Moving to the city of the Tech industry

For as long as I can remember, Bangalore was one city which always attracted me. But, having lived in Delhi for long enough, I could not differentiate between what is the urge to live in the city compared to just the fascination of visiting that place.
I complete one year in this city. One year as a resident of this city.
And experience has been mixed so far.
I mean my beer consumption has gone way above the approved intake ( As if there is really any such thing..!!).

And the hours i spend on the traffic signals, well it is taking up a considerable chunk of pie in my life chart.

Pic Courtesy: Economic Times

My navigation skills have definitely improved whilst negotiating the lanes and by-lanes of JP Nagar and Jayanagar. I have found roads which would save me from Traffic, roads which will save me from signals, roads which will save me from cops, roads which will save me from pot-holes, and the list goes on.
For life, that it is. There's the upside to it too. Am living much nearer to my home now ( With much delight to my Mom). The weather here is much more pleasant. And the pollution level, well I would'nt particularly bet on that (Thank you BMTC buses).

A year has thus passed by in frenzy, and I have made friends here as well. I have settled here in my own terms.
But some days in the middle of some conversation, or in the midst of any thought process. Delhi still keeps popping up. Because that is a city which has still retained it's soul in the old lanes of Chandni Chowk.

The important lesson I learned here is, that sometimes what we deeply wish for, is thrown at our face. But then it is not in the same way that we expected it to be. It is different. In many ways than we earlier perceived it to be. And we fight to believe that it is the same thing what we wished for. But the idea is to accept which has been given. Give it time. Life has it's own funny ways of unfurling things for you. Not to forget the surprises and shocks that come free with with.

And this is my story of moving to a city I always wanted to 'Move in' to.

A walk down the shadows of the older part of the city.

It was a Sunday, and there wasn't a way I was gonna let it be wasted.
The number of destinations were limited, mostly confined within the city. And what could be better than Old Delhi.
So here are few snaps from there.

A glimpse of the Red Fort.

The chaos minus the colors that define them.

Jama Masjid, you have to purchase a ticket of INR 300/- to carry your camera inside. Even though I was never checked for my ticket, but I suggest better safe than sorry.

Spotted this little rider there.

At certain point of time during the day, after the Namaaz , you are allowed to go to one of the top minarets. The entry fee is a minimal 20/-. 

The Red Fort, as seen from the top.

A few other shots from the top.

And thus, it was an end to the day with the sun setting behind the walls of the city.

Mountains calling

Summer's were here. And along with it came the unbearable heat waves. Even the thought of going out for a ride became difficult and an daunting task.
So, what became essential was a visit to higher altitudes. A trip to the hills had been fetching for long, and the group was itching for it too.
Binsar was decided to be the destination, and 3 days was required for the ride. Friday 2nd May was scheduled to be the date of start off.
Needless to say, Thursday night was full of anticipation and hardly a couple of hours of sleep was all that I could get.

                                   That's the prep before the ride.

Early next morning, started off at around 4 AM, the scheduled rendezvous point was near Akshardham at 4:30AM. After everyone assembled, we started off. And what an feeling it was.

It was still dark when we started off. Gradually we came out of the city, and were able to hit the highway. The eastern sky had also lightened up in the mean time.
At around 7 AM we stopped for breakfast.

After gorging on all stuffed paranthas topped with pickle and curd, we hit the highway once more. This time we rode hard and non-stop untill we reached Corbett.

 It was decided to fill up the tanks of our beasts before the start of the hills. But the heat of the plains did take it's toll on us, we were aching for a break. It was just on the opposite side of the petrol pump that we found this nice cozy looking restaurant.

Post this, we next took a detour to Nainital. It was all unplanned and sudden. But we never cease to pose for some pictures ofcourse :P .

And, that's the group. (One guy is behind the camera too).

Maybe it was the Mountains and high altitude or the abundance of trees, the average temp had gone down considerably.
 So now, we rode in much more peace. It was here that I was introduced to the Hair pin bends. It was sheer fear at first, but once I did get used to it, I knew I was in deep love with those turns. One can not perhaps explain the joy of going down on a knee and taking those turns.

 After many a turns and further many breath-taking picturesque landscapes, we reached the KMVN Resthouse in Binsar.

                                                       The beasts, all lined up.

                                                                 Another view.

                                              And that's the view from the balcony of the room.

                                                                  Night Fury, resting.

Some places in and around the Guest house.

When we arrived, it was bright & sunny. But within a matter of hour, it suddenly turned cloudy and the winds rushed like crazy. The temperature dropped undoubtedly, but thankfully there weren't any rains. As of now...!!

Night was uneventful, as we had dinner early and went to bed. We were all much tired to think of anything else.
It was in the middle of the night when I woke up to the sound of something. It was raining heavily, and the roofs of the guest house were equally loud to reciprocate to the rain drops on them.

Early up next morning, when I went to balcony. It was a view to withhold.

We had to leave for the Wild Life Sanctuary (so called). And again, we all rushed as to who will take bath first, have break fast, clean up the motorcycles. Ohh..! And we brushed too. Although we're bikers, we still do care about hygiene you see. :P

Once at the gate from where the sanctuary starts, one has to pay a sum of around 150-200 INR to enter. The scenic views however, priceless.

I would need to mention this another place that we saw while going up. So it was decided that while coming down, we would stop there. It was a the greenest grassland I've ever seen.

Post that, once back to guest house. We started off for Naukuchiatal. Nothing much significant in the whole trip except the hairpin bends ofcourse. :D  Here's some from the road.

 Had lunch at this place. Well, we were all famished and food was tasty.

Once, having reached Naukuchiatal...

Nikhil trying to jump a stone on water.

There wasn't much on the agenda here other than just chilling around. And chilled we were. Well, it did get a bit cold though.
Early up next morning, and we were all packed up to leave. Felt kind of weird. Even though I was there only for the weekend, the roads oddly enough, seemed to be more familiar. Driving down to the plains, that thrill of riding was there no more. I guess, the hills do have a way with your soul.
And what more could someone ask for. After all, it was nothing short of a love affair. And I call it a 900 km long love affair.

So long..