It's like winter was never there

It was a cold evening, yet all the warmer for it
There was snow and ice around, a chill in the air
But for the two standing sweetly talking
It's like the winter was never there

Her eyes were bright, looking for a reason
To stay, a little longer
And his face was smiling, his eyes meeting hers
Making her resolve to stay stronger

After so long a time, they talked at length
About so much
Time had no meaning, it fluttered softly by
leaving these two, in a private hush

There was laughter, there were happy tears
There were promises, there were uncertain fears
She is so beautiful, worth fighting for
Is what he thought, just like long before

Talk of Brazilian stuff and golf balls
White knuckles and music hands
Brought their hearts together; he sighed
Electricity was in the air, so dangerous and so bare.

The wind saw them leave one at a time, still smiling,
hearts aching And - As they disappeared around the corner
The cold crept back into that little warm cocoon
that they'd left behind, and reclaimed it back as its own

She is Twinkle Bell

She came into my life like a bolt out of the night,
Her smile, captivating, charming, bright

Brightening everything, making it dawn.
Heralding the arrival of beautiful morn.

She danced into my life, giving me reason, to fight another day
With her presence, she made things better, it was her way.

Jousting with words, we laughed through the days,
Exchanging secrets, fencing in so many ways.

We met some evenings, dancing into the night,
Finally parting ways, which didn't feel right.

She is Twinkle Belle

A sudden drive to a bookstore, to pick up a treasure,
That I knew had value, beyond material measure.

Our daily banter, it became a part of,
Invoking water balloons, and other such stuff

Discussing the depths of philosophy and,
Understanding more, sometimes making a stand

Driven by passion, to move swift and fast
As long as her legs, would carry and last

A day of color, wild and full of fun
Learning to catch, and throw, and a lot of run

She is Twinkle Belle

Alas one evening, we ignored the time,
And in selfishness, I messed up

I kept her too long, and now, it seems,
She is gone.

We are on good terms, and I wish so much,
That she is joyful, and still dances as such.

One day, I hope, that we two shall meet,
Then of course, we shall pick up the beat.

It is hard to believe, still speaking in rhyme
That we did so much, in so little time

She is Twinkle Belle

There is a star in the sky

There is a star in the sky,
So bright and beautiful,
I feel my heart fill,
And reach out through the window sill.

I fly above the clouds below,
Everything is in a wonderful glow,
I dance along the Milky way,
With this star I've come to know.

It brings me joy to be so high,
And share all I have with this someone I know,
But something I sense, mildly then strongly
A deep sensation that greets me oddly.

I realize that this star, blazing away
Is really far far away
No matter what I say or do
I cannot take home, this lovely spirit

My heart starts to ache
And I am afraid
That in this sky dance of ours
I have hurt it too

I know I have to let go
And let it burn bright
And let it warm up
Someone else's night

Time flies by

A quick brush up on the past year:

1. Played at a cafe called cafe ID with Nikhil Goyal. You know, the only Indian who sang in the Polish opera festival in Bangalore. He's probably going to Austria sometime to follow his music.
2. Cafe ID shut down. So no more "random songs" and jamming with the good folks there. Maybe we'll find a substitute.
3. Two of my best friends got together. And they look great. Right now, getting the guy to dance, and he's learning fast!
4. Recession hit. Lots of things frozen.
5. Brownie (little brown doggie) is growing lazier and older, but still has the time to run after vehicles checking for their Bangalore license plates.
6. Christmas! => mom, dad, cousins, friends, christmas cake (which was gobbled up by the team when I got it to office... not to mention those Rum balls).
7. Struggle with comprehending or understanding things sometimes. What are the things I am missing that'll make me a better person? What can I do to make this place a bit better?
8. Got an Infy cycling team together along with some highly motivated folks. Whenever schedule permits, I'll go cycling with them.
9. I'm dancing again. But my music is still with me.
10. I've decided I should write more. Make a movie script. Then buy a camcorder.
11. Started reading Indian authors about issues closer home. Am getting my friends to contribute to this cause. (Lend a helping book).
12. Trying to put on weight (Doc's orders).
13. Got a defect free delivery from our team. Appreciation mails all around!
14. Am confused about what I want. Looking for a goal.

A funny conversation..

Ok, I just came across this convo on microsoft office communicator that I'd saved from a long time ago. Abhijit is a good friend and a really good singer.. This is when it was his birthday and he was giving me directions to Desmonds on lavelle road. Please keep in mind I was TOTALLY new to Bangalore :) lol!
*************************************************************************************
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ah u
Abhijit Sudhakar says: are u aware of the barista on st marks rd??
Abhijit Sudhakar says: koshy's??
Donald Ksing says: where's st marks road?
Donald Ksing says: is it near mg
Donald Ksing says: ?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ya
Donald Ksing says: ok
Abhijit Sudhakar says: koshys u twit
Donald Ksing says: east or west of mg?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ummm.. kc das?
Donald Ksing says: where's dat?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: what east or west...
Abhijit Sudhakar says: AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
Donald Ksing says: st marks..
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ya
Donald Ksing says: hey, calm down
Abhijit Sudhakar says: bishop cotton boys school
Donald Ksing says: there's a school like that?.. sounds funny..
Abhijit Sudhakar says: how dare U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Abhijit Sudhakar says: thats my school
Abhijit Sudhakar says: hahah
Donald Ksing says: oh.. its a nice funny sound
Abhijit Sudhakar says: shut up
Donald Ksing says: haha
Abhijit Sudhakar says: now back to the topic
Donald Ksing says: u digressed
Abhijit Sudhakar says: casa piccola
Donald Ksing says: its here
Abhijit Sudhakar says: its where??
Donald Ksing says: in infy
Abhijit Sudhakar says: do u know where it is
Abhijit Sudhakar says: AAA!!
Donald Ksing says: hmmmmm...
Donald Ksing says: i can try to find out
Abhijit Sudhakar says: doni u fart!!
Donald Ksing says: u tart
Donald Ksing says: nmaecalling now eh?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: brigade rd.. please tell me u knwo where that is
Donald Ksing says: yup
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ok so u're at the brigade rd mg rd junction
Donald Ksing says: got that
Abhijit Sudhakar says: brigade rd is to ur left
Donald Ksing says: huh?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: and u're moving on mg road
Donald Ksing says: doesn't it go both sides?
Donald Ksing says: headed to barista
Abhijit Sudhakar says: right right
Abhijit Sudhakar says: mg rd barista
Donald Ksing says: ya
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so barista is on ur left
Donald Ksing says: ok
Abhijit Sudhakar says: u keep going straight
Donald Ksing says: ok
Abhijit Sudhakar says: the first major junction u get is the st marks rd mg rd jnunction
Donald Ksing says: oh.. st marks cathedral!
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ah yes..
Donald Ksing says: say that
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so that comes after u cross the junction
Donald Ksing says: k
Abhijit Sudhakar says: the next junction u get is at cubbon park
Donald Ksing says: k
Abhijit Sudhakar says: u've seen that??
Donald Ksing says: ya
Donald Ksing says: on the map
Abhijit Sudhakar says: ok so take a left there
Donald Ksing says: k
Donald Ksing says: hello?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: right
Abhijit Sudhakar says: sorry
Donald Ksing says: should be
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so chancery comes on ur right
Donald Ksing says: k
Abhijit Sudhakar says: have u seen that
Donald Ksing says: hmmm...
Abhijit Sudhakar says: its a hotel
Donald Ksing says: ok
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so have u sen it fartley
Abhijit Sudhakar says: fartlet
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so u keep going straight
Abhijit Sudhakar says: u get a circle
Abhijit Sudhakar says: got it??
Abhijit Sudhakar says: continue going straight
Abhijit Sudhakar says: its a little after the circle
Abhijit Sudhakar says: to ur right
Abhijit Sudhakar says: HELLOOO!!!
Donald Ksing says: hi
Donald Ksing says: PM called
Donald Ksing says: sorry
Abhijit Sudhakar says: so did u figure it out
Donald Ksing says: wait...
Abhijit Sudhakar says: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donald Ksing says: what circle?
Donald Ksing says: name
Abhijit Sudhakar says: no clue
Abhijit Sudhakar says: look its a circle]
Abhijit Sudhakar says: and u cant miss i
Abhijit Sudhakar says: t
Donald Ksing says: well obviously
Donald Ksing says: but a name would help
Abhijit Sudhakar says: call it the cariappa circle
Donald Ksing says: only one circle there?
Donald Ksing says: is that the name?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: i think they've removed the circle
Abhijit Sudhakar says: not sure
Abhijit Sudhakar says: look the circle's not important
Donald Ksing says: then how do i know where to go?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: if u se chancery on theright
Donald Ksing says: u told me circle
Donald Ksing says: ok
Abhijit Sudhakar says: just continue going down and u'll find it
Donald Ksing says: what colour/etcetc is the building
Donald Ksing says: is it on the left or right?
Donald Ksing says: of the road?
Abhijit Sudhakar says: right
Abhijit Sudhakar says: white building
Abhijit Sudhakar says: on the road
Donald Ksing says: desmonds hmmm..
Donald Ksing says: ok..willb there
Donald Ksing says: thanks bud
Abhijit Sudhakar says: no problemo
Donald Ksing says: where's lavelle road in relation to thaT?
Donald Ksing says: ie desmonds..
Abhijit Sudhakar says: THE PLACE IS ON LAVELLE ROAD!!!!!!!!
Donald Ksing says: ok... easy easy
Donald Ksing says: so if i come to lavelle road, its on the left
Donald Ksing says: right?
Donald Ksing says: be serious dude
Abhijit Sudhakar says: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! right!!
Donald Ksing says: as in from the south
Abhijit Sudhakar says: right right right
Abhijit Sudhakar says: i'll kill u
Donald Ksing says: whoa
Abhijit Sudhakar says: i swear to god
Donald Ksing says: what's wrong with you?
************************************************************************************

Eventually, I was one of the earliest people there.. :)

Enduro3 - The RacE

8th Feb, 4:30am. I got a call from Ravi telling me to wake up and get ready. This when I was sleeping in a comfortabe warm bed in a cold Puna night. Nevertheless, this was the BIG day. Got up, got ready and soon Ravi was over. We took the bikes down and loaded them up into the Scorpio that Ravi's in laws had aranged for us. (They were an amazing help during this time). Sri and I got into the other car (an esteem I think - I didn't register it - too sleepy). By the way, the venue had been changed from the police grounds to the Law college near that yummy shop that sells awesome cold coffee - Durga cafe.

We were at the start point by 6am and eventually waited till 11am for the race to flag off. It was an endurance test of a different kind. We were waiting with 9 kg packs on our shoulders and standing in the now - getting - hotter sun. It was amusing to see other participents sitting down or lying down with shades and catching a few zzzzzs. Met Mansi finally and thanked her for her help. She was participating in the Open mixed catagory (100km cycling and 80km trekking - not a joke).

When the race flagged off, we shot out and maintained a decent speed till Time Control 1, where the race would actually start. TC1 was in the NDA campus. I loved the 45 degree downward slopes which were mud and stones. The bikes just slid down and you had to control them. Ravi took a few falls before he got used to it. Our team code was AMM15 - for the record. At one point Ravi had to adjust his brakes because they were too tight.

There was a point when we crossed the airstrip and had to head for Sudan block. It should have come up on our left, but came up on our right instead. This, hopefully is an indicator of how big the NDA campus is and how, for a short while, how hopelessly lost we were. Every soldier we asked directions from seemed to be 'new' to the place :P

We cycled out of the campus to the ------------------------- hills beyond. Finished our cycling leg of the journey about 1:30pm. We left our bicycles there and began the trek leg. There was an elderly gentleman there 40+ who turned up at the same time.. He went on to win the race in his catagory. I forget this name, but I'll never forget him. I bet at one point in his life he could have said 'The names Bond, james Bond' and it would have been natural :D

By this time, the sun was hot and we were gulping down our electral water. Normal pure water will not help at all.. you'll just get thirstier and thirstier. while searching for PC6 I believe, we got lost. (We kept getting lost, but this was a major one). Eventually, after searching in vain and doubling back (which I hate), we climbed the nearest hill in the hopes of spotting the Enduro flag somewhere. At this time we had a major grouse against the organisers regarding the flags. There weren't enough of them to guide us to a reasonable degree. But then, looking back, thats the reason we had so much fun, that stumbling into the unknows making a dead reckoning and proceeding, hoping we were headed in the right direction. At one point on the hill we climbed (and almost fell - the slope was 60 degrees and with dry grass that came off in our hands and loose rocks), Sri just sat down and refused to move unless he knew for sure we were headed in the right direction. Ravi and I did a bit of forward reconniscence and finally made use of the google map given to us. We identified some landmarks, located our position and found out which direction to go in. Sri was convinced we all headed off again. I believe this was about 4pm and the team that was leading our catagory had already reached camp. (This we found by checking the time cards at each checkpoint).

After finding PC6, we had to go down to a big dirt road and follow it to camp.. but then we got lost again. we ended up going through overgrown plants with REALLY annoying smelling amzingly sticky fruits that bloom once in 7 years (and HAD to bloom this year). there was no part of us that wasn't picking up leaves, burrs and other jungle knic knacks because of that stickyness. It was a major reason why Sri eventually chucked away his bed mat in disgust because it was constantly being caught everywhere by the branches and fruits alike. We found a dried waterfall area but after following it for 7 minutes, I turned out to be a dead end (unless you had a paraglider - you could just jump off and glide down then). so we turned back - again - and found another dried up water path to follow down. After considerable rock descending, we reached the dirt road and sprinted to the last check point. A boat came to take us across the water to the campsite which was on the opposite shore. As we crossed the water, we filled up our bottles and drank the water gratefully.

It turned out that only one person had to do the water crossing bit, so Ravi volunteered. I remember this other guy trying to swim across, went diagonal and crossed Ravi's path so Ravi had to stop for a bit :D anyhow, he did a great job of crossing the water and running back in about 3 minutes and a bit. Since the water was cold and he was shivering, I lent him some warm clothes that I had.

Since we'd carried a lot of equipment, the night was smooth. we spread out the covers, put the sleeping bags on top and got into them and then put a rajai over it all. Overall, quite snug. we'd hardly eaten the food prepared by Ravi's in laws, and now we proceeded to devour it. (We still left quite a bit - it was very heavy and filled the stomach). By this time, I remember another team setting up their stuff and how I joked that the only thing we needed now was rain (It was about 6 degrees C ) that girl just looked at me as if i was mad. :D

Sleep..

1:30am, the 9th of Feb. I was woken up suddenly to the smell of that sticky fruit (it had rubbed off on the sleeping bag) and the sound of shuffling feet. We had to break camp at 2am. Quickly, we packed up our stuff and filled our bottles. We didn't make it to the briefing coz of all the activity we were doing. There stars were beautiful up there blazing in the pitch black sky, but my team mates didn't seem to appreciate that fact :P

We set of like a colony of ants with torches on a single trail. Eventually, we walked fast and soon, a group of people were following us, which was unfortunate, because, yup, we got lost. We ended up on the river bank which in another situation, could have been enjoyable and fun. Instead, we tried to make a trail of it and went on into the tall grass beyond till we had to admit we were lost and turn back. We didn't want a repeat of the last day, so we were getting irritable I guess - but we kept our cool. We took about 4 hours to reach the 1st check point, about 4km away. This was 1/10 the the journey. After we passed the PC, we picked up the pace and decided to keep headed fast and keep the river on our right at a certain distance. Too close and we'd go off the trail. Too far and we may get lost. Very surprisingly, we reached the TC soon after that. Encouraged, we started running/ fast walking. We caught up Gautam's team along the way. (We'd passed them earlier, but since we got lost, they'd overtaken us). I still remember their cry 'Go Ultras' :D

6am and still no sign of the sun. The batteries had already been replaced once in my and Sri's torch. Ravi had an LED torch meant for the bike. I'm definitely buying that one from BumsOnTheSaddle later, its so good! By now we were on a wide dirt track / motorway winding about the hillocks. We had ample water and food in our hands as we steadily made our way. We caught up with a lot of leading teams from the other catagories and got to know some of them. We met Mr. Kagre and the two girls with him. One of them was his daughter (Krutika) who had done 6 Himalayan treks.. and she was only 16!!! Zounds! I have to work on my trekking, clock up some miles there :P

After a checkpoint where we received a Red Bull and almost left our timecard there, we kept pace with Mr. Khagre , because he was a good navigator and didn't get lost (:P) and they were great company. I chatted a lot with him and he invited me for a Ladakh trek some time later, which I aim to take up. We trekked together till we reached the last checkpoint, which is when we all started running for the finish. this is also the oint twhen the plastic I was carrying split (Murphy's law) and all the contents fell down. I picked up the stuff that had fallen down, torch (hadn't stopped to pack that since the sun rose), two bottles of water, the food and a hand towel that dropped off a team member's backpack. While running downhill, I realised that the timecard had also fallen off somewhere before!! The team was all in high agitation during those last few minutes coz the end was in sight and we could see it and there was no scope to get lost :D

It was 10:30 when we checked into the final TC and ended our race. We were third in our catagory and the team before us had arrived 7 minutes earlier. The first team had arrived about half and hour before. We were content.

Ravi's in laws had sent the Scorpio to pick us up so we bundled in our bikes and went home, but not before taking down contact numbers and the like from other teams. After a wonderful lunch at Ravi's in laws place (I'll call em RIL from now on), Sri and I headed home via auto. We discussed our race with each other and were nervous/ wondering about the outcome. Talked about it with my buddies back in room 303, A2. Slept after sending my armies out to attack another province in Utopia ( an online game).

The next day, we auto'd to RIL's place and from there, went to the NDA campus beside the airstrip that we'd passed during the race for the award ceremony. Sakshi told me she'd have the results out by 4 and I could call up to find out, but I didn't want to. I wanted to prolong the suspense. But then Ravi wanted to know, so I got him to call her up and enquire at the required time. when we met at RIL's place, his whoop of joy and hands raised in victory told me all I needed to know. We'd won a podium position.

After getting lost finding Pashan gate, we made it there and met up with some of the other teams that we'd met along the trek. A lot of people grinned after hearing our team name and so did we. We said our bit on Stage when we got the chance (which included stuff like - organise Enduro in bangalore so that we don't have to pack our bikes everytime we want to do this). Mr. Khagre took us in his car.. but we had to turn back coz Sri found out that he (lost) his sunglasses back in the NDA campus. After finding them, we headed to Durga cafe for a cold coffee and then to Sujata's for a mastani (mango flavoured! Yum!).

Headed to ravi's place and picked up ur bikes up. By this time it was 11:30pm. Sri and I, for one last time, loaded up our backpacks and mounted our Treks and cycled home. We made it in half an hour. Partho adn Suneja were watch Predator2 so I joined them. Eventually slept and the next day, flew home a satisfied person.

Enduro3 - the Prep

Firstly, some introductions and definitions:

Gagan Singh: Core-AdVentura member
Mansi Pingle: Twice First runner up in the Open Mixed catagory (which is no idle accomplishment)
Ravi Ranjan: 'Harry' from team tom, Dick and Harry.
Sriram: 'Dick' from team tom, Dick and Harry.
Vishal Dave: Core-AdVentura member
Suneja, Partho, Miraj, Satish: Good old college friends.
Rohan Kini, Nikhil: Run www.BumsOnTheSaddle.com. Active cyclists.
AdVentura: a group of Infosys employees that plan out and go for treks in the area around Bangalore. open for non Infosys people too. Email: adventura@googlegroups.com
Bangalore Bikers Club: A group of cycling enthusiasts that hang out and go for nice long cycling trips. Bangalore-bikers@googlegroups.com


January 14th, 2008. That's when the mail from Vishal Dave came into my mailbox informing me about the Enduro3 2008 challenge. Now, I love outdoor sports and activities, so the second I found out that suce an adventure race was happening in India, I signed up. That is, I went about finding people to form a team. AdVentura was willing to sponser one team to go to the challenge and was preparing to hold a mini contest to find out which team that would be. Unfortunately, not many people responded so the idea waas scrapped. Gagan then contacted me and expressed his intention to form a team and go directly for the Enduro race. I signed on immediately.

Finding the third team member proved to be a bit of work. We ended up contacting Mansi Pingle through her blog http://sportlover111.blogspot.com/ and managed to find Ravi Ranjan. He's an avid bicyclist and runner. We then met up at Gagan's place to appraise our team and formulate a strategy for the race.

On the 1st of Feb, Gagan told us that he had to go abroad because of his clients, so that left us without a team mate again. However, he got us a replacement in the form of Sriram. Now Sriram was in top notch condition. He's cycled around a lot. His latest trip was to Kanya Kumari down south. If we had any reservation, we were worried about his running/trekking condition.

On the 2nd of Feb, on Ravi's advice, I went to purchase a Trek 3700 from BumsOnTheSaddle. (www.bumsonthesaddle.com/) Met Rohan Kini and Nikhil who were very helpful in assembling my bike and more importantly, teaching me the various aspects of maintaining it.

3rd of Feb, we went for a duathlon down Kanakpura Road organised by cyclists/runners from Bangalore Bikers Club Bangalore-bikers@googlegroups.com. (Mainly Ravi and Roahn Kini from what I hear. People who have more to add please comment :D) We cycled about 50km and then went for an 8km run in Lal bagh. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I remember reaching the starting point in front of (not anymore) Family mart at about 5 or 6 am and cycling down the road till i reached the Ford showroom coz I didn't see a single biker. (I was told that when I saw cyclists, to stop there :P) After the exercise, Ravi, Sri, Gautam and I went for lunch to Sukh Sagar near the Jain temple in Jayanagar. throughout the week before the big race, I went through cycle maintainence tips and practiced dis assembling and re assembling my Trek. On wednesday eve, Ravi came over so that we could disassemble both our bikes and pack them up properly. we worked in the light of the car he came in on the footpath. We really looked like a cycle shop I think :).

Thursday, the 7th of Feb, I flew to Pune via SpiceJet and landed at my college friends place in Aundh. Sri had arrived earlier and was waiting for me. Ravi had gone to his in-laws place. It was good to see Suneja, Partho , Miraj and Satish again - after a long time. Partho has this tradition of going off somewhere everytime we have a chance to visit :P. He had to go to Bombay for a few days, which meant I'd catch him on the last day before I headed back :(

That evening of the 7th, Sri and I packed our bags and double checked our provisons and then went to sleep - waiting for the next day to start.