a sunken tyre

May 24, 2009 - Sunday

And here we go again!!!

Our fetish for driving and exploring led to yet another amazing experience that night. Things simply have to happen or go wrong when my friend sarvo and i are out on the road. That night we also had the company of deva who by now i am pretty sure will think twice whenever henceforth we ask him on a drive.

It was a free sunday as the day is meant to be. It was also the final of the IPL. Though having not followed it keenly this time, i did not catch the match when it was being shown at our office gym. So in the evening, sarvo and i left home in his car to have a good time somewhere nearby. A good time we sure had i can say that in hindsight now. We picked up deva and headed towards pafos on the old highway around the kourium mountains.

We drove on and on and reached pissouri bay. The small stretch of muddy road surrounded by grass and shrubs on both sides lead to a beach in the end. And here the game began. Sarvo drove on and on and onto the beach.Fine? Well, so did we think but not fine at all. We spent a few nice minutes there and that was it. While taking reverse, the car decided to show who's the boss and got stuck in the sand. Both the front tyres are half deep in sand just rotating at the same place and sinking further. What a sight!!!

So there we were stuck. Night time, alone on the beach, a stuck car, office next day but not a whiff of tension on anyone. These things are somehow destined to happen to us and we have come out of it on previous occasions and we knew we would here as well. So time for some innovative ideas. Sarvo tried to remove the sand around the tyres, i was using the phone as a torch. We tried and tried but the car would not budge. So then, we removed the sand again, put a lot of pebbles under the tyre so that it would roll over it and come out. But no success. This was getting pretty interesting. Now for another shot. Sarvo removed the jack from his car, lifted the front side of the car, we removed all the sand, put more and more stones and pebbles to make a hard surface and in a jiffy the idea failed. the tyres went back into the sand in no time. So there we were stuck. Finally time to ask help.

So me and deva, went towards a hotel that was nearby. Don't know if it was sheer co-incidence or our good fortune that at that unearthly hour and in that lonely place, a truck approached in our direction. We waved our hand to stop it and it did. We told our plight to the guy and he came at the "crime scene". He was too amazed and confused and perhaps thinking what kind of fools we were to drive on the beach in a car like that. But i guess he kept it to himself not to make us more miserable. So he asked us for a rope which we did not have. So out comes his cell phone, he calls his friends and in 10 mins there was another jeep there. And then, out came 4 strong guys to our rescue.They first laughed at the situation which i think anyone was entitled to and besides we ourselves were enjoying our plight no less. So one of the guys sits in the car, while we all push it backwards. "Push re push" was the war cry. And in a couple of mins the car came back on track ready to drive.

We thanked those guys for getting us out and head home. While returning, on that small stretch, sarvo tried a few tricks out of rally racing and at a speed of 100kmph steered of the track for a few secs. Well he nearly lost control of the car and it was heading straight into the trees but he somehow managed to get back on road. Those few seconds were the only scary moments of what was yet another wonderful wonderful drive.

the road less travelled

May 17, 2009.

A normal sunday it was that turned into one of my most treasured journeys here in this wonderful island - cyprus.

At about 5 in the evening, sarvo, deva picked me up and we head towards a nearby dam - yermasoiga in deva's car. It was just about 15 km away from home and i am quite sure none among the 3 of us would have expected it to be a journey that in the end would cover almost 160km. How could a journey to a place just 15 km away eventually turn out to be more than 10 times ? Well for most people it would'nt have, but things somehow "happen" to us. Or should i say our drives!!!.

So we headed towards this beautiful dam. It was indeed a serene place of beauty. Quiet, peaceful, lush green, winds, small lake, valleys, villages, and beautiful winding roads as well. It was a in a world of its own away from the hustle bustle and noise of the city. The villages along the roads, the people there, seemed to be happy in their small beautfiul world. And so did we enjoy the journey to there. But en-route, sarvo happened to glance at the car's dashboard and we are thankful that that glance took place. Deva was driving in a region of villages, hills, valley on an uphill road on "reserve fuel".  There was no petrol pump around and in the region we were, there was no hope of one showing up as well. The nearest petrol pump was back in the city and there was a very very remote possibilty of the car reaching there. And so the adventurous journey began!!!

We moved ahead, hoping to find a gas station somewhere in the nearby villages but no such luck. Deva was is usual self unmindful of the fact that the car would soon be out of gas. Well actually all 3 of us were not much concerned, since so many more "serious" incidents/accidents have happened to us and our cars that running out of gas on a lonely road was the least concerning. And besides, in this case, we were aware of the gas situation and had back-up plans in case we did not find a petrol pump. There was always the option of calling some of our friends, and then the option of asking some locals for help. And if that did'nt work, the speed-fire company (towing service) by now knows us and our situations pretty well since we have become their regular "damsel in distress". Besides, deva's car had still not got the priviledge of being atop a towing truck and being chauffered for a change! The last option did'nt happen and i hope it never does. And neither were the first two options required. 

We asked a group of young boys from where would we get petrol and they showed us the way. We went in that direction and soon landed up outside a couple of cafes. And were kind of lost. Not exactly. We asked the people there and voila we landed right outside what we needed. Petrol was available right there at the cafe. The people there stored fuel in big tanks and why they did that was pretty obvious since there was no gas station around and probably never will be. So this guy comes out with a big 6l funnel and pours petrol in the car. Anyone been to goa can perhaps imagine the scene here. In indian villages perhaps one may expect such a situation but here in tourist heaven cyprus in europe!!!Wow. That was quiet a moment seeing petrol being sold in that fashion.

Moving on, now with the trouble of fuel solved, we decided to go ahead on those mountain roads rather than return home. And glad we did. The places we saw there were no less than wonder. Beautiful view of the ocean from atop the mountain, the curvacoeus roads, the villages below, trees covering the deeep valley.Simple amazing. These places perhaps wont find their mention in a commercial tourism book about cyprus and it was simply great to see such beauty of nature unscathed till today by human civilization and its greed.

All the above still doesn't add up to the curiosity of how a place just 15 km away would eventually result in a journey of 160km. Now comes the cherry on top. Rather than taking an about turn and returning the same route home, we moved ahead anticipating to find another route, trying to replicate Christopher Columbus voyage to India. Well he landed up in America instead of India. And no surprise that something similar happened to us. The only difference is we knew finally where we were. Moving ahead and ahead and taking turns here and there and following Sarvo's gps and intuition, we moved on and on and on and reached Nicosia. Nicosia!!! The capital city of cyprus about a 100 km away from home. How on earth did we land there? It turned out that we had traversed the old- bylanes and old single lane highways that was perhaps in use in olden times before the super-expressway came into existence in modern cyprus. And what roads they were. Surrounded by plane lush green fields on both sides, wind in the air, rarely a car to honk and overtake, villages, churches.Amazing. We perhaps travelled through the interiors of mainland cyprus and not along the coastline.

We reached nicosia in about an hour, had food at mc-donalds and then was time to head home. This time we decided to remain sane and take the super-way back home. But finding that also was a journey of its own. We again got lost in the old lanes of nicosia and reached the UN military zone or no-man's  land. Surrounded by ruins of the old city of famagusta, the broken houses, the vandalized stores, the barbed fence and the big wooden gate separating the turkish part of cyprus from here. It was as if we travelled through time and re-lived that period of history.

Finally we managed to reach modern times and on the express way. In about an hour's time we reached back home and back to living our normal work-aholic lives.

That day was an experience in itself. Those 15 km would perhaps have never gotten longer had deva not been on reserve fuel in the start.

The road less travelled.

a 100 kms in the night

Wednesday, May 13

It was frustrating day but the night more than cheered me up.

A week ago, the night shifts had got over. It was back to day time sunlight working hours and how relieved i was to see the end of night shifts. But this day had plans to give nightmares in day-time. 

Me and my team (that is if we are allowed to call 2 ppl a team) were head-banging and  scratching our eyes out to fix some things up. Well we knew from the start that we are asking for trouble big-time since we were trying to make something work in linux when that thing was built for only and only for unix. So after billions and billions of changes here and there and everywhere, we got success and were so happy when things came crashing down all of a sudden. And what we were getting on the screen was a not so pleasant " http 404 not found ". Damn you http.

So after a very frustrating day, i decided to just forget abt the http and go to our "now regular joint" mc-donalds. I asked my friends if any of them would come or would want something but only sarvo, lalit and pradeep showed some interest. So we headed to mcdonalds, took the food and headed to lady's mile beach to enjoy there. We ate to our hearts content and then took off to home. Oh and while driving to lady's mile, pradeep got a bit-scared of my driving i dont know why. But i guess he will get used to it.

So i dropped off lalit and pradeep at their home and headed back when sarvo thought of " lets go and buy milk". For the confused reader, this phrase has kind of become a substitute to just go on a long drive which originated a couple of months ago. In our earlier days in cyprus, we would just head out actually to buy milk and stuff and would end up far away from our home searching for it and many times we returned home without any milk. Thus the phrase caught on and now we just go about buying milk every now and then.

Anyways, coming back on track, i was quite frustrated and thought why not go on a drive and have a good time since driving is one of the things i enjoy the most. So we reached the highway and instead of heading right towards nicosia which has been our route till now, we went left towards pafos. Initially driving with the intention of returing home soon, but then, we had a good chat, nice music in the background, the drive kept going longer and longer and longer. So i finally took an exit towards the aphrodite hills. Assuming the name would be the name of some hill, i headed where the sign-board directed only to land up in front of a resort. So we moved ahead and the next sign-board said secret valley to the right. Secret Valley!!!. What would be secret abt this valley and so we headed there. A narrow road wide enough for only 1 car, trees and small shrubs on both sides, pitch dark, not a sound, we moved on and on and the name of the place was sounding to make sense. It did seem like a secret place unexplored till now, but the end showed a big golf-course. Guess it was not that secret after all to have a huge golf-course.

And now, sarvo removed the gps to find an alternate old route back home. So we followed it, and this was the best part. The road leading back home had a small hilly terrain on the left and the deep blue (maybe should write black in the night) ocean in the night. And no other car traversing on this route. We headed on and on and stopped in a place. There we saw the moon and its sparkling reflection in the water. It was so over-whelming and the sound of the water hitting the rocks below, the sights of city lights in the distant dark, was all too good. We spent a couple of mins there, clicked some pics and headed back.

Then we came across a road leading to pissouri bay. We took that turn and there was no road there. Just a narrow stretch cleared of the trees being called a road. There we found ourselves in front of a beautiful, quiet beach. Sometimes just standing in places like these gives so much peace of mind and brings back that little smile which we yearn for.

After a good drive from there on we were back home in the civilized world. I never imagined the frustrating day would end so well at night. 

A 100 kms that ended my day in tranquility.

Election '09 - the votes that are'nt

May 03, 2009.

A lazysunday. Bored to the core of boredom that boredom was bored of me and vice-versa. Browsing through facebook, i came across this interesting topic which caused the grey cells in my brain to think about it. Think beyond the a-z of softwares and work and etc etc. So i here i go about it.

The point i came across was - voting in the general elections in india 09. What about the indians abroad ? This seemed a weird idea at first glance but on more thought, i wondered - why not. I am pretty sure there is no provision in the constitution for indians abroad to vote but that book was written 60 years ago. Why not introduce a change in it which has a definite possibility of doing something good for the counry ?

I am of the opinion that there are many reasons why such a thing should be implemented and soon. There are scores and scores of indians abroad. Indians in the form of students flocking in big numbers to pursue their dreams and higher education in the lands of uncle sam and many european nations as well. Indian workers working abroad in the countless organizations spread throughout the world. After seeing so many indians in this tiny island of cyprus which i had not even heard of before getting placed here, there is little doubt left in my mind that there is any country in this world without a sizeable number of legal indian migrants.

So why should'nt these indians (including me - lets call them nri's since that is also the official lingo and slang used to refer them) be allowed to cast their vote. People may say, we are NRI's, and we care less for india, we are'nt patriotic or that i presume is the general perception but thats not true and in no way can one generalize this opinion of all of us. I do like to believe many indians abroad do care about india and occassionally, do or atleast try to do their bit for her. The results are not always tangible for all to see. So why then arent they allowed to vote. In the current elections, i saw politicians and media urging each one to spare those 5 mins, go to the nearest voting station and exercise their franchise. But when i saw the voter turnout results of Bombay, which was being billed as the city of people eager to show their power by the ballot after the november carnage, i felt so pity and sorry. A mere what 40% or so turned out out of a million citizens. And i am also at fault in this. Not that because of being abroad i can escape, but i am sure had i been there, i also would have been among those 60% that enjoyed the holiday more.

And these turnouts have been more or less not even 50 % in major states or places. Except for some eastern states where it reached about 65%, it was the same story everywhere. And with no party gaining majority with or without alliances, it sure seems headed for a hung parliament. So then if the indians in india dont seem to care much, why not give the indians not in india a chance to make a miniscule difference.Surely with the technologically advanced country in terms of telecom and IT that we are, i am of the opinion that implementing such a system for nri's would not be a challenging technical hurdle atleast. We have millions of engg, the best software companies in the world, so its definitly an implementable system i feel. Morally also, some indians abroad may crib, that the country is not progressing and will never do so, but there is a small number having tremendous faith in india and her abilities to take on any damn challenge in this world.

The indians in india missed their chance. They didnt care much to use the power given to them. But what about the indians abroad. They werent even given a chance. Even if 1 nri out of every 100 votes sincerely, it will make a difference to india. Every year, the govt celebrates the pravasi bhartiya divas respecting noted nri personalities, politicians and state govts ask nris to fund projects in india. If all this, then why not the right to vote. Why not ask us to go to the nearest indian mission/consulate and press that all important button ? Why not allow us also to have a say in the largest democracy of the world ?

This year i missed my chance. But i make a promise to myself, that if i am in india in 2014, i will walk down to the voting station and let my vote be counted. If am i not, but my wish above comes true, i will go to the indian consulate and do the same. But if this does not happen and i am abroad, i will have nothing to do than sulk and probably rewrite this blog and wait till 2019.

The 'I' in NRI stands for INDIAN.