Summer of 2011

Its the last day of April, or just as i realize its May day. And for a while its been crawling on my mind how the summer has been this year. 

We've had some amazing turn of events and the biggest one of them all is we've won the World cup. And thanks to that I've been spared of writing about it how the Indian team always fails to live up to the expectations. But then, thanks to our Men in Blue, from 2nd of April, 2011, they've raised the bar of expectations for themselves.

Every world cup there is a new thing that we find is being talked about. While in the previous editions it was something within the game, this world cup I'll always remember for the way I watched it. "Tweeting" !!!

I had never imagined I would be commentating live on the state of a match with a person sitting thousands of miles away. This was something we always did during the post-mortem of the match. The howling, screaming and shouting of course was very integral of the match watching experience, but emoting in 140 characters is something I'm now pretty warmed up to. This has completely changed the way I while my time with cricket now. Atleast I don't feel guilty of not doing anything during a match. Not that I can remember what it used to be like to watch 5 days of it.

Hmm, so back to the 'summer'. Though it might have appeared in a lot of my recent posts/rants/ramblings I'm still very much hung-over with it. I now own a Royal Enfield. Man I can't get over it :). I'm so thrilled about this new relationship.

And on a personal note, I've taken a real liking to running. It all started during my ten day stint at Pune. The apartment where the guest house was situated was bloody brilliant. It had so much space that running was a joy there. All the years spent in the gym sure has given me mass enough to make running a challenging endeavor. Just like how working out can be a vent to the mundaneness of life, running gives me the satisfaction. And by the way I have a marathon coming up! I'm running yet again with team EY.

I'm counting this summer to open up a lot of avenues for me and of course everyone of you.  Until then, stay sunny!!! 

Two-Wheeler chronicles

Whats that one amazing possession at an age of 19-20 yrs? For kids of these days it those flashy gizmo's, your apple iPhone, iTouch, you touch and what not !!! I know I'm sounding old, just making it sound so ;). Not very long ago for us it used to be graduation from a bicycle to a two wheeler. Looking back at the first time I ever rode on a two wheeler which was a TVS 50 brought by a painter while on work at our house. That day i remember riding like a prince with the air gently caressing my face, with all daughters of my neighborhood aunties overlooking. I must have been 4th or 5th, but that was when I felt the essence of growing up.

Sis started early on the 'Enfield-Explorer'

My dad was a proud owner of a suave looking Enfield explorer since 1985 which he had until 2003, and apart from sitting on it when dad used to ferry all the four of us around and fantasy riding it, naming it 'Sanjuna' hadn't done much with it. This was until 7th standard, when i had this fetish to sit on it sans the key and push the bike around. Thanks to Bangalore's roads, burnt a lot of calories pushing it back up to balance it on the road downwards. Then one day dad forgot the key and that day it happened. I pushed it around like always and then suddenly saw the ignition key. And the rest like you can imagine, i kick started and set the explorer in motion on the first gear, and it remained in first gear that day to be honest. That was the moment which turned the schoolboy into a dreamy youth.


Next three years of our stay in Dandeli gave me some of the amazing memories that I could only dream of in Bangalore. An accessibility to the jungles anytime i wished, a town with no traffic police and fewer main roads, could i ask for anything else?? It was time to zoom. 49.5 cc seemed awesome in those days. Soon, it was time for us to shift back to Bangalore and the city that is made us realize we'd suddenly grown up now to be too big for the explorer that once ferried four of us. What a bike it was! I think for the India then, which was more into Bajaj Chetak, this bike was an affordable option. And then one fine day as i grew older, so did it and just like that, it was gone.


Talking about Bajaj Chetak, during 12th my uncle's scooter came to me because he moved out of the country. Cant recollect the no. of times I've made it lie down on the road when there was no fuel and then that one quick kick start to get it going. "Welcome to college days"", I'd said to myself and before i could realize, the passion of possessing a bike again, proved too much pressure for my dad to withstand. That was when he got me a TVS Victor. Nothing beats the freedom you have with a bike at your disposal. Freedom and all by the way is secondary. More important then were the reasons like the daily trips to the dhaba, national park or the coffee shop around the corner. OK, alright! I agree the most important of all was to impress the girls. Can't remember how many firsts it was with my Victor.


While I am usually not very emotional, somehow the feeling was a little confusing. No feeling of loss though, while signing the handover forms, I was blank. All i could muster asking the new buyer was, "Can i take her for a last ride"?


Thinking about it, isn't it actually like breaking up with somebody for no reason? Only, make sure you have a reason as good as mine.

Royal Enfield!!!

That dream on a mid-winter's afternoon

What's on the mind these days? It has practically become a dairy which contains the to-do list with so many entries. Amidst all this when you try and chug on, there are quite a few things that happen. Like this afternoon I saw the body of my TVS victor on display on a road, and the number plate reading "I'm no more Sanjay's". I wonder if this a sign of something to come. I dreamt of having parked my bike somewhere and I forget about it completely, and when I do remember about it, its too late. As it is my dream recollection  capability is really hazy and like you see its no different this time.

Is there some gyaan about a dream in late afternoon or early evenings that I should worry about? I don't know. There are times when one has got to be absolutely positive about everything and I'm in one such phase. For too long now, I have been thinking of turning lean to go with my Victor. Accordingly, I wish and foresee my long cherished dream to complement my size with a Royal Enfield soon.

The many other things I mentioned above that happens in a busy day's schedule don't find place in this post. I only wish and hope my foreseeing is part of my special powers :)

Cheers

Sanjay