Connecting the DOTS

Does it often happen  that you are not sure what to follow ... the sheer logic that keeps popping up in your mind or the clear inclination of your heart ...  you know for sure that you are being pulled to that side where your heart is ..... Nevertheless, I get into that dilemma pretty often and to be honest I am not very happy about it !

Recently I was reading the book “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson and he happened to point out the same things ... the dilemma is always there as if it is never ending .... following your heart may not give you your desired results now , but when you look back at it after  a long time.. I mean after a really long time ... the dots and the picture formed after connecting them would be very clear. I am not sure if I have seen any one in a while who does that >> “following your passion above the common obvious mundane logic”....I have not seen myself do that either..... But is it really worth taking the risk ? Not sure ..but then what are we really even sure about in life. We are not even sure if we will live the very next second of our life...but yet we tend to behave as though we have a whole century to live... I see people taking LIC policies that would pay them crores’ of rupees after 50 years .... I was pretty much perplexed with that idea actually....how sure are you to even live that long that you would tend to invest your hard earned money on some time frame which is so far away from the near future.

Well  leaving aside that , following your heart currently in OUR system definitely affects a whole lot of people... mainly parents and the problem that comes along about how scared they are and how much worried they get ... not that they would not be otherwise. But the comfort zone of everyone is disturbed....and as Indians are famed for...NOTHING OUTSIDE COMFORT ZONE ... the only standalone mantra they have stuck to for years together and anyone who even dreams of one is branded as a coward .. a stupid and so on....

Luckily a couple of days back , I happened to meet a man who was at his 40's and was telling me his tale of life. Got married at the age of 23 with just 1000 rupees in his pocket and no job in hand. He said he was scared but he did take those steps with courage and now when he looks back ; it was the best decision he ever made in his life ... he has the love of his life by his side and he has fathered 2 children with her. I could see in his eyes that looking back now, after 17 years the DOTS do form a beautiful picture. He is able to connect the dots of his past to form a wonderful memory.


I too had a chance to experience a similar but very less inspirational setting. I had decided to head to Goa for celebrating New Year. Every single friend of mine ( family apart - did not tell them ... it was better that way ) persuaded me not to. Reason - " I was going on bike all alone to Goa ".Strangely I got the courage from somewhere as this was one of the craziest things that I had wanted to do since long  - Take my Yamaha for a tough ride. Luckily I returned back safe ;)  from the journey after clocking 1600km on the odometer. Looking back at it (18 months ago) this was one of the best and the most memorable thing that I had done in the year 2011.The dots and oppositions from people seemed very tough then but now looking back the dots are no more there ... they are part of a bigger and more vibrant picture which I cherish to this moment to the fullest!


Lastly , the followingspeech by Steve Jobs was inspirational then and even now !

Pace of a Runner's Mind

......How a 90kg Fat Guy ran 4,000 metres ......

This blog is about my First run .. the Spirit of Wipro Run .. 4k Run

The day started as usual until  I reached Office and Opened my Wipro mailbox to find a community mailer stating about a run named as SPIRIT OF WIPRO RUN  (SOW) ... like any other Wipro'ite I too was curious to find out what this Run was all about.I immediately inquired to my colleagues and they informed me about this annual Run that Wipro organizes for its employees ,  family and friends.

Leaving apart the formal details about the Run .. I happened to glance upon the shorter version of the Run .. which stated that the total run length would be 4,000 metres ..  I just blinked my eyes twice just to be certain ....and it was beyond doubt that the run was indeed a 4k Run ....my Mind just immediately paced downhill wondering if I could ever even run 1k forget about 4k.I looked at the big flab of flesh that had formed around my stomach ...that was a sitting example of my years of hard labor and struggle ...  all the thoughtless things I had consumed ... thanks to all the junk food .... ultimately treating my stomach and body as a Garbage .. to be precise even worse ....which is  usually refereed to by my friends as TYRE / POT STOMACH .... what ever the name be .. i felt bad that i could not even dream about such a run.But a day or 2 later ... i thought why NOT? my mind paced uphill and i decided come what may .. it is my goal to complete the 4k Run.

The first few days since i decided to do the run was filled with complete doubt , fear , inhibitions and total lack of self confidence.Then i discussed this with my Gym instructor who advised me that it was indeed possible.Thanks to google it ultimately  reaffirmed my faith  when i read about a women who ran a marathon after training for it day & night by only eating McDonalds.For the first time I felt happy that eating junk fast food was not bad after all.

Leaving that apart , a training  session was scheduled by Wipro with well known coaches brought in from the best training institutes in the city.... but I was too lazy to travel the 10km's from my home to the training spot.So i decided to take it up myself.First time a sense of responsibility to do and complete something I have not done in my whole life aroused in me.I practiced very hard on tread mill and on the near by grounds to get a feel of the D day.But alas the D day experience was totally different. The fact that I was a slow and steady runner meant more time was taken up in completing the run.I practiced to hit 2km in an average of 45 minutes.But still this was only half the distance of the run and I was sweating and gasping for breath every time I tried to hit 3k.My perseverance level was put to test and as obvious i was failing miserably.The D-day were getting closer and it just added to my woes.Finally I was forced to take up the "What the F*** attitude ??" .. and the day before the D day I had managed to run just 3.25km.As per my new found attitude I decided to take it cool and gave a middle finger to the Nishan who was scared and had loads of inhibitions about the run.


On the D day I woke up late .. just late enough to miss the counter closure time that distributed the orange Spirit of Wipro Run T-shirts.However I was able to convince a co ordinator that I was on time and she ultimately managed to give me the T at the end of the race as she had other duties to attend to now.But I was totally thrilled about the idea as the run was more important to me than the T shirt.

At the start of the Run .... Wipro 'iites in Action

The Run started with a nadaswaram team playing their usual tunes (Which obviously was very very weird Idea  and may have been wipro's attempt at cost cutting !!!) .. Leaving apart the terrible sophomore before the start ... the roads were totally blocked with all armed policemen covering us from either sides .... as though we were a huge entourage of PM ... there were ambulance on stand by in case anyone screwed up ....the run started and I decided to maintain my normal course irrespective of the fact that most of the people along with me ran as though they were in a 100 meter dash.I decided to just let go of those people whom I found later.... panting and gasping for water.However I managed to finish the run in style.My fears and inhibitions had f***'d off by the time I reached the end and I easily managed to cover the 4k run .. thanks to the over enthusiastic crowd who made me feel the run was shorter than expected.

And finally I looked at myself with a sense of satisfaction...!

The whole experience was a  beautiful memory  !

Once I had covered 2km ..  no one was there...Every one was behind !

Post the run ..  a chill out  Session!!

Successful / Jubiliant ME

Our campus !

!! It is not always wise to be wise !!!

Standing your Ground when the world is UP in arms against you !

Standing by your convictions .. standing by what you believe in when the whole world turns against you ...  the responsibility to take ownership of the consequences ... and ultimately you understand that you are the master of your own world.Of course it is wise to take advice but ultimately the decision is yours and yours alone as GOD/NATURE/ONE POWER has given you this life  ..  it is your canvas where you paint the image called life ..... and celebrate it ...  no one knows what happens hereafter ..  it is only one thing that knocks your mind in the death bed ..  are you happy and content with the life you lived ??? It will just take only a second to realize that ..and only you know the answer to that .. only you ... The beauty persists only when you carve out your way on the murky road .. a road of uncertainties ...and then you learn the hard lessons of life .. most of them self taught and self observed ...

May we all be blessed by the power , wisdom and courage to do what will truly be inscribed in our canvas called LIFE.Let us not let fear and inhibitions stop us from touching the canvas.Being wise most of the times  ; sticking to the common road which is safe for sure but would not have your watermark.

Free flow of Nature .... Journey of a biker ...

The Corn plants were there....

They were always there waiting for the Sunshine ..waiting for the days to come.Little did they know that a biker was on his way from a far distant land, as crazy and as wanting to be as free as them.

When he saw them dance to the breeze..he could not go..but was pulled back to stay.. little nay did they know that he was embracing their callous attitude to the oncoming sea of gushing cold air.... he loved to see them dance ... move their flimsy yet strong body to every nuance of the wind.....happily celebrating beauty of life....Here I was seeing them dance and my odometer had just touched 300 thousand meters... even after I had been traveling for more than 5hours...

The biker thought that like the biker the corn plants too had a great life transforming journey so far..a journey in search of a difference .....A journey to experience the differences of life all alone ....the corn plants knew that their end was near and they were so sure about their end that they did not waste even a single day ... The biker wished if we Humans too thought and felt the same way !!!


All of the people passing by in their buses and cars just gazed at me mostly wondering what I was up to..Their obvious reasoning described me as Insane and foolish enough to stand there in that place and write,smile and enjoy the beauty of it... For a commoner passing by this was just a daily routine show .. a show which he rarely even recognizes even if it happens daily... a sight which he had gotten so used to in his life that he had forgotten what a breeze meant....for him it was another casual day of a not so splendid life....

....A Biker's Odyssey ...

 I was driving alone ... it was what I thought for a moment.Then with no time the thoughts breezed my mind that there were Stars too watching over me....I looked up and through my helmet shield I could see the Stars amidst the pitch darkness all around...I was happy to see Stars who stood out strongly and alone , brightly showing themselves without any fear.The fear was only human..as that of mine .... It never is an image of Nature .. Nature is so fearless and Strong..Like the huge trees that stood there when I raced past them,the wind that was blowing on to me without any fear and showing its full force....I was reminded of the might what we are surrounded by...We still have a lot to seek and  get inspired from our real mentor and guide ...."GOD" as some call as .... "Nature" some believe it to be ....."Existence of Evolution" defined by legends .....What ever the name may be, the beauty and strength with which it showed itself was palpable....And all along the pot holes along the roads kept reminding me that I was only a mere mortal and am part of a clan who are not very farsighted and who are riddled with fear and inhibitions.....That was when I woke up to reality.... That I was a traveler who was here to learn,unlearn, relearn the beauty of LIFE...

This was how my 1600km journey started !

How the year 2011 started ... New Year from 2010

That Fateful Day we touched 200kph ...25 Dec'10

Almost a year back .. I was in Doha,Qatar on a short vaccation visiting my parents....and all my friends from school were there too luckily.... and what dawned on 26Dec'2010 was unforgettable....it still lives in me as a memory....

It all started as a usual day .... we friends decided to go out in the evening and celebrate as it was christmas  ... my very good friend NOH's parents had been to India .. so we all reached his house and had some fun .... post that we all decided to go to Wakrah beach ... a beach about 30km from Doha.. NOH told me the road was very good and it is truly a pleasure  to drive ..  and so we decided to go through those newly bulit roads...as soon was reached the road ....it looked as a feast to really good adrenaline rush driving.... yes you guessed it right ... we decided to give our best shot at it ...NOH asked me ; da shall we blast it .. i said of course...and then we zoomed at 200kph .... i was so thrilled .....as this was the first time i was sitting in  any OBJECT that moved at that speed .... it was unbelievably cool ... though our other friend PRA was pacifying us to control our speed/adrenaline rush and drive with some common sense... as usual we ducked him down...laughed at him and asked him to grow up ... the fourth guy in the car with us ..MEEN....whose dad's car it was what we were driving ... also got into mine and NOH's mood and we were having so much fun !!!

And then we decided to hit the gas station .. and when were fillin in, an Arab guy came and asked NOH for his Driving License....and we were shocked ...wondered what his problem was ... but he seemed authoritative !!! .. and we decided to be polite to him and NOH reached for his purse ..and as expected  ... he did not have it .. he had left his purse at home.....This arab guy asked us to take our car to the side and park it..And as soon as we did what he said .. he came and took away the car keys....we were hell shocked ... we thought who the hell was he to do that ...we  were all so clueless as who this mystery man was....but NOH was smart enough to guess that this guy could be from the CID or some govt organization inolved with policing ...

And then we went and spoke to him who was sitting in his land cruiser ... we asked him what was our mistake...and that too we asked in such an innocent way , pretending as if nothing had happened ...  he accused and scolded us for the rash/speed driving without putting the car's head lights ON....

and then it struck on us...shit ! we had not put the headlights.....and then we begged this guy saying we were sorry and so on ..... but with in a few minutes a police jeep arrived and this guy went  and explained the police guy about the situation in Arabic... and none of us there knew Arabic...we  were standing there as dumb heads having no clue as to what the conversation was  between this police and the apparent CID....so we let things take shape....all the while were all hell scared but we were sure of one thing  ...That we were in a BIG BIG MESS......so we just decided to try our best and get out of it .....then things moved pretty quick ....we were taken to police station .. and asked for all documents... and they decided to produce us in court the next day ..but we had to stay there overnight ...i mean  in JAIL ....and not all ..but only NOH as he was driving.....and it really hurt me and MEEN to send him alone in ... me and MEEN thought we should get him out somehow...but we had no clue how to....That day when we returned home without our friend .. it felt so sick ... Me and MEEN did not feel like going home...we went and sat in Corniche for a long time contemplating what had happened that day ... we sure were guilty of pushing it to the edge and getting all of us in trouble .. But then , one thing was for sure ... We did had a lot of fun and the only thing we regretted was not having been able to get our friend out of the police station/jail with us...

And the next day the judge fined him and let him out ...


but what happened that day was a memory that still feels like it happened yesterday...In a day I had experienced FRIENDSHIP , FEAR , ANXIETY and many other UN-NAMED EMOTIONS... what a day it was .....but looking back it feels great to have been with my friends that day and experienced the whole thing !!!!!

I am signing off for now .... But guys, ALWAYS DRIVE SAFE....

!! Travel BUG !! -- I woke up from my DEEP SLUMBER

Someday it feels like life is too short....but those somedays are very rare...most of the time i see myself wondering with loads of empty time...wondering what to do ...and then sleeping for a long time....unknowing how long i sleep .. get up and go have loads of food...then i realize what the f*** ... what am i doing with my life...what i always wanted to do was to do something new ..something great / different ....And then i woke from my deep slumber  ... i love traveling when  it hit me a few months back...all thanks to my best friend...she used to pull me out of my monotonous holidays.....and then i realized it was really fun to travel ..... the best part being able to see and experience new things....

So i decided to take my bike on a ride .... ohh i love my bike ... its a YAMAHA FZ16 .. with a powerful 150cc engine that races to 100kph in just under 15seconds in an Indian road.... and my first drive was to "Singur Dam Reservoir" ...Was a smooth 200km ride (To & Fro) ... most importantly the experience was awesome ... guys, it is always good to trust your intution rather than GOOGLE MAPS ...which I used for this first long distance drive I took up..... i must say google did give me the shortest way but the way was totally riddled with pot holes and scavenged areas ... i aint't sure the scavengers were who? but rather we didn fall into any traps apparently !! the trip and the road (which we took by intution)was great ...especially the roads which we took on the way to the place ( mistakenly we took the wrong turn from google maps) was  great road ... the drive was simply awesome...and the dam was also good...in between we passed through many villages...the REAL INDIA .... and it was pretty different to see many people who were wondering where the hell on earth we were heading To....

...Naturally Beautiful ...

Enroute !

On the way .. just before reaching the Dam

A view of Dam with my Bike

A view of the Dam....

The real source of our GDP .... all the farming happening on villages along  .... incredibly good to breath the fresh air ..... that is os different from the crowded/polluted hitech/metros cities

Thats it guys for this post ...  i shall keep you updated about my next Travels!