ok.. where do we begin this?? You have interesting anecdotes, thrilling experiences, long stretch of absolute boredom where time turned monotonous moving at its own snail pace.. You have all of these like characters in a play.. they know what they ought to do.. and they are ready waiting for their turn.. you might plainly put them one by one in the order of occurrence like reading news or you could start somewhere in the middle where something out of the blue happened and you keep the reader mystified till the end. But I have not murdered anyone in this trip to write a thriller.. though I desperately wished to stab a few of them to death.. like the bus driver from Manali to Shimla or the care taker in Katra dharamshala.. but they can wait..
This trip has only left me drained. I have lost weight, 4 kilos of them, and I am not among those who considered that as an achievement and celebrate it. I would not suggest this trip as a rapid weight loss program for those who want to lose their bulk or even trim off those round edges. I have lost my colour... my Aravind Swamy colour.. (although the previous statement is highly debatable and when put to vote will only win one vote in favour... I can term this as a writer's creative freedom to express his thoughts) The typical Indian fixation, left behind by the 'Phirangis', for the fair skin. You only have three categories.. fair which ranges from anemic white, pinkish skin to little amount of colour under the armpits... a little dusky or more would fall under wheatish complexion. (the word is defined under Indian English.. any new word used by Indians will be added to the dictionary as we are the largest English speaking population in the world.. A foreign word used by the vast majority no longer remains foreign..) and finally the absolute dark, Keiron pollard like, regarded dusky complexioned in the matrimonial sites.
A few memories of the trip which remained forbearing the infinite suction of the scorching heat find their place in this post.
Counting 'chicks': The trip was, as anticipated, full of promising nights.. the brief sojourns on filthy platforms waiting for the train.. They all loitered around the platforms, the trains.. some of them obeyed the announcing-lady, some did not bother to turn up even after repeated pleas by the lady and some dropped out of no where unannounced with no name no aim and stayed put.. The platform bustled with activity.. trains with bogies married to engines, bachelor engines piqued in loneliness wailing its discontent in sirens.. the cry of despair the cry for attention that deafened the rest of the platform but could not get the slightest of affirmative nod from the 'chuk-chuk' bulbous bogie.. Amidst the romance there were people, hoards of them, scattered everywhere like bird droppings. All kinds of them.. Tall, midget, dusky, white washed, elderly, hippie, Chinese and their elephant trunk cameras, loin-clothed with frizzy long hair, men in military uniforms and neatly groomed hair.. All of them under one platform.. The announcing lady dullard and uninspiring went on with her rambling unaware with the real proceedings.
With two of the promising nights spent under serene immobile locations, the remaining nights demanded extra efforts to catch some sleep. Some of the classic techniques were applied (modified to make it pleasant). Counting lambs therefore became counting chicks. Chicks with long legs and short skirts on them sprinting across an imaginary King's bed.. Chick followed by chick keeping the count was more pleasurable until my mind decided to play a trick to turn things nasty and my high-school English teacher appeared. The long wooden scale in her hand and the scowl worn on her face spoke her intentions in a heavy Malayalam accent as she began lucidly explaining the dictionary definition of the word 'chick'. The long legged ones waiting for their turn to sprint suddenly shrunk into ugly feathery little chickens scampering all over the place..
The night went on with chicks and little chickens running through my mind finally drifting back into a dreamless sleep as we left Delhi for Manali.. leaving behind the crowded lanes of chandini chowk hustling with furious activity, the unkempt parking where the only plausible way to take a vehicle out will be using air support, the silence inside the lotus temple.. the distinct aura which brings you in touch with your inner peace.. dwindling away the restlessness and filling the self with positive energy with every breath. You carried along with you the cold touch of serenity as part of temple's offering which lingered on chaste for a while but Delhi had more to offer to corrupt the austerity and fall back on crude dreading practicality. My haggling skills were put to gruesome tests in some parts of the capital city and I proved to be far more miserable than I thought.
Leaving behind all this we moved on for a fresh hassle free beginning in Manali.. a good sleep helped its course but we were 3 hours behind schedule..
Motorcycle Diaries:
To be continued......
PS: There are two kinds of people in this world.. One who finish what they start and
This trip has only left me drained. I have lost weight, 4 kilos of them, and I am not among those who considered that as an achievement and celebrate it. I would not suggest this trip as a rapid weight loss program for those who want to lose their bulk or even trim off those round edges. I have lost my colour... my Aravind Swamy colour.. (although the previous statement is highly debatable and when put to vote will only win one vote in favour... I can term this as a writer's creative freedom to express his thoughts) The typical Indian fixation, left behind by the 'Phirangis', for the fair skin. You only have three categories.. fair which ranges from anemic white, pinkish skin to little amount of colour under the armpits... a little dusky or more would fall under wheatish complexion. (the word is defined under Indian English.. any new word used by Indians will be added to the dictionary as we are the largest English speaking population in the world.. A foreign word used by the vast majority no longer remains foreign..) and finally the absolute dark, Keiron pollard like, regarded dusky complexioned in the matrimonial sites.
A few memories of the trip which remained forbearing the infinite suction of the scorching heat find their place in this post.
Counting 'chicks': The trip was, as anticipated, full of promising nights.. the brief sojourns on filthy platforms waiting for the train.. They all loitered around the platforms, the trains.. some of them obeyed the announcing-lady, some did not bother to turn up even after repeated pleas by the lady and some dropped out of no where unannounced with no name no aim and stayed put.. The platform bustled with activity.. trains with bogies married to engines, bachelor engines piqued in loneliness wailing its discontent in sirens.. the cry of despair the cry for attention that deafened the rest of the platform but could not get the slightest of affirmative nod from the 'chuk-chuk' bulbous bogie.. Amidst the romance there were people, hoards of them, scattered everywhere like bird droppings. All kinds of them.. Tall, midget, dusky, white washed, elderly, hippie, Chinese and their elephant trunk cameras, loin-clothed with frizzy long hair, men in military uniforms and neatly groomed hair.. All of them under one platform.. The announcing lady dullard and uninspiring went on with her rambling unaware with the real proceedings.
With two of the promising nights spent under serene immobile locations, the remaining nights demanded extra efforts to catch some sleep. Some of the classic techniques were applied (modified to make it pleasant). Counting lambs therefore became counting chicks. Chicks with long legs and short skirts on them sprinting across an imaginary King's bed.. Chick followed by chick keeping the count was more pleasurable until my mind decided to play a trick to turn things nasty and my high-school English teacher appeared. The long wooden scale in her hand and the scowl worn on her face spoke her intentions in a heavy Malayalam accent as she began lucidly explaining the dictionary definition of the word 'chick'. The long legged ones waiting for their turn to sprint suddenly shrunk into ugly feathery little chickens scampering all over the place..
The night went on with chicks and little chickens running through my mind finally drifting back into a dreamless sleep as we left Delhi for Manali.. leaving behind the crowded lanes of chandini chowk hustling with furious activity, the unkempt parking where the only plausible way to take a vehicle out will be using air support, the silence inside the lotus temple.. the distinct aura which brings you in touch with your inner peace.. dwindling away the restlessness and filling the self with positive energy with every breath. You carried along with you the cold touch of serenity as part of temple's offering which lingered on chaste for a while but Delhi had more to offer to corrupt the austerity and fall back on crude dreading practicality. My haggling skills were put to gruesome tests in some parts of the capital city and I proved to be far more miserable than I thought.
Leaving behind all this we moved on for a fresh hassle free beginning in Manali.. a good sleep helped its course but we were 3 hours behind schedule..
Motorcycle Diaries:
To be continued......
PS: There are two kinds of people in this world.. One who finish what they start and
