The Adventure Trip#2; sincere thanks to the extended holidays; not for adding the no of hours but for helping us digest the idea of the adventure!

At times it is not the overflow of thoughts that makes you grab your needle and pen down some of the 'top of the mind' thoughts and events,but the very realization of the fact that its been a while since you had a talk with yourself. Along with it, the commitment to yourself of penning down some worthwhile memories leaves you holding your sword in the dead of the night and bleeding words from it!!
So, with quite similar a state, I stand here ticking off this post. The thing that strikes my mind now is that sometimes its weird to realize that even though I have started earning, my life has changed from a 4-wheeler via a  mechanically powered 2-wheeler down to a self-propelled 2-wheeler. And people thought I had been promoted & salary hiked.. phew! That's the way it was when on the final 2 days of the so perceived 'extended weekend', we(a group of 4 friends) decided to do something out of the box. Throwing the initial 3 days to the air (well, shall I justify them by saying that they helped us digest the adventurous idea that ensued hence?) we finally came to the consensus of undertaking a fantabulous bicycle ride amidst the bangalore roads(though they are not the highlight of the city in any ways) and reach up to the Banyan tree(ahh, so u imagined the one hanging near your house's squeezed lanes? ../..FYI 'u loser', I meant the BIG Banyan Tree!!) around 35 kms from our residence in Bangalore.
The morning began early for us, getting up at 5.30am (atleast pour some sympathy on us acknowledging our past history which doesn't go too well with our early waking habits!). Anyways battling all odds, we were on our way at around 6.30pm, with our gang and a dear friend who made us feel like real riders on the battlefield, courtesy to her #DSLR. As we headed forward, with maps in hand, drinks in bags, destination in mind and an unknown way to find, we could see some initial jitters with the cycles as we were not the typical seasoned riders. But with spirits that were high and few raindrops hanging by, we began going strong and cruising our way through the traffic. The way was loaded with ups & downs, inclinations & declinations, crests & troughs, potholes and flats. But the places en-route : Mysore road, Nayanahalli, Kengeri/Satellite Town(fancy name, eh?) and the associated landmarks: Bangalore University, RVCOE, Rajeshwara Medical College, etc kept us kicking and going! A random gate-crashing in RVCOE(no offenses to the gate security--> we love you guys for that!!) formed a part of the trip. More to come were Ganesha temple, uncountable Shanthi Sagar (or whatever the modified version was, ) beautiful nurseries before we finally reached the Big Banyan Tree!

PS: Sorry for the 'hell delayed' update. Just realized that it was in my Drafts for long. Anyways, thought better be published than never! :) cheerios!

A "high on shopping" day; a late night and an early morning 10k!

Well, the list to "To do things" don't seem to end when you have a mere 24 hours, a long wish list, a task of doing a 10k the next day, and with just a night separating all of these events. Sometimes being so random yourself, you do not have the pleasure of associating with other friends as you don't even know what are you upto so as to convey it across to the other end. So empowered with this randomness and under the mercy of my watch showing 5pm with its delicately carved but yet very powerful needles, I headed to Indira Nagar in search of a mechanic for assisting me in a bike deal. After a decent amount of wandering around and exploring the "Crosses/Mains" of the place and getting all messed up with whether it was the 4th Cross, 5th Main or the other way around.. duh!! Anyways, under the control of the '2 needles' I began my shopping spree at 6.45pm, this time heading to a big store for some good variety to shop my my heart's desire :). The consumer market these days have become so huge that the mere thought of buying a good is not even half the job done. These days its not just about necessity but the word is 'specificity'; that is you must know very finely what you are looking for in this market flooded with consumer choices. Beware you might be swept away with an overwhelming array of articles as soon as your customized requirements tend to move towards the generic ones. Hence, the decision of 'Which one to buy?' is more tedious than the decision of ''What to buy?'.

Nevertheless, since my requirements were a bit specific, I could somehow maneuver my way through flooding waters and reach the shore. But just when you feel like easying out after a tough period of comparisons of worth, a glance at the '2 needles' gives you another push forward Now, as the dusk was ready to wave a goodbye to my partially completed day, I realized that another 'specific' need of mine was still in its way of being fulfilled. But as the 'time' was not being very kind and in a place like Bangalore, out of all the slangs, be it peace out, dine out, booze out, cruise out, the only one that irritatingly demands attention is 'time out'.  Well, just for the sake of preciseness, this time the lavish need of mine was of Sennheiser MX 680. And as you would have guessed it right that the specificity was very much defined in this need, hence the time would not choke me lest I reach the store late enough to see the beautiful curtains drawn on the entrance and the shutters  whispering a 'Good Night' to me. Well, if you think alike then you are pretty close, but still not there. Here I quote another trademark quality of the consumer market, 'The more specific you get in your requirement, the lesser is the chance that you will strike a match in any of the stores'. Thanks to my wandering(or is it exploring?) nature, I already had a store, Chroma to be precise, at my disposal if nothing else worked. But the only concern, being in Bangalore was of making the cut in time.

My liking for these MX 680 grew more as the market forces were acting against me, making it more of a passion to reach on to these earpieces and clinch them away from the store-keeper.Finally, I was JIT(Just-in-time) to make the cut, avoiding any eye-contact with the store-keeper so as to bypass the 3 horrifying words, "We are closed Sir". Three(3) words, I say them because once the first 3 are said, the 'Sir' does not really heal the pain. : P Finally, after all the hardwork and running around, it was time to relax back and have dinner, or else to put it right- 'give myself a treat'. And thats how it all ended! But wait a minute, the next day and the series of events are yet to be quoted! :)

An extended weekend ...

PART II
So we were already one night down when we realized that it was now time for some hanging around coupled with the official birthday dinner. As usual a group of people means no dearth of opinions on what to do, where to go, how to do so and what else if not this! Followed with a lot of discussion, some random conversations on availability of cabs, keeping in consideration the not so overwhelming, timing bound nightlife of bangalore, we finally decided on 'World Cuisine' as our preferred destination for some hookahs and drinks. The place being a first time for most of us had a sense of freshness associated with it. Divided in groups we finally landed into the place and managed to get ourselves a decent sized table as per our need. The place was open-air, nicely spread out with a mix of couches and chairs, offering a nice bar counter and dim lights around creating a soothing ambience. Gradually, some got settled with conversations, some caught hold of the camera, few hung around with the menu for knowing more about the 'cuisine on offer', some got comforted with the hookah, while rest got themselves into a position for the lens' sake. After being much decent in out conduct with the birthday guy, we finally decided to get him on the chair and sing a song for him, thus broadcasting his birthday to the world. :)

Finally, after being done with the evening, we thought of stepping out and figuring 'what's next?'. Without losing much on time, a thought was floated, saying 'How about going to the Raasta?' and the response was more than unanimous (atleast for the majority of people i must say! :P). Though it still took a while to get the plan going as me and some people had some work to attend to and hence could not associate with the plan which seemed pretty interesting for the night. So after much effort(though a valuable one at that), the plan was executed. Being not at the center of the action, it would be difficult to quote the incidences that happened there, but still from the passive narrations/stories that i hear it seems like it was much an extension of the awesomeness of the weekend.

Hence, after ending the series of events in style it looked as if its gonna be another usual week to follow, but come Monday and there was more to the expected 'usualness'.

A weekend, a birthday, a treat, a fight, a sleepless night, and the'The raasta' .. where does it all leave me?

PART I
Weekends are indeed special, its a time to unwind; but at times they emerge more fast paced and hectic than the usual days; and worst of all, if after that you realize that you still have the catching up with friends' act (and catching up with 'The Raasta, of course) pending for the next week, it makes you suspicious of how times evaporate!!

When you feel short of places to spend a Friday night and still end up pretty decently, there has to be some event & occasion that you would give a special mention to. Yes there was a birthday. In addition, I wouldn't do justice with this argument if at tis point of time I don't make mention of the two souls who could literally sing like crazy through the dead of the night with a compilation that just didn't seem like reaching an end. Though the teasing act directed towards the other two souls was not that effective in the regard that one of them could hardly understand a damn, and the other was too engrossed in catching up with the singing part among the 'masters of the game' (seriously guys you were really awesome at your collection.. cheers to the spirit! :P). The only time some conversations could surface was when they happily went out and gave us a break. Sometimes enjoying, at times irritating, at times annoying, at others' cute; thats how i describe that wonderful act of serenading! All this while, gradually people started crashing in their bed; some poor ones even woke up after a brief nap while we were yet not finished with our night.So finally, after all this while we decided to go for some fresh air (yea, coz you know the concept of morning walk is not just for people who 'wake up' early!!). I am quiteproud of that act of mine, else who knows souls of how many great bolly music composers we would have disturbed that night. :J

The NGV club complex is indeed not a bad place for some casual walk and not at all if you get the chance of sneaking in to the NGV Club at early morning without any membership or least even purpose. But some activities of one keeps one aware of the 'hang out places' for some casual conversations, read as shayari, as later we realized it was less of the former but more of the latter. After all this while, you realize that a new day has already kicked off, so why not enjoy a leisure breakfast at home (though kudos to the enthusiasm of the 'great chef' that we could have a good go at that!). Soon the thought of catching up some sleep crosses my mind and I decide to drop out of the scene just when the linguistic barriers were been crossed and songs were getting translated across languages; not to forget the associated 'bakchowdi' associated with the process.

Thats how a night that started with a birthday celebration, found its end traversing 'the raasta' of some time-pass, mixed with conversations, an extended night and what not. But were the celebrations still over or was it just the start..?

To be continued... :)

Random trips to places; some unscheduled conversations; scattered work tasks; and an early morning

Its weird how one loves to blog when the time isn't in a pleasing mood of waiting for you; and in turn beckons you to move on with your tasks; at times requesting and at other "threatening. Well, sometimes in your own shell you realize that time has been kind enough to grant you some 'time-out' to think and structure few things; just when you realize that it actually hasn't granted you the freedom of decision, but instead has crafted your itinerary and handed it over to you with a not so overwhelming note saying "Please look into the matter; will be good for you. Thanks n tc!".

Anyways a not so planned weekend with some indispensable appointments; and rest some very unstructured period gives you just the right chance to check out the places/city that surrounds you. And sometimes, a 40kms distant airport seems as the only respite/thrill for a random thought that turns out to be too random to hold and implement in time. But indeed, with some friends around it doesn't take much of the time to pop up a second more random plan to beat the first; specially when there is just a plain dialogue saying:- "The right or the left", meaning:- "The city or the airport". And a not so thought of reply saying "Left indeed!, the city doesnt deserve us at this hour of the day". So, without much after-thoughts, the course of the plan changes; and new follow up add-ons to the plan start surfacing. The roads of bangalore are indeed disappointing but at times pleasing; depends on  the context where are you standing at the moment. The catch line "Coffees and conversations!" is indeed brightened when the backdrop of it all lends it to be reframed as "Coffees and conversations in between; as you fly!". And to add to it, a story of a lost & found purse; which was not exactly lost (was it? or was that just a thrown & picked up & thrown back one, considering the not so expected/awaited material inside that made the interest level drip!) And hence the night passed...