His prematurely grey hair had hardened with the harsh cold winds he faced for the last forty five summers. His left eye had a patch of white and his face was full of wrinkles telling tales of people and places no one else had seen A large stud on one of his ears stood out as he put on a genuine but wry smile for the camera.
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It is among the last remaining unexplored bastions of virgin nature in India. It is among those few places which still hasn’t found its place on the map. It is one of the most intriguing places left.
And yet.
It is a place most know nothing about even though its a part of India. Its a place whose mention only evokes images of international disputes. Its a place we talk about only when China says it wants it too. Its a place whose people are neglected even more.
Leave a CommentThe pre-dawn glow was waiting at the gates when I left the house on Friday morning. D had arrived a little while back with her little blue bag. We took about one minute to cram everything in the cramsters. As we broke the silence of the night with the roar of the full 500 cubics of the Machismo’s engine, there was a scent of freedom in the cold Delhi air. It was time to ride.
Leave a CommentCame across this folder of some pics from the Rajasthan leg of my India Trip earlier. Got really really lost.
The Bugger
No, that was not the destination planned for this journey. It was supposed to end about 650 kms ahead, in New Delhi. I was shifting base and I was loaded to the hilt. And I came to a griding halt on one fine morning in the middle of the desert. Life just likes to have some fun.
The night before, I got my oil changed (and my oil fiter, now I know). And rode on through to Udaipur on the first day. Distance: About 850 kms. Time: 15 hours. Had the compnay of Mr. Sethi till Vapi. Then pulled on alone. The night at Udaipur was like any other night. Then morning came.
Leave a CommentI am taking a train journey after so long. A few years I think. The last one was to Diu, I think. And it wasn’t…
Leave a CommentI used to be a vegetarian. And not just any vegetarian. I was a staunch, unmovebale, People for Animals card-carrying, Maneka Gandhi loyal vegetarian. I have saved cats from being made homeless. I have stopped buffaloes from being slaughtered. That level of vegetarian. I ate veg-ala-Kiev (try it. call me if you are still alive after that) on my own birthday when everyone else around me ate chicken. THAT level of vegetarian.
Then, I came to Mumbai. They delayed my veg roll at an all-animal-food joint called Bade Miyan (if you eat animals and haven’t heard of the place, call an airline and book a ticket and head to behind the Taj Palace Hotel). Delayed it by about 30 minutes. And that minute onwards, I have eaten anything that moves.
But its not just my eating habits that Mumbai has changed.
Leave a CommentThrough Chandni’s blog here, came across this NGO called Pragya. It sounds quite interesting. Their USP is they operate in the Himalayas exclusively over 8,000 feet!! Isn’t that something?
It says the organization was started by two management graduates who were riding across the Himalayas from Itanagar to Leh in 1990. Moved by the deprivation of the indegenous communities in the higher reaches, they formed this organization and have been working for the cause ever since. Its interesting what they wrote.
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A little while back, I wrote this for the BikeNomads 2009 calendar. Well, this among other things.
Leave a Comment…The evening birds match chords with my thump. The neon lights of the city become blurry lines as I enter the encroaching dark of the highway. The earth is my bed, the sky is my roof…
Sometimes, the biggest ain’t the best. No I am not saying it was the best. But the rather small (for anyone who has seen the Delhi’s Auto Expo) Mumbai International Auto Show was a lot of fun.
I don’t know who organized it or why. But they didn’t really do a nice job at it. There weren’t any product launches apart from the Xylo (which I hate so it doesn’t count) so there’s was much less buzz and hence much less people. Which meant that you were ACTUALLY going to see the cars and bikes and not come back smelling like the sweat of all the cultures of India.
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