Thursday 28 June 2018

How I got lucky because of rental car in Delhi


My office is in Connaught Place in Delhi, and I commute by bus. Like every other day, it was Friday and I stepped out of the office to catch my bus at 6 pm. I was there at the same bus stop where I have been going to since the last two years. I rushed to reach the bus stop at 5:55 pm so that I do not miss the bus. Just when I was walking swiftly towards my destination, I felt a minor push from a man. I almost fell at the push, but I could not do anything about it. It is common for the Delhi-ites to push people to make way for themselves.

The man probably wanted to catch another bus, and hence ran after it. However, I could not reach my bus stop on time, and I could see the bus going away right in front of my eyes. I cussed that man for making me miss my bus, though he had caught his bus. Now I had to wait for another half an hour or more to find another bus on my route.

I took my phone out of the bag and got busy over various social media sites. What else I could do? I had to pass my time somehow. Occasionally, I would look up at other people indulged in talking, walking, and a few of them eating chana-bhel from the vendor at the bus stop. Just when I was about to get back to my phone, I saw a colleague from my office in a car that was decorated like a poster.

He stopped near me and told me to hop in. I gave him a puzzled look and said, “I have to wait for my bus. And how did you get this funny car?”

He laughed at my reaction, and said, “It’s from the promotional offer running by a company that gives car on rent. Jump in for a quick ride; I’ll drop in back in a few minutes. Else, I’ll drop you home.”

It was an interesting offer, indeed. I did not take me long to hop in for a quick ride.

Coincidentally, we drove in the direction of my bus route. After only a kilometer or more, I saw a huge crowd of people around one spot. We thought that there must be an accident. However, it turned out that the bus that I had just missed was overturned because the driver was trying to outpace someone. He could not control the vehicle and hence, the bus capsized.

I felt immediate gratitude for that man who had pushed me!

Luck was on my side that day. I had missed the bus for good.

I later learned that no one in the bus had been seriously injured, but a few passengers were admitted to the hospital for minor bandage. I reached home with my friend in that blessed Car Rental, and thanked God that at least I arrived safely, no matter a few minutes late.

Tuesday 26 June 2018

My First Journey in a Luxury Train in India


Traveling in trains in India is no less than a luxury, and you have to be quite bold to do that, at least alone as a women. I had heard quite a few nasty stories about solo woman travel in regular trains, so I thought of going by a luxury train called Shatabdi Express since it was my first time in the trains. It was early in the morning. Like everybody else, I was eagerly waiting for the snacks and food that are served in the train.

I was fortunate to have two elderly ladies on my both sides of seat. They were busy in their world, and so was I. I started reading a book and the music on my phone was not so pleasing, yet I had no other option. I listened to it for a while, and removed the earphones only when the first serving of snacks arrived at the time of morning tea.

The morning tea

The lady on my right and I made the tea with tea bags and milk, and gulped down our favorite drink in the morning. The lady on the left did not feel like having tea, so she took the biscuits and kept the biscuits in her bag.

The morning snacks

The next set of snacks was interesting comprising cutlets, eggs, bread, and butter. I gobble down everything in just a few seconds while paying a little attention to what my kind neighbors are doing. The lady on the right also ate the snacks, except the eggs. The woman on the left kept everything in her bag again; maybe she did not feel hungry at all. And like every other Indian, she would keep everything in her bag rather than refusing it altogether.

The soup

Two hours later, we received the next serving of soup, which I shamelessly finished again as I like to have tomato soup any time during the day. I noticed the two ladies on my sides and both of them did not drink the soup. The one on the right refused to take the serving, and the one on the left took only soup sticks and kept them in her bag again. Maybe she ate one cutlet during that time; I am not sure.

The last meal  

Just before the train reached Bangalore, we were served lunch. Without saying much, let us say that I ate and the lady on the left kept everything again in a lunch box in her bag.

Then, she called someone and said, “Beta, have you brought car hire in Bangalore? I am arriving the station in half an hour. When will you come?

I felt so small in that moment of pure selflessness that this lady had for her son, who must be an adult as he was coming to pick her up. She did not eat anything at all just because she wanted to share everything she had got with someone.
Only Indian moms can do it!

Sunday 24 June 2018

How I Broke the News to My Parents on a Road Trip


It has to be tough sometimes, even for the parents, especially when they are Indian parents. I have no hesitation in admitting that I manipulate my parents when they apply the same tricks to me. The Indian parents have a nasty habit of altering almost every decision of their kid’s life, even when the decision seems legit.

So we had planned a trip to McLeodganj from our hometown in Delhi. We were already late while leaving from the house as we had to pick the Self Drive Cars Delhi Airport because of its proximity to our house. Anyway, we all packed our bags and left for the airport in a cab. Everything was going well, mom was packing her bags, dad was packing food, sister Shreya was busy packing her makeup, and I was chatting on my phone.

So we all left for the airport, picked up the car, and drove off to McLeodganj, which is more than 500 kilometers from Delhi. Dad and I love driving, so traveling to a far-off destination for more than 12-13 hours was not a problem for us. As soon as we reached the hills, I decided to break the important news to my family.

Me: Mom, Dad, I have to share something important with you guys.

Mom: What is it? Have you failed in your exams? I told you to study harder and quit playing cricket.

Dad: Do you need money for something?

Mom: Are you in love? I knew it. The look on your face tells me you have found someone on your own. I had already found someone for you. Now you will bring someone to our house and she will rule all of us.

Shreya: Mom, Dad, he has not even spoken a word about his matter yet.

Dad, who was enjoying driving on the serene hills, stopped the car and turned to me, “What is it, beta?”

(What is it, son?)

Me: See, this is something that has been bothering me for quite some time, but you all must know that I am homosexual. I like men.

Mom and Dad were aghast!

Their mouths dropped and tongues almost touched the floor of the car. Dad got out of the car, and Mom followed him as well. Now I was looking at Shreya, completely clueless. We also got out and turned to our parents.

Mom was crying and Dad was consoling her.

Mom: How could you do this to us? What will we say to the relatives?

Dad: Since when?

Me: I don’t know Dad, but I don’t find any interest in girls. I have a boyfriend and we plan to get married.

I could sense the cool air of the mountains around us suddenly fuming!

Mom: Please don’t do this Shreyas. We will find a good girl for you. You can also find one on your own if you like someone. We will not say a word. Just don’t marry a boy please.

Me: I don’t know Mom I will be able to do it or not. I love my boyfriend and I cannot leave him.

Mom was still sobbing, and Dad was still consoling her.

After ten minutes, I could not take it anymore.

I hugged Mom and told her that it was a joke. I am straight, not a homosexual person. Instead of smiling at me, she slapped me! And then hugged me.

Dad: We will have to get you married soon! This was a really bad joke!
I texted my girlfriend as I sat in the car, “Congratulations! Mission accomplished! We are getting married soon!

Thursday 21 June 2018

How I Met My Doctor While Traveling to Delhi


Being at a relative’s place is not easy, especially when they are too nosy. My parents would often push me to go to the relative’s house under the pretext of sending sweets, delivering clothes, fetching food, and what not. Generally, I don’t like to do anything that is concerned with my maternal or paternal uncles and aunts, still I try my best to be nice. However, there was enough of it when I had to sit by the side of an extremely inquisitive uncle, who happened to be my father’s friend.

So here it goes.

We had to attend a wedding in Delhi, and travelled for four hours from Bareily to be there. However, we had stay in Noida at someone’s house before the wedding. We took a car on rent in Noida and headed off to Delhi for the marriage ceremony. As anyone would dread, an Indian wedding is all about opening up your life in front of random strangers, whom we call relatives, but we meet them only when someone get married or dies.

I was waiting for my turn to fetch the aloo-tikki, which was my only respite in the boring wedding. I saw my father waiving at me from a distance, calling me to meet someone. No matter how hard I tried to look away from them, they found me. When nothing worked, he called me on my cellphone and told me to come there as soon as I got the aloo-tikki. I could hear the frustrating conversation already in advance, even before I had not talked to that uncle.

The uncle

Anyway, as I went there, Dad introduced me to his distant friend, Mr. Sharma, who lives in Chennai. Dad told me to talk to him as he would return in sometime with some snacks. I had a terrified look on my face, and Dad knew that I did not want to be alone with Mr. Sharma. Nevertheless, I had to talk to him.

Mr. Sharma: Beta, what do you do? Do you study? Do you work for a company? Where do you live? Your father told me you live alone? How much do you earn?

I do not need to mention that he bombarded me with a dozen more questions in a single breath.

Me: I’m good uncle. How many kids do you have?

Mr. Sharma: I have one daughter. She is studying medicine in Chennai.

Me: When will she complete her studies? When will she come to Delhi?

Mr. Sharma: I don’t know? Why do you ask?

Me: I would hang out with her and know about her job and salary. When can I meet her?

Mr. Sharma: I don’t think she will come to Delhi alone. She does not need to. I’ll come with her.

Me: I know, still I would like to be aware of her wellbeing and job.

I could realize the uncle wanting to kill me right there, but my father came at the right moment and asked about how the conversation was going on.

Mr. Sharma gave me a stern look, and went back to Dad. I could hear him saying that kids these days have become too modern. He, on his own, turned his back to me and went away with Dad. I don’t need to say that I had my food and drinks peacefully for the entire wedding, and no one dared to disturb me. Mr. Sharma recommended a friend for me, who happened to be his nephew to a good time.

Oh! Did I mention that the friend was a psychologist?

Never!

Tuesday 19 June 2018

How I Met Funny People during My Visits to Home


I have been meeting hilarious people since the day I have joined college. However, the current times have become even funnier after I have started meeting girl’s for marriage. I belong to a small town in Gujrat and people over there, though innocent, are highly silly in their approach towards marriage. They have a typical old school arranged marriage in their mind where the girl, despite her education and income, should be a housewife after marriage. And even if she chooses to earn post-marriage, the husband should never look at her income. Else, he would be labelled as a sinister person.

Incident #1

I have a job in core engineering in Noida, and I happen to visit home only after 2-3 months. Over one visit last year, I was supposed to meet a girl and her family for marriage. I was in small talks with the family about various things about job and life in Noida and Delhi. I told them a few things about my life, and they told us about theirs. To my family, everything seemed positive and we hoped for an affirmative response later.

However, a week passed on before we received a call from them. The girl’s mother asked me to make my Facebook profile public so that they could see, rather scan my social life online. I must mention that drinking, even socially, is considered offensive in Gujrat. I knew that I have uploaded a few pictures of mine while drinking in the bars with friends. Therefore, I did not want to anyone to breach my privacy since I don’t find social drinking as an offense. I asked if I could add the girl as a friend to let her go through my profile rather than opening it all for the public. She was added, but of course, the family rejected me because I was a drunkard for them!

I knew it!

Incident #2

I had a project from Self-Drive Car Rental Bangalore airport that required me to travel to the city. Coincidentally, the mediator made me meet a girl in my hometown who worked in Bangalore, but hailed from the same city as mine. I met her to realize that she is an ambitious girl, which was the best thing about her, at least according to me even if it was not according to her parents.

Nevertheless, I met her in Bangalore a couple of times and talked over the phone once or twice a day. Everything was going well as we got along well on the lines of education, career, running the house, and raising the kids. I thought that I had found the ideal girl who was modern enough to live a decent metropolitan life, and traditional enough to run a household. We had agreed that even if we reject each other, we would communicate it to each other before we tell our parents.

Nonetheless, to my surprise, I was rejected again because the girl’s father told my father that I was a greedy person who eyed his wife’s income!

I was like, is it for real?

I was rejected twice for the most baseless reasons ever.

I could only realize that while meeting such people from my hometown, I could only have a fit of laughter, and never find a suitable girl to marry.

I communicated this to my parents and they shrugged shoulders and said that they cannot find the kind of girl I was looking for, and that I should do it myself!

So, here I am, enjoying my bachelor life in Noida!

Wednesday 13 June 2018

Why it is Fine not to Travel Alone


I have a problem, a problem with solo travelers who think so high of themselves and belittle non-solo travelers. I have traveled alone to a few places, loved my secluded time, but that does not mean that I would want to indulge in solo travel every time. Solo travel is not the sole best way to travel. I have seen many solo travelers bragging about their experiences, and they make sure that they make other people feel like they are missing something in life if they do not go to place alone. Many experiences in life are unique, but that does not mean that everyone should indulge in them to attain nirvana!

Many people, for example, would never think about scaling the Mount Everest. Does that mean that their life is incomplete?

Never!

I have not done bungee jumping yet, but I do not consider myself any less of a traveler. I am a mountain-trekker at heart, a sleeping buddy at the beach, and a random person on the streets of the world. I love to wander around places all alone, but that is because I have a personality like that. I like to be on my own. I like the space solo travel gives me, but I never brag about it. I hate promoting the notion that I am, in any way, superior to others. When I started solo travel, I had no idea that it would become the coolest thing on social media. I had never even thought about it. It was just more convenient for me to go around alone than wait for people to accompany me. However, I love traveling with people whenever we can make a plan.

Traveling with family

Whenever I go out with my family, I love the time I spend with them. Even if it is a short weekend getaway, I make sure to be with them. As they say, “We owe our life to our parents.” I feel the same obligation, as well as, love towards them. My parents and siblings are a cool set of people; they do not bore me at all. That is why; I love their company even if I have to go to a place like Thailand where other people would not even think about going with a family.

The spirit of travel

I don’t let anyone judge me for what I do. I have the adventurous spirit in me and the curiosity to explore places. I have the freedom to do things I like, be at places I dream about, and be with people I like. Then why on earth, I should not visit places with people. Personally saying, I get bored of my company sometimes. That is when I like to be with friends or family.

Solo travel may be fun sometimes, but not always. When the Self-Drive Cars in Bangalore were launched, I wanted to go for a road trip, but not alone. So I called two of my friends and convinced them to accompany me to Coorg. I got to drive an SUV for the first time, and I had a blast for sure. I, sometimes fall short of words when I comes to explaining my feelings to anyone. Friends are an awesome gift from God.
People are often educative, so are my friends. I love talking while driving or trekking, maybe about politics, education, country, or any random thing in the world. However, I make sure that I talk witt informative people. Many travel buddies have given me unforgettable memories, which would never have been possible if I were alone.

Monday 11 June 2018

How I Dealt With an Accident on the Hills


Driving on the mountains is something that I already dreaded all my life, but I could do the task quite fairly. I would drive comfortably and confidently even though I would feel a little nervous in my heart. I knew that I need to be confident at all times to drive a car on the roads since Indian roads are not a place where you can take your safety for granted.

Last year, I went to Manali with my family and I was the only driver in the car. Since the route was too long, I had decided to hire a driver once we had to go beyond Manali. Although no one would like to indulge in an accident in any part of the world, things get a little tricky when you are in India. You have to have a boulder of proofs with you for many purposes. Let me explain how I dealt with a  situation that happened on the curvy roads of a quaint little town in Himachal Pradesh.

Cause of the accident

Never in my life, I would put the life of my family at risk. That is why; I refrain from drunken driving, especially on the mountains. We were in the middle of plains and mountains where the roads were moderately curvy and not-too-wide. We were having lunch at a restaurant after a long stretch of driving. As we got back to the car, another vehicle from the highway lost control at a high speed and came banging into our car!

Before we could even make sense of what had happened, we were in a smashed car in the middle of the road. Dozens of people had hovered over the car when I opened my eyes. Thankfully, my body was not immobile after the impact. I kicked the door and opened it to come out and breathe. Then, I opened the door of the passenger side to bring my wife out, and took her to the same restaurant where we had our meal.

Gathering proofs

Someone from the crowd said that I should click photos of the accidental car, and the registration plate should be clearly visible in them. It made sense as the insurance companies harass their customers a lot when it comes to reimbursing the claim. I gathered my valuables from the car and clicked a few pictures of the damaged car. I got to know that the car that had hit mine was being driven by a drunk driver, probably in his twenties. We managed to get his ID proof and photograph as the crowd was cooperative enough to get hold of the culprit.
The police asked me to call the insurance company to notify them of the accident. We, then hired a Self-Drive Car Rental in Chandigarh to reach back to Delhi, and I returned the car the next day in Chandigarh itself when I had to pick my car from the police station.

Wednesday 6 June 2018

Why I Cannot Stop Eating While Traveling


It all started when I decided to go for food tourism. I had got a job in a media company where I was required to taste foods in various restaurants and review the place. In the beginning, I had though that it was a great job as I would get to travel and eat free of cost. However, it has now turned dramatic when I cannot stop eating; I have become a compulsive foodie. Let me share how my job gave me perks in the starting phase of my career.

My blog

I could be my own boss whenever I wrote about the foods I reviewed on my blog. In addition to the job, I would write a lot about food for my personal blog. I could design my website, write content for it, and get into the technicalities of my blog. It gave immense satisfaction to have that kind of creative freedom. I could imagine myself growing with time and have a team to work for me, which became true anyhow. Now I do review a lot of cuisines and have my team work on it. I always wanted to build a brand out of my name, and my blog has let me do it in all these years. In the previous few years, I could gather significant audience and monetize from the advertisements.

Compulsive eating

The worst part of being a food blogger is that it has turned me into a compulsive eater. No matter how full I am, I cannot stop eating. Although I am trying hard to quite binge eating, I am little successful at it. If I am at a wedding, for example, I would want to taste every single cuisine at the venue. I cannot leave the place unless I have at least a dozen samples in my stomach.

While traveling, I love to have an open packet of chips in front of me even if I am not hungry. After every few minutes, I like to touch the chips, bring them to my mouth, and probably not eat it. The fragrance of foods are sometimes enough to soothe my senses. I don’t know why I do it, but I buy more packaged food than I require.

Shopping for food

While shopping for groceries, I do not forget to purchase good number of biscuits, fruit cakes, nachos, chips, sodas, rolls, and what not. I know inside my heart that I am bursting my budget while overdoing the shopping thing, but I cannot stop myself. I once took an Innova for hire for Self Drive in Chennai, went straight to the market, shopped for countless foods, stuffed them in the car, and left for a solo road trip so that there is no one to interrupt me while eating as people often get too critical when they see me eating like that. I know that they are right when they interrupt; I can only say that I will try to quit my bad habits.

Monday 4 June 2018

What pissed me off during a movie in Mumbai


It was a busy quarter of the year in office because of a few professional commitments, and I was desperately waiting for a small break. I don’t watch movies frequently, so I was waiting for a nice movie to release so that I could take a breather. The movie, Raazi was about to release, and when it did, I booked four tickets for my family.

We planned to go for a movie and then dinner. Since I do not feel the need to keep a car in Mumbai, I decided to look for cheap Car Rentals so that we can have a great time together with family. After searching for an hour, I booked a Swift Dzire to go for a long drive on a Saturday evening. We went to the theater, fetched burgers from McDonalds first, gulped them down, and then went ahead to reach the movie hall.

Finally, the movie started!

But no, destiny had some other plans for my weekend!

Two kids began shouting, screeching, and yelling in the movie hall. I expected, and so did other people, that one of the parents of the kids would pick up their kids and take them outside to pacify them. But no, they did not budge from their seats, and left them playing in the cinema hall. They gave them their mobile phones, and the kids knew the button to turn on the flash lights of the phones. Imagine the disturbance that the naughty kids caused for everyone else in the room with the flashlights blazing in the pitch dark movie hall.

When the other kids saw them having a good time, they also started crying their eyes out for mobile phones. Their parents also, instead of soothing them, gave them their cell phones. Now my most-awaited movie is running on the huge screen, but no one among the audience could concentrate on the it because of five flash lights were glowing in five different directions. The cherry on the top of the cake was the shrieking voices of kids arguing and playing. At least someone got up from the seat and called the assistant and asked him to let the parents know about the agony of others sitting right there. Even then the parents did not calm down their kids, they just took away the mobile phones from them.

What the parents were supposed to do

The kids went on and on with their pranks, which pissed me off. Completely. I was not frustrated because of the kids, but the parents. Kids will always make noise; they do not know the etiquettes, but their parents do. The parents are adults, of course, and they are consciously spoiling the supposed quality time of at least five hundred people who have paid a fortune to watch a good movie, which was anyhow turned into a worthless experience. Such parents should leave their kids with a guardian or watch movies at home, but please refrain from disturbing hundreds of other people just because they cannot handle their children.