The 100000th KM

THE 100000th KM

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That’s right – Chintu, our car has now completed 1 lakh kilometres. Oh ok – I know what you must be thinking, how can someone name a car? Well, having lived with us for so long has almost breathed a life into him and hence the idea of naming him didn’t sound too weird. In case you found the name to be funny, all credits to Sangz for having christened him that way. Anyways wouldn’t go into the details of that here.

Following is an excerpt of the coverage from The Planet Times (dated 9-Oct)
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CHINTU TURNS 1 LAKH
(Pune – 5th Oct 2008 )
In an exclusive interview to his “Master”, Chintu gets candid about all the trials he had to face in achieving this milestone and his appreciation for his “Master” without whose helping hands (and feet) this would never have been possible (obviously..). Here’s a first hand account of all that transpired.

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The date turned out to be 5th Oct 2008, when it was destined to “happen”. As I slipped into Chintu (hope am not sounding ‘horny’ here) I watched the kilometre reading display a proud 99998 and wondered how would that moment be when the last turn of the wheel would signal Chintu’s entry into the elite club of 1 lakh. Would the world stop and give a standing ovation to the man and his car for having achieved this? Would every car after that turn towards Chintu and bow in respect to acknowledge his great triumph?
I and Sangz had agreed before-hand that we would stop at that point in time and cut a cake in Chintu’s honour and needless to say, eat for him as well. We had gone shopping to Monginis the previous day to buy a strawberry cake which we felt and hoped that Chintu would approve of, needless to say to our eyes and tongue too. And we were all set to greet the day, the moment.
What follows here is a first hand conversation between Chintu and his “Master” –
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“So Chintu…it’s your big day today, eh? So how are you feeling?”
“Oh Master – haven’t slept all night, have been dreaming of this day, this moment in my life and cant believe I am alive to see this happen…and you know what Master, think I am doubly blessed…”
“And, why do you say that?”
“Oh – more than the 1 lakh thingy…I have always been hoping and praying that I should be in your arms when that happens”
“Yeah – thank god that Sangz here doesn’t know driving… (Master thinks) and that she doesn’t have such a wild imagination to be hearing our chat”
“So Chintu…what has it been like…your journey until now…anything exciting from the usual? And oh – by all means don’t be humble in your praises for me and your criticism for the other drivers, my bro included!!!”
“Oh Master – don’t think words would be enough to praise you – but then would make an attempt when it comes to that point…”
Chintu starts off…“You know I come from a small town called Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, my registration numbers says it all…don’t quite remember my first master as very soon after he purchased me I switched hands to the Randys’ (that’s short for the Ramachandrans’ – sounds cool, eh?)…do you remember Master it was you who actually came to Salem to pick me up along with two others and how you sat in the back seat thinking as to how you would be driving such a big car? (I used to be driving only an 800 until then)”
“Oh yeah yeah…sheesh, didn’t know that you had a spark of life in you then?”
“Oh – I always had a heart but it’s just that only you cared to hear it…and that’s why I have always called you ‘Master’”
“And hey Chintu…remember our first long distance drive to Guruvayoor from Mettur and that was the ultimate driving test for me complete with the night and the rains…and daddy was all so impressed when we reached Mettur that he gave me the certificate of “excellent driving”... and my bro is still craving for that?)…thanks to you Chintu”
“Oh Master – I always knew that there was a Schumacher in you…heh heh”
“Chintooo…Schumacher is now history…I would rather prefer a Raikonnen here”
“Oh sure – sure, that’s what I meant”
“Oh how I remember your daddy driving me over Mettur and Salem with your mommy sitting in the front seat, think you had gone away to Chennai to work and that used to drive me nuts, used to miss you so much”
“Hey Chintu…lets not talk about my daddy here, you know there are more chances of him reading this than my bro”
“Oops sure”
“Yeah – hey just 1km to go now…it might happen within the next minute or so”
“Cant believe it…anyways can’t forget the days in Bangalore when I used to be tormented under you bro’s careless and reckless driving, you know almost half of me has been replaced because of his “$%^& driving…I mean you can understand having an accident once or twice, but he was the limit”
“Yep – as they say an error committed more than once turns into a blunder”
“Yeah – sometimes with a bus, sometimes with a cyclist and once even when your daddy was around, he had my side mirror ripped off during an overtake and man that almost gave me the scare of my life, and you know what Master all those times I used to think where is my Master, where is my Master…but how did I know then that I would have to wait for a good two years for it to happen”
“And then the fateful day came – April 1st 2006 when you drove me from Bangalore to Chennai to make me a part of your life, I think I was around 60000 kms old then”
“Yeah – and that was the start of your good days”
“Master Master…I can feel it happening…I am changing…its like a new beginning of my life…its like having come to the end of the circle of life, or must I say beginning, a rebirth even…there it is for you to see…I am now 1000000 kms old”
Master stops Chintu by the side
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At this point both I and Sangz open up the cake decorated with the icing which read “Chintu 100000”, (the 10 had gone missing due to the road condition) and then time stood still as we cut the cake singing for Chintu. I didn’t know how to react and in that one fit of excitement I caught hold of the steering wheel and gave him a big hug.
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“So Chintu…that’s it, congratulations for having achieved the mark…its like a new start for you, how does it feel like?”
“Oh, thank you thank you (wiping the tears from his eyes)…I feel so new and energetic that I can live another 1 lakh kms, but then I know that may not happen”
“Hmm…its like we wishing for a second innings after having turned 100. (Master licks his hands smeared with cream) Umm…the cake is so yummy, wish you could join us in the feast buddy (all the time thinking otherwise)”
“So Chintu, any birthday wishes that you want me to fulfil - anything that you want as a gift?”
“Oh master – there is nothing that I wish or desire, you have given me everything that a car could wish for. You know all the other cars so damn wish that they belonged to you but I always quite them saying that I would never let that happen. You know that old Maruti 800 which is parked next to me in Golden Galaxy, man can you imagine that it is a 2001 make, a year younger to me and check out what it has become?”
“Thank you Chintu for all the nice words…don’t think I have the money to buy any more cars, not to talk of their maintenance –but is there something that you want?”
“Well Master, it’s not something big but then I really wish that you stop being such a nice guy and not overtake all those cars you fancy like CRV, Camerie, Volkswagen, etc”
(Master thinks “Man, what attitude? He is actually thinking that he is capable of overtaking all of them, they are way beyond our league”)
“Yeah Chintu, agree that I do have the hots for them, it just that I like seeing their backs rather than their fronts (oops hope that wasn’t cheesy again?)”
(Chintu sulks,” Guess that’s what the others must be thinking when I overtake them”)
“So Chintu, have you made any resolutions for the new life?”
“Oh yes, there is this one thing that I want to start doing. You know every time I overtake some car I have this bad habit of jeering and passing some comments, think that is an area that I would like to improve upon.”
“You mean to say improve or reduce it?”
“Well didn’t want to use the word increase.”
“Ahem, oh ok. So have you had any girlfriends? Any one for whom you have had the hots?”
“Not anyone really but then you know the SWIFT is kinda a rage amongst us. After all who else amongst the cars can boast of such a rounded back?”
“Ah, now I know why you always insist that I have you parked next to that SWIFT in the office, cheeky huh?”
“Oh that – it’s just that we are good friends and there is nothing more than that. Hope I am not sounding like a celebrity?”
“Well, you are one – at least for today and always for us”.
“So one last question, any tips for your fans on how they can achieve this important milestone in their own journeys?”
“Well let me see, regular visits to the service station for a health check every 5000 kms, intake of fuel at the right times and not at the reach of dehydration, coupled with daily workouts(even if it is for one km) and a bath every morning would be the perfect mantra to follow to reach where I am today.”
“Ahem - Chintu aren’t you forgetting something here?”
“And oh I almost forgot to mention - all the points that I mentioned are the steps to reach the goal. But what’s important is taking those steps which in my case would have been impossible without a Master like you…so it is also important to be gifted with good luck to have a Master like you”
“Oh, thank you Chintu for all the kind words. It has been a pleasure talking to you. You see we have just reached “Chokhi Dani” and so may need to park you here”
“Thank you Master for having gifted me this life and the pleasure has been mine”
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The LAST(ing) KM

The BAD BAD Boyzzzz...

They say that ‘EVIL glorifies good’ – how true? How vain would goodness be without the prevalence of EVIL? Good and BAD are like the parallel rail tracks which have to be always together to keep the journey alive but can and should possibly never meet.

Goodness could be termed as the absence of EVIL, just as day, the absence of night (all right, I twisted it a bit here). Just imagine a world without EVIL, man that would suck! All would be fine and so uneventful (call it boring even) and there would be no greater glory or spotlight on the concept of goodness, not to mention the endless queues outside the gates of heaven if stories are to be believed that good guys reach heaven and the BAD ones…well you know where?

To start with take our very own Gods of any faith, isn’t there at least one story or fable that we would have heard to describe their triumph over EVIL, in fact they say that EVIL was the prime motive and reason why we were gifted with incarnations (not to mention the countless wars in name of religion and caste that came with it as bonus).

Our very own Bollywood and Hollywood heroes would be nowhere without the 'BAD BOYS'. How else would they win the hoots and whistles of the audience for their class dialogues, kicks, punches – all aimed on our FRIENDS; and that too spot on (effortlessly) - and all that’s expected of the VILLIAN is to put up a smile, take a gracious bow and say a Thank you for all the blows and bruises– SHEESH and we are supposed to be staying in a world of equanimity?

I remember how me, my bro and dad would sit together and watch in awe as TOM and the WILE E COYOTE would go to world’s end and leave no stone unturned in trying to catch their adversaries (I feel ashamed to even mention their names here) – I mean the COYOTE must have had a lifetime contract with ACME in showcasing their products with each one being different and for all the efforts put in what would the result be? The Roadrunner with its irritating “Beep-Beep” would just go through all the hurdles and obstacles as if they never existed and when our friend tried the same, SNAP and you know the rest. I mean what a waste of creativity!!

But on the positive side of things, they are undisputedly the best teachers for accepting failures with grace – I mean what better testimony to the saying “Try and try and you will succeed”. Our BOYS never seem to need any backing. Every time we have seen them fall, all they do is get up, dust off their failures and then come back with an even better and meaner plot spiced up with loads of creativity and fireworks. What a contrast to the good guys who every time upon failure, need a girlfriend to smooch up their morale or someone like an Aunt Mary to cough up a lecture of pep-up words to get the man alive and kicking again (the audience would have fallen asleep by then listening to her).

Last Saturday, me and Sangz were watching “The Dark Knight” (Sangz hated me for that) – the scene where the JOKER comes into the room filled with Dons with his proposal to kill the Batman much to their boo’s. He wins their curiosity by banging a stump of pencil onto the table promising them to make it vanish and he does it in style by banging one of the guys head onto it. And then with all evil gory when he proclaims “POOF – its gone” we all know that he is here to stay. Wow – what an entry. He won over me that moment and my Orkut profile now shows that I am a proud member of his community.

But then the battle is not lost yet – goodness now seems to be losing its charm by seeing a couple of its prized members deserting camp and joining hands with The Bad – with the emergence of characters such as ARYAN and LANGDA TYAGEE the focus and attention seems to be slowly shifting. Evil rocks and in style. 'AAG' may have been a disaster but AB finally had his longtime dream fulfilled of walking the shoes of the legendary Gabbar Singh…and we thought that people always wanted to tread the path of goodness. J.K.Rowling definetly needed a VOLDEMORT as a motivation to write seven parts of the famed series.

Lets look at our lives for a moment – don’t we glorify ourselves in front of others by spinning out endless episodes from our daily work lives to describe the trials and tortures gifted by our ‘MAN IN THE CABIN’ and how we braved them et al (without a scratch) – I mean don’t we use the ‘BAD GUY’ for becoming the centre of a gathering in winning their awe (and sometimes even sympathy)?

So lets all hear it for them – for their endless motivation, for their creativity, wit, sarcasm, style, selflessness (in gifting all the fame to the heroes), and everything else that I might possibly think of after having published this post. When I first hit upon this subject, I didn’t think that I would get to writing about it - I mean if the Ramayana required paper measuring to the seven lands and the ink of the seven oceans how much more would stories of the evil require?

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING…

{Kerala} П {Sri Lanka} П {Pondicherry} = GOA

Goa – the land of beaches, the land of undying fun, and the list goes on. But the thing which stood out to my eyes in Goa which I guess was beyond the obvious as am yet to find it in any of the write-ups on Goa (or probably because it just appealed to me – but then what the heck this is my space and I deserve the applaud) is the disciplined roads. When I say disciplined, I mean that they are well laid without any pot holes (at least on the stretches that we covered) and fun to drive on. But then more about that later…

Let me cut the usual story on why we decided on Goa (guess, it’s become a trademark way to begin all my writings and its time for some change) – so lets just assume that it had to be Goa and get going. We had decided to put tent at the Club Mahindra resort (some class, eh?) at Varca beach in South Goa. We had decided to get ourselves a re-tyre by forgetting our present boring lives for exactly 4 nights and 5 days.

The resort was a class of its own – the room that we were put up in was kinda old and didn’t match or expectation, but then it didn’t spoil our holiday mood or plans. We checked into the resort on a Friday morning and without wasting any precious moments hit the breakfast counter and then decided to explore the beach. The beach being a private one prevents the glare of the locals and hence attracted only the classy guys from the resort. We had a great time lapping & playing in the water; partially due to Sangz’s prodding and persuasion (as frankly I don’t fancy the water so much). We were in Goa during the monsoon season which is quite a lean period and free from the usual family crowd measuring hubby, biwi, bacha and bachi (and sometimes even granny and grandpa) – the perfect setting for the young couples such as us (young – underlined). The monsoon is quite funny in Goa where you get rains for about ten minutes and then its all bright and sunny for the next hour or so. Also the rains when they begin, feel soft and nice but after a point they turn into sharp needles trying to open up every skin pore available, especially if you are next to the beach. Thankfully on that day we were blessed with the first kind (guess, because of low winds) but then as the days progressed we were never blessed with that privilege.

We decided to chill at the resort on the first day – frankly the resort has lots to offer in terms of recreation. There’s a kids zone to start with where the highlight is the giant chess pawns and which promises to take care of your kids while you chill (frankly I think it’s a nice way to make you realise the pleasures of life minus kids), then there’s a colour factory (my favourite) where you can learn pottery and painting on ceramic stuff – tried my hand in designing a clock on a ceramic plate with my community logo and must say did a decent job (won the accolades from Sangz and that is testimony enough). Then there’s the usual stuff for indoor playing (like TT, carom, billiards, etc) but the highlight of the resort is the twin swimming pools and the gym cum spa, all of which I failed to try because (a) I don’t know how to swim, (b) the spa was expensive, and (c) who hits the gym when you are on a holiday?

Ok – enough of the resort, day 2 was dedicated to some exploring. We hitched a taxi for a day long sight seeing of some places that we had checked out on the web prior to leaving for Goa. One thing to highlight here is that the taxis are quite expensive (especially the ones outside the resort and this isin’t true only of Club Mahindra resort), partially due to some consensus reached by the driver’s union (which seems to be quite an influential one in Goa). The private taxis usually charge anything up to 1600 rupees for the first 6 hours and then an additional 100 rupees for every hour after that. Also in case of a night travel (after 7pm) they tend to charge extra. The cheap ones are the pre-paid taxis (the usual black and yellow ones) but then they don’t seem that functional in Goa except for transfers from airport or railway station. We also had the option to take the day long tour buses from Margaon (priced between 200 to 300 rupees per head) but then we had some problems in making advance reservations on them.

Goa (as you must have read quite often) is divided into two parts – north and south. While Panaji (or Panjim) is the centre for north, it is Margaon (40 kms from Panaji) for the south. Most of the trains towards Panaji pass through Margaon (believe its an important station on the Konkan Railways route) and the state airport is also mid way between Panaji and Margaon , thereby benefiting both sides. While North Goa is famous for its beaches, its in the south where most of the inland tourist attractions lie. Our itinerary was a potpourri of temples, churches, river cruise, forts and we managed to cover all of them during the day to our satisfaction.

We started out from Varca around 10am – the first stop was at Margaon (about 20 mins) famous for its Church of Holy Spirit (found this to be closed due to some strike). One would also hit upon the Nehru International cricket stadium and the Pepsi Bottling Company (how dumb!!) at Fatorda, about 10mins away from Margaon on the road to Panjim.

On the way from Margaon, we stopped by three temples, the Santha Durga temple at Ponde (so named as Durga is said to have mediated in a dispute between her hubby Shiva and Lord Vishnu, having established peace between the two she acquired this somewhat paradoxical title), the Sri Mangesh temple (temple of Lord Shiva – also famous as it resides in the native place of the Mangeskar sisters and the temple land is supposed to be donated by their daddy, the late Sri Deenanath Mangeshkar) and finally the Sri Mahalsa temple at Mandol (which is famous for the 35 feet deepdan). To be quite honest, we didn’t find any difference between the three – the temple layout comprising of the usual temple tank, a tower outside the temple entrance (much like the Leaning tower) and identical interiors. The only difference apart from the presiding deities was the colour schema chosen to paint the temples – they appeared quite funky for a temple.

Our next halt was at Old Goa (the state capital prior to Panjim) which houses the famous Basilica of Born Jesus which has been declared as a world heritage monument as the church houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier of Assisi (the body still appears to be free of decay and this miraculous phenomenon continues to attract Lakhs of pilgrims). The church looks quite old (but impressive though) and think it’s high time that the government look at doing a renovation, given its title of world heritage monument.

All the above sites fall on the 40 km stretch between Margaon and Panjim with minimal deviation. We next entered the state capital which if I may describe in one word is simply “picturesque”. The city (which is the smallest capital city in India) is situated on the banks of the Mandovi temple offers a breath-taking view of the river-side activities upon your entry. There are these two huge bridges connecting the city to the Mumbai highway which have been built over the Mandovi and offer the visitor a sneak peep into what the city has to offer. On one side (which is the opposite to Panjim) of the Mandovi is situated the fishermen colony characterised by their neatly docked fishing boats and on the other (happening) side is where all the city buzz is. Besides the river side restaurants (Noah’s Ark is supposed to be famous made on a boat), the cruise liners and the privately owned speed boats, the main attraction is the river cruise which opens up after 6:15 in the evening and priced at 150 rupees per head. This comprises of an hour river tour all the way to the mouth of the sea offering a river bank view of the city. The cruise is on a triple decker boat complete with snack stalls, an in house DJ to keep the crowd on their feet with loads of local music mixed with foot tapping bollywood numbers and an open area to experience the sights and smells of the city, uninterrupted (also ideal for some photo shoots). As darkness sets in the city lights come on and it’s quite a treat for the eye.

The city by itself is quite disciplined in its layout spread into square blocks similar to what you would find either in Pondicherry or more significantly at Kandy in Sri Lanka (now you know the relevance of the title). On the eat-out front we found a Dominoes (sorry, no Pizza Hut or Corner), a Kamath (exclusive for the strict veggies and this is where we incidentally ate) in the central square besides the others. The roads leading to the central block is also adequately populated with shops selling authentic Goa stuff – but then we didn’t find anything that could be christened as authentic Goan for us to take back home. Found the usual shell jewellery (characteristic of any coastal town), show pieces, etc but then there is this option for the daring few to splurge into buying the traditional Goan shirt rich with the vibrancy of Goa with flowery designs, splashed with bright shades of fluorescent orange cum green and with the words GOA smitten in blazing gold - I however decided to play it safe. But then shouldn’t forget to mention that dry fruits are very famous here. Almost every third shop that we ran into was filled with displays of cashews, almonds, dates, etc and seemed quite popular even amongst the locals.

We found a couple of uniquely designed carts serving cold drinks in a special manner – with ice and chat powder on the road side. Also we ran into this building or mall called Akbarally’s which had its corner doused with a mixture of bright colours blending with the colours of Goa – both of which won my fascination and prized “clicks”.

Post lunch & some shopping and prior to taking the river cruise, decided to visit one last spot which is about 12 kms from Panjim. Fort Aguada (portugese word for Water filler) which was built in 1612 to serve as a water refill stop for the ships in those days is situated near Candolim beach. The fort is also famous for its old light house which offers a breath taking view of the sea and which is open for public visits between 4 and 5:30 pm. The fort which is mostly made of black stone (I think) has also increased its popularity with the tourists as this is where some of the scenes of the all time hit movie Dil Chahta Hain were shot.

There were also a couple of other places that we wanted to visit which included the Dudh Sagar water falls situated near the Goa – Karnataka border as well as have a taste of the famous hinterland which is supposed to offer an unrestricted view of the forests and mountains at their best to a traveller. Fortunately we were able to see these during the return rail ride from Goa. The hinterland is simply awesome and one would always wish that the vast expanse of unspoilt and untouched nature never ends. I would like to strongly recommend to all to make a travel to Goa (at least one way) by rail (2nd Sleeper – non a/c) as this is a must see. One would also get a brief glance of the Dudh Sagar waterfalls and which goes away as soon as it comes. So all you fellow nature lovers, do ensure that you have your cameras ready for clicking during the 45 minutes stretch of the Braghanza ghat section between Kulem and Castle Rock.

All in all had a fun time despite the monsoon and by the time we got up upon our arrival at Pune after the overnight train ride from Goa, we had already marked this as a “must do it once more” holiday destination. Wish the same for you as well.