Life is your version of the illusion called situation. You have to don different masks to see the realms of life unfold and collate them all to get close to what we call GOD and what I call the 'truth'.
It has been a debate for centuries whether Populist governments are better or Capitalist. There have been a million theories based on economics, statistics or just plain lack of foresight and ability to think (e.g. Indian National Congress).
The basic human nature unlike all animals on the planet, due to his unnecessary intelligence, is to put in just enough effort to push him through the times of difficulty. If something comes easy, we will be the first ones to grab it and n that process even hurt others. The self proclaimed intelligence of the human race has created two kinds of people that live, the one who earns his living and the one who sees to it that he gets fed!
In India, through our well designed education syllabus and its contents, it has been imbibed on our tender minds that Capitalism is Evil and social good is the most selfless and hence the most gratifying act towards God! These socialist ideologies have been systematically inserted by our visionary freedom fighting leaders, thus, building a plinth of corruption and thanklessness in our souls.
Like the Church has slowly and steadily, glorified and justified their versions of Bible and called it the ultimate truth; like the Islamic Hardliners projected every disagreement as a basis of Jihad, like the Hindu priests who twisted caste as birth than skill, the self-proclaimed and projected first family of the country has strategically made M K Gandhi, J N Nehru, Indira Gandhi and now Rajiv Gandhi our national heroes. Anybody even close to gaining more popularity than them has been either killed in mishaps or tried for graft or accused of being communal.
Coming back to the topic, a majority of the people on this planet is of the second type as it is easier being that. In Europe and West, the monarchs were strong and wise. They were people of ability and will. They imbibed the win your own bread culture by keeping everybody under their leash.
In India, the leaders of the Independent state, were never the people of merit. The people of true merit had been precariously shunted or distanced. The epicentre of Satyagraha is to win the pity by self inflicted helplessness and to build a nation on such downtrodden principles has led slide of the country of riches.
The socialist policies of the nation have tried to ensure security of Roti, Kapda and Makaan to the common man leaving him to find only one thing for himself - sex! The nations perception of the fairer sex as an instrument of fulfilling sexual appetite has its roots there. We raise a hue and cry about women development and gender equality and at the same time, we use our sexes to our advantage as much as possible. The sense of security has made us so careless that we have stopped thinking about the securities of others.
Today, India has taken a step further towards its grave! The Food Security Bill and the Rural Employment Guarantee schemes are going to create a lazy, good for nothing and hence a sexually starved young India so that we get to see a Nirbhaya every now and then!
Now that I have been a part of the 'Corporate World' for almost an year now, I had expected my life and my worries to change dramatically with the money flowing in the thousands. Well I have to agree that the worries have changed and multiplied, the thousands of rupees are a mirage and the dreams that seemed just across the road, have suddenly moved away light years.
Dreams se yaad aaya... Ohhh Somnus.. my friend and my foe.
Its been two decades since I started taking effective cognizance of my surroundings and I must say you have always been just around the corner. I have always taken pride in our friendship and enjoyed every moment it. You are the secret to my energy and cheerfulness. I owe you the peace of my life.
But Dude... I think you should give me some space. Man it is really awkward when you are around, especially after the sun passes over my head. I just cannot ignore you when you are around but that makes me look like a lone duck in the middle of a lake i.e. cant go unnoticed.
I am really sorry to hurt you but we can have a good time when the Sun is beyond my vision. I promise to be your best friend for ever. Just help me through this.
It is very difficult to be yourself when you are a person with a passion to live for, guts to take the plunge, madness to not turn back living under the roof of old fashioned ideology. Passion becomes a means to waste time, guts are seen as immaturity and madness as plain foolishness. Can't live with it, neither can let it go.
It could have been a lot easier being that unambitious guy scraping his way to office everyday cutting through the hordes. It seems a lot easy to be happy with the 10% pay hike at the end of the year and a namesake position after two. a small house with a kid and a car in the parking completes the dream story.
Why can not everyone live such a simple life? Why long for those dreams who drain you by the time you achieve them well past when you wanted them or u just hit the end of the road even before that? Why to spend those innumerable nights without sleep? Why toil like a man possessed when the world is holidaying?
Lord Krishna said " as you sow, shall you reap". I know why he said that. People lived a good 150 years then and it is scientifically proven. (Lord Krishna was 80 years old and considered young during Mahabharata) He bloody had the time to wait for the seed to sprout, to stem. to grow and to fruit. Why do these laws still hold true when the lifespan of the average human has come down to a mere 70 odd years?
Now that doesn't mean you should not sow these days. had our forefather thought for a moment before bed every night, we would not have to fight with our own brethren for a piece of bread. 'As you sow, shall thou son reap'. This is just plain cheating.
Above that the famed altruists beg for the better good of everybody. Who everybody? All those somebodies who are incapable of fending for themselves? They say if each fend for himself, we are no less animals. One simple question to ask: Why the duck do you want to play God? The nature made these rules, just follow them. You used your 'intelligence' and see where we are? A piece of paper that you wave and call money, not a square inch of mother earth to call your own, tons of gunpowder you call strength. Your intelligence was a better moniker for your greed. Greed for more happiness, more comfort, more tangibles.
At the end of the day, you still sleep unsatisfied and make me do the same !
Every ambitious person somewhere down the line in his/her life, wants a kingdom of his own where he works the way he likes, on what he likes, when he likes. Some of them try and reach so much up the corporate hierarchy that rules no longer bind them while some create an institution of their own where they make the rules. I want belong to the latter someones.
An enterprise is an extension of the persona of the entrepreneur. Whatever the law may say, different entity or multiple-ownership or something else, it is the manifestation of the entrepreneur’s ideas. Entrepreneurship gives you the joy of creating, a feeling of a high which no other drug can match. When you look at your enterprise while it steadies itself in this world, you know why your mother smiled when she saw you walking for the first time.
Being an entrepreneur, you have the freedom of choice. The risk is all yours to take, while the life of many is at stake. This is the thrill of life. Every decision you take affects somebody, in a good or a bad way. It is all up to your discretion whom you please and whom you appease. Manipulating people, situations and circumstances to suit your aim is one of the most challenging tasks. Staying true to your own self, your enterprise and the society at the same time is even more challenging.
Entrepreneurship gives you the GOD-like feeling. You know people depend upon you for their food and future. They look up to you to show them direction. You know you cannot fail them for the trust they have in you and yet you know that you are never equitable with them on the remuneration side as it eats into your profits.
As an entrepreneur I have to fight both for the good, the bad and the ugly. On one hand you want to do public good but on the other hand wealth maximization is your primary aim. This is the metaphor of life. You contradict yourself and still stand in front of the mirror with the head held high. You try to convince yourself through all the yoga sessions you take for stress reduction therapy.
I want to be an entrepreneur to feel the joy of creation, to feel the high of being the driving force, to feel the satisfaction of doing things right, to feel ‘I am God’ and at the end of the day I don’t want to feel the need of convincing myself.
I want to be an entrepreneur to express myself, to help the unambitious with a means of life, to be able to give the ambitious some support to achieve their dreams and at the end of the day be rich and respected!!!
The thought of dependence on someone remote and variable makes you feel so helpless and handicapped. The things obvious to you are termed weird and the weirdest of all things somehow fall right in to the realm of normalcy. The incessant efforts to bring you back to chores is seen as a frown that you carried all day because the thought process supersedes all efforts to put up a brave front. Suddenly the fallibility of your chosen path of success dawns upon and very treacherously the disappointment creeps into the cerebrum. Suddenly, contingency impetus gets emphasized and the short film of lack of efforts starts projecting on the closed eyelids. Optimism changes its definition subtly to 'hope against hope'. The pain has to borne by the self. But then you long for someone to just hear it out and not say a single word and give you the biggest assurance through your eyes!!!!!!!
'Commit all your crimes when HE is batting because even God is busy watching the magic' read a placard in the stadium.
The fiery fast pacer came charging and hurled his heart after the cherry.
HE just took a firm step forward and caressed it with finesse between the helpless spectators on the field while the crowd rose in awe - another TON by the master blaster!
How many times have we seen this - a hundred times? a tad more or less than that - but - does it matter?
For me he is GOD : SIR SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR...
What do I say about the stature of this man - the eternal simplicity of thought, behavior, and everything -
everything we dream should be happening with us every time.
The lesser mortals - the rest of us have ruined our life with complexities en route the road to make our life better...
For me, simplicity is the mother of complexity and the solution to it! The most complex situations have the simplest answers and this is not just a co-incidence.
Such is nature, the nature of life, ours and the one around us!
All revolutions were brought around for the want of a simple change.. a change in thought, a change in society, a change in the way of life, a change in power, a change in faith.
So why do we end up making things complex for the want of simplicity???
That makes me think of our own selves to be the biggest enemy. I guess it is this that separates people like us and the likes of SRT or BUFFET or EINSTEIN.
We do everything - apply all logics,speculate and calculate,but, forget the basics.
The basics of what we really want. If what we really want is required, the course of action justified? See? I am again adding to the complexities.
We probably have lost our way of clear thinking under the banner of evolution.
Is this really evolution??? or should I say - Devolution???
I guess all we want is to be happy someway or the other. But, is there a way to be happy - a way that is defined and applicable to the common man???
I guess retrospection, self realisation and implementation are some tried and tested tools to happiness - long lasting and easy to find.
Here is the million dollar question - Is it really easy???
I would say Yes - you should just have the patience and persistence.
Which brings me to the PATIENCE - a quality that most of us, the fast and the furious generation, lack.
I am not trying to criticize, but, some facts cannot be overlooked.
Ahhh, is it becoming too spiritual? But then its worth giving a thought - isn't it?
CRASH : Need to drop a bike to a place around 150 kms from here…. Need to be back by afternoon. You coming ???? We will go on two and be back on one.
TurboSID : Alrighty Bro…. I will get a bike.
CRASH : Okies. C ya tommo 6.30 am sharp…….
A night of sound sleep. All energy gathered together. Bikes seeming to be ready. We gonna have fun tomorrow. 300Ks a day is gonna be real fun. (Actually we had to back for a reason that no automobile enthusiast can ever miss. We had 7 hours for the whole and work of around an hour. Seemed like Cake-walk)
DAY 1
6.15 AM SHARP….
CRASH : Hey Turbo, You up? M ready.
TurboSID : aaaaaaaa???? Jst woke up man??? Be ready in 10.
7.30 AM SHARP…. ( After a BABA RAMDEV pravachan on TV and a couple of TELEBRAND Ads)
TurboSID : Come down bro, M der.
8 AM ….
Bikes fueled up as per the additions multiplications divisions and subtractions… in short… Calculations…. And off We go. Turbo Leading on a Bike and Crash following on a Cruiser.
All Set…. Me in a Cramster and My GPR lid, TurboSID safe in a Cramster again and his DAIJYA lid.
Nice morning sun peeping out of the dark clouds. Pleasant for a change, after the BAD summer. I am KNOCKIN ON HEAVENS DOOR, requesting the Rain God to spare the leash but hold the clouds. Mentally preparing not to crash or bang someone (Coz its been the reason for my name). All set. Nerves settling down. Both bikes dislike rear brakes and so are we compelled to.
Anyways…. We roll on. Doing steady decent speeds and banking our way around corners. Most of them not even needing weight shifts, but then, we wanted to enjoy. Both bikes screaming out of their exhausts. Need no music when the engine is singing for you.
Rain God heard my prayers. A little shower, not heavy though, just to remind us of his presence and to keep us cool. What else you want????
9.00 Am sharp…. Around 8+20+27+4 Kms done.
Bike tyre goes flat. No garage for the next 10 KMs. Awsum. Rode it that way. Got one Garage. Mended the tyre.
Sippin some nice hot tea,
TurboSID : Imagine this atmo with a 600 under your arse… Whatsay????
CRASH : Anything left to say????
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………... (Day dreaming of hitting apexes at 150s and doing power wheelies on exits with the aftermarkets raising pandemonium around)
9.30 Am Sharp….
We have our asses back on the saddle and ready to roll…. Shit happens you know. Don’t worry the further rides gonna be great.
15 Kms Ahead….
The Bike starts missing. Jackshit. Somehow we manage to pull it off. With two Automotive engineers around, we had to pull it off. We roll on.
15 Kms Ahead….
The Bike decides to go dry. Out of fuel…??? W T F …??? Averaging less than one third of what it regularly does…. Shit happens…. Pulled it off too…. We roll on.
10 Kms Ahead….
Now The Bike Clutch and gearbox go kaput. No response. Doesn’t go to Neutral. Alright. Clutch pulled, Wheel still locked. No exclamations left. Mechanic stands clueless. Excellent. We find a way out. Open the chain and free the rear wheel. Tow the bike to the destination.
Good decision worked out awesome. 40 kms of tow in less than an Hour that too on a NH which passes through a huge city with traffic and unprecedented diversions. That was a task and man we made it.
We had a meeting at 11 Am.
We reached at 11.15 Am. Good enough. IST. Wrapped up the Meeting by 12. Dropped the Bike there. Coming back on the cruiser, Turbo riding and me Pillion.
Had to collect documents from a place around 20 kms almost in the direction of our way back.
Been there Done that.
12.45 PM SHARP….
All set. Helmet, Jackets. VROOM… Off went the starter…..
Here I am , On the road Again.
Here I am , Up on the stage.
01.00 PM SHARP….
We are goin steady…. And suddenly the engine starts loosing revs. W T F….?????The bike stalled. I call up my mechanic around a 135 kms away…. The starter aint workin. Kick not goin down.
Mechanic Says…. Nothing much to worry. The magnet bush may have run down. 10 minute job…. We call up one of our friend. He reaches there in 5 minz flat. We tow the bike to a nearby Garage. The owner of that garage is a good friend of TurboSID.
A technician opens the magnet. Bush is perfectly in place. A Sigh of relief came from within. And then the technician uttered those Three Magic Words………………..
“ The Engine Seized “
Me n TurboSID look at each other’s faces. The eyes said it all…..
“We are Fucked”
And then I remembered what Turbo had to say when we started in the Morning.
“ Tough Day Ahead “
4 PM Sharp…..
Engine down and opened…. The gudgeon pin also seized…. Need to replace the whole thing….
We were very sad…. Shouldn’t have happened….. Could have avoided it….. We knew it…. But now its past…..
Back to reality….. CASH…..
The biggest question…. A whole day ahead to spend….. the garage bill to be paid…. Awsum….
No money in the wallets….. Even Better….
A smaller question….. Where to stay…???? can’t afford a hotel….
Then I remember my Man Friday…..
CRASH : Hey Bro, M dropping down to your place 2nite…. May I ????
PANDYA: Any time bro….
A huge sigh of relief…..
Then comes a statement….
“Crash….. Thank god we weren’t riding a 600…..”
The whole evening to be spent at the garage….. The rain god unleashing his arsenal and the efficient sewage system snaps…. Water logged on streets… traffic stranded… chaos…..
People trying to reach home as early as possible leading to even worse traffic snarls and jams….. what an atmo….. We should have been at the place we so desperately wanted to reach by now…..
Effects of stress showing out….. Helplessness killing us….. Hard times…..
Luckily the Mechanic told that the Bike will be ready to roll by next Afternoon so that we can crawl back at 40 kmph before the sunset….. Some respite…..
Time was speeding past at snail’s pace…. We managed to reach our Man Friday’s place just before dinner…..
Had some nice and tasty food. Surprisingly TurboSID dint like it….. He had a Glass of hot milk in the nearby BAR….. A lot of first times today…..
Settled on the bed (dry clothes Courtesy Pandya) and slept a nice sound sleep…..
DAY 2
10 AM Sharp…..
Good morning!!!!!!!
11 AM
Left home…..
12 PM
The Friend of ours who towed us from the highway to the garage had stayed with us. He wanted to buy a helmet, so, off we went to a famous biker store…. Got a DAIJYA for half the cost we paid for one we bought a couple of years back.
A nice start to the Day…..We came out of the shop to find our Friend’s bike punctured…..
Pushed it to the nearby garage…..
Good News Again….. Tube Gone… Tyre needs a Patch…. Rather Two…..
Spent an Hour in a nearby Mall… had some juice…..
Now off to the Garage where we left our bike to be repaired…..
2 PM sharp…..
“ Bhai, Piston oout of stock….. Cant find one…. The whole market scanned….. a guy says it will be there in an Hour or so….. “
“ Fuckin Shit….. No Matter whatever it is….. We reach home tonight….. Fuck everything….. I don’t care if a typhoon hits the Highway….. M done with this fuckin trip….. “
4 Hours later….
“Bhai , piston Mila…. “
Neways…. We met a guy… an Idol of TurboSID for a long time after a long time.
A real nice guy and the brilliance of his aptitude glows from his face…. Had a long discussion with him…. Learnt some nice things… Shared some opinions….. Looking forward to work with him….. Its always an honour to work with a genius…..
7.45 PM….
“ Bhai, Engine Built….”
Started at the second Kick after the engine assembly…... Great…..
Kept it running Idle for half an hour…..
Got the LOVE LETTER from him…..
Thanx to BEAST….. We did all Payments…..
BADSHAH BHAI….. a gem of a person…. And all his technicians too… were working really hard to get our bike done as soon as possible….. But no compromise with the quality of work….. Had a real nice two days at the garage talking about bikes, cars and Bikes and Cars….
8.30 PM….
All kit up again…
TurboSID : Dude, Better we stay here tonight as its raining like hell… and with a newly built engine… a night ride of 150 kms is senseless…
CRASH : Point taken bro… Let me call our Man Friday again…
9.30 PM….
Met him, went for dinner…. He took us to a local joint which served good Kolhapuri style chicken…..
After a long day in the Rains….. all we wanted is some piping hot Chicken and soft Bhaakri (Typical maharashtrian bread) ….
After a nice meal….. we went to home….
11 PM…...
The bike had to be run in…. atleast an hour…. We were damn tired…. The eyelids ready to shut anytime….
But the bike had to be run in…. we both started the bike and kept it running idle for an hour… we had to …. We loved it so much…. Straining ourselves to the Z…. again… the time was fighting against us…. A minute seemed like an hour…. And an hour like a zillion years….
We fought… nothing could bow us down…. And then…. The clock ticked 12….Yippee… we did it…..
Now was time for some well deserved sleep…. Good night…
DAY 3
8 AM ….
My Good morning….
9 AM….
TurboSID’s Good Morning…..
10 AM…..
On the Highway….. A bright morning….. Breakfast into our bellies….. Pleasant atmo….
I was riding….. steady…..
TurboSID : If you continue riding at 20 – 30 Kmph…. We will need another day…..
So upped the ante… around 40s….
10 Kms ahead…..
Started raining cats and dogs…. It took less than two minutes for the rain to get through everything and send a chill down our spines…. ( only riders can know it!!!!! )
11.15 AM…..
Another 30 Kms down….
TurboSid found a place BIG WHEELS MOTORING CAFÉ on the highway and we stopped…..
I was actually in no mood to stop. I was all set and in rhythm…. Wanted to cruise another 40 kms before we stopped… First halt at half Distance makes a lot of sense…..
But still… we stopped….
The place turned out to be great….. A complete automobile themed Resto-Bar…. A lot of attention paid to the finer details…. Pistons for Ashtrays….. A lot of quotes which were genuinely good….. A huge collections of pictures of racers, races and cars and bikes and bikers and revolutionaries and everything and anything that was related to automobiles….
Had some black coffee to keep up the spirits and off we went…. Into the rain which was on no mood to stop….. and so were we…..
12 PM…..
Reached halfway point….
A small ghat to be taken care off….. But we had to take a leak before that… tanks were filled to the brim…..
So…..
We took a break…. Had some Tea coz it was too damn cold out there and with the strong wind blowing…. We had no option…..
Back on the road… Off we go…..
1.30 PM…...
45 more Kms to Go…..
The Ghats were maddening…. After the First halt…. TurboSID was riding….. It was chilling cold….. It was raining….. and the fog helped us with a visibility of 15 metres maximum….
The helmet visors frosted…. So TurboSID opened that…. His glasses fogged….. Removed them….
I am pillion with my ballz slowly climbing their way to you know where…..
And a car came to our rescue…. Parking lights on…. Driving steadily at 30 Kmph….. Escorted us to safety to the other side of the Ghat…..
So when our tanks were filled to the brim again…we took a Halt….. Another couple of Teas down the throat and then I took the saddle….
Surprisingly… Both were quiet throughout the journey….
2.30 PM….
Destination reached….
Rain still pouring…..
Been one of the most challenging trips till date….. we were mentally fucked…..
Riding steady at 40 Kmph for 150 kms is something that we thought we could never do….
But the love of our machines helped us through…. Now we know there is a different fun all together when you ride at a steady RPM… a steady exhaust note… minimal braking….
The best Part is you get into trance….. and kilometers just fly by…. You aint tired….. you can go hours together…. A thousand kilometers a day at 80 kmph steady wont be much difficult….
Anyways… Back to the pavilion… safe and sound…. Learnt a lot….
MORAL OF THE STORY :
Always check the oil level when going out…. ( Our mechanic there couldn’t find a single droplet in out crankcase…..)
