Floored by 4x4-ing

Working in the plantations of the winding and densely green environs of Coorg is any jeep enthusiasts dream environment. This dream kingdom do come with its little adventures every once in a while and if you are not very careful the everyday is just another accident waiting to happen.

Being from the city I was pretty confident behind the wheel of any automobile and to boost it pretty cocky about it too... But I must say with a pretty heavy heart that it was disappointing when I heard that I had to undo or unlearn everything I knew about city driving before I got behind the wheel of a jeep.

Stepping into the cockpit of my uncles sturdy yet rugged Mahindra pick-up I felt mighty proud and also felt like there was nothing really that difficult but well that was before I put it in gear. First gear and a little throttle and hey it was like driving bumper cars. The jeep had a mind of its own and thats when realised that what my uncle said was true... I had to learn to drive again!

Follow a few rules and the jeep is your best friend on Tarmac and off it!

1. Drive slowly. This is a torquey engine so the moment you think your feet are peddle friendly back off, ease the vehicle to a decent speed and you really get going.

2. When off the road never ever loose your concentration! Take your eyes off the road and you can guarantee yourself in a ditch! Trust me I know! But the fun part is taking it out of the ditch! Ha ha ha. ( look back and laugh, at that moment you are grabbing for any idea that will help you).

3. Never try to speed your way through slush, always ease your jeep through it. Nurse it and you will come out of it with flying colours. Rush it and again you can guarantee yourself eating dirt, grime and slush!

4. When on four wheel drive alway remember to never ride the clutch! The jeep, like I began has a mind of its own. Just steer and be amazed at the way you overcome obstacles... To know how cross the obstacle and look back at the way you crossed!

5. When carrying its maximum pay load always be sure to drive with care. Slowly and without too much sudden acceleration.

Follow the above simple rules and you will definitely enjoy the joys of going 4x4! Learning from my mistakes and with the patient tutoring from my uncle I must say I was definitely. Floored by 4x4-ing!

Pockets of nostalgia

Being very new to the ever popular city of Chennai everything seems new and well it is also an exercise in getting to know all the umpteen different things that I have heard people harp over and over. To me the city is just another one of those cities that have been extremely popular during the British Raj and yeah the influence has certainly rubbed off on the city, this is quite evident in the architecture… Sadly it’s only the architecture that has the influences of the our European motherland, the people are still the same old same old.

The interesting aspect that I found quite pleasurable is the fact that no matter which locality you are in, in Chennai you always have that one house, shop, building, company, arch etc that seems to have forgotten time. In most cases any of the above said real estate stands in this little pocket of nostalgia, reminding everyone about the days gone by. Each having a story to it and each enriched as the days pass by.

Every day I pass by one of the cities exclusive locales and it’s just lovely to see old house as they jostle for position with sprawling modern bungalows… The modern houses although look fantastic and futuristic it still pales in comparison with the artistic grandeur of the age old bungalows. The intrinsic carvings and the elaborate awnings of the old buildings are unmatchable. The craftsmanship is outstanding. Not that I am biased about the modern way of doing things, but it’s just that the modern has a very artificial feel to it, not being too inviting in execution, not being too warm and comfortable and well very factory-ish if ever there is a term like that.

In a way I can say that we are partly biased to some feelings of nostalgia as it represents a set of memories that we choose to cherish and not let go of. I look at a old hose and think of the grandeur it once had I also stare in admiration at the fact that it is still holding good in these times of change and I applaud the owners for not giving in to greed and helping in maintaining that oasis of memories.

4x4 absolutely floored…

New years day and the jungle what could be a better combination. A trip into the know but yet unknown wilderness of the forests with cousins could only get better. I have often wondered what is it that catches the fancy of people who take their vehicles up steep inclines dotted with rock too mountainous for the ordinary car to overcome. Well the joy of going 4x4 is something that you got to experience first hand and in company as joyous as your family.

Although this is not my first time at it when you are actually at it for the first time after a gap of several years the adrenalin rush you get is superb. There is also the sense of accomplishment that makes you feeling like you have actually conquered something or rather tamed the wild.

Well the 4x4 experience has totally left me floored and looking out for more!!!!

Wave Towers

Travel in India is always fascinating and it also is scope for some very amusing observations. Traveling through some remote areas is even more hilarious when the people you travel with are obsessed with staying in touch. Be it a loved one, a close friend/confidant, friends, works or even casual acquaintances, the wonder called mobile phones have brought the world closer.

The urge to contact becomes even more frustrating when you accidentally receive a message asking to call immediately. Wondering what the emergency is, up goes your hand with the little wonder of mobile connectivity(the mobile phone). Strange is the sight of a person trying very desperately to catch a single wave and even stranger is the sight of the frustration the person exhibits once the couple of seconds of connectivity passes by!

The world has advanced quite a bit I must say from the era of land lines to high speed and advanced communications. But when we become addicts to the marvels of technology it sure provides a sight.

Recently on my trip to the lovely coffee hamlet of Coorg instead of the usual and overpowering aroma of the coffee plantations it was the hilarious sight of people atop roofs that caught my senses. Driving through the twisty roads is enough to grab one’s attention but the stranger sight of silhouettes on roof tops was a urge too irresistible to ignore.

Stopping at a hilltop and looking down at a retiring town I couldn’t but wonder how many of us have become slaves to communication. (Well for those of you who are wondering am I against communication I assure you I am not. I to have very so often become a slave to the above syndrome). On top of almost every house there were youngsters moving about in a very co-ordinated dance form trying to catch that one direction that provides an undisturbed communication channel.

Watching this dance of human wave towers is fascinating as it also brings about reactions of happiness, anger, frustrations and accomplishment. Thank god for the reactions otherwise we would have been reduced to rather strange mobile towers!

Relief

The feeling of relief never felt more clearer with an experience I had of late in the dusty hilly area of Madikeri. The town in itself is bustling with tourist activity, activity to the extent the town is able to cope up with. The terrain like all hilly towns is with a lot of inclines and sprinkled to it is the over flow of traffic on tiny roads.

Tourism apparently is the reason for the congestion but I hardly fail to understand what’s it that drove all these people out here! There is hardly anything but a few old buildings worthy of tourist status and even those buildings have been converted to government offices.

A meeting with a really close friend took me there after a lot of hurdles and potholes. Reaching the city, I rush to the spot I thought I decided to meet the person. Not seeing the person there I try to call but the electronic voice which is the source of resentment in the youth of today electrnically and without emotions informs that the number you are trying is currently switched off. Well as if it is any consolation the voice also asks if you want to leave a voice sms and proceeds to give directions as to how you can do so.

Well when you are in a fix as to what to do and how to proceed you tend to rush about town searching frantically. Up, down, left, right and even strangers become friends when you are in the maddening search of the person. You befriend a lot of people you normally wouldn’t even talk to or rather notice, you observe a lot more of the place and also get to visit every damn tourist destination the town has to offer.

The tension rising with every step, your ears hot with the over heating but useless mobile phone, your brain trying hard to conjure up scenarios to both extremes the good and the bad… the bad usually over powering the good and that I turn leading you to overlook a lot of thing you normally would have looked into.

Then out of the blue I get a call from an unknown number. Since I have given my number to a couple of strangers today I call back and was immediately calmed by the voice on the other end. Although the voice through the other end was angry, frustrated and with enough force to send shivers down my spine, strangely today it felt totally relaxing and soothing.

The feeling of relief is a something that you really don’t get to savour very frequently very often but today it was the only one that mattered the whole day. Thankyou.

Glutton Guillotined…

A traveler traveling to a new place always loves to sample the local cuisine. Well if local cuisine is not something that is new then the next on the list is the favored local hangout. Well riding out on a Sunday morning just for the heck of it and for the pleasurable company, I did not think that it would turn out to be a food lover’s delight. The route to the eatery was pretty straight forward. The quote someone once made famous came to mind. It goes like this all roads lead to Rome, I am pretty sure you must have chanced upon the saying at least once in your lifetime and that basically summed up the road that lead to this quaint little joint. From NH4 once you enter Pune keep going straight and as you hit a T junction take the right and the immediate left straight down takes you to one of Pune’s favourite burger joint, Burger King.

The interiors are not at all what you expect it to be. The name burger king conjures up in your mind images of a posh swanky joint, well apparently not for the regulars. It’s a place you come to chill out not make a style statement. The seating is placed in between greenery and they have tried at creating a more casual ambience but it leaves room for more. Standing in line to place my order my eyes are drawn to a very strange and unique signage stuck near the cash register. The sign proclaimed;

If you do not have 10 – 30 minutes
to spare for a burger you have come
to the wrong place. We know that
you know of places that deliver a
burger in under a minute
but we do not do so
as we do not believe in a
“Quickie Burger”.

Intriguing in itself you tend to wonder aren’t they a bit to arrogant to ask you to give them nearly half an hour of your time for a burger. Well with this thought in mind I place my order of Jumbo beef Burger, Beef steak Burger(yep you read right Beef! Wow!), chicken surprise and an order of fries. This I must say is gluttony to the core. I show the cashier where I am seated and I return to my friends. Sitting with them I realize that the sign I read made a lot of sense. Well they just want to make you have a good time with your friends or with whoever you have chosen to come. In the busy lives we live an half hour for burger with good company is time well spent.

Well the burgers eventually arrive and my eye literally stopped short of popping off. The size of the burger was hmmm large is too small a word, it gigantic! Never in my entire life, although too short have I come across such a large burger and it’s cheap. This monstrosity of carbohydrates proteins and fat comes at just Rs. 50/- I don’t think I saw anything more than Rs. 60/-.

Well the order just didn’t get finished but its sure did satisfy the starving stomach of hungry traveler but the underlying message is that the message the joints policy indirectly helped in some good times with lovely food and enjoyable company. A glutton guillotined with a burger that wasn’t a quickie.

It’s not rush hour???

Squirming, wriggling, packed, pushed, nauseated, bruised, comical, sleepy and alert. These are not just some random feeling evoked or remembered but are in fact the feeling experienced in a short span of a simple ten minute ride. Surprising nah? Well apparently not so for the locals here. Their everyday lives start and end the same hence they hardly feel the need to complain. Hmmm I guess some of you would have already guessed what I am talking about.

Recently I got to watch an ad on TV for a popular travel luggage manufacturer, the ad showed a foreigner getting into the local train in Bombay and the hardships he face during his short travel, the way he gets separated from his baggage and both he and the baggage actually undergo very similar treatments in terms of travel and abuse but in the end when he finally gets down he is miraculously reunited with his baggage. Ads like that usually tend to get an exaggerated thought in the minds of people, people who like me are a little pessimistic and quite often than not proclaim,”come on! This isn’t reality”.

Boohooing the very thought even before coming to terms with reality is pretty much the route we take most of the time. Well ever since I came to this city I always wanted to get into the essence of what I thought was the mainstream of Mumbai travel, the local train. Ask any bombayite or rather Mumbaikar as they call themselves now his preferred mode of transportation for commuting in the city and the answer you are bound to receive is the train. The opportunity never actually presented itself until a few days back when a friend of mine suggested that we take the train back from work. Apprehensive I thonk would have defined my thoughts at the very idea. First being the rush hour and secondly the fact that I would have preferred the bus to the train just for the convenience.

Thinking it would not be nice to chicken out on the prospect of experiencing the thrill of the train ride at rush hour, I agree to it and off we walk to the Khar railway station. Procuring a ticket for Rs. 4/- we head to the platform and the electronic display informs us the next train to Andheri is due in five minutes. My friend takes this time to point out a few necessary things to be kept in mind for the travel. He points out that the backpack should be placed up front and not behind you. Pretty soon we are like two pregnant penguins waiting for the train. This again for a few reasons one no one steals from you and two you are assured your belonging are in the train with you while you travel and not experience a different trip for the length of the journey. This piece of advice is taken into consideration as it makes sense. The next dialogue brought out the; what do you mean expression in me. He said that after you board the train turn to the direction and move to the other side of the bogey.

As he was saying this the train rounded the corner and was entering the platform. The train came in packed with at least ten people hanging out of each compartment and I was like okay may be they are wanting to get down. The train halts and the number of people who got down were in the range of hmmm… TWO!!! My friend shouts out get in the train is free. Perplexed by the statement I look transfixed at the compartment which is packed with people. My friend and I push into the already full compartment that is apparently empty to my friend and must say the experience was quite enjoyable. Finally I get to push, stomp, glare, and actually float all at the same time without any complaints from other people. Apparently this kind of a behavior is normal!

Hearing this the only dialogue that came into my head was a line made famous by my favourite comic character Obelix. He kept saying these Romans are crazy!!?!!. Now it was my turn to say these mumbaikars are crazy! No offence meant by what is a guy supposed to think of someone who considers being pushed, stamped and abused normal behaviour?

Once inside the train I try my level best to stay in one place but to no avail. I am literally pushed in the direction I am standing and I must say I am thankful for heading so coz my platform apparently came on the opposite side of the compartment. The only thing I am thankful for right now is that the journey is going to last all of 10 minutes and then it’s time to alight from this compartment that has now come to resemble a tin of sardines. All this while I was conversing with my friend who was standing behind me, upon not hearing from his I turn around only to find a total stranger staring back at me.

God he must have wondered what’s up with this guy! Not seeing my friend anywhere near me I continue on getting pushed to the other side of the compartment and I keep asking the passengers in front of me if they too are getting down at Andheri station! Some of them say yes, some say no. Upon nearing Andheri station the shove from the back increases and I am already heading for the door. To my dismay I look ahead and see that I am headed for disaster as there in front of me right in the middle of my path stood and iron bar separating the doorway into two. I close my eyes knowing of the fate that awaited me but to my surprise I land on the platform jostling for my footing as other passengers from Andheri board the train taking them home.

My first experience in the main artery of Mumbai's commute finally over, all that I can manage with a squeak was it was not rush hour!