Then and Now...

Tagged by the Great Lord M... Here Goes...

The nickname mom gave me as a kid...?
Ronu.

The nickname I have now...from mom, friends and colleagues?
RAVAN - Mebbe not Mom...

Any one thing I never understood as a kid?
Why did Mom have to carry cash whereas Dad used a cool plastic card ???

Any one thing which I dont understand now?
Finance

Any one thing I loved doing as a kid?
Reading

Any one thing which I love doing now?
Playing football, CS, my Sitar and my Bike...

Any one thing which I hated as a kid?
Drawing Sessions in School... Nightmares... Never Got it...

Any one thing which I hate now?
Meetings...Absolute waste of time... no conclusions at all...

Any one thing I heard dad say many times when I was a kid?
Stop doing this, else ur gonna get some thrashing...

Any one thing I hear dad say often now?
Ive been tellin u for weeks...Can u please do it ATLEAST TODAY ???

Any one thing which you did not understand about women as a kid?
They seemed pretty cool to me...

Any one thing which you did not understand about women now?
They seem to be everything BUT cool to me...

Any one thing you dreamed of as a kid?
being an Air Force Fighter Pilot...

Any one thing you dream of now?
$$$ and playing the sitar to a certain level of perfection...

I didnt quite know what it was to be tagged until the great Lord M explained it to me...

Hence , here goes a tag to all readers...

Alone - Listening to Music... Playin the Sitar...

Wid Frnds - Football... CS... Eating Out... Some Movies...

Wid Family - Concerts... Movies... Dinner... Music...

Wid Colleagues - Not much of TP there... But cud be cribbing abt da BOSS

Wid Boss - Trying to get my document approvals from him... He discusses EVERYTHING in the WORLD except WHAT im there for... Its His Idea of timepass !!!

When Travelling - Gotta be MUSIC!!!

When Working - Surfing the office internet for queries I had the previous night !!! I mean where else do you get such amazing download speeds ???

Of Humans and Gods...

As kids, ur parents are r Gods for you... They can do anything !

As you grow older these images start changing... You start to think differently and have an argument quite often...

Slowly you realise they're merely humans...with certain flaws...And not everything you thought they cud do, is possible!!!

As you go ahead towards more responsibility in your own life, there comes a point of time when you realise its not a cakewalk if atleast not a bed of roses...

And this is when you really really GAIN RESPECT for those MERE HUMANS, whom u call Mom and Dad...

Janfest - It was for real !!!

Amazing performances on both Sunday and Monday...

Loved it... Didnt realise how quickly time flew from 5.30 to 9.30 on sunday evening... Santoor by Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma was Surreal...

Next day went for my FIRST Sitar class... at the end of it felt my finers wud SNAP into two pieces... Hurts like Hell... And NOT AT ALL used to sitting cross legged for 2 hrs... Legs went numb every 10 mins... Wondered how I was gonna continue...

Then in the evening attended Sitar by Ustaad Nishaat Khan... I'm NOW looking forward to my next Sitar practice and next lessons... Really really waiting for it...

And Kishoritai Amonkar... If sound could be velvet... its her voice... And ABSOLUTE COMMAND on the recital...

These performances weer BEYOND entertainment... They were Divine... And probably thats how these artists approach it as well...

On another note, I realised Kishoritai Amonkar and Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma were beyond 70 yrs of age... Forget complex Santoor hand movements or Vocal control over 3 octaves...

At that age, it wud even be a miracle if I cud tie my own shoelaces or speak clearly !!!

Hats Off to them... They've kept this great art and legacy alive... The applause at the end of their performances isn't just for the great music they've given us.. its ALSO an acknowledgement of their tremendous sacrifice and dedication to their own arts !!!

Janfest - The Anticipation

Have been looking forward to this since almost 2 weeks now...Waited over a year for another classical concert...

But learnt so many things and found so many more brilliant little masterpieces on the way here... That probably makes the 2 weeks of anticipation, feel like 2 months now !!!

Kept running around here and there trying to find what was missing...Think this is it...

I hope I have ARRIVED at the starting point of the journey to my ultimate goal!!!

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...