A question from "Samaaj" ...

Well.. this one is for the "samaaj" ....I was asked a question related to my so called "joblessness" ...
"So ... kuch kamana wamana hai life mein ya saari umar naukri chod ke he baithna hai?? koi goal hai life ka?"

I didn't think about it at that time but later in the evening the following thought striked... don't know how to expalin this to them... anyways.. they won't understand ...

Life has no aim .... Life's aim is life itself. Higher life, deeper life, more life but life itself.

Life is the aim of everything. Hence, life cannot have an aim other than life itself.


We all carry a hollow inside us. Like my hollow is for travel. . .as long as that hollow is not filled . . I will be restless.

When I listened to my heart and shut my mind down ...

Not all was going well in life and when this happens, you start thinking much about life.

A thought struck me that when I die, god will ask me just one question ... ''son, I gave you a life...did you live it'' ...and I knew the answer was a big NO. I decided that I would listen to what my heart says and stop thinking from the mind. I decided to start living my life the individual's way not the crowd's way now and do things that make me happy. Travel was one thing that has always kept my spirits high, so I decided to travel, only to realize later that this was just the beginning of a very joyful life.



To start with I decided to travel from bangalore to delhi on my bike. On the way, I stopped in Mangalore in the campus of NITK Surathkal with few friends for 5 days and decided to do a trek in Kumara Parvata and it was fun, great joy and peace was over me. We spent a night in the forest on the peak and since some calculations went wrong, we were without food and shelter there. We somehow managed to light a fire to avoid any wild animals and slept under the open sky. After a really really long time I saw the night sky in full glory, oh, what a scene to behold it was. I tried to sleep but was woken up at about 2 am by a nightmare of wild animals surrounding us. As I woke up I looked towards the forest and saw that the sky had come down on earth and the stars were twinkling right next to me and they were scattered all around and it was really very pleasant, I don't know if there is god, but it sure was an experience of godliness, and then as I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, I realised that it wasn't the sky but these were a million fireflies in the dark of the forest displaying their magnificient show only for me (until I woke up others). It was ....it was ... Words are so bad ..you can never find a good one when you need it. While returning from the trek we stopped at a river bank and ended spending a full day there doing nothing. I realised on this day that doing nothing is very difficult because you never know when you finished.

I left mangalore and headed towards gokarna with a plan to spend a night there on the OM shaped beach. This was another beautiful experience.

Further on my travel I stopped for lunch at a place called Jhulwania in MP and met a few people who looking at my bike guessed that I am a traveller and asked me to visit a nearby place called bawangaja, there qas nothing here of interest and I ended up spending the night in a small town called Bhidwani. In a dramatic turn of events I met Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy here. These are 2 people I have been wanting to meet from a really long time.

This was the day I heard my heart talking to my soul and saying ... . ''listen to the heart and I will keep you happy...forever..... Mind will give you money and material pleasure....but heart will give you eternal joy''.

Just a week out on travel and I have spent a night in open, trekked amazing peak, felt godliness, spent a day at river, met people like Medha and Arundhati and above all....felt content....

Of lost love and Life ahead ...

In unchaiyon se meri bhook mite,
In jharno se mein trapt ho jaon,
Yeh pawan azaad hai, chanchal hai,
Is pawan sa ho jaon, kuch aisa kar do....

Is parvat pe mera dam nikley,
Is shweth barf mein dafn ho jaon,
Woh shweta thee, shweth thee,
Is shweth mein samaa jaon, kuch aisa kar do....


Is phool sa mehek paaon,
Is fal se mithas paaon,
Yeh paed sharaabi hai, madhosh hai,
Is paed sa jhoom paon, kuch aisa kar do...

Is titli se udna seekhon,
Is bhanwarey se khush hona seekhon,
Woh kaaran thee, astitva thee,
Is astitva ko jee paaon, kuch aisa kar do...

Chai Chilam Chappati Charpai

A cow moans outside the window and I am woken up. The room is still dark and it's cloudy outside. It's eight in the morning and I desperately need a cup of Chai.
I am in Manali... just the name strikes a few chords inside. This is a place with something to offer to every soul. I have myself been here 4 times and have found something new every time. Life here revolves around four things, chai, chilam, chappati and charpai.
Get up in the morning, drink a nice piping hot cup of Chai, eat something (Chappati) and then there would be definitely someone to offer you Chilam, smoke it, and go to bed (charpai) and ‘repeat’. Oh man ... isn't this the life everyone wants to live....




I was referred by a friend from Delhi to his friend in Manali and that's it, my stay and food for one week has been free and on top of that as the 'pahadi' culture has it, he has taken great care of me. He has shown me the local joints and places which otherwise would not have been possible. I have made some really good friends in the market.

One day, I was invited by a friend into his shop to talk over a cup of chai and I see a photograph amidst the photos of gods in his shop, the photograph of a lake, a lake like I have never seen before. Upon asking details he says this is Parashar lake, It's about 60 kilometers from here and this is a holy place with a temple on the bank of the lake. There used to be a sage with name "Parashar" and the locals believe in him and the temple was made by the local king during his times. There is a yearly fair that happens on the lake.

The next day I pickup my day pack and head towards the place. I am told to board a bus upto Bhutar and from there ask for lift as no public transport goes in that direction. I get lucky to get into a truck, which is being used to carry stones for building the road very close to the lake. The truck driver turns out to be a very nice guy and drops me off about 12 kilometers from the lake from where it's an easy trek. He also offers me his water bottle and a few apples for the trek ahead.

The first glance at the lake and I am short of words, there is just a shriek moan that came out. I rush down to the lake and park myself just a few meters away from the lake. Ahh, the beauty of it....

I stay here for a few hours and eat the tastiest 'daal-chaawal' at a small canteen nearby. I returned with a heavy heart back to the place where the road was being built and again someone drops me at the road on Bhuntar. Another 4 hours by bus and I am back in Manali.
I smoke a chilam and am off to bed. I am told in morning next day that I was smiling the whole night, they thought it was the extra charas in the chilam... but I know what it was ............

Hangover of some heavy reading ....

While I start writing this blog, I want to tell you that sometimes a mixture of photographs and words speak more than words alone. I am not a good writer, neither am a good photographer. But I request you to read this and then look at the photographs to get a feel of “Reason behind writing this blog”. Please spend at least 5 seconds on each photograph and try to submerge yourself in the place, people, sentiments and the ambience. Try to imagine yourself behind the lens of that camera which clicked the photograph.To see ALL the photographs please click below :

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/bhogvanp/SoloRideOfSouthernIndia?feat=email#

Not everything in life was going fine, a lot of things had messed up terribly and there was a constant wrestle of thoughts inside me and this was giving me sleepless nights. I was at a point where you start questioning yourself, Why live? For whom? Why do you need money? Where will I be 3 years from today? I was getting weak, mentally and physically; both. I knew I had to get out of this and give a sincere effort of looking at life from a different angle. With a passion for Motorcycling, I thought there would be no better way to travel. Travel to run away from thoughts and memories.

For some office work I had to travel to Chennai from Bangalore and this meant I had 4 days which I could use to travel. The itinerary was prepared as follows:

Day 1 – Bangalore to Chennai

Day 2 – Finish Office work and start for Pondicherry.

Day 3 – Start for Munnar.

Day 4 – Back to Bangalore.

So on Thursday morning 6 O’clock I and Chavi (my bike) started off for Chennai. Chavi was recently serviced and would serve a good company, good company as she talks to me at times; and when she doesn’t talk I get bored, so I carried my ipod also. The road is excellent till Chennai with few bad patches in Karnataka, once out of Karnataka you are driving comfortably without using much clutch or brake. With just one break for breakfast I was in Chennai at 12 noon and checked in at the guest house by 1:15 PM.

Evening was meant for Marina beach at Chennai. Once there I spend about 3 hours there looking at families, lovers, newly weds, old aged couples, evening joggers, dog walkers, yoga freaks, lonely kids, fishermen, lonesome guys, sunset watchers, dancers, beggers, gays, policemen on duty and etc etc. It felt good to park myself at a lonely corner of the beach and just watch all the above mentioned folks and think about them however this was again starting the typhoon of thoughts inside me, so I got up and walked further. Here I met 2 boys, probably from slum. They looked at me and asked for the Mirinda I was holding in my hand, handing over that and looking at their joy can’t be described in words. I spent a few minutes with them catching fish in polythene bags and giving them a chance to play with my camera. This made me happy and away from my thoughts for some time. I left these HAPPY kids with a question. Do you NEED Friends to be happy?

I also watched a couple sitting there with the sunset in the backdrop. Hardly talking to each other or even holding hands, but just the feeling of being together had the words “very satisfactory” written on their faces. We exchanged smiles as I passed by and realized, You NEED a Companion to be happy?

Next day morning after completing the office work I was free after 11 AM and once again I and Chavi were on the road to Pondicherry. Driving on the ECR (East Coast Road) was a good feeling. You drive on the road which is butter smooth and on your right you occasionally pass the sea beach. I spent about 30 minutes on a beach where I was the only soul. It felt good to be away from civilization for some time at least. I left this place with another question, Is Society NEEDED to be happy?

Just before entering Pondicherry, there is a site which spreads across many kilometers where they prepare salt from the sea water using evaporation. It was enlightening how they make this salt in very poor conditions with minimal use of machinery. They have designed a linked-channel system of many-many kilometers so that they can get salt water from the backwaters. You can only see their channels and salt as far as you can see. I spoke to one of the workers for about 30 minutes understanding the whole process, how they live life here, where their kids go to school, what their wives do, how tsunami affected them, how relief works were and all this without I knowing his language and he not knowing my language. I left the place with another revelation about life; you DON’T NEED to work on Computers or with Technology to earn your Bread.

From last few months I have been thinking “How much money is enough money”? Today I know the answer.Evening came in quick and I decided to stay in the small city where I was while the sun set. Got up early morning next day and once again both me and Chavi were on the road. I wondered if she was getting tired of me waking her up early in the morning from last 3 days, but I guess she was happy seeing the sunrise and the early morning breeze. I asked her if she was upset, she didn’t reply, I guess she was too busy enjoying the morning dew on her face. I asked her again if she still loved me and she again didn’t reply, I took the silence as a “yes”. A straight stretch of road lied ahead and she asked me “Honey, shall we?” and I obeyed her politely and was soon at 100 KMPH until she was happy. Riding continually for about another hour I felt that the right cheek of my butt was asleep, stopped, woke him up and after a break of 30 minutes was again riding.The ride until Munnar was pleasant with good roads, no butt blisters and with lots of lovely sights where Chavi would ask me to stop and take a picture of her with the background. She said “I feel at home today”.I always wanted to know “Is Love NEEDED in life?” … She gave me the answer today.By 12 Noon we were at the Ghat Road which is a uphill road and has 17 hair-pin bends and riding through all of them was absolute fun for both of us. I felt sorry for hurting her once, I rubbed her foot rest on the right side 5-6 times, I was getting too excited on the turns. She didn’t mind it though and gave me another question. Isn’t Forgiveness a GOOD thing?

At about 3 we were in Munnar and felt peace coming to this place. There was a serene silence here, the silence which once again brought back the tribulations inside. I rested myself at one of the view point overlooking the lovely tea gardens and the clouds playing hide and seek with the mountains.The evening was spent walking with my thoughts amidst the tea gardens and clouds. This was reminding me of a past trip to Shimla. We had been there 2 years back (WE here doesn't mean Chavi, I am talking about a sweet, pretty, lovely girl) and were walking hand in hand on one of the paths on a mountain. She got tired pretty soon and I was continually asking her to walk a little more, “ok, let’s walk upto that street light pole, that will be the last one” and this way we both must have crossed about 20 of them. Here in Munnar while I walked, it appeared as if these poles were asking me… “What happened, you alone this time? Where is she?” …I didn’t know what to answer them and continued walking ignoring them. I guess I felt a tear on my right cheek, I didn’t wipe it. The night came in quick and I went to my hotel room and slept.

Next day morning again I woke up 8050 at 6 o’clock and took her to the top most point in Munnar’s hills. She felt happy there, I guess she was weeping with joy, I saw a few tears on her face, I realized later that it was the morning dew.After this we were on the way back to Bangalore though the Chinnar wild life sanctuary. On the way I saw a place where a kid with his mom was selling oranges. From the smell I knew the oranges were sour but could not resist spending some time with them, so bought a few oranges there and played with the kid for some time. Left that place with a question. Is having a family and your kids NEEDED?

I know the answer is yes, just don’t know when god will answer my prayers.I left Munnar with a question. Do you need a Good Job, a Good Home, Good Clothes and Good Food OR you just need job, home, clothes and food.Riding for another 18 hours with a few breaks in between, I was back in Bangalore. It was an attempt to run away from memories and thoughts but I came back with more thoughts and memories and questions.

Questions still trouble me, Memories are getting stronger with days passing by, Thoughts still wrestle inside, All I can say to myself is, have hope and pray to Lord and he shall bring you peace.