"I've bought my peace for the day!"

I am extremely fond of hearing the captioned statement from a friend, who says it each time he finishes a run and hence there could be no better title for a post on running, I thought. Also, I think I have begun to understand where he is coming from and the profoundness of it.

While I have never been completely off running/jogging in the last 2-3 years, I must admit I have never relished it more than now- thanks to my friend (addressed as "teacher/coach" by me, while running :D ) who is oh so passionate about running that it almost rubs on to you instantly and easily. I have known him only for six months now and running has become an integral part of my life or at least I think it has.

The Monsoons are here and its been pouring like crazy in the maximum city, hampering our running schedule on most days and so we have started valuing the run even more. Today for instance, happened to be a blissful day in terms of running. Thankfully, the rains decided to take a break and give us one too this morning, so we headed for our morning run to Bandra Fort after a long time. I realise it isn't accidental that my day went off so well today. This phenomenal day I had, has to be attributed to the lovely start which set the tone right. 

I am guessing the passion that my friend has for running explains how good a runner he is. To him, 'running'  is synonymous to 'solution to every problem in life' and a lot more. Here goes in brief- he is bloody good at it and I am trying hard to just be at it (as of now). All I know is this - I too have learnt to buy my peace for the day now!

The greatest thing you can do is surprise yourself.

In February of 2013, I did something I had been longing to do for years- my first hike! So my first hike was meant to be in the Sahyadris (which I am told is a difficult terrain) with an organiser called Mumbai Travellers. The hike was a memorable one for a number of reasons, the most obvious of them being that it was my first attempt at hiking. That said, little did I know and for good I must add, that my first hiking destination came with a "difficulty level- high" tag. 


My then status on Facebook, (which I rarely care to update) sums up the entire experience : 

"I now understand the meaning of the quote - "The greatest thing you can do is surprise yourself". Challenged myself, did something that I could have never imagined doing (being a victim of acrophobia) and discovered the hidden strength that was sleeping inside of me. My first night hike (and rock climbing) in a not so easy terrain for a ‘first timer’ with Vaibhav Khaire , Anand Sahu, Elvis J Shemain, Saif Rajulawala and Yunus Dange. You guys were a super reassuring team and I must say- the high is addictive! Cheers! at Gorakhgad."

Here's the flashback- Second weekend of the month was around the corner and I randomly decided to call this group called Mumbai Travelers the second time (after their last hiking plan that I had inquired for, got cancelled) to inquire if there were any upcoming adventure events and me being (the impulsive) me, asked them to block a place for me as soon as I heard a "Yes" from the other end. Eventually, I happened to speak about it with two of my friends, who too decided to join in. I don't quite remember when was the last time I was as excited about the weekend. Believe it or not, I found myself doing a countdown...courtesy- the hiking excitement. I literally made a list of things I would require to carry and started gearing for it in full swing. My excitement only grew further on knowing that it was going to be a night hike. Not to forget, that the preparation also involved buying a pair of new track pants, which I would have otherwise felt guilty about ;).

The Day- And after having romanced time for almost a week, the day finally arrived. Ironically enough, that day did not start on a very exciting note because the lazy friend of mine backed out in the last minute. I and my other friend nonetheless tried not to ruin the excitement and managed to succeed in retaining it eventually. All the hikers were supposed to assemble at Kalyan and when I say "all" here, I meant close to 13 of us. However, we were slightly discouraged to see just 6 of us assembled there. For some godforsaken reason the remaining 7 who had enrolled for the night hike decided to back out, one of them being my friend, of course. While still a little apprehensive, I and my friend decided to join the other four and go for it. A jeep was arranged for, by the organizers to reach the base camp which was approximately two and a half hour drive from Kalyan.

We finally started hiking a little before the clock struck 9. The sky was lit with stars, one of the most scenic nights witnessed by me. Thankfully, all the ice breaking among the 6 of us was done with, on our way to the base camp itself and so we were discussing constellations and identifying stars when we started our hike with backpacks and torches in our hands. We were six of us including the guide from Mumbai Travelers and I was the only girl (this one remains a secret for I didn't want my parents to freak out :D). 

We took a halt after having climbed for almost four and a half hours and none of us knew that our destination was at least another four hours away (which as it turns out was ten times tougher, narrower, rockier and steeper than what we had covered). We decided to cover that stretch early morning due to lack of clarity on the directions and it being pitch dark. Was it easy?- Hell, no! It was not. It was undoubtedly a tough terrain to hike on, which sometimes challenged even the pros'. Was it fun?- hell, yes...it was crazy fun!...perhaps the craziest I have had. The high that you experience when you have peaked the mountain is unbeatable, incomparable and addictive. You'd wish that you could somehow hold on to it forever. And hey, my description of how it feels would remain a mere statement for you till you experience it yourself someday.

There is a lot more to be said about all the fun the six of us had, and what a wonderful experience it is to meet people from absolutely different backgrounds, professions, regions, ideologies, cultures with just one thing in common- ADVENTURE! 

The ricksha walas of Mumbai nagariya

"Autooooo", I scream each time I need one and then realise that it is referred to as "Ricksha" here.

I have to confess that I have never had a better experience of commuting by auto/ricksha or auto rickshaw (as you would like to call it) in any other city. And I know for a fact that the local residents here would never understand what that means because after having spent just about three months here, I already feel so used to it that I have forgotten how horrible the commuting experience in auto has been for me or can be for anyone else in other cities.

When I say cities, it may be important to mention that I have lived in quite a few cities already- Jaipur, Delhi, Bangalore and now in Mumbai. Besides, I have also travelled to a few cities but I would prefer not taking into account those experiences because I haven't lived long enough in these cities to figure out how the autos operate there. My experience (good or bad) in these cities may not necessarily be the general trend as such.

However, out of all the cities that I have lived in so far, Mumbai is the only city that has pleasantly surprised me with its ricksha walas. At first it felt almost unbelievable to see ricksha walas turn the meter down on their own as soon as you got in because I was so used to being extorted and being taken on a ride by their brethren in other cities. By the way as most of us would have noticed already, it is not that the autos in other cities don't have meters, its just that their masters don't believe in turning them down and the role of meter has only been restricted to avoid paying fines if caught by the officials (which is rare in our country) for not operating in the prescribed manner.

So how do they really function? Well, by quoting random fares and hey believe me the trend of quoting random fares in other cities is as normal as it is in Mumbai for riksha walas to turn the meter down. And I am saying this because I have commuted like this for years. Ask why!- because there is no concept of turning the meter down! And on days, when you are really (read REEEEEALY) lucky or rather you think you are lucky and you end up getting into an auto which does not just have a meter but an operational meter, you will hear something to this effect from its master as soon as you have placed your self in it - "20 Rs. extra!" After these exact words, you dare not ask the master "why" because you will either be asked to get down the auto or you will end up causing yourself a headache from the most ridiculous of explanations that they have to offer to answer that specific question.

On the contrary in this city (Mumbai), the riksha walas take you strictly by the meter, so much so that they return even 1 rupee change on their own. Only people who have lived in other cities (specifically in Bangalore and Delhi) would know how unbelievably amazing it feels to be paying by the meter. It still amuses me each time I get into an auto here without having to think, negotiate or bargain and I guess by now it is evident that I am not over this fantastic trend that the ricksha walas of Mumbai nagariya have set for their city.

The saga of reaching office late

I am absolutely sick and tired of being late to work and even though I am late only by 5 to 10 minutes, it sucks as much when you have to report your in time daily. Or rather it sucks even more if you are late only by 5-10 minutes because while in your own head that hardly constitutes as being late, for your senior all that matters is whether you are in time or not and not by what time are you not in time.

First Saturdays are working for me and today is that Saturday of the month. The entire week has been immensely hectic work wise but I am happy that I have been able to cope up with the stress (caused by unreasonable deadlines) successfully. In fact I managed to wrap up some stuff before the timeline, of course by burning the midnight oil. I don't know why though! It's a disorder that I have no control over. I had the urge to knock it off last night in the hope of a peaceful weekend and so I did. And I am happy I did that. What I am not happy about is that I reached office at 9:38 am. Exactly 8 minutes late and as soon as I called the Delhi office to report my log in time (yes I have to do it every single day. Feel free to feel lucky if you don't have to.), I hear the voice that I detest the most from the other end- you are late today? Well, someone please PLEASE for crying out loud tell me, how do you respond to that! I mean isn't it obvious I am late when I have already given him my in time as 9:38 but no apparently some people hate numbers so much that they don't understand numbers verbally either! That apart, I cleared my throat to say "yes I am slightly late" and just when I thought the worst was over, I hear "how come" from the other end. This is when the person talking to you is not even your partner, it is his irritating EA for the record. If only I knew how come, I wouldn't be coming in late by 5 minutes so often I thought to myself. I wanted to scream out loud that it's most certainly not to hear him for longer on phone first thing in the morning! I was obviously caught off guard by that question and so my instant response was "it's raining outside and I couldn't find my umbrella". As ridiculous as it may sound I have to admit that I said that.

I am told that he sends out an email listing everyone's in time to the Partners daily with reasons for being late. Believe it or not, my concern is this- will he be writing this against my name today- "log in time - 9:38 am; she was late to office because she couldn't find her umbrella."

No seriously, now that would be hilarious!

Mumbai's tiny tot

Mumbai is perhaps the only Indian metro city which has come to mean so many different things to so many people and hence phrases such as 'the city of dreams', 'the city that never sleeps', 'the NY of India', 'the maximum city', and so on.

I relocated here in the month of June, 2012 and what exactly were my reasons to opt for Mumbai? None (honestly)! Before I could even try and think of one, I was here. Had this relocation taken place a couple of months earlier, I could have called it personal but certain things are not meant to be, is how I look at it in hindsight. I had visited Mumbai a few times before but I can hardly refer to them as visits considering how short they were and the limited time that those visits allowed me to explore this city. Besides, its one thing to have visited a city and another to relocate, so I obviously had my own set of apprehensions about Mumbai. The best way to ward off those apprehensions I thought was to not think much about it and to wait and see it unfold instead. While this kind of  spacing out did help, the downside of this approach was that it took me significant time to sink in that I was in Mumbai after I was made to fly.

We are nearing the end of August now and I realise I am two and a half months old in this city. How has it been here? Not bad at all, I would say. I am sure if certain people I know were to hear that response (especially my brother), their reaction would be - "oh c'mon! You end up liking every city you live in". And I wouldn't dispute that at all because that's in fact true. It's not because I have no bad experiences, but because the good ones outdo the not so good ones for me. Also, I choose to look at the brighter side by default- blame it on my parents.

While it is too early to conclude anything about the city, I already have a few good things to mention and the foremost being- how safe I feel in this city. I have to admit that I have never felt so safe in any other city and this is despite staying all by myself here. Agreed my work hours are not as atrocious as they have been previously but I can bet, no matter what your work hours may be, this city envelopes you with a sense of safety that no other metropolitan city in India can. It's amazing to see a city with so much energy and life at any hour of the day (and night) and what is even more amazing is, that it is contagious! I crib to myself practically each morning I wake up for work. However, fortunately my cribbing remains restricted to the four walls of my room and to that time of the day alone for as soon as I step out I realise I fall in the rarest of rare category of people (not just in Mumbai but in any other city) who have the luxury to walk to their office. That apart, like I said the city's energy is contagious...it grows on to you no matter what the weather is like. I was surprised to see, how even the heaviest of rains here does not stop people from doing their daily chores, when I would mostly be dreaming of ways to somehow bunk office and sleep for a little longer or sit and have a cup of coffee in a cafe across the street. 

There are plenty of other things that I love here, for instance, the exciting  theatre scene with so many good plays being staged every other week, jogging by the sea side at Carter Jogger's Park and Bandstand, street shopping, rains at the moment (for its monsoon time here), exploring the plethora of eating joints that surround my house and office and most importantly finding people who I enjoy with. However, I would not want to conclude about Mumbai based on these reasons alone because these aren't things that can be attributed to the city alone. These are things that I partly opted for (except the rains of course!No, I am not related to the Rain God.). To explain better and at the risk of coming across as a show off (and secretly trying to do so ;)) - I don't think everyone living in this city gets to jog at Carter whenever they'd like to and sometimes run into celebrities too. Well the point being I can do it because I chose to stay  close to my office (which happens to be in a beautiful area called Khar) and was lucky enough to find a place.

Just when I was thinking of concluding this post, I realise that there is a lot more I'd like to write about (read my experiences) the city. However, that realisation also amuses me as I can't believe I already have so much to write about a city in which I have barely spent a quarter year. That apart, being Mumbai's two and a half month tiny tot, I better reserve my thoughts n comments for just a little longer.

A day well 'pretended'.

How I wish this wasn’t true but too much inactivity can, yes that’s right CAN lead to boredom. It’s 5:36 pm and here I am sitting and wiling away my time since 9:38 am. Eight hours spent doing nothing and at least two more to go. Yeah, apparently this is also how one’s day at work could be on certain days and please note this is when I opted to work in a law firm, which supposedly offers more than a hectic schedule any law graduate could ask for! No, by no means am I refuting or attempting to refute that statement. I would myself testify how difficult and challenging things get more often than not in a law firm. That said, I would now also add that HECTIC is any day better than INACTIVITY for ten goddamn hours. I guess I am finding it all the more weird because while I have seen the other extreme (being loaded with work and working till 2am/4am), this is the first time I am experiencing this extreme. 

Talk about how well I have spent this day. Here you go- pretended to work, had lemon tea/coffee every three hours like I had so much work that caffeine was a necessity for staying awake, pretended to work again, had lunch, pretended to work, chatted with colleagues, pretended to work yet again, read some personal stuff (which helped me in pretending to work), borrowed an intern’s laptop 3 times to check Gmail and Facebook, pretended to work and pretending to work right now too while writing this post. Yes, this has pretty much been my day at work today and let me say this that from a third person's perspective, one couldn’t have asked for more but step into my shoes right away to experience the infinite boredom that the day had to offer me and I am sure we would be on the same page and together say, “we couldn’t have asked for more (BOREDOM)!!”.

Yay, yay yayyyy! Yes, that is how ecstatic I am to see the time today! It is 6:23 now; hopefully I will be able to pull off the pretense for just a little longer.

Explore Langkawi the fun way

Well, I must tell you that this post was originally written for a journo friend of mine who was doing a piece on travel for a newspaper. She was asked to club a couple of travel experiences and she insisted on including one of my experiences, knowing my love for travel. I later decided to detail it out further over here so it could help anyone interested in exploring Langkawi the fun way. So here goes...

At Cenang beach, Langkawi

Destination: Langkawi Island

Duration of my stay: 3 nights, 2 days

Month of visit: October

What to see in Langkawi:  Even though Langkawi is a small island, it manages to offer visitors more than a few options. The island has something for everyone!- whether you are the sort who wishes to simply soak in the sun on the beautiful turquoise coloured beaches and enjoy the inactivity or you are the kind who would join in the fun by indulging in a number of activities.

Looking back, I feel my stay at Langkawi was rather short considering how much one could explore on this island. Since my trip to Malaysia was an official one, I inadvertently ended up focusing more on the first 3 days of my trip which were spent in Kuala Lumpur and was unable to research much on what I should be doing once I land in Langkawi. This lapse, believe it or not, made my trip all the more exciting.

I reached Langkawi at around 9 in the evening and so couldn’t do anything that evening except head to my hotel and crash. The sight of the island however was beyond breathtaking from the plane just before it landed at the Langkawi Airport. Thankfully, I had booked my hotel room in advance else I would have had to fly back with perhaps just another glimpse of the same "breathtaking sight" during the take off, considering how flooded it was with tourists.

The lake inside the Eagle Bay Park

Well I was staying at one of the hotels in the Eagle Bay area of Langkawi and believe it or not, the sight of the blue waters and yachts from the room itself was so beautiful that I thought to myself- irrespective of whether I step out or not of my room, this visit was already worth it. Anyway, one of the few good things that I did in hindsight, was buying an extensive map of Langkawi. So the next morning after consulting a few locals employed at the hotel, I figured out the “not to miss” list of Langkawi and that renting a car and driving it yourself was not only the cheapest but also the best way to explore the beauty of the Island. And so, I along with my folks went to the nearest authorised taxi hiring place and rented a car for ourselves for two days, which was one of the coolest decisions we made on that trip. Going to a foreign land- a totally unfamiliar territory, renting out a car and driving it yourself on the very first day of your trip, not having a clue about what the traffic rules were, except that it was not even remotely similar to India was way too adventurous and exciting for us. Oh yes, before I forget, please do not, yes, DO NOT forget to carry your driving license, if at all you are interested in trying out this adventure. Just in case you are interested in knowing, we obviously did break some minor traffic rules but managed to stay clear from getting into any trouble. Lucky us!- thankfully Langkawi is not all that strict with tourists. The island is quite thinly populated for an Indian. You rarely find people walking on the roads to assist you with directions (which most of us are used to, in India) so all you have is the map and the sign boards to rely on. And while it is slightly unusual for us, Indians to explore a destination like this, let me tell you that it is by all means far more reliable.

While we were loving the drive on the roads of Langkawi, (once you are out of the city, you are mostly driving by the coast which is ecstatic), we were also confused every now and then as to whether we were headed in the right direction and whether we would be able to cover the “not to miss list of Langkawi” considering the paucity of time. Sooner than later we figured out that no matter which route you take you would end up covering most attractions of Langkawi when you are driving because of the shape of the island.

At the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club with my map

Time to talk about the "must sees & do's" of Langkawi now. Apart from some of the gorgeous beaches like Rhu beach, Cenang beach, Kok and Tengah Beach, there are ample activities to try your hands on in Langkawi such as, parasailing, jet skiing, eagle feeding, island hopping, boating/yachting, snorkelling and scuba diving. I personally found cable car ride to Oriental Village as one the best things to do in Langkawi. It’s crazy, it ‘scary and yet it’s fun and gives you a big kick when you realize you are at a height from where you can practically see the whole island- the sea, the forests, the roads and everything else! Well this is also where DON 1 was shot, not that it is the USP of Oriental Village but I guess it deserves a mention here. Jet skiing, parasailing and eagle feeding were again a lot of fun. Since we were living in the Eagle Bay area, we obviously happened to explore bits of that area as well and the time spent at Eagle Bay Park which has a calm and clear lake inside was quite nice actually. The next day we again drove to Cenang beach and chilled out in the sun there, after which we went to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and saw some of the finest yachts ever. Trust me this is one place you could sit for hours together brooding into nothingness. By then we were left only with our last evening in Langkawi and were more than willing to explore the local markets for some shopping. We did pick up a few T-shirts, chocolates and so on but to tell you the truth, Langkawi is not the best of places to shop except alcohol of course which is duty free. Kuala Lumpur was a lot cheaper for other stuff and had a huge variety too when it came to shopping.

So yeah to sum up, Langkawi is a great island…perhaps one of the best places to unwind! 

Recommendations:

1. Carry your driving license for sure unless you plan to hire a driver.
2. Buy a good map with directions.
3. Be prepared to experiment with your taste buds, the food is very different, especially the Malay food. I did not enjoy the cuisine much and stuck to Thai food instead, which again is authentic Thai and hence way too spicy. It’s easier for Non vegetarians to survive though.



All smiles after discovering a Thai restaurant in Langkawi  

4. You could pick up goodies like chocolates, souvenirs etc. if you really wish to, however shopping in Langkawi isn't a very good idea. You could instead spend that money on adventure and water sports.