Sunday, October 23, 2005

A road less travelled...

My first roadtrip in the US - a 700 mile trip to the Smoky mountains - definitely not a road less travelled for more than 9 million adventure seekers & sightseers who visit the Smokies; but definitely a first for moi. And to say that we covered the trip over just a weekend is testament to the enthu of the bunch of 12 PwC India guys that included the spouses of a few.

The dozen bravehearts accomodated ourselves in 2 dodge caravans, and left on Friday a'noon around 3 o'clock. I was quickly into my act - a few minutes into the trip, and I was happily catching up on my post lunch siesta, as soon as we hit the interstate I-75. The journey was going to take us through the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and finally Tennessee. Our destination was a small town called Pigeon Forge nestled amongst the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

The journey till dinner time was pretty easy - Google & Yahoo maps were indeed quite kind to us, and the road was also quite good with 355 miles coming straight out on I-75. People took turns at driving, navigating, listening to music, chatting, catching up on sleep or simply lazing around - I showed more zeal in accomplishing the latter two activities. ;-)

The real fun began when we missed a turn thanks to Yahoo maps at midnight, and then drove more than 50 miles east, when we were just 150 miles south from the destination. Thanks to the fellow at one of the gas stations near Nantahala, who gave us the right directions that we were back on track. The last 30-35 mile part of the journey was through the mountains on the US 441 North. Trying to locate the Park Way (since we were unaware that the US 441 was the Park Way itself), our van took the Blueridge Park Way that took us east again! But as they say, everything happens for the good - the moonlit night gave an absolutely stunning view of the mountain ranges that could be distinguished in different shades of black across the horizon. Little did we know then that these mountains would look even more beautiful during the day.

We finally reached our destination close to 4 in the morning, a good 2-3 hours later than our expected time. But, the chalet which we had booked for our stay made every effort worth in coming all the way from Florida. A nice wooden cottage perched on the hills furnished with jacuzzi, pool table and fireplace was an ideal holiday home for twelve souls in search for nirvaana.

A few of us freshened up with a few games of pool, while some retreated to the cosy beds. At 6.30 in the morning, 6 adventurous guys left to explore the mountains a little bit to have a look at the sunrise. Pigeon Forge is located a few miles off the town of Gatlinburg, an entry point to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, that sits astride the Tennessee–North Carolina border amid the majestic southern climax of the Appalachian Highlands.

I had read a description of the Smokies that goes -
"Worm your way into these rugged, convoluted mountains and you'll find 900 miles of superlative trails, tracts of old-growth forest, views of undulating mountain ridges draped in hazy-blue, "smoky" tendrils of fog, and vivid reminders of the folkways of the Appalachians' early pioneers."

And that morning, I couldnt agree with a more apt description of the place.

Later in the day, we went hiking to Laurel Falls that let us explore the mountains on foot. The trees had begun showing signs of fall colors; the birds were busy with their evening chirpings oblivious to us. The cascades had hidden themselves so beautifully within the neighbours provided by Mother Nature that we had to traverse quite a few turns before we could actually set our eyes on the 60-feet falls. The shadows cast by moonlight on our way back from the falls had an enchanting effect on all of us.


The next morning we set out early again to catch glimpses of what can simply be termed as God's poetry in motion. The sun rose on the eastern skies behind the mountains, the rays of the sun made their way through the morning mist reaching out to the small cottages and barns in the valleys below and all this while, we were rubbing our hands and somewhere in the mind a small thought just passed by,
"Oh God! I am indeed quite lucky to view yet another of your beautiful creations!"

A visit to Ober Gatlinburg, the skiiing resort & amusement park, using America's largest aerial tramway gave us another opportunity to have an aerial look at the Smokies. This visit also let me have a try at ice skating - another first in my life. :-)

The return journey was quite remarkable - all of us werent quite as energetic as a couple of days before, but definitely there was no lesser fun involved - we played guess games to identify who was the biggest Amitabh fan by recognising AB's songs being played from the iPod. The last stretch of the journey was a non-stop 4 hour drive that helped us reach Tampa at 3.30 in the morning.

Looking back - everything seems to have been like a dream come true - the mountains towering over us, the valleys alluring everyone to come down, the fog covering the "Smokies", the chirpings of the birds, the autumn leaves rustling on the road, the gurgling of the little brooks finding their own way - all of these seem to be a distant dream, which I perhaps lived a few days ago...

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Three movies & - I, me, myself

Three people - "I", "me", "myself" - in this world - all three come from India - they cant be called Indians - they just come from India. There's more to them than being Indian - they represent three different ideologies, lifestyles, goals, aspirations, et al.

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Lets start with the first - who am "I"??
"I" am an Indian, or rather "I" come from India, but currently stay in Sydney.

One one side, "I" am a 21st century guy who came to study architecture in Sydney, but opened up a restaurant to become what I always wanted to become - a chef! I love a live-in relationship, am ready to change my waking habits for my lady love, make breakfast for her, clean the house - BUT I hate commitment, I hate marriage & I am just not ready for a kid.

Alternatively, "I" am a nex-gen gal who doesnt want to get married, so escapes to Sydney to study medicine, and then becomes an RJ (Radio Jockey for those uninitiated) to make a living. And I want a live-in relationship as well - its only when I get pregnant (thank God, we have moved away from the hysterical "yeh kahaan se apnaa mooh kaala kar aayi kal-moohi!!") - thats when I realise the joy of giving life to another person, the joy of being a mother (a try @ being Mother India), the joy of doing what I really wanna do!

Oops, and if "I" have to greet you, "I" would simply say "Salaam Namaste"!and then I continue h(u)mmmmm-ing 'My dil goes hmmmmm'...

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Moving on to the next person. Who "me"?? "Me" belongs to that heavenly paradise on Earth called Kashmir.
Me's brother is a terrorist & me's lover is an Indian army captain. Now, that definitely means a lot of ammunition in me's life.
Nevertheless, me's life recoils on every nook n corner with bullet shots.
But dont get confused - me's a very normal gal o'wise.. me's aspirations are as sky high as any other teenager... simply wearing a pair of jeans..
or like when me's in love, me likes singing 'Pooche jo koi meri nishaani, rang heena kehnaa' on the Dal lake...

It amazes "me" to know that life in Pune is so unhappening - no snow, no chinaar trees, no bullets - c'mon!! how can you live in a place like that???

Coz me firmly believes that,
Agar kahin dharti par swarga hai, to bas "Yahaan" hai, "Yahaan" hai, "Yahaan" hai!
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Time for the 3rd person - talking about "Myself"??
What do you want to know about "myself"?

Myself comes from UP. Naah.. myself not a bhaiyya, but a police officer, who wants to clean out the entire crime system in UP. Yeah, myself face a lot of opposition - from politicians, criminals - but myself not give up - myself fight till the end, for the sake of society, for good, for truth.

And when myself feel tired, myself remembers mother's words,
" Jab aadmi thak jaata hai, to use Sehar mein ugte suraj ke saamne khadaa rehnaa chaahiye, thakaan apne-aap duur ho jaayegi!"

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Three movies - Salaam Namaste, Yahaan & Sehar - all depicting life in today's India. Movies which are not your typical candy floss stuff, but come close to real life - and yet so unreal or rather so incoherent between themselves. Tough to believe that they represent the lives of Indians living in the same time. They belong to the same generation, are of the same age, come from the same country - yet they have different aspirations, different problems, different ways to define happiness..

It is unclear who amongst these three can be called a typical Indian - they all come from India, but their lives are so different.. they cant get type-cast as Indian..

Unsurprisingly most of us also belong to this generation - and touchwood! Our life is so much different!! (At least mine is...)

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Settling down in Tampa

Cant believe that I have been in Tampa for almost 4 weeks now. Time flies like anything. Things have been quite easy given the amazing desi junta that I have here for company - a good friend who picked me up from airport, and who's been khilao-ing (sorry, cant remember the English word) me, driving me to office, and at whose place I am also staying. :-))))

Kaam to chalte rehtaa hai. What one does look forward to is the weekend, and in the lingo of the junta here - the weekend begins from Thursday itself. This is definitely true - the overall mood of junta here on Friday is such that there are no meetings, or important deliverables scheduled for the last day of the week - many work from home (something which I would love to do all days of the week).

Nevertheless, time has been well spent on the 4 weekends so far. Went to the Clearwater beach & the pier @ St. Petersburg on the very 1st weekend. The views were mesmerising to say the least (open to interpretation), the water was cool and must recommend this - the pier @ St. Petersburg is an awesome location for a Friday evening date with its lights, parks, benches, restaurants, and the pier of course!

Today's just the 3rd day of this weekend (remember the w/e started on Thursday), and have just come back from a 80-mile drive in a red colored open top convertible - the Sebring from Chrysler. Had been to the Sai baba temple at a picturesque town called Inverness. Once you leave the I-75, you get to see some real American countryside, beautiful lakes, breathtakingly huge ranches, horses, weekend bungalows on the road to Inverness.

The experience of the drive became even more fantastic when the roof top was rolled back, and I pushed myself up for a bit to feel the air, while we were driving at a little less than 80 mph! At 90, I couldnt try this stunt - but even at 80 I could feel the wind rushing through my hair (there's still some left thankfully - touchwood!), across my face (had to take away my glasses), could listen to the loud hooosh behind my ears!

It rained for a while, so we had to stop & roll over the roof for some time - but definitely implemented what's now become a defining line of life

"zindagi mein prakruti ka anand le lenaa hai - jyaada sochnaa nahin hai, bas anand le lenaa hai."