Tour Diary -Trip to Spiti Valley-Day Five

Sleeping in backseat of the car is never a great idea, especially when the temperature is almost Zero degree Celsius and all you have is a wet pair of socks, waterlogged shoes and a thin shawl in the name of blanket. There were more than 100 tourists trapped in Chattru, a group was to leave for America-they lost their passports, as their car fell into the river. Another person was to leave for USA, his flight returned back from USA and he was still in Chatrru :P

The Beautiful Chatrru, count the number of cars and multiply it by 8 = trapped tourists

The driver of our car was a brave man. He decided that he will take us out of this place. However, after moving 3 kilometers, things became clear or rather totally unclear. The road was nowhere to be seen, it was replaced by a 8 meter wide ditch that run 8 meter in depth as well. It was impossible to cross it on foot, forget about moving a car over it. Things could not get worse, we were running out of cash as well :)

The Road that was not there

Naveen - The Brave Driver

The dinner that cost you 25 INR one day, cost you 30 on the same evening and the very next day, it was priced at 35 INR. However, Ujjwal had all the money and he decided not to give me any because he somehow foresaw the problems, we were about to face. A group of foreigners decided to move towards Manali on foot through the Hamta Pass. Ujjwal was getting impatient and he asked me to come with them. I never doubt my ability to walk in any condition but I was skeptical about Ujjwal's capacity+ ability to walk long distances. Secondly, we did not have any trekking gear or to put it in a sensible manner, we did not have enough clothes to cover ourselves. The snow was falling, the weather was beautiful and we were about to commit the biggest mistake of our life.

Fresh snow, they say is the most dangerous thing as it absorbs you as a whole and even the dogs/vultures do not get a hint of your flesh/bones. Luckily, the trekkers had only one spare jacket and it saved us from 'becoming one with the ultimate'.

I still do not know what happened to those trekkers and if they made it, they were indeed brave men [under the influence of Holy Marijuana] and even if they did not, they were 'the visionaries' :)

We decided to stay inside the car and I promised Ujjwal that tomorrow we will dine in Manali at the Khyber's [actually name of the restaurant, I did not say :P] We slept in the backseat and early morning decided to walk all the 17 Kilometers towards the National Highway. I doubted Ujjwal's capacity to walk but, as usual surprises waited me on every turn. The first few kilometers were fast, smart and easy. However, after 8 kilometers, I started hallucinating and my body started paining. [Reference: Accident I & Accident II]

And to see Ujjwal walking faster than me was even more painful, male ego I guess :P

However, as I have already said, I can walk any day, any time and any number of kilometers, we kept moving towards the destination. We encountered water-ways, devastated roads and waterfalls.

They were the same waterfalls, which Ujjwal wanted to capture while going towards Chandrataal Lake. However, the return trip changed his mentality and now he was not even looking towards them. In this event of National or International Crisis, a childhood friend helped us a lot.

The not-so-beautiful waterfalls

जुराबें कैसे सुखाएं

Parle-G, the glucose energy helped us to move briskly, smoothly, without falling.
The taste was sweeter and the grass was greener, indeed.

Walking Warrior [Fucked Up Me]

Ujjwal was telling me that if someone falls down in the water, then he will definitely feel the pain in this bone-chilling weather. He fell down the very next moment he uttered the sentence. :P Luckily, the weather was clear and after walking for 4 hours, we reached the destination of ours. As we were running short of cash, we decided not to eat anything at Gramphu, so that we could pay the taxi/bus fare. We asked some tourists to take us with them but none of them agreed. Probably, our appearance was 'not-so-well' and the language I spoke was 'Our Mother-tongue'
As soon as I switched to English, the very first vehicle took us in and I was happy that we were saved.

We reached Manali after walking/trekking/swimming for two hours, met Jp+Varun, they both were looking even dirtier+filthier than us because they had even more difficult task to do. To explain the situation to parents, friends, girlfriends, brothers and sisters. They lied to everyone and they framed a new lie for every different person.

That night, as I had promised, we were dining in Manali and for the very first time in my life, I tasted Vodka [in the form of Cock~Tail], which actually tasted like poison or nothing less than that. Two sips and I decided that I am never going to taste this thing again.

However, Murphy was still with us or probably with me and the trip was not yet over ;)

Pic of the Day ;)

P.S: People can check the most beautiful and most-unexplored regions of Himachal at CrazyTravelGuide

Tour Diary -Trip to Spiti Valley-Day Three+Four

Day Zero

Day One

Day Two

Murphy Law states that Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong and we had glimpse or probably the full-view of it during this trip. After coming back from the Chandrataal Lake, we thought of taking a break and rather than moving towards Kaza, we came back to Batal and decided to stay in the White House. The drunkards got hold of a bottle of rum and had fun. We collected wood, gunny-bags, something-like-coal and some dried horse shit to keep ourselves warm in the bone-chilling weather. Happily, we slept in the White House and early morning, we were going to enter into the Legendary Spiti Valley. However, the random function of life played strange and the next morning started a journey, which we had not dreamed of.

After warming up the car for few minutes in the morning, we sat inside it and after moving for few hundred meters, it gave up. The car did not start and its self-start broke down. We pushed it back to the Batal Camp, but it did not start at all. We were carrying spare fuses with us but the darn engine would not start. We believed that the car battery has failed us and the only possible solution was charging the battery through external source.

Rescue Measure1- Self Operation!

Rescue Measure2- Operation Tractor!

A tractor was standing nearby and the owner allowed us to charge our battery through his battery. As a matter of fact, it started raining and we were working on pushing~pulling~charging the car and ill-fated battery. After we charged the battery for a while, it did not work. We tow-chained it with the tractor and now the tractor was pulling the car. It did not work.

Rescue Measure3-Applied Engineering

Disturbed minds have never taken a good/wise decision and we did exactly, what we should not have done. We decided that two of us will stay at the place and two will go to Manali to get the mechanic. Jp+Varun decided to go to Manali, we gave them all the cash and I+Ujjwal stayed at the Batal_White House with minimal cash. However, we were optimistic and we were hoping them to return on the very next day. Ujjwal beat the shit out of me inside the white house. He lost his brains and he kept asking me, where would be they. When will they come back? Finally, I slept at 2AM and early morning, Ujjwal again started kicking me. Frustrated, I asked him about the problem and he gave me another wonderful news.

It had started snowing. In my 24 years of existence, I had never seen snow fall and when I saw it happening, I was not-at-all happy about it. To make things even worse, the Dhaba-Owner kept telling us the story of 42 Mumbaikars stuck in the very same place, one month back and how he helped them to stay alive during those 'six bad days'.

By the time it was 9 AM, the place was covered with snow and we hoped to stay there on a semi-permanent basis, considering the options we had. After, drinking at least 250(scale 25:1) cups of tea, a Tata Sumo arrived from nowhere. We requested them to take us with them and the driver agreed. However, he asked us to leave our luggage there as he did not want to trouble himself in one feet snow.

Snowfall

Beggars are no choosers, so we did what he wanted us to do. We left our bags there, carried the laptop and camera with us. After driving for 10 kilometers, we saw no road. Actually there was no road but all snow. The driver asked us to get down and find the road with him. The road was blocked and the boulders kept coming from the hills. We started working on the road-clearance job and after working in snow for one hour, the fingers were unable to move. The action coninued for another one hour and after that I felt like a snow pig. All I had with me was a pair of shoes, no jeans/lower/pants to change. I sat in my underwear inside the car to keep myself warm, as the clothes were drenched in water. Ujjwal had accepted his fate and he was helping other drivers/vehicles to find way in that mess.

Heavy Snowfall

'We are fucked snowfall'

जय माता दी !

We reached at Chatrru at 8 PM. 8 hours for 36 Kilometers and there was no sign of any accommodation. Finally, the party decided to sleep inside the car itself and we slept on the backseats of Tata Sumo.

The journey continues and Murphy Law prevails.

Tour Diary -Trip to Spiti Valley-Day Two

Day Zero
Day One

One more night at the rest house and we were all charged up to move towards the Snow Deserts of the Spiti Valley. We all underestimated the natural beauty of the Spiti Valley and what unfolded in front of us was nothing less than a miracle, as we survived on that rough terrain on the bloody Maruti of ours. Actually taking a Maruti towards Kaza is inhuman, sadistic and brutal, for the vehicle obviously.

One more time, we found ourselves at Koksar, eating the Paranthas [परांठा] and stuffing our bags with chocolates, biscuits and water. Gramphu [ग्राम्फु] was the first place that looked like a village.

.Gramphu.

For the next 17 kilometers we kept looking at each other because things were complicated and difficult. JP decided to sit on the front seat with the driver and he became our permanent assistant. As the road was full of stones, he kept saying 'एक ऊपर , एक नीचे ', which none of us could understand, initially. All he wanted to say was to keep one side of the vehicle on the top of the stones and other on the safe side to keep things safe and smooth. However, maintaining 'एक ऊपर, एक नीचे' approach was very difficult and we kept fighting, abusing and scolding each other until we reached Chattru.

Just an example: I was driving, JP was sitting besides me and we saw a pile of stones on the road, he shouted 'ऊपर से, ऊपर से' and I took those stones directly below the vehicle. I thought he will praise me for it and he started scolding me because he meant to take the one side of car above them and not the central bisection of the stones. The car became a drum and we could hear the sonorous musical tone inside the car. :)

After 17 kilometers of swimming, pushing and walking [ there was little bit of driving too], we reached Chattru. We inquired about the road ahead and all people could do was look at our vehicle and tell us that road is OK. Next destination was Chota Dara [छोटा दड़ा] and road between Chota Dara and Chattru was horrible and it felt nothing less than sliding on pointed sharp stones in a cloth less form. We almost gave up after that, the car moved at a speed of 12KM per hour and it took 50 minutes to cover 10 kilometers. The sight of river Chandra on one side in the backdrop of the Great Himalayas was breathtaking. The word cold desert actually made sense there as all we could see was snow, water and stones. The sight of another village like place made us happy. The place was Batal [बातल] and it was going to become a semi-permanent residence for few of us in the next few days. The place had two Dhaba's [ढाबा] and both of them were nothing less than the best restaurants of the world.

Varun+Ujjwal+Snow+बेवकूफी

.Snow+Posers.

.Batal Dhaba+Aunty+Tarun.

.Snow Habitat.

After staying there for a while, we decided to go towards the Holy Chandratal Lake [चंद्रताल], birth place of the Chandra River. It was just 14 kilometers away from Batal and Kaza was still 88 kilometers away from there. We decided to see the Chandratal and halt for a day at the Batal Camps/Tents.

The road towards the lake was unexpectedly well and good, good is an understatement actually. However, we got to know that few MLA's of Himachal Pradesh were visiting that place and that was the main reason behind the good condition of that road.

Road to the lake was beyond the scope of our Maruti or any Maruti for that matter, so we decided to walk the remaining 5 kilometers. However, a group of tourists asked us to join them in their Tata Sumo and we were happy again. The lake was full of policemen and सरकारी बाबु and as it was about to rain, we decided to make it fast and straight.

.Men at Work.

.This is Road.

One of the MLA's happened to be our college senior and we were happy to meet him. Actually, he spotted us and asked us about our whereabouts. Considering our condition, we looked less like tourists and more like mentally challenged people thrwon into the snow deserts. [This is what a small car can do to you in that part of country] He must have thought of helping us but he was very Eco-friendly and he asked us to join the lunch party with him, which we did not refuse ;)

While coming back, we met a foreign couple on Bullets. The lady and his man, both were on their independent Bullets and it was then the Murphy Law struck. It struck badly and the life was never same again :X

.The Holy Chandratal Lake.

Coming Soon: Murphy Law and Snow and Lack of Money and Struggle

Tour Diary-Trip to Spiti Valley-Day One

Day Zero

Ecstasy, emotions and happiness was all around because the car performed much better than our expectations, as it worked perfectly well on the not-so-perfect and 'not expected condition' of roads.

.The rest House.

We stayed in a Rest House at Dalang Maidan [दलंग मैदान] and decided to move towards Keylong early morning. The caretaker of the rest house was a cool man. His name was Nand Laal [नन्द लाल] and he helped us a lot by allowing us to stay in that rest house. The place was located on the banks of the 'Chandra River' and they were growing wheat and performed different experiments on wheat and its derivatives in their acres of land.

Early morning, we started moving towards Keylong. We all expected Keylong to be a great place and it turned out to be one great place as well. While moving towards Keylong, you reach a place called Tandi Pull [टांडी पुल] where the Chandra and Bhaga Rivers merge together and give birth to the famous Chandrabhaga River [चंद्रभागा].

..The Legendary Tandi Pul.

.Birth/Formation of Chenab.

The Chandrabhaga River then starts flowing towards Jammu and then enters into the Pakistan Region through Akhnoor Border in Jammu.[अखनूर]

On our way towards Keylong, we met three young guys going towards Keylong. The special thing about their journey was that they were all on a single bike and the bike was not a Bullet/Royal Enfield. They were riding on a 150 CC bike and they traveled 200 kilometers on that bike with only one driver among them. They were real crazy people and I thought no one could match us, as we had our Maruti with us :P

.3 On 1.

.Varun+Ujjwal.

Keylong is a small town with two banks and no ATM. The place has few temples, few hotels and a great bus station. The bus station of Keylong is far better than the bus stations of other 'major towns' of Himachal Pradesh.

.Welcome to Keylong.

.Wherever you go HRTC Follows.

There in Keylong, we decided that Leh would be an atrocity for the poor Maruti and moving towards Leh would be a fatal mistake [which turned out to be one the many wrong decisions of this trip, which we realized later]. There we decided that we will go to Kaja and from there we will go to Shimla through the mysterious Kinnaur District. On our way, we got to know about the Udaipur Town and the Trilokinath Temple. [त्रिलोकीनाथ]

However, considering the heat[ yes it was hot there] and the tough road conditions, we decided to call it a day and returned towards our rest house. Trilokinath was still 20 Kilometers away and we did not feel like going there. The last petrol pump you will see in that place is located near Tandi Pul and you will have to pay two/three rupee more per liter of petrol.

There we saw a signboard pointing towards a monastery and we started climbing uphill. The name of the monastery was Tupchiling Monastery [तुपचिलिंग] and it turned out to be a beautiful place.

.Incredible India.

.Tupchiling Monastery.

Informational Content:
Do not drink and drive :P
Take a break at Tandi Pull, you will love the place.

Note: Second day was quite an uneventful day because we expected Keylong to be a snow covered region and it was not. We thought of visiting the temple and we could not. So this post consists of more pics than text.

Day Zero

Tour Diary-Trip to Spiti Valley-Day Zero

Day Zero – A Random Start

The much awaited Leh trip started on 1^st July with numerous confusions and no tour plan. We had decided to go to Leh in March, then we decided to go to Mumbai and then finally, we decided to go to Manali. However, none of the plans could be materialized and we decided to go to Keylong. (केलोंग)

.Those who traveled together and never agreed with each other for a single moment.

.The Pandoh Dam.

We planned to go by bike but then, there were five people and one bike. Thereafter, there were five people and one car and lastly there were four people and an Old Warrior.

Keylong is a famous tourist spot, which is just ‘365’ kilometres away from Leh (लेह) . We thought of hitting Keylong on 2^nd July itself and as it was just a random decision, I decided to call it Day Zero.

.The Rohtang Pass.

The Good:

We finally got a camera; in fact a DSLR, Nikon 3000 and for the first time in my life, I got a chance to travel ahead of the Solang Nala. The weather was pleasant, birds were chirping and I was happy ;) People were cooperative and we met a group of bikers traveling from Delhi to Leh on their bikes. A German or French or I don’t know what, was traveling alone and he did not know [proper/understandable] English that was the most adventurous part of his trip and that is why admire Europeans. They don't fear anything. Few cyclists were traveling on their hi-tech bikes [cycles] towards Leh or [China probably].

The Bad:

The worst thing that can happen to you is injury or loss because of someone else’s mistakes. The fast travelling tourists drive rash and inflict damage to other people. Blowing horn is out of the syllabus and overtaking is their inherited property. However, I (and JP + Varun as well) kept hurling abuses at them and I am an expert in driving-cum-kickboxing.

Informational Content:

The roads never looked like National Highway 21 but it is an admirable fact that the BRO and HPPWD have maintained the standards of the roads. Water, snow and rocks keep coming and the labourers and the engineers never say no. Hats Off to their good work.

Those who intend to go towards Leh from Manali-Rohtang route must ensure that they get their tanks filled at Manali itself because things become nasty after you leave Rohtang pass.The next petrol pump is at Tandi and the pump owner sets the price on his own. On 2^nd July, he was selling petrol at the price that would be implemented by Government of India by December 2011, considering the current price movements.

Khoksar is a place where the road diverges to Kaja and Leh. Just opposite to the Police Chowki, there is a Super-Economical dhaba that cooks/sells delicious food. The most interesting fact is that the Dhaba Owner never charges you more than the printed rate, which is an uncommon practice in every other part of country.

At some points, the roads were like devastated oil mines of Iraq and Afghanistan. We had to get down from our ‘vehicle’ and remove the stones, sand and soil from the road to make way for ourselves.

Day Zero ends:

As we were getting late, we started looking for accommodations in the villages, 10 Kilometres before Keylong. Luckily, we sneaked into a rest house belonging to the Agricultural Department where people drank beer and enjoyed a nice and sound sleep.

And by any means, did I tell you about ‘The Warrior’?

Yes, It was a 'Maruti'

We wanted to travel/drive on our own and thus hiring a cab was totally out of question. Four people riding a bike is unhygienic, unsafe and totally immoral, so we decided to take this 1997 model with almost 85000 kilometres under its belt.

Varun+JP+Old Warrior

The Route Map:

Sundernagar-Mandi-Kullu-Manali-Marhi-Rohtang-Gramphu-Koksar[eat parantha+tea]-Sissu-Gondla-Tandi.

Day One

Top Bottom Approach

The CAT/JEE is over and many who scored 99 percentile did not make it but some who somehow managed to get 80-85 made it into the IIM's/IIT's and other good colleges.

I personally know some people who have pain in their eyes not because they could not make it but because someone who ate with them and worked with them, made it by availing some quota that rendered him 'weak' 'remote' and 'depressed segment of society'.

But then India is a historical country with Historical Mistakes done in the past, which still cling to Our Existence.

Anyhow, recently I got to know that these reservations and quotas work in the Organizations as well, where the weaker segment of society gets easy "Promotional Offers" and "Discount Coupons".

Just consider an example:

He was born poor and his ancestors faced the evil of casteism, very bad, inhuman. The government started efforts to bring his family at par with he other castes and creeds. Government made it easy for him by giving him relaxation in education and age limits and fee [money makes the mare go]

He availed the offer, he worked hard as well [no doubt]. He entered in a good college and he availed the benefit by getting more scholarships and easy fee structure. He made it into a good company as well availing the same discount coupon. Sidewise, he learned to sit,eat,shit and sleep with people of other castes as well. He, somehow managed to stand equal to them and match their qualities, if they had any.

Now, after he graduated, he joined his 'sarkari organization' and started working their with other people. By the time appraisal times appeared, he again availed the Discount Offer and he started working as the Boss of Most talented fellow of his batch.

One day a politician came to his house asking for votes. He said, you belong to our caste, so you must vote for me. He protested but then the politician said, "Dude, I have given you the seat and post and money you are earning now. I gave you a free chance and you looted it with both hands. You were free to drop it after you earned a spot in the 'sarkari organization' but you never thought about it because it was free, effortless. But now you have become habitual of this 'free-offer' and if you want to avail it in future, Stay Connected ;)

"And he was blank because he never thought that way."

Dependency, you see, is a very dangerous thing.

The only way to restrict caste-ism is the Top Down Approach. Start eradicating reserved posts in the organizations where you earn handsome money. This way, message will pass down the spines of politicians that there is no 'Educated Parasite' in the society.

Unearned Money is the root cause of evil. The sooner it is realized, better it will do for the country, society and Individual Existence, otherwise the day is not far when people will ask caste before talking to their neighbors.

The story of a living-being!!!

The tree stood there since ages, on that barren field. Barren because the field was disputed, no one owned it and everyone wanted to own it.

It was a land dispute.
The usual land disputes where the land lies calmly because no human actually owns it. The tree was the sole owner of that field. It grew there and it gave every single moment of its existence to the land and the air and the human beings who did not own it.

They closed the land deal finally.

The land was sold to someone who never intended to own it. They started enclosing the field from the eyes of the neighbors. The fencing work started and the tree, the former owner became an obstruction. They first chopped off its branches and then they decided to cut it down.

The tree was gone. The air, the field, the sun never had any problem with it because they do not have any senses. Man chopped it down because of his senses.

The fence took the place of that tree, which science says is an equal living being as human.

The story of existence was never so strange.

मसरूर मंदिर -The Masroor Temples

The journey of life is strange. The Pandava's stayed in jungles for I do not know how many years, but even then they managed to build beautiful temples and tunnels and what not! And today I am privileged to see those places, which were an outcome of their अग्यात्वास।

मसरूर मंदिर -The Masroor Temple is a beautiful temple located in the Kangda District of the state of Himachal Pradesh. Most of the tourists visit Dharamshala and Chamunda Temples but they miss this extremely beautiful spot, which is not yet developed by the Himachal Tourism but it looks better undeveloped and in its raw form only.


The legend says that भीम and his allies built the temple to please the local deities. The temple is monolithic and carved out of a small mountain or a big rock. The temple is rock-cut temple and no part of the temple is modular or designed separately. No doubt, the man of caliber of भीम only could do such wonder.

However, during the 1905 earthquake, the temple was damaged badly and it resulted in destruction of some of the parts of these temples. The Tourism Board says that the whole site consists of 15 temples. However, I couldn't find any different temples and concluded that there was only one temple there. :)

The Tunnel

The temple also has a small tunnel/सुरंग that connects the lower part of the temple to its upper part. There is a pond in front of the temple, which is just beautiful. Just next to the temple, a Government School is there and these kids are privileged to study at such a serene place.

The carved faces and designer walls of the buildings left me spellbound. The building is however, losing its strength and the government has installed some steel plates to add strength to the walls of the temple.

Designer Walls :)

Carved Faces


Carved Face-II



The School and the Pond

How to Reach there?

Those who come from Shimla need to head towards Dharamshala and take a right turn just after they happen to cross the Ranital Railway Station. The distance between the link road and the National Highway is just 22 kilometers, which would take not more than one hour.

Those who come by air, need to get a taxi from the Gaggal Airport and head towards Kangda, as soon as you leave the airport [ say 25 meters], a link-road goes towards the temple towards the right hand side.

One can from Pathankot towards Kangda and just leave the National Highway near 'Nagrota Suriyan' [ नगरोटा सुरियाँ]. One can find such boards all over the place to guide them.

Moral of the story:
1. भीम was a very strong man.
2. The temples are breathtakingly beautiful.

Edited Part: Some years ago, probably in 2004, a sunslik advertisement was shot in the temple.

This is John Galt Speaking!!!

I found this here and believe me I loved it.





The Ayn Rand fans will definitely love it.
Those who have read Atlas Shrugged would be able to relate to it more closely.

The Man who never agreed!

There was a guy with me in Satyam. He actually belonged to my college and my batch, but we hardly communicated to each other. The very first day I saw him in Satyam, he was the center of attraction of all the guys/girls/chairs/tables present in the conference room. I had heard about his ventures and daring activities during my college days, but I never knew that he was so daring that he would object to anything, anywhere without even listening. Sometimes, he would listen, but he would listen only a fraction of the whole speech, lecture and based upon his 'part' he would weave the rest of the story.

He was appointed as the Seminar Representative of the group of new joiners because of his ability to speak and argue about any topic, from potty training to Indo-Pak relationships. He fell in love with almost every girl of the organization. During the Satyam Scam, he became so busy that he helped almost every perishing soul with his soothing words. He never agreed to the trainer, he never agreed to the mentor and he never agreed to the speaker. He would play games on his mobile phone and by the time the speaker would end his lecture, he would be the first guy to speak and his favorite line was,"I do not think so". :P

Even the Reporting Manager(s) was scared of him because he never thought what she thought and he always wanted her to realize what he was thinking.

He loved getting stoned and he was God of Liquor. He would drink few drops of liquor and start talking about his adventures and past lives. Girls were his favorite topic and he knew everything about the girls. Once he went on to say that I do not agree with the anatomical make/design of the girls and they should not have been designed the way they are. He liked drinking in the bars and restaurants and he was a common figure in the Hyderabad and Bangalore bars. It is a hearsay that he never agreed with the bartenders as well and always demanded another drink from them one hour after the closing of the bar.

While our stay in Pune, he disagreed with the Pune Satyam Head (or someone like him). The old man was stating the current position of the company and asking the employees to work as usual. he was standing besides me and he was looking at the girls and making a note of the girls he had missed. I can bet on it that he did not listen to whatever was being said and after the 'explanation' ended, he said. " I do not think so". I ran for my life as he was unstoppable, once he had started. Now he is disagreeing with people and trees and buses in Chandigarh but that fellow is in complete agreement with life.

I think 'stoning' and drinking habits have hit him in the head but even now I can see him disagreeing with people on FaceBook.

You Rock Man.

\m/

He can be found here and here

P.S: The purpose of this post is to tell you that such 'daring' people also exist who are not scared of any thing.

The Accident - II

Perspiring, I opened my eyes and tried to understand the whole scenario. The first thing that came to my mind after opening my eyes was, " Dude, You are fucked for life."

I tried to get up and succeeded in it and when I looked around, the whole picture was painted with red and green. Green because we were lying in the jungle and red because all the people were drowned in their own blood. The bus was lying next to me, upside down and I do not know how did I come out because my seat was totally crushed and demolished. Three local guys came to me and tried to get hold of me. I said to them," बाकी लोगों को ले जाओ, मैं खुद चला जाऊँगा"

Limping and holding the bushes and grass, I climbed on my own, uphill 200 feet. After climbing, I became unconscious and I knew I had done a mistake by refusing their help to take me up. The whole body was no more a body and it was a soul, light and weightless. I regained my consciousness in a bus carrying victims and by that time I knew which parts of my body were gone.

Leg in three parts, backbone in two and head in one. I somehow managed to bend my leg and then a fellow came and he saw me dying with pain he thought that I want to straighten my leg. He pressed and that moment onwards, it remained straight for the next 100 days. It took me exactly half an hour to bend that leg and the *naive* fellow did in one second. I laughed [tried to] and told him that Dude, you have unknowingly screwed me.

Unconscious, as I was, reached the hospital. There was havoc everywhere, I was lying outside in the rain, in the pain. Few people came and helped me and next thing I remember was that I was in a bed lying in the City Hospital. My father got to know and as he was coming to see me, his bus broke twice. My mother was not at home, I could not inform anyone and the *absolute randomness* was falling in place, guiding me at every single step. The doctors cooked my leg and after nine painful days, they dispatched me from the hospital. The sun rays looked beautiful and the sky was never that clear and bright. The moment I reached home, I decided that fuck the exams and Engineering I will work on increasing my weight.

For the first few days [2 days] I used pot to shit and piss [ answer the natural nature calls] but that looked horrible to me and I decided to drag the leg and do it on my own.

The Filmy Touch-I
I was given a medicine by the chemist and unfortunately, he could not read the prescription properly and gave a medicine that was meant for cardiac patients with severe blood pressure problems. I swallowed the first pill and was about to swallow another one when a relative+doctor called up. She was casually inquiring about the medicines and I was about to swallow the *second* pill. My sister started crying and snatched the tablet from my hand. She told me that the tablet could have stopped my heart from beating permanently as it had some serious aftermaths if taken without prescription. I survived one more time.
Fuck that Chemist.

The Filmy Touch-II
The leg was cast with POP for 45 days but my adventurous dragging and pulling made the whole process to be repeated and for another 45 days, I was on bed.
The most awaited and unwanted exam day came, I wrote the exam and scored an abysmal rank.

The Filmy Touch-III

And there I was, going to the place where I never wanted to go, again in my life.


So two days back, these questions entered into my mind:


Where is Free Will?
I wanted something else but I got something else? Who decided my destiny? And if someone is deciding my destiny then what is Free Will?

Not that I am unhappy now [ except my Satyam Days, I was never unhappy], but what if same thing happens again. What if I land in a job rather than owning my Personal Venture(s). I work 14 hours a day and sometimes more than that but Is there anything for me to do? Or is it PreDecided?


And according to my very dear friend " If I am not sure about the starting point [birth] and If I am not sure about the ending point [death], then where is Free Will and What is Free Will?

The Accident-I

As I sit here in front of my computer and I do not want to do anything, I decided to write about the 'turning moment' of my life.

28thJanuary 2004:

A bus fell into the ditch [200 feet] and 16 people died there and then, on the spot. I was one of them who survived. But that survival was very painful. I used to boast that my body does not have any mark of stitches or whatsoever and there I was lying among the dead with rain falling on my face and I was smiling, counting the marks on my hands. I [was] an intelligent [academically] fellow. I wanted to become an Aeronautics Engineer. I worked real hard to acheive my goal and I [knew] it was there, just few weeks away from me, right in front of me.

I was about to go for the Navy SSB and I was damn sure about it that I would return as a Navy Officer for sure. My mother asked me to come on 24th itself and I postponed the program to 28th. I wanted to stay in Hamirpur for some more time as I [knew] I would never return to this place again.

For me, my life at Hamirpur and for more than 18 years, I have lived here only. That day made me believe that the way Indian movies are picturized, they are actually very realistic, or at least for me they look real unless it is Fardeen Khan/Zayed Khan/Harman Baweja starer.

Here goes the story:

I left from the academy and decided to leave at 9 AM. But, I decided not to and as I was sure that was my last day in the hostel, so I decided to 'बांटो' some 'ज्ञान' in the hostel. Eventually the ज्ञान बांटो session ran for two hours and I decided to leave. I reached at the bus stand and boarded the first bus but as I was/am fond of the first seats, next to the driver, I got down from that bus and started searching for another bus. Soon, the ill fated bus came and I happily sat on the first seat next to the driver, which gave me immense happiness because I could talk to the driver and learn new गालियाँ from him. :)

The bus started and by the time I could finish my book, the bus more than half of the distance.

The driver was smoking बीडी and I asked him not to smoke because the road was dangerous but the drivers are drivers and they never listen to kids. He was driving with single hand and that made the situation even thrilling/dangerous. I slept, for the first time in my life on that route, considering that I had made more than 100 journeys on that route, and by the time I opened my eyes, the bus was flying in the air, I could not sense anything, as I was just feeling the numbness in my feet, stomach and head. I looked at the driver and he was nowhere to be seen, as he jumped out of the bus. I closed my eyes, smiled and then there was rain, blood and cries.

I opened my eyes because I felt a very bright light penetrating my vision and when I opened my eyes, my forehead was covered with sweat and palms too were sweaty. Probably, this is how यमराज decides to beat the shit out of human body.

I opened my eyes and felt rain on my face. I saw myself lying among the dead bodies, flies on my face and my body covered with blood and painful marks.


Part-II in progress.

And they saved our lives-Chamba Diary!

Traveling is fun but traveling with insufficient preparations is dangerous.

We left from Chamba to Hamirpur after enjoying the scenic beauty at Khajjiyar Lake.

Its disheartening to see people throwing plastic and water bottles not in the trash cans but just outside them, even when the trash can is empty. May be they are too busy to notice that.

Anyways, after feling mesmerized by the giant शिव मूर्ती at Khajjiar [image], we decided to leave. This time we decided to take the Dalhousie Route as it was raining and the road condition was not good through the Jot Pass. Jot Pass is good when you are traveling in a group, if you are alone then it is not advisable to go through Jot Pass, as no one will get to know if you happen to encounter any accident, which has very high probability. We went to Chamba through Jot Pass, but the adventurous spirit sped away when it started raining. It was raining and as soon as we left Khajjiyar, things became difficult. I was wearing sports sandals and the rain water was so cold that it did beat the shit out of me. We traveled for ten kilometers and my back was numb. JP had his fingers glued to the handle because it was very cold and we did not have any sweaters, gloves or jackets with us.

Then we saw them, the PWD Laborers, smoking बीडी and enjoying charcoal fire. They were sitting there and we saw them as our saviors. We helped ourselves by heating the 'crucial parts' of our body and also dried our T-shirts and shirts. The place was लक्कड़-मण्डी, which happens to be the highest point [2250 meters] in and around the Chamba town and Dalhousie town. Their bonfire helped us to save ourselves from the chilling rain and windy conditions of Dalhousie.

I noticed in Chamba, that almost every single village/house in the hills has electricity. Abdul Kalam once said that Himachal is blessed and a privileged state because those twinkling stars are actually bulbs lighted inside the small houses on the mountains. Honestly, I felt proud to be a part of this beautiful state because people do not have to worry about the electricity, which is not the same story at a place in Bihar, 200 KM's away from Patna.

It takes just 4-5 hours, if you drive like me, otherwise it is 6-8 hours journey from Hamirpur to Chamba

The travel route >>> Hamirpur---Jawalaji---Kangra---Dramman--Chuwari--Jot--Chamba

The safe route>>> delete the Dramman to Chamba part and add Dramman--Nurpur--Dalhousie--Chamba.

Moral of the story:
1. Wear Shoes while stepping out for a long journey
2. Carry jackets/woolen clothes
3. Do not take the Jot Pass route if you are alone.

The Dharamshala Stadium

Two weeks back, I and JP decided to go to Dharamshala on one of our random journeys. The Dharmashala Stadium is where two matches of IPL will be held. The stadium was still under construction. The left portion of the stadium, if you enter from the main gate, was under construction. It reminded me of Delhi's preparation of the Commonwealth Games :P

Himachal also belongs to India, i felt suddenly :D

The left side is completely nude and they are working on dressing it up.

The HPCA Pavillion, Dharamshala

If you join the top of the Red Building with the top of the flood light and then extrapolate its bisector towards the Dhauladhar Range, the point where it meets the hilly terrain was my colony in my 9th and 10th class :)



The place is cool and somewhat like New Zealand Grounds . However this ground has a capacity of 400 runs in a single innings.

I was about to go to see the match but ICICI dumped me for the first time and now we are going to Chamba. Just another of our random trip \m/

You can read more Chamba stories at this site. Trekking and Riding in the Chamba Himalayas. 

MDC

झांसी is a major railway junction in the state of U.P. When one leaves Bhopal towards Delhi in a train, one sees a statue of a man standing on the top of a hill on the left hand side. The hill and the statue troubled me every time I crossed that area, sitting on the doors of the train. I always thought it to be the statue of a landlord or a local leader. however, I got to to know recently (few months back) that that statue belongs to the Hockey legend, Major Dhyan Chand, who beat the shit out of many Hockey playing nations on his own, without failing in the Main Events like Olympics.

The Gold Medalist

However, he stands alone on the top of that hill with birds singing to him his glory of the old forgotten days. The statue is built on the top of the hill in his hometown where he might have rocked his village with his masterclass and he remains there only, even today.

P.S: What Sachin Tendulkar has become today was once his status in his days. Nothing lasts Forever.


Whenever you cross that region, just remember him, may be he will feel good in this over hyped country.

An Old Friend and The Undertaker ;)

They say good things come in your life after hard work.

Well, I traveled by Sleeper Class to reach Hyderabad. The heat beat the shit out of my body, so I guess that was my Hard Work.

I reached ESCI at 1400 Hours and asked for my dear friend. I was told that he is in a session.

But, was that enough to stop me?

NO

I went upstairs, peeked inside the classroom. He was sitting on the last desk, as usual. The class finished within 5 minutes and I entered inside the classroom and sat just next to him in the Undertaker Style :)

He was out of his breath to see me sitting just next to him like a ghost :)

So, the trip was good, met an old forgotten friend, Life is cool and soooper :)

The old friend was (is) Karma The Tsehring.

More to follow, the trip has just begun, more life to follow, more fun and more romance ;)

जय महराष्ट्र!!!

I am planning to conduct an interview with गुरु जी , later this week. After my escape from here, I am now back in form and this time interview will be much better than last time.

Source: DNAINDIA

Thanks Letter To Me + Government

Oh Boy! They work also and I would like to thank the Himachal Government for the good work.

Flashback
Tarun Goel was feeling like Rajdhani Express and all the trouble started when his ass started losing its sheen and flesh because of the troublesome buses.

Tarun Goel wrote to the Transport Minister+Chief Minister+Director Transport Himachal Pradesh to start a comfortable bus from Hamirpur to Delhi, on 01-September-2009. The tone of the application cum letter was aggressive and the copies were sent to several people/authorities worldwide. He received an email from the Director of Transport on 22-October-2009, which said that the matter has been considered and the application is forwarded to the Transport Minister.

On 12-December-2009, he received another email and a letter that stated that the matter has been discussed in the Assembly and they have decided to start the bus. Another letter and email was received on 25-January-2010, which stated the bus will be started in near future.

Here are the details of the letter sent to the minister:

Dear Ministers,

I, Tarun Goel, am a frequent traveler from Hamirpur to Delhi. As the only medium of transport is bus from here to Delhi, I have to rely totally on the buses only. But it is a matter of deep regret that not even a single comfortable bus runs from the Educational Capital of the state.
There are 2 buses, which are termed as Semi-Deluxe, but the condition of those buses is just pathetic. The seats are adjustable but if one leans back on those seats then the person behind him cries all the way till he reaches his destination. The road condition is as good as the buses and they ensure that no passenger reaches his destination in single piece.
It is my sincere request that please start some good quality buses from Hamirpur like TATA AC.
The TATA AC buses are comfortable and affordable also, so please start at least 2 TATA AC buses from Hamirpur to DELHI.
It is my request that if you are not going to start the buses (TATA AC-Comfortable BUS) then please travel by these so called Semi Deluxe buses and you will yourself understand my grievances.


05-February-2010

The bus service has started and it is the same bus that was requested by me. I went to the bus station and said जिंदाबाद and clapped also.
I don't know whether it was my threatening letter or something else that forced them to do a sensible thing but who cares. I would like to take this opportunity to thank myself for this amazing work done by me. :D :D

P.S: Those who want the solution can go here

Thank You Aradhna

This is what was said by Aradhna Gupta after the court gave its verdict, "I told her, we have done it. But, the war is still on," she says. "She still looks sad. I hope I can make her smile soon."

A 14 year old girl is not even fully developed to attract someone sexually and I don't know what D.I.G saw in Ruchika but all I know is that I want to oblige and say thanks to Aradhna.

Thank You Aradhna!

Common Man

Once upon a time in my college,there was a 'guy' in our just junior batch. I met him in a bus when I was going back to home during my second year days.

Oue batch was very dangerous/stupid batch and some of the brave 'men' from our batch used to fight every now and then. Some times the events were inter-year and sometimes they were intra-year as well.

Now this 'guy' was the perfect example of a common man. Whenever anyone would fight anywhere inside the college premises [sometimes outside also] he was the first one to be beaten up. His seniors, his juniors and his batch-mates, everyone had an opportunity to kick/slap/punch him for absolutely no fault of his. His only fault was that he was a common guy with common friends with no uncommon property. When I was in my final year, our batch had an ordeal with 'his' batch. He was drinking somewhere in the jungles, he appeared from nowhere and when he realized the situation, he found himself in the middle of the ring where everyone slammed him badly :D :D

When I was in Satyam, Bangalore, I got a news that he had been expelled from the hostel because no one knew why. Once he was coming back from his vaccations and some people beat him at the bus-stand. :P

What a fucking loser he was!!!

I was just wondering, what is he doing? Is he alive?
Was he ever alive?
I don't know but whenever I see a common man, that sight reminds me of that 'guy'.

P.S: It's Real, he existed once. Now I don't know

Mini Trip's Mini Diary

On my birthday = 12 October, I left for Chandigarh because my sister was to be operated for Pancreatic Calculi Stone at P.G.I and presence of an extremely intelligent+talented young man (me) was mandatory there to deal with the government officials. I started at 18:45 and the bus belonged to Haryana State Roadways. Following are the important observations made by me:

1. Every one is scared of the Man Behind the Counter: The man behind the counter is the most dangerous thing one can ever see. Every creature calls him "sir" and he never listens or answers to anyone. Railways, Airways, Post Office, Roadways, BSNL the counter man can be found anywhere and believe me he is the most "on-the-spot" respected person on earth. There used to be a teacher in my college and he used to scare every single child in his class. Even he was saying "sir" to him and counter-man did not reply to him. Counter-man scolded him and I was laughing at his face. :D
The counter man asked me,"tujhe kya chahiye= what do you want?"
I replied,"Entertainment". That made me board the other state's bus because after the answer I gave there was no chance of me getting a ticket from him.

2. When we were about to reach Chandigarh, the bus conductor and driver shouted at the top of their voices that Chandigarh people get down as soon as possible. I and six other poor souls boarded down, half asleep half disturbed, and we found that he had thrown us in the middle of nowhere and that place was at least 10 k.m away from Chandigarh :D Luckily I found one auto at 1 A.M. He charged me 100 INR, the bus fare from Hamirpur to Chandigarh was 140 INR :(, poor me. The auto was running just behind that bus and auto driver kept telling me," This is your bus. This is your bus!" :P Life is an unbalanced equation :)

3. In P.G.I, for the first time in my Life, I saw a doctor behaving like a doctor. Endoscopy is a very painful experience and doctors are really doing a good job. I heard people crying, shouting when the wire was inserted into their mouth and being a doctor requires highest level of patience.

4. On women oriented festivals like Karwachauth, Rakhi and other related festivals, ladies do not have to pay any fare while travelling through Himachal Roadways buses. This is injustice and partiality. How can they say that,"Ladka-ladki ek samaan", when they reserve seats and provide free travelling passes for women? But let them travel for free, government is busy collecting votes for the next election, why do they care? :-|

5. I would be writing for a Hindi news paper :)