School of ROK

My temple of strength...

Nostalgia, emotions, warmth, glimpses of past life, smell of the soil, feel of the building stone walls, those trivial memories that have been engraved in your head, the spots where you struggled and worked hard for hrs. the places where you shared a good laugh, offices where you waited patiently for the manager to call you in so you could ask for an on campus job, the harshness of Texas sun...everything from the most tiresome experience to the most thrilling days of life...I thought I've become a seasoned individual and cannot easily feel emotions of pensiveness and my eyes stopped being moist...oh boy was i wrong...

Maple Sq #231 windows

so when i tried to put down some words about this topic i find myself typing a few and then going backspace on a few other words...retrying again and then deleting the while thing.....ever been so excited that you don't know what to type but you want to type it all - yeah that's me right now

Yes,,,,i visited my grad school with my family. The tour started with of course the HQ - 401 S. Oak Street famously known as maple square...yes, this rickety wooden building still stands high and is still the hub of Indian kids with dreams of making it big...

showing them the same spot where 901 S. Oak street once stood and now is the KC Hall dorms....the place looks totally fresh and so new and nice...something that came up after I moved out of the school.

Aramark cafeteria sitting

walking through the business building, coming out on the Health center side, walking in front of the University Center, entering the E.H. Hereford UC and his ever welcoming, scalp-shining bust, Aramark cafe - JB got us food form here for free, still remm. the grilled onions with cheese and tater totts sandwich

Copy center...Ex

the place of copy center that existed once upon a time - never purchased a simple book - all copy-rights violated by deal own Shah brothers not just for themselves, for the whole group of guys - moving along...

the post office - remm. sending birthday greetings to loved ones from here...walk a little ahead and the automatic double doors open up for you - upfront is the Woolf Hall to your left is the little publication house..

remm. Shorthorn? of course you do...hat usually was the source of your cabinet protectors isnt it? - oh ya and we did occasionally read them as well :P 

moving along... upfront is the mecca of communications - Ransom Hall - at any point in the day you shall find at least 3 Indian boys and girls either walking towards it, or away form it with a headset with microphone in hands - one and only free source to say hello to family members 7 seas apart... heard of things like Yahoo messenger voice chat? PC2phone.com ? well those were the days before skype/ viber and the likes were invented...but guess what the Ransom hall is not converted into some other departmental building...sorry boys...go get your own laptops now!!?

The Ransom Hall

right in front of Ransom hall goes a small alley besides the Preston Hall that brings you to a water fountain which to me has become a symbol of brotherhood and friendship....it will always be

the fountain...

this spot that i talk about is a fountain with the green oxidized spouts and a nice background of brown and blue all around...just amazing

then further to your left comes the central library...walk into this place and you know what library means to a student over 8 floors of books of various topics, an ocean of knowledge, something that i feel i could've & should've made a little more use of....

next we walk over to the other side of the campus via the over bridge, the racing cars below still invigorate the same thrill, same excitement for me, felt like i was atop a race track...upfront is the place where we graduated, Texas Hall building. 

further ahead is the Architecture building with another very nice fountain and a beautiful lawn - speak of creativity and that's imbibed in this place in each and every corner...

straight ahead to this building across the street is the newly renovated and the massiver Recreation center - it was massive before it was renovated...now its massiver!!!

then comes forest Glen #49 (read Baniya residence) - this is a place where there was once a Desi dance party, rather a pool party held, Sukhbir, Remo, Bon jovi and the likes were heard loud and clear for a few blocks away - the AC unit for the neighbors on the floor below fell off the roof ----that was the last party in that apartment...

moving along we walk all the way to the Nedderman Hall - the name still scares me but now that i have overcome the coursework i think i am ok with it....this is the engineering building where all my classes were held - RSN, DSP, Wireless communications damn...scary but today being in this building sitting on the same chair today I was very comfortable - didn't have any assignments to complete or exam to prepare for....the basement library, the other labs, classrooms all the very same...

parents noticed that there were plug points on the floor - for laptops etc. they were impressed! i remm. so was i when i had first seen it :)

and thus concluded the tour....while i was showing around my university proudly to my family, my tone my enthusiasm and the experiences were constantly getting refreshed in my head....had visited almost evey building for a job, only to come back with a denial and hopelessness...bad grades in the fall of 2002, depleting $ the account, and no sign of a decent job etc. you try to find one reason to feel low about, you shall quiver out multiple.... that hopelessness gave strength (weird but true) to go back another building the next day,,,,

looking up in the sky in those days was basically asking - really!? you're really trying this!? ok...bring it on...still do...

Bring it on... :)

not much of a change eh!

most buildings are the same, the grounds are as is, benches, desks, trees, the air still has same scent of old times the one thing i missed was my buddies...everything was special but could have been brilliant if i had you all with me...some other day maybe.. :)

I still remm. distinctly because of hard times, and bad economy and every other dirth in those days, it was easy to have a grudge in our heart for the struggle each one of us was being put through....felt unfortunate even, cursed the university at times during the night, remm. that one - G? :)

all said and done, wherever i am, whoever i become, whatever i do, and the way I think of life quite a bit is because of these years of my life,
Am sure each one of us have a place that does what UTA has done for me, for some its the place they grew up, for some the primary school they went to, it's an amazing feeling to go visit the place once again, try it if you haven't so far...

and until next time...

......thank you...for everything....especially the tough times....

Ant and dove....

Have u ever heard this story?
Would u rather be an ant? Or a dove??

Something's in life happen so unexpectedly that you feel flabbergasted by it, some incidents make your day, some ruin it, some build up who you become....

Since the recent past few years, year after year I've seen major changes in the people around me, friends, family everything is ever changing....I at times feel am inside a time capsule and time is honestly running on boost mode for everyone, its feels like one of those street lights where u stop, look at the cars besides you, just nod in acknowledgement and then push the pedal to move on....except my car isn't going at the same speed and am able to notice the pace at which people are just running towards the destination....

Today I had taken my dads car for a doctors appointment, (usually I take then bike) got done with the appointment and was walking towards the car, as I walked close to it, I saw that a 70+ yrs. Old lady, weak, frail, was trying to stop an auto. Her unstable had was hardly visible to the fast and furious black and yellow auto drivers,....it is 33 deg. Temperatures in Bombay and certainly not a pleasant time of the yr to wait hopelessly fr an auto....

I asked her "maaji, where is it that you want to go? She said "bank, opposite side on sv road"
I said come here's my car will drop you off.
She said " but beta, where r u headed to?"

I said doesn't matter, I will go home but will drop you off to your destination.

Lucky fr me it was a few block around the corner and wasn't a big deal, but am sure if she had said byculla I wouldn't have hesitated today.....It was an impulsive decision to help her and as some smartass had once said "Ke baar Jo Maine commitment...." U know the rest... ;)

Now maaji and me start talking, here's how it went:
Maaji: beta please tell me where r u headed and I will get off before, don't want to be a hassle fr you
Me: maaji, no hassle I live close by, will drop you off and move onto my home, no problem at all!
Maaji: god bless you son! I just want to make sure I am not troubling you, I have learn to live in as much I get, don't want to pile on...
Me: its fine, am sure you have a long day ahead, this is just a small gesture...
Maaji: we are all humans and we should help each other as much as we can, if anything life has thought me, no one is big or small, no one has anything more that the other, its like the ant and dove story!
Have u heard that one?

Me: yes, I think i remm. That one!

Once there was an ant and a dove, a hunter was pointing his shooting gun at the dove, the ant saw this, dove was unaware...the ant rushes as fast as she could to climb up the hunters leg and just before the hunter is abt to pull the trigger bites the hunter on his leg,.... Hunter misses his shot
Dove hears this and flies away...

A few days later, ant gets thirsty, she walks by a small puddle of water, she's sipping her self some life and just then a school boy jumps into the puddle, this flows the ant into it and the ant starts to drown....the same dove was right there and sees this...he nows not what to do...
He flies off, grabs a leaf from a nearby tree and drops it into the puddle near the ant...then ant grabs onto it and climbs up

Neither the ant or the dove know this till date that they have saved each others life...they continued to live their life and help out whenever they saw a situation...

With this story and a few other small talks, we parted our ways, I dropped her off to the bank, she blessed me, said I was the the first one in her life to help her out like this,... I had a smile on my face and I said good day maaji!

Opportunity to help is right next to you, you just need to look,
Bring a smile to someone's face, and make life better for someone else someday
..it takes way far lesser than you think....

So....

Have you heard the ant and dove story?
Would you rather be an ant or a dove?

Truth is, doesn't matter if u can fly the world,
or your pace is so slow that you think you can never catch up,....

If you have a heart that wishes to help,...
You can do it...just keep your eyes mind and heart open!

life riding et al!

so someone asked me today are you passionate about riding and motorcycles, to that i said, will riding to me comes as natural as breathing and sleeping! u just do it, its therapy, its a chance to discover that you have another level, I get philosophical when i ride, some of the most brilliant ideas come to me when i ride, its almost like meditation, maybe even better than meditation (i would be bold enough to say here, its my blog, so i can say it hah!!)

but the truth is, i really do like riding and knowing about motorcycles, reading about them, about automobiles in general, i mean i would go out of my way to take a picture of a nice machine, i would plan a day trip to an auto museum, i would feel thrilled to visit a motor accessories store, may not buy anything but just feel so relaxed and thrilled at the same time being around motorcycles and cars, its what a spa does to some of you,,,yeah remember that feeling eh! :)

If you feel that at times you don't understand whats wrong with your life, whats going on, and how would you get through? try Riding a motorcycle. The problems wont go away, however you'll be better equipped to deal with them

a road throws at you many a turns, you just need to steer around with ease on those turns, remember don't let go of the throttle! you need to keep going to really go through the turn don't u! if you stop the throttle you would well,,,just collapse before you are through!
some hurdles are to be steered around, avoided and you can only do it if you were alert and aware and saw it before it was too late!
some hurdles are to be simply met head-on, no choice is sometimes the best option! and with the right amount of confidence and determination, you will come through just fine
Enjoy the vista and the views while you are in them, as once you pass them, no matter how much you want to turn your head and enjoy them just once more, you can't!
Enjoy the vistas while keeping your eyes open for unexpected turn of events that could jeopardize your future moments of happiness!
Riding seldom is about the destination, otherwise it wouldn't be called riding, it would just be travelling!
Riding is always about the journey and what you make of it, reaching the destination is just a perk...
if you fall, well, getup and get on it and this time, don't make the same mistake again!
You never leave one of yours alone, once you start the ride together, you finish it together, that's just how it is
always be there for a fellow rider
invest your time in the young ones, they will need you now, be there for them
Duct tape and WD-40: fixes everything "."
and last but not the least: The most dangerous risk of all is the risk of spending our life not doing what you really want to do on the bet that you will always find the freedom to do it later.

so if you were thinking i was trying to preach about riding, well ready again and try to see it from a deeper level, and you'll see the magic (kinda like the image embedded into a random drawing, which i can never figure without peeing at the clue :P)

Dummies guide for RTO visit for duplicate license

So a few steps for someone who wants to get a duplicate license issued from the RTO:
1. Get ample photocopies of your existing license
2. Take multiple photos of yourself
3. Carry a glue stick
4. Carry lots of change, coins and small denomination rupees
5. Carry a bottle of water/Gatorade , an umbrella, or maybe at least a hat/cap its always hot and sunny here, if not that then it will rain for sure
6. Eat good filling breakfast
7. Plan on reaching around 10:45 AM, officials will arrive between 11-1130 but u go early to figure out where you have to go and what forms you will need
8. Be prepared to shuttle from window to window and queue to queue
9. Whatever happens don't loose your cool, you will be ignored, misguided and also given plenty useless answers don't feel sad, you can bother someone else , eventually I'll get there.
10. Ask if you can apply for a duplicate license since you have lost your original.
11. Save by our original license with you no matter however rundown it is, its very highly valuable document in whatever shape it is
12. If they don't offer you, still ask if there's anything pending and if they need anything else from you
13. Lastly make sure your biometric info is given. They didn't ask me, I didn't know, fr then past 3 months and over, my application was lying around as "not processed"

All of the above if you refuse to accept that getting a license can be difficult and that you can do it yourself....I did.

Flirting with the shadow

At last i get the chance to write again....been waiting for this for such a long time now it's not even funny,,,,

So i was on a work trip to California where i managed to borrow a 2007, Honda Shadow VT750 from a friends friend who now obviously is my best friend (thanks Kata :P) Cannot thank this dude enough to let me borrow the machine,,,and then in a certain way, i think the bike too must have thanked him as much....so get this: this bike was 2007 model, and it only had 1500 miles on it!!!! was pretty much sitting in a parking lot for most of it's life so far!!! hadn't seen the tar or the wind at all!!! i know my heart was in pain just when i heard that!!! It's like I could feel the pain and the urge of the steel-steed calling me,,,,,
So one of the colder evening, i decided to get to the parking place where the machine was parked and rolled up the sleeves to see what all was needed, clearly the bike had no oil or lubrication at all, it barely had any gas and the battery was down.
Used Kata's Subaru and jumper cables, to bring life back to the bike, and gave the ignition,,,and wallah it started,,,but only for a few seconds then it died...did that for a few times and finally it was up and running but again it died,,,just then Kata realized that the bike wasn't EFI, it had a petrol key,,,which was obviously turned to ON and not reserve,,,,the bike needed a drink soon,,,maybe not as bad as we did by that time :) we left the bike as is and went on to get our anyways,,,

come the next morning, we met again and went up to the bike, i got it started and drove it to the dealership for an oil change and some battery tests etc. to ensure i am not stranded in case i decided to take it into the mountains etc.

the first trip i pulled off with this beast was down south form San jose - Michelle Pfieffer park Big Sur and back - ~ 280 miles and approx. 10 hrs of riding with gas and leak stops only ofcourse!

 the bike handles very well, its got decent power, however it was always a little a tad bit less than what i wanted it to have,,,,it was on those long stretches of empty tarmac that you really want to see the tachometer  read tripple digits to you was when you really felt the instability and its almost like the bike is suddenly urging for you to not giving up even at the cost of road contact and you are like neah not worth flying over the road like this,,,if only it had a few more horses maybe yes,,,,

nevertheless the overall journey was more than exciting, took her through winding curves of the highway 17 towards Santacruz, went straight to 1 south from there and then to Monterey, took it to the peir all the way as it was too early and no one seemed to stop me ;) it was fun.
after a few rounds by the streets of Monterey i decided to proceed further, kept on 1 south and started entering the patch where it's difficult for any rider or a driver to not stop every few minutes of driving to take some really great shots of the natural beautiful scenery California's PCH has to offer. each curve you approach s delightful with a crisp mixture of bright sunlight, cold air, Pacific in at least 4 different shades of blue and when you get really close it also throws some white at you which is always welcome, the clear skies and a certain energy in the air,,,brilliant sheer brilliant experience,,,,

the best part about riding in California is that you are never alone on the road!!! i stopped at a certain bridge over look to chat up with a father son team riding their Harley's up the hills, its not that we spoke about anything great, just general how good the day was and how nice the roads were,,,the thing about riding is that everyone who does, and is stopped over at some vista point is almost like he's out of a meditation session,,,,the rider is always happy and a smile always is greeted with a smile, a peace sign is always matched with a peace sign

if i had it my way i might have never turned around but i knew i had to,,,,it was only when i came around all the way back to highway 39 skyline Blvd. and stopped over at Alice's restaurant is when i realized that in fact this journey was my own meditation session,,,I have now made new memories of these places that i had visited before and may have had some unwanted memories,,,,but now it's all cleaned up with brand spanking new ones with this ride.

Isn't that what riding is all about!!!

this ride pretty much was a coastal ride with some really nice curves by the PCH till the Big - Sur National Park and and then all the way back to Half-moon bay from where i took the 280 to get to 39 and had lunch at Alice's before coming back to San Jose

and when i returned i knew i was going once again and this time it was going to be the North of San Jose,,,,i wasn't too sure about the route simply knew basic direction - go north!!! ;) and as i came around on the roads, i kept making my turns and kept stopping for pictures,,,,again one beautiful morning that was too the places i went to were typical tourist spots along with the rare ones too, but i had all the time i wanted since i knew i wasn't too far away form home base and sort of knew deep down that this was prolly the last weekend i had to ride before i head back to home county,,,so had to make the most of it in terms of the ride and the pics and the tourist spots too!! ;)

at the end of this ride too, it was like the bike was now updated with all the spots in NorCal to see or to show its rider,,,,San Francisco, Pier 39, twin peaks, golden gate vista spots, francis drake blvd., tamalpas state park, sausalitos, market street, and so on,,,,

again these places held different meanings to me for different reasons, had different memories associated with the place of the past times but now, all i can remember is I came here riding and had a broad smile on my face when i was up here!!!