Sent the last few days away from my hometown in Delhi/Rajasthan on vacation. Currently returning on a flight which left Delhi at 4:45 AM. This post is going to get grumpy.

Luckily the flight has been rather empty. Got an aisle seat, and the middle seat is empty.Using aunts lappie to good effect to fight the boredom on my 2.5 hour flight. iPod was found to have died sometime. So hint, hint to all those who want to get me something You can even get a refurbished iPod from the Apple store. Would prefer large storage with video

Chap next to me just got some water out of the air hostesses. Seems to be his fist flight. Was sommunicating fine, till he decided to use stuff in hindi without pointing to his seat belt. Which of course was out of my purview. Thankfully the air hostess who had given him his water was around and told him he needn't pay

Yes I is that bad, Also I am taken, so random well wishers may stop maiing me with offers of help. All you will get is a "Thank You, but NO" and your emails will be deleted. if I see the same subject line, then I might not even reply. Which of course many of you are used to for other mails as well.

Sorry about that And for the lack for the lack of posts. Been generally busy and lots of rather painful stuff going on in life as well. Was so effing fed up with life in general that this whole trip, I have been away from email and mobile. Completely for the mail and mostly for the mobile.

Gaah. The one problem with aisle seats on an economy airline. Airhostess selling stuff with carts, stopping flow of words.

Weird airhostess on the way in to Delhi. One rather skeletal one was giggling through the safety instructions while taking off after the first stopover at Hyd. Nice one just now. Aircraft fully dark and she came in and switched on reading light, which makes it so much easier to see the kbd. Parul I thinks it is. Thanks Sista!

Turbulence.

Somehow is still prefer SpiceJet to IndiGo. Must be perception issues. And the fact that I can get frequent flier miles on SpiceJet if they ever open one scheme like that on it.

oooo 80% battery. More mokkai per mile

Dad was rather sick around the begining of December. In hospital for about a week and was in vey bad shape that time. After about one point five months of recuperating is back to work now.

More turbulence. This aircraft in general is rather more noisy than normal. And there is so much darn turbulence, I think I will be killing my own record for not having barfed on board for so many years. The ice tea inside me is going to come out from the looks of it. Uncle had given me a half bottle of Johnnie walker Black label. Said take a sip a day and enjoy it. Was planning on doing just that and acquiring the taste, but the chaps at the x Ray made me take it off during check in, saying that the bottle was not sealed and hence cannot be taken Had to return it with my cousin, according to whom rum pani is a nice drink but rum and coke is pansy Will get nice bottle of old monk once done with fligt and getting settled in. Think I will have a sip a day of rum to make up for missed whisky Yes I know they dont compare.
Gonna sleep for a bit now. Goodnight

24-Feb-2008 – My new laptop is also a HP dv6000, and I finally retrieved this from my aunts lappie

Trip was brilliant.
Photos will be posted later.

Initially went to Delhi by SpiceJet and landed with the green apple splatter. Suspect being some doughnut I had at Chennai airport.
Got picked up at the airport, and then went to my uncle and aunts brilliant place at Lodhi Estate. Nice old house, and really really huge lawn, with brilliant greenery, and some very nice birds Had lunch with my aunt and then spent some time sitting in the winter sun chatting. Oh, btw, since it was December, it was rather cold Evening came and so did DD. Aunt kept complaining that my jacket was a windcheater and was not enough. Ended up wearing a sweater, thermals and the jacket. More layers than I ever remember. This was the day Bhutto got assasinated. Went to Connaught circus and then roamed a bit. Go rather sick by then and was hunting for a pharmacy. Painful part about this was the fact that there seemed to be no 24 hour pharmacy in Delhi. Also the locals were not too interested in giving directions to the one Appollo I located. All they would say is "aagae" [forward in Hindi]. Got home and slept like a log.

Next day, woke, and went to the Delhi Museum. Was brilliant. Saw the Nizams Jewels. one thiing I never understood was, why spend that much to buy those and spend more in guarding them, when you cold spend those for the people of the nation. In the evening we left for Jodhpur and got there the next morning.

In the next few days we had a lot of fun. Kinda forgotten all I wanted to write, will write more later.

A Lot Like Love is a brilliant movie. Not because it is brilliant, but more because it is brilliant

Yes, I know my previous travelogue is also not complete yet..

Starting with Dilemma – Kelly Rowland feat., Nelly.

[Yes I listen to stuff other than Classic Rock :-p]

Its been a while since I posted.

Yes, I know, I am a genius

Even TheGirl has kind of given up asking when I will post next.

In any case, it’s been a good few months J

Among other things, have completed an almost 2000 km road trip on Trin [my Pulsar 180, full name Trinayan J] in Karnataka.

Its almost 2:15 AM on a Sunday morning and I am typing this in total darkness except for the laptop screen. Dad has seen foit to leave his new laptop in my room and I am using this to my full advantage. If only he had got his wireless net setup as well I would post this directly and not be bothering with Word. And I currently see that I am stuck using word with Courier New font at 12 point, which is a major hangover from wark L

Is irritating to type with this on my lap cos of the way the pad keeps moving the cursor above becos of my gut L

Ok, back to where we were.

Life has become very nice for sometime now.

Some stuff was revealed. Some acceptances have happened.

TheGirl and I have done a bit of early morning walking together as well J Taken her around Fort St.George as well J

Road trip was great. Thumper, B, Scam, Das and self went on it. Thumper’s T’bird, Shyam’s 350 and My Trin were the bikes.

Early morning on the 15^th after some confusion and lack of sleep we left for Karnataka.

To start with Thumper was irritated about frequent stops all through the ride

We were supposed to leave at around 5AM after fuelling at the Shell opposite my apartment. Scam and Das turned up there pretty early on and were ready to go and I was there at 5 AM as well. Th and B however turned up only around 6 AM. We finally left around 6:15 AM and hit the Golden Quad road to Blore pretty soon.

Ate breakfast at Arusuvai Arasu and then went on ahead. Somewhere midway we stopped for a break. Stood in front of a parked truck cos of lack of shade. Took few pictures, including that of a goat wandering nearby. Started back off on the road. The road is rather brilliant, with practically no traffic in the day time, straight and smooth. Which of course is also a major issue. Not the smoothness. The straight and empty. It leads to a lot of sleepiness. Now on my bike, I had luggage strapped on the back. I also had my backpack on the tank like a tank bag. On the top pocket, I had a couple of stick of the new Polo Cinnamon [ not as good as altoids, but decent nevertheless] , and a bottle of Orbit sugar free. Had to keep popping one of both once in a while to keep awake

A bullets rhythmic thumping can put one to sleep rather effectively We were in a triangular formation with me on the left rear. Two bullets were thumping around rhythmically, and boy did I feel sleepy! I nearly kept riding into the dirt on the left more than once, before I broke formation and raced ahead. The route has some brilliant scenery though.

[The Guys – L to R – Das, Scam, B and P, Scam’s bike and some lorry]

Long story short, we kept breaking more often than we thought necessary and got into Blore around 2 PM. Ended up at Woodys in Jayanagar for lunch. Horrid place. Discussed for a bit, met Himan from college, who turned up to say hi, and a friend of B’s who came as well. There were these hifaultin’, foreign accent English speeking types who turned up and cribbed to us about the amount of space we were taking up, which we as expected, just ignored.

Around 4 PM we started, riding on the Mysore Bangalore Highway, with Madikeri as the destination. Sunset on the road was brilliant. Had a clichéd but nice shot of a temple silhouetted in the sunset, but couldn’t take the shot as we were already behind schedule and riding hard to catch up. Finally got a few shots near a petrol pump.

The higway was brilliant, much better than the road to Blore, mainly cos it was just as smooth, but was a lot more curvier Took a right turn off the road after sometime to get on the State Highway [66 I think] to Madikeri. Here the road turned very bad, and my cold started getting worse. I already had a cold from two days of long hours and one night of very little sleep for getting lotsa work done to get time off for the trip. Around 10:30 PM, we were still about 50 KM from Madikeri, and at the outskirts of a town called Kushal Nagar. There we found a shop run by some sympathetic people from TamilNadu They advised us that the Ghat section was better not tackled at night and for us to stay in Kushal nagar was the better option. I was also not feeling too optimistic about our prospects for getting there on time, so we opted to stay in a hotel in K nagar. Slept very soundly till about 10 AM the next day.

During the ride to Blore, was listening to some music I hadn’t heard in quite a long time. Old faves like Culture Beat’s Crying in the rain. Does anyone remember them now? This includes the nut who showed them to me and used to listen to Mr.Vain quite a bit. You know who you are

Is now 3 Am, and I think my plans for the day are effectively changed Will now go sleep for a bit and blog more later…

And now it is the next day. I am in Tam and using the laptop there. From what my dad has told me, this is mine, for all intents and purposes

Next day night now.

Woke up around 9 AM the next day. Promptly ingested the mornings crocin dose after some essential activity. [Come On, Come In – Velvet Revolver] Finally got a bit ready [read, bathed and ready for breakfast]. The one decent place was shut for a puja, so we ended up at a hole in the wall, one where the dosa and idli alike were too salty and bad, and the chutney looked a lot like just white powder which had been mixed with some chilli and water. Tried another place, but had a bad time there as well. Finally settled for a bakery and gorged there [brilliant honey cakes!] B was trying to eat when two kids turned up, and asked, so he gave them the cake. Then the next, a mother and her baby came. B gave them his next cake, took another piece for himself and we left pronto before more people turned up.

[Scenes from our hotel balcony when I woke]

Then we set off for Madikeri and then to Manglaore. The road to Madikeri from Kushal nagar was decent. Wish we had more time though. We went past Dubare Elephant camp. If we had more time, would have spent a night and day there. Place is supposed to be brilliant. Finally reached a fork in the road which took us to Abbey falls. The road down to the falls was a decent ghat strech. Got to the falls. Y this time I started wheezing a bit and took an Asthalin. Which of course I haven’t in a while, but that story later. .

On the way to the falls, there was this beautiful viewpoint. Spent almost and hour taking pics there.

[P and B en route to Abbey]

[Self, minus haircut and shave, with a fully loaded Trin]

To be continued…

Today was fucking hot. Rode to Tam around 7 PM. Trinayan got rather hot and was growling more than usual when pushed past 6k revs. Got to the hospital, hung out with my uncle and then went on home. When I got home, I felt Trin’s fuel tank and got a nice surprise. It was hot

Left after about an hour and as I was at Pallavaram signal, it began raining. Not real sharp showers and all, but a nice drizzle to cool things down. Stopped at around the airport. Was lovely riding in the rain. And the spectacular lightning strikes that I saw on the way from around Chromepet added to the beauty of the night. Trin cooled down a bit and I had the heart to push again

Its so much fun to ride in the rain. The smell of the earth is still the same, in spite of all the pollution. No exhaust fumes, not even from dying, unmaintained diesel engines can kill the smell. And I was tired out of my mind, now I am awake and writing this, a lot less tired.

Its been awhile. Laziness for a bit. A lot of work. Running behind everything, going slightly insane. Change of domains within the team, and staying for 12+ hours everyday to finish work after a long time. Its painful to be in Ambattur. In Vad, I could pop out for personal work and work as late as I liked without worrying about getting home, which was only a five minute walk away.

Ka had come down a few months back for one of his brothers wedding. Another got married last month, so he’s still here, waiting to go back to UK. The bro’s wedding was in Arakkonam. Went through the Bangalore highway and then through Takkolam. Brilliant road, curvy, smooth, empty except for a few places. Rode hard and fast to there and back. Had Vella (Scientist) , a college type, pillioning with me. Scam and Tortoise on the T’s 150. Vella, as usual clucking his disapproval and any other conversation from behind. And keeping account of each whack and insult to take out on us later

Ka still is here. Trying to get rid of his corns now, which had started with an ear infection

Spending very little time with TheGirl these days Both of us at work leaves us with only a few hours a week together

One weekend though, got to goto Dakshin Chitra with her and the Tortoise. He so totally cracks her up. Starts humming and she starts laughing Maybe I got immune cos of the time I’ve known him and spent with him, pillion.

The city, in the middle of the night, while in the passenger seat of a dying Honda City, in black and white..

Dakshin Chitra was nice

End of Lunch

Went to ECR a few times, changed a tyre on a car in the middle of the night once..

The things you find on the beach

Muttukadu, Sunset..

Met an old firend yesterday after years. Brer B was one of the toppers in school. He finished and then went away to become a priest. Spent some time catching up with him yesterday. He has come down on a 15 day break. Was nice to reconnect with old school friends, remember shit. Might goto school tomorrow to play bball even with some old mates

Was bloody bugged/pissed day before night.

The whole city was lit up with extra tubelighting for the Chief Ministers fiftieth year as legislator.

I wont even go near the part where people say that he hasnt actually completed 50 years.

The celebrate this momentous event, his family had a feud between his sons.
And three innocent people dide.

The city was lit with close to a lakh tubelights, causing several powercuts. Serial lights draped with scant regard for private property.

A few thousand cutouts and posters. Each would have easily cost about a lakh.

Ten lakh people bussed in for the event along with the Prime Minister, who,most probably, flew in on the taxpayers money.

The teeming masses who were brought here would have had transport, food and booze supplied to them free, or else they would not have come.

Because of these, half the city was shut from Friday afternoon. Companies shut down half day because of the expected problems due to the family feud.

The thing is, the whole thing would have cost crores. Lots of crores.

If he was really doing service to the people, why not spend the money on them?

http://www.4to40.com/recordbook/index.asp?id=254&category=human is what this reminds me of.

So that they could not be caught similary, the whole show was put up and removed in three days. Magnificent planning and execution.

In the end, with such organising capability, so much money, the state would have benifitted, no, the people would have benefitted, those who really need the money.

I’m no saint, but I dont waste stuff like this.

Instead of all this, he could have fed hungry poor people.

He could have created shelter for the homeless.

He could have used the same organising skills of his party members for helping people out, doing good, but no.

In the end, he will still be remembered fondly. For if anyone remembers him otherwise, they will be beaten up and shit like that.

Such is our world.

Music : Maroon 5 ‘s new album
REM – Being the Begin.

Photo on Top : Me, by TheGirl

Group of cows on a day out on the beach.
Photog’d by Self and TheGirl
Title inspired by : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106408/

No actual cows were harmed in the making of this blog.
Nor were they forced to do anything.
We just followed them onto the beach as they go in and then went off