Malaysia Travelogue - Part 1 - Penang

Penang - Pearl Of The Orient (Jan 26 - Jan 29 2013):

Landing at LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) for Air Asia at Kuala Lumpur, the most surprising element was the walk till the airport after getting down from the flight. There were no bus to carry us to the terminal and we walked almost on the runway to reach the departure terminal. The flight took little more than 4 hours from Bangalore, India and it was midnight when I landed at KL with my wife for my second anniversary celebrations.  After the immigration we proceeded to Tune Hotel which was just a 100 meter walk from the airport. We had booked this hotel quite late since we had a flight to Penang next morning around 9 am. It was a decent place for staying overnight, and we had informed them of our midnight check in just to avoid any unnecessary hassles.

Tune hotel charges extra for towel/toiletry set and AC package for 24 hours, which could be bought at the reception but was already included in our booking. After a breezing but refreshing stay overnight we took a shuttle for MYR 2 each from hotel to airport at morning and departed for Penang. The Air Asia flight took 30 minutes to Penang, the Pearl of the Orient.
 

Welcome to Penang

The moment we arrived, we were greeted by the humid climate which is quite reminiscent of the island weather. Our resort was at Batu Ferringhi beach (north of Penang) which was around 40-45 km away from the airport. The prepaid cabs are available just outside the airport and the trip to Batu Ferringhi costs maximum which is MYR 69. 

Information: People staying at/near Georgetown can get for cabs around MYR 50.

Our trip by the cab took us around an hour, and we passed the through Georgetown, and also observed the preparations for Thaipusam on streets, an Indian Festival to be celebrated on next day i.e. 27^th Jan.  We arrived around lunch time at Bayview Resort which was situated almost at the end of Batu Ferringhi beach. It was the last resort on the beach situated just after the Hard Rock resort.

From the moment we descended at the Bayview Beach Resort, it was magnificent. The view from the resort, the ambiance and the mood were exhilarating. We were given an early check in around 1 pm and our room had a partial view of the swimming pool and beach. Our room was really huge and had a large king size bed with sofas and attached balcony. We were pretty starved and headed straight to the in-resort Indian Restaurant Sagar. The food there was surprisingly delicious and they had a great menu of Indian dishes. We ate as much we could since we were pretty much surviving on burgers and chocolates from the time we took off from Bangalore airport. Delicious Indian food on foreign land felt divine to us at that moment. Also, there was a European style restaurant and a coffee house which served the buffet breakfast at morning. Furthermore there was a drugstore/gift shop in the resort which had almost everything a general store would have, and without exorbitant prices. We headed to the beach after lunch, and the beach was quite good as opposed to the many negative reviews as heard on TripAdvisor. Although it was definitely not as good when compared to the beaches at Pattaya, Thailand but the mountainous backdrop and the rocks added a definite splendor to the scenery. Batu Ferringhi means ‘Foreigner’s Rock’ and the rocks at this beach and the beach being very popular with foreigners is the reason for the name for this beach. The only negative about this beach was that there was a huge board at the resort gate leading to the beach which said “Swim at your risk, there could be jelly fish”. However there were lots of water sports options next to the resort on the beach including para-sailing and horse riding. We opted not to indulge though. 

Batu Ferringhi (Foreigner's Rock) beach

Our resort was fully equipped and lots of facilities provided for the visitors. The arrow shaped swimming pool in resort needs a special mention as it was really well laid out and catered to every level of swimmers. There was a separate small meditation pool and Jacuzzi, along with a distinct pool for toddlers and small kids. There were huge gardens leading to the beach which had a very good number of beach lounge chairs for sunbathing. The swimming pool also had a sunken bar, which is very common at decent resorts nowadays. Moreover there was another Bar/Coffee house situated in gardens just next to the pool which had respectable collection of cocktails/cold coffees and decent variety of evening snacks. We mostly basked around the pool and gardens till evening just enjoying the calm and serene environment around with lovely view of sea on one side and lush green mountains on other.

Swimming Pool at Bayview Resort

The resort also had a well-equipped gym and sports facility for Squash, table tennis, volleyball and basketball. Also pool and foosball tables were available in the lobby. There was an indoor gaming zone which had options for PlayStation games. Furthermore the resort had a spa and a separate section for baby sitters with huge collection of toys to keep the little ones entertained. There was a general store (from where I bought the travel adapter – the rooms don’t have them) at front of the resort across the road and just next to the store was the best roadside restaurant I have ever been to. It was not really classy, but the delicacies and the cuisines served out more than covered for their lack of visual appeal. They served anything and everything – Indian, Continental, Tandoor dishes, Local Malay food etc. I tried the famous Penang Chicken Satay which was pretty interesting. See the picture below:

Chicken Satay - Local Malay dish

Also, the restaurant guys were flexible enough to prepare us some dishes according to our tastes. Most of the folks from the resort used to have lunches and dinner at this restaurant. So, make sure you don’t book a package with dinner/lunch included in room rates, as this is one place no one would like to miss out on. We had most of our meals at this restaurant during our stay at Penang.

Our second day at Penang started with the wonderful breakfast buffet which was included in our package. We roamed around the beach for some time, and even spotted a dead Jelly Fish on the beach. See the snap:

A dead Jelly Fish

There was a Star Cruise ship far end of the sea which I tried to capture through my Nikon P500 zoom. 

Zoooommmm.....Nikon P500

We lazed around till the noon, and had our customary lunch at the restaurant across the road. Afternoon we had a pre-booked a Butterfly farm and tropical spice island group tour from the in-resort travel agency. The van picked us and another lady from South Africa who was traveling alone to Penang exactly at 2 pm, and we proceeded to the Butterfly farm which was just a 10 minute drive from our resort. Butterfly farm is one of the best attractions of Penang. It has a huge variety of butterflies and flowers which attract these beautiful creatures. When we visited the place, it was wonderful with all the butterflies settling on our bodies and clothes. Also this place has lots of insects (all varieties and sizes), wild snakes and frogs, but all these are well contained within glass chambers, so nothing really to be alarmed about. We also bought few souvenirs from the shop in the butterfly farm which had a very good collection. In short Butterfly farm is one of the must visit places in Penang definitely. Some photos from the Butterfly farm below:

Collection of Snaps from Penang Butterfly Farm

We proceeded to Tropical Spice garden from the farm which was on our way back to the resorts. The spice garden was on a mountain and it was a guided tour for us. Nothing much to write about, but spice enthusiasts might like the place. We did not enjoy much except for some herbal tea they offered us at the top. There was a public beach just opposite to the spice garden which might have been fun, but we returned to our resorts by evening.

Later that evening we visited Night Market at the Batu Ferringhi which was around 750 meter from our resort. It’s an easy walk from the resort, though one can take the city buses which are quite frequent and there is a bus stop just outside the resort. Night Market was a wonderful place for bargain shopping and Malay local cuisines with catchy Chinese music. It is around 1 mile stretch starting from The Holiday Inn resort till the drive through McDonalds restaurant and is situated on the beach side of the road. On the opposite side of the road there were many massage parlors and some good restaurants. After a long walk and some great bargain shopping at night market we were pretty tired and walked into one of the massage parlors for a blissful foot massage to end an unexpectedly long day.

Bayview Beach resort at evening

Our third day at Penang was our anniversary, and we were advised by many to visit the wonderful Georgetown (UNESCO heritage city). But for those who are expecting some description about Georgetown might be disappointed as we decided to just spend some quality time together and just basked around the resort whole day. At evening we once again headed to Night Market for further shopping. After shopping we returned to the resort but only after one last dinner at our favorite restaurant at front of the resort. We were to head back to Kuala Lumpur next morning. Our first visit to Penang island was really enjoyable and we truly cherished our moments there at the resort and butterfly farm specially.

Tips: There is hard rock café and resort just next to Bayview resort and it plays really nice music at evening and could be great place for music lovers.  Also there is Monkey Island which is near to the Batu Ferringhi beach, and could be interesting for people looking for peaceful white sand beaches.

Next part of the travelogue would contain account of our stay at Kuala Lumpur. Do let me know if you have any more questions for Penang trip as I would love to advice on trip to Penang.  

Anti-Common Man Rail Budget

It is indeed a total irony that we have only chosen such leaders to rule our country and decide for us. And if they do exactly what is required, it is the elected leaders by us (better referred as Common Man) who are slaughtering the budget and calling it an Anti-Common Man budget. Railway budget is the best example. A 5 paisa increase (albeit per km) in 10 years in fares hasn’t gone down well with the common man (aam aadmi). But does it actually make the ‘common man ‘unhappy. It is outrageous to hear that common man has been or would be affected this severely due a miniature rise in travel cost in trains. People like you and me today are appalled by the state of railways, its services, hygiene and safety measures. Doesn’t it astonish that today when there is a corrective measure spoken by the government; people (Not aam aadmi) are making this miniscule rise in passenger fare to be such a big issue. If 8000 people die every year due to safety issues with railways, is it ok to the common man? If the drooling waste and piss is tarnishing the tracks and environment, is it ok to the common man? And if in spite of unavailable budget to take care of these inadequacies, it is still costing railways a loss of Rs. 400 crore a year, is it ok to the common man? If the inhuman conditions and bad food is so tolerable by common man than this budget which says we need to increase the passenger fare the Common Man needs to succumb to shame immediately. Like the westerners once said Dogs and Indians are not allowed in their society, this Common Man does actually warrant to be treated like that. But the question is: Who is this Common Man or Aam Aadmi? Not me and not anyone reading this definitively. Is the Common Man the one who feeds of others disposals? Or is the one who does not even have a decent place to live? Or is the one who wears their own skin and begs for meals, ironically in the running trains. Yes they might just be the one, the Aam Aadmi, the Common Man. And do we expect this common man to really know how this rail budget is going to impact their savings/earnings and how their elected Government has prepared an Anti-Common Man budget. Does that common man ever has money to buy a rail ticket, forget travelling intercity. Think about it if that’s the Common Man, who never is going to be a customer for railways, then why this uproar? It’s you and I only left who use the train and would definitely be willing to pay the extra cash to opt for a better and comfortable journey in the train. Then the question remains, WHY for everything she has done after the rail budget? And I would not like to name the she, and I sincerely hope all my fellow Indians are able to decipher the She here.

P.S. I have no alliance towards any Political party and this article should not reflect any support towards neither the ruling party nor the opposition.

The Trip - Ch 4 - Lonely Sachin

Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

contd...
Gaurav was lying on the ground beside the stream. His body was drenched due to incessant rains. It had gone rather dark as the sunset approached. The river was gushing with full force. The torrential rains had made the river flow with full strength. Gaurav slipped over an unctuous rock while trying to keep up with Tanya and fell tumbling down till the stream. He badly injured his right knee. He was not able to walk at all. He found a small place between two adjacent rocks, and decided to rest there, lying beneath the huge rock. He hoped that Sachin or Tanya would return looking for him, and thus made sure he can look over the rocks and locate if someone arrived. It still hadn’t stopped raining .Gaurav did not realize when he drifted into a deep sleep. The day’s torturous events had taken a toll on him and his body. Even the chill of the night and his drenched clothes did not matter to him as he dozed of unperturbed.

Meanwhile Mayank and Sachin were able to maneuver the car on to the forest road. The sun had set. It was pretty dark and the night had started to engulf the jungle. The rains had not stopped, and the shrilling voice of various insects and toads were quite clearly audible. Mayank and Sachin were soaked in rain. They moved to the back of the car one by one and changed into drier clothes. Sachin quipped about Aditi being alone with two guys at night in a rainforest. Aditi gave a wry smile back to him. She was too pre-occupied with worries aplenty to get offended by Sachin’s remarks. She was especially concerned about Riya who went out alone with Rohit. She sat on the passenger’s seat completely reclined backwards. Mayank put on some music to make her mood a bit better. He also put on the headlights on at low beam so that if anyone of rest of them came wandering back they are able to locate the vehicle. It was past 11 pm at night. Time had flown from the moment they started a day before. Moods had changed; there were no more games and singing, and a distressing gloom was apparent. Same time last night they were making merry at the road side Dhaba. What was supposed to be a fun filled weekend had turned out to be a scary nightmare for most of them, the ones in vehicle including. It was near midnight that it stopped raining. Everyone was awake. Sachin went out of the car to smoke. He wondered about Gaurav and Tanya. He thought that could be the best birthday gift for his buddy Gaurav. ‘A night alone with beautiful Tanya’ He thought to himself. He finished couple of cigarettes and returned. He flung open the door and was taken aback by the scene.

Aditi and Mayank were quite intimate with each other, arms wrapped around each other and engulfed in a lip-lock, or so it appeared to Sachin. “What the Fff..?” He snapped. Aditi was startled and retreated from Mayank and climbed back to the passenger seat. Mayank whispered to Sachin that Aditi was feeling very scared and so he was just comforting her with a hug. “Quit explaining me, you don’t owe any!” Sachin retorted. “Carry on! I will have another sutta (Cigarette)” he continued and slammed the door back and lit another cigarette. Mayank apologized to Aditi about the incident. “It was not your fault” replied Aditi and broke down into tears. He hugged her and kissed on her forehead “Don’t worry! Everything would be fine. And even if it doesn’t I will be there with you till it is fine.” Mayank had always been good with words. “Nice dialogue, which movie by the way?” Aditi blurted and smiled. “See! I made you smile already” he quipped. Sachin had finished his third cigarette in less than 30 minutes. “Gaurav-Tanya! Rohit-Riya! And now even these both” he mumbled to himself “What am I doing here? Everyone’s making merry and I am stuck with my cigarette! Sums up the f***in day for me, and I don’t even get any girl! It’s just me, the Lonely Sachin” Sachin threw his still burning cigarette near the tree and wondered which girl among these he would like to be with most.

Sachin’s thoughts were interrupted with the fire his cigarette had caused. He was quite confused, since it had been raining whole day. ‘No way can the wet grass catch fire!’ he thought. He rushed to Mayank and asked him to come out. Aditi followed. The flames created a trail towards other side of slope. Mayank rushed and stamped out the small trail created by the flames due to fire. Sachin helped him and they were able to put off the fire. Mayank figured out it was caused due to spilled petrol. They quickly rushed to check the vehicle. Everything seemed fine. They followed the smell and stain caused due to petrol leading them to about 50 meters far off the road. They couldn’t see their Scorpio from where they were standing. The place was completely burnt. It was full of ashes and burnt particles. Aditi looked terrified. She pointed towards something “What is that idol?” she exclaimed. Sachin had a closer look. It looked like some idol of Hindu deity. It was carved out of the wood from the trees. There were Holi colors spread across it and it looked really old. It was well protected under tree shed and was beneath the rocks. Thus the colors had not washed off due to rains. “Please don’t touch it, it could be black magic” Aditi shouted at Sachin as he tried to pick the idol. Sachin ridiculed her but Mayank intervened and asked Sachin to let things remain intact the way it was before they came. Suddenly the sound of horn from their Scorpio startled all three of them. Aditi screamed in fear and came running towards Mayank, in process tripping over something. Sachin inspected what she fell on. It was a human hand sticking out from the ground. He pulled out the hand. It was an amputated hand slit from the wrists. Aditi let out another shriek, a louder one this time. Sachin threw it on the ground. All three were standing still, shell shocked in terror. They stood together hand in hand, all of them numb and cold.

(to be continued)

The Trip - Ch 3 - Mysterious Tanya

Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

contd...
Sachin wandered through the woods taking rapid and long strides. Being an athlete helped him reach the spot, where the vehicle crashed, quickly. Mayank welcomed him and asked about Gaurav. Sachin told him about everything and asked them to come till downstream. Aditi snapped that they needed to wait for Riya and Rohit. Sachin was disgusted that how can they let them go out in such a forest. There was a small altercation between Sachin and Aditi. Mayank intervened, and pacified the situation. Also, he added “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go downstream. The stream could overflow anytime as the water levels were high. Moreover they could be stuck in a flood like situation. It’s better to be at an elevation.” Aditi seconded the idea. Being a peace loving calm girl, she was always opposed to adventurous escapades. Sachin made fun of both, jeering them for their gutless thoughts. Mayank did not like his callous attitude towards Aditi’s sentiments. An argument broke out between them, and it stopped only when they saw a huge rock rolling down towards them from uphill. It scared the wits out of everyone. It came down at a great speed through the smarmy slope. Mayank hoped that the tree trunk which had fallen across the way would help in divert the direction of the rock. Mayank was right. It just evaded their car and them. It was just the timeliest intervention of that incident which tilted the argument in favor of Mayank and Aditi. Sachin realized it was not worth going down to stream and have picnic there. Mayank said that he was able to get the engine working and they could drive their way up to the nearest roads or pathway. Sachin told them he will return and ask Gaurav and Tanya to come back, to which Mayank asked him to help in pushing the vehicle in right direction first. Aditi was more worried about Riya and Rohit, and why she let them go at first place.

Down near the stream, Tanya had regained her full consciousness. Her body was bruised but she felt nothing. Gaurav asked what happened with her and how she got hurt on her forehead. But she did not reply. Her hands wandered to her forehead and she felt her wound. She seemed to be perturbed and distressed. Gaurav offered her water to drink which she refused. She started sobbing profusely. Gaurav was not able to understand. Finally she spoke “Please take me back home. I don’t want to stay a single moment more here. Oh wait! But I have to find something before we leave.” Gaurav was confused by Tanya’s words. Tanya continued “I have to find it, I have to find it. Gaurav, we need to go into woods. Please help me search for it.”. “Search What?” Gaurav exclaimed, “Will you tell me what happened with you, how you came here?” Tanya looked very disturbed, and in panic. She replied “Search my grandma’s platinum ring; I know where it must be!” She galloped towards the woods. Gaurav sprinted behind her, and surprisingly was finding it hard to keep up. He feared for her, and hoped she didn’t hurt herself again in the hurry. Gaurav shouted at her asking for clarifications. Tanya answered that she would explain everything later, now she needed to find the ring.

Meanwhile Riya and Rohit had lost their way in the woods. Riya was bombing Rohit with her insatiable set of questions of their whereabouts. Had it been for some other girl Rohit may have abandoned her straightway in mid of that nature trail they were walking through. Rohit’s presumptuous answers to her queries got her irritated and she refused to go any further with him. She told him she was going back to the car. Rohit couldn’t have let her go back alone. He tried to persuade her to come with him, successfully. Inside her heart even Riya knew that she would not go back alone anyways. They carried on in their search for Tanya, or maybe even Sachin and Gaurav. The rains had stopped. The whiff of wet mud intoxicated Riya. She loved that smell. Being a jovial person she chose to enjoy the moment. She played with the muddy water, and sometimes splashed it across Rohit. Even he started to enjoy the wilderness around him. Though the place was murky and covered with thick forest woods; being in middle of an unknown rainforest along with the ever charming Riya would have been his greatest fantasy. Their path was messy, full of little insects, running water down the slope and very slippery. There were rocks and woods along the way. Some small trees had fallen. They had to cross them. Rohit maneuvered through them and helped Riya climb across. He loved all this, being alone with her. Her vulnerability, susceptibility and fear for the wilderness made him feel in control.

Suddenly it started pouring again, and this time with more vigor. They rushed under a huge tree and took shed. Riya yelled out with extreme fright. Rohit thought she might have spotted a snake or some wild animal. She looked petrified and pointed towards another fallen tree. Rohit’s gaze followed the direction. He froze for a moment, gathering wits he spoke “Who is that?” There was someone spread across. Riya retorted “Who is she? Is she dead?” A wave of chill ran across both of them. Rohit gathered all the courage and made his way up to the body. Riya asked him to be careful. Rohit ignored, and struggled his way through. The body was lying on other side of a huge log of wood. He managed to reach quite close to the body, but was not able to get hold of it. He couldn’t have possibly climbed the log. It was too slippery and dangerous. He might have slipped into the valley too along with the body. He tried reaching for the twig and grasped it. He put the twig under her shirt and tried to pull the body towards him. Rohit was finally able to catch hold of the body and pull it towards them. Riya came running across to him, and then stood frozen there, with fear and plight. She exclaimed “This is TANYA!” Rohit confirmed, and checked her pulse. They shook her forcefully but in vain. Rohit said “She is not responding”. Riya started sobbing for fear of worst. Rohit examined more and noticed Tanya had her fists clinched. He tried opening them but in vain. Finally he managed to unclench, and saw a beautiful ring, a platinum ring.

(to be continued)

The Trip - Ch 2 - Woods, Rains & Tanya

Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Contd...
(Back in Delhi)
The sun was out. It was a bright morning. Tanya’s parents were trying to call her since morning. Her grandmother had passed away late in night. She was just 62. She died under mysterious circumstances. She had perfect health conditions till last evening, with no past history of any illness. But there was a huge reddish blue mark on her forehead, just above her left eye. It looked as if she fell on a huge rock, or someone had hit her with a large stone. But any such possibilities were remote. Tanya’s parents wanted her to come back home from college hostel immediately. The body could be cremated only after Tanya had come back. Her mom was restless. She had called her friends in hostel, but all of them made excuses. She was already quite perturbed by the untimely demise of her mother in law. And the tension mounted because of Tanya’s unanswered calls. Never before had Tanya left her phone unanswered for this long.

Tanya’s roommate, Richa had no idea about her whereabouts. She knew that she was out for celebrating Gaurav’s birthday, but nothing else. She was unable to reach either Tanya or Gaurav. Richa was worried for her, and even more for the excuses that she made to Tanya’s mom. The cat had to come out of the bag someday. But she did not want to take the responsibility for doing it. She left messages for Tanya about the death of her grandmother. Tanya’s parents were already disturbed with the events at their home. Tanya’s disappearance took a backseat for them. Police were already investigating the root cause for the death. Nothing sufficed.

(Middle of nowhere)
Everyone was panic stricken. More than 2 hours had passed and there were no signs of Tanya. Aditi had calmed down. Mayank still couldn’t find a way to get the GPS working. Sachin and Gaurav left for a search down the slope. Rohit tried to recollect the events along with Riya. All four were inside the vehicle as it poured outside. Mayank served some snacks to everyone. The engine was not working. Mayank tried hard to start the vehicle, but to no avail. Aditi had to answer the nature’s call. She had been holding on for too long now. Rohit offered his sweatshirt to deny rain any chance of drenching her. Riya accompanied her to the bushes. It was raining heavily. Aditi went behind the nearby bushes and Riya stood just beside her, around ten meters away from the Scorpio. Inadvertently, Riya’s gaze fell upon a snake. It was near to the bushes and coming towards them. It was a huge snake, with pale brown skin glistening with drops of water. Riya screamed out to Aditi and she stumbled her way back to other side of bushes. The cold blooded brown reptile coiled itself beneath the bushes. Aditi realized that there were more snakes around. Another one writhed through the bushes and climbed up a tree. This one was a smaller version of the same species. Riya looked on the other side of the tree which was completely immersed in water. She could locate at least a dozen of reptiles, mostly snakes, trying to wriggle out and come towards the higher elevation. Both of them ran towards their vehicle and got inside. They breathed a sigh of relief.

Mayank took out his Nikon SLR and rolled down the windows from his side. He zoomed upon the location as mentioned by girls about the snakes. True to their words, he spotted around ten snakes coiled and squirming, various sizes and colors. It was truly fascinating to an avid photographer like Mayank. He clicked various snaps. It was a feast to his camera. Aditi enquired whereabouts of Tanya, and what may have happened to her. “What if some snake bit her?” she whispered. Rohit ignored her and was wondering why Sachin and Gaurav were not back yet? He asked Mayank to take care of the girls and went downhill to look for clues. Riya insisted she would go along with him. He obliged. Aditi forced Mayank to roll up the windows. Mayank resisted as he was clicking snaps. At last Aditi managed to convince him. She asked Mayank what he thought of the place they were stuck in. She assumed Mayank being a regular traveler must know something about the place. Mayank expressed his sorrow for inadequate knowledge of the place, but assured her that everything would be alright. Aditi again broke down. Mayank hugged her to make her feel comfortable and safe. She felt better. But she was still weeping. Tanya was missing, and doubts were mounting about her well-being. It made her feel insecure about the place. The place had an eerie look about it. It was quite creepy. And all the snakes around because of incessant rains made the matter worse. How she wished everything could get back normal.

Downhill by the stream, Gaurav had found Tanya, albeit unconscious. She was lying beside the stream. All drenched in mud and water. Her clothes were filthy and bit torn. Sachin noticed some scratches on her arm. They tried waking her up. Gaurav shook her vigorously but in vain. He feared for the worst. Sachin calmed him and checked her pulse. Tanya was just unconscious, he affirmed. He decided to carry her back to the vehicle. “No, rather we would get everyone down, to the riverside” Gaurav intervened. Sachin seconded, since this place was far calmer. There were no slopes, or slippery muddy tracks. Monstrous trees with their wild residents were distant. And it seemed to be a good picnic spot. Gaurav stayed back with Tanya, and Sachin hiked back to the rest of the group. Gaurav took out his handkerchief and started wiping Tanya’s face. He removed her hair from her forehead. He was taken aback by the huge reddish blue mark on her forehead, just above her left eye. It looked as if she fell on a huge rock. He took out the bottle and poured water in her mouth. Tanya coughed, and it brought a huge relief on Gaurav’s face. Tanya regained her consciousness. Gaurav was delighted. Tanya mumbled with great pain, “Grandma, Grandma…Come back!!”

(to be continued)

The Trip - Ch 1 - Road to Nainital

Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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It was the last day before the extended weekend. Rohit and Sachin had made plans for the weekend for celebrating their best friend’s birthday. They were supposed to leave for Nanital by 8 pm after picking Mayank, Aditi and Riya. Gaurav was getting his Scorpio along with his girl Tanya. It was Wednesday. All of them, except Tanya, belonged to a huge software firm in Gurgaon. They took a leave on Thursday as Friday was a holiday. Tanya was still in college final year doing her Computers. She bunked her college. She did not even tell her parents about the trip. They would have refused outright, that too when no one from her college was going along. It was Gaurav’s 25th birthday. His friends had planned to celebrate in the picturesque hill station of Nanital. All of them were on board by 7 pm. They reached the highway after crossing the crowded roads of Delhi in another couple of hours.

Around 11 pm, they halted at a road side dhaba to have dinner. Rohit picked up some bottles of beer and whisky, and vodka for girls hey all got a little high after a couple of drinks and then, had a sumptuous meal. Since Gaurav was driving, everyone made sure he did not drink much. However, Mayank being a teetotaler was always an alternative. They started their journey around midnight with Gaurav at the wheels and Tanya sitting beside him. Aditi and Riya were sitting in middle, while rest of the guys took the rear seats. Loud music was playing inside the SUV. The mood was merry. The guys sans Mayank were gulping down their beers, even on move, including Gaurav. Tanya tried to convince to be easy on drinking. Mayank asked Gaurav to let him drive, but he did not budge from seat.

They had already approached the valley road. The hairpin bends in road were beginning to take precedence over the straight 2 lane highway. The night was dark and chilly. It was late December. It was around 3 am in morning. Thick clouds of fog had descended on the road. Visibility was reduced to almost 5 meters. Rohit and Sachin had passed out drunk in the rear seat. Even Mayank had fallen asleep. Girls were asleep too, except Riya, who was hooked to her I-pod in a semi-slumber state. Gaurav was dozy. His eyes were red. But he concentrated on the road. Heavy vehicles were seen on the road, but rarely. Tanya had been keeping up with him, talking to him till a half hour ago. But now he was on his own, driving his father’s brand new Scorpio. All his friends were asleep or passed out.

Gaurav was struggling with his sleep. An unerring desire to shut his eye lids was being fought. He decided to roll down his window a bit, so the chilly winter air could keep him awake.
He had a sudden urge to pee. But he did not find any suitable location to stop the car. After crossing few more hairpin bends, and struggling continuously with his siesta and nature’s call for releasing all the beer inside him, he decided to park the vehicle at one of the bends. Atop the cliff he parked the vehicle on side and put on the parking lights. He tried to wake up Tanya but of no use. He climbed out of the vehicle and strolled towards the bushes. He stopped with a jerk when he realized the deep valley on the other side of the bushes. He thought, “Definitely more than 1000 feet”. He felt his knees weaken. But the sight was beautiful. He was above the clouds, several layers of cloud. Gaurav was lost in the sheer magnificence of the moment, the place.

‘Gauraaaav’ …. (Scream, screech..) Riya shouted on top of her voice, ‘Look out’. Gaurav was startled. He was holding the wheel, still inside the car. He realized he was dreaming about the deep valley beneath him, next to bushes. All he could see was the vehicle running down the slope with huge thick green bushes slapping on the windscreen. Tanya also got up and was puzzled. The vehicle was going downhill, albeit slowly. Mud was splashed across the windows. It was raining heavily. Nothing was visible. Mayank was awake by now and he made his way till front climbing over the still asleep Aditi. Gaurav was terrified by fear. He was dumbstruck. Mayank yelled at him to put the brakes. Gaurav obliged. There was a huge thud. Their vehicle had crashed into a huge tree trunk. Rest of them were slowly getting up. They were still not aware of the developments. It was raining profusely. The temperature might have been around zero degrees Celsius. It was freezing outside. Mayank got outside first, followed by Gaurav. They were in the middle of nowhere. Huge trees, muddy ground, sound of insects, water running across the hills and the greyness of early morning. Mayank took out his phone to find out their location on his GPS. There were no signals. Meanwhile Aditi started sobbing and Riya tried consoling her. Everyone started looking for signals in their phone. There were none to be. Sachin started yelling at Gaurav for his negligence in driving. He reciprocated. It would have been a huge altercation had Rohit not intervened. Mayank was still harassing his cellphone for signals. Riya scoffed at Gaurav for not letting Mayank drive. Things would have turned ugly when someone realized that Tanya was not to be seen. They quickly checked inside the vehicle. She was not there. They shouted her name. No response. Riya found her phone lying in mud nearby. The rain had stopped. Sun started to peek through the hills and clouds. But the sudden disappearance of Tanya had worsened matters. Aditi was most scared and was howling now. The start to a wonderful trip had turned sour. There were more questions than answers. And the biggest one was – Where are we? Though ‘Where is Tanya’ was the higher priority.

-- to be continued...

To Hell with Hindu Reporters

My Take on Article(Below in Italics) in Hindu , 24th Apr 2011 :

One of the most stupid articles read for long now. How can the reporter ask How can you do this or that when couple of, dozen of or even hundreds of whosoever are committing suicide or whatsoever?

Its an independent country and right from Media to Every individual is entitled to do whatever they feel like doing, OR whatever they get pleasure or profit in. If the take is on basic humanity then its a altogether different story. Humanity could not be forced upon anyone and neither a person not showering his Humanity can be asked questions for that. We and I and you are as entitled as the reporter who is questioning our activities irrespective of our choices in this democratic country.

The flavor of the article is not on the corrective means which should be taken up or acquired in near future by the govt. to reach out for masses even below the poverty lines, but it invariantly glorifies the fact that how can individuals in our country can do whatever they find happiness in. And all this media bashing is unjustified too, as it is a profit driven market rather than a morally correct market out there. No business thrives on moral values and ethical respects in todays world. Even the farmers who have been the basic tone of the article would easily resort to agricultural techniques which will give them larger output rather than cocentrating on lower output but with higher vitamin/protein ratio in crops produced.

End of it we are a part of free society and deserve every bit of the right given to us constitutionally to indulge, enjoy and watch what interests us. Morality or humanity is a self realisation and self decision, rather than a forced conclusion like in Communist culture.

Please don't take away the free bird in us. And as John F Kennedy said "The best road to progress is freedom's road."

P.S. This is entirely my personal opinion, and don't ask me how can I write or think in this way when someone else right now in our country may be hanging himself and his family.


THE HINDU 24th April Sunday – Open-Page Article

Yes, you read it right; to hell with the World Cup; to hell with the celebrations; to hell with all the free land and money being showered by different governmentson the players. How can I jump, scream, have gallons of beer and cheer for thenation when a few kilometres away the farmers and feeders of my country aretaking their own lives in hordes?

Do you know that, on average, 47 farmers have been committing suicide every single dayin the past 16 years in our shining India — the next economic power,progressive with nine per cent growth?

Last month, on March 5, Friday evening, when Bangalore's watering holes were gettingfilled up, when all the DJs were blaring out deafening music, when we were busy discussing India's chances at the World Cup, sitting in CCDs and Baristas —just 100 km away from Bangalore, Swamy Gowda and Vasanthamma, a young farmercouple, hanged themselves, leaving their three very young children to fend forthemselves or, most likely, die of malnutrition.

Why did they do it? Were they fighting? No. Were they drunkards? No. Did they have incurable diseases? No! Then WHY? Because they were unable to repay a loan ofRs 80,000 (a working IT couple's one month salary? 2-3 months EMI?) for years,which had gradually increased to Rs. 1.2 lakh. Because they knew that now they would never be able to pay it back. Because they were hurt. Hurt by our government which announced a huge reduction in import duty for silk in thisyear's budget (from 30 per cent to 5 per cent).They were struggling silkfarmers and instead of help from the government, they get this! Decrease in import duty means the markets will now be flooded with cheap Chinese silk (aseverything else!) and our own farmers will be left in the lurch.

On average, 17,000 farmers have been committing suicide every year, for the past 15 years on the trot. Can you believe it? Most of us wouldn't know this fact.Why? Because, our great Indian media, the world's biggest media, are not interested in reporting this! Why? Because they are more interested in covering fashion week extravaganzas. They are more interested in ‘why team India was not practising when Pakistanis were sweating it out in stadium on the eve of the match?' They are more interested in Poonam Pandey.

The media are supposed to be the third eye of democracy and also called the fourth estate, but now they have become real estate. Pure business.

So anyattention from the media is out of the question. Who is left then? The government? But we all know how it works. The other day, I was passing by Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore and happened to read the slogan written at the entrance, “Government work is god's work”. Now I know why our government has left all its work to god!

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa announced plots for all the players. But land?In Bangalore? You must be kidding, Mr. C.M.. So he retracts and now wants togive money. But where will it come from? Taxes, yours and mine. Don't the poor farmers need the land or money more than those players who are already earning in crores?

A government-owned bank will give you loan at six per cent interest rate if you are buying a Mercedes but if a poor farmer wants to buy a tractor, do you know how much it is charging him? Fifteen per cent! Look at the depths of inequality. Water is Rs. 15 a litre and a SIM card is for free! For how long can we bite the hand that is feeding us? The recent onion price fiasco was just a trailer. Picture abhi baaki hai doston!

In 2008,Lakme India fashion show venue was in a Mumbai five-star hotel and was coveredby 500 journalists and the theme was ‘Cotton'. A few hours drive from there,cotton farmers were committing suicide, 4 or 5, everyday! How many TV journalists covered this? Zero!

Sixty-seventyper cent of India's population is living on less than Rs. 20 a day. A bottle ofDiet coke for us? The electricity used in a day-night match could help a farmerirrigate his fields for more than a few weeks! Do you know that load shedding is also class dependent? Two hours in metros, 4 in towns and 8 in villages. Now,who needs electricity more? A farmer to look after his crop day and night,irrigate, pump water and use machines or a few bored, young professionals with disposable incomes, to log on to Facebook and watch IPL?

How can we splurge thousands on our birthday parties and zoom past in our AC vehiclesand sit in cushy chairs in our AC offices and plan a weekend trip to Coorg whenon the way, in those small villages, just a few minutes' walk from the roads,someone might be consuming pesticide or hanging himself from a tree for justRs.10, 000? How can we?

There was much panic when there was swine flu. Every single death in the country was reported second by second, minute by minute. Why? Because it directly affected our salaried, ambitious, tech-savvy, middle-class. So there were masks, special relief centres, enquiry centres set up by government to please this section. Onthe other hand, 47 people are dying, every single day for the past 15 years. Anybody cared to do anything?

It hasbeen observed that within months of a farmer taking his life, his wife follows,either by poisoning the kids first or leaving them on their own. In Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, a distressed woman farmer went to the government seed shop,bought a bottle of pesticide, on credit, went home and drank it. She was underdebt for most of her life and now — even her death was on credit!

Centuries ago, there was a Roman emperor, called Nero. He was a strong ruler and alsovery fond of parties, art, poetry, drinking and a life full of pleasures. Once he decided to organise a grand party and invited all poets, writers, dancers,painters, artists, intellectuals and thinkers of society. Everybody was having a great time eating, drinking, laughing, and socialising. The party was at itspeak when it started getting dark. Nero wanted the party to go on. So he ordered and got all the arrested criminals, who were in his jails, around the garden and put them on fire! Burnt them alive, so that there was enough light for the guests to keep on enjoying! The guests had a gala time though they knewthe cost of their enjoyment. Now, what kind of conscience those guests had?

Nero's guests

What is happening in our country is not different from Nero's party. We, the middle-class-young-well-earning-mall-hopping-IPL-watchingand celebrating-junta are Nero's guests enjoying at the cost of our farmers. Every budget favours the already rich. More exemptions are being given to themat the cost of grabbing the land of our farmers in the name of SEZs, decrease in import duties in the name of neo-liberal policies, increase in the loaninterest rates if the product is not worth lakhs and crores. Yes, that's whatwe are, Nero's guests!

I'm not against celebrations. I'm not against cricket. I'm not against World Cup. I would be the first person to scream, celebrate and feel proud of any of India'sachievements but, only if all fellow countrymen, farmers, villagers also standwith me and cheer; only if they do not take their own lives ruthlessly, only ifthere is no difference between interest rates for a Mercedes and a tractor.That would be the day I also zoom past on a bike, post-Indian win, with anIndian Flag in hand and screaming Bharat Mata Ki Jai. But no, not today.Not at the cost of my feeders. Until then, this is what I say. To hell withyour malls. To hell with your IPL. To hell with your World Cup. And to hellwith your celebrations.

BUTWHATS THE SOLUTION!!!