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Thursday, 26 April 2012

The biker in me




What’s that sound I hear tonight? It sounds just like a Bike.
Big and tough and strong and tall,  Makes the bike one and all.
Tattooed arms to drive it straight, Leaning into distribute the weight.
Spokes so shiny, wheels so round, Pounding pavement through the town
Making noise to fill the air, Of crossing silence with shifting gears,
Tail Lights forming one straight line, bike riders sure look fine
                                                                                           -- Kimberly A. Manning   

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro man…  My memory of a passionate biker goes to the college days when I saw this movie and was totally floored by the biker….

I always liked the mighty bikes, what an adrenalin rush they led to. Growing up in a defence area, as a kid saw all the Rajdoots and Bullets just loved their roaring sounds. More than chocolates I loved the bike rides. Dad’s colleague who had a bullet was my all time favourite uncle. He lived just a block away so the rides were frequent.  For me scooter was a security metaphor, dad used to ride the Bajaj Super but the fun and the thrill of a ride was always the bike!

I may not be a biker, I don’t even drive….. never had the guts to! But I simply love the bikes. When I was getting married wanted to ensure that the guy was a biker. I was lucky to find my man, who is a fine gentleman and a fabulous biker. We have had amazing biking experiences together. He wants to teach me to ride a bike but… I simply can’t handle the traffic. I hold a driving license for both two and four wheelers; the irony is it only serves as an identity proof for me. By the way I did earn my license!

I know a whole lot of bikers and some of them just spend their Sundays on servicing their power machines. May be just dismantle the whole mean thing and put it right back again paying attention to every piece of art to perfection. Some own almost a dozen of them, and giving each one the due attention. Looking at them I understand the psychology of polygamy! To them preparing for and going on a long ride is a ceremony and the bonding just amazing.

The dream present for my hubby is the mighty Harley Davidson, I want to gift him that…. I dream of the rides just like the ones that I remember vividly about in the movie. The thrill will be even more when my sons have me as the pillion rider!

Four wheels move the body.  Two wheels move the soul……


This post has been for Castrol Power 1 Blogging Contest. Have a look at Castrol Biking  www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking . If you have liked this entry, do vote.

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

The best trip of my life


I love travelling, seeing new places, new cultures, interacting with different people. Travels are fun and have a whole lot of learning especially for children. Of the many outings that I’ve had the Lonavla trip remains one of the best as it was a very spontaneous one. Others have been well researched and planned to the last detail.


It was Thursday 1st September 2011, I was in my office.  Around 1.30 pm got a call from my husband saying that our 5 year old son Arnnav had a long weekend, Monday 5th September was a holiday for him. Hubby is in the Merchant Navy so is away from home for 3-4 months. He loves these little breaks with family but hates to make the itinerary or the bookings for that matter. I understand that fully being a Captain he has all his travel plans and hotel stays arranged for him so, while on leave he expects his hotelier wife to do the same! His logic being it’s my field and I do it better...He loves all the vacations that I plan, in fact he still talks about our 15 day honeymoon to Kerala, says that was the best vacation of his life. We explored the whole or Kerala, God’s own country! Talks often about it and I don’t mind making the arrangements for our travels and vacations. So what started from honeymoon still continues…… I am the travel planner/ tour operator for my family.

So I looked for places close by to Mumbai as we had just 3 days; Saturday afternoon to Monday. Hubby loves driving so I had to make sure that he fulfills his passion for long drives, it was monsoon in Mumbai so Lonavala had to be the place. Didn’t want to go up to Goa and make it hectic for our younger son Abhinav who is just 2 years old. I looked for the best hotel deals there in Lonavala. Most of them were booked. Finally settled for a resort there and told hubby about my plans. He liked it as always. On reaching home I saw that the boys seemed to be excited as hubby had already told them about our monsoon trip to Lonavala. We were ready preparing for our weekend getaway! Bags were packed Friday evening as I was working half day on Saturday. On the D- day 3rd September 2011, hubby and kids picked me up from work and we drove to Lonavala. Had a beautiful drive. The visibility was almost zero, It was pouring cats and dogs! We reached the resort and had a relaxing evening.
On the way to Lonavla
I had looked for up places to visit while there and activities that would keep our sons not just occupied but enjoying  and making the most of this trip. It was also a kind of gift to our elder son who was turning 5 on 7th September.  We had a function planned for family and friends on his birthday. The planning and bookings for the venue, menu, games and events all happened on the phone while we were driving around in Lonavala.  Both were great. We all had a nice time at Lonavala and the 5th birthday party was a hit with everyone. People loved the get together and enthusiastically participated in all the fun games and other events.
The drive in the monsoons
At the end of the week, I had a very happy husband and kids who loved the trip as well as the birthday party! And me of course… a happy wife and a happier mom. Then got  back into our routine schedules, me with my work, Arnnav back to school, Abhinav enjoying his time with his grandparents and waiting for his elder brother to head home so that they can have their common adventures and Capt. Rajesh Todiwan back sailing. Our Next trip was to Corbett National Park during the December vacation. All arrangements, travel and accommotion and sightseeing was perfect, kids loved the jeep and elephant safari. The summer vacations will be here soon, the next destination for us will be Coorg.



At the Wax Museum




The waterfall

On the way to Bushi Dam

Out of the city
Kids enjoying the drive around the Lonavla hills





On our way back to Mumbai
The thick fog in the rains.


This post is an Official entry for Mahindra XUV's Incredible Stories  hosted by IndiBlogger.