The Journey…

Walking along a alleyway,

Making her own pathway,

Crammed with stones and fire,

Covered entirely by barbed wire,

Preventing passage to either side,

People staring from inside,

Indifferent to anyone outside,

Thwarting her entrée, to the elite.

She sensed people on the right to be scornful,

And those on the left to be merciful,

Choosing the left option was not exciting,

While, the right option was never ending.

Seeking Sponsorship…

As you guys might be aware, I am planning to take part in the Athens Marathon happening on Oct 31st 2010. I am looking out for any kind of sponsorship deal that would assist me in travelling to Greece and take part in the historic event.

Please let me know if you or anyone whom you might know be interested in sponsoring my participation in this event.

Your contact can be anyone from the print media or online papers/magazines/websites. Preferably from marketing otherwise anyone in that area is fine. I am ready to meet/talk to him/her. Also contacts in sports apparels / energy drink manufactures / Pepsi / Coke / Telecom companies like Vodafone / NGOs will also be very helpful.

Do let me know if you know someone.

You can reach me at:

Email: dilipadiga82@gmail.com

ph: +91-9845254694

Thanks for your time!

A Venture - ‘Backpacking To Europe’

Hello!

I have started a website catering to people who want to go backpacking to Europe! I hope to provide them with services that will enable them to go backpacking anywhere in Europe seamlessly and effortlessly with as minimal budget as possible!

Here is the actual Website: http://backpackingtoeurope.com/

I am really hoping you will not only tell your friends about this but also someday use my services!
Thanks!

A ‘Classic’ Ride!

This weekend I rode the ‘Royal Enfield - Classic’ for about 700Km and every minute of it reminded me as to why people go all the way to Himalayas to ride in their ‘bullets’. The ride to Coorg and back was one of the best biking trips I ever had.

Two of my colleagues (Vamsi & Mani) and me decided to go on a biking trip to Coorg. Thanks to my friend Srini, I was able to take his ‘almost brand new’ Classic on this trip. It was totally an unplanned trip - the only thing we had decided was the time of departure…Generally the best trips are those which have no specific destination or an appointment to keep. You are free to go where you like and do what you like.

We left Bangalore at 5 in the morning and reached Virajpet at around 11. The road was excellent. But the best part of the journey was riding from Virajpet to Madekeri. The route was very scenic. Further, the sights, the scenery, the fresh wind and the smell of nature are unparalleled when one is riding a bike. No words will be able to explain the feeling. One just has to ride in that route to get that experience. All through the journey the rain was playing hide and seek – the drizzle adding to the aura of the entire experience.

It’s very different when one is travelling by a bike. The places you visit, the route you take and the kind of stops you make is very different. For example very near to Virajpet we made an unscheduled stop as it started to rain heavily. Next to where we stood was a ‘hotel’ if you can call it one. We just decided to step into it and have our lunch. It was one of those places that looks very unhygienic and where you wouldn’t have stopped if you were in your car. But we did and we had awesome rotis and curries all for 66 bucks!!

The rain never seemed to give way, so we carried on and were totally drenched by the time we reached Coorg. The initial euphoria of riding in the rain gave way to cursing myself for having chosen this route for the biking trip..;) Trembling in the cold and having a fully wet attire right from wet shoes, made me think of all the hot soups, masala chats, spicy food that I could have had right at that point of time instead of riding in that rain.

But reaching Coorg was worth it and we had a gala time going around the place, first for finding the right accommodation (we had only two requirements – hot water facility and ESPN on TV for the football match later in the night) and then for shopping for all the chips and food that we could buy for our evening snacks.

After an awesome evening of fun, the next day we left for one of our colleague’s estate at Coorg. After some wonderful snacks and a cup of coffee we headed back to Bangalore via Kushalnagar.

Overall a wonderful trip – the highlight being the ride through the lush green scenic surroundings, stopping at multiple places having ‘chai’, getting drenched in rain and of course the joy you feel when people come to you and comment about how good your bike is (even though its not your bike..:)), how they always wanted to buy one and how they wished they were also doing such a trip – A phenomenon that happened at multiple places involving multiple people.

The rest of the snaps can be found here...

A Safari drive!

Driving a Tata Safari is like riding a mammoth and when this mammoth moves - people give way. A few hours drive on a safari was sufficient for me to realize that you need an SUV to drive like a King (ok, if not a king maybe like a Don!). Also those few hours were sufficient for my friends to comment on my driving skills, which is what this post initially was all about…But then as the post dragged on the main theme changed…Now the post really doesn’t have a theme…:)

Last weekend I was on a trip to Chikmagalur (a 5 hour drive from Bangalore. Further that’s not ChikmaNgalur! My friend gets pissed off if you make that mistake…). We had booked a homestay that was worthy to be called “home”. A total retro looking home renovated in such taste that it made us exclaim ‘wow’ in unison as soon as we landed there. I have been to many homestays and this one takes the cake for its location, style, hospitality and of course the hosts.

It could be seen that a lot of effort, time and money went in renovating a ‘few generations old’ home to look like the way it looked. Also the hosts were magnificent when it came to greeting us and talking to us. Topping all this was the fact that the weather was perfect. The only negative point, if you can call it one, is the lack of activities around the place. But since we mainly went there to chit-chat and relax, it was a perfect locale. In all, a beautiful place to sit outside in the garden, listen to music, read your favorite book and sip that strong cup of coffee.

The main part of the trip of course was to attend one of my friends wedding at Kukke and hence by 12 the next day we had to leave. Though I am sure my friend and his would-be wife would have loved to come to this place rather than get married in that humid Kukke..:).

With 3 days well spent and having driven a good part of the distance on my friends Safari while returning, I have realized it’s so simple to comment on someone else driving skills. I have been guilty of that before and I am sure I will continue to be guilty of that in future. But there are other factors like first time driving a diesel car, driving a mammoth, and adjusting to the condition of the car itself which needs to be considered before giving a verdict on anyone. But if you yourself are a driver you will never spare a second before commenting on someone’s driving skills.

Like many things that people comment about you, any ‘not-so-good’ feedback is always treated with a tinge of “Who cares” or “As if you know better”. But when the initial rebel attitude wears out the calm open mind actually can assimilate the various comments and analyze to reach a proper conclusion - and that’s where I am right now.