Binu Pradeep | Writing

10 Hard-Hitting Life Lessons from Reddit That Will Change Our Perspective

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Inspired by this Reddit post

Your comfort zone is your prison. The longer you stay, the smaller it gets.

Stepping into unfamiliar territory feels unsettling, but staying indefinitely within your comfort zone gradually diminishes your potential. Growth happens by taking small, deliberate steps that expand your capabilities. Your comfort zone contains your strengths, but should be used as a foundation to build from, not a limitation.

Most people don’t care about your success – they just don’t want you to outgrow them. Move in silence.

Humans evolved in small tribes where survival depended on status within close-knit groups. We instinctively compare ourselves to those we interact with most frequently, often feeling threatened by their success while remaining indifferent to distant strangers. This tribal mindset explains why we focus on competing within our immediate circle but feel no rivalry with millions outside it.

Resting isn’t laziness – but avoiding hard work is. Learn the difference.

True rest leads to renewal and prepares you for future challenges. The distinction lies in intention - are you recovering to return stronger, or avoiding growth entirely? Recovery is strategic, while avoidance stems from fear.

Your mental health thrives on action. The more you sit and overthink, the worse it gets.

Action interrupts rumination. Start with the smallest possible step to bypass overthinking. The question “What’s the smallest step I can take now?” has transformed many lives by breaking the paralysis of perfectionism.

Small habits run your life. Build good ones or bad ones will build themselves.

Progress happens through small, consistent actions rather than dramatic changes. Every small win builds the foundation for larger transformations, and consistency matters more than intensity.

If you avoid discomfort now, you’ll pay for it tenfold later. Do the hard things first.

Facing fears head-on helps rewire the brain’s response to challenges. Courage means acting despite fear, not waiting for fearlessness. Growth comes from engaging with discomfort rather than avoiding it.

No response is a response. Silence speaks louder than arguments.

Sometimes the most powerful statement is no statement at all. This isn’t about being passive - it’s about choosing your battles and knowing when engagement serves no purpose.

The best investment you’ll ever make is in learning to control your emotions. Master that, and you master your life.

True emotional mastery isn’t suppression—it’s feeling emotions fully while managing them effectively. The RULER method (Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate) provides a practical framework for emotional intelligence.

Everything compounds – debt, wealth, habits, or laziness. Choose what grows.

Your everyday decisions generate momentum. Whether it’s building savings or developing skills, small choices stack up over time. Be intentional about what you allow to compound in your life.

Your future self is watching. Show up for them every day.

Time passes regardless of action or inaction. Every moment spent overthinking is borrowed from your future self. Taking action, even imperfectly, serves your future better than waiting for perfect conditions.

“Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” – Jerzy Gregorek

Remember: The path you choose today shapes the life you’ll live tomorrow.

Collection of Impactful Life Quotes

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

These quotes have resonated with me over time, serving as reminders and guidance for personal growth and decision-making.

On Taking Action

Life often demands decisive action and forward momentum. These quotes emphasize the importance of moving forward:

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” - Jim Rohn

“Stress primarily comes from not taking action over something that you CAN have some control over. It comes from ignoring things you shouldn’t be ignoring.” - Jeff Bezos

“Action is the best antidote to anxiety.”

“The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding.”

On Discipline and Choices

The path to growth often requires discipline and making difficult decisions:

“Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” - Jerzy Gregorek

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” - Jim Rohn

“Discipline is the highest form of self-love”

On Perspective and Resilience

Sometimes, success comes down to how we view and handle life’s challenges:

“I don’t skate through life, I walk through life in really nice shoes” - Alexis Rose (Schitt’s Creek)

“I do think a key to success in any walk of life is having a short memory and a thick skin - I know it has served me well over the years.” - Aubrey McClendon

These quotes serve as daily reminders that our choices, actions, and perspective shape our journey through life.

THE ONE WITH THE HOBO, THE TREE MAN, THE HUNGRY HOG, MR. VERTIGO AND THE HEADMASTER

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Preface:

This is a long-overdue travelogue post. This is a sequel to the post titled “THE ONE WITH THE HOBO, THE TREE MAN, THE HUNGRY HOG, MR. VERTIGO AND THE HEADMASTER” which I published on WordPress in early 2017. I thought I lost my draft notes from the trip, but recently found it when I was looking through one of my notes applications. Posting it verbatim.

Date: May 26, 2017 at 5:41:16 PM EDT
Weather: 55°F Mostly Cloudy
Location: I-295 N, Freeport, ME, United States

Another last moment trip. We decided to go to Acadia just yesterday. And of course, we didn’t have much time to plan anything. That being said, me being myself, I have a general gist of what to do and where to go. We’ll see how it will span out over the upcoming three days.

Date: May 26, 2017 at 5:51:40 PM EDT

Day 0: Planning is too mainstream

Topography:

This trip consists of a terrain full of Vivid Greens, Rugged Mountains and the Cool Blues of the lakes and beaches.

Acadia National Park is located in the North-Eastern corner of the USA.

Fun fact: Acadia sunrise is so famous as it is where the first sunrays of the morning falls on mainland USA.

The Crew:

Introducing the other Shambhu, Sarath Krishna. Sarath was missing on Tour de West because he was on vacation in India. The hallmark specialty of Sarath is his repeat mode. You can always see him sitting in a corner watching or reading something with a corona beer right next to him. I often admire the focus he has on what he is doing at that moment. But don’t expect him to hear anything you are talking about while he is busy at something. The dude just cannot multitask. So, if you want him to listen, make him stop whatever he is doing. That way you can be SURE that he is listening (and he will be). Because of this quality, PG calls him Repeat-esh! In this journey, he gets the name Mr. No-Wallet: you will soon find out why!

If you’ve read the tourr-de-west blog [link], you’re already too familiar with Nikhil Krishnan. And he is still known as HOBO as he is reluctant to let go of his beloved “homeless boy” jacket. But we still call him Shambhu Annan. Then there is me. Still, colloquially called the headmaster. Might end up getting called yet again as Nataraja (I have some zesty hikes planned for this journey) We’ll see :)

Date: May 26, 2017 at 6:19:15 PM EDT
Weather: 70°F Cloudy
Location: New Jersey Turnpike S, Lawnside, NJ, United States

Least Planned National Park trip

Like I mentioned earlier, unlike most of my travel in the recent past(I am a total OCD when it comes to tour planning), this trip is entirely unplanned. At around 8 PM yesterday, we finally decided that we were indeed going on this trip for the long weekend. I was too tired after a hectic day at work. Hence I decided to take a power nap of 20 minutes after which I will work on creating a tour plan outline. We have to start driving tomorrow right after work, so I have to do all the planning tonight.

The next thing I remember was my 5 AM alarm ringing. I sluggishly crawled out of bed at 6 AM. No yoga or meditation today. I watched some Acadia videos on YouTube just to get an idea of what to expect while we are there.

Stumbled upon an excellent blog that explains a few hikes and attractions in the area. (which was of a monumental help in this trip planning)

I got ready, left for the office.

Did the usual office stuff. Came back home by 4:30 PM.

Got a haircut.

Packed.

And we started driving.

Date: May 26, 2017 at 7:57:01 PM EDT
Weather: 72°F Mostly Cloudy
Location: 1260 E Woodland Ave, Springfield, PA, United States

At BJ’s picking up water, trail mix and other supplies

Picked up a case of spring water, a container of Vitamin Water, cake, muffins, banana, chocolate, and some savory snacks. A wholesale club/supermarket carries everything in large packs/quantities. So, you always end up getting more stuff than you need. But it is what it is. And as always, we are behind schedule.

Date: May 26, 2017 at 9:15:44 PM EDT
Weather: 70°F Cloudy
Location: New Jersey Turnpike S, Cherry Hill, NJ, United States

Missed exit and further behind the schedule

Sarath(let’s just blame Apple Maps) just missed an exit on the highway, which cost us 16 extra miles on the trip. It might not sound like much, but it adds another 20-30 minutes to the drive. If we keep driving nonstop(unrealistic since the drive is at least 10 hours long), we’ll reach Acadia by 7:15 AM tomorrow. We have to stop for an overnight stay somewhere. I am hoping close to Boston.

If we can drive as far as Boston and stay at a Motel, then we can probably start by 7 AM tomorrow from Boston to reach Acadia by noon.

Tight schedules ahead.

Date: May 26, 2017, at 10:36:42 PM EDT
Weather: 68°F Cloudy
Location: New Jersey Turnpike N, Lyndhurst, NJ, United States

Passing by NYC

We are swiftly passing by Manhattan on i95. The city of lights, the city that never sleeps, is shining bright. I don’t know what, but there is something about this city which makes me want to visit again and again. Sidenote: I used to live and work in NYC for a short time. New York is like home to me. The busy streets, fast-paced life and the general chaos and disorder in everything might be a huge turn-off for most people, not for me.

To me, it feels like life: upbeat, constantly changing, complicated.

Date: May 27, 2017 at 8:02:10 AM EDT
Weather: 52°F Cloudy
Location: I-495 N, Littleton, MA, United States

Day 1: Dramatic Night, Calm Morning

Surprises are often pleasant, but sometimes we wish they never happened.

The overall drive from Secane, PA (where we stay) to Acadia National Park is 600 miles.

Sarath drove the first leg of the drive until we reached New York where we stopped for Dinner. We had burgers from Burger King, I admired NYC skyline for a few minutes, and I took over the wheels. We drove for an hour more until we realized that the car was almost out of fuel. We stopped at the next fuel exit and topped up the gas. Meanwhile, Sarath went to the store to buy stuff like napkins and such. From there we drove non-stop for another 2 hours until it was 2:30 AM, and we decided to call it a day(night?).

We got a room at the Quality Inn Motel in Marlborough, MA. While we were moving our bags to the room, Sarath noticed that his wallet is missing. Nikhil and I were sure that it should be in the car itself since he last used it at the gas station and we did not stop anywhere else after that. We told Sarath that we’d find it in the morning since its already too late and the car was packed with stuff. Something about it made Sarath a little uneasy and he picked up his phone to just check his bank and credit card apps, and there it was!

Three transactions in the past 30 minutes totaling more than $1000! He did lose his wallet. The next couple of hours was spent dealing with the credit card companies and having them reverse these unauthorized transactions and canceling the cards. The wallet also had his temporary driver’s license which he renewed just yesterday(Sarath being Sarath). And Sarath is not too sure what else was in there. It would have his health insurance card, which is not much of a big deal. And I guess he had some other membership cards and some cash in change.

We believe Sarath was pickpocketed. There was this guy at the gas station store, who came in while Sarath was getting his stuff and soon the guy left without buying anything. It was around 11:30 PM and all these transactions started showing up after 30 minutes. We might probably be able to catch the guy if we ask the gas station people to release their CCTV footage. But that will need police intervention. And it is in New York: Too much of a hassle, never going to happen. Since the credit card companies canceled the cards and reversed all the charges, we didn’t have much to worry about. We decided just to forget about the whole fiasco and move on with the trip.

Sarath thus becomes Mr. No-Wallet!

The next morning, we woke up at 6 AM, freshened up. Quality Inn had a quality complimentary breakfast menu. We had some toast, sausages and scrambled eggs. Packed our bags, checked out and started driving. Beautiful weather out there.

Date: May 27, 2017 at 1:02:57 PM EDT
Location: 44.5281° N, 68.4026° W

Lunch

Reached Maine, roughly 20 miles from Acadia Visitors Center.

Stopped for lunch at a small shack named Taste Jamaica Takeout which is run by two guys who speak nothing but Jamaican. They were watching the FA Cup Final Round Soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea (in which Arsenal won- I can almost hear PG saying yay! in the background)

The two guys were preparing food and shouting and arguing in Jamaican about the ref’s offside decision. One guy was supporting Arsenal and the other guy, Chelsea. The other customers and we had no idea what was going on!

Anyway,

I got the curry goat,

Sarath got Jerk Pork

Shambhu Annan got Jerk Chicken, cuz you know, Sanghi!

Shambhu Annan went inside to get the food and grabbed all bags sitting at the counter not realizing it included orders for other people too. The owner was like “Hey man! What are you doing?” which made Shambu jump and quickly put the bags back :) They had some picnic benches outside the restaurant where we could sit and eat the food. It was mind-numbing cold, and we were all shivering. However, the food was decent, and we had our jackets on. We survived.

Date: May 27, 2017 at 6:11:06 PM EDT
Weather: 54°F Cloudy
Location: Great Head Trl, Bar Harbor, ME, United States

After lunch

After having lunch at the Jamaican Place, we headed out to the Visiter’s Center of Acadia National Park to pay for the park pass and get some goodies like maps and such.

Acadia National Park has a 17-mile one-way loop road conveniently named “Park Loop Road.”

This road is usually open to general traffic after peak winter. All of the places I planned to visit in Acadia are along this road. Today morning I opened google maps and set the directions for Beehive trail which is along the loop road. But the maps told me that no route was available. When I looked closer, it said that the park loop road is closed from Apr to Dec. New Challenges!

I checked the NPS(National Park Service) website, it doesn’t say anything about road closures. If the road is closed, then that means we would have to avail the Park shuttle that runs throughout the park to move from one place to another. This would be an issue as we will then have to plan things and carry with us all the food, water, and other stuff for the day. Since the main idea of this Maine trip is to do some marvelous hikes, increasing the load that we have to carry will adversely affect our ability to hike long distances.

We stopped at a gas station for a restroom break and to grab some beer. I had a casual conversation with the attendant who told me that the park loop road should be open now since it always remains open after the closure in winter. She also added that she had been at Acadia a couple of weeks ago and hiked the Great Heads trail and she thought it was awesome! (Which is great since I have Great Heads trail on my itinerary)

Once we reached the Visiter’s Center, we got confirmation that the park loop road was open. Great!

We bought the park pass, and I handed it over to Sarath to keep. We went to the restroom and walked back to the car.

That’s when Sarath told me that he does not have the park pass tag with him. Dude! Yesterday it was the wallet, now this!

We went back to the Visitors Center hoping to find it. Luckily he found it lying near the restroom. Good.

It was pretty cold outside. It was interesting to see a large number of Indian tourists there since we are usually very conservative about traveling in extreme weather or doing adventurous stuff in general.

We started the car and drove to the Sand Beach along the Park Loop Road. On the way, we stopped at a couple of overlooks and admired the view of the ocean and the several small islands of Acadia. From afar these islands look like little pebbles in a pond. Acadia is a gorgeous national park

When we finally arrived at Sand Beach, we realized that we were a bit too late to reach there. The parking lots were full, and there were cars parked on the sides of the road also. The road leading to the Sand Beach was a one-way drive. We didn’t want to leave the parking lots to find parking because if we can’t find parking close by, we can’t just come back to the lot since the road is one-way. We waited for a while to see if anyone was going to come and get their cars. After 15 minutes of driving inside that little parking lot, we realized that there was another parking stretch right outside that parking lot and we managed to find a spot quickly. We packed the essentials(water and snacks) quickly and set out for the famous Beehive Trail.

Beehive Trail

Already there is hearsay among my friends here in Philadelphia that I make people walk a lot, which is not something I deny. But you should see through the hubris and realize that hiking/walking in nature is such an awakening experience.

I could feel that the Shambhus weren’t particularly enthusiastic about the hiking part of the trip. And they told me that they would rather spend the time at the beach or bar-hopping rather than do any hiking. So, to accommodate their preferences, I just kept two must-do hikes(one for day 1 and another for day 2) in the plan. The rest was all about driving around, sightseeing, and food. But honestly, you go to Acadia for hiking. That is the only real way to experience the beauty of the park. You get to see all the different views, terrains and natural scenic beauty only by hiking the incredible trails of the park. To each, their own I guess. I digress.

Both the Shambhus was taunting me saying that I was going to make them walk a lot today and it will be slow and tedious. Beehive trail, however, is not the everyday-hike. I am glad I didn’t disclose much about the trail to them. That way, every bit of this hiking experience will come across as a surprise. Moreover, I can adjust the rest of the tour plan based on how well they like this hike.

Beehive trail soon showed its might. What seemed like a leisurely walk in woods soon became that of hopping small rocks and then bigger boulders. Pretty soon we were rock-scrambling and then holding-on-to-dear-life on one of the iron bars attached to the rocks.

We came across a few trail markers. Trail Markers, as the name suggests are markings that help you make sure that you are staying on the designated trails. Across the US, I have seen two main types of trail markers.

Cairns, which are rocks stacked on top of each other
Paint/Reflectors/ Flags of a specific color.

In places where multiple trails are intersecting, each of the paths usually gets a designated color. Many Pennsylvania parks typically name the trail by the color of markers (yellow trail, white trail, blue trail, etc.) It looked like Acadia have all the trails marked using a combination of blue paint and Cairns.

Within minutes we were up on the mountainside, walking on one foot wide ledges carved around the mountain with nothing but some random iron bars to hold on to. Many places were completely exposed to the cliffside. Beehive Trail is not for people with the fear of heights. Not suitable for kids. Very practical hiking experience with no room for goofing around. It was undoubtedly adrenaline rising experience.

The rock scrambling went on for another 15 minutes. The group in front of us were having a tough time as a couple of them had a fear of heights. I had other concerns that were slightly worrying. Shambhu Annan’s wedding is in a couple of months. He had a leg injury a year ago. I didn’t want this trip to stress him out to the point that his leg pain comes back. And Sarath has not hiked or walked long distances in the near past. Therefore I had to frequently make sure that they were both okay. It seems like they were having a blast! And that put me at ease. When we venture into something new/hard/adventurous/demanding and find success doing such activities, it gives us a massive emotional boost. And that “high” will motivate us to do more things or take more risks. I have seen this repeatedly in school and college where my friends who have massive stage fright, when forced to do something on the stage, struggles at first, but once they find their rhythm, becomes unstoppable and they want to continue to be on the stage performing. The same is the case with outdoor/physical activities. Once you break the fright, then you’re on your way to having an excellent time. This is an incredible little hike with thrilling rock scrambling and stunning views. Those who control their fear of heights are rewarded with incredible views of Sand Beach, Great Head, and the surrounding area when you reach the summit.

We could also see the very many islands of the Atlantic Ocean. There were some other groups around who were also relaxing and taking pictures.

Both the Shambhus was like, “this is exciting! We want more?”

I had an evil grin on my face this time. It meant that we were going to do all those hikes I had deferred!

I quickly checked the itinerary to realize that all the post-lunch activities for Sunday were in and around the sand beach. I moved all of them to today since we are already close to the sand beach.

That way I can free up the schedule for tomorrow a little bit and accommodate the bubbles trail hike. This also meant that I could squeeze in another scenic, but easy trail for today! This trip is finally becoming my kind of tour! We took some pictures atop the mountain. I did some headstands for pictures. #headstandaroundtheworld Soon after, we descended the trail, and we got to “The Bowl” which is a pond up in the mountains formed by glaciers. Two guys who came that way told us that there was an alternate trail around the bowl which would take us back to the parking lot. We followed their advice. It was a beautiful walk in the woods.

We got back to Sand Beach Parking lot, rehydrated, had some snacks, and walked over to the beach. The specialty of this beach is its unique topography. The beach is surrounded by a rugged rocky coastline that extends far into the ocean. In other words, we can hike along the rocks for like a mile and look back to see the beach behind us. We saw some people on the rocks at a distance. There is a trail called Great Heads which would take us there. I asked them whether they would like to do that hike. Shambhus were on board. Man! These guys are unstoppable! The great heads trail had very few trail markers. And because of that reason, it had very few people on it. It took us around 20-30 minutes to reach the overlook I mentioned. We have a phenomenal view of the beach from that spot. Since it is a cliff, adventurous people can go to the edge and look down to see the fierce waves lashing up against the rocks. We sat there for about 40 minutes. Lighter moments. And walked back to the car. It was time for us to head to the otter cliff and then boulder beach where I planned to spend the sunset for the day. Park loop road along the coastline is a one-way drive. We missed the stop for Boulder Beach and drove as far as the Otter Cliff. Parked the car there, and walked over to the overlook. It is a great spot to observe the rugged rocky coastline of Acadia. The rocks are sharp with a hexagonal crystalline formation. It looked like an incomplete work on an expert mason. Dangerous, but mysteriously beautiful. There is a trail along the coastline called Ocean Path Trail. We walked on the trail for a while, and we found a beautiful spot where we can sit and relax for a while. Spend some calm and quiet moments at that spot which is an elevated platform above the ocean. It was a refreshing experience after all that walking throughout the day. Later we headed back to Bar Harbor to check into the hotel. The check-in process was simple. Since we pre-booked, they had all the paperwork ready. The room was decent, even had a bunch of kitchen utensils in case we wanted to cook. Besides, Bar Harbor was the happening town in the Acadia National Park area.

By the time we freshened up, it was 9 pm. I soon realized that most of the restaurants in the Bar Harbor area close by 9 PM on Saturdays. I thought there might be exceptions on long weekends as its peak season. Not the case here.

We finally found Finback Restaurant which seemed to have a casual, laid-back environment. It looks 20 minutes for them to get us seated. We ordered some beers, lobster bisque, lobster Mac and Cheese and their Seafood Platter. The waitress stopped by and let us know that we would have live music that night. Good vibes kicked in when the music was on. The food was underwhelming. The beer I chose was also quite terrible.

We went back to the hotel and then straight to bed.

Day 2: Upwards

Date: May 28, 2017 at 8:43:38 AM EDT
Location: 44.3221° N, 68.2523° W

I woke up around 6 AM today. The first thing I did was to make sure I didn’t have any physical pain or discomfort as I had a slight knee pain the previous night. But nada! I am A-ok!

We got ready in a flash. Nikhil asked me to play some devotional music to spread “positive energy” around. After we got ready, we headed out to the dining room of the hotel where we had a complimentary breakfast. Again, the Quality Inn had a very good quality breakfast. I grabbed French toast, eggs, sausages. We needed those extra calories as we had long hiking plans for the day. Today’s plan is to hike the Penobscot Mountain. With its tall and exposed cliffs looking down on Jordan Pond from the west, Penobscot Mountain (the 5th highest peak in Acadia) is the impressive north-south mountain that sits opposite of the Jordan Pond/Bubbles pantheon. A hike up Penobscot Mountain via the Spring Trail makes for a strenuous and invigorating hike with incredible alpine views. I then plan to extend the adventure by further hiking north to the taller neighboring Sargent Mountain (the 2nd highest peak in Acadia). Once we reach the summit, we have many ways to get back to the parking lot. If everyone is up for it, I plan to connect this hike to two other beautiful trails close by which can also lead us back to the parking lot. At Jordan Pond Parking lot to do the Penobscot and Sargent Mountain trails. There were almost 3 or 4 other cars at the parking lot. We walked over to the Jordan Pond where the trail started. As we approached the banks of the pond, we all got stupefied by the pristine calm waters surrounded by lush, majestic mountains in all directions. It was so serene. There was very little wind. Hence the water was as still as a mirror. The scene looked straight out of a painting. While we thought this scene couldn’t be any more majestic, a couple walked over with their kayaks, silently got in and paddled away. This is as good as a view can get. A view worth being a benchmark to be compared against others. We felt bad for not renting a kayak.

Date: May 28, 2017 at 1:04:15 PM EDT
Weather: 61°F Sunny
Location: Sargent Northwest Trl, Mount Desert, ME, United States

At the Summit

Sitting at the summit of Sargent Mountain and enjoying the panoramic view. I’m sitting right to the summit marker overlooking the Atlantic Ocean towards the North West. From this point, I have gorgeous views of Eagle Lake towards my right and Jordan Pond on my back. Earth looks like a green velvet cloth. These various ponds, lakes, rivers, and ocean looks like blue jewels. I lied down for a while breathing the fresh air and being thankful for all these incredible experiences. There are certain realizations that you can only get through hikes like these, because of the way our minds are conditioned. We judge/measure our lives through achievements or milestones. Everything that we do since birth is categorized into different sections and graded. The first word we utter (how fast did the baby achieve it), the first step we take (again, how soon we achieved it), exams, competitions, languages learned, countries traveled, everything. We shouldn’t be doing that, yet we are conditioned to measure life using these milestones. All hikes have a destination. And when we achieve it, we forget ourselves, At least for a moment we become a part of the experience, we become nature(even though we are a part of it by birth). And the view from the Sargent Mountain summit is phenomenal: you look at any direction around you, and you can see miles and miles of forests, water bodies, small islands, mountains, and little towns at a distance. Almost inexplicable. The hike was long and tiring. Truly I became part of the moment. It is in moments like these we forget ourselves. It is when we forget ourselves, we truly become happy. Just think about that for a moment, recall an incident when you become truly happy, you were not self-occupied at that moment, you had forgotten yourself. So, maybe the key to happiness is really in our ability and circumstances where we forget ourselves. Food for thought. Before Sargent, we hiked the Penobscot Mountain Train which is an adjacent Peak, a little shorter, albeit a fabulous hike.

We climbed big boulders of rocks, passed some old carriage roads commissioned and build on the watch of John D Rockefeller. Several open spaces with fantastic panoramic views. We also some great bridges built on the edge of the mountain. All along the hike, we had splendid views of the Atlantic Ocean. Met and spoke to many fellow hikers. Good vibes everywhere.

We met a couple when we were taking a short break. The lady told us that she was still sore from the long hike they did yesterday and hence might be slow. She asked us to feel free about passing them. And they went on. We also started right behind them. But we never got a sight of them after that. That will tell you how slow we were (or how fast those two were?)

But I think it’s a good thing that we didn’t strain ourselves. I urged the Shambhus to maintain momentum, but not to the point that they feel stressed. If we took too many breaks, we will end up finishing all the water we had pretty fast, and hey, you gotta stick to the schedule. Headmaster instincts :)

The trail markers also got a new name by this time. I have no idea how, but after a point, we started calling them “Trail Maakri”.

When we reached the top of Penobscot Mountain, surprisingly we had full network connectivity. So I called my sister and spoke for a while. I also had a video call with my mom, who sounded envious of the views. She loves to travel, but don’t get to as much as she wishes. Unlike Shambhus, I liked today’s hike better since we traverse a variety of terrains. The hike begins at a section of dense forests, and then it is quickly followed by a gravel road(carriage road) then there is a short section wherein we had to do a bit of rock scrambling. The last stretch was a long and steady uphill climb. There were many little ponds and puddles between the rocks which were also a nice surprise.

Date: May 28, 2017 at 4:43:06 PM EDT
Location: 44.298° N, 68.2401° W

Lunch

At Lighthouse Inn for lunch.

On return from Sargent Mountain, we took the longer trail with a stop at Deer Brook Bridge. The trail was long and tiring. We met many other hikers along the way. I like nature trails like this. You feel connected always. Hiking rekindles our natural innate urge to explore. And that’s infinitely more satisfying than driving to an overlook and watching a scene. I digress again. We took a lot of pictures along the trail. Deer Brooke bridge is a majestic bridge over one of the carriage roads. From there we wanted to get to Jordan Pond House where we wanted to check out their famous Pop Overs and Jam. But there was still a long way ahead, and we were still up in the hills. That’s when we realized that all this time we were hiking down alongside a small stream that leads to Jordan Pond. So this better be heading there. We followed the stream down; soon we also spotted the blue trail makris which were placed to mark the course of a trail. After we reached Jordan Pond, we still had 2 miles to hike around the Pond to reach the restaurant and parking lot. The Jordan Pond trail gives the hiker mind-numbing scenic views. Wooden planks are neatly aligned throughout the trail which makes it a family-friendly hike as opposed to all the other hikes we did so far.

We were extremely hungry and thirsty by then. We had exhausted all the water we carried and had most of the good snacks we had with us. But hey, Jordan Pond Restaurant is right beside where we parked our cars, and apparently, they are the highest-rated restaurant in the area. Their Pop Overs and Strawberry jam combination are world-famous, and they have been serving those at this restaurant for over 100 years. I can’t wait to be there and have a sumptuous and well-deserved lunch.

We soon reached the Jordan Pond Restaurant to see it super crowded. I had very little hope, still enquired at the reservation about the wait time. They informed me that there would be at less an hour wait before we would get seated. We decided not to wait.

But the popovers?

I pulled out Yelp and found that there is another restaurant 3 miles from Jordan Pond, named Lighthouse Inn. That might be a cooler option since we can visit the lighthouse and also have lunch.

We soon reached Lighthouse Inn to find that lighthouse is just a name, they just had a 2 feet tall replica lighthouse model in front of the restaurant, and that is what we get. But on the positive side, the waitress was great! She had a very positive air around her and gave us some great suggestions. We got fried calamari and crab cakes(really awesome) for appetizers. I got a loser roll, Sarath Shambhu got a Tuna Melt Sandwich, Shambhu Annan got a crab sandwich.

Meanwhile, Sarath Shambhu and I got into a debate over the need to pronounce things right and about the need to follow the norms and etiquettes of other countries while we are living/traveling in them. It was a healthy conversation and its always good to hear/see the perspectives of other people. I feel that humans learn from other humans better and faster than we learn from books or other mediums. Whatever. Moving along.

After the late afternoon lunch, shambhus asked me what the evening plans were. I told then that, all the official hiking for Tour de Maine was over. But if they were up for it, we can do the south-bubble trail, which is a short and easy hike up the south-bubble mountain. They said yes without even blinking an eye. The Bubble trailhead was just 4 miles away from the restaurant. We passed by many families and elder people on this hike, which was unusual because all the other hikes we did was not recommended for kids and had very little family crowd in them. We reached the summit in 20 minutes. In addition to being a wonderful viewpoint, South-Bubble also has a famous tourist attraction: Bubble Rock (aka. Balanced Rock), a large boulder that was carried by glaciers and deposited at the seemingly precarious edge of a cliff. We relaxed there for a bit, took some funny pictures near the rock and we climbed down. We hiked back down wondering about the odds of that huge rock rolling down the mountain towards us. The final destination for the day was Cadillac Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is the largest and tallest mountain in Acadia National Park, rising roughly 1522 feet above sea level. The top of Cadillac Mountain is one of the first spots in the United States to get hit by sunrise.

Which is also the highest peak in the park. What makes it special is that Cadillac Mountain is the place where the first ray of the sun hits the USA every morning. And I told Shambhus that it would be a great experience to visit this place for sunrise. Since its the warmer months in the US, the sun rises early and sets late. I had checked the sunrise time, and it was 4:55 AM. Immediately Sarath said that there is no way he is gonna wake up for it. I acknowledged it and said, its fine. Shambhu Annan was like, we both can try to go tomorrow morning for sunrise. I said we’ll see.

The drive up to the mountain was easy with some very scenic passes. The fact that the sun was already starting to set made the scene even more beautiful. The golden rays of the setting sun were passing through the low-lying clouds, which were below our level at this point. Since it is possible to drive up to the very top of the mountain, it was super crowded. I am so glad we did the sergeant mountain hike. The view from Sargent Mountain is better than that of the Cadillac Mountain. Besides, Cadillac Mountain has many trees that would obstruct the view at many places, whereas sergeant mountain summit is barren. Anyway, we enjoyed the view for a few minutes. It was getting really cold out there. I made a mental note of where to come to catch the sunrise since it would be pretty dark before sunrise in case we decide to drive up here tomorrow morning. We then proceeded to find a spot from where we can watch the sunset. Like I said earlier, it was crowded and some great views were obstructed by trees. So, we decided to drive a little down the mountain where we had seen many cars parked and had unobstructed views of the ocean. We found a space to park the car, got out, took the camera and tripod and walked over to the overlook.

We got a nice spot, and I set up the camera on the tripod and took some wide-angle pictures of the view. I later changed to a Telephoto lens (read zoom lens) to take the pictures of the far off islands that were glimmering in the sunset rays.

The sunset was a flop. Sun disappeared behind some clouds on the horizon. Hence we couldn’t capture it as expected. Even then, there were plenty of things around to observe other than the sun. We proceeded to the car. Sarath and Shambhu Annan kept all our belongings in the trunk; I hopped on to the driver’s seat. I asked Sarath Shambhu to find a place where we can get a good lobster. Rather than dining in, we can get a cooked lobster home and figure how to eat it.

I turned ON the ignition and moved a few yards forward when I noticed that something was just not right. That’s when I realized that the car’s trunk was open!!

I immediately pressed the button to close it. Did something fall out? I asked Shambhu Annan to look back and check whether we had dropped anything on the road. He checked and reassured that nothing had fallen out of the car. Cool!

We then found a restaurant with good ratings that have the famous 2 pounds baked/cooked lobster on the menu. Maine is famous for its lobsters. We reached the restaurant in 15 minutes, ordered the food for taking out. We got some burgers too on the side. I was told that there would be 20 minutes wait. We just hung out outside until the food came. We came home; I took a shower. Then Shambhu Annan went to take a shower. I took all the camera equipment out of my daypack to pack them into the camera bag.

Something was missing. My wide-angle lens! It was not in there!!

I searched all my bags, but couldn’t find it. Sarath was also worried. I used it last during the sunset. After that, we directly came home. It might have fallen out of my bag when we started the car without closing the trunk (which means the lens likely is broken now). I had a feeling that it would be at the place where we set up the tripod. I told Sarath that we would check it tomorrow morning in case we are going to see the sunset, even otherwise, we can drive over there in the morning to have a look.

Sarath was adamant that we shouldn’t wait and should go ahead and search for it now.

Date: May 29, 2017 at 6:50:09 AM EDT
Weather: 45°F Cloudy
Location: 40 Kebo St, Bar Harbor, ME, United States

The prodigal son returns

We shouted to Shambhu Annan who was in the bathroom that we were going back to the Cadillac mountain to look for the lens which was missing. I started the car and we were off. Thankfully, Cadillac Mountain is just 10-15 minutes from Bar Harbor where were stayed. As soon as we got into the park look road, we realized that the night sky was amazing, the sky was clear with a waning moon and lots of stars. I so wished we had taken the camera along so that even if we are not able to find the lens, we can atlas capture the sky.

I told Sarath about the idea, and he was like, “I too thought the same, but finding the lens is our priority here. Let’s just keep going”. But looking at the sky, I couldn’t control myself, I took a U-turn and headed back to the hotel. Sarath went in and got the camera. We drove to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. The night sky view, man… Amazing! We could see millions of stars. Heck, we could also see the Milky Way.!

But we had a task in front of us. Neither of us knew the exact location where we parked our car. After some trial and error, we located the place where we parked the car. Searched the road to see if there are any signs of a Lens or broken glass. Nada!

Next and the bigger task is to find the location where we fixed the tripod. Which turned out to be such a difficult task. We just stopped at a random place on the mountainside, not any major overlook or anything. That makes the place hard to find. Also, did I tell you that it was pitch dark and the only flashlight we had was the one on our phones? We stopped at a place where we thought was the right spot. We searched for 10-15 minutes in vain. And decided to walk back to the car.

We reached the car and decided to spend some time stargazing. That’s when Sarath remembered something. Sarath had smoked a cigarette while we were watching the sunset and he had left the bud near one of the marker stones on the side of the road. He remembers this vividly because he had made it a point not to leave the bud on the grass because of the fear of the grass-catching fire. If we can find the cigarette bud, we can find the place where we kept the tripod and quite possibly the lens would be there.

Even though that was a great idea, I told Sarath that it was not going to work out since there might be so many cigarette buds along the road. But he knows his cigarettes. He was confident. I thought to give it a try. We walked along the road looking for cigarette buds. I saw many lying there, and Sarath would take a glance and will say, “not mine, not mine” and so on.

Finally, near a stone, he located what he thought was his bud. Checked the brand “L&M”. “Yes! This is mine! So the place where we set up the tripod will be right behind this rock”. We climbed over the rock and blew the flashlight at that spot and voila! There it was!

My lens, all packed and sitting there waiting for us.

I have done several treasure hunts as a kid. This was surely the weirdest one!

The prodigal son (lens) has finally come home. Moreover, this was the lens I needed for astrophotography. We took it back to the car, set up the tripod, aimed the camera at the stars and turned on the camera. It wouldn’t turn on! I checked the buttons on the camera. Checked everything. It wouldn’t turn on! What’s wrong now?!

I then checked the battery compartment to find that there was no battery in it. So what? I carry at least four batteries with me all the time. I looked in the camera bag: none were there! Sarath in a rush got the camera and forgot to get the batteries that were lying next to it in the room. And that’s a wrap!

We stood there for another 10-15 minutes, just gazing at the pure wonder above us. I felt so little. Remembered one of my famous comic strip from Calvin and the Hobbes series. We then got in the car and came back home: to feast on the lobsters.

Since none of us had any prior experience of cracking open the lobster shell, we watched a couple of youtube videos for guidance. Even still, we had a tough time cracking open the shells. After what felt like an hour and a half, the carcass of the lobster laid there shattered into gazillion pieces. It looked like an epic war scene.

We later had our burgers, chit chatted for a while and went to bed.

Date: May 29, 2017 at 9:37:42 AM EDT
Weather: 45°F Cloudy
Location: 44.3825° N, 68.2131° W

Checked out of the hotel

Day 0 was eventful with Sarath Shambhu losing his wallet(thus giving him the name No Wallet Hombre.) Day 1 was very eventful because of the Beehive trail hike. The long hike to Sargeant mountain added flavor to Day 2. My camera lens adventure added a little spice too at the end.

Day 3 starts.

I woke up slightly late today (around 6:30 AM) in no rush today as this day is all about casually driving around the park and enjoy the views one last time before returning home by noon.

We had a pleasant stay at the Quality Inn with their neat and clean rooms, good room service and excellent breakfast.

Today I had Ham and Eggs with a French Toast with Tater Tots on the side. Gulped it down with some apple juice, my palette was super satisfied.

I went back to the room to get our bags, checked everything to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind, proceeded to the hotel office to checkout. All A-Okay!

The first point of interest for the day is Schooner Point Overlook. Short 10 minutes drive to the Schooner overlook was overflowing with scenic beauty. It was cloudy and drizzling. We stopped for some pictures near a Beaver Dam which faces the Champlain Mountain. The fog was slowly descending the 1000ft tall Mountain with lush greenery all around. The way different elements of nature come together to create such beautiful and mesmerizing scenery always amazes me.

Date: May 29, 2017 at 10:38:05 AM EDT
Weather: 46°F Cloudy
Location: Overlook Rd, Bar Harbor, ME, United States

Hobo gets a hashtag

Schooner overlook has a short trail to the shore where you have to scramble down around the sharp rock formations to get to the tide pools. While the scenery is mostly level compared to the dramatic terrain of the more popular sections of Acadia National Park, this area is a safer and more leisurely spot to explore Acadia’s rugged coastline. Tide pools are small pools that form in the crevices or depressions in the rocks close to the shore. During high tide, a variety of wildlife ranging from Starfishes to mussels get washed into these pools, and during low tide, these pools get exposed. It is always best to be viewed a little after the low(-est) tide time. 8:20 AM was the predicted low tide time according to an online weather website. Sure enough, I could see many of such pools. It was extremely difficult to get to the pools as all the rocks near the shore were covered with algae making it slippery to walk. I managed to get to one and called others to walk over.

“Don’t walk over the green stuff, it’s slippery. I said the green stuff is slippery!”

I could hear Sarath hollering to Shambhu Annan. I turned around to see what looked like Shambhu Annan doing a combination of a reverse moonwalk and tribal war dance over the rocks!

For 5 or 6 seconds he was slipping and sliding all over the green rocks, and he finally fell on his chest with his camera around his neck. For a second I wasn’t sure whether he was okay or not. He said he was fine and got up soon. His HOBO sweatshirt had saved him yet another time. But it’s over. Green Algae was smeared all over his sweatshirt and jeans. While it was scary at first, come to think of it, it was one of the funniest sights in recent times. Sorry, Shambhu Anna!

PS: The brand new Nikon camera of Shambhu suffered no injuries as well, thankfully.

Shambhu later said that he has this habit of falling at least once on every trip. Like #headstandaroundtheworld he does a #slipandfallaroundtheworld.

Also, Shambhu Annan declared that he is parting ways with his faithful HOBO sweatshirt now that it is irreparably damaged.

Date: May 29, 2017 at 2:00:28 PM EDT

Park Loop Road

Following all the drama at Schooner Point, we decided to drive through the entire length of Park Drive road one last time to make sure that we didn’t miss any iconic Acadia sights.

As we approached the Jordan Pond, we found that there was very little crowd today. Perfect opportunity to try the Pop Overs and Jam from the famous Jordan Pond Restaurant.

And of course, we got seated right away. We got seated at a window-side table with a spectacular view of the North and South Bubbles. We ordered Chai and Popovers. The Chai was good with some cinnamon seasoned over it. Soon the Pop Overs arrived. If I said yesterday that it was just bread and jam, think about it as the story of the fox who couldn’t jump up and reach the grapes who declared them as bitter. The popovers were tender, yet crispy and delicious. The jam, well. I don’t like strawberry flavor that much, but this jam was one of the best I’ve ever had! Phenomenal! Mind and Belly full, we headed to the adjacent souvenir shops. Shambhu Annan got a shot glass; I got a magnet and a small sculpture of a deer sitting over a wine cork. Cool!

We soon got back on the road realizing that we are running out of time. We better start for Pennsylvania now, or we’ll be reaching home super late at night. We all got to go to work tomorrow.

There were a couple more splendid overlooks with panoramic views of the blue ocean where we stopped for pictures.

After spending a couple of days at the park, I can’t seem to decipher which view is good and which is not. Acadia is full of little splendid picturesque spots.

I must say though; Fall Season would probably be the perfect time to visit Acadia. I should plan another trip during the Fall season.

Date: May 29, 2017 at 2:40:33 PM EDT

Epilogue:

On planning this trip, I had made it a point not to pack too much stuff into the itinerary, rather make it a bit relaxed, having plenty of time to explore food and other local attractions. But this turned out to be another one of the wacky trips soon. Thanks to the unparalleled Beehive trail, the two Shambhus were completely onboard with the hikes. Thus we experienced Acadia the right way.

We did a handful of different and demanding and daring trails:

Beehive Trail
Great Head Trail
Penobscot Mountain Trail
Sargent Mountain Trail
Deer Brooke Bridge Trail
Jordan Pond Trail
South Bubble Trail

That, my friend, is what I call “my kind of a trip!”!

The One with The Hobo, The Tree Man, The Hungry Hog, Mr. Vertigo and The Headmaster

Tue, 23 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d4rxxO\_W88\]

Day 0

Date: April 21, 2017 at 10:53:04 PM EDT

Weather: 55°F Cloudy

Location: Philadelphia International Airport, Tinicum Township, PA, United States

Introduction

Long long ago, one day we (Kevin, Sreevin and I) decided to go on an unplanned trip to Hyderabad. And so unplanned it was! Even though the vivid memories of that trip had faded away from my mind, I can still turn the pages back and read about the whole journey thanks to the travelogue I had written about that trip.

PG happened to read that blog post one day. He sent me a message on the office Skype asking me to write a travelogue about the upcoming trip. Thathasthu(so be it)! I replied.

It’s 10:56 PM. I’m sitting at the Philadelphia International Airport waiting for our flight. Our Spirit Airlines flight( also known as the Auto-rickshaw among flights) is behind schedule by 3 hours. You might be wondering where I’m heading and who I’m traveling with.

First things first. It will be a 3-day trip, and I am flying to Vegas.

Well, well! I know that look of envy in your eyes. You assume that my next three days will be all about drinks, party, and gambling. You can’t be further wrong.

Even though we are flying in and out of Vegas, we’ll be spending most of our time in the famous National Parks around LV. Still, pretty cool, right?

The itinerary goes like this:

Day 1: Death Valley National Park,

Day 2: Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park,

Day 3: Zion National Park, Valley of Fire State Park and Las Vegas.

I know!

Quite a lot of places to cover, and we’re beginning with a delayed flight. Regardless of what, I have a feeling, that it is going to be super fun!

Now, let me introduce my partners-in-crime.

Arun Koshy aka The Tree Man (who’s also my current roommate )
PG ( who also answers to the name Anup Puthuveedu Gopalakrishnan) aka Mr. Vertigo
Nikhil Krishnan alias Shambhu Annan aka The Hobo (The Hobo also happens to be the name of Koshy’s photography blog(link). But in this context, the meaning better suits Shambhu Annan. Sorry, I digress)
Abdu aka The Hungry Hog
And myself, The HeadMaster.

Abdu, Hobo, and PG used to be teammates and roommates at UST Global. But Abdu left the company last year and moved to California. He will be flying in from California to join us in Las Vegas.

Also, In our story, PG was supposed to be called the Tree Man (because of his not-so-secret infatuation to Trees). Yet, Koshy is called the Tree Man and PG is not. Why? You’ll find out soon.

As I’m writing, Arun is talking to his wife, PG is reading a movie review, and Shambu Annan seems to be browsing some troll pics on facebook. Abdu’s Vegas flight will land within a few minutes. He will probably sit at the airport(for 6 hours) until our flight arrives.

📷 Airport Scenes Where is my goddamn flight?

Date: April 22, 2017 at 12:16:37 AM EDT

Location: 39.8744° N, 75.2498° W (Philadelphia International Airport)

Boarded the flight, waiting for take-off.

Thankfully, No more surprises here. The Spirit Airlines flight journey does not come with the bells and whistles that the other airlines have to offer. You won’t get good legroom, no snacks or beverages, no lumbar or neck support. But they do provide something that’s so hard to beat. Dirt cheap flights. And that is all that we care for.

Koshy, PG and I got adjacent seats. A distressed and frustrated Shambhu Annan is sitting on the other side of the aisle next to an old African-American couple.

📷 Distressed Shambu Annan Distressed Shambhu Annan!

2:40 AM: I woke up mid-flight and felt thirsty. Asked for a glass of water. The air hostess was very glad to hand me a small bottle of water and charge me $3 for it! Absurd! (remember that Spirit Airlines cheap thingy I told you about?)

Day 1

Date: April 22, 2017 at 5:27:58 AM EDT

Landing in Vegas

Had an overall comfortable flight journey. I slept through most of the flight. The flight was slightly uncomfortable because of the seating. We can neither stretch our feet nor is there any neck support. But hey! Spirit is one of the cheapest flights. You really can’t complain. The hard part is that you’ve to pay for everything on board. I asked for water, was given a 500ml water bottle and a $3 check. I guess I told you all this, right?

Anyway, I now wonder when they’re gonna start asking people to pay to use the lavatories. Oops! I don’t want to give Spirit Airlines management another “cost-savings” business idea.

📷 that spirit airlines flight

Date: April 22, 2017 at 3:45:14 AM PDT

Weather: 64°F Mostly Clear

Location: McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, NV, United States

Heading over to Avis Care Rental

Located Abdu as soon as we landed. The LAS Airport lets you know right away why you should be visiting Vegas. Slot Machines in every nook and corner. Sorry Vegas, I’m not here to do that. We got our checked bag, freshened up and boarded the shuttle to the rental car company.

📷 Shuttle to the Rental Companies

Date: April 22, 2017 at 5:46:42 AM PDT

Weather: 63°F Mostly Cloudy

Location: 4544–4598 Blue Diamond Rd, Las Vegas, NV, United States

Driving

After a lot of confusion and back and forth communication, we are finally, on the road. The rental company apparently didn’t have the model of the car we had booked. They, however, offered a different make and model of the same class, which we were not interested in. Finally, Abdu and I walked over to the parking lot, located a Chrysler Pacifica and demanded that we get that car instead. We got the car and paid $240 for insurance(which actually cost more than the car rental price). And yes, on the road now.

Stopped at 7 Eleven and then Walmart to get some snacks and beverages for the day. Long day ahead.

Date: April 22, 2017 at 6:17:08 AM PDT

Weather: 59°F Clear

Location: 30400–30402 State Highway 160, Las Vegas, NV, United States

Passing Red Rock Canyon

The car is moving along a long and deserted highway surrounded by majestic mountains basking in fresh rays of sunrise.

Being the commander in chief for the trip, I have to keep tabs on the schedule. I had created a detailed travel plan which tells us where we have to be at what time and how long we can spend there. It was not an easy task. Weeks of research went into it. I have to factor in the weather, the time of the day, crowd prediction, and also other miscellaneous factors that can impact the trip. I had done a similar plan for my Yosemite and Smoky Mountain Trip. So, I guess I’m getting better at this.

I just looked at the itinerary to realize that we are behind schedule by 1.5 hours. Koshy is driving, and the speedometer is already clocking above 100mph.

📷 Red Rock Mountains in a distance Date: April 22, 2017 at 6:43:50 AM PDT

Location: 36.2854° N, 116.165° W

How the scenic beauty of nature affects the traveler

If there is one thing that I can forever keep doing without ever getting tired, it would be travel. But I guess that is the case for most people. I love walking too (and many of my friends hate me for how much I make them walk. We’ll wait and see what this crew has to say about it).

Perhaps the best thing about traveling is that it makes us connect with the larger part of the world where we belong. It introduces us to various cultures, different landscapes, distinctive weather patterns and so on. Moreover, the sheer magnanimity and magnificence of nature force us to look deep into ourselves and realize how small we actually are. The beauty of nature that we see around us would not have been the same without the changes it had to undergo over millions of years. Water, wind, earthquakes and other natural forged the beautiful valleys, mountains, and lakes that we have today. It is us, humans who always find it difficult to accept change. What I am trying to say is that we can learn many things about life just by observing the world around us and travel gives us opportunities to do so.

📷 Roads of the West

Date: April 22, 2017 at 8:52:36 AM PDT

Location: 36.3546° N, 116.708° W

And we are on

📷 long drive

First stop was at Zabriskie’s point. A beautiful scenic overlook right on the side of the highway. A short walk to the top and we were greeted by some unique natural architectural formations.

📷 DSCF4491

We spent some time taking pictures and doing weird poses. On the other side of the overlook, we got a glimpse of Badwater basin.(where we would be visiting later today)

📷 Pulling off a Baahubali Pulled Off a Bahubali!

📷 tdw-2

All of a sudden I could feel everyone’s mood changing. The lethargy of the flight journey and long drive was finally wearing off, and we look forward to a fabulous day ahead.

Next destination was the Twenty Mule Team Road. Oh, I am so happy to have read about this place online. It is so desolate - not a plant in site and the topography is beautiful shades of white, beige, brown and red. We truly felt like this is what the planet Mars is like. An exhilarating scenic drive. This place is hidden from the usual traffic of the highway. There is no signboard marking the entrance. It’s a one-way drive, and there is a rustic old sign that just says “entrance.”

But man oh man.. the views are to die for.

📷 tdw-4 We stopped in between for some pictures. And continued driving.

Date: April 22, 2017 at 9:56:18 AM PDT

Location: 36.243° N, 116.685° W

Dante’s View

This might be one of the best views I’ve seen in my life. 📷 Wolf Pack 📷 yo

The drive up to the overlook is packed with scenic beauty. Little yellow flowers adorn the valley. The road takes you to the top of the overlook. As soon as I got out of the car, my heart missed a beat overlooking the view. The distant mountains form a boundary guarding the snowy white salt flats called the Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in the USA. Death Valley is home to some of the warmest temperature zones around the world. But you won’t feel a thing, as the natural beauty around you numbs your senses.

Mind=Overblown! 📷 the drive up to the Dante’s View 📷 hippie ride 📷 Desert bloom

Date: April 22, 2017 at 12:32:01 PM PDT

Location: 36.3821° N, 116.822° W

Bad Water Basin, Devil’s Golf Course, Artist’s Drive, Golden Canyon

From the majestic mountain top of Dante’s view, we headed down to have a face off with the “real” death valley. Badwater basin in the lowest point in the western hemisphere. It is also one of the hottest places on earth. We walked quite far into the core of the basin. It was dry, and it was hot.

And yes, I did a headstand at the hottest and lowest point in the world.

#headstandaroundtheworld

📷 2e545bf7ab32f260afd729eeee4938eb 📷 DSCF4709

📷 IMG_6241 #headstandaroundtheworld

Abdu and I ran back to the parking lot. We were dead tired and thirsty, but on the flipside, we reached the car a solid 10-15 mins before others. Sitting in the AC was so worth it while others were slowly walking back in the scorching sun.

Rehydrated. Ignition on, over to the next destination.

Devil’s Golf Course. 📷 drive to Devil’s Golf Course

We were all too tired to get out, but Devil’s Golf Course was too good not to pass on. The place got its name because the National Park Service guide book once stated that “Only the devil could play golf” on its surface, due to a rough texture from the large halite salt crystal formations.

📷 Devil’s Golf Course We witnessed unique sharp crystal salt formations. I brushed my ankle against one, it tore my shoes, and I got a small cut on my ankle: so sharp it was!.

We stayed on for another 15 minutes taking pictures and enjoying the views. 📷 drive through the mud tracks be like

Our next destination was the Artist’s Palette. Just like a color palette of an artist, the multicolored rocks decorate the valley. The information board said that these colors were formed because of the oxidation of various metals in these rocks. This would have been an unusual destination had us gone there in the morning or during the sunset. Scorching heat and overhead sun rays faded the colors of the valley, making it not that enjoyable.

📷 Artist’s Pallette

After the Artist’s Drive, we headed to Golden Canyon. Abdu didn’t get out of the car. This was a 1.5-mile hike. But there was a sign board at the beginning of the hike that said “Extreme Heat. Not recommended after 10 AM.” We might have walked for half-a-mile when we decided to turn back because of the heat.

📷 We dont like Warnings are for duds!

We headed back to Furnace Creek area in search of food and gas.

Date: April 22, 2017 at 1:30:30 PM PDT

Weather: 77°F Sunny

Location: Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, CA, United States

At Furnace Creek Inn for lunch

Reached Furnace Creek Inn which was built in the 1920s. We walked through an old and eerie tunnel under the restaurant and got into an elevator which took us to the third floor where the dining room was. After a brief wait, we were taken to our seats, which had a great view. We ordered coffee and food. Abdu and I ordered Fish Tacos. Shambu annan and PG ordered BLT sandwich. Koshy got an Angus Burger. Right now we are sipping the coffee and waiting for our food.

📷 9f8c65920afc653d1e4dea14c2cfd326

Date: April 22, 2017 at 4:59:44 PM PDT

Location: Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, CA, United States

Mosaic Canyon

After lunch, we headed out towards Mosaic Canyon. This is the second-to-last stop of the day. The drive lasted a little less than an hour. But time passed quickly as Koshy and I were singing some Malayalam melodies throughout the drive. Food for the soul. Others slept through most of the drive. 📷 Mosaic Canyon 📷 Mosaic Canyon

About Mosaic Canyon. Smooth, polished marble walls enclose the trail as it follows the canyon’s twisted curves. The canyon follows notches that formed when the rocky crust of the Death Valley region began stretching just a few million years ago. Running water scoured away at the fault-weakened rock, gradually carving Mosaic Canyon. We hiked almost a mile enjoying the beautiful view of the wash.

Date: April 22, 2017 at 7:23:06 PM PDT

Location: 36.3231° N, 116.559° W

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Nothing makes a better introduction to Death Valley than a visit to the 100-foot-high Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes which was also our last stop of the day at Death Valley.

A walk on these silky, rippled dunes will convince you that you’re someplace far from the familiar.

We walked over to the sand dunes which was very accessible from the parking lot. Abdu and PG sat on top of a small sand hill close to a Chinese Photowalk group. Koshy, Shambu Annan and I kept walking for quite a while. It was very hard to walk up to the top of the steep dunes. 📷 Sand Ripples 📷 The path less travelled 📷 A walk to remember 📷 Untouched, unexplored

I sat there for a while reflecting on all the experiences life is throwing at me. Yet again, I felt so small at the feet of mother nature.

As we go on acquiring more stuff in life, we fail to realize that everything we have is obtained from the earth. We do not create anything; we borrow everything from the earth to produce all the junk we have around us. By doing so, we deplete the natural resources of mother nature. We should be more thankful for all that are given to us in life.

We walked back to the parking lot. I removed my shoes and hung them over my shoulders. It felt great walking barefoot after a long time. Enjoyed few moments of stillness and retrospective thoughts. 📷 in touch with nature 📷 sunset

Date: April 23, 2017 at 6:51:56 AM PDT

Weather: 61°F Sunny

Location: I-15 N, Overton, NV, United States

Winding up Day 1

Went (Airbnb)home, freshened up, got out to have dinner at a Japanese Curry Restaurant. Good food and good company. Came back home at 11:30 PM and called it a day.

Good times. Adios

Day 2

Date: April 23, 2017 at 6:54:38 AM PDT

Weather: 61°F Sunny

Location: I-15 N, Overton, NV, United States

A Day with the Hoodoos

I got up at 3:15 AM to realize that it was freezing cold inside the house. The previous night Abdu felt that it was too warm and turned the thermostat to a (modest in his words) 62 F. And Shambu Annan was sleeping on the living room couch without even a blanket. Poor thing. I woke him up and asked him to sleep in my room as there was still plenty of time for us to start the day and I wake up early anyway. After I got out of the restroom, I saw that PG was already up. The dude was watching IPL and managing his fantasy league team. I got ready, transferred all the previous day’s videos to the computer.

We finally started from the house at 6. Again, behind schedule by more than an hour, credits to Abdu’s and Koshy’s long bathroom breaks. A quick stop at the fuel station for top up. Grabbed breakfast, a cup of hot chocolate, some snacks and water. 250miles drive to Bryce Canyon.

📷 tdw-5 📷 Utah

Date: April 23, 2017 at 10:31:06 AM MDT

Location: 38.0146° N, 112.509° W

Behind schedule

I dozed off for a while and opened my eyes to realized that these doozies had stopped the car and were chilling outside. I had to throw a little tantrum to get them back in the car and moving. Since we’re already so much behind schedule, any time wasted like this will cost us to miss a lot of great destinations planned for the day. Somebody has to keep tabs about the time. Somebody’s me!

Date: April 23, 2017 at 11:48:50 PM MDT

Weather: 52°F Clear

Location: 475 Newel Ave, Hildale, UT, United States

Bryce Canyon - Zion

We reached Bryce Canyon by 11:30 AM. Since it was the earth day weekend, the entrance to all major national parks was free. We took the the free national park shuttle. The shuttle driver had a good sense of humor. He seemed particularly interested in trees, especially the ones stricken by lightning. Everytime he mentioned trees, I would turn back and guffaw at PG. By this time, we all started noticing Koshy’s excitement on seeing trees and his interest in photographing them. We saw some of his wild moments in Death Valley yesterday where the trees were a rare sight. He was photographing every log of trees that was lying around. PG was having fun. He finally got someone else to share the Tree Man title with.

We got down at Bryce Point.

Took some pictures at the Bryce Point, and then headed to the Inspiration point.

Wind, water and time have eroded Bryce Canyon National Park’s sandstone cliffs into otherworldly characters plucked from the unconscious of a Mad Viking. Rows of humanoid pillars crosshatched by rock-strata look almost intentional but perfectly surreal. So silent, eerie and beautiful. So improbable it has to be true. A panorama of goblins, towers and fins of a color you can’t quite name welcomed us. 📷 Bryce Canyon - Inspiration Point

After getting inspired at the Inspiration Point, we headed over to Sunset Point to hike the Navajo Loop trail. As soon as we started the hike we saw the rock formation called the Thor’s Hammer. Just like the name, the hoodoos shaped exactly like a massive hammer.

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We then walked along the Wall Street of the West. Tall rock formations created walls with narrow switchbacks trails in between. I literally felt as if I were walking between the skyscrapers of New York City.

📷 Switchbacks at the Wall Street of the West Switchbacks at the Wall Street of the West!

When we were just 0.4 miles away from the end of the loop, we realized that the trail ahead was closed due to a landslide. And the odd thing is that PG knew all along about this and didn’t tell us. This also meant that we have to hike back the 2 miles with an elevation gain of more than 400 feet.

PG and Shambu Annan had to really struggle their way back, and honestly, so were the rest of us too. We had to wait every few meters for PG and Shambu to catch up.

I was constantly teasing them for being so slow. On one of their pit-stops, I saw them talking to an elderly American Couple. After 2 minutes, both of them were speeding up the trail. I had no idea how that family managed to make these mules walk so fast, so soon. PG later told me that that guy told them that “you guys are young and should be more energetic. If you don’t keep moving I will call 911”. No wonder how they got that sudden burst of energy!

Nobody was interested in going to the sunrise point which was supposed to be our last stop at Bryce Canyon.

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The entire hike took us around 2 hours. We took a short break, went to a souvenir shop to get some touristy stuff. I bought a magnet as always.(whenever I’m traveling around the US, I collect these magnets from the places I visit) I had very little time planned for the meal breaks during the trip and thought that we would be snacking on meal replacement bars, dry fruits, and nuts for the most of the trip. I had my reasons for it. An elaborate meal would make everyone lethargic.The snacks would give enough calories for the day, and we had a very tight schedule.

But we had Abdu, who had a hunger problem. He gets hungry every now and then, and he needs real (as in cooked meal)food. If he doesn’t get it, he becomes a little crazy and paranoid. He is thus called the Hungry Hog! Honestly, thanks to Abdu, we stumbled upon some really cool places to eat throughout the trip.

The next stop was at Mountain Harvest Restaurant which was run by two young “men” aged probably 7 or 9. Their parents were busy as there were some renovations going on. But the boys really did a fantastic job behind the counter. Very courteous, agile and attentive. Real impressed!

Abdu had some funny moments with them when he went to them asking for a microwave oven. The boys had no idea what Abdu wanted and after a lot of asking and re-asking questions, he explained that he just wanted to heat his coffee which got cold as it was outside for a while. He got them to heat it up and didn’t really drink the coffee until after another 30 minutes.

From there, it was a straight drive to Canyon Overlook at Zion National Park. When I told everyone that it would require a mile hike up the canyon, everyone kind of sounded a little upset.

By this time, I had acquired my fair share of nicknames. I was called the Headmaster because I was very strict and anal about sticking to the schedule. I was also called Natarajan (Nata- Walking, Rajan-King) because I love walking and forces everyone to walk as much as I do.

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But their discomfort about hiking didn’t last too long, all thanks to the several cuties who were hiking alongside us.

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And finally, the overlook. While I felt that Dante’s view from yesterday was one of the most scenic views I have ever witnessed, I have to admit that this overlook is ever better.

Hands down the best view of the trip so far.

Mesmerizing canyon and roads resembling a sidewinder snake wounded up against the valley, all spotlighted by the setting sun and clouds, it looked as if it came straight out of a poem. 📷 tdw-34

PG revealed that he has vertigo issues(fear of heights) while we were up there. I knew this beforehand and had to make some adjustments to the travel plans to suit everyone’s taste and preferences. Anyway, PG happily inherited the name Mr. Vertigo at that point and decided to hand over the “Tree Man” title to Koshy.

📷 tdw-35 Mr. Vertigo in Action!

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We stayed there for a little longer and drove to the park to take pictures of the watchman. 📷 tdw-38

The Watchman is the most photographed icon in Zion National Park for a couple of reasons. First, it is a beautiful and shapely rock mountain that happens to “face” the valley from the South and it glows at sunset. We got a great view from the bridge leading to the Visitor Center. Stood there for a while and headed out home(Airbnb again). Tonight’s stay’s at Hurricane UT.

We bought some ready to cook noodles and reached Mindy’s house. Mindy was very courteous. The house is a little dated, but was really neat and stocked with books, groceries and everything else the guests needed. We watched Netflix and had our dinner. Since there was very little light pollution around and the there was a cloudless clear sky, I set up the camera to do some astrophotography to create a star trail photo.

📷 StarStaX_TourDeWest-5614-TourDeWest-5684_gap_filling copy Now wound up in the bed writing this. Have to wake up early. Miles to go and places to reach. Adios.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 5:56:53 AM MDT

Weather: 39°F Clear

Location: 20 E Utah Ave, Hildale, UT, United States

Day 3

I woke up at 3 AM, took some pictures of the stars and the Milky Way. Everyone got ready and we started at 6 AM(5 AM was the planned time). Today’s agenda is to visit Angel’s Landing and the Observation Point at Zion and then drive to Valley of Fire for the rest of the day’s fun. 📷 tdw-39

Date: April 24, 2017 at 7:45:16 AM MDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 37.2707° N, 112.938° W

The A__hole 📷 tdw-40

We all checked out of Mindy’s place and started driving in the direction of Zion National Park Visitor’s Center when we encountered a little road rash with a biker who is a complete asshole. We were in a hurry, and he was not letting us pass by. He was purposefully slowing down in fast sections of the road, and if we happen to overtake him, he will speed up and pass us again, remaining in our front for a while. That jackass also showed us a middle finger at the end of it! We took it cool and moved on.

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Date: April 24, 2017 at 10:33:41 AM PDT

Weather: 72°F Sunny

Location: 4365 N Moapa Valley Blvd, Overton, NV, United States

On the way to Valley of Fire

This is where my tour-planning-ego got a real hit. We drove to Zion only to realize that we couldn’t drive the scenic drive because the route was reserved for shuttles and cars with Red tags(given by the Park Lodges). We took the shuttle went as far as Grotto Point. That’s when I realized that the observation point was an 8-mile hike.

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As a plan B, we took the short 1-mile hike to the weeping rocks. Took some pictures. Some deer fawns were walking beside us.

We walked back to the base. Time for another one of my #headstandaroundtheworld pose. 📷 tdw-43 📷 tdw-44 📷 tdw-45

Shambhu Annan got a new nickname: “homeless boy” because of an old gray hoodie which he wears everywhere. Did I already tell you about Koshy’s new name Tree Man aka“Mara Koshy” thanks to his newfound love of trees? I think I did.

📷 tdw-46 📷 898207708093fd0eaaf72eeeb6696577

Date: April 24, 2017 at 3:39:22 PM PDT

Weather: 84°F Sunny

Location: I-15 S, Overton, NV, United States

End of tour de wild west

The way to the Valley of Fire was scenic as expected with long straight and deserted highways resembling racetracks. Since it was a Monday. There was very little traffic on the road. Abdu was driving. We stopped at a really nice breakfast place in Hurricane, UT.

Everyone asked me, “the headmaster” to give them their three-day “test scores”. I gave PG an 8 because he did not underdeliver. Met my expectations. Koshy got a 7 as he was slower than expected, but was not too bad. Abdu wrecked havoc on the schedule with this constant calls for food and bathroom breaks.Hence he got a 6. Hobo got a 6 too as we expected more rigor from him as he was an ex-athlete(now injured for almost a year). But he was as lazy as a granny.

The rest of the drive was fun until we suddenly saw a sudden flash of Blue and Red lights. Cops! Of course, we were speeding. Empty open highway and what would you expect? But at least when he caught us, we were only 75mph on a 55mph. The cop gave us a ticket for 70mph on a 55mph.

We, recovered from that small blow as soon as we entered the Valley of Fire. It was smoking hot, and the place was named that way for a reason. The whole place looked as if it was burning.

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An overflow of golden brown and orange colors. We took some pictures of the hanging rock from the visitors center.

📷 tdw-49 Then we headed to the Rainbow point.

We saw a wild deer and its veil. I decided not to go further as it might take a while to complete the trail and we were already running out of time and might have to scramble through the best destinations at the Valley of Fire. Abdu had to catch a flight at 8 pm, and he had not yet checked in. So we had to go early. 📷 tdw-50

On the way back to the parking lot Hobo’s hand brushed against a cactus(Julia Cactus, we got to know later) and three long thorns stuck to his finger. They had a shape like an arrow, and we couldn’t pull them out as the arrow head was stuck inside.

Moments of panic followed. Shambhu Annan remained relatively calm as we rushed him to the visitors center where a park ranger took the thorns out pretty easily.

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We then headed to the Fire Wave trail. It was a 20-minute drive, and the parking lot was quite empty. 📷 2017-04-25-PHOTO-00000894

Fire Wave had long remained a mystery of Valley of Fire State Park. Many people had seen the pictures, yet most people did not know the exact location of this rock formation until 2012 when the park authorities marked a trail near parking lot #3.

We parked the car and hiked the short trail to fire wave; I guess most people are still unaware of such a place. We had seen quite a crowd at the visitors center, yet we just met 4 or 5 small groups of people along the full length of the trail.

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Fire Wave is truly magical. It felt as if we were in some unearthly place. The massive force of nature carved beautiful patterns on the rocks which resembled the blazing waves of a wildfire. It was such a majestic sight.

As our weekend trip was coming to an end, we all sat there for a while, relaxing, enjoying the views, taking pictures and cracking jokes. When everyone thought that the trip was over and had to turn back to walk over to the parking lot, I told them that there was more. I had a little gift for them. There is a place called pink canyon right next to the Fire Wave which is still unknown to most people who visits the place. I did quite a lot of research to find the exact location of this off-the-grid rock formation. It was an old desert wash, but the water and floods polished the rocks into a mesmerizing pink slot canyon which resembled the more famous slot canyons of Utah. 📷 tdw-55 📷 tdw-56 📷 2017-04-25-PHOTO-00000889 2

Lots of pictures and my #headstandaroundtheworld pose later, we headed back to the parking lot. Even though I had a couple more places in my schedule and we had time, I realized that we had reached a good saturation point.

If I force them to go(walk) to any more places it will make everyone bored and tired. So I decided to call it a day and head back to Vegas.

📷 tdw-57

We had lunch at Siam Garden which is a hole in the wall Thai restaurant often touted to have the best Thai food in the state of Nevada.

Fun Fact: You can order food with spice levels as high as 36 (apparently that is the record and nobody have braved to go higher yet). I chose 2 as the spice level, and that itself was good enough for me. Good find!

Date: April 24, 2017 at 6:25:43 PM PDT

Weather: 82°F Sunny

Location: 110 N 8th St, Las Vegas, NV, United States

Downtowner

After having sumptuous food from Siam Garden Thai Restaurant, Shambhu Annan made the right call of booking a cheap motel room for us all to freshen up.

We all freshened up. Abdu bid us all goodbye and took an Uber ride to the airport. Rest of us headed to Fremont St. to get a small taste of Vegas streets.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 7:42:30 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 36.1696° N, 115.141° W

Brownie

Our first stop at Fairmont street fair was at an old pub where PG and other folks used to visit. For good old times’ sake, they decided to have a beer. I got a hot, brownie with ice cream and whipped cream.

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It was humungous.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 8:06:02 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 36.1705° N, 115.145° W

Walk of lights

Like I’ve said earlier, I have this habit of collecting souvenir magnets wherever I’m traveling. I went to a souvenir shop and picked up a magnet worth $2. PG told me that I’ve to pay cash if the cost is less than $10. That’s when I saw a souvenir shot glass which had a small clay model of a nude lady in it. As I reached out to grasp it, I accidentally knocked over another display item which fell and broke! Now my total souvenir cost came to $15. I paid using my credit card. Enjoyed the live music and entertainment scene of Vegas for a while.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 8:25:42 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 36.1125° N, 115.173° W

Bellagio

Next stop was at the ever famous Bellagio casino and hotel.

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We parked at the nearby Flamingo hotel and walked over to Bellagio Hotel.

Interior of Bellagio was grand, ornated using different color combinations of flowers. They had a Japanese themed display exhibition of flowers as well which was super cool.

After roaming around the shopping area for a while, we headed outside to watch the famous musical fountain of Bellagio.

There is a show every 15 minutes each being a different song.

We stayed there for a couple of songs. I told Shambhu Annan that we should come back to Vegas again for his bachelor party as he’s getting married in a couple of months! 📷 afa1cd5c8e90006388f3683e37d8424f

I am not going to give more details. “What Happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”

Date: April 24, 2017 at 9:20:50 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing, Dust

Location: 36.1124° N, 115.173° W

Car rental return

After Bellagio’s, we walked back to the parking lot. Got the car, parking was free as we were able to get in and out within a couple of hours. Headed out to a fuel station and topped up the gas before returning the car.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 11:28:20 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 36.0796° N, 115.137° W

Car Rental Key Incident

I didn’t return the car key! I realized it when we were heading out to the security gates at the airport. Nor did the guy who gave us the car return receipt ask for it. That guy from the car rental company called a while later, and I told him that I would ship back the key to them after I reached Philadelphia.

Date: April 24, 2017 at 11:28:39 PM PDT

Weather: 70°F Nearby Blowing Dust

Location: 36.0797° N, 115.137° W

Tired.

Out flight to Philadelphia was on the runway, and it took a long time for it to take off. I hardly noticed it as I was snoring my way to lullaby land as soon as I found my seats. The past three days were tough on my sleep deprived over-worked brain. Time to take it easy and get a good night’s sleep as I have to head to the office tomorrow.

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What else to say?

Adios Amigos!

The Ripple Effect

Sun, 12 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMT

A word or an action from your past can trigger a chain of events that will define the course of your life many years later.

We’ve become ghosts of our past. This is not the kind of life we had imagined. Like the ripple effect, a word or an action from our past triggered a chain of events that led to this moment. But, I don’t know what and when. I don’t know what I will do without him. But, I know he is unhappy. So am I. We have grown up together to be two people who no longer knows each other. I wish I could go back and do something that would cause a change in the way things turned out in our lives.

Love

Her

“One, two, three… Four!” I have four single rupee coins with me. That would give me four minutes to talk to him. I have to walk faster to the payphone. He is expecting my call. I want to talk to him. His enthusiasm, the things he says, his jokes, his view of life, I want to ask him so many things. His voice and speech are like nectar, and I want to sip every drop of it. He is the love of my life!

Him

“One, two, three, I’m tired” I’m not going to try calling her again. I know it’s her birthday. But, if she doesn’t want to speak with me, I shouldn’t keep trying. I think this sudden conference was her way to avoid facing me on her birthday. My surprises don’t make her happy and excited anymore. Our children grew up and moved to far away places. Now, all that I have is she. She lives with me in person, but where does her spirit reside? How can I find it?

Happiness

Him

“This world is so beautiful. We can do so much with our lives together. Let us fly high like these kites in the sky. See that blue one, that is me. And that red kite is you. Look! We are flying towards each other” We lay there in the rooftop of my apartment looking at kids flying kites at a distance. I was humming tunes in her ears while she played with the curls of my hair. The little things in life that give you immeasurable happiness.

Her

“Hey, did you see the wooden storage box that was there in the attic?” I asked him as he was walking by the kitchen. These days we hardly looked at each other’s eyes when we spoke. We still live together, share a room, but just ignore each other’s presence all the time. We could go on for days without really speak a word to one another.

“You mean the one that had some old cards, toys, and stuff? yea, I tossed them into the garbage last week when I was cleaning the attic. I wanted to use the box to store the tools in the garage.” he said.

“They were all the gifts, and cards we exchanged when we were younger. Didn’t you remember?” I just got a blank stare as a reply.

He said, “I guess, memories are mere pseudo-realities. They take you to a place where you want to exist, only to realize moments later that you are not that person anymore. I would rather have that box used for something more productive than to store the things that do not represent us”.

There is no point in arguing. We have been doing that for so many years now. I guess he’s right. I shouldn’t keep looking back to my memories to find happiness.

Hope

Him

“Who could be the luckiest person in the world?” She keeps asking me these questions that put a smile on my face. Maybe she’s trying to find out what my perspective is.

I said, “I believe that the luckiest person is the one who meets his true muse when he is younger and gets to grow up with her. Like us! You are more than a girlfriend to me. You inspire me and encourage me to be a better man. You enlighten the artist in me. And more than everything, I love the way you sleep, curled up, resting your face on my arm. And I would do anything to wake up to you every day for the rest of my life!” She looked at me with glowing eyes.

Kisses. Short moments that unite two minds and bodies.

Her

I still remember the days when we started seeing each other. Every time he walks up to me or calls me, my heartbeat increases, I sweat a little and I become speechless for a moment. Then when we get going, the tension is released and I am at ease. Even today, after all these years of marriage, when he walks up to me, my heart still races, my forehead still perspires a little, but then, when we look at each other, something is missing. We lost that spark. We misinterpret each other’s words. We stopped sharing what is going on in our lives. I always have a feeling that something bad is about to happen to us even when he is being really nice to me. Where did that rapport go: that amazing accord that we always enjoyed?

Trust

Her

“How much longer?” I asked him. I love these constant adventures with him. We share a beautiful camaraderie when it comes to choosing the things to buy or places to visit, food to eat or activities to do. This time we were hiking up a hill close to the city.

“Not much, we are almost there. You see that ridge ahead of us? I was told that the view is right after we cross it.” We kept walking until we reached the ridge.

“Now, close your eyes.” He said.

“What do you mean, close your eyes? There is a goddamn cliff in front of us which we are about to cross, and you want me to close my eyes? For what?” Although I tried to sound angry, he knew that I am already loving the feeling of venturing into something I haven’t experienced.

“Just do it. Close your eyes, hold my hands. Don’t open it until I tell you and keep walking beside me.”

“But the ridge is so narrow, we might fall,” I said.

“If we fall, we fall together. Do you trust me?”

“I do”

“Then let’s go!”

I closed my eyes and held onto his hands. The wind was blowing fiercely against us. I could feel the chill; a storm is coming. This is too risky. We could die doing things like this. But I trust him more than I trust myself. If there is anything I can give back to him for the love he is giving me, I would do it, even if it involves jumping off a cliff. My body was trembling because of the wind as we crossed the narrow pathway. But, I knew I were in safe hands.

“You may open your eyes now.” He said.

I opened my eyes and there in front of me was a big beautiful double rainbow over the villages. It looked as if the iridescent colors were flowing from the heavens to walls of these tiny but colorful village houses. It was magical. Every time I am around him, something like this happens which makes me wonder, is this all real? Or, am I dreaming?

“Did you know that we would see a rainbow when we reach up here?” I asked.

“No, I guess that was pure luck,” he chuckled. Something about his laugh told me that he knew what he was doing. The scene and the glorious misty wind were a feast for my senses. I closed my eyes again to thank God for presenting us these beautiful moments. When I opened my eyes, he was on his knees. He had a ring in his hands.

“The love of my life, the queen of my dreams, will you be my wife?”

His voice vibrated my entire whole. My heart started beating so fast, I thought I might die. This was everything I have been wishing for.

I said, “Yes! In this and all of my lives!”

We stood there in each other’s arms watching the sunset. That day’s sun had a glow of a thousand suns. It was setting only to mark the beginning of a beautiful journey.

Him

I am looking back to the day I proposed her. She was so happy and beautiful. I made her walk along the ridge of a steep hill with her eyes closed only to prove to her that I am dependable. Youthful stupidity. But retrospectively, I feel that those were the moments that defined the course of our relationship. We trusted each other so much. She was very comfortable in my arms. But over the years, things have changed. This marriage seems to have become a cage for her freedom, or so she says. I have given her the liberty to choose her own career, social circles, preferences etc. But, the only thing I asked from her in return was to set her priorities straight. Even with our growing differences, she raised our children well, she had been a good social being, and I respect her for that.

In the beginning, she wanted me to help her with everything, school stuff, work stuff, and household stuff. I used to tease her saying that she doesn’t know how to do anything. I now realize that she was perhaps asking me to help her so that she can be with me always.

But at some point, I put a thought in her head that the more I help her understand things, the more resistance is there for her growth. That thought grew up inside her like ripples in a pool. Now my very presence around her makes her agitated. She does not want to let me know about the things in her life.

When we first met, we felt as if we had known each other for a long time. And now, after all these years of living together, she feels every bit like a stranger to me. I was told that a relationship is all about the hope, faith, and trust it generates. I don’t know whether we have much left in that regard.

Life

Him

She held on to my hands ever so tightly, never letting go. She said, “I know you have invested so much thought, time, money, and energy on your education abroad. But are you sure you want to go? I will be lonely without you.”

“I’m leaving you today only to come back quickly and set a better life for ourselves,” I said. No words of mine could convince her. She just held on to me until my flight’s first boarding call was made. We parted ways silently. But, I knew I was coming back for her, soon.

Her

5:00AM. Alarm ringing. He is sleeping. Today is the day I will not hit the snooze button. I woke up silently, walked to the basement, I had already packed my luggage. It is hard to leave him without letting him know. But, life has been unfair to us. Today, I must leave him. He will be sad, devastated, depressed. But I think he will understand. I stepped out into the rest of my life. Without him.

Epilogue

We’ve become ghosts of our past. I thought I had figured out everything. My teenage self used to tell myself that my last breath would leave my body before she would even think of leaving me. But I was so wrong. I wonder what happened. Time changed us a lot. What is love? For me, it means her.

We have grown up together to be two people who no longer knows each other. I wish I could go back and do something that would cause a change in the way things turned out in our lives. To reverse the ripples, that shook our life.

The doorbell rang.

Could it be her?

A Thousand Suns

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A Thousand Suns

A story of lost love, lost hope, lost happiness and lost life.

“What if I can desert this body and dissolve with the wind. Flow along with it absorbing all that the world carries with it: all the love, the commotions, the chaos, the hatred, the care, everything. Can it make me feel complete ever again?”

I was thinking as the evening breeze blew fiercely on my face.

The sunken eyes behind the horn rimmed spectacles had a story to tell. A story of lost love, lost hope, lost happiness and lost life.

Lost life

She was tired as usual. The first thing I saw her do today was throwing up in the kitchen sink. I ran up to her to rub her back. I saw blood in the sink. I wasn’t amazed. All I wanted to do was to console her. But as usual I fell short of words to say.

She cleaned up and turned to face me. Her eyes still had the glow of a thousand suns which made me fall for her at the very first sight.

She raised her fragile hands and held them up against my lips as if she wanted me to be silent as she spoke. She came close to me and whispered in my ears.

“I’m almost..” Her voice broke.

Those words ringed a thousand times in my ears. It was playing in repeat as I was walking down the street, when I was at my work-desk, and even now, sitting in the bus heading back home. Those simple subtle words are still haunting me like a ghost.

I hope I can see her smiling face when I get home tonight.

“I like this wind. It gives me hope. I reassure myself that my love will keep her alive. There is a huge power in our love and this wind carries it” I thought aloud. My fellow passenger looked quizzically at me, shrugged his shoulders, got up and left in haste.

Lost Hope

“I’m sorry, there’s not much time left. Now that she knows, you need to give her maximum care and support and keep her happy till it lasts”, the doctor was telling me.

How can people be so cold? I know he’s a doctor and it’s in his profession to talk the truth and sense. But he is also supposed to give me hope. Why is he not doing so?

Everything that mattered to me is lying down 2 walls away from me breathing hope in each and every second. How can I tell her that it’s all over? How can I tell her that there’s no hope?

I wish I had wings so that I can pick her up and fly straight to heaven. But the doctor’s cold words froze my wings and threw me into a giant black hole.

My world was collapsing on me. I knew I was done.

Lost Happiness

She was unusually sick, I didn’t know why. I thought it was because of the shock from the happenings. Things were too hard for her to bear.

She understood what I was thinking. “It’s not just that. I think there’s some serious disease growing inside me. That’s making me sick.”

“Shut Up!” I said. “It’s not a disease, its fate. You know what the gynecologist told us. Everyone is not blessed with it. Some can, some can’t. We can but just wish for it. It is in the hands of God. Don’t blame yourself for everything”

She sobbed. I hugged her. I held my world in my arms. I closed my eyes.

Suddenly something was different. My white office shirt was getting wet.

“Tears! I’ve grown familiar with this wetness”, I thought.

I looked down at my darling, she was shivering and my shirt had turned bloody red. Blood!

Dreams

She drew open the white curtains. Golden light filled the room. I was still in bed, fast asleep, tired from all the fun in the previous evening. Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary. I did everything I could to make my princess happy. She was literally in heaven. She was beaming with joy and love. Her eyes always had the glow of a thousand shining suns. Now they shone even better. I stayed awake late that night watching her sleep like a baby, in my arms.

“This is life.” I’d thought.

“Hey mister! It’s 8 O’clock already! We have other plans for the day” She shook me.

I growled. “Let me sleep for a little longer.”

“Listen, I’ve something very important to speak to you about” She never before sounded this serious. I opened my eyes. The sunlight was blinding me. The diamond necklace I gifted her the previous night still twinkled in her velvety neck.

“What is it?” I tilted my head to her side. She rolled me over and sat on top of me, and started playing with my chest hair.

I looked at her. She was very beautiful. The sunlight blessed me by lighting her hair with its golden glow. Dressed in my NY T-shirt and a puma shorts, I thought, a modern day angel must be looking exactly like her!

I caressed her forehead and lifted myself up and kissed her.

“I see you’ve changed a lot” She said.

“What?” I was confused.

“Finally you got matured. I doubted whether I had the role of your mother or your wife. But luckily I have a husband now!” and she chuckled.

Thank God. I thought she was heading for some problems.

“I have a wish” She said.

“What?”

“I want a baby”

“WHAT??”

“I want to become a mom”

“FOR REAL??”

“Yes!”

“I love you, baby”

“I love you, sweetheart!”

Love. Happiness. Attachment. Hope.

Life

“Hey Heyy..!! Look who are coming.” My friend was exclaiming as the college bus approached packed with first year students.

One by one, they stepped out of the bus. We were scanning every single girl with our X-Ray eyes, giving them rating from head to toe.

Then something happened. A white Nike sports shoe greeted me. I looked up, my ratings going higher as I looked higher; finally I saw that face for the first time in my life.

I said “Wow!”. A pair of eyes which had the glow of a thousand suns adorned that face. She was miss sunshine. My heart leaped a world record beating jump as I saw her smile.

I didn’t have to think twice. I knew at once. It was the face that I saw in my random dreams. This was the girl I was waiting for. I found the meaning of my life. She’s mine!

Love had hit me, hit me hard and swept me off my foot..!

God Why??

You did give me everything: But in reverse order.

Please take back the reel of my life and play it from back to first.

I won’t mind the sadness in the beginning, but I can dwell in her smile forever..!

“I want to get dissolved with the wind and flow along. Will it make me complete as she used to make me feel?”

EPILOGUE

I still remember that day. The day which brought an end to my world. Her motionless face and dry, grey eyes greeted one black morning. There was no glow in her eyes. The thousand suns had decided to set together. And I knew, it was all over.

Author’s Note: The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Idiots in Town - An unplanned trip to Hyderabad

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

SET RAIL TO HYDERABAD..

ME, SREEVIN, KEVIN

07/10/10

14:00 - started from Trissur railway station. Mine as well as Kevin’s mom came to bid us ’good bye’s.

Thinking about what to do next. Coz it’s a long long train journey ahead. 24 full hours in train.

15:05 - got a seat very next to the door. Means? We have a direct access to the charging socket. What more? Sreevin has brought his laptop and me, my external hdd.

17:11 - watching KAL HO NAA HO with Sreevin and Kevin. Too good a movie it is.

22:43 - movie seen, dinner (chapatti and some kind of veg curry) eaten, i think its time for bed, no berth. As a precaution against theft, I’ve to sleep with my travelling bag as a pillow. Damn its rock hard. Good night me.. All is well.

HOME, SWEET HOME, SREEVIN’S HOME

08/10/10

06:29 - rise and shine. Kevin’s already awake. Hmm.. Unusual. Moving on.

06:53 - further unusual stuff. Me and Kevin were photographing our 7+ mobiles put together when a hijada rounded us. Bhaagyam. Onnum poyilla.

07:00 - Enjoying nature’s scenic beauty. One can enjoy this stuff only while a train journey.

The railway staff came to take orders of breakfast. We said ‘no’ because we had bread and jam with us.

07:10 - collateral damage. I had kept the bread in our handbag and it seems i slept over it. Damn. Now the whole thing is squished. What next?

07:32 - again hijadas. Again survived.

08:10 - Business, business. A couple of passengers sitting opposite to us displaying how business is carried out in our place. They bulk bought speghetti for women and are now changing the MRP sticker on them. The thing cost rs 140 initially. And now costs rs 200 . I assume they bought it for rs 120 . That means a direct profit of more than rs70. What an idea sirji..!

14:03 - got down at Secunderabad railway station. The situation here is totally opposite to that of in Kerala. Developed infrastructure and underdeveloped people.

14:32 - waiting for the 226 number bus which will take us to BHEL where we are going to stay throughout the tour with Sreevin’s family.

14:45 - got the bus. It’s hot in here. A female bus conductor came and charged rs39 for the journey. Way cheaper than the auto journey which we considered that would cost rs 300 . Got our seats. Set the gps on our mobiles, off the bus go..!

15:11 - this bus journey is frikkin boring. It stinks in here. It’s killing me.

16:23 - reached sreevin’s house. The best thing about here is his parents. Just like the old kelvinator advertisement - ‘the coolest ones’. We wants to go out later. And he was trying to get a driver for us. I said we could drive. he didn’t say a word but gave the car key to me saying ‘enjoy your stay’.

17:15 - had a bath. Feeling refreshed.

17:40 - more, uncle’s a fabulous cook. We ate a delicious biryani supervised and made by him. Superb. Stomach is stuffed.

18:00 - took the car. Its a Daewoo matiz. smooth car, tough drive, good roads, tough traffic. What’s the panic buster? An HTC hero and a Nokia 5800 for the navigation and my Nokia e63 for fast internet access. And of course, blogging.

19:00 - still caught on the traffic. On the way to see Renish chettan, Kevin’s cousin. And later to go to GVK ONE mall. Bought an in-car mobile charger, just in case mobiles need charging.

19:32 - in GVK ONE mall.. Awesome awesome sight. Huge mall… Daringly beautiful place, hot and sexy chicks all around, we 3= excited!

20:36 - saw a 4D film here. Awesome experience. Basically, it’s a 3D movie with extra effects like, ground shake, air surge, smell and water smoke.. Great.

21:47 - had KFC Juicy Chicken, Coleslaw, and Virgin Mojito.. All except mojito was pure crap.

22:39 - Saw Kevin’s bro and handed over the package to him. It was tough finding the place.

23:41 - reached back home after lots of wrong twists and rerouting. All thanks to Google maps. We got back safe somehow. Otherwise it could easily have become another SAROJA story.

NEW DAY, NEW HOPES

9/10/10

07:18 - rise and shine. Straight to bathroom. Brushed my teeth.

08:21 - Sreevin’s naughty sister was already up and thus spend some time playing with her.

09:34 - had breakfast. Again i must acclaim that sreevin’s parents make great food. It was hyderabadi poori and masala. Hmm… Delicious.

10:00 - back on road. First is the famous landmark, #hussain sagar lake.

11:10 - reached Sanjeevaiyah Park. It is situated on the outskirts of Hussain Sagar lake. One can get good recreation plus an awesome view of the lake from this site.

12:45 - the unexpected visit to the park turned out to be awesome. Took some fantastic photos. The rock garden was great.

12:54 - ate paav bhaji and samosa frm a local chaat center

13:12 - paid a hefty price of rs 214 for this local food. Feels cheated

13:41 - to prasad’s theatre’s for IMAX show.

13:53 - gonna see ENDIRAN @ multiplex.

17:00 - ENDIRAN was not as good as expected. Still the show was great.

17:16 - enjoyed the ride at MIRROR MAZE. Confusion confusion.

17:37 - waiting in Q for our chicken McGrill at Mc Donalds.

17:49 - good burger it was..!

17:55 - some people are trying out rock climbing. I too wanna climb.

18:17 - i too did. Man, it was tough, yet, It was aweeeeeeeesome. My adrenaline levels raised ti heights you cant imagine.!

18:20 - next is a laser show @ lumbini park.

18:29 - a crook policeman stopped us. Demanded rs 600 . Managed with a 200 rs.

18:39 - in Q for laser show.

19:00 - finally, after lots and lots of confusion, we got our seats in a good place for the show.

19:45 - the show was indeed colourful and musical.

20:00 - now towards Birla Mandir. Its uphill and i can see it from here itself. The lights and the marble temple looks splendid.

21:00 - over and out. The temple was clean, calm, quiet and spiritually enlightening.

21:05 - now to Charminar, one of the most famous Landmark of Hyderabad.

22:39 - did some typical local hyderabadi shopping. And for dinner, Pani Puri. As I always say, I CAN EASILY SURVIVE ON PANI PURIS..!

23:00 - Still on the roads. This time, to City centre mall.

23:43 - All malls have closed down for the night. Now at Cafe Coffee Day for a late night coffee and Snack.

24:57 - Reached back home safe.. Hoooo.. What a day..!

ELECTRIFYING DAY… SHOCKING, RATHER THAN ELECTRIFYING..

10/10/10 – SEE THE DATE. AND YOU CANT IMAGINE WHATS IN STORE FOR YOU..!

06:46 - Woke up, brushed up,now struggling to wake others up.

06:50 - The electricity had gone at 2am last night, so most of our gadgets are not fully charged including this one.

We have lots of travelling to do today. Lots of places to see. Hope, electricity will show up soon.

07:28 - havoo. power came. Time to get our gadgets charged.

08:51 - had breakfast. Idli and sambhar. Feeling excited coz a long and eventful day awaits us,

09:29 - Get, Set, Goooo..!

10:36 - reached Snow World. We got a combo ticket for 3 rides namely, Snow World, RainForest and Death Valley.

12:35 - I am too tired to write anything.

Two Reasons:

1- The Snow World was awesome. Photos would be self explanatory. The other two rides were full of crap.

2- Received Shocking news. I got secret Information that; my mom secretly checked my emails got all information regarding my love, with photos and other evidence. Damn. I’m screwed.

12:49 - now searching roads to Ramoji Film City.

15:39 - Finally, reached here. I’m exhausted of all my moods. The entry fee here is rs 400 per head.

17:45 - Out of Ramoji Film City. Man it’s huge. But Frankly, I didn’t enjoy it well, because of the above two reasons.

18:00 - we are all sad and exhausted. We need some alcohol, especially me.

18:16 - Searching for a pub with good disco and of course, alcohol.

20:00 - the search ends here. We went to some of the best disco pubs in the city. What’s bad? All need a couple entries.

20:18 - bought four bottles of Bacardi Breezer and two large bottles of Strong Tuborg beer, one of the best beers.

20:29 - caught in a railway cross. Two beers still incomplete.

23:00 - off to bed, after witnessing some freakily funny actions of a drunk Kevin Shimo. Really, Laughed My Ass Off.

Adios for the day.

LAST DAY

11/10/10

I’m afraid, todays entries are not time bound. Cuz today was not much eventful.

Today we woke up late, everything was slow. Saw commonwealth Games for some time, had breakfast, played for a while with Shreya (Sreevin’s sister) and went out for the so called shopping with Shreya.

Uncle suggested that there’s a great place for shopping in a place called Malaysian Towers. It took us 1 and half hours of wrong twists and turns to find the place. Actually, the thing was called D Mart in an area named Malaysia Township. The freakish thing is that, it’s just a super market, a miniature form of Big Bazaar. Damn. There everything ended. We bought some food stuffs to eat while on the train journey back. And went back home.

We had promised uncle that we’d all go out together for lunch.

Lunch spot was selected by us, Hyderabad House, well known for the biryani. Food was exceptionally superb. Then after, we went to a sweet house to buy sweets to home. This time also, uncle paid ignoring our protests. What a generous man..!

So, everything was over, we went back home, packed our bags full and bid everyone adieu. Took a local train to secunderabad.

We will board our main train from secunderabad to tirupathi at 18:05 (god knows, its Indian Railways)

And from there, we’ll find some way to reach Kerala.

Why this uncertainty?

Because, its Dussera and transportation means are all booked. So whatever medium is available, we are bound to take it because, we need to reach our homes as soon as possible.

NOT OVER: One more day

12/10/10

07:50 - Now I’m sitting at Tirupathi Railway Station. The funny thing is, there is NO bus or train that would take us to Kerala (or even Coimbatore) until evening. So we’re going to rent a room in Railway Station and spend the day here till the train that would arrive at 21:10.

08:00 - yesterday’s train journey was fun. Our local train from BHEL to Secunderabad was late by 40 minutes, by the time it reached Secunderabad, our train to Tirupathi was already moving. We had to run across 4 platforms to reach it along with our OVER-Heavy bags.

09:00 - took a room near railway station. Rs 300 only all minimalistic facilities available.

10:00 - Kevin bought 5 bottles of Bacardi Breezer, again cranberry, my favourite flavour. Drank one.

12:39 - watched IND-AUS cricket match, played prince of Persia in Sreevin’s Laptop.

14:00 - @tirupati bus stand to search for a bus to Coimbatore,(then to Trissur) looks as if a train journey is better.

14:18 - Kevin and Sreevin are interested in seeing an Adult Movie, since they saw an interesting poster nearby. And me? - I’m always interested. But the thing is, the theatre’s name’s written in Telugu. So we are using GPS on our mobiles to find out the nearest theatres and their location.

14:28 - found the theatre, got the tickets, now inside, hoping for some real fun.

17:34 - Damn. It was horror, literally. Yes, it’s an old English horror movie with zero nude scenes. Just the usual waddy stuff ancient horror movies show. What more? - its re-dubbed into Telugu. Fantastic!

19:21 - back in our room playing POP again.

20:39 - vacated the room, bought some more Bacardi Breezer for those at Kevin’s house. Yeah, they drink..!

21:00 - in railway station for the last phase of the return journey. The train might arrive within 20 minutes. It’s a local compartment. So, rush would be there. Moreover, its Tirupati, so many pilgrims are there too, most of them, Tamilians. I’ve always wondered about these people, they are spiritual-up-to-the-zenith. But, whatever it is, they won’t take a bath, nor brush their teeth, for a change. I wonder if there is any superstition among them that say that, personal hygiene diminishes spiritual enlightening. Uff.

AYOO, THIS SHIT IS NOT OVER YET..!

13/10/10

02: 26 - uff uff ufffff. Having to stand (no, i’m literally in air) in a local compartment of the jam-packed-train from Tirupati to Thrissur. I’m been standing like this for more than 3 hours now. God knows, maybe I’ve to stand like this for 12 hours at a stretch. #incredibleindia #lifetimeexperience

I can’t even breathe properly. I’ve been standing on one toe all this time, coz if I’ve to place the other toe down, that has to be on somebody else’s body. Coz there are hundreds of women and children lying down fast asleep in our compartment and like a 200 extra including me, standing. Can’t complain. This is India, where freedom comes down to every individual.

08:16 - reached Trissur. Happy to see my hometown and hear my home language. #eyecandy #earcandy

I’m praying to God, not to give me any more adventures on the bus back home. If there happens one, I’ll sure write.

On the other case, adios amigos..!

PS: REACHED HOME WITHOUT UNDERGOING ANY MORE FREAKING ADVENTURES.