Lesson learnt about surprises.

I am not one for surprises. The idea of being part of a surprise for someone else is ok. But people surprising me, well I am not sure if that will down well. I guess that’s because very rarely have I seen the surprise being completely about the person to be surprised. If I lost you there you have the time to back and read that sentence again. What I am trying to say is that, lot of surprises I have come across are about embarrassing the so called special person. The very person whose day/occasion it is. I have come across, ‘SURPRISE J J YAYAYAYA…ok now treat treat treat’, to publicly surprising or rather embarassing the person by singing for them in a mall or in a restaurant and expecting them to feel so special. I believe that is more like scarring them. Unfortunately I have been part of groups that did the latter. Now when I think back about those days, all I can say is I have learnt what not to do going forward. Unless of course you know the person well enough to realise that the person loves that kind of attention.

So the bottom line is I am very sceptical about these ‘surprises’. About a couple of weeks back was my birthday, and my gosh! have I learnt a lesson about surprises?! I have a couple of very close friends who have taught me a thing or two about surprises. Over the past month, I got to know that a surprise was being planned for me. And of course, I began by boasting that I found out that there was a surprise, then I became painful. Fussing and whining about the entire surprise. Even though I had no clue what the surprise was all about. The person who faced the brunt of my whining was my wife, as usual she was patient and managed to put up with it. The young couple, our best friends, also are very patient. So they put up with me as well. Slowly I began to hear of the ones who were invited for the surprise, and that put me off even more. I was thinking to myself, how come this person is invited, how come that person is invited. I remember my self whining and saying, ‘I told my wife that a few close friends were all I needed for my birthday, and look who she ends up inviting. Sha! I don’t believe I have to put up with this.’ Little did I know once the surprise was unveiled I would eat humble pie, and along with that all the words that uttered from my mouth.

It was around 3 in the afternoon when I was asked to come over to a friends place. The friend has a nice big balcony. So I thought they were using that for the usual, cake cutting, shouting surprise and things like that. But nothing could prepare me for what was actually planned. As I go up, I was asked be blind folded. I did not like that idea, I was actually getting a little irritated. With much resistance I succumbed to the pressure and was blind folded. As I walk up the last flight of stairs, I heard my dads voice, the my moms voice, then my uncles voice…. I couldn’t help but think of who else would be there. But I was led into my friends house, through the living room and towards the balcony door. And then the blindfold was removed, when my eyes returned to normal I looked at the door that had a ribbon across it with my mom, all dressed up standing beside me with a tray with a pair of scissors on it. The obvious thing was for me to cut the ribbon. Of course the humorous part was that, even before I could cut the ribbon there were people on the other side ready to take photographs of me. But that a side, I cut the ribbon and walked on to the balcony, and in a flash I learnt my lesson. When your really close friends decide on a surprise, it is always about you. Nothing more nothing less. It is about what you would like, not what they would like. It is about keeping your interest in mind and not theirs. I guess I stalled enough. So here it goes, as I stepped on to the balcony, on three walls were 11 photographs that I had taken. They were framed, titled and mounted on the wall. And guess what a long pending dream of mine they brought to reality. They had organised an exhibition in my honour. Everything was taken care off, an invite was sent to all friends who were interested in photography, the invite I got to see which I got see later, a picture of the photographer along with a few lines to describe my type of photography, the snacks, courtesy my friends and my moms efforts with the short bread, cake and brownies. I couldn’t believe it, good friends, family, goodies to eat and whats more, I get to make money out of my own birthday party. All the photographs mounted were for sale. And it only gets better, people bought them! Some pictures were selling like hot cakes, we had to take orders to make re-prints of them. I just stood there in amazement!

I felt like a professional, standing there walking people through each photograph and explaining the environment in which it was taken, any challenges when taking the picture..so on and so forth. But what was really amazing is the amount of work that had gone into preparing this entire exhibition. Preparing the invite, thinking of the guest list, choosing the photographs, naming each photograph, mounting the photos to framing them, then transporting the pictures to the venue, then setting them up, then arranging the snacks, oh my!!! It must have been one big challenge, yet they pulled it of with perfection. And in addition to all of this they had to put up with my whining. Of course I did apologise later on. However this reminded me that I was loved, loved more than I thought I was. Thanks a lot to my wife Sharon, and my couple friends Steven and Poojitha. They are quite something.

So there you have it, in somewhat of a nutshell is my lesson learnt. Now I know, if a surprise is coming from someone who loves me dearly, it will always be about me. So there will be no more whining coming from me when I know a surprise is coming from these guys. I will just sit back (or stand up, depending on the situation) with open arms and welcome it.

A big thank you once again to my wife Sharon, friends Steven and Poojitha for organising this entire thing. And thank you to all who were present and encouraged me to continue to pursue my love for photography.

Are you Pablo Picasso?

I like reading through quotes, not necessarily by famous personalities. I like anything that gets me thinking. Today I was going through the internet for quotes and I came across this one by Pablo Picasso, he says this ‘"Give me a museum and I'll fill it."

Here is a little bit about *Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaβlo ˈrwiθ piˈkaso]; 25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. - Courtesy Wikipedia

Now, I do realize that Pablo Picasso was a very famous and respected artist, and I am certain he will remain so in the times to come, however at this time I would like to bring the focus back to the reader viewing this blog right now. Picasso had a lot of things that he created that could fill museum after museum, What about you? What would you fill?
I was thinking about this for my own life and started wondering. Not to sound too sentimental, but what if people around you were museums and their hearts are what you had an opportunity to fill. What would you fill it with?

When I think back in my own life, I know I have left behind a lot of relics and creations that have filled many hearts. However not the kind of items that one would like to see and be in awe of. I have hurt many people with my insults, sarcasms, anger…and the list goes on especially those closest to me. These are the museums that are worth tearing down. For Pablo Picasso, if he created something that he did not like he could just take a hammer and smash it to pieces. If it was a painting he did not like, all he needed was a match stick and that was the end of it. He could then start all over again.

However in the museums of life, referring to the hearts that you touch by your words and actions, there is no hammer or fire that can erase what you have said. It just lives on. All you can do is pray and hope that the other person would forgive you and be able to forget or overlook what you have done to the person.

Over the past years, I have seen myself change. I have seen myself make more of an effort to fill museums that are worth to look at. I have tried to be gentler, patient, loving, generous…. however I have not succeeded all the time. I am still a work in progress and I know I will get better. So if you have read up to this part of the article, thank you. I am urging you to make an effort to fill the museums of life.

I am making an effort by believing two things, 1) I believe in a God who is loving and gentle, the Bible says in Psalms 145:8-9 ‘The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.’ and 2) I believe I am created in the Image of God. The Bible says in Genesis 1:27 ‘So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.’ this would mean I am a reflection of God.

So I would like to end here by encouraging you to go out and fill museum after museum. Create pieces of art by touching a life in a way people can only feel and experience. Go out and tell your folks you love them. Buy your wife flowers. Do something that will bring a smile on people’s faces, and when they smile you know you have deposited something in their Museum. And you tell yourself, ‘…today I am Pablo Picasso’

Corporate Conversations

From my observations most employees in a corporate have a fantastic way of developing and entertaining conversations that are least productive. And I find this ironic considering the efforts and money pumped in to making corporates efficient and productive.
Some of the most pointless conversations I have come across during my career are listed below;
- People’s erratic sleep patterns. It is imperative to hear each ones sleep routine to the very details. Recently I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation about a group of individuals sleep patterns for each day of the week. At least it has given me some insight on what the person’s mood will be on each day of the week. And accordingly I can plan my conversations.
- If point 1 is not enough, you have to hear about their significant other or their spouses erratic sleep patterns as well.
- Then there are the wonderful things that your colleagues children do, examples; about how cute it was when they pooped in your colleagues hand, and you are left wondering if that is where the disgusting smell is coming from. Or you will have to listen about the funny faces their kids make during various parts of the day and what is worse is when you have to have to put up with your ugly old colleague trying to imitate the faces their kids make. Be warned, you could have nightmares!
- Of course there is always time for talking about recipes, any bachelor will find this beneficial but not at the expense of running late for a meeting being chaired by the vice president or your department or much worse by the CEO himself.
- Then there is make-up, oh ya!! Hours can be spent on this. I am fully aware, thanks to my female colleagues, about what a moisturizer does and how it is different from cleansing lotions. And if you come to me with dry skin or a zit on your face I will be able to prescribe something for you with full confidence.
- Relationships!! This is a biggie. You will undoubtedly hear, ‘my husband…he doesn’t lift a finger….’ And ‘my mother-in-law she is one absolute b@#$h, she thinks her son is the best’ and during the entire discussion we are given the impression that the person talking is always being victimised or receiving the shit end of the stick. Reality is, that is how I feel having to listen or being forced in a position to listen about these things.
- This is classic – threatening, but ends by saying I was joking. If an employee does not give the team a treat for a certain happy occasion, you will hear the supervisor say ‘guys just remind me about this during appraisal time and then I will take care of this….(one loud laugh) but I am just joking eh, just joking’
- The next one is closely related to my previous point, TREATs. Someone gets promoted or it’s a birthday or an anniversary or clears exams or buys a new shirt or sneezes would end up being a reason for a treat. This is with no concern about how much the other person is earning or what the other person is feeling, all they want is a TREAT. There are ways and means of evading this entirely unreasonable demand for a treat. And the way it is demanded makes the person feel that they were better off not being born or left without a promotion or even should have failed in their exams.

These are my observations, I would like to highlight that this list can be quite exhaustive. So please if there are things that you would like to add feel free to leave your comments.

I am sorry, I forgot to mention. In between all of this, some work gets done. I am not sure how, but it does.

Training is a cup of tea....but not mine. I am a manager!!

I like working, I work for a good company. It is good as long as you are not part of the sales force. I just heard a manager yelling at a sales staff that ended with "you come to office and from your official id tell what target you will achieve and also state, please treat this as my resignation". I was shocked!! Not much at the fact, that the entire office could hear that a certain Mr. ******** has lost his job but more so he lost it because of the incompetence of the other person. It is a harsh world!

I am part of the training team in my organisation. And I LOVE training and imparting knowledge. I love being able see change in behavior of an individual that leads to his success. Over the last six years I believe I have made a difference in at least 7 people lifes at an organisational level. I would like to believe there are more individuals that have been impacted by my efforts, but I know for certain 7. Thats becasue only 7 of them have come back and told me so.

Anyways, back to the incompetent supervisor I came across and what it has taught me. Unfortunately, I have seen time and again that it is always the entry level staff that seems to face the brunt of incompetence. The middle level managers think they are the bosses and are always right, R.I.G.H.T, right!! Well I think they are plain idiots, I.D.I.O.Ts, idiots. Thats the truth!

From my experience the moment a person gets to a supervisory position and has a bunch of helpless people who he can dectate terms too, he automatically is beyond training. He thinks all he has to do is keep sending his team of subordinates for training and if they don't perform, whatever the reason, they should get the stick and be shown the door. From what I have seen and what is no secret, is that, it is almost never the case of poor knowledge or skill for which a person decides to move out of an organisation. It is ALWAYS issues with the boss. And being in an HR team, I have seen enough case to state that it is always a case of worng people going in for training. The supervisor I saw today should have been the one in a training programme learning how to manage people, or may be something even more basic like how to talk to people politely. Forget about hearing him talk, the very sight of him itself will say that our recruitment team will be working over time to see that his team is never emptied out entirely.

So what I am trying to say, through all of this is that, the performance of an organistion is not based on the bottom rung of the organisation. However it is a top down approach. And training has a critical role to play, not just for the less experienced but for every level in the organisation. And there is a tendency for employees to feel that the higher they go, lesser the training they need. However, training is more important with every rung you climb in the organisation ladder. From what I have seen today, the company would have been able to save an employee, there by his family, cut recruitment cost, improve morale of the employee if only his supervisor was trained on how to communicate and manage a persons performance. As I see it, the person losing his job today was a result of an incompetent manager more than an incompetent salesman.

The Inspiration!

If you have read my earlier post ‘The Calling’ you would have come across a certain person who is pretty much the inspiration to get me going on bike rides. He started riding in his early 50’s. Until then he was too busy trying to provide for a family of five. He managed to get himself a second hand Silver Plus. A 75cc 3 geared bike from Royal Enfield. He began his rides with a trip to Guntakal, Andra Pradesh. 330kms on a 75cc 3 geared bike. That did take some amount of determination for him and his bold friend who decided to accompany him. Yes yes… they decided to ride doubles on this little bike. From there on he knew he had to get something a little better if he has to fulfill his passion. So he got himself a Bajaj Scooter, it was a 12V electronic. That I must say served him well. He and his wife have covered entire south India. Doing trips to Guntakal, Chennai, Kodaikanal, Kanyakumari, Guruvayur, Cochi, Ooty, Pondicherry, and the list goes on. The person I am talking about is my dad, and my mom who accompanied him on most trips. I learnt from him that traveling should be as important as working. He showed us how to plan a trip and plan finances for it too. He is my inspiration for riding. He has been riding for the last 15 years. As recent as last year, he accompanied us, Sharon, then my fiancé and I to Muthathi as well as Hoganekal. I had the privilege of visiting Humpi and spending 18 days touring Spiti valley with dad. The last 5 years of his rides have been on his Honda Eterno. He cannot think of a better bike to do his rides. Even though I may not agree with it entirely, but what I strongly believe is, to each his own bike. And I am happy that at 64, my dad may have slowed down but has not stopped riding and traveling. So there you have it, he keeps me ticking to do more rides. And that’s the way it will be for as long as I can ride and hopefully the next generation will continue this love for travel and adventure. So for those who have not started riding, it is time!! if not riding, at least travel. Irrespective of the mode of transport.

The Calling

Its been a while since I have updated my blog. And like the title of this article suggests, the 'Calling' is back. Steve, my best fried only after my wife :), and I compeleted a ride to Ladhak in 2008, then my dad and I did Spiti valley in 2009, and now its back. I feel the longing for the mountains and thus the 'Calling' is back. My wife Sharon & I have decied that June 3, 2011 will mark the day we respond to the Calling for the mountains. We have planned a 18 day trip from Bangalore to Bangalore. Unfortunalely Steve will not be able to make it because he has just upgraded himself from bachelor to loving husband and during the process he had to exhaust most of his leave. However, I am certain he and his better half will join us next time around.

So where we stand?

I sensed Ladhak calling right from middle of 2010. So this means that I my route was ready by August 2010. Crazy ah! I just can't help it you know. So the check list was prepared right after my short wedding leave and honeymoon. There hasn't been a day that has gone by ever since with out adding details to my excel sheets. Right from places to visit, to distances between towns, to what is to be carried, work to be done on the bike....... and the list goes on.

We are both excited and nervous. Its the first time I will be venturing out along with my wife over such distances. So I am making an effort to prepare for the worst.

At the moment I just finished servicing my bike. Yup! you are right, it is rather early. However, I have decided to service it and get the delhi carriers fixed on the bike for a test ride. The image of the carrier is at the side. I bought this at Sandhyas on J C Road for Rs.1900/- . It is a little steep however it appears to be of good quality. The same onw is available from Delhi for Rs.950/- including courier charges. However I have heard of instances when the carriers have arrived damaged and on some instances the damage was not visible however on loading the our luggage the carriers gives way. So to prevent any situations like this I spent the extra money and played it safe. When purchasing the carrier remember to check if the holes on the carrier are large enough for the bolts to go through. I realised that they were too small much after I bought them. I went back and the guy at Sandhyas had to take them to a leth to enlarge the holes.

The other option is purchase saddles bags for your ride. Cramster is a fantastic brand for riding equipment. Their site is http://cramster.in/. If I discover any issues with the carriers post my test ride, I will not have second thoughts to take them off and go with the saddle bags. The image is at the side. This capacity of this bag is a total of 40lts. It is a very well designed bag keeping in mind maximum loading capacity as well as comfort for both rider and pillion. The strips of reflective lining also makes visibility better at night time. It has pouches to carry bottles, 2 2lty coke bottles can be carried. It is water resistant, so it may not handle heavy rains. So what I do is, pack all my stuff in big lastic bags and then load it into my saddle bags. I remember doing this last in the month of November. I rode all the way from Mahabalipuram to Bangalore in the rain. When I got home my clothes were completely dry.

You must be wondering why I bought the carrier if I already have saddle bags. When I got home it was absolutely dry. So what I am recommending is tried and tested. Of course it could be a failure if the plastic bags you use have holes in them :) The mechanic I work with is Vinaayagam, he works with Agro. He has given me a list of things to change before taking off on the ride. The items are listed below; Accelerator cable Clutch cable Carburetor intake rubber Hose rubber Wheel bearing Bearing distance piece Chain link lock Front & Rear Break shoe Please note that the list of items and model of the items could vary depending on the bike you ride. I am going to do this on my A350CC machismo. It is a 2003 model and has done Ladhak in 2008 with my brother riding her. The bike is in good shape giving a reasonable mileage of 35kmpl. Apart from the list above I have also decided to changes both tubes and carry spares. Carrying a foot pump automatically becomes essential along with the required spanners and tyre levers to pry open the tyres from the rim.

Alright now, I am going to stop talking about the bike for a bit over here. I would like to share with you a little bit about my biking companion. Its is my wife, we have been biking for the last one and half years. The first time we hung out together was over a ride to whitefield. I know what you are thinking, ‘thats not much’. And you are right. All this was when I did not own a bullet. The riding started when my brother left his bullet 535 with me when he left the country for a bit. It was then I proposed we do Mysore road coffee day. My mom and day joined us. Oh ya! Riding kinda runs in the family. I will soon write about my dad. The person who inspired us to travel and more so travel on the bike. He has done some crazy stuff himself. You will need to visit my blog to find out more about him. For now I will continue about Sharon and I :). The ride to coffee day was the start of a series of rides to destinations around Bangalore. Sharon was excited and enjoyed the roar of the engine and the thump of the bike. Not long from then I got myself a second hand machismo, it just so happened that my brother had two bullets and was ready to sell the machismo to me. So that was settled. In February 2010 I got the bike and since then we have ridden to Muthathi twice, Hoganekal, Ranganathitu, Big Banyan Tree, Kanwa, Bylakuppe, Mahabalipuram. And through each ride I just knew that Ladhak was calling. So even before we decided to get married we were talking about going to Ladhak. All I can say is that I have a super companion to go on rides and the ride to Ladhak I know will be the ride of a life time. I cannot ask for more than being in tune with nature and having my best friend with me to enjoy every moment. I have been to Ladhak twice before this, however it is the first time for Sharon. And I can’t wait to show her all that I have seen, and take it in together.

Alright now, back to the ride. Our plan is to start riding from Manali, head to Tso Moriri and then on to Leh. The trip to Tso MOriri will take us two days of riding with a over night stop at Sarchu. The total distance from Manali to Leh via Tso Moriri will be a little over 700kms. We spend 5 days in leh doing a day trip to Pangong Tso(spending the night is recommended), riding to Khardungla, visitng magnetic hill and taking in the other attractions in Leh city. Once we are done with that we leave leh and head back to Manali with Sarchu being our night halt. It is because of the long 700km ride between Manali to Leh via Tso moriri I decided to use the delhi carriers/panniers. The extra petrol can easily be carried using the slots for the petrol cans. This is not an option when using the cramster bags. With the cramster you would be able to carry two coke botles filled with petrol.

Right now, I have completed servicing the bike and fixing the carriers. We are 52 days away from our trip. I will be riding to Yeracud in a couple of weeks from now. Even though it is not anywhere close to the terrain we will experience but it will give me a chance to load up the bike and check for any faults. In the first week of may I will be putting in all the spares that I mentioned earlier in this article. Once we are done with that we will be pretty much all set to hit the road. The only things that are left to purchase are the spare tubes and a foot pump.

My next update hopefully will be when I return. However if I learn anything new then I will update this page. By the way, below are a couple of websites that you may find to be useful when planning your trip. http://www.bcmtouring.com/ http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/

It is 16 May today. I got of the phone with a friend of mine who is atravel agent at Manali. He has confirmed that the roads to Rohtang will take at least another 15 days to clear up. This is cutting it really fine. When I planned my trip I thought giving it a one month buffer should be enough. However it appears that I underestimated mother nature. I was informed to come well equipped as it is unusually cold this part of the year and there is a lot of snow in the higher regions which will be make things chilly and difficult because of the numerous streams the melting snow causes.
If the permits cannot be brought to manali, then we will need to go to Leh and then plan Tso Moriri from Leh post getting the permits. Lets hope all goes well. Will write if there are any changes.

Update no. 1
Alright now, we are just about 14 days away from departure date. Yesterday I got a call from a travel agent friend in Manali. His sources have confirmed that the roads will be opened by 28 May. I tried getting this information from the J&K Tourism website but there were no responses to any of of my calls from any of their office. I tried their offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi …etc at least 30 times. You could give it a shot yourself and see if you have better luck than I do. Any if you do get some information please do leave a comment. You will find their contact details at the following link http://www.jktourism.org/inside.aspx?id=93
Ravi Takhur is my travel agent. His website is http://himalayancaravan.com/ his contact details are also available on the website. He is a very good guy, I worked with Ravi on our tour of Spiti in 2009. He was very helpful and arranged a great trip for my dad and I. so this time around also I worked with Ravi. Ravi us capable of working magic. In my case, he has worked out our bus tickets for my wife and I as well as for the bike on the buses from Delhi to Manali and return. To head to Tso Moriri a inner line permit is needed. Since I am heading to Tso MOriri from Manali, Ravi is helping me get the permits from Leh before hand. If your first destination is Leh then you can go to Leh and get any of the permits you need. For Pangong Tso and Khardung la I will get to Leh and then get the permits.
I have been warned that in the higher regions it is still snowing and hence during the day there are more streams running across the road. And the roads are in bad shape, I was asked to come physically and mentally prepared for the ride, since the roads are not the only challenging thing but the place is unsually cold this time around. So my objective will be to leave as early as possible during the day, which will give me enough time to take pictures and get to my destination before the flow of water increases.
Now for the bike, last Sunday I got my front break shoes sorted out, fixed a new battery, replaced all bulbs, the only thing left is the spark plug. As for the gear, I just need to get a baklava and then we will be ready to rock and roll.