Month: January 2010

3 Idiots..

A flurry of blog posts.. Great few days with lots of learnings.

3 Idiots is a new Hindi movie, a movie that touched my hearts. 3 things I will remember from the movie..

1) Don’t run behind success. Aim for excellence, and success will follow..
2) We’re always dying to do this or that.. It goes with the rushing theory. We rush, rush, rush.. what’s the point?
3) Reach out to people you love and give yourself to them.. you do make a difference, sometimes bigger than you realize..

:)

India Road Trip: Chennai – Bangalore

This post is for all those who will stumble upon this while searching for tips like I did in the dead of the night. Didn’t find too much literature so thought I’d add to it.. :)

As far as the trip is concerned, first of many I hope. 1st time taking a memorable road trip at home. The condition of the road is brilliant. Travelling down the National Highway called the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ was a pleasure. Few thoughts –

Before:

1) Checks: Check for license, insurance and car registration
2) Food: Take fruits like bananas, oranges etc along apart from snacks of your choice
3) Music: Take good music. Sing along.. That’s the whole point of the whole thing! :-)
4) Car: Make sure the car is in good condition with petrol filled. Better to fill petrol early than push it! We nearly got ourselves stranded in Malaysia with this precise stupidity.. If it is a hired car, worthwhile to take a small round and get the feel of the car..
5) People: Go with someone you like/love a lot.. else it would be akin to spend hours in hell!

During: While most of the above is applicable anywhere, couple here(ones with asterisks) apply only to India

1) *Cows: Especially in the morning, there are chances there will be cows on the road. Hitting one could be fatal!
2) *Vehicles travelling on the wrong side: Some buses, bikes will be exercising their right to live by driving in the opposite direction. Beware!
3) Speed : Its important to be comfortable in your own skin. If one is still at the stage where one gets very excited when the car touches a new high speed, probably driving in the night is not a good idea. For many a driver(especially those who don’t own their own car and hence, don’t care – often about their own lives), overtaking is an ego battle and if you find such an annoying driver, let them go. Not worth the risk..
4) Route: When in doubt, check.. When we crossed a junction, both Mom and I felt there was something wrong yet we kept going till we were 60kms off amd sure we were in the wrong direction. Not smart!
5) Change drivers: Helps, especially on trips in excess of 5-6 hours! :)
6) Bathroom breaks: Always let people pee! Seems like a funny/stupid tip but sometimes the push to hold on and reach the destination results in chaos!
7) Follow your gut: Especially when you are the driver. If you sense something is wrong, there probably is.. And whatever it is, it is definitely worth a check.. :-)
8) Night Driving: If you are driving at night, good to be at ease with light signals(i.e. Alternating between high and low beam). Useful in the day as well.. At high speeds, the horn is less effective..and light travels faster than sound as well. ;-)

After:
Good sleep is a must, especially for the person who drove..

Just as an additional note, drive only when your mind gives a complete yes. Anything else is a no. If you are not comfortable driving at night, it is not worth it…

Time taken to travel from Chennai to Bangalore: The journey takes around 5 hours when driving for the most bit around 100-120. Its a great drive.

And lastly..
1) There is no point rushing rushing,rushing..
2) Mistakes may happen(you may miss an accident by a whisker, for example), people may get upset, things may not go as per plan – Just touch your heart, say ‘all is well’ and move on.. :-)

Alive..

Disclaimer: Long Blog post coming up.. :-)

When do we feel alive? Isn’t our life one of routine.. Wake up.. Brush.. Eat.. Go to work/school.. Come back.. Browse/tv/play.. spend some time with loved ones..eat..sleep. And repeat till we take a vacation and shake this up a bit.

There are some people who I’ve been with from time to time who always made me feel ‘alive’. And its only now that I understand what this word means to me.. Monday night, we watched 3 idiots – a great Hindi movie after a sumptuous dinner. Mom and I were up late(as usual) chatting when we felt we should probably take a drive. It was the 5th – Birthday of a close friend of mine in Bangalore. We decided to go! 330kms.. Found a few blogs on road trip guides, took all our insurance papers, fruits and we were all set at 330AM in the morning!

We had a lovely drive, surprised her, had a wonderful day, rested well, ate well and drove back. All in all..a great weekend that made me feel ‘alive’.

That’s when I understood the meaning of ‘alive’. To me, it meant leaving the rational thinking left brain and exercising the creative right… Doing the unpredictable..just once a while.

And guess what? A few people were left unimpressed by this ‘madness’. Reminded me of the quote.. When you do what people don’t expect you to do, they generally get upset..

Oh, and yes, I feel alive and am all set to go back to the routine. There’s immense joy in a structured life as well after all! :-)

Celebrating Birthdays..

Just drove 660+ kms up and down with Mom to wish a friend and spend the day with her. Made her day, made ours too.. a few thoughts..

1) Nothing like a real surprise on a birthday, especially if you are giving the surprise! :)

2) Birthdays are important. We tend to take them for granted as we grow. But, as Dumbledore (from Harry Potter) says – the biggest mistake adults make is they forget what it is to be a child. Doing our best to make the day as special as we can makes a difference! :)

3) Most importantly, we never know which day would be our last. Apply to birthdays.. :-)

4) Wishing special people is well worth travelling the 660 kms.. ha ha..