A wild Leopard sends shivers through my spines!

Visitors who flock to India’s tiger reserves have only one question on their minds: "Will we spot a Tiger?" The meager number of Tigers, leopards and panthers left in India makes sure that most leave disappointed. Never mind the herds of elephants, deer and other ungulates that crowd the verdant forest floor, only if one of the big cats was sighted is the trip deemed a success because they have so become few and far between.

Having been on 3 such trips to wildlife reserves before, my expectations was rock bottom. I hardly cared. I had convinced myself that there was nothing special about watching one of the big cats in the wild. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

We (friends from office – Mani, Srini, Ramdu and Ranga) landed at Pollachi (TamilNadu) on Thursday midnight. This was one trip in which we had no reservations anywhere and to be honest we didn’t even have a plan! The only thing we wanted to do was get into the Tiger reserve and spend some time either at Topslip (Tamilnadu) or at Parambikulam (Kerala). Thankfully we got a decent room and we hit the bed straightaway. By Friday afternoon after a lot of negotiations and influence we got permission to stay at Parambikulam. They didn’t allow our Scorpio inside and hence had to use their transport. The idea was to spend a day there and then decide on our next plan.

After a heavy lunch we relaxed in the forest cottage for sometime and then left on a safari to the forests. We went to the Parambikulam dam and had a bamboo boat ride where we spotted wild elephants. After this we witnessed a tribal dance (I don’t wasn’t to talk about this!). By the time we headed back to our cottages it was almost 7.30PM. The forest was pitch dark, but it seemed like it was the most active then. For the first half of our journey nothing major happened. We flashed our torchlight in all directions, but to no avail. The maximum one would see were bright shiny eyes with none of us having any clues as to what that animal was.

But just few minutes before we reached our camp, everything seemed to happen at once. Suddenly we saw a flurry of activity. We spotted a wide range of animals from bison, wild boars to herds of deer. Even some sambars crossed our track. But none of these incidents came anything close to what we were about to witness next.

Just couples of seconds after all these animals were seen, someone exclaimed that there was a leopard in the bushes. It took me few seconds to get the direction right and then I saw it! It was one of those amazing moments in your life that will be etched in your memory forever. Even now when I think of it, shivers run through my spine. The leopard was hardly 10 feet away and it was standing majestically and was staring right back at us. There is something about a wild cat, with its tail held high, that can never come when we see them in cages or in tamed conditions. This one had an aura around it as if it was the master and we were its subjects. The vibes are just too much to bear even for someone who was sitting inside the comfort of a vehicle. The driver used a flashlight to focus on the animal and we were able to watch it for a few seconds. I tried capturing the moment with my camera but everything came black.

In the thick forests of southern India, leopard sightings are rare. They are extremely shy animals who run away from everything other than their prey. So spotting a leopard, especially the ones lasting more than a few moments are rarer still. After sometime we could only see two shining eyes and that was the end of the most glorious moments of our trip.

Only when we reached our cottages (less than a minute away from the leopard!) did I realize how tantalizingly close the leopard was. In a matter of seconds it could have easily come over to where I was. The thought made me feel extremely happy to have witnessed such an animal in its true environment but also made me sad that the future generations may not even have this small opportunity.

After a thankful night in the cottage we went trekking the next day morning to the forests. After the previous nights experience we had some expectations. But a three hour trek didn’t yield anything and we headed back to our cottage.

We were back to Pollachi by afternoon and with nothing much to do we headed to Ooty. Reached there by evening and the weather was splendid. It was so cold that we had to use rajai/blankets in the night! That’s summer at Ooty for you!! The next day I and Srini got up at 5.30 and went for a hike for about 2 hours. It was a satisfying walk considering the amount of food we had the previous night..:)

We left Ooty around 9.30 and were back in Bangalore by 6. We made several stops in between enjoying the journey on the way. Sadly we didn’t spot any major wild animals both at Mudumalai and Bandipur. The only major incident was the sighting of a rouge elephant (if an elephant is not part of a heard then mostly it’s a rogue elephant and it’s considered to be dangerous) next to the road at Bandipur. A maniac/drunkard actually stopped right in front of it and was taking snaps. He was making loud noises and the elephant was visibly irritated. It was disgusting to see such irresponsible people. The elephant took two steps back, shook its head vigorously and made a trumpet noise!! It should have charged him and beaten him up. Would have served him right!!

Anyway, the entire trip was a satisfying experience with spotting the leopard being the highlight of the trip. The group was great, the humor was awesome and all the narration of exciting stories of Kenneth Anderson from my friends (I should make it a point to read his books) was the icing on the cake.

Some of the snaps from the trip can be found here...

Athens Beckons!

I would be lying if I say I ‘always’ wanted to run the Athens Marathon (Greece), because until a few months back I didn’t even know it existed.

But the fact is, once I heard about it I knew I wanted to be there (Thanks to my friend Srini, who brought it to my notice). It’s going to be the mother of all marathons and I am sure running in Athens will be an experience of a lifetime! (I know..I know..I had said the same thing about my Europe backpacking trip). But, there are lots of things in this world which can be an ‘experience of a lifetime’.

A Marathon for me is not just a sport. It’s a test. It’s a way I can consistently prove to myself that I have the will power to take on everything in this world. Believe me when I say it’s not just about stamina and fitness, especially for someone who doesn’t train for it. It’s a major test of resilience and a huge factor in running marathons is the ‘will’ to finish it. I am really passionate about it!

If we look at all the major Olympic events, the Marathon Race stands out because it was born by a real historic and heroic event. The Athens Marathon itself has a lot of history to it. The history dates back to 2500 years. This year they will be celebrating the 2500^th anniversary of the “Battle of Marathon”. The battle was fought between the invading Persians and the Greeks (490BC). The Greeks sought the help of the Spartans by sending a foot soldier (Pheidippides) to Sparta. He ran 240 km (150 miles) in two days but was told they will not be able to help due to some superstitious reason (Remember the movie ‘300’? :)). He then ran back to convey the bad news. He again ran 42.195 Km (that’s how the ‘Full Marathon’ got its distance), from the battlefield near the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia, when the Battle of Marathon was won with the word "Νενικήκαμεν" (Nenikékamen, 'We have won') and collapsed and died on the spot because of exhaustion. Apparently the Greeks would have burnt their city if they hadn’t won within the deadline and hence it was necessary for Pheidippides to run back and convey the good news (Otherwise they would have assumed they had lost and burnt the city).

There goes the story of the origin of ‘Marathon’, though don’t ask me why they didn’t send multiple soldiers or soldiers on horse back etc. I don’t want to add speculation to the story…:)

Anyway coming back to my participation, I am glad to say I already have company for this race. My friends Srini (a marathon freak who introduced me to Athens Marathon and also booked on my behalf) and Karthik (another marathon freak..;) from US who booked after hearing from me) will be there. It will be a great experience for sure. The course is challenging and notoriously hilly. The entire race is through historic sites of the historic country. And the finish is in the beautiful Olympic Stadium, the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. The event is scheduled to be held on Oct 31^st 2010 and we have enough time to plan. Thankfully Athens/Greece was one place I hadn’t visited on my last European trip and hopefully we will be able to cover one more country.

Finally I will leave you guys with these words, which I found on the net (Sorry, no source as I don’t remember where I had found this)…

“For the first ten miles, a marathon runner runs on his training. For the second ten, he survives on his stamina. For the last six, his body metabolizes his very sinews: it’s an onslaught of pain but he runs on his spirit. That’s what courage is…that’s what makes a champion.”

PS: If you are inspired by this post and want to donate some money or even provide me with sponsorship money please drop in a comment/mail. I will be wearing your name on my jersey so that you can become a part of this historic moment. A better deal can be negotiated and am open to suggestions.

Chirpy Tweety

All along it longed for its ‘freedom’, caught in a cage,
Craving to be free and the desire to consistently script a new page,
All along it felt itself caught in a maze,
Unable to explore and free itself from this phase.

Chirpy tweety, had nothing but its ambition,

A dream driven by desire and the spirit to make it happen,

But the cage was sturdy and strong,

Making its attempts seem all wasted and wrong.

Chirpy tweety remained bubbly,

Making attempts in full earnest and plucky,

The nights were short and the days lengthy,

Setting placeholders and sacrificing many.

With a sense of urgency and ardor,

It started tweeting less and biting more,

But destiny had different plans each time,

Punishing it, as if its efforts were a crime.

Strange are the ways of life,

One doesn’t know when one crashes or flies,

And for Chirpy Tweety, as the days go by,

It will be a question of ‘when’ it can truly fly.

Heroes!

The concept of a sport riding on an individual seems very strange, but it does happen. Not that the sport ceases to exist if the individual retires, but then there will be a dent or a void which will take some years and some new individuals to fill. And sadly, a generation of fans idolizing on that single individual would no longer have the same interest in that sport.

I saw this happening to me when Michael Schumacher retired in 2006. I was an ardent fan of F1 and Michael, and never missed a race. But after he retired I hardly watched couple of races. Somehow the track never seemed the same without him. The max I would do, is follow the sport through newspaper and websites. Many people I talked to reflected the same feeling.

I fear my love for cricket would die the same death. I have idolized and admired Sachin Tendulkar for more than a decade now. Not only for his antics on the cricket field but also the way has he handled himself off it. I don’t see any sportsman who carries a billion expectations and has such huge popularity and fan following, not making any errors off the field. He has been an inspiration and a role-model like no other. He deserves to be called “the greatest sportsperson the world has ever seen” for the sole reason that he has handled himself beautifully despite everything. I dread the moment he calls it a day and I dread having to switch on the TV and watch another opener instead of Sachin. But again life goes on and cricket will search for another hero. But the generation who has followed Sachin would feel an emptiness which will be difficult to fill. Already I don’t watch cricket when he is not playing and many times I stop watching when he gets out, and I can only imagine how it will be when he retires for good.

These were heroes of the sport who have made the sport famous across the globe, and without whom the sport will take a beating. It might take another lifetime to find such heroes and during that time the administrators can only pray for mitigating the impact.

PS: This post was inspired by the return of Michael Schumacher to F1 and I am already looking forward to the first F1 race of the season at Bahrain on March 14^th. A lot of rules have changed, the car is different and it may take him another year to bring the car and the team up to speed to the Ferrari’s and McLaren’s. I don’t think he can win the championship, but who cares? :) I know he will give one heck of a fight!

Gym, Guitar and beyond…

Yep! Gym days are back…After a hiatus of almost 5 months I have hit the gym again. Earlier it was so easy to go to gym (I used to go between 3-4 in the afternoon @office), but now after my office got shifted it’s become a pain. So after convincing myself I needed the exercise and after finding jogging these days to be highly boring, I have joined a gym near to my place where I spend an hour and a half in the evening after office.
The Result -: Last few days has been amazing. The feeling that comes with running on the treadmill and doing weights has no parallels.

The gym I currently go to is so much better than my office gym in terms of the equipment. But in terms of the diversity of people both are equally and highly varied. For me, it has become a habit to study the people who visit these places. I mean here you can find so many specimens within the homo-sapiens species that you never get bored. It’s just plain amusing. Maybe more on each of these specimens in some other post…

A thing that’s common between all of them is the way they look at the mirrors after every 2 minutes of workout. Their expectations are always never met and you can see the disappointment on their faces but there is determination to reach there, even though it might take a lifetime for most of them. One annoying thing that I observe is the way they adjust their dress and ‘other-things’ in front of the mirror. In an earlier gym it was even worse as the mirror was a one-way mirror. One of those things that would behave like a mirror from inside but people outside could peek into the room and see exactly what you are upto. Maybe the idea was to motivate the ‘outsiders’ to join, but it really was more like entertainment to them. I don’t know from where people get these ideas. The current gym is even better. It has been designed in such a way that people from the road can see what is happening inside even though its on the second floor. Further people in the opposite buildings, have balcony seats - I am sure they would have stopped going to multiplexes and enjoy the activities that happen here, with a popcorn and Pepsi, sitting on their comfortable bean-bags.

On another front, I have removed my Guitar from the closet. I hope to spend few hours every week to get back to hitting the right chords and notes. Let’s see how many days I will need to relearn the basics. It will be a battle of my patience verses its reluctance to play the way I want it to play!!

FireFlies!

I came to know about Fireflies through my office colleagues and it was a breathtaking experience. It was something that I had never experienced before. I have not attended many orchestras or musical events but this one I am sure takes the cake.

Imagine a big banyan tree and a stage setup at the bottom of it. Add rows of stones in a semi-circular fashion around the tree. Fill it with loads of enthusiastic people. Add high quality music to it from various musicians and bands of all varieties from classical, fusion, Jazz,, Kabir, Kerala folk to hip-hop. Imagine this for the whole of the night. And that’s my friends is “Fireflies” for you.

We were about 8 of us in our group and we landed there (it’s about 30KM from Bangalore) more than an hour earlier. We were the first ones to reach there but we did this because my friends knew from last year’s experience that early bird gets the best seats. We also made a pit stop at Metro for all the groceries that we will need for the night.:) By 5.30PM we were all set for the event. It started with “Bramhasthra” – a new fusion band which performed to cheer up the crowd. And the performances went uphill from there. From Esperanto, Shabnam Virmani to Qawali, everything was a treat to watch and listen.

This was my first experience in an event like this and I am sure for the sheer ambience and the variety of music I will never forget it. By 8PM the whole place was brimming with people and the crowd was having a gala time. There were approximately 4000 people in that small place but thanks to our location we were pretty well seated for the night. There was free flow of unmentionable items (:)) among the crowd and it was tough to get up and even go to the rest room.

In one place and in one sitting I had never experienced such various kinds of music. There was fusion, classical, Jazz, Kabir chants, Hindustani, Qawali, Kerala folk music, Hip-hop and even our very own huli-vesha. The entire night passed in an instant and in no time it was 7 in the morning and the time had come to take leave. Words just cannot explain the ambience and the experience. One has to really witness it to appreciate it.

All I can is I will be there next year!!

The snaps are thanks to my friend Anand...

Some pics of the event can be found here...

My name is Dilip and …

There she was sitting right in front of me,
Under the shade of a banyan tree.
The frequent glances, to catch a glimpse of my face,
Made the world around me lose its place.
One step forward, was all that mattered?
An unknown, that had to be answered.

An Assassin called Pain!

Recently I had been to a dentist to get my wisdom tooth extracted. Apparently my wisdom (tooth) was all crooked and was causing me hell lot of pain. My surgeon said the only way I can survive is to get it extracted along with a part of the bone and gums. It was one of the most horrible experiences and made me wonder whether the surgeon and the dentist had some hidden agenda against my worldly wisdom. With a hacksaw blade, a hammer and a sickle he extracted my tooth and removed quite a bit of my bone and jaw to make sure the wisdom never grows back. My wisdom had to endure a battle of survival but unfortunately in this case the brawn won against the wisdom.

But the ordeal did not end there. In the melee the surgeon made sure my lower jaw was dislocated and that’s when all hell broke loose. After the initial couple of weeks the mother of all pains started and I did not know what was causing all the pain. I was under the impression that the worst of it was over and all my tooth needed was some care and medicines. But after a couple of sleepless nights I found out about this new dislocation problem. The pain was so excruciating that all through the night I could neither sit nor stand. And this was after three strong pain-killers. The pain-killer was like sending US troops to Afghanistan to tackle the elusive Osama...

I have always wondered why people commit suicide. What makes them so desperate that they would want to end their life? Interestingly, this recent experience of mine gave me some first-hand insight to this phenomenon. I mean the pain was so severe and after two sleepless nights I was asking aloud as to why I have to suffer so much - with the usual “why ‘me’?” question. I had nothing to do the entire night but pray, shout and whimper. And since the status quo didn’t change it looked like my praying had no affect…or maybe even the Almighty couldn’t fight the pain. It made me wonder if I am finding it this difficult to tackle the pain caused by a jaw dislocation how could someone tolerate more ‘non-physical’ pain?!?

I mean after couple of days of heat treatment and stronger medicines I can try to continue my joyful life but that may not be the case for so many others who are suffering from more of a mental trauma? There are solutions to those too but that would require more time and patience and of-course much more effort…Just made me feel more sympathetic to people suffering from these kinds of ailments. All I can say is that the next time I read a headline or hear the news about someone committing suicide I will be extra careful not to just dismiss the case as one of those nut cases who can’t handle their lives. I will remember that it would just take a couple of sleepless nights and the feeling that the pain will never subside for someone to take the drastic measure of ending their life…It would have been another beautiful day the next day but people would have to endure another dreadful night to see that next day...

The Climb ..::!!

So many things to post, so many things to tell and so many things to share...But just to break the shackles and just to come back to the blogosphere and yet not get into nitty-gritty, here is a beautiful song that somehow encompasses a lot of my feelings right now...

A beautiful song, beautiful lyrics, beautiful video and of course the singer!!!!..;)

Check her out in the actual video here! ;-)

Midnight Marathon – When perseverance matters!

Today, I have pains in my knees, both my ankles are swollen and I walk like a penguin. But I am extremely happy with myself and proud of my achievement. I ran the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon (42.2Km) in 5 Hours and 20 Min. That’s an average of around 8 Kmph. Right now, an awesome feeling of achievement engulfs me making the pains tolerable and the trouble bearable.

Last year I had taken part in the half-marathon of the same event. This time I am glad I went for the full. I drove to the venue at 7.30PM and got my BIB number and the timing chip. My friends Srini (who took part in the full marathon) and Babu (for half) were also there and we kept each other company till the run began (spending the few hours going around the Forum Mall, talking and listening to some loud music).

The clock struck 11.30 and we geared ourselves for the actual event. The marathon was supposed to be flagged off at 12 Midnight and after a brief warm-up we went to the start/finish line. The night was chill but with all the excitement around the cold didn’t matter. We had to run 10 laps with each lap being 4.22 Km. Based on last years experience I had a strategy in place. Instead of running the initial few laps at full blast (and then struggling to complete), I took a mature approach of running at a more leisurely pace so that I could sustain my speed continuously till the finish. Keeping a target of completing two laps every hour helped me gauge my performance and finish the marathon without any cramps!!.

I made sure I motivated/urged enough number of people on the way. But as time flew the chit-chat and smile waned. But it was always heartening to see my friend Srini smiling and commenting everytime we crossed each other (twice in a loop!). Also another friend of mine who kept me company was Karthik. He called from US several times during the run to keep me going. Is this what comradeship all about?

Anyway, I could sense the shift in my cheerfulness and the diminishing energy levels as the laps went by. I could clearly feel myself slowing down during the 7^th & 8^th lap. The mind continued to push, but the body was asking it to go to hell…It was a unique experience indeed. One has to run a marathon to experience this funny feeling (or maybe getting heavily drunk might also help you land there..:)) But seriously, this is what makes you feel good about yourself. When the going gets tough and you keep going, you have all the right to touch the finish line. One of the finest examples where perseverance matters and where it pays.

Believe me when I say, the amazing feeling cannot be replaced with anything. Its something that one needs to experience to appreciate it. In the following years, you will look at yourself in the mirror and feel proud of the moment. You will think about this incident and cling to that last thread of hope when everything else seems down and out. You will continue when people say “Its Ok” to give up and say you cannot carry on…This experience will help you to continue fighting with new strategy and new vigor. And last but not the least, it will help you gain an experience that no amount of blogs/articles will help you realize - An experience of a lifetime, the lessons of which lasts an entire life.

A Lasting relationship! Well Almost!

It was one of the most profound and adventurous relationship I ever had. We were so much in awe of each other but still always managed to bring out the best in the other. It was never your beauty that drew me near but the sheer skills and talents. We had so many intimate moments, adventures and insightful tête-à-tête together that I have lost count. The long drives experiencing the monsoon rains, the passing of various seasons and the sheer presence of your company will always be very close to my heart. An amazing journey over more than a decade during which I have grown, matured and hopefully become wiser. It was a stimulating affiliation that only we would have understood.

But like all relationship we had our share of fights and painful moments. It slowly moved us apart and eventually left us with a severed relationship. But memories are etched in sands of time and are very hard to replace. Even now I feel the pinch of pain when I see you or someone very similar to you. But life goes on...

And today you (M800) have been replaced by a new Hyundai I10!!!
:-)

The longest Marathon!

The earth trembled, the buildings quivered,

My beloved structure, razed to the ground,

Year after year some catastrophe or the other,

Bringing my life to a full circle.

Plundered plastering, broken bricks,

Haze of smoke and dust, clouding the used tricks,

Every time I build a few feet of wall,

A hidden force makes it fall,

The shining tip of my proposed skyscraper,

Always pushing me to never give-up ever,

But how many times does one try,

Without success to testify,

The unbearable pain and agony,

Makes me curse and cry.

But now, when I look at the site, its location,

I see a strong powerful foundation,

One that would never sever,

Giving me the title of a master builder,

God forbid, it may take another 5 years to finish my first floor,

Matching its foundation in strength and force,

One that can sustain the blasts and tremors,

Acting as the base for my future floors,

It may take a whole lifetime,

But in the end, It will be a landmark in all its glory and prime,

Built from the blood and sweat,

Each floor perfect the way it rest,

A monument etched till eternity,

Making it best among its fraternity.

Cyclothon…

It was a wonderful day - not too gloomy and not too sunny. The Volvo bus that I boarded was full, an indication of things to come. A lot of preparation had gone into this event and it was clearly showing. As for myself, I was the 42^nd person to register, almost 2 months in advance, and I was looking forward to it.

‘Cycle’ or ‘bike’ as people officially call it was my first vehicle to freedom. Not that my parents placed any curbs on my freedom but it always felt good to be independent and go long distances without any dependency on one’s parents or for that matter the public transport system.

I no longer have a cycle and hence had opted for a rented one for the Cyclothon. I had sent mails to many of my friends about this event and the reactions varied. Some enthusiastic friends at office registered even before I could while others wondered whether they could complete the 50Km Armature ride. As far me I just wanted to try it out. It was a long time since I had cycled and this provided another opportunity to experience the feeling. I knew it surely would bring back the buried nostalgia.

It is this very same feeling that the current cycle manufacturers wanted to tap into and hence there were no dearth of sponsorship for the event. The same crop of people who had grown on a cycle had become software professionals with a disposable income enough to spend on high end cycles. Added to this, the current generation wants to go GREEN and of course burn those extra calories that they easily accumulate. This market had great potential and all the manufacturers wanted to tap into it.

The market analysis was perfect as showed by the overwhelming registrations. There were more registrations then BSA-Hercules could handle. They had also made the offer of providing people with cycles on a rental basis for those who didn’t have one and this prompted an increase in participation. But as things become too much to handle, the organizers rejected all these applicants a week prior to the event. I was one of the unfortunate ones…

One of my colleagues sought help from an influential person to get a backdoor entry. I followed his footsteps and called “Go Green Rao”, whose enthusiasm for these activities is contagious. He took it upon himself to get us an entry and actually succeeded at it.

I borrowed a cycle from another colleague/friend of mine the previous day and deposited it at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium for transportation to the actual venue. My colleague & friend Srini was there with me while I was getting it oiled and repaired. When I paid just Rs5 for all the repairs, he laughed and said “In more than a decade you wouldn’t have spent just Rs5 on any kind of repair”! How true was it!

At the registration desk we got a wildcraft goody bag with Rs500 voucher. What more could I have asked? ;)

The next day when I reached the venue, the atmosphere was overwhelming. It was heartening to see so many cycles in Bangalore and interestingly many had come with proper gear not only for themselves but also for their vehicles. Until that day I had never seen cycle holders on a car at Bangalore (In my Euro-trip I could see these equipments almost everywhere…). There were more than 6500 participants and the overall turnover was almost 10000. The atmosphere was electric with people very eager to start the event.

We were left from the start-finish line in hordes of 10-20 in order to avoid accidents. The ride itself was very smooth. It was great to ride on NICE road even though there were quite a few steep climbs. Who ever invented gears might be a genius but I prefer to be in top gear and finish the climbs faster. This strategy doesn’t workout in the long run as you will get tired very fast, but again I prefer reaching the destination faster than to cycle with very little output/movement forward (When one is in lower gear climbing uphill is very easy but you will have to pedal more and it will be slow!).

The entire ride took me about one and half hour and I didn’t feel tired at all. At finish line we were welcomed with bananas and water. I had good quantity of both and loafed around with some of my friends for sometime. I could have deposited my bike there and collected the same the next day from Koralamangala Indoor Stadium, but it would have required me to apply half a day’s leave. So I rode back home along with my friend. It took us an hour and 10 min to reach home which was approximately what the Volvo bus took in the morning to reach the venue!! There were huge traffic jams on the way and for the first time I was crisscrossing through it with a grin on my face..:) It is an awesome feeling when everyone is stranded and you ride through the maze..:) By 1PM I was at home and my mom’s delicious lunch was awaiting me…

At the end of the day, the experience was worth the effort and it was quite splendid. But any day marathons are way more tiring and ‘happening’ than cycling!!! Maybe next time I should join my colleagues in cycling to places like Mysore to get the actual hang of long-distance cycling…

Love!!!

Its amazing how one never gets tired if one is doing what one loves...Its past 3AM and I don’t know whether to go to sleep or simply wait for another couple of hours for my morning jog...Life sure has its ways of telling us what we love, but the question is, do we listen?

One constantly keeps hearing that “Love doesn’t let one sleep”. People might have used that phrase in a different sense but I can clearly see it happening. I am still up and don’t really mind skipping my sleep for the night. The joy that i get from this is much more lasting than those few hours of sleep would have given me...

Love is what you want and once you have found it, it doesn't matter how many fewer hours you get to sleep or how much extra effort you will have to put in. If you love what you are doing, then how can it be “Work”?
Given this, why is it that so few of us pursue what we love? Why is that we fear leaving our comfort zone? Why is that we get lazy and give up trying..? Isn’t it kind of an irony that as we get older the ‘maturity’ is us prevents us from chasing what we really want to achieve...?

Anyway let me carry on...

I wanna…

I wanna sleep on the green grass, surrounded by white snow watching the sparkling stars make holes on the sky above…
I wanna drive through the marshy grasslands, surrounded by a pride of lions, watching the sunset across the solitary lake in the centre of the forest…
I wanna dive from a plane, face the full force of gravitation, the chute making me float like a feather crisscrossing the breaths of the world…
I wanna sit in a thatched cottage reading and writing books, enjoying the hot cup of coffee over debates and conversations…
I wanna get drenched in rain, swim across the river, safari through the deserts and sit on a beach watching the duel between the waves and the sand grains…
I wanna bike through the mountains, singing my heart out on the way to the top of the world…
I wanna run, run when everyone around gives up or tells you to stop…
I wanna enjoy the Perks of life!!!

Death!

Death knocked on my door,

Opened it, forgetting to look through the key hole,

There She stood as white as snow,

Looking through Her sharp eyes was itself a blow.

She cast her all knowing spell,

With such a voice that I fell,

The beautiful smile gave away the power She held,

Breaking the notion that I was primed and prepared.

There was lull before the pain,

But once struck, it made me insane,

Entire life passed through an instant,

I had nothing to repent.

I was burnt in an instant,

But rose like a phoenix the next moment,

Cleansed, I flew to my next stay,

While She searched for her next prey.

Ah! Bliss…

I don’t know why I am so happy,

For no obvious reason, I am chirpy,

The day looks beautiful,

And the loud music wonderful,

If it’s a crime to be this content,

I don’t mind if I am tried for it.