Destination Manali - The Build Up.

"Let's plan a trip to manali, joshi's bday waaley weekend ke liye!", the mail from avnish was a casual suggestion born out of either office boredom or a gruelling schedule, the reason varies from time to time dependening on the so called "IT" industry. A chain of mails followed suggesting postponement till next weekend and "count me out/in" mails. The idea it seemed was heading towards the predictable "abhi nahi, us mahine ke us weekend pe karte hai".

In the next few days to come the Punter had come up with travel charges and places to visit, we had heard words like Keylong, Leh, Rohtang, Lauhaul & Spiti. Punter had his tail up and Avnish was in his elements as well with "pahar pe kissi gaon mein jaakar chai piyenge, visit buddhist monastaries",the unpredictablity however was still there leave approvals, deadlines and of course recession fears.

Verma was not too convinced about the plan, I had my doubts about travelling so much of distance to Keylong, Punter & Avnish had strong beliefs about that Keylong was do-able and i was convinced that somehow travelling 15 hours in a volvo will take more than just a strong resolve it takes strong gut muscles as well as we were to find from the ulti-mate warrior later on.

Monday 25th May,
We started putting our plans into action, I had started tapping aways at Verma's recession fears, Punter had started convincing me about Keylong, Avnish had got us into "koi jaye na jaye, hum to zaroor ja rahe hain" mode. I negotiated leaves from my TL, told mom it's a trip with my pals from IIC & created my packing list. Verma was still undeciced however I decided the timing of my tap had to be perfect ala day before IMT Ghaziabad, 2008. Checked out keylong, etc. on the net, had a discussion with Punter about keylong feasibility, we have GO at "we'll see when we get to manali", we contemplate getting girls on board for the trip and then realize it's too much of a task, What about booze, we'll get it when we get there, what about the 15 hours in a volvo, oh heck we'll do it yarr, let's just bloody go already !

Tuesday 26th May,
Action day today, thursday evening we are supposed to leave, Punter needs to book the tickets, It's get on or get off for Verma, timing is ripe, i needed to shoot "THE E-MAIL", I figured that this one was due from me and already knew that verma, punter and avnish were expecting it.
It's as corny as they come, "one day of your life, one leave, lifetime eternity memories blah blah blah.", I could almost hear Verma saying "darn it this ass always comes up with some shit !", Game Over, Verma is IN !

Wednesday 27th May,
Sync up time, Punter emails us the bus tickets for manali. We try one last hook at Joshi to get him aboard, joey declines and wishes us the best. We make our plans about how we can travel, what all to get and when to get back sunday, monday or do we go to leh and never come back(tempting).

D-Day, Thursday 28th May,
Hiker bag packed sitting at office, feet tapping ready to exit when clock strikes 4, Some dude asks whether i am going on a trekking trip, my grin tells the story, snow filled rohtang makes me feel cooler already. Discussion on how to reach the bus stop, everyone wants to go back to home from office except for Punter and Me !, Avnish and me hook up for a cab, Swati(from office) is all set to handle my part of the work load,food menu has been discussed, money withdrawn.

16:00 Hours - Out of office set, Grilled sandwiches packed, Money withdrawn, Bags on shoulder, Strikeforce exits right of stage !

To be continued...

Deal me another one

It always starts with that shiver down your spine, one that you feel on the brink of an important change. A change I had contemplated years before, every moment passed between then and now seems like an ethereal wisp of life that never touched me and yet left the most strongest of impressions on me. A friend recently said "we are not impressionable any more", a thought that left me pondering over the nature of our minds and the turmoils we subject it to.

Turning over a new leaf is something that i have pondered and contemplated for a long time, only to postpone it because the "it" had not come. A subconscious attempt to find the right time the right place, change is something life imposes on us and as some say one can resist it however one can't stop it. That being said, the reality is that we are the change and it happens only through us, the trick is to time yourself, you absorb the change only when you chose to play the cards that destiny deals and destiny deals only when the "it" has come.
So be it, I say deal me another one.