Remembering last year's Deepavali

Deepavali is the festival of lights... Colorful fireworks light up the sky & even colorful smiles light up children's faces. A time of happiness & joy... But last year's Deepavali was different.
I was in Hyderabad at that time preparing for higher studies. It was during start of November that my friend, Thomas fell ill. He got affected with dengue fever. So he had to be admitted to Image Hospitals in Ameerpet. I & our friends, Rejo & Rahul were by his side. From the 5th floor of the hospital, I had a grand view of Hyderabad city... buildings dotted the landscape as far as my eye could see.

As sunlight dimmed away on the Diwali's eve, I could sense the excitement in the air. People were filled with celebratory fervour. The crackers & fireworks started to go off... The sky lit up with dozens of colors.... It was like of shower of colors in the night sky.

I've never seen so much of fireworks in my life till then. It was unforgettable... Then I, Rejo & Rahul went down to get fruit juice for Thomas. Stepping out on road was like stepping into a mine field. Crackers were lying all across the road, I stepped on a little one & 'BAM' it went off!! It scared me out of my wits & jumped up screaming... People around me found it very comical & started laughing, though I didnt find it funny at that time... Now it brings a smile, whenever I recall that :)

We went back to the hospital after buying the juice. After that we planned to go back to our rooms but not before having delicious chicken rice for dinner. In my room, I slept with the sounds of crackers going off in the distance. It was an unforgettable Diwali for me. Seven months in Hyderabad has given me a lot of new experiences & this was one of the better ones.

PS: Thomas recovered from his illness & returned back home in a week.

-Visakh.

SHOYA TOMIZAWA passed away :(

5th September 2010.

I was watching the Moto2 race at Misano, Italy in my hostel's TV room. The Moto2 race was exciting as usual with riders jostling for positions. Young Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa was riding hard to defend his 4th place from Alex De Angelis. He ran wide on a very fast 250kph right hand corner, lost grip on the astro turf & crashed... The bikes of De Angelis & Scot Redding ran over him... It was unavoidable. The crash looked horrifying... I was stunned & kept my fingers crossed that no serious injuries would happen to Tomizawa. He was airlifted to hospital. But sadly he succumbed to his injuries.

We all know motorcycle racers risk their life & limb... But when something like this happens before our eyes, it strikes us how risky the sport is.

SHOYA TOMIZAWA- A young charming man, 19 years of age, a talented upcoming racer, the winner of the first ever Moto2 race.

Godspeed Tomi San, you'll be missed but never forgotten :(

-Visakh

Life at BITS Pilani: Discovering myself

BITS Pilani... One of the premier colleges in India. It was while I was staying in Hyderabad that the notification for the higher degree admissions came. I decided to give it a shot.

The centre was BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus. I wandered around the Secunderbad bus station to find the bus that goes there. Finally I found it & sat inside a bus packed with students on the day of the test. It was a long journey to Shameerpet, in the outskirts of Hyderabad. It was a cold Saturday morning as I went to the online test centre. I was welcomed by a computer ready to dish out the problems. I did pretty well in the test & was happy but never was sure until the results came & I saw that I was selected for M.E admission in BITS Pilani. So with the blessings of my teachers & best wishes of my friends at ACE academy , I bid adieu to Hyderabad after a stay of 7 months.

I was ecstatic but also a bit nervous of what lay ahead. I had to reach Pilani in Rajasthan in a weeks time & appear for an interview. I reached back home. It was a special feeling like never before... Nostalgic... like seeing everything for the first time. After a few days at home, I packed my bags for the long journey to Pilani accompanied by my uncle. It was late December & Delhi was covered in fog. The cold was chilling as we hired a Tata Indica taxi to travel 300 odd kilometers to reach Pilani. Pilani is a village set near the Rajasthan-Haryana border in the district named Jhunjhunu. It was my first time in North India... I watched with fascination the road side dhabas, the mustard & sugarcane fields, the overloaded tractors & rickshaws, the people & their costumes.

I stepped into the BITS Pilani campus on the cold morning of January 2nd, the interview day. It was a huge campus & the insti building looked majestic with its huge clock tower hidden partly by the morning fog. Interview had a surprise in store for me. I was called first!! I expected to be last since my name starts with 'V' but the names were called based on merit list. After that I & uncle had hot ginger tea which was refreshing in that cold climate. I collected my hostel room slip & shifted to Malaviya Hostel. From my room's balcony, I had a nice view of the Meera Bhavan girls hostel ;) I bid goodbye to my uncle at the bus stand. There were about 10 Malayalis in the hostel. We all became good friends. It was my first time in a hostel. I bought a cycle to roam around the 450 acre campus.

I loved that campus in the cold climate. The morning fog, dew drops falling from the leaves, the peacocks, the small roadside eateries, the cycle rickshaws... The Saraswati mandir looks beautiful with the sunrays reflecting from its white marble during sunset. It is surrounded by a garden filled with Dahlias & Roses. Its a tranquil place.

We have a supermarket named Akshay & a shopping center called Connaught Place (C'not). Another lovely place is the ShivGanga. Then came the time of registration. Being a new Bitsian, I had no idea what to do. It was basically to register for the courses during the semester. The first day of the class was a special feeling. I was sitting in a college classroom after 2 years & that too in BITS Pilani. Studies went on fine. I got myself a laptop for studies but it became more handy in watching movies :) Since my roommate rarely came, my friends would occupy my room & watch movies, with some beer & smoke giving company. I loved the state of the art BITS library & the computer center. The fun was in spending time in computer center & going to the All Night Canteen (ANC) at 12.30 in the night. Christo & Renju were my companions. I made good friends with my fellow Malayalis- Christo, Allen, Aji, Anil, Rocky, Sreeraj, Renju, Atul & Safal.

The life at BITS Pilani went on fine amongst the tests & quizzes. I was starting to get fed up with the mess food. There were movie shows at the auditorium & the IPL final was shown on the big screen. Our batch had variety of people from North, Central & South of India. Some unique personalities amonst them are Anshul- the counter strike game master, Deepankar- the techno & computer master, Deepak- the film freak, Sindhoor- the badminton master. Also Anil, Debabrata, Dharmendra, Divanshu, Jayapal, Kapil, Ritu, Kamal & Karan were my other batch buddies.

I suffered a nasty fall from cycle one Saturday afternoon. I cut my chin, broke my nail. I was in a lot of pain & bled badly. Anil & Allen took me to the Birla Sarvajanik hospital where I was stitched up. The following were days of pain & struggle and constant trips to the medical center for getting the wounds dressed. I found it difficult to brush my teeth, eat & walk. Friends were of great support during that time. I recovered well in time for the exams.

The climate was changing. One of my seniors told that the best indication of change in climate are the girls. The hotter the climate, shorter their clothes!! :) By mid April, I got a true feel of the summer in North India. Temperatures rocketed to 47 degrees. I struggled to get sleep at night. By the first week of May, came the comprehensive exams... the final litmus test. I did well & was longing to get back to home and escape from the heat. I was longing to ride my bike, meet my friends, eat beef....!!

Looking back at the past 5 months, I had a lot of new experiences- interacted with a variety of people, saw new places like Agra, made new friends, experienced hostel life, wrote open book tests, presented seminars & papers, experienced a new culture, ate new sweets like Rajbhog and learned that lime juice was called 'Shikanji' :) In the past 5 months in BITS Pilani, I discovered myself.

-Visakh
[Photos & Text]

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH MOTORCYCLES

It started back in 2002 when I began watching Motogp. I found it the most thrilling sport in the world. I got addicted to the speed, the sound, the riders & their rides. The way the riders lean the bike into a corner sliding their knees on the ground... tucking behind the screen going flat out down the straights... braking hard into the corners with lighting quick downshifts... The bravery to risk life & limb to go faster than everyone else on the race track enthralled me. Valentino Rossi was & always will be my favorite, my hero, my idol...
I began pestering my dad to get me a new bike for a long time & finally he got fed up & agreed to get me one. So in May 2003, I got a brand new Bajaj Pulsar 150... She looked beautiful with her round headlamps, massive tank, chromed exhaust & metallic blue color. The trouble was I didn't know how to ride the bike. Slowly & steadily I learned to ride... and with more confidence came more speed & inevitably more crashes!!!
The baddest crash I remember was when I was taking an U-turn & a bike coming fast from behind hit my handlebar. I fell hard & my chin hit the road... I was stunned, not knowing what to do next. I didn't feel any pain at that moment... People were yelling at me to lift the bike off the middle of the road... As I got up & bent down to pick the bike up, blood was dripping drop by drop on to the tank... There was a sour taste in my mouth & I felt fragments of teeth lying inside... Then only I realized that I had cut my chin & broke my two teeth... That's the funny thing about crashing... for a couple of minutes you are too numb with shock to feel the pain!!! It required 5 stitches & thanks to my body being allergic to local anesthesia, it was the most painful day of my life....
I can recount about 5 crashes in total... one when I slipped in the sand on a corner, one due to braking in loose gravel, one when I hit a dog in the dark etc... I learned from my mistakes & these crashes made me a better rider...
The thrill is in riding the corners or the 'twisties' in biker slang. That's where you separate the wheat from the chaff. Any fool can wring the throttle & go fast in a straight line, but it needs balls & skill to go fast in a corner. You lean the bike so hard & fast that the footpegs touch down, the sides of your shoes wear out. You can feel the tyres grip... You can feel the rear twitch as the tyre looses grip in a damp patch or dirt...
I love riding in the mountain hairpins... You hang off the bike so much that your knee caresses the grass lining the road, you brake hard into a hairpin with your bike's rear end sliding all over the place as you downshift from 4th to 1st. Its a fine line between staying on the bike & crashing & that's the thrill of it.
Speed is a thrill... an addiction.... You go so fast that the tears from your eyes vaporize before reaching the ears. You feel alive at that moment. Your heart pounds & your forehead sweats... The open roar of the engine fill your ears... The rpm needle hits the redline & the road ahead gets sucked up at a massive rate... The views along the side of the road are a blurry mess of colors. Once you have experienced the thrill of speed, you yearn for more.
I love going touring on a motorcycle... Riding on my bike to new distant places is a 'kick' for me. On a bike, you feel the wind in your hair, you smell the freshness of the air, you feel so much more freedom than in a car which I feel like being enclosed inside an iron box. With like-minded friends I have been able to travel to explore places on my bike. The longest distance I have ridden in a day is 456kms on my Pulsar from Trivandrum to Cochin & back. That will be broken for sure in future :)
We must always consider safety first. The faster you go & the farther you go, the more the risk. Always wear protective gear & helmet. Even a fall at low speeds can cause a fatal head injury... Stay away from liquor & other intoxicants while riding. Never ride when you are not in good health or when you are in a disturbed state of mind.
Ride safe & have fun...


"You live more in five minutes on a bike going flat out than some people live in a lifetime."
- Burt Munro

PS: I dedicate this article to my beloved Pulsar who turns 7 this May :) Thanks for being a trusty companion.

Visakh

TRAVELOGUE: Mist & Meadows in Vagamon

VAGAMON... National Geographic referred to it as 'The Scotland of Asia'. So I & my most beloved travel mate Vishnu Pisharody (fondly called 'Pishu'), being the crazies we are, thought about finding out why. And I tell you, it was one of the best findings we had ever made... !!

[The meadows of Vagamon]

Here is how it unfolded. Let me wind the clock back about three years. The time when I owned a spanking new black Bullet STD 350. I & Pishu were working in a software company in Trivandrum at that time & I bought the Bullet with my hard earned money. It was my love for touring that made me buy her. I had to attend my classmate's wedding at Kottayam & Pishu came up with the idea: Ride to Vagamon & then go to the wedding the next day.

[Route map: Trivandrum to Vagamon]

We set off early morning 5.00 am, since we had to cover 267 kms to reach Vagamon from Trivandrum. We were in high spirits & the rising sun welcomed us with its gentle rays. But as we move further, the sky started getting dark, overcast & suddenly the heavens opened... We were not in our rain gear & got drenched. We ran to a nearby abandoned shed to take refuge. As the rain eased it fury, we ventured out again... We felt cold with the water seeping into forbidden areas ;) & hungry. We stopped by a small hotel enroute to Anchal. Hot tea, dosa & egg curry... Ah.. One of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time.

Vagamon is situated in Idukki district... Idukki, along with Wayanad has to be the most scenic districts in Kerala. We decided to deviate from the normal route & take the less traveled Sabarimala road... Though it was like taking a detour of 30 kms, it was worth it. The road started to swerve crazily like a snake & the canopy of trees formed a cover over us. The sunlight seeping through the leaves made patterns on the road like a kaleidoscope. The scenery is so stunning that many times you will find your eyes wandering off the road.

[At Vagamon]

As we reached Ranni, the rain started again. We stopped by a small shop & lit a smoke. Nothing like taking a warm puff on a cold day!! I was getting restless because rain was playing havoc with our plans. So we decided to push on despite the rain. I was trying to the get the bulky Bullet back on the road when it got stuck in the kerb. I was unaware of a bus coming from behind. I heard Pishu scream, but with my helmet on, it was not clear. The bus just nudged the handlebar... It was a narrow escape. The bus driver called some 'f%$*&#' words, swore & drove off.

[Wanna play??]

[Lush green meadows]

We reached Erattupetta, tired & soaked from head to toe. After a warm lunch, we headed off... Only 24 kms separated us from Vagamon. The road started to roll up into the mountains in loops of hairpin bends. The fun in riding a bike is in such sections... The ghats seem to welcome us with open arms. There was mist & slight rain... We could smell the freshness in the air. We stopped to admire the nature's magical beauty. The fatigue of the trip faded away like the mist surrounding us.

[Tea plantations]

[A sip from the stream]

As we rode further, we came across beautiful green meadows with grazing cows & lush green tea estates & pine plantations. Stop & listen... the chirping of birds, the symphony of flowing streams & the gush of the wind filled the ears. It was so peaceful, so magical.... It has to be experienced.
We drank water from the flowing stream... So pure, given by mother nature. But all good things must come to an end and it was time for us to leave this mesmerizing place. The roads were pretty bad in some places, so I carefully descended downhill.

[Treacherous roads]

The darkness was slowly creeping in like an intruder... It was very dark as we reached Pala in Kottayam district. We checked into a hotel for the overnight stay. It was a comfy room. We ate dinner like we were famished & the people at hotel stared at us. We collapsed into bed & slept like babies :) We woke up early next morning & started our journey to Kottayam to attend my classmate's wedding. With less amount of traffic, we reached Kottayam by 11am. It was nice to catch up with some old classmates & we chatted for a long time. It was a Christian wedding & the main attraction of wedding is the feast afterwards... After having a sumptuous meal, I kicked the Bullet back to life . Waving goodbye to friends, we rode back to Trivandrum....

Looking back at the journey now, I feel it was the best I ever had... The rain, the mist, the mountains, the meadows.... It is been almost three years, but it still lingers fresh in my memory... !!!

"Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but it is played out over & over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." - Pat Conroy

Visakh. A
[Photography: Visakh & Vishnu]

NOSTALGIA: My Beautiful Village

Childhood.... The most special time of one's life. Mischievous, careless & carefree. The time of our life we can never forget. I was lucky to spend a good part of my childhood in the beautiful village of Murukumpuzha, my mother's native place. The things that come to mind when I recall about my village is the beautiful lake, coconut trees, smell of mud, the water lillies... So many emotions run through me. I had a wonderful time there.

Murukumpuzha is about 20 kms from Thiruvananthapuram. I remember my father dropping me, my sister & my mother (here after referred to as 'Amma') at the PMG bus stand, when I was young. I will hold on to Amma's hand & tease my sister as we wait for the rare bus that goes there :) The bus will drop us off at the lake side where the road ends called 'kadavu'. We can see people waiting for the boat to take them to the opposite shore.

Amma's ancestral home was a beautiful old style house. It was called 'Panayil Veedu'. From the back side of the house, a 100 yard walk will take us to the lake shore. The breeze, the rustle of the coconut palm leaves & the glistening water especially at night with the moon light reflecting from it is mesmerizing.

I have a lot of cousins (Unni, Kannan, Viji chettan, Manu chettan & 'chettan' means elder brother) whom I played & fought with. We will throw stones at mangoes... the sour taste of unripe mangoes is still fresh in the tip of my toungue. We will catch fishes from the lake. It was Kannan, my uncle's son, who taught me the technique. We will stand still in the water near the shore till the poor little fish comes close & then all of a sudden we splash the water with our foot & the fish gets thrown on to the shore :)

Tired after play, we come back home for lunch. If lunch isn't ready we'll go to the kitchen & start to eat from here & there... In the end Amma & aunts gets fed up & will chase us away :) Lunch would be rice, pickles & my favorite dish- fish curry & fry. My grandmother was very caring & she would make us eat till our stomach was about to explode!! Sadly she is not with us today :(

In the evening, Amma & my aunts would take us to the temple nearby. We would buy cute toys like 'Kattadi' (A circular ring toy that rotates when wind is blown) & eat 'Kappalandi muttayi' (A toffee made from groundnut). At night, me & my cousins would cuddle up & sleep together in the hall room. It was a wonderful time at a wonderful place. An unadulterated village.

But how time has passed. After grandmother's death, the house was not looked after well. It is in ruins now. As I walk through the weeds that cover the ground & look at the cracks in the wall, these memories of childhood flashes past... In the end as our life goes on, only thing we can truly say as our own is our memories.

"Memory is a way of holding onto things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose"

Visakh. A
[Photography and Text]