It began in the beautful Shimla Hills, Kotgarh, India. I am a true blue Shimlaite. I did my schooling and college
in Shimla. Growing up among majestic Himalayas was an experience. I have worked in all three metros other than Madras.
I was at Bangalore for a year and also been at Indore, Pune and Hyderabad. I worked in Ahmedabad for six years.Got fed up
with the rioting in the city and have finally settled back home in the Hills.
Okie,
running through my life, it can be broadly divided into 2 phases. Born in October, 1974, my life's earlier phases
are 1974 - 1985, and 1985 - 1992
I did my Bachelor's in Management from IIBM, Patna. Those were the best years of my life. To know more about my IIBM days just follow the link.
My family
is my father, a younger brother, wife and a seventeen month old daughter. Friends.. lot many....
I am a avid biker.. In 2001 I started for Leh from Manali with my brother but at Keylong the bike gave way
and had to abandon my plans..!! I have travelled on my bike in the sand laden desert roads of Jaislmer / Bikaner and in the
Rann of Kutchh. I
finally managed to reach Leh but not on my bike. My brother was to accompany me but fell ill at Manali and had to drop
out. It was damn irresistable not to visit Leh. I went to Leh by bus leaving my brother behind. Some vacation!! Check out
my Leh pics in the Photo Album.
My other interests are reading and watching movies. Hindi fillums are a must. I am a die hard Kajol fan. I read a lot..
"A Painted House" by John Grisham is my favorite... A story true to my heart.
I
work hard and play hard. I used to work in Sales dept in a cellular services provider company. I finally left the job
and am settled in Shimla Hills near Narkanda and am looking after apple farm.
I
had a chance to visit England in November 2005. Had a great time.. I was there visiting friends. Sandy, you must have read
about him in the IIBM link. It was an experience to see the First World. Off-late by the end of week was terribly home
sick. After all eating all those Big Mac's Veg Burger for 15 days can be harsh on anyone's taste buds. Joking..
Moving
around in the London Tube was good fun and did all the touristy things in London. Visited Oxford. Yup, also visited South
Hall and had some delicious jalebis and tasty lassi. London offers worldwide cuisine and is a foody's paradise. As a
veggie my menu was limited but I loved Felafel the most, something Lebanese. Also while walking on the streets you get to
hear languages from all corners of the world. Lovely.. The best was a Punjabi couple arguing loudly over prices at Marks
& Spencer counter. The lady having bought something and the husband chiding her that she would have got the same
thing in Delhi at quarter the price! All this conversation was in thet Punjabi.
Talking
about Punjabi, at the immigration counter upon arrival at Heathrow airport, entire staff was Asian. The immigration officer
was a Sardarji who questioned us in Punjabi. The cabbie, a student from Jullundhar and the receptionist at the hotel
was from Lucknow. The staff on the floors, all Gujarati. The first day was uneventful as we were speaking either Punjabi or
Hindi and I felt we were in Delhi and not in London.
Was
impressed by the public transportation facilities there. The London cabs were too expensive for me. People in general are
polite and wait for their turn at the bus stops, Underground and at shops. I got my first lesson to be patient while waiting
for a bus. Did the typical North Indian thing at the bus stop :)
Visited
the famous London pubs. The beer was good but food for a veggie was dismissal. All they served was potatoes with some kind
of sauce. Britishers love potatoes, I found it their. Had a peek of night life of London at the Liverpool street. The funniest
part was when we friends mistakenly were standing in Q in front of gay's bar and the gal in front, an Asian, hearing we friends
talking asked, "You guys sure you wanna go inside. This is a gays joint". We made a hasty retreat and this time our guide
Sandy checked doubly beforehand that we were entering a "straight" joint.
Lightings
at the Piccadilly streets was awesome and view from the London Eye, unforgetful. London is an expensive city and with a very
poor Rupee to Pound conversion rate could not do much shopping as was most of the time converting the prices into Rupees.
Still bought a few gifts for the family as souvenir. Only scary thing was passing through the subways in the night with
drunk goras shouting at us and showing fingers. Sandy simply asked us to ignore them but it was scary.
I got married in the December
of 2003 to Anu. It was a typical arranged pahari shadi. She is from Kotgarh and lived and studied in Shimla and Mandi. She
is a soulmate and shares my passion for biking. We did biking tours to Renukaji via Choupal, Haripur Dhar and Shilai
and later on we went upto Puh in Kinnaur. She makes it a point to be with me whenever I work on the
bike and now has good knowledge about the mechanics of the machine. We scramble our lives between Shimla and
Kotgarh. The farm is our responsibility now. We make it a point to travel once a year and we just love to explore hills.
Had a wonderfull Lohri in the
year 2007. Got the best Lohri gift. Was blessed with a daughter. She has been a welcome change in our lives. Feels great
to hold her in my hands. The toddler is a year old now. She is more into crawling mode these days. Had been exploring
the lawns at home. She gets fascinated with the car parked outside and even climbs the six stairs to reach the car.
Though I am yet to hear the magical words..papa from her but she has started uttering mama and dada. Guess.. nice guys
come last .. :) Am enjoying my new dad status. The best part is that she has starting recognising me.
When I play with her and hold her she gives a million dollar smile and when I leave the house, she crys!! Lovely isn't it...
That's all about me.. Thank you
so very much for reading all along. Follow the links and we can be in touch.. For the parting line here is my favorite one...
