Am I growing wiser with age?

Many Moons ago I resolved to grow wiser as I aged.

A year older and wiser or so goes the age-old adage.

An odd grey-hair juts out signals me "Walking into the sunset of my life?"

Another year closer to the grave eh?

Do the #wise think of #death while discussing a celebratory #occassion like #birthday?

Am I growing #wiser with #age?

Many Moons later and the pertinent Q still looms "Am I growing wiser with age?"

As I ponder over this precarious situation it threatens to blow-off my cloak of being termed a "socially-wise-person".

Introspecting, I confront the #demon that this Q has grown into.

I frantically try to rationalize an response which would make me sound "wise".

Then the #truth hits me, I like all humans born before & after me, merely struggled to make my mark (whatever that means), provide for myself, form meaningful relationships and measure #success as a mere reflection of ones possessions & earnings.

I take it, that's a VERY #shallow & #superficial way of looking AND #living #life...and I'm #guilty as charged!

Why stops us from living life "as is" - let go of past baggage, shun apprehensions of the future and to live in the present?

Our innate attachment to self. The delusional importance/self-worth - the aham bhāvam. We are so blinded & self-consumed in our life's rat-race, we fail to stop and wonder the ramification of all these actions & events that we engage in. Is this what I was born to do? Am I more than this?

I rake my brains to come up with a "meaningful" answer to my conundrum.

I try to dig deep into the recess of my labyrinthine mind.
But all I manage to come-up with is filth which has clogged & blinded our human cognitive capabilities.

Tired as my eye-lids grow heavy reducing my open eyes to a mere slit, I hear the demon's fleeting voice call out again...

...Am I growing wiser with age?

#TumbleRide

Opening scene:

THUD! Both of us sliding in the middle of a busy junction of a very busy road.

#Gazelle sneers, I grunt, we look at each other smile, pick ourselves up and limp to safety by the road-side.

Injuries drop-in to mark this event and blood trickles to prove we were after all - mere mortals!

Back-story:

#Cycling day said my weekly schedule. I start the day on a high-note. I was looking forward to showing-off my new cycling apparels. The ride goes well as I bid good-bye to my last riding buddy on the last leg of our planned route. I was pushing #Gazelle more than she could handle but she obliged. In my eagerness to set a PR I miss the dip in the road. The next min we both were sliding on the road! Thankfully most of the vehicles tailing us were far behind...given that we were racing with the wind.

A kind-couple who were pulling out of the nearby eatery's parking lot offer me some water. I wash off the blood that was now close to a trickle. I thank them. Sensing the severity of the occasion they offer to drop me home. I respectfully declined. We were hurt but not shaken nor ready to give-up. Base was 10KMs away.

I do a quick cursory check to see if Gazelle can make it. After all Gazelle had chipped her right horn but she smiled, I knew she was all fine. Badly bruised, my right shoulder, knee, ankle and leg were bleeding, but our spirits were high. We were determined to finish this trip on a high.

Lessons learnt:

I get back on the saddle and paddle while voices in-my-head reminde me of what some wise-men once said:

#Winners don't quit and #QuittersNeverWin. We #fall only to #rise back again! #Warriors wear their #scars proudly! Thanks to #angels watching over me, I walk away without any serious injury and live to tell the tale. #BeSafe #RideSafeAlways End of scene.

Tumble-ride baby #TumbleRide!

The De-Monetisation Drama

PM Narendra Modi kicked off the highly secretive de-demonetization drama - I mean saga. In a  manner which was marketed as an "surgical strike" on Black Money. I was one among the millions of fellow Indians who lapped up the narrative and went ga-ga over how good this was going to be for India's economy. In my heart-of-hearts I wished & expected this move to the greatest "leveler" I'll witness in my lifetime. Scenarios of the elitist, the ultra-rich with their rooms stacked with ill-gotten money were about to run around like headless chicken got my pulse & heart beating fast on a background score of "Namo Namo Namo"...finally! But unfortunately this was my own story of Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne! Read on...

At the crack of dawn, my senses with a dreamy sleep-deprived, incoherent but racing ahead raising pertinent questions which I couldn't answer/comprehend.
Sample this:
1) Was this "surgical strike" the silver-bullet to take on Black money?
2) Implications of this move on others(being a service/salaried individual I self-exempted myself)?
3) Should I empathize/celebrate the rich-who-recently-were-to-see-their-stocked money-turn-worthless?
4) Is this the great-leveler that I've been seeking in my Utopian dreams?
5) Is this the dawn of a new era?
........
n) Are you out-of-your-mind to lose sleep and now try to seek answers to these Qs?
The last Q had an secret setting "recur-every-10 minute=ON" and was constantly trying to keep me in the present...but I my euphoria was hitting the snooze button on it..."Buzz Off!"

Few days passed, and then the dust settled down so-to-speak, on the "core issue" - Implementation! TBH it got muddier in the true sense.
As hours rolled-by, with RBI conveniently missing from the star-cast, it was all about PM Modi and his side-kick, Indian FM Arun Jaitely stealing the show. There was declaration followed by another declaration, followed by rules-to-follow which was then followed by some more rules-to-follow and not to forget the some more new rules-to-follow directive. Initially these directives which were disguised as having an occurrence set to one-per-day later morphed to a torrent, akin to a spammer on overdrive. This joke sums it up "Any new RBI rule in the last 5 mints guys ? I was in the washroom 😜😜😜😜"
I was trying to be up-to-date with the deluge of  RBI "directives" and my professional deliverable was taking a hit.

A wise-crack once said "When reality strikes, its like sh*t hitting the fan!".
A week on, me being a slow-learner was clearly showing up, as reality smacked & mocked my heady euphoric outcry of jubilation.
I was staring at the fact of being unable to pay my house-help staff. I explored the latest buzzword "Cashless Economy"...ahhh why didn't I think of this before? Slow-coach! I reasoned with them to join the "Digital Revolution" that was going to usher India to the "next level".
My house-help staff are the very people who would give me a missed call to talk, who clearly did not lead a 'normal life' of 4G data or unlimited high-speed broadband plans, who owned feature phones with monochrome screens. Seems these were those "anti-socials", who wanted to disregard India's growing global economical power and not ride the Digital wave.
Lesson learnt: I need a crash-course/book on "How to influence/convince people".

With ATMs were out-of-cash almost all the time. Something in me reminded me of how I live in a prominent area of the Silicon-valley of India, without govt water supply, while paying property tax equal (if not more than) some of the posh areas of this city. Sucker-punch...ouch!
Not wanting to be tagged an "anti-national" I quietly queue up at my bank's branch very early morning to beat the crowd. For my show of nationalism, my bank obliged & awarded (read decorated) me with a set of Monopoly inspired pinkish 2K notes.
To boost my ego, my FB post went online claiming what a smart-a** I was and the likes poured in from similar smarties...hmmm! Seemed to me more like a show of solidarity than a measure of my smartness.
A visit to my Dr  and I end up saying with a puppy face hope you've change for 2K flashing the newly minted design. But my short-changed Homeopath seemed more tech-savvy than me, "Better PayTM me". Aila now ball was in my court! I'll now have to install this app and 'do the needful'. The best part of this visit was me installing all app cashless payment apps on my smartphone! The latest I hear is how valuation of these payment processing firms sky-rocketed and they are having the last laugh...and no discount for me...that's not fair! :( Score: Payment apps:1 Me:0.
Finally I managed to settle all my outstanding for Nov. Self High 5!

But I couldn't make sense of my unique cash-crunch problem, while there were reports of many Babus & Netas being 'caught' with freshly minted pink stash...seems pink is the new black. I struggling to reconcile if this demonetization drive was supposed to be a deterrent/enabler for money-laundering-black-money-hoarding devils? Welcome to the Jungle!

Zoom to current day scenario, out-of-cash not denting my idealistic outlook, I'm enthu making new plans on how-to deal with this month-end dragon as it mocks me for another duel.
Whilst doing so, I take a break and watch AIB's video..."Mitron, waqt tho mann ka veham hai!"
I'm distracted by call from HR consultant.
She asked me, are you looking for change?

I said "Yes...for Rs. 2000 and want change."
I don't know why she disconnected call."

I rest my case and take a 'break' from breaking my head trying to decipher this drive!

Amen!

Reva E2O test-drive

Few weeks ago, I test-drove an Mahindra Reva E2O and this is based on a True story... :)
I have been long wishing to get my hands on a EV (Electric Vehicle). I recently had this wish of mine fulfilled, albeit partly...read on.

 

Trivia:

Quick pointers for those of you who are not aware of Reva:

1) Reva is the only EV completely manufactured in India!

2) Reva was Maini group's flagship vehicle, until Mahindra group acquired them and rechristened it as Mahindra Reva. Details @ their website.

Test-drive:

At the very onset, I would like to Thank Reva team for providing me an Reva E2O vehicle to test drive.

Reva E2O

My Reva contact, a very courteous & friendly guy gave me a quick 5-min explanation about the basics, control, etc and I was left in-charge of the test-drive vehicle - an Sunfire Yellow coloured Reva E2O-T2 model.

Here is my take of my experience.

Exteriors: Impressive, well designed with 6 eye catching colour options.

Interiors: Dashboard nicely done in blue light was very informative.

The control-knob to control the infotainment dashboard needs a bit of getting used to(the wear & tear of usage reflect on its responsiveness).

I didn't use the Bluetooth & SatNav options. Hence I wouldn't comment on those.

Look-and-feel is decent, but for its cost (more on this later) the finish & quality needs a bit more premium feel.

Pick up: Very good; I was particularly impressed by its pulling power.

Handling: Shock-absorbers were a bit stiff and given the uneven/unfinished (Indian) road, shocks were directly felt by the riders. This was more so for the back-seat riders. Definitely one of its low points.

Cost: With an 7.81L on-road (Bangalore) price, the cost is Prohibitive! According to me, Mahindra should have priced it a bit lower to entice more takers.

Seating: Spacious for 4 adults.

Mileage: Impressive 100 Kms/charge claimed, which I agree since I did manage to get 94KMs (with some charge remaining) from my test-drive vehicle.

Charging: A charm to fully charge in less than 4 hrs, one of its biggest asset.
Power Steering: Absent.
Driving: With automatic steering and only 2 (accelerator & brake) pedals to manage, its a dream-come-true for the typical urban stop-and-go type of driving. Ladies and aged drivers should also find their calling with this type of driving. I liked it all the more given the fact, I've always been a vocal proponent of automatic vehicles in urban driving conditions.

In conversation:

Before going down this road of owning an EV, I tried to understand the mindset of what people around me thought about it. Obviously there were 2 set of people.

Type-A:

As was expected this set of people were not aware of such an alternative mode of transport, let alone an pure Indian offering in that.

Few skeptics argued about electricity not being really being an clean alternative, given the fact that most of the electricity plants in India are coal-based. My answer to them was, despite electricity source being coal based, Reva had ZERO emission...no air pollutants. Isn't that a positive step in the right direction? Also in the near future, India is going to use nuclear fuel for electricity generation - comparatively better I say(leaving the nuclear safety discussion for another day & time).

As part of their expansion plan for Reva, Mahindra also plans to use solar energy for their soon-to-be launched recharging station network. Now that would be another feather on their cap...and also a good use of one thing we've ample & free in India - sunlight :)
Another point against Reva was the limitation it "imposed" for owners not being able to travel beyond 100KMs/charge. This definitely was true and as mentioned above Mahindra is planning to create and extend its recharging network. So for now Reva owners will need to plan their travel more meticulously than their fossil-fuel based peers.

On knowing the cost of the vehicle, some voraciously argued how comparatively they can go for "better & bigger" non-EVs. I rest my case!

Type-B:

These are Reva aware people.

Given the escalating fuel prices, they were receptive to the idea of change.
Another enabling factor was the thought of holding an higher moral ground (regarding emissions) appealed to them too ;)

Their biggest discouragement or let down was undoubtedly the cost factor.

Way forward:
Mahindra needs to boost their support offering, specially their charging network(which I understand they are working on to expand). This should translate in more sales & see more traction in terms of a bigger user-base.

IMHO Mahindra should also advertise & brand Reva more aggressively and also re-look at their price factor to sweeten their deal.

Conclusion:

Overall I'm impressed by the offering but as mentioned above price is prohibitive.

Adding on to this misery is the fact that no govt tax subsidies exist for owning an EV, would-be owners need to give it a definite & serious thought.

Back to me, owning an Reva E2O is on hold (for now).
Alternatively though I've decided to pick-up an 2nd hand Reva-i (look-out for my post if I get one ;).

On a parting note:- Drive Safe. Don't Honk. Use low beam at night. Go Green!

Amen!

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid post and I don't own this vehicle...yet ;)

My in-house composting PART-2

Continuing from my earlier post on this topic(PART-1), I harvested my 2nd load of 'black gold'. This time a neat ~1.3 KGs! I used some of it for in-house gardening most of it lying around...mulling what to do of it.

Some pleasant surprise sprung up on my in-house gardening front too. Seeds in my pots started germinating & flowering plants which were later classified as Green Chilies, Capsicum, Rose(brought from a nursery) and well TBH I don't know what the other plant is...waiting for the fruit/vegetable to sprout :)! Take a look at some of the pics I've shared below for reference.

I've 'planted' (thrown in rather than discard it in my wet waste) few pumpkin seeds and I've creeper crawling off that pot! I know its too early to celebrate & expect fruits (or aptly vegetables in this case ;) but the best feeling in this entire exercise for me is to see these seeds germinate and plants growing off it...all by themselves.

Wishfully I hope everyone understands the importance of SWM(Solid Waste Management) and try to implement it at their respective places. Evidently as you would have noticed by now, enthusiastic souls like me, can also graduate to trying their hands at in-house gardening...a naturally extension of your SWM effort.

With such meaningful resolution & my wishful outlook I once again pin my hopes on you to spread the word, walk the talk and get involved in making our community a better place to live in. Go Green!

Amen!

Home Grown Spinach

Nursery @ Garden

Capsicum

Rose

Terror + ADD = India

Background:

India has always been an peace loving nation which is evident looking at its history. In other words, it has never invaded any country for occupation, but that has not deterred invaders from invading and occupying India. Over numerous centuries India has enticed it's invaders with its offering - spices & precious stones among others.

Despite being occupied for centuries by foreign invaders, India has never looked at violence/armed resistance as a sustainable solution. But this has also developed an nation full of overly tolerant set of people who are immune to the tendency of natural forces of resistance. Putting up with whatever situation seems to come naturally to them...be it foreign invaders or corruption around them!

Reflecting on the past few decades, the numerous periodic terror attacks in India, is an apt reflection of callous inept governance, inadequate and ill-managed security measures to check such re-occurrences and the indifferent attitudes of the ruling govt in ensuring such dastardly attacks don't repeat. The case in discussion is the recent Hyderabad bomb attack (Read article here) which is a grim reminder of the dangers of misplaced fanatic religious sentiments prevailing in India. India has bore the brunt of numerous violent attacks on its soil which are mostly either sponsored or fanned from across the border by Pakistan. This in no way lets our internal security apparatus off the hook for not being able to sense or prevent such events. While the entire country has moved on to other "important" stories, thanks to the nation's watch dog @ media houses; we've once again proven to be a nation severely affected by ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder).

Contemplate:

Terror + ADD = India

Isn't it an potent concoction for any nation, let alone India, to have ADD when Terror is concerned! We as a nation need to stand up for our rights and demand a decent & humane living.

Are we ready to demand answers from our leaders, who are elected by us to safe guard our interests and most importantly our lives?

Time to set our demands straight and push for answers. Electoral reforms is one of the key and most important tool which we can make use of. I'll soon be posting my take on this...stayed tuned!

Amen!

No Smoking!

Tobacco consumption in one form or other has always been cited as the major cause of Cancer. Cancer @ (the Big) C - is one of the most potent reasons for tobacco related deaths across the globe. Yet of all the means of tobacco consumption, Smoking has time and again been the most visible & hated!

Did you know?
* For every smoker there are 40 non-smokers who are affected!
* Secondary smoke is more dangerous than primary smoke...meaning indirectly you are the agent of death of many innocent lives!
* Every cigarette stick takes away 5 mins of your wonderful life.
* Recently  researchers also attribute smoking as an possible reason for reproductive disorders(Ouch! A classic below the belt hit).
* $9.94B is spends annually on advertisements and promos...that is $27M per day! (P.S: I find that figure ridiculously huge to be wasted in this manner...but then that is just me talking). A figure like that in perspective should tell a lot about the kind of money there is to be made from this 'madness' if I may.

 Merchants of death!
It is estimated by the year 2018 that figure would have risen to 8 million per year!

So in the interest of everyone's  health, I urge all smokers to refrain from this dreaded habit and to give the above stated facts a well intentional thought before lighting up the next one. But if these facts don't startle you, then please remember that every time you light up next, its akin to sending out a red carpet invitation to Yamaraja!

Sorry to rub it into you, but I don't see it any other way. Hope better sense prevails upon you.

P.S: These facts can be easily verified by doing a quick Google (re)search.

Amen!