Harry Potter... Who?

"Harry Potter... Who?". This is exactly the question I asked to my friend in college when he told me that a new movie called "Harry Potter-Chamber of secrets" was released in theaters. I asked my friend - "Isn't this a kid's movie? Just some special effects and nothing else right?". He stared at me as if I had made a crime in asking that question. He did not bother to answer me on that, instead he took out a book called "Harry Potter-Sorcerer's stone" from his bag and handed over to me. I always thought this Harry Potter was a movie made for kids and was also surprised to see that the movie was also based on book series with same name. I was also not a kind of novel reader at that stage. First thing after seeing that book, I opened up last page to see how many pages do I have to go through to finish this book. It was 236.

Somehow I made up my mind of spending some time on this book to see what is so special about this guy called Harry Potter. Opened up and started to read the book. Into second chapter and somehow the book had got over me completely. It suddenly turned out that I had actually started enjoying to read this book. Slow and steady read turned into a swift interesting read and within a week (I know its a bit long, time but for myself, this was a new record) I had finished up the first part of the series. On same weekend, some of us friends got-together and watched the first movie in a original dvd. The concept of DVD was new then. In the world of floppy drives, the word DVD made you raise your eyebrows and just say WOW. Naturally we were all excited about watching the movie on a DVD. It turned out to be quite a wonderful experience of watching the first part on DVD and since the book was read recently by every person there, we broke into discussions about some incidents which were not covered in the movie etc etc.

I had started becoming quite interested in this series now. I heard that that part-5 of the book had been recently released. I was still on one. Immediately the next day, I bought part-2 from my friend and started reading that. couple of weeks time and the part-2 was done and dusted. Then moved on with the third. The third was slightly complicated and the series had just moved into a teenage phase. Suddenly I realized this series was just not for kids anymore. We also booked tickets for this third movie when it got released. I had the pleasure of going to this movie with some friends who had not read the third book yet. As proud as I was about knowing the story of the movie, I had to explain lot of things from movie to my other friends. It turned out that I explained more than watching the movie.

Then came the fourth book which changed every view in me about this series. The fourth part was just so amazing and interesting that I could just not let the book down even for a minute. This was the book I finished the quickest with my reading sessions extending until 3am and I had to forcibly put the book down to get some sleep. Somehow I was turning into a novel reader now. Was getting to know some new authors like Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon etc. Then came the fifth book. The slowest of the lot and the most boring on the series. Somehow dragged it for couple of months and finally completed that one too.

The sixth part was still another 6-8 months away. Everyone were waiting for that. When it came out, everyone in our class was eager to get their first shot at the book. Finally I got my chance after couple of week's wait and this was somehow again got the interest back in the series. Quite brilliant and a shock in the end which shook the whole basis of the series. This book induced few questions which were supposed to be answered in seventh part but the concept for seventh book was clearly laid out. Everyone were just eagerly waiting for the release of seventh book and it was an year away from release. When release date came near, I was so excited that I had pre-booked the book to be delivered on first day of the release. Indeed I got the book delivered on first day of the release and immediately started into it. Couple of week's time and I was finished with the series. Suddenly it felt so over. No more books, no more wait only waiting for further movie releases in this series.

So here I am coming out of the movie theatre after watching the final chapter of the Harry Potter. Somehow it was all over now. No more movies as well in the series now. Thinking back at how I had a belief about the series being for kids and later got me dragged so much into it that I had to pre-order the final part of the series. One year was all that changed my view about reading novels. Somehow I started feeling that reading a book was much more wonderful feeling than watching the movie. People say "A picture is worth a thousand words", but this series taught me that I would rather go for more words than picture. I had never thought about reading novel but here I was after completing 7 books which started my hunger of reading novels. A new change, still continuing to read other novels but none as exciting as the time spent on this Harry Potter series. Now I would never have to say "Harry Potter... Who?" because I know that he is the one who turned me into a novel reader....!!!!

Are there any silly questions?

"Tring, Tring", the bell was ringing in my head or was it my phone ringing. Yes, it was my phone ringing but why am I not picking it up. Slowly, I open one eye and look at my phone. It is still ringing. Slowly I move my right hand towards phone and hold it near my right ear and speak "Hello, who is it?". "hey its me, your friend. Did I wake you up?". Its my office friend, suddenly I think I am probably late for office and open both my eyes. I look at the time, its 5am in the morning. So I am actually not late to office but my friend is really very early in calling me. I think do I really need to answer his question?. My mind answers "What else do you think I will be doing at this time".

With great control on my anger, I reply back politely - "Oh no.. not at all. Whats the matter? How come you called me so early in morning?"
He replies - "I was just heading towards Mysore. Wanted to know if the road near your house which connects to kanakapura road, is it proper? Last time it was under repair".
Me( Oh, do you think I keep track of all roads around my house on weekly basis? ) - "Hmm... Ah... I think it should be proper by now. Its been a long time I went that side. You better take the longer route."
my friend - "Oh yes. Thanks a lot man. You continue to sleep now. Will talk to you later. Bye for now".

So I keep the phone. With my sleep gone, I get up and think about the incident. Was the first question really genuine and was the answer from my side really mattered? I mean, obviously my friend DID wake me up and he knew that too, still he went on to ask the question as a formality. To continue with the same formality procedures, I did answer with a NO, but deep inside, both of us knew what went on. Also even if I had answered him with an YES, I think he would still have continued with his next question with a "sorry for waking up" statement.

Scene - 2 -

Recently I was watching the IPL final on TV. Suddenly my mom asked me "Which team has the highest score in IPL?". I replied - "Chennai - 246 or something".
mom - "Who won that match?"

I stared at my mom. Was that really an intentional question? My team was already getting thrashed on TV, over top of that do I really need to answer this question?. My mom was still looking at me and probably was expecting an answer too. Wasn't that obvious if Chennai has scored highest total, then naturally they did WIN IT. Yes, there are other rare conditions, if it rained and the duckworth-Lewis method was applied, but that would not be the case in 99% of such matches and I do not think my mom was thinking about that either. I just held on to myself and explained her the logic, if Chennai had not won that, then some other team would've got the highest total right?. Relief atlast. Obviously my mom got the hint and got the answer too. I continued to watch the finals where my team was getting beaten by same Chennai side.

Scene - 3 -

I got some news from a family friend. I told this to my wife. She was pretty excited and asked me "Who told you this?". Natural instinct, I thought. Obviously when some news is important people tend to ask the source. I told her yeah, that person told me. Immediately she asked back - "Did he message you or call you or email you?"

Now, here is a question again which I tend to think, should I answer. I mean how would the answer to this question make any difference to the news. I held on to silence for a while and really wanted not to answer this, but my wife peppered me with same question for the next 5 mins. I really ran out of patience and told her that it was through an email. She felt relieved and did not bug me any further. Looking happy she went away for other work. I really wondered, if that answer really was so important?

So here I am, still not conclusive about the silly questions? Are there really silly questions where answers really do not matter and yet we continue to ask them in our day to day life? I really think, yes since it has become a part of our life. Whats life without being a bit silly after-all. Have you guys gone through such stuff too?

Finally ending the blog with one from my side - "Did you guys like the above blog?" (Never mind to answer this...!!!)

--END--

Chakde India

The whole Indian team is watching chakde India on a big screen on the eve of a big knock-out match in world cup to keep themselves relaxed and get some inspiration from the movie. The coach of the Indian cricket team (Gary) moves out for some reason. After sometime a watchman comes and tells Sehwag something in his ears. Sehwag gets up and goes out to the cricket ground. There he sees Sachin standing and waiting.

Sehwag - "Hey Sachin, why did you call me here now?"
Sachin - "Hey, I did not call you, it was you who called me"
Sehwag - "Why would I call you when watching a nice movie with others?"
Gary (comes out of shadows) - "I have called you guys here"
Sachin and Sehwag - "Why?"
Gary (Taking a deep breath) - "Tomorrow we are going to lose the big match"
Sachin and Sehwag (looking at each other in surprise and back to Gary) - "What do you mean? Have you fixed the match?"
Gary - "No, but we would lose the match because of you two"
Sachin and Sehwag(Looking perplexed) - "Why do you think so?"
Gary - "Because you two have been playing so well at the top and giving good starts for the team. With such good starts, our middle order has not even had any decent match practice. Also due to your good starts, the target is so high for oppositions, that our bowlers get relaxed and bowl as if they have already won the match.This has made our bowlers forget how to bowl under pressure. You know when you two go out into middle to bat, our batsmen do not even bother to pad up because they all know that you two do not get out so easily. They do not even turn out for batting practice sessions since they seldom get a chance to bat. The fielders field as if they have all the runs in world to defend and dont care if they just leave aa couple of boundaries. They do not understand the importance of every single run unless the match comes to a very close finish. It would be too late then to realize. One match if you two get out soon, then the rest of the team will not be able to cope up with the pressure. However there is one problem which is critical. Running between wickets from you two."
Sachin and Sehwag - "Yes, Gary. We are working to improve upon that".
Gary - "You guys always start hitting boundaries at will and when it comes to last couple of deliveries in an over, you guys try to retain strike by taking singles. Do you think the opposition captain/coach are fools to not notice this clear strategy from you two? They can keep the field out for first 4 deliveries and then bring the fielder IN with last two deliveries."
Sehwag - "You tell this to Sachin. The crowd always cheer louder when he is on strike even tough I give a bright start with boundaries. Also he is the one who takes quick singles with couple of deliveries left."
Gary(to Sehwag)- "So are you planning to not respond and get him run out instead?. This is exactly what the opposition captain wants too. And you Sachin, you have seen all these in your 20 years of cricketing experience, why do you still go for those quick singles in last two deliveries when you can take some more time and give Sehwag some strike too".
Sachin (looking timid) - "I... I never did it on purpose, it was just pure instinct in me, that urges me to keep the strike and get more and more runs for the country."
Gary(With full feelings and looking sad) - "You guys... you guys do not know how heavy the burden of defeat in world cup big matches are. I have been through this in the 1999 world cup when my mate lance and donald could not get one run which costed us the cup. The burden of that defeat is still lingering in the hearts of millions of people in my country even today. I do not want the same to happen with this team here. So how you want to play, you guys decide. I am going to dhoni to discuss about our other strategies for tomorrow's big match."


**** Gary leaves and joins the other team members who are still watching the movie ****


Sachin and Sehwag look at each other and Sachin speaks out - "I have been playing cricket for more than 20 years now and I am hungry for more runs. Since this would probably be my last world cup, I would still thrive to make runs for myself and my country and do everything right to win the cup for my country. I will also definitely be the top run-getter in this tournament."
Sehwag - "I am the leading run getter in this tournament now. Even I will see to it that I keep my position as top run getter in the tournament. Also what are you trying to prove to me by being top run getter?"
Sachin - "I dont want to prove anything to you, I just want to prove it to the people of my country who again and again point fingers at my calibre to win matches even after giving them so many centuries and so many victories. I want to show them what a single man can do if he is hurt by his own people. I just want to prove it to other people out there..."
Sehwag - "Oye, dont worry, even I will see who will point fingers at you. We will together score as much runs for the team as for the country, let other team members support us or not."

Both of them shake hands and move towards the team members. In the background - title track of Chakde India is going on.....
[Hoping India to win the world cup this time... not just for Sachin, but for his wonderful career which has entertained for more than 20 years now.]

Another eventful start for new year - 2 -

Missed the first part? - Click Here to read the first part.


So the new plan was again laid out. It was time for lunch. Then we would first search the batteries in this mall and then take the car and go to bus stand to drop my mumbai cousin and finally retire to home sweet home. It sounded good only if things got placed as we thought. We had our lunch in food court of that mall and then asked some person if he can guide us to some shop where we can get the things we are looking for. He told us to go to Fizz, a photo shop on 3rd floor. Excited about getting the autocop batteries so soon, we ran to that place only to find out that he did not have that stuff. Again we asked him to guide us for next one, and he promptly showed us the Staples on 5th floor. We had to again climb two more floors just to see more disappointment. Then the same process continued until we were guided out of the mall.


Outside there was a huge stationery shop. I went in and asked him if he can tell us where we can find any car showrooms. This was our yet another master plan. Find nearest car showroom and he would surely have autocop batteries with him. That guy correctly guided us on next road, telling there was a skoda showroom. Hopes came back, yet again we hurried towards that showroom and yet again he did not have autocop batteries. Well, actually the showroom had only one car on display as well and looked like a deserted place. Then we continued along the same road to find Chroma. This was another huge electronic and electrical items showroom. We rushed in and showed him the autocop device and asked for batteries. He said he has those batteries. Aaah... Relief atlast. We looked at each other and gave a sigh of relief praising the whole showroom. That guy came up within 2 mins with a round button batteries in his hand. I told him, these are not the batteries we are looking for. To show him the kind of batteries I was looking for, I did not have a screw-driver to open the autocop device and hence started explaining him. After explaining the whole structure of the batteries in my device, that guy just said "I am sorry sir. We do not have those batteries here."


We came out of that showroom, now cursing the showroom saying why do they have such a huge one if they cant keep such small batteries in their stock. Then couple of electronic shops we asked and the result was still negative. Finally I was thinking it would be still worth waiting for those 2 long minutes even if it means avoiding stares from passing people muttering angry curses at us. Then one last try, we saw a small watch repair shop who was sitting by footpath. As soon as I asked him about batteries, he said he will get it in 5 mins. He asked us to look after his small shop and went off to get batteries. Finally here we were, waiting for the 5 mins to get over soon and ticket to home sweet home. After around 25 mins of wait, we still did not see that person back. Now the wait got a little frustrating and with the heating sun above our head, it was not easy.


Couple of more minutes and we saw that guy running and coming towards us. He had probably realized by now that it was well over 5 mins which he had committed to us. But more than the time spent there, I was looking to hear those magic words "I GOT IT" which would mean we can be home in no time. Finally he came towards us, my fear increased and suddenly it happened. He took out those batteries from his pocket and said those magic words. Smiles all around. He charged us 100 bucks which I knew was lot more than the cost of batteries, but I was in no mood to argue since he had got us what others in big malls and showrooms could not. At this moment the batteries seemed to be priceless. We grabbed the autocop device now loaded with new batteries and hurried towards the mall parking lot. Once I saw my car, I proudly removed the autocop device in my hand and clicked the unlock. "Beep beep" car shouted, which meant that we can enter the car and drive out.


Feeling good of myself, we drove out directly to bus stand. Saw my mumbai cousin to her Mysore bus and came back to parking lot in bus stand. So excited I was on finding the new batteries, I clicked unlock twice. "Beep beep" - Car shouted twice. It was sweet to hear those beeps now and finally drove back to home to end yet another eventful day which cannot be forgotten.


Important lessons learnt. Eventough the batteries last for over a year, when it goes out, it does not even warn. So now I have spare batteries in my car dashboard box. Ofcourse I do have a spare screw-driver too...

[THE END]

Another eventful start for new year - 1 -

It seems to have become a habit now to have something eventful worth remembering for the new years. Well this time, unlike last year, not exactly on a first day of new year, but on first week of the new year.

Very much like last year, this time too we had planned for a movie(TRON 3D) to start new year with a bang. Some new entries to the family were available to join us for the movie. Me and my wife would be joined by my Bangalore cousin and his would be( Joining our baccha gang for first time ), then mumbai cousin who was doing her training at Infy Mysore and had been to Bangalore for weekend, and finally a special entry my Sirsi cousin who is yet another guy working at Infy. Finally we were six people altogether. Plan was to watch movie (morning show), and then me and my wife would drop my mumbai cousin to main bus stand from where she can go to Mysore, ofcourse after having lunch in that mall. My Bangalore cousin would take his would be and my Sirsi cousin to his place hence would not be joining us for lunch. So it was all set. Me, my wife, mumbai cousin and Sirsi cousin set out in my car towards the mall where we would be joined by my Bangalore cousin and his would be.

As usual for any movie, I did hurry up the folks to get ready soon and with no traffic on sunday early morning, we were at the mall 45 mins before show timings. I got the usual stares from my wife for getting there so early along with a stare from my mumbai cousin as well. I was spared from this stare from my Sirsi cousin since he was new to this role. I had to return back a short nervous smile to both ladies to cool them down. Finally my Bangalore cousin with his would be also arrived 15 mins before time and in next 15 mins we were inside theatre waiting for the movie to begin.

What followed for next 2 and half hours was amazing and due to 3D effect, it looked much better. With a great satisfaction of having watched a wonderful movie, we started moving towards our parking lot since my Sirsi cousin had to take his bag from my car and leave with Bangalore cousin. As soon as we reached my car, I took out my car key (Autocop) and clicked on the Unlock button. **Nothing happened**. I again clicked **Nothing yet**. Then I saw a small red light flashing on my autocop device. "Oh no, this cant be happening now" - I thought within myself realizing the problem. I knew immediately that my device had run out of batteries and by default it can only lock the car. If I use my normal key to unlock the car, then the autocop siren will shout loud. I could now sense the bewilderment on the faces of my cousins. I explained them the situation as not to worry, we have to just find a battery and replace in my device to get it working again. But internally I was wondering where the hell would I be able to find the battery now.


There were really two choices now. One - search for new batteries, two - just use the manual option to unlock and let the autocop shout. I knew it would shout for a period of exactly 2 or 3 minutes and then stop, but then that would be a very embarrassing situation for us. Those 2 mins span would be the longest I would have spent in my entire life. This was the time I requested my brain to think wisely and come up with a sensible solution, but it promptly rejected my request and started to go haywire. Spending those 2 long minutes did not seem to be a good idea now and hence I decided to go for option one which is to search for batteries. Before that, my Sirsi cousin's bag had to be removed from car. Due to the current circumstances, I came up with a master plan to get that bag out. It was on the front seat and I knew how to disable autocop for my boot door. I asked my mumbai cousin if she can climb from boot door into front seat and get the bag. She promptly agreed and then I disabled the boot door autocop, she did her best to get herself to the front seat and finally succeeded in getting the bag. Tough it looked like a very good master plan accomplished, a sensible decision would've been to just open door manually, take the bag out and close the door. The autocop would've shouted for few seconds anyway. My mumbai cousin did not have to go through the trouble of getting to front seat from boot door. But then master plans are always like that right...!!


Then my Bangalore cousin, his would be and Sirsi cousin went on their way. We had our own mission of finding the new batteries for my autocop device. We set out on our quest inside the mall but before that we had a main thing to accomplish. **LUNCH**. We were feeling very hungry, so I suggested we better have lunch first and then carry on with our quest.

To be continued... Click Here for the continuation.

Movie - Tees Maar Khan - My Review

Here it was finally, after lots of hype and tv appearances, finally the actors of the movie Tees Maar Khan would make their first appearance on the big screen. Me and my wife were right there on this first day first show of this movie believing that if we wait for the reviews, we might probably skip watching this movie in theater. To say the least that was our expectations from this movie. Afterall its a farah khan movie. But with houseful crowd mostly filled with college students, we were pretty excited after all the hype surrounding this movie with a "Cant wait to watch" attitude. Few whistles started for the first ads which were now playing on the huge screen. Then finally the time came when the sponsors list of the movie started followed by a wonderful title track of the movie. The title track is catchy and well sung by none other than the talented Sonu nigam. In one of the promos, they had shown that Sonu had provided 8 different voices in this title track. I could not figure out more than 3.

The title track has a neat animation with a baby portrayed as the lead role of movie doing some hip-hops which was good. Then the movie starts with the theme of some anticipated train robbery of goods worth 500 crores narrated by the commissioner of police to his deputies about the 3 people who can possibly rob out of them 2 are already serving in prison. So without any rocket science involved, the one left is Tees maar khan. The scene shifts and the hero enters with a title music track. Since the movie starts with this exciting topic of train robbery, I was hoping that something amazing would be following in the movie, but nothing of that sort happens.


Then in next 15 minutes, the time comes when the lead lady of the movie enters to the ear-deafening shouts from the crowd to much awaited song of the movie "Sheila ki jawani". The whole song hums admist the wild whistles and roars in the theater. Another 10 minutes and the crowd roars again for the special appearance from Salman khan. Then its all over. What follows in the movie is just the motions of actors moving here and there for the much anticipated train robbery which you wait and wait and when it comes, you dont even feel that the scene passed by.


I would suggest that you can just walk out of the movie theater as soon as the song "sheila ki jawani" ends. The dialogues are lame and the supposedly comic scenes just turn out to be nonsense comedy to say the least. Coming to the actors, Akshay kumar is good in his acting and dialogue delivery, but he alone cannot carry the hopes of a over-hyped movie. The lead lady Katrina is just a doll in the movie and used only for the glamour quotient in the movie and for songs (Ofcourse, she does not have to do anything with her acting skills). Akshaye khanna is wasted in a ridiculous high profile actor role in the movie and he does a good job of his over-acting in the movie. Rest of the cast has nothing to do in the movie apart from running here and there with the lead actor. I personally cannot recall any scenes that are outstanding in the movie which are the "Watch-out" types. In the end, a very silly movie and a time-pass (or time-waste) movie. It could've been much better as far as I think of it. Anyway the least said the best for this movie. A total slapstick comedy movie with no story, no stand-out scenes, no good dialogues and no performances. If possible, my humble advice is to skip this movie. Afterall its a farah khan movie.

Road to Ooty - Story of 36 hair pin bends

"Hey. There are two ways to go to Ooty. One is the shortest and just 36kms from the deviation near masinagudi safari cross. But beware that shortest route is very steep and has lots of hair pin curves. Your car being santro should be able to make it easily, but lesser cars do not. Also traffic is less there since buses dont ply on that route because of steepness. Anyway happy journey". These were the words of advice given to me by my friend in office. Now those exact words were ringing in my mind when we had just started our journey towards Ooty from Mysore. Unaware of this risky road ahead, my wife beside me was pretty excited about the whole journey. I never dared to spoil her enthusiasm too (For now). Somehow I had got the feeling that I will be directed towards that short route itself instead of a nice long relaxing alternate route. My adventurous mind was wanting me to take that hair pin road but my heart was thinking otherwise. Finally it came down to that safari cross where we saw a sign-board showing Ooty direction and mentioning it as 36kms away. I felt somehow that this was leading to that risky road and soon after my fear was coming true. The road was clear with no heavy traffic, infact very rarely we could see another four wheeler passing by. I had seen lot of such mountain roads before so I thought this would just be another of such types. Being confident of making to the top of hill, I went forward.

Couple of minutes later I could see some sign-boards of caution like "drive slowly", "accident zone", "Hair pin bends ahead" and "Steep curve ahead". Then finally a big board read "36/36 hair pin bends". Looking at the board, I could make out that there would be 36 hair pin bends ahead and Ooty was around 18 kms away now. First couple of hair pin bends were just like any other normal ones which I had seen lots but then when the third one was passed, I could feel some fear within myself. I thought "the coming hour does not seem to be an easy one". Eventough I was beginning to feel nervous now, I could not show that nervousness to my wife who had probably realized by now about what lies ahead. She was sitting pretty stiff now. The small chats here and there had come to a complete standstill now. With the cool silent environment outside, there was a nervous silence inside our car now.

By this time we had crossed another couple of hair pin bends and the board now read 31/36. My car engine was roaring now toggling between first and second gears, but I could not be any nice to my car because of the situation we were in now. The left hair pin bends were really scary only because they were so steep that you could not see if any vehicle is coming from the other side. But the vehicles on the descent were really helpful. When they notice upcoming cars, they used to stop until we completely cross the hair pin bend. Guess usually thats one of the nice highway disciplines among cars when driving on such difficult roads which is seldom missing in our cities.

When the board read 18/36, there was a bit of relief since we had passed halfway now. I could see my wife still stiff beside. To release some nervousness, I casually asked her to take some photographs of the scenery outside. To this she just shouted back saying, "Just look ahead and drive, dont talk please". The situation was just worse than I had expected. The roads seemed good now and my confidence of making it to the top was back eventough my car was still roaring admist the foggy mountain. In my second attempt to cool her down, I asked her, "You have been on scarier rides in wonderla and other amusement parks on which I dont even dare to go, why are you feeling so scared now?". For this she just plainly and truly replied that "Are baaba, those rides get over in couple of minutes and we still have 15 more mins on this scary ride". I did not know whether to laugh or get worried for this reply, but I realized one thing that my wife would cool down only once we pass all the hair pin bends. So without wasting any further time, I concentrated on the road ahead and on the mission to reach the top.

Finally the boards started to look less dreadful when the reading came down to single digits Then once we saw the board which read 1/36, we both gave sign of relief and looked at each other and immediately I told her that lets not come on this way during our return journey. While telling this thing to my wife, Internally my heart and mind were both saying "Not only on return journey, never again we will come on this risky road again". Surely this was the most difficult pass for me with my aging car and nervous wife in my whole driving career until now. I have been to lot of such hills and mountains before but never had I been so scared with the doubt of making it to the top of the hill. Anyway, all well that ends well. On return journey we just came on the other alternative route and the road was not a little bit scary but took an additional hour to reach our destination than that risky road. At that time I thought we could just have gone on that risky road to save some time, but then...

Near miss HM Trip - Part-2-

Missed the first part... Read it here - PART-ONE

After a long 5 minutes, my phone started ringing.

She - "Mr.Sachin, I am so so sorry, there was a slight confusion over your travel plans"

Me(Feeling my HM trip is over) - "Oh what? How? How could you do that? Whats the issue now? What do I need to do now?"

She - "Actually it seems that your tickets were booked for the date 29th Apr and not today. Wait, let me try to arrange something for your travel. I will call you back in 5 minutes"

Yet another 5 minutes. Every minute passing by was just making things worse. Just could not understand what went wrong. I was wishing if only I could have confirmed with the Agent once in previous week. But then how could you doubt a reputed agency making such a mistake. Just when I was wondering about various things that could have avoided this confusion, a person from that agency came to me and asked "Are you travelling to Singapore? If yes, please follow me." He saw the bag we were carrying which was given by that agency and after seeing us wait from a long time, he probably thought we needed some help. Indeed we needed a lot of help now. I replied back saying "no" and also told him the situation we were in. He dived in to help us out of this situation and asked for my printouts. Just then, my agent called back. Then I told my agent that some person from same agency is trying to help me out here. She warned me to check his ID once and then let her talk to him once.


Then they both talked for around a couple of minutes and then I guess my agent was convinced of that person's identity and she suggested me to follow him. That person promptly went to that control room which we had visited before, talked to that control room person for a while and then something happened. He asked me to follow him again and he led me to that ticket counter. There he talked again to some people and finally led me back to control room. Time was already short. It was already 2-30am now. Then again in control room, he took out his credit card and gave it to the man in the control room. That man swiped it and then took some print out and handed it over to my person. Then that person gave me that printout and said, "Have a safe and happy journey. Enjoy your HM". I just could not believe my ears that I would be hearing that. Seeing my surprised expression, he explained me a bit - "I have booked you new tickets on same flight. Since the time is less, you will have to adjust for whatever seats are available. Also enclosed are your return tickets from Mauritius. You do not have to pay anything extra for this trip. Just go and enjoy your trip now. I have talked to your agent too and she will get in touch with you once you are back in India." I thanked him very much and rushed towards the ticket counter for the third time in last couple of hours and this would probably be the last time before our travel I thought. The lady at ticket counter promptly asked for my passport which I forgot to produce due to the ongoing events. Finally the boarding pass was in my hand and that meant we could now enjoy our trip without any further problems.


Thats just a thought, but then how can you be sure about your return tickets being proper now? No way right?. Well, this thought crossed my mind when we crossed our security checks and proceeded towards the flight to settle down in our seats allotted. Ofcourse we did not get the window seats which we would've wished for, but then after such events had occurred, the window seats did not matter anymore. Then the same thought and fear about the return tickets kept me worried for long time until we landed in Mauritius. One look at that wonderful island and everything about the return tickets was forgotten. For the whole of one week, we enjoyed every bit of that wonderful trip until the time when we landed at the Mauritius airport to return back to India. Now again the dreadful thought of return tickets came to my mind when I was standing in line for collecting my boarding pass. Again several thoughts came to my mind about what are our options here if the return tickets are not valid too. Finally my turn came, looking nervous I produced the print out again to that lady at the counter. She stared at my worried face and then asked for my passport. Yet again, I had to give my passport only after being asked. Finally she gave me the boarding passes and wished me a "Happy journey, Visit again".


I just could not stop smiling back at her and say "Thanks a lot" and happily hopped to my wife and proceeded towards the security check. A wonderful trip which was nearly missed came to an end finally. The guy who helped us at Mumbai Airport was named Abhishek. I would not like to take the name of that reputed agency here anyway.


The moral of the story as I think would be to make sure and keep the bag which your agency gives at the top of your baggage cart, because it was after all the bag which saved us this trip. And in case your agency does not give any bags, then make sure you double confirm the status of your travel tickets before the journey.

Near miss HM trip - Part-1-

"Hi, Happy Journey" - the caller told me in phone.

"Thanks" - I replied.

"So tomorrow morning, you will be landing in mauritius" - caller confirmed the status

"Excuse Me? Sorry, I am on my way to Mumbai, I am leaving to mauritius after 4 days"

"Oh yeah, ok Happy journey to both the trips, bye" - caller said and the call got disconnected.

Well it was simple, Me and my wife were on our way to Mumbai, 4 days before our honeymoon(referred to as HM) trip to Mauritius. The caller was the lady who had arranged for our Mauritius. Previously I had given two dates for this trip, one was 29thApr which was this day and other was 5thMay and then finally had made up my mind to travel on 5th may for 6 days. So the lady probably got confused and wished me on this day. Our plan was to stay and meet relatives in mumbai for the first 3 days and then be on our way to HM. Alas we landed in Mumbai safely and off we went to my uncle's place. Being newly wed has its own advantages, ofcourse we got a terrific reception on arrival and the same ooohs and aaahs continued for next 3 days. Then finally the day of our travel came.

The flight was scheduled for 4am from Mumbai International Airport. So naturally we had to be at airport by midnight. My uncle dropped us to the airport and he left after seeing us in at 12-30am. Being the more experienced of the two for international travels, I was feeling a bit of pride in myself to guide my wife towards the ticket counter to collect our boarding pass. Then when my turn came, I produced my ticket print out to the counter and our passports before the lady asked. That counter lady seemed to be kind of worried for a while and then she returned my print out and said "I am sorry sir, your tickets seem to be canceled. Please step aside for others to proceed." I could not understand what the matter was. I asked her "Err... Excuse me? What?". Then she told me the same thing again and asked me to verify with the person in some control room.


I could not believe what was happening. This was our HM trip and how could I have overlooked some details regarding ticket bookings. Without wasting any time, I rushed towards the control room to check the status with that guy. He welcomed me with a casual smile and showed no concern over my disturbed face. I told him the whole story and then he replied back saying he will check on his system. After 5 minutes he came up with same answer saying the tickets have been canceled. Now I did not know what to do. It was around 1am now and I had to call up that lady who had booked and confirmed our tickets. Time was running out, I had to act now. Somehow gearing up the courage to call her, I dialed her number. No answer. I dialed again and this time luckily she picked up. Being half sleepy she asked - "Hello, who is this?"


Me - "Hello its me, Sachin. You had booked my tickets and I am here at Mumbai airport and people are saying that my ticket is not valid. Can you tell me what is going on?"

She - "Oh, just a minute Sachin, let me check and call you back in 5 mins"

I said ok and disconnected. These 5 minutes were looking like the longest 5 minutes in my life now. In these 5 minutes lots of thoughts came to my mind. "How could this be happening?", "How could my HM trip get ruined after 3 months of planning?", "What would my wife be thinking now?", "Maybe we can visit nearby places in Mumbai since our trip is now canceled." I had even gone ahead and short-listed places like Khandala, Shirdi, Nasik, Ajanta-Ellora etc in my mind. I had to be careful not to discuss these options with my wife, because I was not sure how would she react to this change of plans. I was so disturbed that my wife consoled me for sometime saying its ok, we will wait and plan for some other time. But I knew if we miss it this time, there is no some other time for an international travel. I again began to read word by word in that ticket print out to see if there is any mention of the cancellation and tried to recall all conversation with the booking agent if by any chance I had mentioned to cancel my tickets... but as far as I could recollect, there was no such incident.


Finally the longest 5 minutes came to an end and my phone rang....


To be continued.... Click Here

Skandagiri Night Trek

“Wow, looks like a lovely place” – I said looking at the Skandagiri hills, which was visible in the moonlight. It was cloudy and windy as expected but it was 2 days for a full moon day. The moon was playing hide and seek under the clouds. Also it was good that it wasn’t raining. So this was it, my first night trek with my office friends (Who forced me into this) was about to begin.

**Flashback** 2 days ago, at my office –

“Hey guys, what is the plan for weekend. How about movie? – I said. Few responded with Yes and others a plain NO. Finally 5 of us decided to go to this movie Inception evening show on Saturday. Later the plan extended to a late night trek. 2 more people who would miss the movie told they would join for the trek. I had never been on such a trek before. So physically and mentally it was a challenge for me. But being a confident guy, I always thought I would come up triumphs on this trek and it would be a cake walk for me. Two days I did attempt a couple of warm ups like walking around half a km briskly and thought I had warmed up enough for the trek. Alas, if I only knew then that this was not enough.

**Flashback ends** In front of Skandagiri hills –

I had a backpack with a heavy windcheater which I had packed after one of my trek friend told it would be required for this chilly climate. So the cakewalk was about to begin. I was very confident of scaling down this peak within no time. So we started off on a trail towards the hill. Since this was my first night trek, I was pretty excited and with full energy I was at top of group. 15 mins into that trail, we realized that this trail was heading nowhere near the hills and we were totally on wrong trail. This happens when you are over-adventurous at times. So we had to trace back the same trail to the starting point again and had to start on the correct trail all over again. At this point, my energy level had suddenly dropped by 30%. For first 15 mins, I kept talking/chatting continuously with my fellow mates but then I suddenly realized I had to save my energy for the trek. My energy level was dropping down rapidly now as the time spent on trail increased. I realized that may be if I can stop talking and save whatever energy is left, I can probably make to the top of the hill. Suddenly half an hour later, I had to take a break. So it meant everyone had to take the break.

Took few snaps of non-existent scenery of the night. After a good refreshing break, we again set our foot on the trail. As the trail went on and on, my energy level went down and down. Looking at this, my friends started giving some words of encouragement like, “Its done, just few more mins and we will be at top”. Tough it sounded very good to the ears, the truth as it stood that the peak was not few minutes away but rather few hours. Consoling myself at every step, that I can still do it, I carried on. To help my condition, the weather was cool and windy so it was not that tiring. After sometime, I had to give my backpack to one of my friend and I carried on solo on the trail. Now my energy level was almost at zero and we were probably halfway to the peak and I had to break for a while again. This time, I did not have strength to take even few snaps of the non-scenic sight. Then we set on our trail yet again.

At some point of time, when you get very tired and you still have to carry on, the body reacts in a very mechanical way. This makes you look like a zombie. This was the time, I was walking like a zombie with no energy left. My body had become mechanical with only one goal “WALK to the TOP”. I was still confident of making to the top and when you know you are not the weakest in your group, it adds to your confidence even more. Yes, I was not the only one to feel like a zombie, one more of my friend was already considering not to continue on the trail and wait for us at this spot until all of us return back from peak. Anyway, the whole point now was to reach the peak and I was just counting on minutes when I will hear those magical words “Yes, here we are finally”. Alas the magic did not happen for next couple of hours. Few more breaks on the way when I could not feel my legs anymore or the pain in them. My energy level had already reached the negative level and was few more minutes away from hitting rock bottom. And then suddenly I could not believe my ears when I heard those magical words. Indeed we were at top of that hill, but then it was not the way I expected it to be. The time was 4AM and it was still dark out there and it was so windy that we could not open our eyes and see whats in front of us. The morning mist or thick fog was not making things easier too. This was the time, my backpack was most needed. I immediately took out the windcheater and put it on. Some relief finally and the dropped energy level suddenly went up after feeling the top of hill.

Then there was nothing much to do there, so we took a short nap until the sunrise (which we were expectant of watching). Finally the time came when we got up and expected to see the morning sun, but alas the cloudy sky had other ideas. We could not see the sun anywhere in the cloudy sky. Since we had taken some rest and refilled our energies to some extent, we broke into a talking session which went on for an hour or so. Then we decided to head back towards our cars and started our descent. Climbing down the hill was not so exhaustive and this time around we could take few good snaps of the existent scenery. The climbing up of hill took us around 4 hours while getting down took us just over an hour and a half. So that was it. I had scaled down the Skandagiri hill on my first ever night trek.

Altough this trek exposed lot of my physical weaknesses; it was a wonderful experience and a night worth remembering. I would love to go on more of such treks but only after doing a very good warm-up. Fitness sessions begin now and lot more of such sessions needed to scale down other peaks which are more adventurous than this one.