St. Mary’s Beach- Udupi

Hello guys! It's been another crazy ride past 2 months since I last wrote. Many things have changed since then. I've resigned from my job at Mysore and I've joined Microsoft Hyderabad (currently working from home at Guwahati, Assam). It's good to be back at home with parents after a very long time. I'm sharing an experience of an impromptu trip which I had done right before India went into COVID-19 second wave lockdown. This is just a part of the whole trip. I'll be sharing more on this trip later.

St. Mary’s Beach is comprised of four islands, which according to folk legend, Vasco Da Gama landed on during his journey from Portugal in 1498. He had fixed a cross on the island and named one of them “O Padrao de Santa Maria”, as a dedication to Mother Mary, from where the name actually originated. The northernmost island has a basaltic rock formation in a hexagonal form which is one of a kind in India. Such kind of hexagonal formations had been seen in the Madagascar regions and it is believed to have been a part of Madagascar before the rifting around 88 million years ago. The island is also called “Coconut Island” due to the abundance of coconut trees.

These islands are located in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi, Karnataka. I’ve been lucky to have visited this place on the 12^th of April, 2021 right before Karnataka went into official lockdown for the second wave of Covid-19. Tourists are allowed to visit only one of the islands and you can explore the entire island yourself, except the rocky areas which are risky to trek and restricted for tourists. The restricted areas are clearly marked with flags and ropes. The island covers an area of around 500 meters in length and 100 meters in width. There are security guards constantly monitoring any violations of the island rules. The specialty of the beach is that the beach of the Western part of the island is entirely made of seashells and there’s no sand. There are seashells scattered throughout the beach and you’ll be walking on the seashells. There are a variety of plants that grow alongside the coconut trees which are very unique. Beach water can be accessible only on the Eastern part of the island as the Western part is covered with rocks which is a restricted area for tourists. The water is comparatively clearer than any other normal beach as it is quite far into the sea from the coast. There are beautiful photogenic spots throughout the island, so make sure you carry a good camera and not regret later. For instagrammers and vloggers, you can spam your feed with multiple stories and posts or even go LIVE as you have proper cell reception and internet connectivity even so far from the shore. To sum it up, this is “a breathtaking view”.

       

As the name suggests, it’s an island and hence cannot be accessed by road. Ferry rides are available every 15-20 minutes from Malpe Beach, Udupi. The ferry ride takes around 20-25 minutes to reach the island. However, the ferry has to be fully occupied, otherwise you’ll have to wait till the ferry gets filled with other people. The last ferry leaves Malpe Beach around 5:00 pm. The last ferry back from the island is around 6:00pm. The entire island is scanned by the people maintaining the ferry service wherein they check whether anyone is left out before the last ferry leaves the island back for the shore. The closest city to Udupi is Mangalore which is a commercial port of Karnataka and is around 55-60 kms from Udupi. The same distance can be covered in an hour’s time as it’s a straight four-lane highway with 2-3 toll gates. The closest airport to this destination would be Mangalore International Airport which is around 60 kms from Udupi. There are regular trains available from Mangalore to Udupi. 

 

This location is closed during rainy season from June to September due to the high tides which almost cover the island. The best time to visit would be December to February and make sure to visit the place during sunset. The view of the sun setting on the Arabian Sea from the island is simply breathtaking. You can sit and enjoy the sunset. 

 

 

The ferry ride to the island cost me ₹400 per person. I was mentioned by others that the price isn’t constant and keeps changing throughout the year. You’ll also have to pay around ₹50 while entering the “Malpe beach gate” if you take a car.

The island is a NO PLASTIC zone and hence do not carry plastic water bottles. Even if you happen to carry, you’ve to submit the same at the entrance to the island and take a token. Later, the same can be collected on your return by showing the token.

While you’re waiting for your ferry on the Malpe Beach, there are multiple water sports like banana ride, parasailing, sofa ride, jet skiing, etc. There are multiple games available on the shore as well, like the ATVs, Camel rides, etc. There’s a lighthouse around 20-25 kms from Malpe Beach. This is on the Kapu Beach.

The view from the lighthouse is a breathtaking one. Unfortunately, when I had visited, the lighthouse was closed. But this is a must visit location if you’re in Udupi. Kapu Beach even has scuba diving facilities which can be availed at around ₹ 4500 per head. There’s a place called Kayakboy in Mulki which is around 15-20 minutes by road from Malpe Beach wherein you can try Kayaking at an expense of ₹500 per head at the backwaters of the Arabian Sea.

If you’re looking for a place to stay near Malpe Beach, the Paradise Isle Beach resort would be perfect. It is right next to the Malpe Beach and one room charge is around ₹5000. The rooms are spacious with all amenities and a beautiful dining experience with a beach view from the hotel. I had personally stayed there and I would recommend it to anyone. However, if you’re looking for a more budgeted place, there are multiple hotels available in the city at a much cheaper price.

The total trip will not cost you more than ₹ 2000 including the stay and food at a decent hotel. This is excluding the additional expenses that you can incur while considering kayaking and other water sports. This also doesn’t include the travel to Udupi from your respective location.

St. Mary’s Island is obviously a must visit place for people who like to explore and no doubt one of the most beautiful places to visit during sunset.

NEVER BACK DOWN

Surprise!! This week, there are 2 posts and in this second post, I'll be sharing you an experience of a lifetime that I pray no one goes through. This was the most painful phase of my life that I'd been through and this can be very strongly related to by people who have experienced this. 

I was on my way to office in my KTM on a Monday morning (23rd December 2019). The ride to my office was around 17 kms and it was a daily commute of 34 kms back then. Currently, it's around 30 kms to office after I shifted my unit. Don't ponder on the fact as to why I prefer to travel this far everyday. It's Mysore where traffic isn't a point of concern and you enjoy the ride. You can reach anywhere in Mysore within 20-30 mins in bike. As I was riding to office on that very day, feeling fresh from the early morning winter bath and dressed in formals, right near Mysore Airport, an SUV hard braked right in front of me with just probably 1-1.5 meter distance ahead. I was on the right lane of the on going traffic (4 lane highway) and my instinct immediately made me try to steer left wherein I notice there's another SUV right next to me. Within fraction of a second, I tried to steer my KTM to fit in between the gap of the two cars, but to my utter bad luck, my right handle bar hit the left rear of the SUV in front and "BAAM", I fell from the bike when it was at 70 kms/hr. Your brain doesn't process that moment in a logical way as you cannot believe what just happened. I was lying flat on the road when I realized that my head was right in front of the SUV bumper that was on my left before the accident. Had that person braked a microsecond late, my head would've been crushed. I got up immediately and saw my KTM lying on the road, switched off the engine and just walked to the roadside. Luckily, a colleague/ friend was also on his way to office who saw me there and immediately stopped to help. he picked up my bike and got it to the roadside. A big crowd had gathered and people had come to ask my condition. The SUV person who braked right before my head got out drinking water from his car for me and was very supportive. People started blaming the SUV that hard braked but in all this turmoil, he had long escaped. He didn't even stop. 

As I stood by the roadside and was checking my injuries, I was glad to see that there were minor injuries on elbows and knees, my fresh formals torn apart. As per road safety, I always wear a helmet and hand gloves no matter how short distance I'm riding. So luckily, my head and hands were safe. As I was talking to my friend who had helped me out and was asking me to go to a hospital, I realized that I wasn't able raise my right hand above my waist. I tried many times but it just wasn't happening. That's when I realized that my RIGHT shoulder was F****D and it came to me as a shock as I stood there next to my friend on the start of a fresh week approaching the new year 2020. Little did I know at that moment that 2020 was going to get even more worse as we go into that year.

My friend took me to a hospital in my KTM as I sat on the back seat contemplating every thought coming to me. As I reached the hospital emergency (it was a medical college and a hospital), they brought students in the emergency ward and were training them for first aid on my elbow and knee bruises. I was lying in the emergency bed, still not able to digest the entire thought of what had happened while newbie doctors treated my bruises. I was then put me on a wheelchair and taken to a doctor. I had to wait outside the doctor's chamber for almost half an hour and with every minute passing by, the pain was becoming excruciating. Even a slight movement of shoulder was painful as hell. Finally the doctor saw me with the X-ray report in his hand and directly told that immediate surgery will be required. The doctor was surprised to the question I asked him which was "When will I be able join work?". He started laughing and mentioned that this isn't a small injury and that you'll need to take quite some days off. I left the hospital and went to another hospital for a second opinion, met another doctor wherein he mentioned that surgery isn't required which brought some sort of satisfaction in me but it wasn't visible in my face as the pain was at it's peak. By this time, other friends had also come. The doctor gave a shoulder support and advised for applying ice pack frequently. 

When my parents got to know, they immediately booked the next flight and came to visit me. Even my brother had come. They stayed with me for next 3 days in Mysore wherein we visited one more doctor for another opinion who suggested that if surgery isn't done soon, there can be serious complications later. My dad took the call to get the surgery done in Sparsh Hospital-Bangalore. The very next morning on 25th December 2019, we left for Bangalore and it was so painful to travel in road from Bangalore to Mysore (around 160 kms) with a broken shoulder. It was a solar eclipse that day (Google it if you don't believe :))and while on the way, we could see the solar eclipse so properly from the car. The day had suddenly turned dark because of the eclipse.

Finally we reached Bangalore, checked in a hotel near to the hospital and went to meet the doctor. We had to wait till evening and when we met the doctor, he was so positive on the recovery after the surgery and he even mentioned that it was a wise decision not to wait and go for the surgery. With everything in place, I was assigned to be operated on the morning of 26th December 2019 and hence I got admitted to the hospital the day before. The night was long and full of horrors of the thought of undergoing a surgery. As daylight peeped in through my window, I got prepped for the surgery, somehow even took bath with the help of my brother as it was mandatory before a surgery. If you're a right hander and suddenly you can't use your right hand, it becomes impossible to continue daily activities with just the left hand.

I was taken to the OT and seeing my pain, my mom started crying. Leaving her with a heavy heart, as I entered the OT in a stretcher, doctors and nurses gathered around me like a swarm of bees. I wanted to ask them how long the surgery would take and the moment I asked them the same, before I could even hear the reply, within a fraction of a second, anaesthesia affect hit me already and I was out. I don't remember a single thing after that till I woke up in recovery.

Waking up after a surgery with anaesthesia affect is very different. You cannot speak for quite sometime except mumbling. I couldn't feel any pain as I was heavily sedated. The surgery had taken around 1-1.5 hours. After half the day, they took me back into my room after a post surgery X-ray. After speaking to my parents and brother, I realized that I had been implanted with 3 dissolvable and 2 metal implants on my right shoulder during the surgery. The first impact on the road was on my right shoulder which made a small portion of the bone joining the shoulder to the arm crack and get detached along with the muscle from the actual bone. So they had to rejoin that bone to the exact location and fix implants to nail it to that location. Doctors had mentioned that the surgery was successful even though they had to attach more implants than they expected.

As the day went by and the anaesthesia affect started to wear out gradually, I could feel the pain returning to me and this time a lot worse as there was a finger length cut on my right shoulder as well this time after the surgery. I couldn't sleep that night as the pain wasn't subsiding at all even with the million pain killers I was being given. Words fall short to describe the pain I felt that night. In my entire 25 years, never had I felt anything so painful as that night. 

The next day I got discharged and had to go back to the hotel, the drive to there was so painful. I could feel every bump on the road in my shoulder bone that had implants. I could feel the implants colliding against the bone with every bump, no matter how slow the cab was. Somehow, reaching the hotel, I lied down. I could lie down only at one single position and even a centimeter movement created a painful discomfort which wouldn't let me sleep. This became the new normal to me on 27th December night. 

Finally, we decided to head back home to Guwahati for my recovery. We went back to the hospital on 29th December, doctor advised to start physiotherapy after 15 days of surgery, got a "fit to fly" certificate and off we went to Guwahati on 31st December 2019. This is how my 2019 ended and 2020 started. For most people, Covid-19 brought a new 2020 to them, but for me, it was quite before Covid-19. As all my friends partied on the New year eve, I was lying on the bed finding that right spot without any movement to get some sleep.

15 days passed by, counting one day after the other and after that, my physiotherapy session started. That was the day I realized that if you stop using a particular part of your body, your muscles become so hard that they don't move at all even with the maximum efforts you put. It was 16th January 2020 when I started the therapy session. Doctors had advised to have an hour session everyday for recovery. After the first session, I realized that if I continued in the same pace, it will take me a month more to even start moving my hand. I made my sessions twice a day (an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening). I pushed myself to the maximum extent possible as I had a target of returning to work by the end of January. Therapy sessions were too painful as I was exerting myself a lot, just for quicker recovery. With every hand movement, there used to be screams coming out which my mom couldn't even bear to look at. However, physiotherapy helped me to a great extent and I was in a condition to lift my hands to 90°. I started driving car by 25th January which helped to exercise my hands even more. Analyzing my condition, I decided to return to work on 30th January 2020. I continued my therapy sessions for further 1 month even after returning to work. Physiotherapy is a must if you're recovering from any major surgeries as such. After a year from that, I restarted playing badminton a month back and it really feels good to see that doctors had done a wonderful job with the surgery. Sparsh Bangalore is one of the best places you can visit if you have anything related to orthopedics that needs consultation with. Doctors are super friendly and even the staff.

This experience had given me a totally different insight on life, an experience of a lifetime. Words aren't enough to thank my friends, my brother, my mom and dad, the doctors, the physiotherapists who were there throughout with me. I realized how strong you can become internally and just strive towards getting back up on your feet. It was hard to write this as it brings tears in my eyes remembering everything in utter detail but it's an experience that needs to be spoken about so that everyone who goes through something like this can get back up on his/ her feet no matter how worse the situation is.

No matter what shit you're in, doesn't matter how bad that shit is, always strive towards the goal you want to achieve. Just hang on there. You'll surely reach it. Do share your experiences in a gist in the comments if possible. Don't hold back. Stories like this should be a motivation and an inspiration for anyone reading them.

Relationships and Marriages

Hello everyone!! Back this week with a topic that's debatable by many but relatable by a few. For most people our age, if asked, for whether they would prefer an arranged marriage or a love marriage, majority of the answer comes out as "love marriage" in a jiffy. Had this question been asked probably a 100 years back, answers would have been very different. Back then, there was no concept of love marriage in India. Very few people were lucky enough to experience the same and take it forward. Even in today's world, there are many people who don't even get a say in their marriage decision and just agree for marriage with whoever their families find suitable. 

To mention a few of the types of relationships:

1. relationships which start off without any plan and happen to continue for years making you feel very comfortable with that person and ultimately making you decide mutually to spend the rest of your life together. At some point in life, you might sit down and reminisce on the memories of "HOW WE BOTH MET!" which might be a very beautiful story to tell your kids.

2. relationships which start off in a planned manner wherein both people involved have decided mutually that they are going to take this relationship to convert into a marriage. Love clicks in eventually based on each other's likes and dislikes. This mainly happens when both people involved have had multiple failed relationships before this and are also not looking for an arranged marriage.

3. relationships that start out of "love at first sight" and continue like a proper love story, finally leading to marriage. The most ideal form of "LOVE STORY" anyone can ever have.

4. relationships that start after a one night stand is just temporary which is known to both the people involved. Very few instances happen wherein this can turn out into something positive.

5. relationships that start as a rebound is never going to be permanent. If both people are not involved in the rebound knowing the fact that it's a rebound, then this is going to hurt the person who takes this seriously. So, it's always better to clarify things at the start.

6. relationships that start between very close friends who have known each other from years or probably each others' childhood, is a very risky relationship, if both people involved aren't mature enough if/when a break up happens. You'll end up losing a very good friend in your life.

7. relationships that start from online dating websites/ apps can lead anywhere. It can be positive or negative. There are many people, even in today's world, who don't prefer online dating. 

7. relationships made by each others' parents as a means of getting both the people married in the future. 

The above points are just a few, jotting down everything will probably be a herculean task as relationships can become very complex at any point of time and it can only be understood by the people who are in that position at that point of time.

Choosing between an arranged marriage or a love marriage should solely be the decision of the people who are getting married and not the decision of a third person. A third person is not going to be spending the rest of their lives with the person you're going to marry. You have every right to:

1. get to know the person properly before marriage

2. spend as much time with the person possible before marriage

3. get to know their likes and dislikes. 

4. match your compatibility to the best possible extent.

Doing the above will entrust yourself with confidence about the person who you're going to marry and you'll be happy about the marriage. I'm not saying arranged marriage is wrong. Both types of marriages have their pros and cons. I'm just saying to think logically and proceed in any relationship. 

Many people sacrifice their love for the sake of the happiness of the family and the society, but according to me, that's wrong. You get only one shot in life. Around 35-40% of your life is spent before marriage and the rest 60-65% should be spent with someone you're comfortable with and not a compromise or adjustment. This will surely ruin both the people's life if it's a compromise which might later lead to a divorce as well. Many times, people even compromise on that as well and continue to act happy even though they aren't, just for the sake of "Family and Society". But yeah, we cannot blame anyone for this as this is how it has been going on. We need to ensure that our children are brought up with as much maturity on such thoughts as possible and at the same time they maintain the respect towards the family. As the saying goes:

                            BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THIS WORLD

Let me know your views in comments, if I've mentioned anything right or wrong. This is solely my opinion and it can differ a lot from person to person. The more the positive perspectives, the better future for our next generation. 

Stand up comedy in India

After the last blog, it was great to see the feedbacks of many people who share similar thoughts and that something like that needed to be spoken about in today’s world. 

Today’s article is about one of my favourites “stand up comedy”. There cannot be a single person who would not like to watch stand up comedy. However, the craze of stand up in India has started recently and I so wish that it grows to a level wherein we get to have amazing stand up shows in almost every town/city of India. 

After a very hectic day, no matter how bad your day has been or if you’re upset about something , sit down and start watching stand up comedy, laugh your heart out to few of the jokes and trust me, it’ll actually feel good.

There have been comedians before who have shaped the comedy of India initially like Raju Shrivastava,  Ahsaan Qureshi, etc. The first time I’d seen Raju Shrivastava was in “The great Indian laughter challenge” when I was a kid. I’d found him so funny and me and my dad used to watch the show just because of the amazing jokes and eventually got hooked on to stand up comedy. Back then, no one used to take this profession seriously as it was not a conventional profession like doctors, engineers, teachers, etc which every other parent expected their children to become. But these people were shaping stand up comedy in India back then. 

Being a 90s kid, all of us would’ve heard at least one or two shows of Russel Peters (Indian origin comedian) in our early teenage life and actually loved the way he used to speak targeting the audience. It took a long time but yeah, today’s stand up comedy in India is far far better in every aspect possible considering the fact that there are comedians having content in every stand up genre possible.

Today’s stand up comedy in India is set by few people who I like to think desire the entire credit, the people who started the initiative of Comicstaan and a few other people who had made their careers by themselves solely on talent. I believe a lot of people will agree to this fact. To mention few of the names: 

1. Biswa Kalyan Rath: One of the best. I’ve seen him LIVE in Mysore and you surely can’t stop laughing. Self made comedian with a background of engineering from IIT Kharagpur. It takes a lot to leave everything behind and start a career in stand up especially when you’ve completed engineering from the best institute of India. 
2. Abish Matthew: Started his own show “Son of Abish ” which is fun to watch and a good “timepass”.
3. Kanan Gill: Biswa and Kanan started “ Pretentious movie reviews” together on YouTube back in 2014 which got them the spotlight and they took it to heights of insanity in each of their comedy careers from that.
4. Kunal Kamra: If you want to listen to political jokes, there’s no one better than this guy right here. However, if you’re not open minded and unbiased towards politics, he isn’t the guy for you. But there’s no doubt about a single fact spoken by this guy and he’s as logical as anyone can get. I’ve seen him LIVE in Bangalore.
5. Abhishek Upmanyu: Amazing comedian. Doesn’t have any specials anywhere (only YouTube videos) but would love to see him on stage LIVE.
6. Anubhav Singh Bassi: Amazing story teller. You’ll get hooked up to his stores.
7. Vir Das: A salute to this guy for learning to do stand up professionally . His way of explanation is very different from everyone. I’d seen a video of a speech that he had given at Knox college (worth the watch). 
8. Zakir Khan: For all the Sakth laundes out there, you’re probably wondering why I hadn’t mentioned him yet. You always save the best for the last. I’ve seen him LIVE in Mysore as well and the way he expresses comedy, simply amazing!!! I haven’t seen anyone do comedy so slowly and also keep the audience engaged to the maximum possible extent.

These are just a few of the top people who I usually watch. There are multiple stand up comedians who’ve come up into limelight recently and are doing actually good. Few of the names being Akash Gupta, Devesh Dixit, Varun Grover, etc.

For people who aren’t a fan, I would request you to take out some time from your busy schedule and actually LAUGH OUT LOUD rather than just sending LOL texts to people. Many shows are informative as well. Here are 10 must watch stand up shows:

1. Mast Aadmi: Biswa. Available on prime video
2. Sushi: Biswa. Available on prime video
3. Losing it: Vir Das. Available on Netflix 
4. For India: Vir Das. Available on Netflix 
5. 10 on 10: Vir Das. One episode released in every one week to 10 days on YouTube.
6. Haq se single: Zakir Khan. Available on prime video
7. When I met a Delhi girl: Zakir Khan. Available on YouTube 
8. The big bhang story: Divesh Dixit. Available on YouTube 
9. Cheating: Anubhav Singh bassi. Available on YouTube 
10. Hostel: Anubhav Singh bassi. Available on YouTube 

To conclude, I suggest everyone should make time for stand up comedy and if you think you’re capable enough to make stand up comedy as a career, please don’t step back under peer pressure. Pursue the same and make yourself stand out of the crowd. 

This blog was a little informative but it’s always good to talk about things which make you happy. Do leave your suggestions in comments if you liked it or if you want suggestions of more stand up shows. Even suggestions for blog topics would be taken into consideration for my next blog. I was thinking of continuing the story of my Europe trip back in 2015 (3 blogs already available); do let me know if you wish to know more about the trip.

SOCIETY- BOON or BANE

So this is after a very long break of around 5 years probably that I’m posting a blog. I’ve lost touch and even confidence in writing, something that used to make me feel good about myself. It’s strange how a pen can actually be mightier than the sword. However, few people believe in this and few don’t who actually turn towards violence and a means to show off to prove their point.

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I won’t be boring everyone out with details of it. However, to sum it up, it wasn’t boring at all. Probably, if I continue writing, we might have more exciting details coming up in upcoming blogs. It has been a crazy adventure since I started out my career in Mysore, Karnataka. There have been ups and downs in life throughout the past 5 years. Hell, we have a pandemic going on for crying out loud. 

Amongst everything that has happened in these past 5 years, one thing has awestruck me so deeply; the fact that no matter what happens, whether you explain some people a fact with proper logic and data, they seem to be ignorant of that fact and keep believing in something which should’ve been obsolete considering this is the 21st century we’re living in. But, who am I to stand in between the mindset of some people in our society. 

Yes, SOCIETY. A very decent word, but sometimes, it brainwashes the f**k out of people. A society is expected to grow in all aspects (mentally, spiritually, technically, logically) as the world evolves which in turn will evolve and make your nation what we eagerly expect to become “ A developed nation”. However, from the time I remember reading in school books, I’m only hearing that we’re “a developing nation”. Truth be told, probably our grandchildren will also be learning and teaching their children the same thing if we continue to go forward in this way.

Did you guys know that there are castes in Islam? Forget about Shia and Sunni which probably everyone knows about are the two denominations of Islam . There’s caste in Sunni and probably in Shia too. I myself belong to the Sunni denomination and I wasn’t aware about it myself after living 26 years of my life until last year when someone pointed this out to me because I fell in love with a girl from my same religion, but little did I know that we belonged to different caste. It was then that I asked my parents about my caste and they had to search online and get back to me. LOL!

As Chetan Bhagat had rightly pointed out in his book “2 states” that in India if you love someone, that’s not enough for you to marry that person. He mentioned about both families loving each other’s families, families loving the boy and the girl being together, etc . But the situation I was in was really messed up. There are people who would be ready to let someone’s life go into ruins just for the sake of this decent word SOCIETY. Because “ log Kya Kahenge?”

In today’s world, where we’re fighting a pandemic and rovers are being sent to Mars for finding out proof of existence of water, do these problems leave a freckle on the existence of humanity. Why can’t people be just happy and let others be happy with their lives? More importantly, why can’t people be happy seeing other people’s happiness? There are people like Elon musk who have ushered us to an era with the immense advancement of technology in segments unimaginable in today’s world with booming success and at the same time there are people who are arguing over the fact that the logo of Myntra looks like a woman’s legs spread wide open. I’d actually seen this as a meme probably a year back and laughed a lot but I was surprised to see that it became news and people were actually discussing this seriously. Myntra has been running with same logo for 13 years and suddenly someone points this out and it’s news. I mean, who are these people!!!! Get a life, man!!!

Sometimes it’s just people’s ego that just gets hurt because of which they go to their extremes to prove a point to which you’ll feel like “What do I even say to this!”. But sometimes it is actually what they believe and no matter how much you try, you cannot change their perspective, let alone, God himself came down and probably told them otherwise. Who knows, maybe then they’d change their thoughts because after all, we’re God fearing people. 

Some of us might be feeling that probably the next generation will be different, have a different approach towards everything. But understand this, there are children who are learning from elders with mindsets like these and I’m scared of the fact that even the next generation will have such misfits. I’m not denying that our cultures and virtues are wrong. India is a land of diversity with its rich culture and we all should be proud of that. I’m just telling to think logically and analyse before making a decision about anything. Learn to ask WHY! If someone gives you a valid explanation and you see it fit, go ahead. But if you have a doubt in that, keep asking “why” unless you get the valid explanation that seems logical. 

I felt like writing this because I’d never felt so deeply about someone in my life till date for whom I’d written publicly like this. But I lost her even after every possible effort from my side because of this decent word which we all know as SOCIETY. Speak up if you want such mentality to change; to ensure that we actually grow as a society with reason to understand right from wrong and not take everything for granted without questioning. She still means a lot to me and probably always will but sad that I can’t tell her this.

With a heavy heart I bid farewell till next time. And remember “ Always ask why!” Because it’s your right to ask. 

Feel free to leave your thoughts in comments as this is my perspective and I’m always open to criticism unlike the rest of the society.

A Sudden Plan

It was a usual day. I was coming back from office in bus (Yes, I have a job now and I’m living in Mysore, Karnataka. It’s been quite a long time, hasn’t it?) when suddenly a thought struck in my mind. “Are there motorcycles with automatic transmission?”. Yes, I know it’s really random but what can I do; happens to engineers all the time. So I ask my friend if he knew anything about it which led to a discussion about motorcycles in general. Later, I realise that I ended up with the most random plan I’ve ever made in my entire life. 

Okay, so I was never really into bikes as much as I was into cars. I never even knew how to ride a bike properly. But we (me and Shashank) make this random plan of going on a road trip with bikes as we had the next 2 days off from office. We book a “Yamaha FZ” and a “Bajaj Avenger” that night so that we could pick it up early morning. The only thing lacking was the destination. 

The next morning, we leave by around 6.30 am to pick up the bikes at 7 am. Going there, we get to know that the Avenger hadn’t been returned yet. So we take the FZ and a “TVS Wego” to roam in and around Mysore till the Avenger comes back. We ride towards Srirangapatna where we plan on visiting Ranganathithu bird sanctuary. We decided to go there as we had already visited all the main tourist spots in Mysore like Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills, etc. The ride towards the bird sanctuary was via Mysroe- Bangalore highway. It was around 10 kilometres from the place where we picked the bikes from. We roamed around the sanctuary. To be honest, it was a dull place. We then rode to Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. It was comparatively better. We then got a call that we could pick up the Avenger.

By that time, I got a good grip on the FZ. I built up the confidence and set a destination in mind. It was COORG. We took the bikes and went back home. We got all the necessary things required for the trip as it would be cold. We had lunch outside and immediately left for Coorg after seeing the directions on the map.

I completely got the hang of the bike and then it was like a child’s play. My left hand knew when to go for the clutch and my left foot knew when to shift. The road to Coorg from Mysore is one of the best roads I’ve travelled so far with lush greenery and Kaveri river runs alongside you throughout (though not visible from the road).

We stopped on the way when we felt we needed a little rest, had sugarcane juice from a vendor which pumped us up. Once we stopped seeing what looked like an amazing rocket soaring high up in the sky. Later we realized that it was actually some sort of sound rocket probably sent for some data collection. It was a hell of a sight (couldn’t be captured in the camera).

During the ride, we saw a board saying “Harangi Dam- 8kms”. We decided to take a detour and visit the dam. Unluckily, the dam was closed for visitors due to the Kaveri river water issue that was going on between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But we managed to have an amazing click in front of the dam.

Gradually, we entered hilly region when we realized that it was impossible to ride anymore without a jacket. So we took out our jackets and started riding again when it started drizzling. That moment, I was like “This trip couldn’t have been any better”. 

We entered Madikeri (a.k.a Coorg) and searched for a place to stay as it was almost 6pm. There’s nothing to actually do in Coorg at night. So, we decided to crash as we were really tired from the ride and that we would visit every place possible by getting up early the next morning. We got a decent place to stay, had dinner and slept like a log.

The next morning started with an alarm at 6am. We checked out, took our bikes from the parking and went straight for Raja Seat which was the closest to our hotel (around 3 kms). It’s a wonderful viewpoint from where you can see the entrance to Coorg; cars and buses moving in zig zag hilly roads. 

The next place on the list was Abbey Falls. It was around 10 kms from Raja Seat. The ride to the falls was wonderful with drizzle all the way through hills. We parked our bikes at the entrance to the falls, had breakfast with coffee and omelette, then went down the stairs to the falls. It was a very beautiful place. There was a bridge constructed just to get an amazing view of the falls, but sadly the bridge was closed due to some issue. 

Coming back to our bikes, we realized that we were running low on fuel. We had to travel 10 kms back searching for a petrol pump. During that, we met two people who needed lift and at the same time guided us to the nearest fuel station. We fueled up and then checked the next place on the list.

We realize that one site of attraction was on the way to Abbey Falls and that we have to travel around 8 kms on that same road and take a right and then another 16kms. The destination was a place called “Mandalpatti”. It’s an amazing viewpoint located at the top of some hills. We reached the place and then realized that we’re left with 5 kms but the road was messed up. We tried taking one bike, but ultimately gave up riding for like 100 metres. But there was a very nice viewpoint right beside where we gave up. We then brought both the bikes there. A lot of other people also joined in as even they couldn’t take their cars and bikes. That road was only meant for Off road cars. The view from that place was nothing like I had ever experienced before. It was a straight cliff with nothing on the edge and fog blocking your view making you feel like it’s the end of the world. The drizzle made the view more breathtaking. 

After 2 hours of roaming around, we decided to leave as the drizzle started forming into a proper shower. We then decided to leave for Mysore. On the way, we saw a board saying Dubbare Elephant Sanctuary- 12 kms. We took the detour. On the way, we stumbled upon an adventure sports camp where they had a proper ATV track of 2 kms. I actually wanted to try that even though they were charging Rs. 400 for one lap of 2 kms. But later when I sat on the ATV, the guy was like “You will have a guide with you throughout”. It was the worst ATV anyone can ever ride. It didn’t have a brake. The guide was less of a guide and I was more of a spectator. He was the one who accelerated throughout and left the accelerator whenever he felt that friction can’t stop the inertia of the vehicle. Trust me, if you ever visit Coorg, don’t go to this adventure sports camp on the way to Dubbare.

We then left for Dubbare. Arriving there, we realized that the elephant sanctuary was closed from 2:30pm till 4:30pm. It was around 2.45pm then. But people were enjoying river rafting on the river Kaveri. Unfortunately, we didn’t have extra clothes for river rafting. So, we decided to ride back.

That stretch from Dubbare till the next town was at a constant speed of 75kms/hr but it gave us the feel of our bikes. We stopped after crossing the town and decided to recreate that stretch. Instead, when we started this time, the stretch was at a speed of 110-120 kms/hr. It was the most amazing feeling you can have. It gives you the proper “Roadrash” atmosphere.

We returned to Mysore by 5pm, kept our bags in our apartment and went out for some work that had to be done. After finishing the work, had an awesome dinner, returned the bikes, came back to the apartment and called it a day.

It was one of the most wonderful roadtrips anyone could ever take in bike. Do go for it if you’re in Mysore or Bangalore. I’ll be back with more amazing roadtrips. Till then, stay tuned.