Finding my soul on 2 wheels -5

Comes the morning

When I can feel

That there's nothing left to be concealed

Moving on a scene surreal

No, my heart will never

Will never be far from here 

(No Ceiling Lyrics -Eddie Vedder)

Chapter 5 : Falling in love with Arunachal

There are times in life when you get stuck in a moment and wish it lasted for ever.But moments are like bubbles,like waves, hitting the shore one after the other.It is this fleeting nature of moments that makes it so precious.Passing by the signboard which read,"VILLAGE KAMKI" filled me with an admiration of the friendship I shared with a special person.6 years of laughs and tears and a ephemeral moment.

Group pic @ Kamki

Whenever my mind takes a stroll down the memory lane it inadvertently reaches Arunachal and fills me with sweet feelings of freedom.A place where life is not piled upon life,where strangeness and wonder of existence is emphasized,where humans,flora and fauna co-exist in harmony.Nature has bestowed equal opportunity of growth to everyone and so every living organism stands out bold and tall overlooking a canopy of green.

Cricket pitch by the river

Arunachal is a paradise for the solitude lovers.Probably this is the reason why we find Mithuns in the valleys of Arunachal.It is fun to meet someone who is like minded but its a rarity to find your  resemblance in an animal.Mithuns are an integral part of the culture and hold paramount significance in rituals.But these animals are freedom lovers and live in the wild.They pay occasional visits to their owner's house.As they say that animals have an instinct and this one really had some.He also wanted to see a human counterpart and turned to the owner's house,the very day I was there. 

  Mithun @ Jini

I took this journey to swim away from the human responses of anger,fear and judgment.I wanted to swim to an unknown island hidden within myself.In this journey I met many new people,lived a new culture made awesome  friends and in the process found my soul.

Thanks for being with me in the journey.Would love to know the chapter you like the most.

Metallica we bow to thee

‘Fuck it all and fucking no regrets!’

– James Hetfield, ‘Damage, Inc.’, 1986

Metallica is coming to rock India and surely Nothing Else Matters.

Why do you love music? I love it because i can relate to the songs and it gives meaning to a state of mind I am in.I have loved it more for the beauty of the lyrics , the philosophy and the stories behind the songs.

Actually music is magical.It evokes in us some dormant emotions and turns life into lifeless things.It has made us happy in the dullest of our moments and has given a purpose of life to many.Do you remember a song you heard at a tea shop and how that song stayed in your lips for the evening.Music has something for all, fodder for the romantics,medicine for the broken soul and hope for many.

One of the greatest examples of hope is a song called,"Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash.Its about a prisoner who can only listen to the rattlings of a passing train.It invokes in him a desire to be a good man,a free man.This is how we associate to music , why few lines become so meaningful in our lives.Music is about November Rains, of High hopes ,of Winds of change ,of Strangers in the night,of Tambourine man and also of the Purple Haze.In fact music is blowing in the wind.

Again i digressed from the main topic Metallica.Well the tickets are available at ticketgenie.in and I got mine today.For me metallica songs have been the energy boosters.Rarely do we listen to a song over and over again, metallica has been one such band.I am listing down 10 songs which i would want them to play, do put down your choices.

1)Wherever I may roam.

2)Nothing Else Matters

3)Turn the Page

4)Ain't my Bitch

5)Whiskey in the Jar

6)The Day that never comes.

7)Low man's lyrics

8)Tuesday's Gone

9)Orion

10)Fade to Black

Finding my soul on 2 wheels -4

Eisenheim: From the moment we enter this life we are in the flow of it. We measure it and We mock it, but we cannot defy it. We cannot even speed it up or slow it down. Or can we? Have we not each experienced the sensation that a beautiful moment seemed to pass too quickly, and wished that we could make it linger? Or felt time slow on a dull day, and wished that we could speed things up a bit?

(A Dialogue from the movie,The Illusionist.) 

Chapter 4 : Riding the Dream

The Sun has calmed down a bit and I am about to reach the day's rest point.It has been a flat course on the first day of the trip except for the last 5-10 minutes, when I have had the first tryst with the valley, marking the beginning of what would be a romantic date with nature.An unknown calm sets in, i feel resurrected and small at the same time.I see a clarity in my thoughts and understand that this is what we call as unbridled joy and freedom.Today at 4 a.m.in Itanagar I spent a minute or two in solitude, gazing at the cloud covered mountains.I could hear them call and at this moment I embrace them.

                                                   On our way to Likabali

A journey is like the course of a river, it is destined to flow into the sea, but the path it weaves forms its essence.A journey is like a game of football , it is about the sliding tackles,the penalty kicks , the 50-50 balls,it is about every second of the 90 minutes.Sometimes a journey is like swinging on birch trees,for a moment leaving the earth into a free space and then returning back to start all over again.I had a journey of stumbles,falls,jumps,skids,punchers,smokes,rivers,waterfalls,rainbows,mountains,clouds,grasses,winds,rubble,horses,rains,songs,teas,samosas,apong,maggi,rice,solitude,bliss,peace,clarity and on and on.I was fortunate that i had friends to share these with.Happiness is a way of travel and at some point in this journey I found my way.

The journey of a river

On my second day on bike I knew that I was doomed to move in circles.At every 50-60 meters was a blind turn and brakes,decelerate,change the gear,honk,bend,turn, accelerate was to become a never ending regime for 10 more days to come.On an emotional level i was getting entwined with nature.The sweet fragrance of wet grass welcomed me as i entered the valley, but as the trip progressed i became a part of the aroma.What began as singing songs in the dark bubble of my helmet  was soon replaced by a natural symphony.With the passage of time , the rain felt less harsher,the water less cooler and every passing turn on the road more familiar.I realized I was becoming a part of the eternity and this was not a dream.

 The Bikes

Biking on a Royal Enfield in Ladakh was a completely different experience from what I was having in Arunachal.The best thing about biking here was that the roads prepared you for the next day.What started with flat roads on first day soon turned to never ending circles.Slowly these circles became narrower and landslides became imminent.And when i thought this would be it , it started raining.In fact I rode for one whole day in rain on the most difficult of the tracks.There are somethings in life which come as expected and then there are those which are unexpected.It is this anticipation of the unexpected which makes biking so exciting.On a rainy day there were many instances when I had to just go into the puddle and leaving things to fate,i wrote of this earlier I had to take the plunge.

Love the bike.

The chilly wind will not stop and the incessant downpour  adds to the cold. The deluge has washed away the road at many places. In addition to the apprehension which every blind turn brings, there is a high probability of the tyres slipping in the boulevard. Slightest of error will bring me close to the river which I have been admiring from this high altitude and in rather precarious circumstances. But there is still too much to see and marvel at, the joy of riding in the rain, the delight of every morning. So I just  move on and on.

Moli Bhai and me in Menchukha

You are a bit tired from the ride and you enter a tea shop to have the whole place on your own,this feeling of space made me often feel at home.If you have someone like Moli as your riding partner there is no chance of being bored.Often correcting his lyrics and understanding the theory of Adiabatic Penis ,taking videos, time just flew by.In the process I learnt discipline and patience.Someone has rightly said,"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears."

Lights,Camera,Action

Finding my soul on 2 wheels -3

For oft, when on my couch I lie 

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

-Daffodils by William Wordsworth 

Chapter 3-Into the Wild

Mountain top in Menchukha

"This is the most beautiful place in the world." Standing on the peak of a mountain in Menchukha I am spent and revived at the same time.I am standing in the mist while a fog has just lifted between me and myself. I stand, holding the waving flag ,surfing in the waves of independence and freedom.After a long time my conscience is at ease and i am in harmony with myself.It is in this wilderness I find a joy unknown to the concrete,corporeal and  material world.

Mesmerizing view from the mountain top

In the book,"Into the Wild." Jon Krakauer has reproduced some of the letters written by Chris.I quote here few lines from a letter which Chris writes to Ron,"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon,for each day to have a new different sun." I have lately become a recluse not because i hate people but because i want to get away from emotions.We live in a society which holds comfort as the highest ideal , the everyday expansion of consumerism is a burning example of it.Khushwant Singh rightly says that reality shows are a waste of time and i totally agree with him.We are an emotional lot and people play with emotions.Into the wilderness i have often found peace of mind and clarity of emotions.I think detachment is an important thing to learn in life and living some days on your own teaches you this.In the journey to the mountain top in Arunachal I started living again.

Raft under construction

My professors at college would be happy to see that something made by their students did float.Far from the displacement calculations and resistance measurement this was made out of bamboo and ropes.The hollow structure of bamboo provides the buoyancy and horizontal wood sticks tied to the bamboo with ropes gives the strength.With a little practice of rowing in the shallow water,one could easily handle it in deep waters.Apart from the rowing the water was too good for swimming and a good part of a day was spent here.To talk of food , my friends who visited Arunachal last time would appreciate the taste of rice cooked in bamboo.I had rice , maggi while my non veg friends had chicken cooked in bamboo shells.I had one of the tastiest lunch of my life , cooked in the wild.

The Raft Experience

At my friends' village named Jini we had plans of lazing out and fishing but rains played spoil sport.But no rains could dampen our spirits and we explored nearby places in rain.This is how we landed to this river which was exactly like the sets of movie,"Into the Wild." It reminded me of the scene when Chris decides to return back and to his dismay finds the river to be invincible.I had always dreamt of being at such a  place just with my friends with no human intrusion whatsoever, of a place where the only noise was of the roaring river,a place where humans and animals lived in harmony,of ice cold waters as clear as a crystal.

  

It is in making my own trails that I have found so much joy.Come on friends pack your bags and head into the wild.

Finding my soul on 2 wheels -2

Mirrors on the ceiling,

The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
-Hotel California(Eagles)

Chapter 2 - Taking the Plunge 

Appreciating small things in life keeps you moving , it fulfills the minimum joy requirements of a person on a daily basis.The joy of riding back home in rain after a game of football is immense. Rain not only pacifies the fury of the game but also brings some respite to the parched lips.The first drops of rain which reach the lips are salty but nonetheless triggers the subconscious.Under a more alert stage one opens his mouth to let in the raindrops.Only those who open their mouths understand the sweetness of rain.I have realized that biking is all about seeking these small pleasures. Enjoying the freedom to be on your own , drifting in unison with the clouds,dancing with the crops and riding on the wind.So with this attitude of not being the center of the universe but to become a part of the world, I sat on the bike to mark the beginning of an enchanting journey.

My friend Arpan always talked about living in the moment.I find sports are great for being in the moment,and the fear of losing the game keeps you driving forward.It was in this voyage that I found biking to have the same effect.A little trepidation is important to bring us out of our comfort zone.With no challenge , no fear, life becomes shallow.Lance Armstrong has an interesting way to test whether he is going to live.He goes to a high cliff in a secluded place and jumps from high altitudes into the cold water below.This plunge into the sublime  keeps him going.It is this fear,this apprehension that a plunge eliminates.The best part is there is no turning back , a dip , a gush of water through the nose and ears and then the upward movement to the open, to  victory and to a world where there is no fear.

Akashi Ganga

I got the first glimpse of the river near Akashi Ganga  at quite distance from the main spot.But the very first glimpse insured that in some time I would experience  a gift of mother nature alien to the human civilization.Greenish water flowing between greyish white rocks was so clean that there was no need of swimming glasses to find one's way inside water.No prose , no clicks can bring out the beauty of this place.I can boast of seeing so many waterfalls and rivers in my previous travels but this was an awe-inspiring spectacle.Ideally I would have just plunged into the river but a previous experience in one of the treks brought in that fear.

 The Plunge      

                                             

This was my first tryst with flowing water of the trip and I knew there would be plenty of these to come.To jump or not to jump was the question and risk and safety were the alternatives.Taking a plunge at that moment was one great lesson learnt in life.

Hanging Bridge over the Yongo River

I feel Arunachal is the best place for writers,artists and poets for such genius thrives only in solitude.A true testimony to this is a 350 meter hanging bridge standing alone over a misty river. Standing in the middle of the bridge when I look down , I know that if I fall I will have enough time for a thought or two.But fears apart this is an experience which will resonate in my mind for a long time to come.  Though nature can overpower anything such bridges speak of immense human endeavor to conquer the unconquered.

View from the hanging bridge

Every new experience in life is plunging into the unknown and coming out victorious.

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