Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sikkim-Heaven in the earth but.....
5/2011:
Sikkim – what can I say - A totally life changing experience. The mighty Teesta, the majestic Himalayas, the relentless monsoons, an encounter with a landslide and having the privilege of meeting the most sweet natured people I have ever come across.
10/2011:
Your gentle world has been rocked.
5/2011:
Yumthang Valley in North Sikkim- Our first brush with the mighty Eastern Himalayas ! It was a cloudy misty morning with a lot of white fluff surrounding us. As we drove up with very little visibility, we presumed that we must be on the top of a mountain and the valley must be below us. But then suddenly the clouds began lifting and we realized that we were actually on this piddly little hill surrounded by these gorgeous snow capped ...
10/2011
Really a valley of flowers but now - .everything is thrashed.A total mess
5/2011:
The many streams we drove past, fit for an artist’s canvas – water softly rumbling and whispering, almost mocking you to follow it .To eventually hear it become a deafening water fall
10/2011 :
From an aerial survey I saw on tv, this image had been replaced by gashes. Landslides.
5/2011 :
Gangtok city, MG Road. Bata by choice of dragon motif. Above it, a very chilled coffee hang out place called Hangtok. Nice music too with extra amazing effect of BOSE speakers tagged in the lamp posts everywhere in the road.
5/2011 :
Sikkim’s Buddhist ethos resides in how people interact with you , also in its peaceable monasteries.
10/2011 : Rumtek, saw a few cracks on your walls .Also heard that your oldest monastery near Yuksam, has 90 % damages.
5/2011 :
5/2011:
We visited in early May ,We were on very short schedule So we made our way towards Lachung and Yumthang valley, where we got caught in a landslide. The road had caved in and boulders and rocks had rolled on to the road which now looked like a river bed. But, within 30 minutes the Border Roads Organization (BRO) people were there and they cleared a path for the vehicles to pass through. I was so impressed – thoroughly professional, focused and quick.
BRO is hard at work. Lachung hurting. More landslides than even locals have often seen. That is the aftermath of the aftermath of the quake.
2010 :
OF COURSE SIKKIM WILL EMERGE STRONGER FROM THE FACE OF THIS DEVASTATION , AS WE`RE A BUNCH OF RESILIENT PEOPLE. NATURAL CALAMITIES CAN NEVER BE A DETERRENT , ITS AN UNAVOIDABLE PART OF LIFE BUT THE HOSPITALITY OF THE PEOPLE, THE BEAUTY AND SERENITY AND THE PEACE THAT PREVAILS OVER THIS STATE WILL ALWAYS CONTINUE TO ATTRACT MORE AND MORE TOURISTS.
I would like to express my feeling. Yes, the earthquake was massive and we are lucky to have survived such a powerful shake. We are all feeling very bad for the people who lost their lives and were injured.
But the most depressing thing about the whole affair is, media has blown up the issue so much that other than people in Sikkim, everybody else is scared because of the picture being shown to them. I wish people get the right picture. It is absolutely safe to visit Sikkim. Travel agents both in Sikkim and outside, tour operators in the region are all aware that the damages are not so intense which will effect the smooth operations of the tours. On top of this everyone must realize that highly capable Sikkim Govt. and the assistance from the Central Govt. of India are putting things back to place. Most of the things will be back to the normal state in a very short time.
Hence I suggest everyone not to jump into conclusions watching what media has to say. It is their work to highlight the things. And they know by showing things repeatedly and showing from different angles will make things look scary. Let media play their role but please listen to what people of Sikkim has to say.
This comment of mine is to guide the tourists wanting to visit Sikkim in the coming months. Believe us you will be absolutely safe under the efforts of Govt. of Sikkim’s and your travel agents/operator.
All the best!
The End
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Why, not AAM AADAMI gets offended by Petrol Price Hike...?????
Petrol prices went up again. TV channels went on a mindless frenzy of emotional outburst reflecting the angst of their middle class audiences. Sense gave way to non-sense. Emotions to rational analysis. And of course, politics sat squarely in the middle of every debate as always!
Let me just take some of the issues involved in this matter:
Petrol price hike will stoke inflation: Wrong. The impact of a price increase in petrol does not run through the entire economy, as the impact of a diesel price hike does. Most of the petrol is used by the urban middle class in running their two and four wheelers for transport. This section gets hit hard and directly. But it does not affect the prices of other goods which depend on diesel for transportation across the country. Inflation does not rise much because of petrol price hikes.
Crude prices had touched $145 in July 2008. Now the prices are much lower at $115 or so. Yet petrol prices are higher by at least 50% now since then. Why? There are two reasons for this. 1) In 2008, when the crude prices went up to $145, and the retail prices were comparatively low, the government was picking up a huge amount of subsidy on petrol (in addition to the subsidy on diesel and LPG). Every litre of petrol it sold led to a loss to the oil PSUs. Those losses were funded by the government. Today, the government is bearing a lower burden by passing on much (not all) of the burden to the people. The petrol subsidy alone this year would have been more than Rs 5000 crores if this price hike had not been taken. That’s why the retail petrol prices are higher today than in 2008. This trend will continue. Every now and then (especially around election times!) the government may reduce the retail petrol prices…..but in the long run petrol prices would keep increasing till subsidies on petrol become zero. The government will have to continue subsidies on diesel, LPG and kerosene though 2) In 2008, the Re was quoting at Rs 42.7 against the dollar. Today, the Re has fallen to Rs 47 odd. The impact of this on crude prices in rupee terms is obvious. Some would argue that the rupee having fallen so much reflects how poor our economic condition is. Not true! But this post cannot cover that subject.
Government makes huge tax revenues on crude and refined fuels. Why can’t it cut those taxes to benefit the people? This is right. The central government does indeed make a lot of money on excise, customs, VAT etc and the state governments make monies on sales tax on fuels. All of those higher taxes that the government will make will go on to increase the revenues of the government. The government deploys those revenues behind pro-poor programmes (NREGA, fertilizer subsidy, PDS etc etc). If the government cut taxes on fuels, only the urban middle classes would benefit. If it increases prices, the urban middle class is hit, but the rural poor are benefited because the pro-poor programs get higher funding. So the urban middle (and upper class) pays for the rural poor. That’s only fair, isn’t it? Besides, let’s not forget that the government’s revenues are much lower than its expenses. This gap is broadly called the fiscal deficit. A high fiscal deficit causes inflation which affects every citizen. The petrol price hike will cut the fiscal deficit a wee bit and help (indirectly) the fight against inflation. Inflation for the urban middle class will surely rise, but for the entire country may actually fall. But all this is true only in case of petrol price hikes. If diesel price hikes happen, then the whole economy is hurt. If LPG prices increase, then again all sections suffer. That’s why the government freed up petrol prices but kept its control over diesel and LPG prices.
So will petrol prices keep increasing in the future? You bet! Nomura has predicted that crude prices could touch $230 in the future. We can imagine what that will do to petrol prices.
But why don’t diesel prices increase? Today, so many cars are based on diesel. Isn’t that subsidizing the urban rich? Yes indeed. The government has to look at a way of separating urban diesel pricing from rural and commercial diesel pricing. There is no reason for rich people driving diesel-guzzling SUVs to get subsidies from the government. The price of diesel for the transport sector and rural areas must remain subsidized for longer though.
What about LPG prices? According to one TV channel, the government plans to reduce subsidies here too? Well, there is much abuse of LPG subsidies today. Instead of the subsidies reaching the middle classes, they are being usurped by commercial establishment (restaurants etc) who consume gas cylinders in bulk by bribing the local delivery boy. So the government pays money for the restaurant’s gas bill! If only the government could stop this corruption, it could direct its subsidies much better and maybe then, the prices needn’t increase so much. So while LPG prices have to rise very significantly, it would be foolish to increase it in one step. The pain has to be spread over many years. There is an obvious political problem here. Economics may dictate that prices be increased in one step, but politics will put the brakes on such a plan. I would be surprised if the government increased LPG prices steeply today. I am in favor of reducing the number of subsidized gas cylinders…..but the price on non-subsidized LPG cylinders should increase slowly.
So the urban middle class keeps suffering? While it appears so, that’s not true really. Much of the economic gains the country has made in the last 20 years has benefited the urban middle classes. Just look at the salary levels of people today v/s just 5 years back. On average, pay hikes are between 15-20% per annum (in the developed West, they are not more than 2-3% per annum). So even if inflation is 10%, we are getting more in our hands in real terms. Many people are confused with our economic growth of 8-9% per annum. They think it’s less than our inflation of 10%. Wrong! The economic growth is over and above the inflation number. That’s why it’s called real growth. The growth after considering the impact of inflation is about 18-19%. That’s called nominal growth. In short, middle classes have enjoyed much of the benefits of economic liberalization. Now its time we share the spoils with the poor.
Why should Income Tax payers be singled out to the brunt of LPG subsidy reduction? Well, the principle is that the rich pay for the poor. What other method is there to identify the rich from the poor except for Income Tax returns? The problem of course is that many rich businessmen (and bulk of Indians do business; not jobs) don’t pay Income tax at all. They would escape any impact of withdrawal of subsidies. This is a larger problem…..but again, that’s the subject matter of another post.
What’s the long term solution to the fuel pricing problem? Well clearly, we have to move away from crude-based fuels. A bulk of crude is used in the transport sector and the power-generation sector. The solution is simple really. 1) We must move towards more electricity based transport systems. The metro is a prime example of how electricity can substitute petrol/diesel. Electric cars are starting to enter the Indian market, though they are still expensive. 2) We must generate electricity using nuclear power. Nuclear power is clean….much cleaner than coal power plants. Also the health hazards are actually much lesser than the exaggerated reports we hear on TV. We remember Chernobyl and Fukushima, because they are spectacular tragedies. But we don’t remember the slow deaths that coal based power plants are causing us every single day. Most activists who complain against nuclear power don’t have any solutions to offer. If we use more coal, they have a problem with that. There is only a limited power we can generate from hydro power. Solar, Tidal, Wind, biogas etc are still not commercially viable to produce on large scale. That’s why we must support Jaitapur whole heartedly. Let’s not get politics into everything.
If only we removed corruption, we wouldn’t need so much subsidies? That’s indeed true! In fact, it’s the story of most problems in India. If only we could eliminate corruption in the PDS, we would save a lot of wastage of resources. That’s why Nandan Nilekani’s UID project is so crucial. If this were implemented to cover all poor people, then the entire PDS system (where corruption abounds) could be scrapped. Poor people would get the dole (subsidy) directly into their bank accounts. Say the government wants to give the poor 20 litres of kerosene per month at Rs 10 per litre. So the poor pays only Rs 200 per month for this. Let’s say the real price of kerosene is Rs 50 per litre. So the government bears the subsidy of Rs 40 x 20 litres = Rs 800 per month on its account. Unfortunately, most of this kerosene is not delivered to the poor, but is siphoned off by the PDS shop owner for unfair gains. If however, the government simply gave Rs 800 into the bank accounts of the poor, then that money cannot be looted by the PDS network. The poor would add their Rs 200 and go to the market and buy their 20 litres of kerosene by paying Rs 1000. This is why the UID project is so crucial. It cuts out corruption totally (of course, there are some other problems attached to UID….). So we should support the UID project.
There are many other things we need to do to protect our future. For that, we need an intelligent debate. Unfortunately, the passion of the country is politics; not economics!
The real truth is that the petrol price hike will hurt PLUs (people like us)…..but it won’t hurt anyone else. Clearly, the government seems to be more focused on the poor (and that’s alright with me). To be fair, the government did announce a 7% increase in the DA for urban middle-class government employees before announcing the petrol price increase……
Courtesy: Prashant Panday
Saturday, June 18, 2011
GANGTOK TRIP-NJP-PART 1
3rd May'2011—Day 2
06:30
“Wake up guys, NJP is about to come.Wake up and get freshened up.” Lobster jerked us and announced about the coming of next destination i.e. NEW JALPAI GURI...
“But there is still some time left, scheduled arrival is 7:30 am” Hari checked the ticket and said.
“So what? Just wake up yaar, why so sleepy? Let us have some fun” I added my words too.
I and Lobster were standing near the gate enjoying the greenery of extra refreshing morning of North West Bengal.
07:30
“Where is the station Mr Hari. Your correct time just passed. I just saw my clock ticking it past a couple of seconds ago” I teased Hari.
Hari took a zip and used it firmly on his mouth.
08:30
“Ok sir, enough with Hari, our station has come, let’s go” Lobster stopped me before I did any kind of funny thing with Hari.
Well to be very frank and very clear with the readers, it’s always not Hari, who committed any kind of mistake or did any stupid thing. It’s just like that he was so simple to deal with that some cunning things keep happening all around him. Sometimes it gets very difficult for him to decide about the things, whether that has to be taken seriously or not. So I have always made fun of him whenever he was around.
Hey Hari! Please don’t mind if any kind of irresistible or unwanted thing is written here relevant to you. I will make sure that this kind of situation won’t come and the same applies to LOBSTER and NARESH too.
Back to story:
We were in NJP station.
There was one thing that amazed me.All the passengers were getting-off the train as this was the last station though the train was named as Darjeeling Mail. Then from Lobster I came to know that there are no railway tracks for Darjeeling from NJP, same with Gangtok. I was surprised not because of the last station but of the name of the train being Darjeeling MAIL.
“Oh saahib ji Gangtok jaaoge ki Darjeeling?”
“Well for now, we just want to step out from the station; will you please show us the way?” I told the guy who came to us for his taxi to be hired.These kind of local guy always bothered me.they get stick to you untill you accept their offer.You get thrilled by the way they talk.They are so impressive in their work that in the end they will set you on their own.They will present their persuasive and heavily biased offers in a manner that makes you seem factual ,they will make you believe that no one can offer you the best deal in the whole area what they have offered.Before the trip, my friend already told me to not to entertain local public in NJP.They would have fix you in the trap of luxurious and attractive offer.Thus I didn't want to deal anything not only with him but also in NJP. But the damn person didn’t lose hope; his try had far more effort than my tease.
He then switched towards Lobster with a new hope. Lobster was roaming there with so much excitement. Well I really didn’t know whether it was Lobster’s face or his accent which helped him to know that he was an ASSAMI or it might be possible that Lobster welcomed him by himself.
Anyways with all luring and attractive effort after fifteen minutes, scène was like that that we were following that damn person with a happy face as we were informed that we were going to Gangtok at a very cheap price comparatively.
So, on the same track Lobster was very interested in talking with that damn person, in gaining a chance of getting a handsome package by making him of his own town buddy, just because they were talking in some different language other than the commonly used language such as English or Hindi.
“Chalo na sir, itna dheere dheere aaoge to kaise chalega….come quick sir” Lobster again woke us up. He was some 20-30 steps ahead of us, walking with the damn person. He looked very busy in settling the terms and conditions of the policy or some kind of a tour package. I was not so sure but it was looking like that.
By the way Mr Naresh and Mr Hari were also busy. They were busy in planning to have some shopping at the nearest possible zone.
After moving out of the New Zalpai Guri Station, we reached a tour agency to which that damn person had taken us. SAHA Tour Agency.
If you really want to visualize the outer place of the station, then it is no different other than any high profile station as it is the terminal station in North West Bengal. The station is always in high rush, NJP serves as the exit towards Sikkim as well as Darjeeling. There might be other possible ways from there too, but lack of knowledge prevails and makes it even harder. And outside the station there were only Tour agency and restaurants. Taxi stand was full of SUVs (Bolero, Sumo, Safari, Innova, etc). No other vehicle can sustain there and the reasons are
High power required. Normal cars never succeed to cross high altitude valleys.
Space. Normal cars don’t have so much space to accommodate handsome number of people. Whereas SUVs accommodate around 10 persons excluding the driver. More people, more money.
If you want to reserve or book the car with 3 or 4 guys then it’s ok with a small car.
So we were in Saha Tour Agency…
What to say about Saha Tour Agency….Awesome Hospitality in each and every aspect. Not only in terms of language as well as in place too. When Lobster asked something, reply came in Assameese and the answers to my questions came in Bengali. Even the proprietor had entered into my postal address and fixed his own home somewhere near to that.
Anyways we finally got the package for the Gangtok Trip.
1st day—NJP to Gangtok---reserved Taxi—Tata Indica
2nd & 3rd day -----Yamthang Valley Visit
4th Day----Gangtok visit and return to NJP
10:30
After all the rubbish discussion from both sides and a sound lure from the Agency’s side, we had tightened our shoe lace and set our feet on the Indica. I took the front seat as I always do. OH! One more thing, the driver was a Bengali, well nothing strange guys. In West Bengal, it is supposed to be that everyone has a Bengali background.
All set, here we were about to leave NJP. All were excited. Package had been set. We were all feeling good, because it was real a tedious task to get the proper arrangements made for the whole trip. We were on cloud 9, because all the tedious tasks had been done before we left NJP. We started enjoying the car trip towards GANGTOK that was nearly 126 kms away from where we were…..
Jharsuguda-->Kolkata-->Njp-->Gangtok-->Yamthang Valley
06:30
“Wake up guys, NJP is about to come.Wake up and get freshened up.” Lobster jerked us and announced about the coming of next destination i.e. NEW JALPAI GURI...
“But there is still some time left, scheduled arrival is 7:30 am” Hari checked the ticket and said.
“So what? Just wake up yaar, why so sleepy? Let us have some fun” I added my words too.
I and Lobster were standing near the gate enjoying the greenery of extra refreshing morning of North West Bengal.
07:30
“Where is the station Mr Hari. Your correct time just passed. I just saw my clock ticking it past a couple of seconds ago” I teased Hari.
Hari took a zip and used it firmly on his mouth.
08:30
“Ok sir, enough with Hari, our station has come, let’s go” Lobster stopped me before I did any kind of funny thing with Hari.
Well to be very frank and very clear with the readers, it’s always not Hari, who committed any kind of mistake or did any stupid thing. It’s just like that he was so simple to deal with that some cunning things keep happening all around him. Sometimes it gets very difficult for him to decide about the things, whether that has to be taken seriously or not. So I have always made fun of him whenever he was around.
Hey Hari! Please don’t mind if any kind of irresistible or unwanted thing is written here relevant to you. I will make sure that this kind of situation won’t come and the same applies to LOBSTER and NARESH too.
Back to story:
We were in NJP station.
There was one thing that amazed me.All the passengers were getting-off the train as this was the last station though the train was named as Darjeeling Mail. Then from Lobster I came to know that there are no railway tracks for Darjeeling from NJP, same with Gangtok. I was surprised not because of the last station but of the name of the train being Darjeeling MAIL.
“Oh saahib ji Gangtok jaaoge ki Darjeeling?”
“Well for now, we just want to step out from the station; will you please show us the way?” I told the guy who came to us for his taxi to be hired.These kind of local guy always bothered me.they get stick to you untill you accept their offer.You get thrilled by the way they talk.They are so impressive in their work that in the end they will set you on their own.They will present their persuasive and heavily biased offers in a manner that makes you seem factual ,they will make you believe that no one can offer you the best deal in the whole area what they have offered.Before the trip, my friend already told me to not to entertain local public in NJP.They would have fix you in the trap of luxurious and attractive offer.Thus I didn't want to deal anything not only with him but also in NJP. But the damn person didn’t lose hope; his try had far more effort than my tease.
He then switched towards Lobster with a new hope. Lobster was roaming there with so much excitement. Well I really didn’t know whether it was Lobster’s face or his accent which helped him to know that he was an ASSAMI or it might be possible that Lobster welcomed him by himself.
Anyways with all luring and attractive effort after fifteen minutes, scène was like that that we were following that damn person with a happy face as we were informed that we were going to Gangtok at a very cheap price comparatively.
So, on the same track Lobster was very interested in talking with that damn person, in gaining a chance of getting a handsome package by making him of his own town buddy, just because they were talking in some different language other than the commonly used language such as English or Hindi.
“Chalo na sir, itna dheere dheere aaoge to kaise chalega….come quick sir” Lobster again woke us up. He was some 20-30 steps ahead of us, walking with the damn person. He looked very busy in settling the terms and conditions of the policy or some kind of a tour package. I was not so sure but it was looking like that.
By the way Mr Naresh and Mr Hari were also busy. They were busy in planning to have some shopping at the nearest possible zone.
After moving out of the New Zalpai Guri Station, we reached a tour agency to which that damn person had taken us. SAHA Tour Agency.
If you really want to visualize the outer place of the station, then it is no different other than any high profile station as it is the terminal station in North West Bengal. The station is always in high rush, NJP serves as the exit towards Sikkim as well as Darjeeling. There might be other possible ways from there too, but lack of knowledge prevails and makes it even harder. And outside the station there were only Tour agency and restaurants. Taxi stand was full of SUVs (Bolero, Sumo, Safari, Innova, etc). No other vehicle can sustain there and the reasons are
High power required. Normal cars never succeed to cross high altitude valleys.
Space. Normal cars don’t have so much space to accommodate handsome number of people. Whereas SUVs accommodate around 10 persons excluding the driver. More people, more money.
If you want to reserve or book the car with 3 or 4 guys then it’s ok with a small car.
So we were in Saha Tour Agency…
What to say about Saha Tour Agency….Awesome Hospitality in each and every aspect. Not only in terms of language as well as in place too. When Lobster asked something, reply came in Assameese and the answers to my questions came in Bengali. Even the proprietor had entered into my postal address and fixed his own home somewhere near to that.
Anyways we finally got the package for the Gangtok Trip.
1st day—NJP to Gangtok---reserved Taxi—Tata Indica
2nd & 3rd day -----Yamthang Valley Visit
4th Day----Gangtok visit and return to NJP
10:30
After all the rubbish discussion from both sides and a sound lure from the Agency’s side, we had tightened our shoe lace and set our feet on the Indica. I took the front seat as I always do. OH! One more thing, the driver was a Bengali, well nothing strange guys. In West Bengal, it is supposed to be that everyone has a Bengali background.
All set, here we were about to leave NJP. All were excited. Package had been set. We were all feeling good, because it was real a tedious task to get the proper arrangements made for the whole trip. We were on cloud 9, because all the tedious tasks had been done before we left NJP. We started enjoying the car trip towards GANGTOK that was nearly 126 kms away from where we were…..
Jharsuguda-->Kolkata-->Njp-->Gangtok-->Yamthang Valley
Friday, May 27, 2011
Gangtok Trip--Kolkata--Part-2
19:30
I never liked to be in any city, its crowd, too busy roads, traffic, rushes and everything associated with frustrated people. All mess. But might be I was wrong. Might be everything I had seen was in day light, but when you were on the road in the night, roving all around the city you are mesmerized by glittering buildings which are sparkling when seen from distance, that beauty will really take your heart away. Salt Lake, Rajar Haat, the IT city of West Bengal, not of Kolkata as these are situated in the outskirts of KOLKATA not in Kolkata but in WEST Bengal.
The buildings here were awe-inspiring - INFINITY, IBM, TCS and many more buildings which were really worth a look whenever crossed. I am not comparing it with other city but yes, if you are in Kolkata then you should pay a visit there.Anyways back to main action. We were in Rajar Haat Bypass. It connects the main city to the airport in a short route. Else you have to go through the whole city. Bypass saves a lot of time, accident risk and exertion too. Bypass was stretched up to 20 kms or more. And this smooth pitch stretch never allows you to go through in less than 100 kmph not even your low graded mechanical engine which is not allowed you to go beyond 80kmph.
20:00
1980 model ambassador was at 110kmph on that road. We were literally flying at that time because every single part of the cab was vibrating with their maximum hertz. Steer wheel vibrated, everything in the dashboard vibrated, I vibrated……….. what the hell!! Even my soul was also vibrating and within 40 minutes we were in the airport zone, which was 20minutes earlier than expected. We were about to reach our destination. Wait a minute! Wait! Wait! Now where to go? We have reached the contours of New Barrackpur. Up till there I knew the way. NOW WHAT?
Neither I nor the Cab driver knew the way to New Barrackpur Station, the landmark nearest to my home.
“Ab kis taraf jaaye sahib” cab driver asked.
“Chalo yaar, pahuch jaayenge”I assured him.
Finally we lost, we lost the way.
“Kya sir apne ghar ka rashta bhul Gaye (what sir, how can you forget the way to your home)” Rupjyoti asked, he was looking disturbed, didn't know why. Why he was so disturbed despite being in my place?
However I too was disturbed, continuous ringing of my cell with mom’s name inscribed on it. Reaching home late constantly intrigued and bothered me a lot.
I used to travel in local trains in Kolkata. I didn’t know how to get there by road ways, to the railway station. If by any chance, I had to come through this way, all the time the cab driver knew the way. But this time it was different. What the hell could you expect from someone who didn’t even know the basic difference between BARRACKPUR & New Barrackpur. Anyways with all the hues and cries we reached home…..now it’s time for mom to cry. Sorry it’s time for mom to make me cry for being late. But my Mom and Dad were in no mood to ruin my prestige in front of my friends. Although it had been ruined already.
20:30
After dinner we were highly awaiting the local train to reached SEALDAH. Our train to New Jalpaiguri was waiting for us.
21:15
We were in Sealdah station. We got the print out from a shop nearby the railway station.
21:45
Darjeeling Mail and we were sitting in the train, clashing on the ownership of the berth.
22:05
WE were leaving Sealdah. Day one of Gangtok trip was over. Heading towards New JalpaiGuri(NJP). Day one was tedious, bothersome as well as exciting. Many more to come….that’s all for day one…..
Jharsuguda---->>Kolkata---->>New Jalpai Guri---->>Gangtok.
To be continued...............
I never liked to be in any city, its crowd, too busy roads, traffic, rushes and everything associated with frustrated people. All mess. But might be I was wrong. Might be everything I had seen was in day light, but when you were on the road in the night, roving all around the city you are mesmerized by glittering buildings which are sparkling when seen from distance, that beauty will really take your heart away. Salt Lake, Rajar Haat, the IT city of West Bengal, not of Kolkata as these are situated in the outskirts of KOLKATA not in Kolkata but in WEST Bengal.
The buildings here were awe-inspiring - INFINITY, IBM, TCS and many more buildings which were really worth a look whenever crossed. I am not comparing it with other city but yes, if you are in Kolkata then you should pay a visit there.Anyways back to main action. We were in Rajar Haat Bypass. It connects the main city to the airport in a short route. Else you have to go through the whole city. Bypass saves a lot of time, accident risk and exertion too. Bypass was stretched up to 20 kms or more. And this smooth pitch stretch never allows you to go through in less than 100 kmph not even your low graded mechanical engine which is not allowed you to go beyond 80kmph.
20:00
1980 model ambassador was at 110kmph on that road. We were literally flying at that time because every single part of the cab was vibrating with their maximum hertz. Steer wheel vibrated, everything in the dashboard vibrated, I vibrated……….. what the hell!! Even my soul was also vibrating and within 40 minutes we were in the airport zone, which was 20minutes earlier than expected. We were about to reach our destination. Wait a minute! Wait! Wait! Now where to go? We have reached the contours of New Barrackpur. Up till there I knew the way. NOW WHAT?
Neither I nor the Cab driver knew the way to New Barrackpur Station, the landmark nearest to my home.
“Ab kis taraf jaaye sahib” cab driver asked.
“Chalo yaar, pahuch jaayenge”I assured him.
Finally we lost, we lost the way.
“Kya sir apne ghar ka rashta bhul Gaye (what sir, how can you forget the way to your home)” Rupjyoti asked, he was looking disturbed, didn't know why. Why he was so disturbed despite being in my place?
However I too was disturbed, continuous ringing of my cell with mom’s name inscribed on it. Reaching home late constantly intrigued and bothered me a lot.
I used to travel in local trains in Kolkata. I didn’t know how to get there by road ways, to the railway station. If by any chance, I had to come through this way, all the time the cab driver knew the way. But this time it was different. What the hell could you expect from someone who didn’t even know the basic difference between BARRACKPUR & New Barrackpur. Anyways with all the hues and cries we reached home…..now it’s time for mom to cry. Sorry it’s time for mom to make me cry for being late. But my Mom and Dad were in no mood to ruin my prestige in front of my friends. Although it had been ruined already.
20:30
After dinner we were highly awaiting the local train to reached SEALDAH. Our train to New Jalpaiguri was waiting for us.
21:15
We were in Sealdah station. We got the print out from a shop nearby the railway station.
21:45
Darjeeling Mail and we were sitting in the train, clashing on the ownership of the berth.
22:05
WE were leaving Sealdah. Day one of Gangtok trip was over. Heading towards New JalpaiGuri(NJP). Day one was tedious, bothersome as well as exciting. Many more to come….that’s all for day one…..
Jharsuguda---->>Kolkata---->>New Jalpai Guri---->>Gangtok.
To be continued...............
Monday, May 23, 2011
Gangtok Trip -IN KOLKATA-Part 1
2nd May ‘2011-DAY 1
11:00
“Sir Ticket ka print-out le lena”. A message popped up on my mobile. My clock went off for the 11th time of the day. In the past 16 hours my cell-phone floated from divert to offline mode because of my affectionate bosses who were so desperate to talk to me. What if I was in leave? What if I didn’t even give a damn about the company? Not at least when I was on leave.
Standing on a railway platform (New Barrackpur Station), while I was waiting for the train to arrive, I took out my cell and switched to General mode.
In no time, the cell which was almost dead for the last few hours started bursting in agony. The continuous bleeping that started never seemed to end. Within a minute 15 messages had appeared on message notification box.
Huh! 16 messages. Sounds good, but I was not so happy as I was supposed to be. Among the 16 messages, 5 were of missed call alerts among which four numbers were from my company. 5 good morning messages - these messages always made me wonder about how someone can be free to spare so much time to forward silly messages right from dawn. Another 5 messages were promotional ones with the prefix “TD”. I was fed-up with these promotional messages and I am just waiting for the day when I would reach the extremities of irritation when I will call them on their given number and will let them introduce to the Saga of wrath. Anyway, coming to 16th message, it was of the lobster (Rupjyoti) conveying about the ticket which needed to be printed, as that damn fellow had forgotten to find the space in his bag for the already taken printout. Finally he missed it.
Meanwhile train had come. It was a fully loaded one whilst there was no space to enter. By the way, one free advice, you all guys need. Take it or leave it. In Kolkata local trains, whenever you have to deal with the crowd. Sorry!! Sorry!! Simply saying crowd will not be accepted, this is BENGALI crowd and Bengali things always walk along with the term called AGGRESSION. So the advice is, whenever you are with this Aggressive Bengali crowd please surrender yourself to the crowd moving towards the desirable direction. Always keep watching your feet, never ever allow your shoes to match with other's feet. That means never try to move your feet in the bus. The chances are that once you lift your foot and land it over someone else’s feet then it will bring you different and unforgettable kinds of miserable situation to your life. Personal experience guys. You never know, when you will get the ticket to the world of aggressive khisti.
Anyways I boarded the train up to DUMDUM, one of the busiest junctions in North Kolkata, not only for local trains but also for Metro trains.
12:40
I entered into the FORUM, ElginRoad. My trip partners were dwelling in the train and they were around 2 hrs late. I had time to kill while Forum had movies to be screened .So we both shook our hands and agreed upon Dum Maro Dum.
14:00
Another 2 hrs and they were still dwelling. So CHALO DILLI.
16:30
Congrats! They reached. They finally reached….BUGGERS…huh!
They were late, exhausted, hungry yet still enthusiastic.
Hari: Shopping!! Shopping!! Shopping and hungry.
Naresh: Calvin Klein!! Calvin Klein and hungry.
Rupjyoti: Hungry
We reached KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to kill our hunger which was continuously nailing our stomach second by second. Although mom had done all her preparation for dinner, still I couldn't handle myself from getting into the school of LICKONOMICS. However, the other three were also damn hungry. And I mitigated my desperateness into them.
17:45
We left for a woodland shop where Hari wanted to buy a pair of shoes.
18:30
We headed for the Metro station
Status: We were getting late and within 45 minutes we had reached to the New Barrackpur Station.
By the grace of Naresh Balaka, one our fellow partner in the trip, who was so enthusiastic about this trip, had brought six days garments for only 3 days. And all his fantasy of being a high profile Fashion freak led to a heavy bag. Because of that bag, he was restricted at the gate of Metro station, as heavy bags were not allowed in Metro trains. Many times I have travelled by the Metro with luggage but I never faced this kind of a situation. I didn’t know what had happened, but it was true that we were all standing outside the Metro station, not being able to board the train just because of that damn heavy luggage of garments. Huh!
Time was 1830 hrs. Train to New Jalpaiguri was at 2200 hrs from Sealdah and only 3:30 hrs was left. Four stranded guys were standing in Park street road. Except for me the rest were new to Kolkata. Anyhow there was no expectation from them and I just kept asking myself - what to do? Any other means other than train will take at least 2 hrs to reach home. My cell was ringing every 15 minutes and it was mom enquiring about the proceedings at my end and where the damn we were? When we will reach home?
Then came the cab driver, Mr. CHOTE LAL GUPTA.
Mr. Chote Lal Gupta, the cab driver was talkative, audacious and had a happy face.
“New Barrackpur Station, chaloge Bhaisahab?” I asked the cab driver.
“Barrackpur, ha bhaisahab chalenge, jaroor chalenge”, he replied back with a great gusto feeling.
“Arre Barrackpur nahi New barrackpur”, I rectified him. He misunderstood NEW BARRACKPUR to BARRACKPUR.
“Ha bhaisahab, sab ek hi hain, ek naya hain doosra purana, kya faraq padta hain?”His enthusiasm was killing me.
“Arre chalo yaar, I will show you where it is?” With all head we hopped in with hopes ringing high in our hearts….
To Be continued..........
11:00
“Sir Ticket ka print-out le lena”. A message popped up on my mobile. My clock went off for the 11th time of the day. In the past 16 hours my cell-phone floated from divert to offline mode because of my affectionate bosses who were so desperate to talk to me. What if I was in leave? What if I didn’t even give a damn about the company? Not at least when I was on leave.
Standing on a railway platform (New Barrackpur Station), while I was waiting for the train to arrive, I took out my cell and switched to General mode.
In no time, the cell which was almost dead for the last few hours started bursting in agony. The continuous bleeping that started never seemed to end. Within a minute 15 messages had appeared on message notification box.
Huh! 16 messages. Sounds good, but I was not so happy as I was supposed to be. Among the 16 messages, 5 were of missed call alerts among which four numbers were from my company. 5 good morning messages - these messages always made me wonder about how someone can be free to spare so much time to forward silly messages right from dawn. Another 5 messages were promotional ones with the prefix “TD”. I was fed-up with these promotional messages and I am just waiting for the day when I would reach the extremities of irritation when I will call them on their given number and will let them introduce to the Saga of wrath. Anyway, coming to 16th message, it was of the lobster (Rupjyoti) conveying about the ticket which needed to be printed, as that damn fellow had forgotten to find the space in his bag for the already taken printout. Finally he missed it.
Meanwhile train had come. It was a fully loaded one whilst there was no space to enter. By the way, one free advice, you all guys need. Take it or leave it. In Kolkata local trains, whenever you have to deal with the crowd. Sorry!! Sorry!! Simply saying crowd will not be accepted, this is BENGALI crowd and Bengali things always walk along with the term called AGGRESSION. So the advice is, whenever you are with this Aggressive Bengali crowd please surrender yourself to the crowd moving towards the desirable direction. Always keep watching your feet, never ever allow your shoes to match with other's feet. That means never try to move your feet in the bus. The chances are that once you lift your foot and land it over someone else’s feet then it will bring you different and unforgettable kinds of miserable situation to your life. Personal experience guys. You never know, when you will get the ticket to the world of aggressive khisti.
Anyways I boarded the train up to DUMDUM, one of the busiest junctions in North Kolkata, not only for local trains but also for Metro trains.
12:40
I entered into the FORUM, ElginRoad. My trip partners were dwelling in the train and they were around 2 hrs late. I had time to kill while Forum had movies to be screened .So we both shook our hands and agreed upon Dum Maro Dum.
14:00
Another 2 hrs and they were still dwelling. So CHALO DILLI.
16:30
Congrats! They reached. They finally reached….BUGGERS…huh!
They were late, exhausted, hungry yet still enthusiastic.
Hari: Shopping!! Shopping!! Shopping and hungry.
Naresh: Calvin Klein!! Calvin Klein and hungry.
Rupjyoti: Hungry
We reached KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) to kill our hunger which was continuously nailing our stomach second by second. Although mom had done all her preparation for dinner, still I couldn't handle myself from getting into the school of LICKONOMICS. However, the other three were also damn hungry. And I mitigated my desperateness into them.
17:45
We left for a woodland shop where Hari wanted to buy a pair of shoes.
18:30
We headed for the Metro station
Status: We were getting late and within 45 minutes we had reached to the New Barrackpur Station.
By the grace of Naresh Balaka, one our fellow partner in the trip, who was so enthusiastic about this trip, had brought six days garments for only 3 days. And all his fantasy of being a high profile Fashion freak led to a heavy bag. Because of that bag, he was restricted at the gate of Metro station, as heavy bags were not allowed in Metro trains. Many times I have travelled by the Metro with luggage but I never faced this kind of a situation. I didn’t know what had happened, but it was true that we were all standing outside the Metro station, not being able to board the train just because of that damn heavy luggage of garments. Huh!
Time was 1830 hrs. Train to New Jalpaiguri was at 2200 hrs from Sealdah and only 3:30 hrs was left. Four stranded guys were standing in Park street road. Except for me the rest were new to Kolkata. Anyhow there was no expectation from them and I just kept asking myself - what to do? Any other means other than train will take at least 2 hrs to reach home. My cell was ringing every 15 minutes and it was mom enquiring about the proceedings at my end and where the damn we were? When we will reach home?
Then came the cab driver, Mr. CHOTE LAL GUPTA.
Mr. Chote Lal Gupta, the cab driver was talkative, audacious and had a happy face.
“New Barrackpur Station, chaloge Bhaisahab?” I asked the cab driver.
“Barrackpur, ha bhaisahab chalenge, jaroor chalenge”, he replied back with a great gusto feeling.
“Arre Barrackpur nahi New barrackpur”, I rectified him. He misunderstood NEW BARRACKPUR to BARRACKPUR.
“Ha bhaisahab, sab ek hi hain, ek naya hain doosra purana, kya faraq padta hain?”His enthusiasm was killing me.
“Arre chalo yaar, I will show you where it is?” With all head we hopped in with hopes ringing high in our hearts….
To Be continued..........
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
HERO vs ZERO
Sometimes............aha!
No “sometimes” this time...
Let’s start with “some other time”.
The repetition of sometimes
Has happened many a times.
Ok let us start with a multiple bang... Do not panic... It’s my bird yaar which is roaring... Yeah yeah, I know what do you want to ask... Roaring....bird?
It is my bird, man! Which always roar whenever I fly...!
Ok now enough with the appetizers and let us come to the main course,
These are not just stories, these are a series of incidents, very simple, and light incidents but these affect deep down my conscience that scratch my ethics and the sense of responsibility, layer by layer...
It started with a drive, when I was driving on the roads of Jharsuguda.
Well before we proceed any further, let me first explain about the road map of Jharsuguda...
Jharsuguda basically divided into five parts
1. BOMBAY SQUARE where I live.
2. Beheramal where my company's office is.
3. BUS stand.
4. Mangal Bazaar.
5. Sarbahal.
You can check these out through Google maps
So all my city or town or emerging metropolitan (as local people used to say) is mainly consisting of these five points which are somewhat collinear not as per definition but they are just on a maiden road.
You can start from point no. 1 and to reach point no. 5, you have to pass through all the other three points while driving through city. Otherwise you can choose the bypass or state highway 10 too.
From Bombay Square to bus stand, it is a 3km stretch on national highway 200.
It is my pleasure to live in such a great place where the national highway is a road of breakers. It can be easily said that the number of breakers in that stretch is higher than the number of breakers in rest of the highway outside the town.
However Jharsuguda is renowned for its speed arrester. From Beheramal to my company, round about 55-speed arresters are there to prevent the drag race between different heavy and light vehicles.I never understand what the hell, municipality or whomsoever concerned, is thinking of it. However, lots of arresters are still in under construction.
These are for decreasing the rate of accident by keeping the vehicles at a slow speed but numerous no. of accidents have already been registered because of the mental illness of municipality and those damn breakers.
Apart from breakers, there are many more interesting facts about Jharsuguda road. From cobblers to vegetable markets to banks to mega marts, any kind of commercial or business sort of thing, are on the same Jharsuguda road. Whatever thing is available in the town, a whole lot is on the road. Jharsuguda’s exploration starts from Sarbahal road and ends up on Bombay Square point.
Moreover, with a great heart, I am keeping each & every encroachment in my liberal mind. I can say that the road is all about two lanes or three lanes, with one and half lane each side. This broad lane shares from bicycle to truck on the same road. One can easily get a view of excellent maneuvering in taking a lead by a lorry from a safari or vice versa in the same road including the encroachments.
Ok let us come to the point.
I will share my three experiences that happened in last week,
First incident:
I was riding in Jharsuguda road with my bird. Road was crowded as usual. With very skillful and hard maneuvering, I was making a passage to pass on. From the opposite direction two children of the age group 7 to 10 yrs were coming. They were playing with each other. All of a sudden the elder one hit the younger one real hard. Younger one lost his balance and fell down on the road. Unfortunately, he fell down just in front of my bike when I was around 20 meters away. I applied both the rear and front breaks as fast as I could. My reflex was so impulsive that when my bike stopped, he was just under my bikel with his neck exactly fixed on my front tyre. It was just a matter of few seconds that would have created the difference from life to death.
Everyone standing out there was stunned, dumbstruck. No words were spoken out for a minute. I was thinking that I will be finished. Public always liked this kind of situation. This was the only chance for them to showcase their rage which was being accumulated for a long time, without any hope of heal. Rage for not having any fun in their life. Rage for being unhappy for any reason. Someone is unhappy because he do not have good job. Someone was unhappy because of family problems. Someone for not having proper lifestyle, someone was sick, someone was poor. They were all frustrated with their livelihood. They wanted to take it out to on anything. I would definitely be their prey once my bike crossed that fallen child, but still the situation was very sensitive. Suddenly a foreigner standing over there started clapping and very soon, others have joined him.
I was the HERO there.
Second incident:
I was riding my same bird in Puri (430km from Jharsuguda). We were on an overnight tour from Jharsuguda to Puri. We had started our journey from Jharsuguda at 1930 hrs and for the whole night, we had been driving around. Next day at 1000 hrs, we were so tired to drive ahead. And it was barely 10 km left to reach our destination point. With lots of hardship we were about to reach there. But to enter Puri we had to pass through a village which was having a road which was lesser than a normal lane. I was driving behind a Bolero. Suddenly the Bolero raised its speed and took a sharp cut. We were driving at a normal speed but unexpectedly a bike jumped in from the front and collided with my right side. My right leg was almost crushed but by all grace of my steel crash guard, my leg was not even graced by a single scratch but my break gave out. On the other side, the collided bike had a couple and a child. They fell down because of the driver who got out of balance. Few scratches and lots of cry as a result were coming out. In no time, the local public surrounded us. In addition, every kind of cursive language was heavenly poured on us. Before we took any step, the crowd came on action already. I was wearing my helmet and the pattering sound was heard. It was their hand which continuously slammed my helmet. Again, by the grace of my helmet, that pattering sound was unable to be converted into slaps. Therefore, for the first time I had come to know of one more advantage of wearing a helmet especially in a crowded place such as a city.
This time I was the ZERO there.
Before I start the third incident....
Many things left those should be consolidated or compiled
Until now, I have described you the story about a zero and a hero...
In both the cases there were no casualties, that is why I am capable to write this just after three days.
From my side if I give a thought on these, the only possible way I can imagine is that in both the cases I was safe.
What if opposite had happened?
What if that boy was crushed by my front wheel?
What if that family got severely injured or any other fatal thing had happened?
Who will return them back? Who will pay those back?
In that case, whether the sole responsibility was on me or would the circumstances would take part?
Every accident that occurs on the road is necessarily someone's false effort, but it doesn't mean that the same guy will pay the price for it. A true roadie or the rider or driver is the one who avoids the consequence of that mistake whether he is responsible or not. It only happens when we stop blaming others and take attentive care of ourselves and all the cautions and possibilities those are coming on the way.
Once gone, that will never be come back. Our recklessness will cause someone’s life more dreaded than hell.
Because here, when one is born, he comes in as an individual only; but, when he dies, he takes many more lives with him.
Ok. So not wasting any more time let’s start with the third and the last story.
Third Incident:
I was walking around in South City Mall in Kolkata for shopping on the day of Valentine,
Mall was decorated with all red and hearts. Each floor was venturing the roaming couples with full romantic mood, though it was Monday (not holiday), still the mall was fully loaded. What to say?......” love is beyond dates and days”.
I entered into a Pentaloon store bought a watch as a Valentine gift to me, by me and went to pay in counter . I saw a Cashier talking to a boy who could not have been more than 5 or 6 years old.
The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.
The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.
Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''Uncle, are you sure I don't have enough money?''
I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.
Finally, I walked towards him and asked him to whom he wished to give this doll to?
Finally, I walked towards him and asked him to whom he wished to give this doll to?
“It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much. I want to gift her for her BIRTHDAY.”
“I have to give the doll to my mom so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.” His eyes were so sad while saying this.
“My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mom is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister...''
My heart nearly stopped.
“I have to give the doll to my mom so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.” His eyes were so sad while saying this.
“My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mom is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister...''
My heart nearly stopped.
The little boy looked up at me and said: “I told daddy to tell mom not to go yet. I needed her to wait until I come back from the mall.”
Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me “I want mom to take my picture with her so that my sister won't forget me. I love my mom and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.” Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly...
I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. “Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''
“OK” he said, “I hope I do have enough.” I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.
The little boy said: “Thank you God for giving me enough money!”
Then he looked at me and added, “I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!''
I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. “Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''
“OK” he said, “I hope I do have enough.” I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.
The little boy said: “Thank you God for giving me enough money!”
Then he looked at me and added, “I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!''
“I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. However, He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.”
I finished my shopping in a very different state from what I had started. I could not get the little boy out of my mind.
I finished my shopping in a very different state from what I had started. I could not get the little boy out of my mind.
Two days after this encounter with the little boy, in the morning, I was snoozing on the bed; gigantic grandpa wall clock had hammered seven bells on continuation. Pop was sitting in the Veranda, was looking so serious in some matter, discussing with his friend. After a few moments mom brought a cup of tea with my favorite dog biscuits (Parle G).
‘‘Why Baba is so serious, what happened?” I asked to mom
Mom was so worried and angry too: ”that’s all because of you''
‘‘Why are you doing like this?''
‘‘Now, what have I done?”, I asked in surprise,Mom astonished me.
''You and your bike, do you ever think of that, how worried we are about you since from the day, you have bought that damn bike?”
Mom’s irrelevant worry made me fuzz and I left the tea in the bed and directly went to the Verandah, asked pop directly.
He handed over me the newspaper, which was two days old and directed towards a particular article.
It was about the bike accident happened two days before, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. Biker had taken a very sharp cut in saving himself. Car got overturned as it had lost its balance. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma.
After then pop showed me the latest newspaper with the relevant article of the same accident
The young woman had passed away.
Picture was clear to me not only from my parent’s side but also about the encounter with the boy. I could not stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, feeling that my life had been changed forever...
The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.
The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.
And in a fraction of a second, a crazy biker had taken all this away from him.
Now, it has been more than 1.5 years since I started riding bikes and trips .I am close to 20,000 kilometers on odo by now. But I have never been more scared on the road than I am today. Though scared is a wrong word to use here, but every time I am back from a motorcycling trip, by seeing others and sometimes with my own mistakes, I discover an ever increasing number of possibilities of killing over selves on the road with just one wrong move
Now, it has been more than 1.5 years since I started riding bikes and trips .I am close to 20,000 kilometers on odo by now. But I have never been more scared on the road than I am today. Though scared is a wrong word to use here, but every time I am back from a motorcycling trip, by seeing others and sometimes with my own mistakes, I discover an ever increasing number of possibilities of killing over selves on the road with just one wrong move
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