Run.........

If there's one thing that I have loved doing since childhood, it's running.

I have worn spectacles since I was in third standard in school. I never knew that I could run fast. But one fine day just before the athletics day of the school that year, we had trials for selecting 100m and 200m runners from each section. Participation in trials used to be compulsory. We used to wear canvas shoes and i still remember that on a hot day they used to literally burn the feet.

Our PT teacher had a loud voice (a pre-requisite for any PT teacher). She was hyper active and had a huge temper. She was not huge but we used to fear her a lot.
On that day she was very strict .She quickly arranged the enthusiastic children in a row, showed us a wall at the other end of the ground and and shouted Go!!

I have not looked back since. I won almost every short distance running competition during next 5 years in my school. Though I was good at academics in school but still I pocketed more certificates for running than academics. From 100m to cross country to relays. I loved it all. I must have been an amusing sight - a thin boy with huge spectacles on, running fast. I still have a photograph clicked at the end of a race in 3rd standard where I am posing with my medal. The spectacle is covering almost half of my face!!!!

As I entered into 9th class , my school stopped organizing athletic events for seniors and the focus shifted more and more onto academics .I am not sure though if that’s the right approach that some Indian schools take. I believe that extracurricular activities and sports are as much important if not more than academic books and exams. Leading a team of cricket in my schooling days taught me the fundamentals of leadership and team spirit which have helped me become what I am today. No exam that I ever took in school talked about team spirit. A practical lesson can never be forgotten and I believe that Indian education system needs some transformation.

Anyways coming back to the time when I entered 9th class, gradually I stopped running.
College happened but I did not run.
Got a job in a company but did not run.
Came to a different city - did not run!!

I had forgotten the bliss and joy that I used to get from running , just running.

I was working one day in the office and suddenly some friend e-mails me about an event in the city. Bangalore - 10k. A medium distance run.
The old memories came back. I was again in the third standard , running a 100m and sprinting towards the finish line.....
Without thinking much I enrolled myself into the event.
The experience of Bangalore 10k not only brought me close to the city but also reignited the desire in me to run. Although my main motive while running the 10k was to just enjoy and spread the message of peace ( I was supporting Sparsh-Ek Prayatna's effort for helping underprivileged kids) still i managed a respectable time of 65mins for finishing the 10k.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I realized that running is still something that is and will always remain very close to my heart.

Currently I am practising with a couple of friends to compete in an event - Urban Stampede, this August.

I feel free, I feel close to nature, I feel power, and most importantly I feel bliss when I run
I am not going to stop running anymore.................

PS: A special thanks to Guppu who encouraged me to start running again

Dettol vs Savlon

I have always been an outdoor person since childhood. I always preferred to ride my cycle than to play ludo at home. I was not hugely built but pound for pound I packed quite a punch. I cannot count the number of times i have fallen off my bike or dived and scratched my arm while attempting a catch. It was the order of the day .Surprisingly it was not the prospect of getting reprimanded by my mother but something else that used to send shivers into my spine..........................Dettol!!!!

As if the wound did not hurt enough that the monster liquid took upon itself to multiply the agony tenfold!!!! My mom would clean the wound with Dettol, and even if it was a small scratch it burned like ambers on fire.
I was not the only unlucky child. The Indian mother had become so used to the application of dettol on her child that unless should hear the howls of her kid she would not believe that the wound would heal. You could not complain, she was showing her love and concern, but we were too unfortunate to be pitted against the wily old liquid!! It was a one way wrestling affair throughout. The Giant liquid pummelled us into submission.

And then came our superhero. The superhero had a lot of superpowers to protect us children from all infections but alas he was not the articulate types. He lacked the skill of interacting with the media. So even if he did a good deed, no one could see that because of him being a bad communicator. Soon the hero disappeared into wilderness.

The superhero was /is called Savlon. It was an antiseptic lotion that did not hurt. Yes, it did not hurt!!!!!!!!! It was as if Santa Claus decided to gift all the children in India the magnificent gift of Savlon bottles seeing our misery. And Santa in his own inimitable style decided to add a bit of zing in the form of a scent to the antiseptic lotion (Our villain dettol used to stink like a hospital).
How can a product ,which was proved by laboratory tests as better than its competitor, backed by one of the most reputed business houses in the world, having many product advantages over its competitor, have any chance of failing in the market ?
But it did.

Why did it fail?
Lack of effective marketing is one of the most important reasons.
Rather than marketing Savlon as a better germ killing antiseptic, J&J promoted Savlon as a non stingy, non smelling antiseptic. But what’s wrong with that? The answer is that J&J could not read the Consumer Psyche.

Consumers tend to believe that the stinging sensation is a side-effect of the effectiveness of the antiseptic.So if it does not hurt, it is not effective. Dettol had taught them that way.
Launched in 1936, Dettol antiseptic liquid was as generic to its category as Xerox became to copiers. There was little that needed to be done to promote it .Dettol’s brand equity was built through sheer usage over the years.

Though Dettol had a high penetration level and almost all households kept a bottle of it handy, they rarely used it. So to stoke sales, Reckitt (then Reckitt Colman of India) decided to expand Dettol’s usage beyond cuts and bruises. This resulted in a communication campaign that showed that Dettol could be used as an all-purpose antiseptic while shaving, rinsing babies’ nappies, as a general disinfectant and so on. Soon, all these uses pointed to a number of possible extensions, namely Dettol Soaps which forms nearly ¾th of the 230 crore brand’s turnover.

Savlon (J&J) arrived in the Indian market as the way giant Soviet Union Ice Hockey team arrived in the 1980 winter games. They entered the Olympic tournament as heavy favorites, having won every ice hockey gold medal but one since 1956. On the other hand US had a team of amateur and collegiate players. The U.S. and USSR prepared for the medal round in different ways. Soviet coach Viktor Thikonov rested most of his best players, preferring to let them study plays rather than actually skate. U.S. coach Herb Brooks, however, continued with his tough, confrontational style, skating "hard" practices and berating his players for perceived weaknesses.

A better product (team) was beaten old school by innovativeness and tenacity of the inferior product (team). The bad preparation and laziness of the better product ( team ) helped .
Miracles do happen. Sometimes on ice and sometimes in marketing!!!!!

Felt like a cloud ......

The Himalayas are enchanting, mesmerizing and grand. They are the highest and one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. The highest mountain peak outside Himalayas at around 7000m is in Andes. Himalayas have more than 100 peaks greater than that height. That’s the grandeur of Himalayas
A trek to Himalayas tests attitude, patience, stamina and most of all mental toughness. One needs to have the right amount of confidence and will. Though if you are over-confident and don’t respect the mountain, it can prove fatal.
Recently i went on an expedition to climb a peak in the Garhwal Himalayas called the Darwa Top , close to 14000 feet above see level. The journey took me through various villages, mountain peaks and forests along the banks of the Asi Ganga.
The first few days before the trek are essential. I spent the first 4 days in the base camp to acclimatize to the conditions and to prepare myself for the tough road ahead. My Journey started from the base camp in Uttarkashi at a height of around 4500 feet. We trekked to a village called Sangam Chetti and then to a village called Majhi.This portion of the trek gave me practical lessons on issues that are threatening our very existence today – Global Warming and Forest Fires .Observing the flora and fauna of the forest ravaged by fire and the streams that form the Ganga devoid of water was distressing. The forest fires many times are caused by human interference /negligence and global warming too can largely be attributed to human activities . Global warming is especially serious as it is leading to the melting of lot of glaciers including the glacier from which the Ganga originates. The haunting black forest presented a stark contrast with the lush green forests around.
Next day was a relatively easier trek of 5kms to a place called Dodi Tal . Although Lord Ganesha was born in this place it does not attract a lot of tourists because of the high altitude and inaccessibility by road.At around 10,000 feet the Lake /Tal provided a scintillating view of the flowers on its banks with the snow capped mountain peaks in the background. We attended the Aarti at the temple near the lake and devoured the aloo paranthas at the makeshift dhaba.This would be the last dhaba /eating joint on the way to the top.
It snowed that night and the himalyan weather showed its fury . The thunderstorms were so loud that we thought we were caught in the middle of a landslide. Hail fell onto our tents like stones .Luckily our tent did not fall / leak. A lot of other trekkers had to put up in the temple or the dhaba to protect themselves from the cold as their tents could not hold in the thunderstorm. In the middle of the night I woke up tucked inside an inner inside my sleeping bag .I saw lightening making our tent appear in different shades.Luckily the night went without more dramatics of nature
Up at 5 am and ready with our packed lunch we started to march towards the destination – Darwa Top – 13,550 feet. Walking uphill on ice was tough as the surface was very slippery. I saw flowers blossoming on the snow and small streams flowing along the trekking path. It was like another world. After 12,500 feet the vegetation started to disappear. The oxygen content in the air reduced and we felt some fatigue. Finally we reached the first checkpoint – Darwa Pass. There was enough snow there to slide on our rain sheets and enjoy and relax for a while. We ate our lunch, emptied our water bottles to get back the oxygen and prepared ourselves for the last few kms of the uphill climb. These last kms were very tricky. We had to walk on a small ridge . One small step astray and that’s it .We decided to let the slowest amongst us set the pace and formed a human chain.There are chances that due to the small pathways and great heights a person lose consciousness. Altitude sickness is also not uncommon at these heights. After an hour of walking in a human chain we reached Darwa peak#1. Happiness.............. Most of us thought that this was the end of our journey but the pathways did not end here.
We saw another peak that seemed far off. That was to be our final destination. The winds were blowing hard. Some of us did not have the physical stamina to proceed further. But it boiled down to mental toughness and will to go on. Mind over matter. Some of us decided that we will go further to conquer the last mile.What a great decision that proved to be!The last portion of the trek was actually rather straightforward and easier than the more arduous trek in the early morning.
30 minutes later we were staring at the greater Himalayas all around us. The winds were chilly. We could see a lot of great Himalayan peak atop the Darwa Top.The view was spectacular. After reaching the top, i went to the edge looked at the clouds under me and raised my hands and breathed. “I FELT LIKE A CLOUD”
3 days later i was sitting in the train coming back to Delhi and I had a single thought in my mind– I wanted to go on another trek right away – Base camp of Mt Everest ( Kala Pathar)

The Free Fall.......

I tied my shades with a rubber thread. They were Tommy Hilfiger and expensive.

My legs were tied so tight that I had to hop to reach the small enclosure attached to the hulk of the crane.

Suddenly with a jerk I started gaining height.

At the top I checked my harness again. As I turned around I could see the eagles flying in pure harmony. It was as if they were waiting for me to showcase my flying prowess. I spread my hands like an eagle and leaned forward into thin air. 3, 2, 1...........

Time stood still, the wind gushed around my face. I will never forget that feeling. I started enjoying the fall. It was pure bliss. Soon the bungee rope recoiled and I started moving up. I was catapulted up and I lost the sense of direction, the sky turned upside down. I was going up and then down again. The eelastic energy finally got converted into heat and I stopped oscillating like a YO –YO.

My first free fall made me feel strong yet weak, carefree yet concerned, but most of all it gave me an amazing rush that I had never experienced. The thrill came as much from the free-fall as from the rebounds

Bungee Jumping though is a sport that involves risks and people have died beacuse of inadequate precautions / faulty equipments . One should inspect the harness, the rope and undertake all other safety procedures before attempting a jump.

The Foodie’s escapades............

Apart from exploring different parts of Delhi for food, I make it a point to explore the by lanes of all my destinations for the best of food. This post is dedicated to two of the best places to have food across the world.

Lahore
If I have to single out a street / place that I would want to have food at if I knew that it would be the last day of my life it would be the food street in Lahore. Situated in Gawalmandi, Lahore this street is the centre of traditional food. Open to traffic in the day time the street starts to metamorphose as the darkness begins to fall. Out come the tables, and the street-side pots and pans, and on go the flames. The good thing about this street is no matter where you are sitting ,you can order food from any of the 20 odd shops that line the street .Coming to the food - The mutton chop,seekh kebab, chicken tikka and Sardar di Macchi are a must have for starters. In the main course you should not miss the, nihari siri pai and biryani .The lassi (buttermilk) goes well with the food and is served in a huge (and I mean huge) glass and should not be missed at any cost. To end the meal there are deserts like gulab jamuns, gajjar halwas, cold milk with pistachio, kulfi faluda and ice creams to chose from. Whatever you order you will be left craving for more even if your stomach has already raised the white flag. And to top it all off there is the famous Lahore pan. The downside to this place however is the fact that there is not much that caters to the vegetarians. For most locals vegetarianism is something that is inconceivable…Pakistani's are devout carnivores. A gentleman I met on my trip had been on a diet in which he ate only red meat for 40 days to reduce weight J

Amritsar/Ambarsar
If there is one place in the world where vegetarians should flock to for the best North Indian food it is Amritsar. The dhabas here are out of the world. I haven’t had a better dal makhani ,shahi panner , sarson da saag , rajma chawal or a bhindi masala elsewhere. My strong recommendations are Bhrawan dhaba situated in the town hall and Kesar da dhaba at Chowk Passian.
But the buck does not stop here; Amritsar serves the best Kulcha chola in the world. You would never have had anything better in breakfast. They are fantabulous .One of the best places to have this delicious snack is at the Chungi Maqbool Road. You would think that Amritsar has a lot to offer , but wait I have not yet talked about the Jalebis and the Lassis.Just by mentioning them my mouth starts watering. The jalebis at Khubi Halwaai Katra Ahluwalia near Golden Temple are the best I have ever had( some people would say that the Jalebis at chandni chowk near Sheeshganj Gurudwara in Delhi are better but frankly nothing beats the Jalebis at Amritsar ). I can say the same for the Lassi at Gian Halwaai opp. Regent Cinema, Hall Gate. The size of the lassi glass in both Lahore and Amritsar can be daunting for a foreigner (Punjabis like me though are used to drinking a litre of lassi with their meal J)
If you are a non-vegetarian and thinking that Amritsar does not offer much to you, you are mistaken. No trip to Amritsar can be complete without a visit to Makhan's Fish at Lawrence Road. It serves the world famous Amritsari fish at its best. I went to this shop on each day of my stay in this city. Occasionally I used to be disappointed because the stock of fish would finish before I reached (and I used to reach the shop pretty early). If you like mutton chops then Amritsar is the place for you to be. A small shop near Adarsh Cinema serves Mutton chops and tikkas with hot kulchas.The only issue though is that the place is a bit shady and goes even more shadier in the night( with the sight of huge sardars drinking neat alcohol from their bottles while devouring the mutton chops).

Lahore and Amritsar are two places that one can visit just because of the quality of food served there. But the fact is that both places boast of great cultural heritage , monuments and religious temples that add to the charm of the places. The golden temple at Amritsar is one my favourite places in the world. The calmness and the serenity of the place takes one to another plane altogether. Lahore on the other hand boasts of forts/mosques that have amazing architecture and history attached to them.

All in all both Lahore and Amritsar are places that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime

The foodie’s hometown….

When I am travelling to different parts of the world, my foodie instincts are at their peak. Right from my childhood I have been fascinated by food. I like experimenting with my food. From the Thukpa of Ladakh to the Gatte ki sabzi of Jaisalmer.From the Kulchas of Amritsar to the Kebabs of Lahore and the list goes on …..

But today I will limit myself to my foodie escapades in Delhi. Being born and brought up in Delhi, my connection with the food here is at another level. I have explored each and every by lane of Delhi for good food. Today I am sharing with you my personal favorites -

1. Karims – If you like mutton then Karim’s is the place to be .The mutton lovers swear by this eating joint situated near Jama Masjid. My personal favorites – Burra Kebab , Keema Nan and Phirni .The vegetarian fare is avoidable though

2. Khan Chacha – Situated in a small by lane of Khan Market, Khan Chacha dishes out the best Chicken and Mutton Rolls in Delhi. The paneer rolls are good too.

3. Chicken Planet –If you are looking for having a great chicken curry, then Chicken Planet situated at Filmistan serves is the place to be. The curry (a gravy dish prepared in a huge utensil) has optimum amount of spices and leaves you asking for more. The service is poor though

4. Big chill –Italian food never tasted better. Though the place dishes out a spicier version of Italian cusine, but that does not mean that the dishes are not lip smacking. Must Haves – “Arabiatta sauce Pastas” , “Oreo shakes” and “Mud Pie”

5. Bukhara – From Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, all the big guns of the world swear by the Kebabs and the Dal Bukhara served at arguably the best restaurant in Delhi( situated in the Maurya Sheraton hotel). Bukhara simply deserves 5 out of 5. Downside – Meal for 2 can leave a big hole in your pocket and the reservation is difficult to get on weekends

6. Dum Pukht – The less known cousin of Bukhara, serves Hyderabad cuisine prepared in a very unique style(It’s called “DUM” style of cooking) .I have been to this place countless number of times but I still yearn for the food served here. It serves arguably the best biryani in Delhi.

7. Paramjit Machhi Waala – Winters is the season to have fish in Delhi. During winters huge crowds assemble at a small shop in Moti Nagar ( West Delhi ).The Fish tikka at this place is out of the world. The downside – everything gets over by 10PM J

8. Dakshin – The best south Indian restaurant in Delhi (situated at the ITC hotel in Saket). The uppams are so fresh and hot that I loose count of them when relishing them with a Mangalorian Fish curry.The vegetarian fare is amazing too.The Dosas are great too.A must visit for any South Indian food lover

9. Nirula’s –If you feel like having an ice cream to the beat the hot summer in Delhi then nothing beats the Hot Chocolate Fudge at Nirula’s.The other ice cream flavors are great too.

10. Haldiram’s – If you are a hardcore vegetarian and you crave for chaats and poori sabzi , then don’t look further.Haldiram’s is the place for you to be in . The Raj Kachori is my personal favourite.

11. Momo’s point – If you are shopping in rajouri garden , a great place to have a snack is Momo’s point in the main market.The Momo’s are served hot and with an extremely chilly sauce ( and the stress is on extremely J) and go best with a good old Thumbs Up

12. Moti Mahal – The butter chicken originated from this restaurant situated in Daryaganj in Old Delhi. I have not had better butter chicken elsewhere. The downside – The rest of dishes can be a bit disappointing

13. Annapurna Sweets in Chandni Chowk –The Sondesh and Roshogullas here leave you asking for more even when you are conscious of that bulging belly J

14. Paranthe Waali Gali – Have you ever had Banana Parantha or a Rabri parantha? The combination sounds strange .but it won’t when you visit this small by lane in Chandni Chowk . The lassi and the aloo sabzi that they serve go well with the lip smacking paranthas.Arguably, the best paranthas in Delhi are served here.

15. Bhalle Papri at Bharat Nagar near Ashok Vihar Naala – This small shop serves arguably the best bhala papri in Delhi.

16.Shwarma corner in New Friends Colony - My four years of college were spent gorging on this delicious lebanese snack.No other snack comes close.My personal favorite.Downside - Do not order any other dish.Just stick to the good old Shwarma

Just limiting myself to the 16 places was difficult, but i did'nt want to flood everyone with the different foods of Delhi in one go.I will cover some of the rest in a future post. Till then make it a point to visit all of the places that I mentioned and you will not be disappointed.

Also i ill try to capture a similar list of my favorite food items from across the world. Till then happy fooding J……………

PS: Do mention your favorite food hangouts in Delhi too :)

The fire burns....

As a child when I used to go to the railway station in winters I used to see very old people, the age of my grandparents lying on the platform without a blanket, their body shivering

In my school I used to see a scantily clad kid of my age working in a tea stall, washing utensils all day. Why was he being deprived of participating in the sports day, the annual picnic or the visit to the zoo? Why was that kid not studying with us in the school?

I used to ask my parents as to why there was inequality between us and the others. Even as a child I knew that the answers that I got were not convincing. My civic books said otherwise .The constitution of India has given everyone the right to equality

I used to get so overwhelmed with the feeling of helplessness of not being able to do anything about the prevalent poverty, lack of education and basic amenities a lot of times. There were occasions when a tear used to roll down my eye.

Our society measures success with the money that one earns and the designation that one holds. As long as we can get a well paying job everything is fine. Social responsibilities and duties do not count for much."Why should I do something for people who are not even related to me?", "Why should I care about these underprivileged people?", "I would rather earn more money than toil in a village in summers to teach the underprivileged the importance of hygiene". These have been some of the reactions that I have got from people when discussions about our social responsibilities have ensued.

Don’t we have any social responsibility towards others?

Sparsh-Ek Prayatna was formed almost 5 years back when some of my friends and I were trying to answer the same question. If I look back at the last 5 years , we have come a long way – fully operational schools at construction sites in Gurgaon and Bangalore, a team of street play theatre artists , candle making vocational programs , legal aid camps , clothes distribution drives and donation drives for Kashmiri migrants. But is that enough? The answer is pretty simple – By no means.

I feel on the top of the moon when I play with the kids of Prayas / Garv. There is no baggage. I don’t think about anything. Complete Bliss!!! I somehow feel complete.

I can’t forget my last 2 birthdays. 2 years ago my friends had planned a surprise birthday party for me .They had taught the children of construction workers to sing songs, arranged a cake and chocolates . I got the best ever gift that day when i saw happiness on those children's faces .

My last birthday was very special too. I was woken up in the morning at 8 AM (i hate my friends for that), taken to a construction site . When I reached there I saw a huge banner outside a school. The banner read – "Garv – A child education programme centre of Sparsh – Ek prayatna started on 23rd April". My eyes were moist. I was speechless. Incidentally Garv happens to be the name of my nephew.

Through Sparsh I have met some very special people in my life. These people are responsible for whatever little Sparsh has been able to contribute to the society. I have never said this to them before, but it’s just because of them that Sparsh has given happiness and joy to so many underprivileged people.

The enthusiasm of the volunteers of Sparsh has not died down over the years and all of us keep striving to do more for the society .I hope this fire to do sometrhing constructive for society as a whole burns forever........

PS: You can visit http://www.sparsh-ekprayatna.org/ to know more about Sparsh / to contribute in your own way to the society

On the top of the world!!!!!

I was dumbstruck!!!!
For a moment I thought I was on another planet. It was eerie!!!!

In the last 4 hours I had experienced chilly winds, snowfall, rainfall, dust storms and the excess heat of the desert.

It was my journey through the highest motorable pass (at 18380 ft) in the world – Khardungla in Ladakh

Ladakh has a moon like landscape. I think it is the closest one can get that to being on the moon. Buddhist chants fill the airs of this land which surprisingly has been devoid of terrorism despite being so close to the Pakistan border.

You will find motorists from all around the world with their Harleys trying to scale the highest peaks of the Himalayas. The landscape is filled with small villages and each one having its own monastery, unique in architecture and having a different story to tell.Budhism and Hinduism almost intermingle as you find idols of the Buddha and Hindu deities inside these magnificent structures .If you are fortunate enough you might even spot a snow leopards feeding on the mountain goats on these high peaks near the monasteries.

The people of Ladakh add to the beauty of the place. The locals are very friendly and helpful. The Tibetan food is healthy and keeps you in good shape in these almost harsh and extreme conditions. The capital – Leh is essentially cut off from the rest of the world for 6 months in the winters and the food supplies have to be stored in the summers to brace for the harsh winters.

No trip to Ladakh can be complete without a visit to one of the most beautiful place in the world in my view. Around 200 kms from Leh surrounded by huge mountains on all sides, the Pangong Tso Lake sits on the border of India and China. The first view of the lake takes your breath away. The water is ice cold and the rapids touch your feet, as if angels welcoming you to heaven. Even after hours and hours I did not want to go away from this heaven on earth .

Though the beauty of Pangong cannot be compared, the spectacle of Nubra is not far behind. It is one of the very few cold deserts on earth. The two humped camels roam in these cold deserts .The tributaries of Indus flow through the deserts and their muddy waters give you an illusion where you can’t differentiate between the river and the desert. The snow capped mountains add to the wonder of the place. The desert, river, mountains in the same place !!!! I will leave the rest to your imagination

Driving in our bikes we felt like flying on the mountains. We saw small children near the monasteries preparing to become monks, old ladies trying to sell vegetables and earn their livelihood in this harsh terrain, army trucks going towards the border posts of Kargil and Drass and farmers trying to grow something in the harsh terrain

On more than one occasion the beauty of the place overwhelmed me. I used to just sit for hours and tried to soak in the beauty of that place. Words lost relevance. I used to be speechless!!!

I was on the top of the world both figuratively and literally!!!!

Waiting to be born again!!!!!!!

Get up!!!!!!!!!!
Yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me sleep
I was flying in the clouds, far away from any sense of reality.

Get up!!!!!!!
I saw the time. It was 5 am .

Get up!!!!!!!! You have to go to Lahore. You will miss the bus
Lahore?
Lahore?????????
How could i forget , I had to catch a bus to Pakistan.

"Are you out of your senses?"
That was the reaction of most of my friends and family members when i expressed the desire to go to Lahore and represent my country in a technical festival and more so be an ambassador of peace.
There is a saying in Lahore in punjabi - "Jinne Lahore nahi dekhya o jamya e nayi " which literally translated into english means - "One who has not seen Lahore has not yet been born"
My persistence and conviction finally paid off. After a lot of deliberation i convinced my family and friends and hence I was finaly going to be born at the age of 21.

Not in the weirdest of my dreams had I ever imagined travelling to Lahore. Lahore - the land of my forefathers who had migrated along with a million of other people when the brutal civil war broke out at the time of partition in 1947.Life had come a full circle.
Since then India and Pakistan have fought each other in the battlefield 3 times.
The relationship between the two countries after independence has for most of times been full of uncertainty and suspicion. Most of it can be attributed to the hardcore religious fanatics on both sides.
The journey from Delhi to Wagah border was very smooth. We had armed jeeps surrounding our bus, which incidentally did not stop at any traffic signal throughout the journey.(All the traffic used was stopped for us to pass through which was made us feel like big shots )
The reality had not sunk in until I reached the border. Lahore was just 30 miles away.
I looked out of my window as we crossed over from one side of Punjab to the other.
Pakistan’s side of Punjab was no different from our side. On both sides of Punjab i could see small children playing cricket in the lush green fields near the highway and the farmers diligently tending to their crops .

The highlight of the trip was the visit to "Lahore Food Street" . Never in my life have I had better food ( And i ave had food at a lot of places , from Ladakh to Kerala , from Jiasalmer to Bhubhaneswar , from London to Ludhiana ). The concept is unique. There are about 40 small shops churning out choicest kebabs , biryanis , sweets and curries . You can sit anywhere and order the best of food from anywhere in the street. My personal favourites - Chicken tikka , fried fish , sardar di machhi , seekh kabab and lassi(sweet curd) .The lassi deserves a special mention. Many a competition were fought between the Indian and Pakistani students on who could drink the huge glass of lassi first , and yours truly came out on top ( being a Punjabi and being a lover of any type of lassi surely helped ;)

Other highlights of the trip -
1. Playing an Indo - Pak cricket match with all the passion and sledging ;)
2. Being linked with Fatima . We were called the Veer Zaara Jodi( the movie had just released) because we kept the 40 odd students waiting for an hour in the bus while both of us roamed around the Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore. Let me clarify it - The allegations were baseless , we had just lost our way !!!!!
3. Being offered "Palak paneer" and "moong ki dal" at a Pakistani home. I never thought that I could get home cooked vegetarian food in Pakistan
4. Playing night golf in Lahore and having hukkah for the first time in my life :)
5. Being one of the first Indians to hear Atif Aslam and the band - Jal. They had just come up with their album "Aadat" in pakistan , which later became a rage in India. I liked another band called E.P (incidentally people behind both these bands had been ex-students of the college that was hosting us) ,though it did not become very popular in India.

It has been around 4 years since we came back from Pakistan feeling like Kings.
Years have gone by , both of our countries are once again at loggerheads.Massacres like Mumbai have happened .War #4 does not seem to be far away. Taliban adds a whole new dimension to the current scenario. But something that gives me hope is the educated middle class in Pakistan. The students that i met there had a vision , they were not religious fanatics , they were like us . They thought like us , they wanted freedom too , they wanted democracy .They fought for democracy in Pakistan when Musharaf was committing atrocities against the judiciary. They used mediums like blogs to promote the need for democracy in their country.
I believe the hope rests on their shoulders .

Till then i wait to be born again..............................

Numb!!!!!!!

I had done rafting, rappelling, trekking but I yearned for more.My hunger for more adventure lead me to a sport called paragliding.It was the winter of 2007. Thinking that it will be a fun outing, and a chance to experiment with my canon, I was grossly mistaken. What followed in the next few days was gruelling in terms of the physical rigour required. We had to learn the technique of hopping over slopes, the right way of communication on the radio, the basics of aerodynamics(Bernoulli’s principle being the most important(being an engineer surely helped)) and the art of controlling your glider before we could actually fly solo.It was awful, I kept committing mistakes, fell down, got entangled in my glider, but never gave up. Till the time I perfected the right hopping technique I kept mushrooming my glider and carried it to the heights from where I could run and be in air for about 30 seconds.

My First Solo Flight

Much has been written about the first solo flight of a pilot. Many say that they are completely awestruck ; others say that it is difficult to put the feeling in words. People have researched that paragliding is the closest a man has come to feeling like a bird. My experience is slightly different. I don’t recollect being happy or being sad on my first solo flight.
We reached our camp. My instructor asked me to climb up the mountain.It was not a big hill (250 ft) and I managed to climb all the way up in about 30 minutes. I got myself harnessed, checked my radio and put on my helmet. I checked the wind direction and just when I was about to run for my take off tragedy struck....My instructor’s assistant came running all the way up the mountain with my cell phone and said that my father was on the line and it was an emergency.
With huge reluctance i took the phone and put it next to my ear. My father's voice was sombre. I knew something bad was coming. He told me that my grandfather was critically ill and I should come back home as soon as possible. I knew it was worse; he was hiding something from me. I tried to confirm the state of my grandfather’s health. He did not want to tell me directly that he had already died. But I knew (I can’t explain why, but there are certain things that you get to know without there being any communication)

Harnessed up, with a glider on my back in a remote village in Maharashtra, I was stranded in no man’s land. I was more than 2000 kms away from my home in Delhi.
I have always loved my grandparents as much as my parents if not more. They shielded me from my parents even after my countless mischiefs as a child, taught me the importance of respecting others and most importantly the importance of standing on one's own feet. They made me feel like the most important person on the earth as a child. No harm could come to me in their company, I was the KING. I can claim to have had 4 parents instead of 2. When they grew old and vulnerable and as I became conscious of life I tried to give my utmost love and care back to them.

I was numb. The only thought in my mind was to reach flat land as quickly as possible and rush back to the airport in Pune and the board the first flight to Delhi.I could reach flat land either by walking down the mountain which could have taken me 30 mins or or by going through with my first solo flight and touching ground in about 10 minutes. Without more thought I ran towards the edge of the mountain into the wind and was airborne. I had no feelings while in air. There was only one goal and that was to reach the landing area and rush to the airport.

I opened the gate of my house. Around 50 people were gathered there. The mood was sombre. There was an eerie silence. As if the time had stood still. The darkness of the night made the mood of the place gloomier.Intuitively I entered the room I was supposed to enter and I saw the dead body of my grandfather lying on ice.I saw my grandmother close to the body. Tears rolled down from my eyes. I moved forward, hugged my grandmother and cried.It was a long and tiring journey for me, but I volunteered to look after the dead body, to check if the ice was not melting and the holy fire was burning properly before we cremated his body in the morning

After the cremation of my grandfather, my aunt (grandfather’s daughter) came up to me and told me in my ears that before they took my grandfather to the hospital, my grandfather called her in his private room and said – “I am praying to god that please allow me to live a few more days more so that I can die after seeing my grandson”

Tears Rolled Down...............

Rising from the ashes

I had never been that close to death before that fateful day when I found myself falling from a 1000 ft mountain.

This was not the first time I was paragliding (most people who have not actually flown before think that paragliding is a sport of only excitement, adventure and thrill. I would want to tell you that it is as much a sport of patience (there are days when you will trek for hours and hours (with a load of 25kgs on your back) but you will not get favourable conditions to fly. The sport also teaches you how to react in difficult conditions and to respect nature. People say that this is the closest to feeling like a bird)

I had flown from a 300 ft hill before , but that was a year ago , and the winds were not that strong.The monster that I was facing on this day is known as the Tower Hill. It stands at about 1000 ft in a town called Kamshet, 40 kms from Pune.I had 5 other pilots with me, most of them sharing similar flying experience and we were guided by the paragliding school - XXXX.

XXX - my instructor showed me the landing area - a 100 m stretch in a farm about a km away. There were electric lines at both sides of that stretch and it was pertinent for us to avoid them to avoid being electrocuted. We discussed the flight plan (the regular 8 turns to gain height, keeping away from rotors (high speed areas on the leeward side of the mountain) and the approach to landing).I cleared the lines of my glider , put on my harness , checked my radio, adjusted myself according to the wind direction and ran full steam towards the edge of the mountain.

I got into my seat and got an instruction on the radio to keep away from the hill and the pilots flying directly above me. But the conversation did not last long. 15 seconds into my flight my radio went off. It was as if i had been thrown into the cage of a monster (the mountain) handcuffed (no radio instructions).I went numb , the winds were strong , taking me towards the mountain.I was blank; I did not know what was happening. I forgot the entire flight plan. I shouted at my radio for a few minutes and then lost hope.I realised how close I was to death.

I had to remain calm; I had to regain control of my senses. It was just not my life but the life of two other pilots which was at stake . A mid air collision at 1000ft would have meant certain death.Just as I was about to bump into the imposing mountain a sudden sense of strength and vision got into me. I began to think clearer. I pulled my right brake down and started to move away from the mountain .I had made a decision to just go for landing without doing the regular 8 turns(which would have certainly meant mid -air collision). But that decision would not be without risk .It would mean that i would not have sufficient height (which could mean crashing onto the rocks of the mountain or a tree on its slope).

The ground started to come closer and closer and the landing area was still far away. It felt as if the slope of the mountain was opening its mouth to engulf me. Sweat dripped from my forehead. It was now or never !!
I caught some wind by moving my glider towards the right and ascended a bit. I was now nearer to flat ground. In all this commotion I had forgotten about the electric lines. Before I could realize I was heading straight towards them. I had to pull the brakes immediately .But that would mean landing on a big flat rock with thorny bushes. The decision was made .Brakes – The full gung ho!!.I landed on one foot, fell on the rock, but miraculously balanced my body with my hands .My glider fell on the thorny bushes.

WHOA - I had made it to ground - with just a few scratches on my leg. I was the happiest and the angriest person on this earth.I was angry at the Paragliding School - How could they keep faulty equipment with them in an adventure sport?

But before I could think much , tragedy struck .One of my co - pilots (a senior executive with Vodafone) who took off after me collided into the mountain .It was ridiculous , the instructor should have stopped the flights after knowing what had happened with my radio even though I scrapped through without any injury .

It was not the radio malfunction that led to this accident - just the panic and numbness at that height that led to the pilot not following the instructions on the radio and crashing into the mountain. The son of that pilot (just 14 yrs old) was with me near the landing area when this ghastly incident happened.

All of us feared for his life.We could see the red glider about 800ft on the hill, with no movement of the pilot. I decided to climb the hill to save his life. I was tired, bruised, angry, and blank. But I could not help myself from climbing that Monster. It was pure adrenaline that carried me through.

On hindsight I can say that climbing that hill without a rope / harness was even tougher than managing to land my glider moments earlier. There were no pathways, the hill was steep and we did not know the exact location of the injured pilot. Most importantly - we did not have water. The bushes of wild mountain were very thorny and itchy. Half way up the mountain I was shouting and pumping myself to climb further. I was panting and was badly bruised. My legs were hurting. The itch was worse. It was one of the worst feelings that I have ever had.

Finally after 2 hours of frantic search we managed to locate the injured pilot (who was holding his leg and crying in pain). His leg was broken and his right thigh had been ruptured. We comforted him, put stems around his leg and tied it with a cloth. Help arrived soon in the form of 4 other localites, fellow pilots and an ambulance.

I removed my shirt, poured water all over my bruises and went onto the area from where I had jumped .I was not angry anymore. I was calm; I had never thought that I could do what I had done today. I was happy with myself. Not only was I alive, so were the two other pilots that were flying when I took off from the mountain and the pilot who had crashed into the mountain. It was a time of reflection.
One of the thoughts that came to my mind when I was sitting there alone was to share the experience that i had had today with the world , and what better place to do so than the WOLVERINES DEN