A darker shade of gray

- Wedding Bells -

2009-06-28T06:48:18Z

Dearest Anya Kong, Wish you a happily ever after.

Karma 6 - Earth

2008-04-23T08:35:25Z

Let them be heard...

The Rain and Me

2007-12-07T08:37:20Z

This is something for a long time ago... just didn't like the thought of losing it.

It's a gloomy day,
My thoughts are lost,
Amidst the clouds dark and gray,
Lost in the memory of a past I cannot part,

A distinct scent lingers in the air,
As I lie oblivious, tending to many scars,
The gust of cold wind hints of what lies far,
I'm lost and absolved in a losing battle, the inevitable war

A brilliant flash of light streaks across the sky,
Memories, I think are like a paint some of it'll never dry,
The ensuing thunder that whisks all that yet still shall lie,
Even the wilting flowers of pain, a bloom from a time long gone by,

The first drops of rain arrive in a race,
I wait arms wide open, resign myself to its spate,
It arrives to kiss the earth and all that lies in its trace,
Release me I plead from my prison, my pain, my hate

The beads of water glisten off the grass, the plants, the trees
I shed my fear and my of own, for them now one can no longer see,
The world seems cleansed and fresh, some more of life has just been set free,
I stand there in my puddle of relief and peace, knowing well this will only last a wee,

A strange relationship we share, the rain and me.

There are three threads in one, read alternate lines 1,3,5... and 2,4,6,... and together as you would normally. And read between the lines.

Anyways this is what I had to say about this then... and now... well now...

From Bollywood's Binnacle

2007-11-26T09:47:21Z

In an effort to develop tolerance for Bollywood(for reasons that are best not represented as text), I risked jeopardizing the weekend watching, what's supposedly the best it has to offer.

Om Shanti Om, OSO - If the newspapers are to believed OSO supposedly bettered Robert Redford's directorial debut at the box office in the US!!! Well this technically superior movie deserves its accolades. With its flawless and gripping script, wonderful screenplay and direction, replete with a star cast who performances leaves you agape. With this movie Bollywood has finally come of age.

Now wouldn't you wish that were true. The movie is anything but that, it quite really is a true test of tolerance, and we unknowingly picked the right movie for our purpose. Its beyond one's ability to comprehend what is drawing people to this movie. This movie epitomizes why one should refrain from Bollywood not risk its many offerings. The storyline is a loose fitting garment that keeps slipping and sliding off the mannequins who enact it. Ok with the exception of Shreyas Talpade, and a honest effort from Arjun Rampal and the debutante Deepika Padhukone. The latter is all that keeps you from leaving the movie is sheer disgust. She fares somewhere between to ohk to acceptable on acting skills, but scores maximum for grace, poise and sheer screen presence. You can't take your eyes off her when she's on the screen and wait in anticipation for her to come back on, while the rest of the movies peels itself off the wall. Shahrukh Khan, the self proclaimed the King of Bollywood. The fact that I detest him has nothing to with the "fact" that he cannot act and this review. Worse still he looks ashen, so skinny and unproportional that you'd think, well you know I was right, this dude is so full of it. Well, I'm glad Mr.Stereotype can take atleast a joke or two, and the same for Bollywood. Did I mention Deepika Padhukone looks oh so gorgeous, esp., in Ajab Si, if I did she's worth the redundancy. And that brings us to the music score and ofcourse the songs, which we've come to accept can largely make an appearance without any warning or reason. Its ohk but nothing special excepting Ajab Si, whose lyrics and music does suit the beautiful Ms.Padhukone. Did someone say Dard-e-Disco, oh please.

In all, a terrible and utter waste of time and money (however spent), unless ofcourse you like us are in a quest to develop a tolerance for Bollywood. And now if Mr.Khan and this movie wins many awards for this consummately hapless showing, you'll have figured why you can afford to give Bollywood a skip.

I've Saawariya and Jab We Met lined up. Keep ya posted. Till then stay away, from the complement of SOS.

Happy Birthday!!! suku

2007-10-14T10:32:33Z

Many Happy Returns of the Day, Dearest Anya Kong.
Hope you have a Wonderful Birthday.

Mot's GDS '07

2007-10-11T16:44:02Z

Wednesday, a whole lot of us at Mot got to stay away from office, yet still had to work.

Starting last year Motorola annually organizes a world wide volunteer match program that allows its employees to register for various volunteer projects. To extend our service to the many community projects, in the region. Mot calls it its, Global Day of Service. This year I registered to volunteer at the Shirsti Campus, Bangalore.

For starters I had to get to the campus at 7:45 AM, being amongst the nocturnal of our species, for me personally that's an ask. And with a little over three hours of sleep, the grogginess had my head in splits. And secondly, I had to shed my native black, blue and grey to don, er… a “Bright Orange” Tee (Appreciate your keeping the sniggers to a minimum, thank-you).

Anyways, I got there in time and yes... if you insist on knowing.

At Shristi, we involved ourselves in various activities laying the gateway to one of the entrances of the campus, spending time with challenged children, help the kids basic motor skills training etc.,

Pass it forward...

The rocky bed for the gateway

The Big Dig

A gateway in the making

An that takes a mighty heave

With the children at the campus

Deepesh and I, helped out at one of motor skills sessions

And at play time

Volunteerism - the act of selflessly working for the benefit of others. But then moments like these are reward enough to our meagre efforts, wouldn't you say.

Laughter

Pallavi & Nagaraj

Mihir's my Buddy, says little Vignesh

In smiles, we can still speak the same language

There are times when I think, that at least in this part of the world, its time we started acting on our long harbored good intentions. We don't just stop at thinking that we want to do good, and actually contribute towards it. Help, because you can. I guess it doesn't get any simpler.

More pictures on my flickr page

Lets Celebrate us Librans

2007-10-10T11:29:59Z

Happy Birthday to the wise ol'man of the LJ World ravi and belated wishes shradha

Have a rocking time you guys.

Rev.

2007-10-10T11:25:07Z

A year long hiatus.

Paroxysms. Dark Chasms. Wilted flowers. Broken Promises. Dried ink pots. The Yellow of Age. Bridges, I couldn't walk across. Bridges, I built, but its cause lost. Time has passed me by. Its few periods lost in the memory of rain. Some with a moon, it'll never be the same again. Then the cold abyss. The call of the day. Shafts of light. The comfort of shadows and gray. A spiral. A circle.

Cryptic, but its best this way. This is one promise kept. A Redux, yet again.

As I take another step towards an uncertain end...

2006-10-06T15:21:02Z

Thank you, for all the comments, scraps and mails.

Apologies tho' for my much delayed response, been a shade off color :(

raghav @ 2006-10-06T19:12:00

2006-10-06T13:43:11Z

Our day at Kanyakumari, begins with the spell binding sunrise. We visit the Vivekananda Memorial Rock and Thiruvallaver Statue set out in the sea. Enjoy a panaromic view of the coastline from Marthuvamalai. Discover that the sea is best viewed from Circular Fort. And best enjoyed by basking in the sun at the beach and that a golden sunset is a fitting end to this lovely day.

Its 5:30 in the morning the phone is ringing. Modhu answers it, “Good Morning Sir, Sunrise” says the voice at the other end. We didn’t request a wake up call, must be default, after all that’s why you here, or so they assume. That said, we’re thankful for it. A quick wash later I hurry to the hotel roof, It is still quite dark and rather cold. Modhu soon joins me, followed by Harsha. We're set for the much talked about sunrise at Kanyakumari.

The sky turns a shade brighter, its twilight. Twilight, the period of uncertainty, the whole world is painted in eerie shade of grey, living in the grey zone. The balance however soon shifts in favor of the light, the sky grows brighter. There is also a liberal spread of orange. However, there are a lot of clouds in the sky. The hotel owner from last night dinner did tell us that we might not get a clear viewing of the sunrise owing to the rain. We can now see Vivekananda Memorial Rock and the Thiruvallaver Statue.

The world grows brighter. I can see more people are gathering at the shores of the sea, while we wait on the roof. The sky is littered with clouds and it is quite bright now. We've been waiting for a long time now, and concede that we’re unfortunate enough to not have witnessed the sunrise thanks to the clouds.

Crestfallen, Modhu and Harsha return to the room. I however decided to stay on the roof to wait a while longer. I soon rewarded, a small ball of orange slowly emerges from the depths of the blue sea. I stand there under a spell without batting a eye.

My sense of camaraderie soon calls on me, I'm forced to head down to tell the others. They are causing me miss out on such a thing of beauty, 'em oafs [:)] are already in bed. I dive into the room screaming, the sun, the sun, sunrise, its beautiful and then rush back to the roof. Alas, the sun is now completely out of the sea, bloody damnation. We enjoy the remainder of the marvel and take a few pictures. The sun soon disappears into the clouds, or in this case the big bad cloud gobbled up the sun :(

As we get ready, we discuss a serious problem on hand. We’re in effect a day behind the original plan. After much deliberation and working out shorter routes on the map, it is agreed to extend the trip by a day. This and the modified course should see that we can still visit all the destinations on our route.

Modhu and Harsha soon get ready head down to check on the bikes. They return as I too am almost ready. Modhu tells me rather glumly that the front rim on the "Goddess" is probably slightly bent. He however says it is not too serious; the front wheel only locks up slightly. I’m rather concerned as we still have a long way to go. We decide to get her checked in the next big town.

Breakfast done with, we visit the Kanika Parameshwari Temple first. Kanyakumari get its name from this temple. Legend has it that during a time long ago, the goddess’s diamond earring was so resplendent that even when illuminated by a single oil lamp, ships at sea could spot it and use it to arrive at port.

Most big temples in India are associated with a tank of fresh water called the Kalyani, its considered quite sacred. This temple too boasts of one such. However, religious boundaries still exist in our county as is apparent from this sign.

We then head to Vivekananda Memorial Rock, a monument erected in a huge rock nearly half a kilometer into the sea. Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu Monk and a visionary, is said have to swimmed to this rock to meditate during his stay at Kanyakumari. A ferry takes us there, Harsha is relived that we decided not rent a small boat. Vivekananda Memorial Rock has two monuments, one houses an wonderfully detailed statue of Swami Vivekananda, a mediation hall and a temple that houses a rock bearing the footprints of Goddess Kanya Devi.

It is very peaceful at the rock, we spend a good deal of time and snap a lot of pictures. We then take the ferry to the Thiruvallavar Statue,a famous tamil poet, installed on another rock in close proximity. It is massive almost 120 feet as I recall, although not as impressive as Vivekananda Rock it is still an astounding sight.

Back on mainland we get on our bikes and head to a place called Marthuvamalai. A temple atop a hill, it is a rather long climb to the top. But it is well worth the panoramic view of Kanyakumari. From here one can see the Kanyakumari coast line, large bodies of water amidst huge green fields, coconut groves, a spectacular sight. The wind is very strong up here, it very nearly blows me over. Harsha’s many antics and Modhu’s funnier interpretation make for great laughs.

On the way back to the hotel Modhu spots a Royal Enfield Certified Mechanic Shop and get decides to get his bike checked. Turns out it’s a problem with the front disc brake assembly. This takes slightly over two hours to get it fixed, during which we chat with the mechanic, about our bikes, their nuances. Another customer a huge electricity board inspector joins our conversation. It is amazing how much we can say with the minuscule amount of Tamil we speak. There are a lot of diesel Enfields in Kanyakumari, there was one at the garage too, a very battered tho'.

Modhu’s bike is fixed, I’m rather relived. It is almost 4:00pm and we’re famished. We decide to head to Circular Fort. A beautiful small fort that houses a big tank of water centered admist its manicured lawns. The sea lies on the other side of the fort walls. The sea lashes constantly against its tall walls and sea looks beautiful from here. The different hues of blue, as far as the eyes can see. Kanyakumari – is after all the confluence of three huge bodies of water, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal [;)]

Alongside the fort is a nice lonely beach, but there are no people there. I’m inclined to go there but Modhu is against the idea. Harsha is more keen on lunch. We return to the hotel have lunch, wash up and head to then to the Kanyakumari beach. Modhu isn’t very keen on getting into the water, Harsha is overjoyed. The waves are really strong, they come crashing into the many rocks that dot this very small beach. The sinking sun paints the world in a golden hue.

It is almost time for the sunset, we make a dash for the watch tower. We however only get a glimpse of it, partly the doing of clouds, largely us. Disappointed we head back to the hotel.

Dinner is spent discussing the glimpse we had into Harsha future, this makes for interesting conversation. I’ve a nasty headache and Harsha’s caught a bad cold. We down a few aspirins and call it a day.

Day Four – An exhausting fun filled day at Land’s End, India.

raghav @ 2006-09-28T20:16:00

2006-09-28T16:10:59Z

Day 3, we ride through some of the most popular destinations in Kerala. The famed back waters of Alleppey, the white sandy beach at Kovalam. Then across the border into Tamilnadu and onto Kanyakumari. The road ends here. All roads do. Only a sea of blue lies its beyond.

I wake up to hear Modhu complaining that he hasn’t has a good night’s sleep. The constant blaring traffic on the busy M.G.Road and nasty mosquitoes kept him sleeples. His pillow is dotted in his own blood its a rather gruesome sight, he has my sympathies. I had some trouble falling asleep but otherwise slept like a rock. Harsha didn’t seem to have had any such trouble either.

The weather is being kind on us today, it is already raining, and we’re saved from the trouble of having to pull over to don our wet gear. Today unless we run into very rough weather we should reach the most beautiful dead end in the country, where all roads end and well all roads begin, Kanyakumari. This thought has me in good spirits.

Once we’re ready we head for breakfast, I love the chutney that is served with my dosa, which is in effect very mildly spiced finely grated coconut drowning in coconut milk. I have a more than generous helping of chutney, hell I hog an astounding amount it. It really is quite yum.

Our bikes saddled, our tummies fed, we gas our bikes and head toward Kanyakumari. The rain soon ceased, the sun came out, I stopped to get out of the wet gear. The others chose not to risk it but I was feeling very uncomfortable. Thankfully for me we didn't ride into more rain.

We soon reached Allepey famous for its beautiful backwaters. We however didn’t make a stop there. I've visited Allepey in the past. The water at the edge of the city itself is dirty but head slightly inward, pay a bit more and rent a nice house boat that’ll take you further along the backwaters. And have yourself a slice of parasdise. It is really serene to lie on a house boat that is gently rocking in the water, against a setting sun. But as I said, we just moved on. We stopped for tea at a shop just after Alleppey, along the road I went past a boat [:)]

The sun is beaming down on us. We were well and truly riding along the coast now, there are times when you spot the sea, smell the sea and the landscape has changed dramatically.

I spot an elephant being walked on the highway but my camera batteries died and I couldn’t get a decent shot, except this one [:)]

Breakfast is now a thing of the past, I’m famished and so are the others. We ride into and out of many small towns but can’t find any decent restaurant. With no choice, we ride on. I’m feeling very thirsty and pull over for a drink of water, the others do likewise. Harsha, is an absolute foodie has been constantly cribbing for food. At our stop he soon disappears and arrives with a handful of bananas, there are no shops in sight. I've no clue where he managed to find them. Modhu and I politely decline. He proceeds to make a meal of it. It quite honestly is too many bananas atleast for Homo sapiens.

Finally, we spot a decent restaurant. The waiter is a Mallu from the very heart of Kerala. He doesn’t understand a single word of what we’re saying in our broken Tamil. But we thanfully get what we ordered, I’m only thankful for that. This was only until Harsha decided to charge of things and managed to confuse the waiter to an extent where he’d have gotten us a mountain of food if not for our timely intervention. Harsha sure makes for some amsuing incidents.

Lunch done with, we ride on. A note on Kerala buses here, especially so the Green ones that have "Super Fast" written on them. Keep away. Get off the road. They kill. The bus drivers in Kerala do not care for any vehicle smaller in size than their own bulk. They charge towards the incoming traffic like an angry bull with its tail on fire. Bloody Maniacs.

We soon near Kovalam arguably the most popular beach in the whole of Kerala. The last few kilometers seem to go on forever. On reaching Kovalam there is huge water body sort of a group of ponds set amidst rocky walls. And one side coconut trees as far as the every can see and on the other side dark green trees, a light house painted in red and white bands and the blue sea its beyond. The glow of the evening sun only accentuates its beauty.

We ride inward towards the beach. The sea exudes a strange sense of calm on me; ironic considering the sea itself is this huge choppy body of water. What a beautiful sight. We soon discovered that to get the famed Kovalam beach we had to take a narrow path down just before the Leela Group of Hotels. It is a very steep descent mostly people wouldn’t risk it but we rode our bikes down this steep road onto the beach.

Yep, we rode the bikes onto the sandy shore of the beach and set them there. I must have had a very goofy expression on me now, I'm really excited. It is easy to see why Kovalam is amongst best beaches in Kerala. The shore is huge, the water is clear, the sand white. I roll up my trousers and walk along the shore as the cold sea water kisses my feet, it really is quite divine. We spend about half an hour lazing around the beach. I want to spend more time but Modhu is egging us to get a move on. I’d love to come back here someday. It’d be wonderful to walk along the long shores of one of the more secluded beaches at sunset or jus play beach volleyball [;)]

I’m quite disappointed that we didn’t spend more time at Kovalam. We leave Kovalam and ride on toward land’s end, Kanyakumari. It is well past 6:00pm when we cross the border into Tamil Nadu. We make our way past the mess of traffic at the border. The roads after Nagercoil almost entirely without traffic, soon we’re at Suchindram only 15 km from Kanyamkumari. There is a huge body of water on the right I can’t see it but the cold wind blowing off it is really refreshing. We reach Kanyakumari at around 7:30pm in the evening. The hunt for a hotel ensues we find one that faces the sea and check-in. We can also see the famed Vivekananda Memorial Rock and Thiruvellavar Statue from the room, both of which are lit.

Long showers and laziness see us get refreshed and ready at around 9:30pm and we head to get some dinner, only to discover that all restaurants in the vicinity are closed. Thankfully we find a Gujrathi Hotel at some distance and have some very sumptuous Gujju Food. One customer at this hotel wanted an “Unlimited Meal” defined, to which the hotel owner wittily answered “Hamara Khana, Tumara Paet”, meaning “Our food against your appetite”. Funnily enough the guy who asked this question left. We had a regular limited version and started head back to the hotel. We hadn’t stepped out of the restaurant when it started to pour, it literally was pouring, almost as if bucket of water was being emptied on us. With no choice we waited at the restaurant chatting with the owner and amongst ourselves. A good half an hour later the rain subsided just enough for us to get back to the hotel. Some dry clothes and into bed, we have to wake up early to view the sunrise.

Day three we’re at India’s southern most tip and the sea is sings me to sleep.

raghav @ 2006-09-26T20:18:00

2006-09-26T15:23:01Z

Our journey through Kerala continues, so does our skirmish with rain. We visit the famous Guruvayoor Temple, ride along the narrow roads to Kochi, the brief encounters with the locals and get more besotted by the beauty of this state.

The rains that lashed all day long yesterday have ceased. A swarm of dark clouds still dot the sky, an army at the gates, awaiting their master’s orders. That’s a shade too melodramatic, yeah? Well its jus rain and it can do little to douse my zest, unless it brings on its worst. Thats Better.

A well deserved night’s sleep if there is such a thing. The gear that we’d spread out to dry aided with the fans running on full blast has helped. We stuff the gear back into the saddle backs and get ready to rock the road. Modhu and Mindu pack their gear at lightning pace and head down to tend to their steeds. Again, I’m the last one to get ready, again I have them waiting.

The bikes saddled and adequately warmed up; we have a spot of tea [:-)], gas the bikes and hit the road. We’ve traveled less than a couple of kilometers when the clouds crack open, it starts pouring again. No bother, we put on our wets and ride on.

We’re soon out of the city and riding along open roads. Riding in the rain is an awesome experience more so in a setting as beautiful as Kerala. The Mallu Land is liberally painted in green; there is touch of green wherever the eyes spans. Everything looks fresh and virgin. With so much rain you’d expect nothing less. That said, Kerala post monsoon or as things are, in monsoon, is probably the best time to visit. A lake covered with Lotuses, they're mostly buds tho.

Discounting the previous night’s humble dinner our first taste of authentic Kerala Cuisine is a breakfast of Appams and Iddiappams accompanied with steamed green peas swimming in coconut milk flavored curry. I didn’t fancy the Iddiappams too much tho. During breakfast the same fleet of bullets goes by us. Modhu and I wonder if they’re doing the same thing as us.

Oh, we’re headed towards Guruvayoor btw. The roads along this route are winding stretch of ascents and descents. God, these roads are great to bike on. However, in parts the roads are in bad state of disrepair. It is not really a wise idea to give way to speed and stupidity and this holds for all roads in India. The rain if you must know was on and off, at one point suddenly got so heavy that we had to hastily duck into a petrol station for cover.

We reach Guruvayoor at around noon. Guruvayoor hosts the famous Krishna temple. It being a Sunday is thronged with people. We didn’t go in. The temples in Kerala are very in different architecture to say temples in Karnataka or Tamilnadu. There is no elaborate tower(gopura) with figurines dotting the walls or intricate carving. A picture can best describe it.

At lunch, the waiter offers us an elaborate menu. We spend a decent couple of minutes, while he stands still in rapt attention. When we’re finally ready to order, he politely informs us that he only has a thali to offer. Well there are all sorts of people. We can do nothing but snigger. At lunch I managed to capture this picture of Harsha in a, well, rather unusual pose. Guys who know him well are bound to have a good laugh at this. That’s warm water flavored with spices btw, quite common in Kerala, before you think otherwise.

Post lunch we head toward Kochi. Along the way we stop to purchase some Mallu snacks, Sharkaraverati and Banana Chips. The shopkeeper is very chatty and to me he might as well be singing in Malayalam, I politely nod my head not wanting to interrupt. A while later he realizes something is not quite right asks me “Malayalam?” I meekly say “Zero”, we share a hearty laugh. He switches to speaking slower adding bits of Tamil, which I don’t speak either, but I understand enough words to tell him we’re from Bangalore and headed to Kanyakumari, he is rather shocked to hear this. Most people we meet can’t seem to phantom what we’re doing. The most commonly posed question is why. I can never answer this honestly and simply say “Trip” and that satisfies them. Why I bike, sigh...

The road to Kochi is very narrow, overtaking is impossible. The train of buses before me is driving me crazy. Patience boy I tell myself, but it soon wears thin and I pull a few rather risky maneuvers to get past this torture. Modhu soon follows suit. But, this is to no avail as we soon go too far past the buses and Harsha sanely enough, is behind them. We pull over and wait for him. Not wanting to get stuck behind them buses again we have some tea and then continue toward Kochi. The rains are now a thing of the past, the sun is out full blast and the air is sticky and very humid.

Kochi, first impressions, big cit, too many people, high rises, honking aggressive vehicles, and the air is smoky. Development, progress has its rewards. We’ve reached early our destination by our standards, its 6:00pm. We check-in to a hotel on M.G.Road, shower and head out towards Marine Drive, a kilometer away as the reception informs us.

We snack at a bakery and walk toward it. Marine Drive turns out to be a good three kilometers away. Many malls, huge shopping spaces and lounge bars!!! dot the city space. Harsha is constantly complaining of the distance. We spot a kitten stuck on a sign board.

I need to buy a cap so we’re forced to walk back. Harsha groans. On the way back we spot a theatre playing “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, a recently released Hindi movie. Confirming to the way we do things we decide to watch the movie. Alas, they only have “Gandhi-Class” [:-)](first few rows) seats available. Sigh. Long walk back to the hotel.

Dinner follows, its nothing special. Modhu is wishing he had a chilled beer to go with the meal. I’m jus longing to hit the sack.

Day Two, the wet adventure continues...

raghav @ 2006-09-25T12:46:00

2006-09-25T07:30:50Z

This is one trip that has been in the works for a long time now. A journey across three states along the coast to the southern most tip of India, to the point where all roads end. And then head back inward through some of the most beautiful roads in the country. Some dubbed it a precursor to our ultimate biking destination, the road to redemption, Ladakh-Leh (hopefully next year). Not to mention memories to last a lifetime. With so much on offer, persuasion is far from being necessary.

But as the countdown neared the zilch, of the multitude of people who were gung-ho about the trip, what finally remains is us. Me, on my P180, Modhu on a Bullet ElectraS5 and Harsha(Mindu) the organizer on his Unicorn.

This is the first of 'em very long posts.

A tardy me wakes up at 6:15 when we’re supposed to at the rendezvous at 6:30. I’m still groggy, I was up till 2:30. Confirming to tradition I had saved all my packing, purchases and borrowing [:)] till the very last day. I scurry to get ready; it is soon past 6:30, no calls from the other two. I call them but no answer from either. No bother, they wouldn’t dump me or so I think.

Modhu soon calls to say he’s at Chandhu’s place 5 mins away. I’m still far from done and pretty soon he calls to say that they are already there. I scamper to saddle my bike (put the saddle bags across the rear seats of my bike), I check the gear and decide to include a length of rope for good measure, a thoughtful last minute addition. Well at least as far as I’m concerned. I keep them waiting a full 15 minutes.

Offering my apologies as a greeting I meet up with the guys, my fellow bikers Modhu and Harsha. Some small talk follows, we get on to our dandy looking steeds and begin the long journey that awaits us.

The road trip is now officially a go.

We make a beeline for Mysore Road through the sparse morning traffic and are soon out of the city. We leave behind the work, the chaos of the big city and the grind. The next nine days will be jus me and the open roads.

Mysore Road works are almost entirely complete and is quite pleasant to ride on. I’m glad Modhu who is leading the pack of three, astride the goddess his Enfield Electra, is not pushing unlike the Pondi Trip. I follow in my temptress, an all black, a beauty from hell P180 and Mindu follows me on his crisp sounding Unicorn (Mindu, sorry that’s all I could come up with, the engine’s great mate). We cruise along at a steady 60-70kmph.

It’s a Saturday a lot of people seem to be getting away from Bangalore for the weekend. A fleet of bullets go past us. Cordial waves are exchanged. A few more bikes go by. One of the T’Birds had a pair of horns attached to the headlamp. It looked sinisterly cool.

Our first pit stop, a common feature for the remainder of our trip is a stop of tea about 80 km from Mysore. The waiter asks us if we want “Plain Tea” or “Pyaper Tea”, that’s paper tea in a rural Kannada drawl. We simply say “Pyaper Tea” looking at each other. What is turned out to be is your best too. Its obvious, really.

A good three hours and a couple of pit stops later we’re in Mysore. I’m no stranger to Mysore I spent a wonderful 18 months working from Mysore. I love the city. I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic as I ride past the familiar sights from my recent past.

For breakfast we head to hugely popular Mylari for some delish Benne Dosa and Akki Roti. Sajiv or Jeeves my roomie during the entire course of my stay in Mysore meets us there. Its really good to see him after a long time. The others and Jeeves are batch mates at SJCE, Mysore, so breakfast is spent, recounting the old times and catching up from where we let off. Jeeves helps me locate a Corp ATM, we bid Jeeves Goodbye. Modhu and I get our emission certificates done, its best not to take any chances with the law. The law is not that long handed but get caught you’ll discover how sticky they really are. Long concept short, bad idea to not have your documents in order .

Gundalpet is next on our road. The smell of the cool water on the beaten earth, is distinct, I’ve always loved it. There is hint of rain as we ride further. And soon we ride into a drizzle, it is our first tryst with wet weather. The drizzle is welcome I feel the cool moisture laden wind hit my face. We are riding in open roads, with green fields on the side, the distant mountains, a lake, an open road, an eager mind. The best way to experience this is on definitely on a bike, no other will even come close. The drizzles ceases after a few kilometers, we ride into Gundalpet.

The road from Gundalpet to Sultan Bathery runs through the Bandipur Forest. I’ve heard much this route, an excellent road that runs through the lush green forest. The drizzle is back on. We continue to ride. The drizzle soon blows into rain and getting harder. I can’t ride with my visor down, it fogs up, rain hits my face hard. Its getting harder with every passing kilometer. There is no shelter along this route, tree cover is sparse, getting into the forest is not an option. We ride on till we reach the check post at the Karnataka-Kerala border. The guard there literally shoos us away from taking shelter there. Rules supposedly, yeah right. Left with no choice we ride past the check post into Kerala. Every garment I wear is now soaking wet, I’m freezing to the bone.

Respite comes in the form a road side tea shop. We pull over and run for cover. A hot cup of tea resurrects some life into my freezing skeleton. I’m so cold it doesn’t stay hot for long. I wring my shirt and sox. My all leather woodlands are now just an uncomfortable sheath of wet leather. The rain shows no signs of lifting off. An hour passes, its still drizzling we decide to brave it. Back on the road we ride into Kerala towards Sultan Bathery.

We’re well and truly into Kerala now, the green fields against the tall dark trees for a backdrop looks great in the rain. Kerala is fresh from the shower, boy does she look good.

We reach Sultan Bathery at around 3:00pm we’re hungry, wet and a weary. We head to the first decent restaurant for lunch, I’m glad for the hot water served as default. Outside the rain intensifies someone up there cut open them clouds, or so it seems. I’m glad to have a roof over my head. Lunch done with, the road calls again. Its still drizzling and heavy clouds still threateningly look down upon us. I argue that it is pointless to ride on without try to get ourselves some proper rain gear, the others unwilling agree, but lgad they did agree. We decide to try our luck at the next town. A biking decree of “Shoes only” is broken. I’m glad to be out of my wet shoes, my sandals and a dry shirt on we hit the road again.

Next town, Kalpetta, Harsha stands guarding the bikes and the gear while Modhu and I individually go from garment shop to garment shop looking for raincoats. I find one that stocks it, the shopkeeper takes me to his warehouse where he holds them. I check it out and return to fetch Modhu. With the help of two very kind salesmen who spoke nothing but Malayalam (Joby and Aneesh I think are their names were, an insignificant detail, but they were so helpful they atleast deserve a mention). We found what fits and served our purpose. Now enrobed in proper rain gear we ride on.

Soon we ride past the mist covered mountains of Wayanad, a lake covered with white lotuses. Take a leisurely trip along this route, and you’ll find many places of interest you might want to visit, Pookot Lake, Eddakal Caves, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and more. But time and weather aren’t fighting our side of this challenge.

Guruvayoor our original planned milestone for day one is an impossible task, this we accept and settle for Kozhikode. We reach Kozhikode at around 8:00pm and hunt for a hotel, surprisingly most are full. Finally, we find one, but what luck, it does not offer hot water in the only room available. We take it anyway, I’m only glad to be out of my wet clothes. We lay out gear to dry, shower and go out to grab some dinner.

A simple dinner of boiled(fat) rice, curry, lots of papad later we headed back to the hotel. I contemplate on calling swarup who’s at IIMK but its an ungodly hour to be calling. Back at the hotel, I spread out my gear to aid the drying process, turn the fan on full blast and hit the bed.

An incident filled very wet Day One ends.

South Indian Sojourn

2006-09-20T15:58:02Z

2060 Kilometres of Open Road.
09 Days of living out of your head.
A journey to where all roads end.

...Nirvana...

A series of long posts to follow :) [Hopefully]

raghav @ 2006-07-26T19:45:00

2006-07-26T14:17:08Z

She is a year old... Happy First Birthday Woman, Love You More.

raghav @ 2006-07-12T14:28:00

2006-07-12T09:00:15Z

Finally, a fone that might survive me. :)

raghav @ 2006-07-12T13:16:00

2006-07-12T07:51:40Z

Good lord, does insanity know no bounds?

raghav @ 2006-05-03T18:53:00

2006-05-03T13:34:49Z

Its 2:30 in the afternoon day one, it is still 190 kms to Pondicerry, I see blurred image of Modhu astride his “Goddess” in the distance, it is all that keeps me going. The seething heat rising from the tarmac is distorting my vision and my senses. The heat is so severe, that the metallic frame of the shades and the hot acrid air off the road actually hurts as it brushes/blows against my face. Is that part of the world a hellhole or what? Things however started out much better that I make it sound to be.

6:00 in the morning, day one, I’ve been looking forward to this trip since ages, and it finally happened. I’m so excited I can’t seem to stand still for a minute. I’m up at around 5:30 thanks to mom, I gear up my bike and head to out rendezvous point at Silk Board Junction, Hosur Road. Modhu and his bike are already there. This is the first time I’m meeting Modhu’s bike and boy is she a beauty. Decked in an almost black shade of green, complete with a generous helping of gleaming chrome and a splash of silver on the tank, she looks an image of a “Goddess”. I can't help feeling awed by her. So do passersby who’re wondering what we two up to, with our gorgeous bikes, complete with saddlebags ‘et al.

Naveen and Ganesh Rao or Ganrao for short soon join us. Ganrao is astride his black P150. My all black P180 draws a few appreciative remarks; this line of conversation leads to us, christening our bikes for the trip, the “Goddess” Modhu’s Royal Enfield Bullet, “Temptress” my pure evil all black Pulsar 180, for the record mine’s already called “Virgil”. And Ganrao’s Black Pulsar 150, “Adulteress” (please don’t ask me why). We wait for the guys in the car to join us, for reasons ranging from valid to down right silly the others are now in a car. The traffic on Hosur road is steadily increasing, it is now 7:15, we’re wondering where these old blokes are. The guys finally arrive; we greet each other and finally head off at around 7:30. Harsha joins Modhu as pillion. Harsha for the record couldn’t join us on his bike as his insurance couldn’t be sorted out in time.

So it’s eight guys Modhu, Harsha, Ganesh Rao, Naveen, Kishore, Chandresha, Prasad and myself. Modhu, Harsha, Ganesh Rao and myself on three bikes and the others are in a car. We navigate our way through the sea of traffic and make it past Hosur to be greeted by the gorgeous NH7, boy what a sight this road is. Ganrao and Modhu open up the throttle and head off into the distance, I think it’s too early to pushing my beauty and do a steady 70-80 kmph. I soon lose sight of the Goddess and Adulteress and am riding by myself on this lovely stretch of road.

The faster I go, the more life around me becomes a blur. Images shoot past me, of the memories of a distant past, the happenings of a recent past, of dark clouds, the tormenting rain and of course the present and the now. For most part of the trip I’m riding alone, and for its most part I’m drawn into this kaleidoscopic alternate thought plane that is disturbing, involving and exhilarating. All the same time. It’s an experience that is unlike anything before. I love this high.

My subconscious is disturbed by the vibrating alert of my cell phone. Harsha is calling. I was so drawn into my parallel universe I’ve shot past Modhu, Harsha and Ganrao, who’ve stopped for breakfast and headed far beyond them. I mumble a few expletives for my own doing and turn around and ride back. I see Harsha on my side of the road waving me down, I acknowledge him and make my way to the restaurant. The guys in the car haven’t arrived. Not being the last one to arrive brings me a strange sense of relief. 8:45, this is the first of our many pit stops to follow.

After the last incident we decide to keep each other in sight and head off towards Krishangiri, Kempi (Prasad) has joined me as pillion. We’re both appreciative of the NH7, who wouldn’t. The traffic is sparse and we’re doing decent pace. We shoot past each other a couple of time; I’m bringing up the back of the pack most of the time. Kempi takes a few shots of us on the road. The sun grows stronger, I stop to dab on more sunscreen (which didn’t really help, if it did, I shudder to imagine what it would’ve been like without it). We experienced the wrath of the Indian summer, the whole nine yards of it.

We were waved past at the tollgate at Krishnagiri, which is huge and orderly, guess these lover bikers, no toll for us. Just beyond the tollgate, we found Modhu had stopped his bike; the Goddess had developed a weird clunking noise in the engine. The engine note didn’t sound too comforting but we’ve heard it on many an Enfield so we carried on. The roads beyond the Krishnagiri tollgate forks, we took the bypass to Thiruvannamalai. This road goes through many small villages and townships. The tarmac is very patchy with cavernous potholes appearing out of nowhere. I had some sense knocked into my head when I was taking a sharp right turn at around 80kmph at a point where the whole road seemed to be sucked into a giant crater. Kempi’s heart must have skipped a beat or two. Mine skipped many. Deciding not to brake I increased the throttle and flew over a few of ‘em, but I caught one huge one that knocked into my silencer. Following that I decided there is no point in risking it just to keep pace with the Goddess who was flying despite her clunking engine.

Riding on, I caught up with Ganrao who had stopped at a shady spot to take a few shots of the green fields. We rested there, I did a cursory check on my bike, and she seemed to have come off okay from that potentially disastrous incident. Ganrao and I decided to take it easy from then on and cruised along at 60-70 kmph. This stretch of road has a lot of tree cover and is quite pleasant to ride on, discounting ofcourse it patchy nature. Going further we found Modhu who had stopped at a roadside to savor some “Thatininngu”. I have no clue what it’s called in English. These are soft fleshy coconut like with a sweetish liquid inside their soft bodies; they are the size of a kiwi fruit, three of them in a hard purple shell. Damn, I should have taken a picture of it. It was refreshing to say the least. The sun by now was hitting down on us hard.

We moved on to surprisingly catch up with the car gang, the car had suffered a puncture and its tire was being changed. We were glad for this pitstop after that sweltering heat, got some “high-energy” fluids from the car gang, dabbed on more debatable sunscreen lotion and headed on toward Thiruvannamalai. I was running low on fuel and refueled on this stretch. We reached Thiruvannamalai at around 1:30. Thiruvannamalai greets you with this mammoth temple, the whole town seems to be built around it . This is a rather popular temple of some deity, sorry I've no clue. We had no intention of visiting it and it seemed to be closed too, so, well that settles it.

Lunch done with we were off again towards “Thindivanam”. This stretch of road at this time of the day is a road in hell. There is absolutely no tree cover and the sun was being very cruel on us, it was feeling very baked and sweaty. The heat rising from the road and the hot air blowing against my face is distorting all my senses. This feeling is sickening esp., after a meal and the drowsy effect it so sucks.

Modhu got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Me and Ganarao thankfully “escaped” this unsavory character. Modhu soon shot past us and pulled over at a shady spot. We rested our machines and cooled our over baked bodies. Modhu napped on a haystack in an adjoining field, while I tried to quench my thirst with some hot water. This is feeling very awful.

Elections were on in the state so we had to take a few to detours to reach Pondicherry, one of these detours us led to NH22 another huge lovely stretch of road. I maxed out at 127 kmph on this road… I can’t help thinking the best way to slow life down is to go fast.

Ponidcherry is still 80km away, and the sinking sun is now behind us. And the weather is pleasant again; there is a golden hue to evening which has a balmy effect on the sun burnt world it shines on.

5:15 in the evening, Day One - Pondicherry. We spent a good amount of time in locating the hotel. The first thing that struck me about Pondicherry aside from humidity is the lack for order on the streets. There seems to be virtually no traffic rules in Pondicherry, its really chaotic, there is more chance of ramming into someone in Pondicherry than getting there.

We navigated our way through the chaotic traffic and the meandering weekend masses that have engulfed the entire road. The hotel, Ram Guest on MG Road, is a welcome sight, it has nice rustic feel to it. You are greeted by the warm wooden pillar of the porch and the cool red ochre interiors. The blokes in the car had already reached the hotel. The AC in the room is on full blast. We showered, felt good and headed out to explore the town.

Pondicherry – the birth and – the death place for the French aspirations of an Indian Colony. The French influence is obvious in the architecture and the names for most roads. The amalgam of the two cultures vying for a comfortable harmony is evident. Promenade Road is a 1.5 km long the beach front road. There is no virtually shore on this stretch, but the sight of the ocean crashing into the rocks and the salty breeze is refreshing. We walked along this stretch of road had some ice cream. The Gandhi stature surrounded by six exquisitely carved pillars is a sight, marred by all the kids and local folk clambering up on it. There is also the French Governor Dupleix, a war memorial erected by the French and you can also spot the lighthouse from here. Dinner was at quaint French Restaurant called the Le Club. This brought to end day one, now for some well deserved rest.

9:00 morning day two. Bonjour, rise and shine. Modhu and Ganrao we already up and went to consult an Enfield mechanic about Modhu’s clunky engine. It turns out the piston rings on the Goddess were broken. The mechanic assured Modhu’s that this wasn’t a cause for concern and he could get back to Bangalore, just top her up with some more engine oil. Modhu’s being a new bike was still under warranty.

We headed out to get some breakfast, it turns out there is just one decent restaurant on the entire stretch of MG Road, Pondicherry. And that too turned out to be a ramshackle place. We then went to Dominius Dei, a church. The Manakula Vinayaka temple which was awfully crowded and we didn’t go inside; Aurobindo Ashram and followed it up with Auroville which is about 10 km from Pondicherry. We only reached Auroville by 1:00 pm and the MatriMandir noted for its unique meditation hall was closed to public by 12:30 pm so it was all for nothing. But it was really peaceful at Auroville , we walked around and rested there. We brought a few things from the souvenir shop and headed back.

As we headed back from Pondicherry we stopped at another Auroville souvenir shop while we were there I lost my bike key and scourged for it only find it tucked away safely in my wallet. Duh!!! That was that, we then headed out for some lunch at a beach side restaurant. I had developed a bad headache for all the riding in the sun with no protection for my head. I napped here while we waited for food to arrive. Lunch was downed with a couple of beers and fresh lime soda for me. I still can't to get accustomed to the taste of beer, everyone around me seems to love it, ugh... that stuff so sucks. Lunch took us till about 4:30 pm. We then headed to the beach behind the restaurant and crashed into the waves. The beach wasn’t very crowded and the water was great esp., after a day like this one. We had fun at the beach. Enjoyed the sunset which always is a really nice soothing sight.

We got back to the hotel after taking a couple of wrong turns and getting separated in the hopeless and order less Pondi Traffic at around 7:30. Showered to get all the sand off and headed out for dinner. Most guys wanted to get back the next day. I was off till Wednesday but the majority was in favor of getting back and Modhu’s Goddess had a clunky engine so in this light we decided to head home the next day. Dinner was at Le Terreca. The walk in the nice evening breeze and a couple of aspirins helped rid me of the terrible headache.

5:30 morning day three, Modhu arrives all ready and set to while we’re still in bed. We scamper and get our stuff together and get ready as fast we could. And we are finally set to go at 6:30 am. The aim here is to beat the sun and make it to Thiruvannamalai as fast as possible. Enroute we stopped at Gingee, which has collection of forts built amdist three hills and other monuments of historic significance. These forts have been built and expanded over a period of three decades. As with most historic monuments in our country this too is suffering from neglect. There is no guide or tourist information of any kind, except for signboard. The fort itself lies neglected, some occupied by drifters and “sages”. Tis a pity that the government has turned a blind eye to a monument of such splendor and significance. This place has every potential of being a great tourist spot. Anyways, we spent some time at Gingee Fort and marveled at the effort that has gone into its making. The sun was growing stronger, as we left Gingee, I wished we had more time to explore the forts more thoroughly, I hope to return to do that someday.

We rode on towards Thiruvannamalai and made it in good time; we had breakfast there and rode on. At the first rest stop for this stretch Modhu generously offered me his bike, now who in their sane senses would say no to a “Goddess”. The Royal Enfield is considered to epitomize stability, reliability and comfort. This trip is only testimonial to that fact the Goddess got us to Pondi and back despite a broken set of piston rings, at a pretty nippy pace too. She is rock solid on the road and around the corners, sounds fabulous and draws a lot of look at that beatuy looks. This silhouette of the goddess is evidence to that fact.

Enroute to Krishnagiri this brilliant blast of colour greeted me...

Krishnagiri Toll Gate, another pit stop, where we swapped back to our own bikes. No offence to my bike but the “Goddess” is one amazing bike. Enfield - ride one and you’ll want one. We contemplated as to whether we should ride on to Bangalore or stop for lunch and decided for the latter. Being back on NH7 again, was exhilarating, and that we were homeward bound made it even better. A one point on NH7, I was doing about a 110 and engine just died on me, thankfully Modhu was just ahead of me and me pulled over too. I checked fuel, oil etc., everything seemed in order but she still wouldn’t start. 80 km from Bangalore and this, I shook the bike around a bit, hoping to free any deposits in the tank. And tried firing her again and there you go, she came alive first kick. I’m still not sure what the issue, but she sure didn’t let me down. I really love my bike(s) and now Virgil has all my trust too. We had lunch at a Reliance Petrol Station and it was surprisingly pretty decent. We could do with more of these kind. This was to be our last pitstop for the trip.

Back on to NH7 and towards Bangalore, I maxed a couple of times but never too long to hurt my bike. And before you knew it Hosur was jus 10 km away, and soon it was more traffic and Bangalore. Bangalore wasn’t any cooler that the stretch we were on, but boy was I glad to be back.

So here we were 720 km in three days, a hot and humid Pondicherry, a bad tan that’ll take me months to get off. You would be inclined to ask so was it worth it, what did you gain from it all. I’d say you bet it was, the reward of this trip lies not in the destination, which was only an excuse, it lies in the doing of it. The reward for me is just in getting to Pondicherry and back, a ride along these long roads, time off from time itself. Would I do it again, you I would but I really cannot afford another tan so this summer. And cheerio you guys thanks for a great time esp., to the fellow bikers.

More pics on my flickr page

A city in shame...

2006-04-14T10:10:55Z

The events of last couple of days have cast a veil of shock and shame over the city. As the "Peace" loving people of Bangalore, expressed their grief and bereavement for their loved and worshipped actor by destroying and torching public and private property. And by taking to the streets and bringing the city to the grinding halt. Peace, law and order too died a painful death. This in a city that prides itself for its accommodating and cosmopolitan people.

All channels were forced to go off the air except the news and local Kannada channels which aired the sickening drama. What really should have been a ceremony befitting the man who was turned into a violent public spectacle. Even more baffling was the reaction of these mourning masses and the great fans of the actor who joyfully waved and danced before the cameras. In expressing their so called, angst and pained emotions the "fans" pelted stones at the police and innocent bystanders, torched vehicles and wrecked private and public property.

It only gets worse; it was really sickening that the people actually applauded as the actor was laid to rest in his grave. What were these people really upto, where did these people come from, it is scary to think they live and walk the very same city everyday. Was this just an avenue for them to vent out their frustrating existence. The extent of this act of hooliganism and its fear was so widespread, that it literally crippled the city, even very the essentials, medical stores, petrol bunks and public transport were forced shut, but the mobs, who were even foolish enough to try torch a few petrol bunks. This couldn't just have been an emotional outburst, I mean you don't pelt your neighbour's house with stones coz someone very dear to you passed away. Its jus civic and common sense lacking people going paranoid.

This really is a fall from grace; Bangalore did not deserve this. What a bloody shame.

The horizon, its end and its beyond...

2006-02-25T14:07:39Z

A recurring dream of a distant land,
Of a world dressed in bright white,
The snow capped mountains,
The clear gushing river,
A road cut into the rocky cliff,
The whiff of breeze that hints of spring,
Of Absolution and Eternal Bliss,
The dream of boundless freedom,
Free spirit, Free thought, a free me,
A dream of a road, a nice ride, and
No direction, no destination
Hell, this is reality, it is jus a dream

BA - The second time round

2006-02-07T07:56:15Z

Bryan Adams - Third time lucky, the second for me.

The day of the show , finally... six hours to go, a glitch surfaced and I had managed to land myself with an extra ticket. I got dumped by a friend who promised to go with me :(. And even more surprisingly no takers for my extra ticket, what is wrong with you ppl, here I am offering a 1200 quids ticket for nothing and people still don't want to go.

Hell, I had to console myself and got myself to my friends place where confusion regined over number of tickets against number of people. What luck!!! they were two short, I'm elated :) that my extra ticket could be bid adieu. But wait we still needed another ticket. Time to set the phone bill running and finally sorted out the ticket, which we would collect from Deepu at the venue. And we set off and got there with enough time to spare. The queue was suprisingly small and we joined its tail, making fast progress towards the head, still no ticket. Having reached the head with still a ticket short, we were forced to make our way back to the tail. The queue although much longer still progressed fast. The crowd managment was brilliant in comparision to the IIMB fiasco. We were nearing the head again, but still no ticket, where was Deepu with his switched off cell fone, as we were contemplating on whether to join the tail again, gwala our dear friend appeared with the ticket, whew. We made it inside with enuff time for a drink, and set ourselves in a comfortable spot. There was short opening act by a band whose name I can't recall, who were good.

BA soon came on stage and kicked off the show with the track "Room Service", and then set the pace for evening with "Let make it a night to remember". The first thing that strikes you about BA is the level of energy he exudes. The guys is a live wire, running across the stage, getting off it and into the crowd, all this while still singing. He dished his popular tracks, Cloud No.9, Best of Me, Run to you and the likes. Arguably his most popular track "Summer of 69" was quite special. He started off playing the chords, and before could start singing the crowd beat him to it, it was almost like a karaoke version to which BA sportingly strumming away and cutting in once in a while. Keith Scott who is a master of his craft awed the crowd with some brilliant guitar play. The show itself lasted over a couple of hours and over 15 tracks. One of tracks had a sea of screen-lit cell phones form a great wave.

Being the person who weighs the least in the bunch, I had the joy of being tossed and boosted up. Its a great rush of adrenaline, I couldn't help but recall us trying to toss Kallu at one of college fest and me being tossed. Yeah I know what were we thinking, but the show brought back a lot of memories from college, pleasant ones, and a few ghosts too. This was the second time I went to a BA concert, first thanks to GG, but I still enjoyed it throughly. A great evening among friends.

Jal @ Unmaad 2006

2006-02-07T07:52:35Z

Jal live in concert at IIMB's fest Unmaad.

IIMB fest "Unmaad" played host to what was probably one of the most poorly managed college shows I've been to, more so becasuse this was IIMB. IIMB, India preimer management insitiute, managed the show and crowd quite pathetically. The guys who were running the show probably never went to big rock concert. First there were people, tons and tons of people at the gate and weren't let it in until the point where there just too many people. I mean the guys were actually checking for authenticity of the tickets when there is a massive stampede in the reckoning. The confusion and chaos overcome, I finally made it to the grounds. Where after a wait of more than an hour of inactivity, a man, probably a prof comes on to say, "If you behave like this the show is going to be delayed". Huh!!! Whatever. Finally after nearly two hours of idle waiting, two really confused emcees made to the stage, to introduce "Jal" as one the country's most, read India's successful bands. As if that wasn't enough they kept repeating themselves. Dunno what went on behind the scenes there, but hello, this was IIMB. Hopefully they'll fix this next year.

Now for Jal, in one word their show was,"smashing". They kicked-off the proceedings with their launchpad track, Lamhe. The first thing that grabs your attention is the vocals, as clear and as real as it on the track, most artists sound very different performing live. But this guys something else, he was simply brilliant. There was something wrong with their setup and they didn't sound quite right together, for the first couple of songs. They quickly realised it and an impromtu sound check fixed that. The rest of show was a performance that left one asking for more. An awesome treat, that had the crowd swaying. The thing I like most about Jal is their lyrics, its spans from haunting to soulful to mindblowing, coupled with their clear vocals.

True to any live performance they presented their tracks differently, but how differently . Played two versions of "Ik din Ayega". Played aucoustic versions of a few tracks and a very peepy version of another popular track, not one of their own. In all, the band simply rocked. Like their self titled track, "Har gagah hai Jal", could very well be true.

Oh, there was Sivamani too, but I left, before he made an impact of any sort.

Lookin forward to a Rockin Weekend...

2006-01-31T15:21:01Z

Two very promising rock shows stacked up for this weekend. Jal at the IIMB fest this Saturday and Bryan Adams on Sunday, GG you will be missed. The plan is set, the tickets bought, now to pray nothing crops up between now and then.

Black Mood...

2006-01-27T15:30:09Z

Life is such a bastard, you live in the twilight and look forward to the dawn. But all you get is dusk and darkness its beyond.

At the end of it all...

2006-01-18T12:58:22Z

I wonder, why do I even try.