid!
• Or just say a plain “No” and go in the opposite direction
• Or Stop and then look at you as if you have committed the biggest crime stopping and asking him to ferry you
• Or slow down and when your hopes are high, just speed past you teasing you
• Or pointing that they are going in some other direction when you realize that you really want to go in that direction
• Or Stop, think and then decide “You are not worth ferrying around”
• Or Speed around without even glancing at you

Some of these drivers just roam around in the rickshaw going particularly nowhere. They just can’t decide which way to go. They don’t pick any passengers and neither they have a destination. They just sit in the rickshaw and decide to go on a long drive. They have earned enough to last for a life time.

I have asked a rickshaw driver and then asked him again when he came back roaming around only to realize later that I have already asked him.

Where do these drivers go? Where do they roam when they should be busy earning money? I would like to understand? It has been a mystery and I have asked many rickshaw drivers the very same questions and believe me they are as clueless as I am.

Really? Wahan kaun hai tera? Rickshaw wale jayega kahan?