Of Pulaos and Khichadis

Not that we're unhappy with what life's given us... Always had what we needed...!!!

But sumtimes we feel we want something else... Then go our little rounds of khayali pulaos...
Doesn't take much... and they always come in handy... can make them... take them... as and when u please...

Even if its things as small as taking ur frnds who're comin from out of india for dinner... We can never be sure that they'd meet... or have the time... or wud want to come for dinner... no matter how much u'd WANT them too meet up...

But we can always make plans... and that we shall... and if one plan falls apart... we always have a next chance for another one...

So coming back to my original line... life's given us what we needed... like gr8 friends... but maybe not what we wanted... like fun times NOW !!! when we can really independently enjoy !!!

So maybe we dont get the tasty pulaos as often as we WANT them... but nevertheless... life's given us the plain old Khichadi... not all that exciting, but pretty nourishing and fills our NEEDS...

Biker Boys...

Well...a 4 day weekend and I really didnt want to waste it...atleast not completely.... But got stuck up with sum work and cudnt really push off for all 4 days either...

Then it struck me... Mutlax is the only one who's free... He loves riding his black pearl like i love riding my crimson tide... (For the un-initiated into biking... Black Pearl = Mutlax's Unicorn and Crimson Tide = My Red Pulsar) and we were planning a long ride since a long time anyways... So I thought... why not take off... just like that and check out lonavala on our respective bikes... we'll be up there, have some lunch and be back before evening...

Its best to have people who think like you and can adjust on the go... Who focus on the long ride and the bikes... Not too much fuss about anything else...(Which by the way is an essential virtue... in case you go off biking or backpacking... Dont crib about stuff you dont have... Feel and love whats there... in the moment...) We planned last night and we left of today morning...

And... WHAT A DAY... Checked the air in the tires n fuel in the tanks... all systems ready... and we pushed off around 10.00 a.m.... Just for statistics... covered 82.5 kms (one-way to lonavala) in less than an hour and fifteen minutes... Once we cleared panvel... the road was amazing... no traffic... no bad patches... just the greenery around and the infinite road ahead... Did 70 Kph at an average and crisscrossed the little traffic without much effort... on us or the bikes... Lots of high speed curves which u can take easily at 70-80 Kph... The Bor Ghat was another amazing experience and some curves did strain the bikes a bit... but was a gud experience... Reached Lonavala and ordered lunch... we had an hour to kill before the lunch was ready.. so we just went to tungarli dam and refreshed ourselves... Great food too at Joshi Sanitorium... Then again we pushed off on the journey home... back home by 3.00

Coming to one very important aspect of bike rides... never carry a pillion unless absolutely necessary... kills the feel and the agility of the bike... and since ur the one who's doing everything on the bike... the pillion will simply get BORED to death...

I still cant get that feeling out of my head... The snaking road... the tress rushin past... and the sweet humming of the engine.... I havent experienced anything quite like this... ever.... I dont know what it is about bike rides that u simply want to keep doing it again and again... And i'm damn sure that you wont get the same feel in a car...

Maybe its that freedom that you get.... ur not in a hurry to reach anywhere.... no things to do after u there... its just you and the bike... a lot of solace and getting back to urself... no other thoughts about anything at all, at the back of ur mind...

Its not the speed... its not the scenery... its not the destination... Its the freedom of the journey that energises ur mind... Yes... Thats what it is... Hope we go for many more...

No woman no cry..........

Once again i listen to a song..... and i like its rhythm n tune.... n go hunting the net for guitar chords.....Once again its a classic...... a phenomenal piece by an Inspirational Movement called Bob Marley.......Listening to it..... and reading the lyrics........ Im simply speechless..... And highly inspired.....

I got the chords and wanted to sing along..... hence went searching for lyrics........ And did i GET them or what.....

I really believe that the ones with real problems are the ones who never cry..... they know that crying isn't gonna take them anywhere.......... they gotta get up...stand up and FIGHT........ cos thats their only chance.... The ones who do crib......... simply don't have anything better to do.... they have NO REAL PROBLEMS......

The paragraph where Marley says " In this great future, you can't forget your past , So dry your tears, I seh. " and the entire song is an inspiration to those who've suffered and suffered BAD... that c'mon.... don't let circumstances take the best of you.... they might stop u in between..... but the best n only thing u can do is stop crying n keep going....

my fav lines out of this song being the second para.....

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
Of which I'll share with you;
My feet is my only carriage,
So I've got to push on through.
But while I'm gone, I mean:
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!

First two lines say a lot in a few words.......

They have very little with them..... even a basic necessity like good food is scarce........ but for goodwill and friendship.... they're willing to share whatever little they have..........

( How many times have we been taught this, that we gotta share,in good times and in bad..... and aren't we becoming more n more selfish by the day as we prosper ? )

In the next 2 lines.........More so...... hes down and out...... has got nuthin to carry him........ no material belongings.... no cars no luxuries........
just that his very feet will carry him through this phase............. and he simply cannot sit there cribbing...hes gotta push on thru.........
( Again the indomitable human spirit..... extremely resilient....... )

And once hes gone........ forever........ hes gotta encourage the women who've helped him survive.... to go on.......... Simply bcos... everything's gonna be alright.......... what else can u say to sum1 who's got nuthin goin right and life's fallin apart......


Its simply brilliant..... I dunno if anyone who hasn't really suffered that much pain in life could ever write a song like this.....

I wanna dedicate this song to all the women in my life............... who've helped me and inspired me in my bad times.......... and made me keep my feet on the ground in the gud ones............

An Amazing Show of Human Forgiveness

I was just watching DOR the other day when my mom was watching it the 'n'th time.........

And just yesterday I came across an article on yahoo (http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiabroadcast/20080226/r_t_ibn_nl_general/tnl-59902-3a4f8c1.html) which made me feel, like a reel life jumped to real life..........

Just a day before that i was talking to CHOR about life being fair and unfair and how people get hurt due to no fault of theirs..... and this article seemed to be a perfect scenario where her arguments simply FAILED..........

What struck me more was that something as strange as this happened in a far away land......The effects were to be borne by the accused as dictated by the law of the land........ Here it was an eye for an eye, a life for a life....... Its strange that laws like this even exist....... Its even stranger to know that probably they're required.....

But there is something beyond the power of law........ It was the power of forgiveness and pardon....... The survivors wont get their loss back... but maybe they're much more responsible and sensitive to understand that they probably do not want to be the cause of inflicting the same pain and tragic emotions they've gone through, bcos of the loss of a loved one........

Yes, some (=Chor) may argue that they probably did it for the money, or weakness of emotions, or whatever.... Maybe they did it just for the money...... And maybe not everyone is as strong, to accept this unfortunate truth.... Emotions would run wild and revenge and hatred would set in...... Perfectly Normal I'd say.... but just this once, I'd like to believe otherwise....

Just so that I know that there is still some HOPE left, for Goodness and Humanity............