Welcome 2010

2010 is going to be a big year for me, because this is the year when my life will undergo some radical changes.
Since I started working as a software engineer in Bangalore in 2004, life had become rather routine. But on the 1st of January 2010, I would be unemployed for the first time ever. By noon of the 31st of December 2009, I had completed all my last formalities at work, sent all the farewell emails, met most of the people that I’d wanted to meet before leaving, backed up all my personal data from the office PC and cleared almost everything from my cubicle. Doing all this had taken time, and now it was almost 1 pm.
Most of my friends were going to Gokarna to usher in the new year, and I had made a last minute plan to join them there. I had booked an afternoon flight to Goa, and arranged for my brother to keep my motorcycle at a place from where I could pick it up without having to go home (my parents were never too keen on my long motorcycling trips, so I didn’t want to tell them about my grand plans). My flight to Goa was to depart at 3.15 pm, and I got to the bus-station at 1.30 pm. On the best of days, the bus takes at least one and a half hours to get to the airport, by which time the boarding gates would be closed. There was no way I would make it to the airport if I took the bus.
So I got into a waiting cab and asked him to take me to the airport on the double. It was the cab driver’s lucky day because he could charge me any outrageous amount and I would be willing to shell it out. To my disappointment, he decided to make hay while the Sun was shining. But I was thankful that at least we were on our way. The driver seemed to have a lot of confidence in himself. So much so, that he stopped for fuel, and then again to buy bananas and cigarettes.
Vinay called me midway, and wasn’t surprised to hear that unlike a normal human being, I wasn’t all checked in and waiting for the boarding announcement. Trust me, for those who know how talented I am at missing buses, trains, planes and all other public transport systems, it wouldn’t be shocking at all.
Once at the airport, I ran all the way to get my boarding pass. The guy behind the counter urged me to hurry as boarding for my flight had already begun. After a quick security clearance, I reached my terminal just as the last person went through the door. I was going to get my flight, yay!! This round went to me, but I just know that there is going to be another duel with nature very soon.

After landing in Goa, I got out of the airport and immediately on a bus heading to Margao. Once there, I hopped onto a pilot motorcycle, that would take me to my brother’s friend’s place where my motorbike was parked. Once the bike was tanked up, I began the long 5 hour journey towards Gokarna. Regular updates from Meena, Shaarad & Thomas kept me up-to-date with the scene there. I took just one short tea break near the Karwar port, and it was close to 10.30 pm by the time I reached Om beach, where the others were.
I was quite tired by my long journey, and just one REALLY stiff drink of vodka that Lawrence poured was enough to get me in high spirits. I was just getting through my second drink, which by the way, was rum, when everyone around me was counting down. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that it was indeed midnight already. We hugged each other and wished everyone a Happy New Year and all that.
Since we hadn’t been too successful in finding a room in the already over stuffed place, we decided that we would just spend the night by the beach. We were not alone in this noble pursuit, as we saw revelers all over the place collapsing under the stars beside the sea. This peaceful, romantic setting was a pleasure to everyone except for, you guessed it, the damn cops. They were there in a flash shining their bright flashlights on our faces. Runu, who had promised to keep watch, told them that we were all Germans. But the cop was not convinced, so he asked loudly, “How many Indians are there in this group?” Somebody answered two, at which he bellows, “All the Indians get out of here.” Nobody moved an inch. I’m not very sure what happened next, but I vaguely remember some cop asking his mates to leave us alone as there are ladies in our group.
Once the cops had left, and the effects of the alcohol were wearing out, I began to realize how cold it was. I did not have any thick clothing to protect me from the chilly sea breeze. But Karla shared her shawl with me, thanks to which I made it through that first night of 2010.

Cochin – A beautiful coastal town

I slept like a baby and was well rested by the time Thomas woke me up. When I got ready and came to the living room, Shaarad was already there. Thomas' parents had gone to attend some function at Kottayam, but his sister Nilima had stayed back.

The 4 of us then went for breakfast, and later to the bus station to drop Shaarad off. Shaarad had to go to Kottayam to meet an old friend of his from London. Shaarad was just about to buy his bus ticket when his friend called and said that traffic on the Cochin – Kottayam route was moving at a snail's pace, and it would be better if he didn't go through the ordeal. This suited us just fine, and we spent the remainder of the day just walking about Fort Kochi, watching the Chinese fishing nets in action, having lunch with a view of the backwaters, browsing through books and postcards and finally sipping on some unique flavored teas. We met Thomas & Nilima's parents when we got back home, and were treated to an amazing dinner prepared by aunty. The next day Thomas was to drive his Mom's old car back to Bangalore, so we called it a day immediately after dinner.

 

I had been to Cochin a couple of times before with my parents, but I saw it in a new light in this trip. It looked like a sprawling metropolis in some parts with giant high-rises, while in others there were large aristocratic bungalows besides the backwaters. It was such a harmonious blend of the modern with the old. The weather at this time of the year was quite pleasant, but I was warned that it could get quite hot and humid in summer. Nevertheless, I liked Cochin a lot.

To Cochin for Christmas

The one thing that is common to most of trips is that they are seldom planned. And this was true of the Christmas trip to Cochin as well. I learnt only on the 24^th of December that Shaarad was planning to visit Thomas at Cochin for Christmas, and since I wasn't doing anything over the long weekend, I thought I might as well head to Cochin myself. I remembered Sushil mentioning that he was going to some place in Kerala during the Christmas weekend by car, so I asked him if they had place for one more person. Not only they did have place, but they were also going to Cochin :) I had assumed that Sushil would be going with his relatives, but there was another pleasant surprise in store for me. He was going with a few of our seniors from MIT, so it was already promising to be a fun journey!!

The plan was to start early, and the cab was to pick me up from the Sony World junction at the ungodly hour of 4 am. I didn't remember the last time I had seen that time of day (or night), but I didn't want to be the villain in the plan, so I somehow got myself to the pickup location at 4. If you have already read "Christmas dinner & midnight mass", you know that I had had a late night the day before and had gotten into bed at 3 am. Having slept for barely 25 minutes, I couldn't wait to get into the cab, sink into some remote corner, and doze off. Imagine my horror when I call the cab driver and he says he was still asleep. He hurriedly apologises and promises to come in another 10 minutes. It was close to 5 am when he finally reached.

Having been totally impressed by the way Jonathan Yevin travels, I was carrying as less stuff as I possibly could in one light backpack. When we got to Vinay's place, he asked me to come up to his apartment to help him with the luggage (Note: This is a completely new Vinay, taking the number of Vinays I now know to 4). I almost fainted of shock when I saw the amount of luggage he was carrying. I think it was enough to start a small, happy family. The cab driver nearly fainted as well when he got a load of it. From here we went to Harish & Manjushri's place who had a few bags of their own. Then we went to pick up Sushil who wasn't traveling very light either. There was no way we could possibly fit all that luggage along with our unhealthy fat bodies in the interior of the vehicle, so most of it went on the luggage carrier atop the Innova.

Manju was having a bad day, and suffering from travel sickness, so we took frequent breaks along the way. The journey itself was a lot of fun, because the guys were super chilled out. We played Taboo and 20 questions along the way, endured Sushil's newly discovered PJs, had a MASSIVE lunch, got lost getting into Ernakulam, and reached quite late to Harish's parents' house. After spending some time with his folks, we headed out for dinner.

Thomas came to pick me up from the restaurant, and I said goodbye to the guys. Then we proceeded to Thomas' house which is a beautiful flat in a posh residential apartment complex next to one of the backwaters. If the exterior of the apartment is brilliant, the interiors are simply breath-taking. Thomas' folks have decorated their home very aesthetically, with a lot of interesting pieces of furniture. After a quick shower, and a light dinner prepared by Thomas' mom, I was off to bed.

Christmas dinner & midnight mass

We (Lawrence, Meena, Shaarad, Stag, Nishanth, Monishca & I) went to Koshy's for this year's Christmas dinner. I have always felt that Koshy's was an expensive, overly hyped eating place. It's true that some very interesting people from all walks of life meet there often, and it has a noisy but rather nice feel to it in the late evenings, but I think the food is still ridiculously dear.

They had a special Christmas menu, and the items on it did sound exotic. What caught our attention the most (at least that of all the non-vegetarians at the table) was the roast turkey dish, priced at a whopping 400 Rupees. I imagined that it would be a large carved turkey roasted on a fire (ala the wild boars in Asterix comics – especially on the last page). I think the other guys were also thinking such wondrous thoughts, because we decided we would order one for the table, and split it among us 4 non-veggies.

When the dish finally did arrive, it left us spellbound by its sheer size. I could probably finish the entire thing in under a minute with my fork hitting the plate a maximum of 3 times. Lawrence couldn't believe it, and had to confirm with the waiter if this was the turkey we had ordered. The waiter nodded his agreement with a large smile. The guy must have mistaken our looks of disbelief for pleasure.

Us non-veggies grumpily finished off the miniscule roast turkey dish, while the veggies had a good laugh at our cost. Now when I think of it, since the veggies obviously enjoyed that turkey more than we did, they should have probably paid for it as well.

 

After dinner, we headed home and chilled for a bit. When it was close to midnight, we walked all the way to St. John's medical college, and went to the chapel within the hospital. The midnight mass was in progress, but my body clock was already complaining. There were some pretty girls in the rows, but their beauty was no match for my sleepiness. I was leaning against some counter and continuously nodding off. I had a feeling that people around me were more interested in my comically bobbing head, than on what the Father was saying.

After the mass, the entire congregation moved en masse to a garden where a beautiful crib had been made. The garden had a pretty fountain, and the crib had lifesize figures which made the entire setup a real treat to watch. Next we were served Christmas cakes along with tea/coffee. The coffees were indeed brilliant, and the other guys had 3 or 4 cups each. I didn't dare to have more than one, because I had to wake up early. By the time we got back home, it was 3 am which meant I had only about 30 minutes to sleep. I had to be up by 3.30 am so that I could be at the Sony World junction at 4 to catch my cab to Cochin :(

Zero bag traveler

It has been a while now that I have been an active member of an online travel related website called couchsurfing. It is mainly centered around providing travelers a "couch" to sleep on in your home when they're passing by your city. There are others like it, e.g. "hospitality club" or "be welcome". A simple google search might give you a few more. Check them out if it interests you.

Anyway, lets come back to couchsurfing. As in many online forums, almost anybody is free to join, so there are all sorts of people in there. Some very interesting folks, and some complete a-holes. There are many types of groups as well, with city groups being the most common. Accordingly, Bangalore also has its very own group (lovingly called the BangCS community). From my experience over almost 2 years, I have observed that the Bangalore community is among the best in the world – touchwood. We have a regular weekly meet every Wednesday evening at The Couch on MG road, which I try and attend whenever I feel up to it.

On the Wednesday of 23^rd December 2009, I was not feeling particularly up to it, so I thought I'll give it a skip. But then I got a private message on couchsurfing from one Mr. Jonathan Yevin, who introduced himself as an American travel writer. He had just come to Bangalore, and was looking for people to hangout with. I told him about our weekly meet, and then thought maybe I'll just drop I to say hello.

Jonathan turned out to be an interesting guy with many travel stories to share. He seemed like a genuine person, and since he still hadn't found a place to stay; I offered him our couch for the night. He took up the offer and came home, and we started generally chatting about our travels (mainly his actually). It turned out that he had been traveling for more than 7 years now, and had been almost all around the world. For 5 months in a year he would run his landscaping business in New York city, and then travel for the remaining months.

But the most fascinating part of his travel was that he would travel without a bag. Yes, you read that right, NO BAG. All he would go around in was whatever he was wearing, his passport, his wallet (with some money and a credit card), his cellphone and maybe a guide book. He had been traveling this way for the last 5 years!

Jonathan totally redefined traveling light, and will remain a major inspiration whenever I'm going to pack another bag.

The Cool Crusader

December 9th every year is International Anti-Corruption Day. I would probably never have known this bit of trivia had Shaarad, my flatmate, not been working for an NGO doing stuff to prevent corruption in India. His NGO, the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) was also one of the members of the Coalition Against Corruption (CAC) forum. This year, the CAC was planning on assembling on MG Road and protesting against corruption.

Since I had no real work to do at my workplace, and since I thought that some beautiful women might turn up for the protest, I decided to join Shaarad at the protest. No points for guessing what the main motivation was. So we reached the place, put up some banners and signed a large anti-corruption poster. The protest started in full-swing with some village women shouting slogans in full earnest.

I had no intention of crying myself hoarse just for my voice to be drowned out in the incessant noise of the vehicles passing by, so I contented myself with holding one of the placards that read "Join the fight against corruption to free India". I proudly displayed it to every curious motorist who bothered to slow down to see what was going on.

After a while, when my delicate eyes that were used to staring at a computer screen all day couldn't take it anymore, I took out my aviator sunglasses, and continued to combat corruption. The small grins on the faces of people around me and in the vehicles gave me the impression that I looked real stupid, but I didn't care.

So after a few hours of doing his bit, the cool crusader called it a day, and headed back to the comfort of his beloved little cubicle.

<- check out the determined look
(short event writeup: http://pacindia.org/news/international-anti-corruption-day/)

Royal Mysore Walks

Royal Mysore Walks is Vinay's new venture. He quit his IT job in mid 2008, and decided to be his own boss. He took up English classes at the IMS learning centre for a batch of students planning to take up the GMAT. But this didn't hold his interest for too long, and he relocated to Mysore to start the Royal Mysore Walks. I had helped to promote it to a few of my acquaintances, and had also sent him a few clients. But ironically, I'd never been on any of his walks myself, and today that was going to get fixed.

A vacationing couple had driven from Bangalore for a weekend getaway, and had seen an article on the Royal Mysore Walks in Mint, a popular business newspaper. Vinay was entertaining his clients, and I was just trudging along. We went along the Palace Wall a bit, checked out a busy marketplace, walked along narrow forgotten lanes, bought Mysore Pak at the shop where it was first made, visited a small holy shrine and finally wound up at a historical heritage site. All along the route, Vinay kept us keenly interested with his trivia and small anecdotes about the places around us. It really felt as if we were taking a stroll through a slice of history!

Got back home and waited till Vinay's Dad had performed Ayudha Pooja on the vehicles, and then bade goodbye to them.

Before leaving Mysore, I went back to the old places that I used to frequent when I stayed in Mysore for a month during my "Industrial Training" period at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) sometime in early 2003. For the return journey, I decided to avoid the Mysore-Bangalore highway, and instead take the longer, and not-so-well-made road through Bannur, Malevalli & Kanakapura.

<- The alternate smaller roads

The countryside ->

It started pouring almost as soon as I reached Bannur, and I stopped at a small tea shop and started chatting with the chaiwalla. He asked me where I worked, and I told him I worked in Bangalore for a company that made mobile phones. His next question was how much did they pay me. That made me a little uncomfortable, so I pretended not to hear him. But he was persistent, and asked me again. So I lied to him, and gave him a smaller figure. I had estimated correctly, and he was impressed but not overwhelmed. The next question he asked me was whether I was married yet. When I answered in the negative, he was surprised and said that I ought to be married when I'm already earning so much. I told him that I wasn't prepared for marriage just as yet, and that I wanted to go on many more motorcycling trips before settling down. That's when he started advising me on why one should get married, and how one should choose his wife carefully. He also gave me a lot of advice about how one should not be too greedy for money, and how one should identify fair-weather friends. I was a good listener, and he was happy to find someone to dispense advice to. Not only did he give me 2 cups of tea when I was there, but also refused to take any money for the teas. Finally when the rain had stopped, I took a picture with him, said goodbye and got on the bike again. If you're ever passing through the small village of Bannur near Mysore, do ask for Syed Mudassir Kadir's tea shop and have a cup of tea there!!

<- With Syed, the chai-walla

It was wonderful feeling riding through the small roads with hardly any traffic, looking at the bright green fields on both sides and breathing the fresh clean air that was non-existent in Bangalore. Eventually I got onto a tolled freeway going towards Bannerghatta road. I was riding on a freeway for the first time in India, and the feeling was very similar to being on one of the Interstate highways in the United States.

100 kms to home ->

Reached home around 8 pm with the odometer reading 33478. I had covered 434 kms in the last 2 days.

A hot shower after a long and tiring ride... aah, bliss!

Dassera @ Mysore

I had been to Mysore many times before but never during Dassera. There were crowds everywhere, and there was some activity happening everywhere you looked.

After lunch, Vinay & I went to an exhibition called Cava Mela in a famous arts college. The students had put up some very creative stuff, and organised some fun games. We decided to play an observation and memory game called Mind Mixer, which involved spending exactly 1 minute inside a room and then answering 5 questions asked by the organisers.

Vinay went in first, but could manage to answer just one of the 5 questions. But I was there when he was aked those questions, so at least I knew the kind of questions to expect. When my turn came I entered the dimly lit room and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of items in there. It would take someone about half an hour just to get a good look at everything there, but I had just one minute. So I did the best I could before the lights were switched off.

Once outside, my question-answer session began. I don't remember exactly what was asked but I got the first 3 answers right. The fourth question was, "Where was the snake in the room?". Now I didn't even remember seeing a snake in there, so there was no way I could tell where it was. Looking at me fumbling, Vinay came to my aid and whispered, "Near the statue...". Unfortunately, the whisper was loud enough for the guy asking the questions to hear, so he canceled the question itself and ask me a new one. But the smart bugger asked me an extremely tough question that I couldn't answer. I got the last one right, making it 4 correct answers out of 5 questions.

According to the rules of the game, I was eligible for an additional bonus question as I'd got 4 correct answers. The last question was something like, "What was the shape drawn on poster # 4 on the left wall?". I remembered seeing various shapes drawn on 13 posters on the walls, but I simply couldn't recall what was on poster 4. I blindly guessed that it was a vertical straight line, and guess what, it was the right answer!!!

I had done it. I had proved all my critics and detractors wrong. I had achieved what other men only dreamt of. Where others had failed and given up, I had kept the hopes of mankind alive. I had finally arrived. There was nothing more left to be proven. This was truly the pinnacle of human achievement. And for this, they gave me a sapling. Duh!

I gave the sapling to Vinay's Mom, and I think she was glad :)

Vinay & I then went to the Mysore Palace, and reached there just in time to see the Palace light up. We could feel a wave of sudden excitement come over the crowd when the lights came on. Over 27,000 lightbulbs are used to light up the Mysore Palace. Earlier, they used to be normal lightbulbs, that people would steal to use in their own homes. So it was decided that special lightbulbs manufactured exclusively for the palace would be used (these won't fit into the normal sockets present in Indian homes).

<- The lit Mysore Palace

There was an Indian classical music programme going on, and Vinay knew someone in the light and sound console thanks to which we could gain access to the VIP area!

Indian classical music programme ->

Later in the evening, the 4 of us - Vinay's parents, Vinay & I went up Chamundi Hill to check out the lit up city. We also saw from up close the huge "Welcome to Mysore Dassera" sign made from lightbulbs. Roaming around Mysore city on the motorcycle, Vinay showed me all the famous buildings around Mysore, and how well decked up they were for the festive occasion.

We also walked all around within the Greens hotel, and experienced its grandeur. If you're trying to impress a girl, you should take her to the beautiful little coffee shop within the hotel!

Motorcycling To Mysore

It had been quite a while since I'd been on a roadtrip on the motorcycle (the last long ride was probably to Pondicherry and back), and I was itching to hit the road again. Vinay had told me that Mysore was all decked-up for the annual Dassera (also spelled as Dussehra) celebrations, and had invited me to come there for the weekend. At the same time, Harish had invited a bunch of us over to his home for a mini get-together and to play some Wii games. With the addictive Wii unit beckoning, I was torn between Mysore and Harish's home. A quick phone call to Langdu tilted the balance slightly in favor of Mysore. Langdu and Balli had been to Mysore recently with some of their friends, and he said that the festive atmosphere in Mysore was worth experiencing. When I told Shaarad that I was having a tough time choosing between a roadtrip to Mysore and Harish's home, he looked at me as if I had lost my mind! I knew instantly that it simply had to be Mysore!!

Before you set off on any long ride, it is always a good practice to thoroughly check your vehicle (or have it checked by a reliable person). But since this trip was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I simply couldn't do it! When I checked the engine oil level in the morning, it was rather less, but the color of the oil was good, and that was a good thing. Next I went hunting for a mechanic but there was none to be found in Koramangala. So I rode to Indiranagar and found one guy just opening up his shop. He gave the motorcycle a quick once-over, topped up the engine oil, tightened the brakes and said that it was in decent shape to go to Mysore. So I was finally on my way at around 9.30 am.

<- Time to clock some miles

Due to the delays because of my unpreparedness, I got a lot of traffic while exiting Bangalore. I hadn't had anything to eat and was very hungry by the time I stopped at Kadu Mane, a popular drive-in restaurant between Bangalore and Mysore. I just wanted to have a quick breakfast and leave, but the service was really pathetic. It is here that I got a call from Kini who said that Paddie was getting engaged soon in Mangalore. So that meant another trip with the Breakdown Gang was on the cards :)

Lush green fields along the way ->

I took short breaks along the way to click snaps whenever I thought there was something worth being clicked; and it was during one such break that I met two guys pushing their motorcycle as it had run out of fuel. I offered to give them some from my bike, but we didn't have anything to transfer the petrol. They said that the next fuel pump was just a small distance away, and asked if I could help them pull the bike. I agreed, so one of them sat behind me and the other sat on his dry bike. They held each other's hand, and we started off slowly. This was hardly the safest thing to do on a national highway, with vehicles zooming by us at breakneck speeds. But come on, that's India for you where everything's ok!! Soon enough we reached a fuel pump, they thanked me for my help, and I was on my way again.

<- Just 35 more kms to go

The amazing Bangalore-Mysore highway ->

The rest of the journey was largely uneventful besides giving lifts to a schoolboy, a villager and a policeman but I enjoyed the easy ride on the amazing roads!

Finally got to Vinay's place around 2.30 pm, and after freshening up real quick, we headed out to get a beer and some food.