tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5160654894774618142024-02-06T18:54:18.270-08:00Life with Chronic Kidney AilmentLife with Renal Failure and hemodialysis is not so bad.
After Transplant its more enjoyable but with restrictions
But Yes, There are ways to live a full lifeSamyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-82921797200308852142022-10-12T09:00:00.001-07:002022-10-12T09:00:19.790-07:00Stand and Stare<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_qAOYyDiTLAwPtif29NPSMH2GDiEazuAD-Ll4kRvQ8TgAUOrGwb3pWou-xeKNXQir4tRmo66c6ZBNVOcQhgaMVJAd9xIoIqd05peRcEiH9mbjSaTBVZER3E3JuMv-cJ8QRAp2FKW1VXGZSQo69v6jIUyUadtiG4_V6cqnwQGRxnJ8a9zGeco9lML_gQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_qAOYyDiTLAwPtif29NPSMH2GDiEazuAD-Ll4kRvQ8TgAUOrGwb3pWou-xeKNXQir4tRmo66c6ZBNVOcQhgaMVJAd9xIoIqd05peRcEiH9mbjSaTBVZER3E3JuMv-cJ8QRAp2FKW1VXGZSQo69v6jIUyUadtiG4_V6cqnwQGRxnJ8a9zGeco9lML_gQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>It has been a very long time that I have written something. I love to write and narrate my experiences. It has also helped me connect with so many new people and most have become good friends</p><p>My earlier posts were about kidney ailment and dialysis followed by how I managed to live on dialysis. My hiking trips were the centre of most of those posts. </p><p>I had a kidney transplant in 2019. My mother donated her kidney at her age of 70. It has been a miracle and by the Grace of God, both of us are doing well health wise</p><p>Due to old injuries that I have been nursing, I am unable to hike any longer. Yes, hiking has always been my first love. But I missed nature and photography</p><p>We have now discovered road trips. There are so many pristinely beautiful places around Mumbai. It is time to visit them and explore them</p><p>Being single, I feel lonely at times specially during the weekends. These trips help me fill that vacuum and also helps me enjoy nature and the outdoors which I am so fond of.</p><p>In the last couple of years, Covid notwithstanding, we have done around 5-6 short weekend trips and each of them has been unique and memorable in its own way</p><p>Our plan is also amazing. We dont plan any stops or halts on the way. When we are driving, if we pass by any picturesque place, we stop there and enjoy the natural beauty. We take photographs for recording the moment. But most importantly, we just stand and stare</p><p>I remember the famous words of William Henry Davies </p><pre class="wp-block-verse poemanalysis" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); border-radius: 5px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3) 0px 0px 4px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #161616; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow: auto; padding: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Leisure </span>
<em style="box-sizing: inherit;">William Henry Davies
</em>
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?-
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.</pre><p>In our case, we make the time to stand and stare !</p><p>I guess that makes us rich.......very rich</p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-14370644563372514662021-09-27T00:02:00.000-07:002021-09-27T00:02:29.167-07:00First Street Walk in Mumbai Post Transplant<p><br /></p><p>I had my kidney transplant in June 2019. Its a bit more than 2 years now.</p><p>I was in quarantine for around 6 months. Thereafter Corona took over and the quarantine continued. As an outdoors person, I was tempted to go out for a couple of road trips and one with my parents. I will write about them in subsequent posts.</p><p>But as a Mumbaikar, I had not walked on the streets of Mumbai. The experience was something that I was missing and looking forward to.</p><p>Yesterday, I got that opportunity. </p><p>My phone handset was giving some issues and had some bug. I wanted to get it rectified. I tried calling the helpdesk number of the handset manufacturer but their instructions didnt rectify the problem. I had to visit their official service center in Fort Area.</p><p>I drove down to the area and parked my car in a location where normally the walking distance would be 2 minutes. It was just on the other side of the footpath.</p><p>But I realised that it had become quite a walk. I had to walk around 15 to 20 minutes and take a virtual circumference to reach this place. This is due to the roadblocks necessited by the Metro Construction.</p><p>But I really enjoyed the walk. It was nice to relive memories of having walked through old heritage buildings in Fort Area. </p><p>It was drizzling and I hadnt carried an umbrella. It was enjoyable to walk in the ever so slight rains cooling my body as it was getting warmed up by the walk. I walked a bit briskly as well.</p><p>I was enjoying so much that I missed out clicking pics of the place. But the real experience was unbeatable</p><p>Nostalgia combined with the thrill of getting to walk on the streets of Mumbai after 2+ years </p><p>The return journey by car was also awesome. I was waiting at a signal and I loved the sight of the sunset happening across the sea at Marine Drive. It suddenly struck me that I have not done any photography for the special occasion and I barely got time to pick up my mobile, click a photo of the spectacular sunset before the signal opened up</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYm2v8zfSfKz3jhNpiNMQfaGiyYHja3mnq4Wmd2ihyphenhyphenFrssMmrB1rKZPLmIgdt3XpFJJ0eYJfJBM_EZiqoRTthl6LB0xhNcwmUqJhVjKD3AwZy_H8xKn_CkaIsQPSHHyipee28NpQl5Myj/s1080/WhatsApp+Image+2021-09-26+at+19.52.14.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYm2v8zfSfKz3jhNpiNMQfaGiyYHja3mnq4Wmd2ihyphenhyphenFrssMmrB1rKZPLmIgdt3XpFJJ0eYJfJBM_EZiqoRTthl6LB0xhNcwmUqJhVjKD3AwZy_H8xKn_CkaIsQPSHHyipee28NpQl5Myj/w400-h300/WhatsApp+Image+2021-09-26+at+19.52.14.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes, we end up getting a great result when we least expect it.</p><p>Just like life. There was a time when I had almost consigned myself to a full life on dialysis. But then life had other plans</p><p>Thank you Life</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-65476784589548385692021-05-25T22:30:00.007-07:002021-05-25T22:39:46.563-07:00Fighting Covid with Renal Transplant - Learnings<p> For a renal / kidney transplant recipient, Covid can be more tricky to handle. Firstly we are immunosuppressed. So our immunity is artificially compromised to ensure that the transplanted organ doesnt get rejected</p><p>When we test positive for Covid, we need to first stop the immunosuppressant that keeps the WBC at controlled levels. This means our immunity / WBC needs to be high to fight the Covid</p><p>However, this increases the risk of organ rejection due to the likelihood of WBC levels increasing</p><p>The saving grace however is that viral infections themselves tend to reduce the WBC levels so the danger of rejection is reduced</p><p>However, along with the stoppage of one immunosuppressant, the steroid dosage is increased. In my case it was taken upto 10 mg a day and which will now be tapered down again</p><p>This is a balancing act to avoid rejection</p><p>At the same time Covid related medication needs to be complemented with Steam Inhalation and Gargles etc. In fact its a good idea for all transplant recipients to go for these treatments even if they are not infected but as a preventive measure</p><p>My nephrologist Dr. Bhavesh Vora advised me to use a nasal drop immediately after steam inhalation. </p><p>So the virus stays in the paranasal cavity and tends to move to the lungs. The ones in the lungs suddenly flare up after day 7 or Day 8 (as per some internet reading)</p><p>Steam and Nasal drops minimize the travel of viral infection to lungs</p><p>Along with this anti virals are administered. So the impact of the viral infection is curbed / eliminated as much as possible in the nasal cavity itself</p><p>Once it travels to lungs it becomes very tough to control and treat, and there are higher chances of the infected needing specialised treatment like Remdesivir or Oxygen etc as SPO2 levels suddenly drop</p><p>So SPO2 is a parameter along with pulse and body temperature that I was testing at least thrice a day. The SpO2 also needed to be measured before and after a 6 minute walk test. This gave a better picture of how these levels are affected by physical activity</p><p>A close control of these parameters means any departure from the normal can be treated immediately and aggravation of symptoms can be controlled to a great extent</p><p>At the same time we were measuring kidney and liver related readings regularly. Also inflammatory parameters like CRP or D Dimer. </p><p>My mother (My organ donor) had a higher D Dimer reading so we treated her with injections as prescribed.</p><p>For us things started easing out. I had to do a HRCT scan to find out lung infection and luckily it was in the range of mild to moderate which is not very dangerous, but scary nevertheless</p><p>After this stage if the infection in the lungs is at a manageable level the impact of the virus starts declining</p><p>As per my understanding the precautions and the initial detection is most critical. The earlier we can start the treatment the easier it is to control the spread of the infection to the lungs and avoid further complications</p><p>Once the Covid time period ends, my nephrologist resumed immunosuppression first without reducing the steroids and once the readings stabilise the steroid dosage will also be tapered down</p><p>For transplant recipients, it is critical that we rush to a doctor as soon as the very first symptoms are noticed</p><p>Symptoms to look out for</p><p>Cold with Fever,</p><p>Sore Throat</p><p>Loose Motions</p><p>are the most common symptoms. There is a lot of information available on the internet related to these and its a good idea to study and stay prepared</p><p>For others its till the 15 days that define the duration of the infection, but transplant recipients need to be extra careful till the level of immunosuppression reverts to pre covid times</p><p>I have also narrated the happenings in my case using 4 blog posts and they are in the links shared below</p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-renal-transplant.html" target="_blank">Initial Symptoms</a></p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-kidney-transplant.html" target="_blank">Treatment Starts</a></p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-transplant-healing.html" target="_blank">Healing Time</a></p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-transplant-bach.html" target="_blank">Bach Gaya Sala</a></p><p>You may feel free to get in touch on Twitter or Instagram</p><p>@samiirhalady </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: red;"><b>Please Note that all Medications / Treatments need to be taken only under medical supervision and with a proper prescription</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-48344937347590286052021-05-22T08:40:00.005-07:002021-05-22T08:41:38.933-07:00Fighting Covid with Transplant - Bach Gaya Saala<p> I went for the HRCT on tuesday. This was day 8 or 9 I think.</p><p>I had fever. I didnt want to take an Uber or Ola since I didnt want to be transmitting. The safest was to drive down. I expected not much of traffic but I was sadly mistaken. In a distance of around 5 km, I had to stop at every signal and was able to reach the centre after almost half an hour</p><p>On a typical lockdown day this should not have taken me more than 5-10 minutes</p><p>I had not even estimated the time taken to find a space for parking. The traffic was almost like any other day, so much for the restrictions</p><p>The report was not bad at all. It showed mild to moderate infection in the lungs. The reading was 6/25</p><p>This was a great relief and from here I really felt confident of coming through</p><p>I reported to my doctor who warned me to continue with all the aspects of the treatment religiously and I would pass the stiff Covid Test</p><p>It was just a few more days of rest and I was feeling progressively better.</p><p>Now I am still feeling weak but most importantly, I am out of the Covid thing</p><p>A real sigh of relief, specially since I am a kidney transplant recipient and I was immunosuppressed. </p><p>Now my mycophenolic acid has been restarted by my doctor (Really Hats off to him for the patience during the treatment) and we are slowly moving towards a normal medicine schedule</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSH3jN5C6lS_leC87F1kMcBLEHXYFynP7cRU72HS9idDlapgXY9CzD2PN-DSLVHsA0VNDsZdUE0PP_I93-PuMtdLzjejH6tqXNXUNrAh9h0Epz9fM7tY3fILFHPWPqrPrRHhSUwoOtsse/s1080/WhatsApp+Image+2021-05-22+at+21.06.43.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSH3jN5C6lS_leC87F1kMcBLEHXYFynP7cRU72HS9idDlapgXY9CzD2PN-DSLVHsA0VNDsZdUE0PP_I93-PuMtdLzjejH6tqXNXUNrAh9h0Epz9fM7tY3fILFHPWPqrPrRHhSUwoOtsse/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2021-05-22+at+21.06.43.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />After completing 15 days I happened to open the Arogya Setu app ( I used to check my status almost everyday) and the status was "You are Safe" <p></p><p><b>(Medically I improved further and now I am working on fitness)</b></p><p>The First thing that came to mind was "Bach Gaya Saala"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-23437820359484576812021-05-22T08:09:00.002-07:002021-05-25T22:03:38.692-07:00Fighting Covid with Transplant - The Healing Process<p>My mother was the first to show symptoms on sunday. Then I had high fever the next day. My father was asymptomatic all through.</p><p>Mom's fever subsided by Wednesday. I was getting fever on and off for a week</p><p>That had me worried. But I was taking the antiviral drug and all the Drs instructions very religiously.</p><p>Meanwhile our steam inhalation machine went bad and we had to order a new one.</p><p>Once mom's fever came down, the D Dimer readings went really high. So we had to give her injections of a blood thinner.</p><p>Well no one knew how to do it so I learnt with verbal guidance from my Dr and youtube videos. It felt good that with my own fever and other issues I could give injections.</p><p>Low Grade fever was recurring and there was no pattern to the recurrence</p><p>However, we were somehow managing. Luckily we didnt need to organise the food</p><p>Only the house cleaning part was a bit tough to manage</p><p>This continued till the sunday and then I felt a bit of heaviness in my chest. I could feel the weight in the breathing. Also the high fever came back which left me a bit worried</p><p>This was Day 7 so I called up my doctor.</p><p>In all this my SPO2 was at healthy levels of 95+ always which was the saving grace.</p><p>But the heaviness in the chest was disturbing. </p><p>A video call with on sunday was very heartening (yes my doctor even worked on sunday). He said i dont look so bad but we could consider doing a CT Scan to find out the extent of infection in the lungs</p><p>He suggested we wait for a day and do it on tuesday if needed</p><p>I had heard of scary stories of the HRCT going wrong and this was weighing heavily on my mind</p><p>But then in most cases in life we need to take things in our stride and maybe even take the bull by the horns. Fortunately I had a super doctor treating me</p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-transplant-bach.html" target="_blank">Continued Here</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-58101366939394027572021-05-19T22:44:00.006-07:002021-05-25T22:02:29.308-07:00Fighting Covid with Kidney Transplant - Treatment Starts<p> We got the reports for all three of us</p><p>We were all positive. I already had an experience of how it feels when you turn positive (Hepatitis C then). This time it was the more dangerous Covid</p><p>It was a bit tough to digest....yes normally even appetite goes down but the virus was kind to the foodie in me</p><p>There were things to be sorted out. We didnt have our domestic help around, neither did we have our regular cook.</p><p>For the food part, we organised three meals a day from one of our neighbours who started as a cook and then graduated into catering but was forced by Covid again to cook and deliver home cooked meals </p><p>So it was good wholesome home cooked food that was so important. Plus they belong to our same community and that meant the food would be to our taste</p><p>That meant we just needed to sort out the cleaning and mopping and washing the utensils</p><p>We decided to wash our used utentils ourselves. The Food vendor was sending the food in disposable packs.</p><p>We used to take turns to do the sweeping and mopping. Even if we did this once daily, it meant each of us had to do this once in three days</p><p>And then the treatment started. We were prescribed few medicines. Since my load was higher and I am immunosuppressed, I was also started on FabiFlu.</p><p>In addition to that we continued with our daily routine of steam inhalation but now increased to 4-5 times a day. After every set of inhalation, we had to use some nose drops.</p><p>Treatment Started, but knowing the nature of the nature of the Covid beast, the uncertainty remained and so did the questions. </p><p>The most important question being, will we recover at all</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-transplant-healing.html" target="_blank">Continued Here</a></p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-71685232646577797822021-05-19T21:24:00.004-07:002021-05-25T22:01:22.031-07:00Fighting Covid with Renal Transplant - Initial Symptoms<p> It was almost two years since my transplant. I wanted to get into shape so had joined sports rehabilitation at Reliance Foundation Hospital but Covid struck and I discontinued</p><p>Home Workouts were difficult and commitment levels were also wanting so I ended up putting on lot of weight</p><p>However, couple of things that I religiously followed were Steam Inhalation and Salt Water Gargles. This was to ward off Covid. It was very important as a transplant needed immunosuppression and made me the most vulnerable category to get infected</p><p>But the second wave was very powerful. The first one was about number of people who were affected. The second one was closer home. It was about names of people who were affected.</p><p>And it didnt take time for it to reach home.</p><p>My mother first developed fever. It was a sunday. Testing facilities on sundays were limited and we got a lab to come over on monday to do the testing. </p><p>Since I am immunosuppressed and our home is also not very big, I felt it was a good idea for all three of us at home to get tested. We called up our domestic help and cook and requested them to stop coming for a few days</p><p>This was before the test report came as positive as we were more or less sure that one of us would test positive.</p><p>Our society was very cooperative and they have a systematic procedure of communicating with everyone </p><p>On monday the lab technician came for collecting the blood samples and by then I was also feeling very weak.</p><p>I was not sure whether the fatigue was on account of the sweeping and mopping I had done that morning but anyways I was giving my blood sample for the test</p><p>Now it was time for the long excruciating wait for the test reports to come in</p><p>Sometimes its not the extent of time but the critical nature of what we are waiting that creates stress</p><p><a href="https://adventuretourist.blogspot.com/2021/05/fighting-covid-with-kidney-transplant.html" target="_blank">Continued Here</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-74423505067081265352021-05-19T20:54:00.003-07:002021-05-19T20:54:49.575-07:00Back To Blogging - Post Transplant<p> So after hanging in there for a long long time, I did make it to the surgeons knife </p><p>My mother donated her kidney to me at age 70 which was itself an achievement. She had to undergo several tests to check her fitness and she passed all with flying colours</p><p>I got my surgery on 27th June 2019. It was a wait for 17 long years. I somehow am not someone who can give up. I really gave it my all. </p><p>I worked on my career. I restarted in 2006 in a totally new field of Digital Marketing and grew to head operations of an European digital agency in India and then 2014 onwards I have been consulting corporates for Digital Marketing Strategy</p><p>Along with this I pursued my passions of hiking and photography. I founded V Hikerz which is now one of the more active hiking groups operating from Mumbai.</p><p>I reignited the photography bug and I am proud of some clicks though I have not submitted my work for awards. Not yet</p><p>There were times when I felt it was all over. I still remember once when my BP was so low during dialysis that the sister thought I was off.</p><p>There was one time when I went breathless during dialysis and I was literally gasping and requested the technicians to stop the dialysis one and a half hour into the process.</p><p>Somehow I survived to see this day.</p><p>These long years on dialysis were very tough. But yes, they made me tougher.</p><p>Every cloud does have a silver lining</p>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-6738795281042877232019-06-20T08:37:00.000-07:002019-06-20T09:35:35.748-07:00Hang In There<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In India the average life of a patient on dialysis is 7-8 years<br />
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For me it has been 17<br />
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A successful transplant means freedom from dialysis<br />
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Due to several obstacles, I have had to postpone a transplant surgery for so long<br />
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Finally I have managed to eliminate all obstacles like the HepC infection and my mom is donating despite having a blood group<br />
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Today I am on the threshold of a transplant<br />
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Looking back, I think I have done pretty ok. I started my career afresh and headed an organisation<br />
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I was able to follow my passion of hiking and today V Hikerz is doing pretty ok<br />
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I rediscovered my passion for photography and consider myself a decent photographer today<br />
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All this despite being on dialysis<br />
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I have to thank a few people at this juncture but maybe Ill wait to complete the surgery<br />
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But this definitely seems like light at the end of a tunnel<br />
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A Very Long One<br />
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My friends and well wishers always said "Hang In There"<br />
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Today I think I understand the true meaning of that phrase<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-32026979568117919812018-10-13T05:56:00.000-07:002018-10-13T06:19:59.574-07:00Value of the Stepney<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While on the trip to Konkan, there was a scary incident. The narrow roads of konkan are a pleasure as well as challenge to drive on. As the hairpin bends curved a ST bus drove almost at us. I was driving and I had no option but to swerve to the sides and avoid a collision<br />
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What we didnt realise was that there was a huge pointed stone at the roadside. After moving a couple of km we stopped to ask some directions and the villagers pointed out that we had a flat tyre<br />
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My friend helped replace the tyre. We realised that the allow frame on which the rubber tyre was supported was disfigured and it was imperative that we use the tyre.<br />
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There was a spare tyre (stepney) in the boot and it was in good condition luckily. We thanked our stars and did the needful. The stepney didnt have the alloy frame but it worked. It helped us get our car back to Mumbai which was roughly 230 km away.<br />
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The stepney didnt look too good on the car. After all the alloy wheels adorned 3 tyres and the spare wheel didnt have the alloy decoration. But in times of emergency it was this spare stepney that saved the day for us<br />
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We came back and I sent it to the garage for repair. I was told that a new alloy wheel would cost around ₹ 30k but i went for it. I wanted my car to look beautiful with alloys in all 4 wheels<br />
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So they replaced the wheel and the stepney was removed. They put it back safely in the boot of the car.<br />
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I just could not stop thinking. Without this stepney we might not have been able to make it back home from the wilderness, it was some sort of saviour for us<br />
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But it was back and consigned to the boot where it would be in forgotten state till its required during the next emergency.<br />
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We had a similar experience during Chikmagalur trip where the Stepney was the saviour otherwise we might not have been able to return to Bengaluru. I am sure in this case as well the stepney was back in the boot without the respect it deserves<br />
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I have experienced how it feels and what it means to go through when it happens to us.<br />
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Isnt it time we spare a moment and respect the stepney?</div>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-12687146424400285732018-10-07T09:19:00.002-07:002018-10-07T09:19:06.852-07:00Wonderful Experience with IndiGo Airlines<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I have seen lot of negative Media about Indigo Airlines and was pensive when I had to take a Bengaluru Mumbai flight on monday</div>
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It was flight no. 6E 566 scheduled to depart at 19.35 hours from Bengaluru</div>
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I am a kidney patients undergoing dialysis since almost 17 years. Normally very active so never availed of any concessions.</div>
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On Monday I was feeling very tired so informed at check in counter</div>
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A wheel chair was organised for me. Gopal from Orissa helped me through security, bought me a bottle of water and took me to boarding gate.</div>
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When it was time to board couple of others got me inside the plane</div>
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To my surprise I had 1D instead of 9C that I had booked.</div>
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The airhostesses were very cordial and concerned. They checked whether I needed any food, or something to drink</div>
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They offered me a pillow and a seat at the back where 3 seats were vacant so I could stretch my legs</div>
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I was offered a sandwich and coffee complimentary.</div>
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I remember names of only two hostesses Sonal and Cheryl but all 4 were extremely helpful</div>
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I could rest for full flight. On arrival I was escorted out. My luggage was already collected and the person Sanjay was with me till my Uber cab arrived and I got into it</div>
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What really touched me was that I had communicated my problem only once at the check in counter and it flowed right through. It was a wonderful experience of serving to delight</div>
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Thanks Team Indigo for this out of the world Experience</div>
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</div>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-63364406932143968182018-10-07T09:17:00.001-07:002018-10-07T09:17:34.296-07:00Halebeedu and Return Trip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We were actually planning to leave at 5:30 am since we wanted to finish Halebeedu and the Chennai team had to reach by 5 pm<br />
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But as usual the time stretched and we were able to leave only by 7:30<br />
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We reached Halebeedu by around 8.30 <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q4e7Aq5LvT9PJJ36R1Kos86blfuLRkhE_00S7pMBhqXZ3t24QtwL6NDw7L2p_mOKMUZI6gcjm_0G8xXBoaZDLJeFMxZ5jxfTsnhkYUcsfEGl9CdABmqZS4ISU6B0WTcKtnSdk2pJGohp/s1600/Chikmagalur161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q4e7Aq5LvT9PJJ36R1Kos86blfuLRkhE_00S7pMBhqXZ3t24QtwL6NDw7L2p_mOKMUZI6gcjm_0G8xXBoaZDLJeFMxZ5jxfTsnhkYUcsfEGl9CdABmqZS4ISU6B0WTcKtnSdk2pJGohp/s400/Chikmagalur161.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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I was enthused by the clicks that I had got at Belur and so took my camera again. My knees were really hurting after the exersions of the last 2 days plus the night without much sleep. But I didnt want to let go the opportunity of clicking<br />
<br />
There were huge steps leading to the temple. I felt dissuaded to climb the same as my knee was really bad, but everyone encouraged me and I went up with a lot of effort. I could not mix with the rest of the group as I got engrossed with my photography. It was a surreal experience of doing photography of such a spectacular monument<br />
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When we finished I realised that my knees had all but given way<br />
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I walked with excruciating pain and somehow made my way to the gate. We requested uncle to get the car to the gate. And I got into it<br />
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We started on our way to Bengaluru.<br />
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On the way, we decided to stop for breakfast on the Hasana bypass. But breakfast was a long way off<br />
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The tyre of the WagonR burst and luckily the other car was following us stopped and we replaced the tyre. Vinod was always the quiet guy but most active and very cool. His efforts actually ensured that the tyres got replaced in record time and we could have our well deserved breakfast<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RZkwF0-VehK6e5ie5li4Q3jZtsIt3jPQ1_vCRBbRC2MdBJuOAyuDU0UJexyTWm5YuOEl79GNcQoGFanwyXQIeRNTyVMV3wuGlZdAbN-4Ff1bCGV6h6S8IF7-uwJnDDCTmpU6mWZ1yb8-/s1600/20181001_101027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RZkwF0-VehK6e5ie5li4Q3jZtsIt3jPQ1_vCRBbRC2MdBJuOAyuDU0UJexyTWm5YuOEl79GNcQoGFanwyXQIeRNTyVMV3wuGlZdAbN-4Ff1bCGV6h6S8IF7-uwJnDDCTmpU6mWZ1yb8-/s320/20181001_101027.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We stopped at A2B on the way for a sumptuous breakfast and strong coffee and dispersed. The other car made its way to Chennai and we were moving towards Bengaluru<br />
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Since we were likely to make it by around 2 and my return flight was much later I called up my aunty and invited myself<br />
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On the way I drove. Purnanand was sitting next to me. We really hit it off well. There were a lot of things that he confided in me and I felt great to know the person I had first met a few years ago in Mumbai.<br />
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I take a lot of time to trust anyone leave alone confide but I felt so comfortable with Purnanand that I shared very close secrets that were troubling me currently. I really felt nice and lighter after connecting with Purnanand.<br />
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Uncle was a great help too. He was much older than all of us, but his spirit was commendable. Just imagine when we first got introduced he was Babu Rao Sir to all of us. When we dispersed all of us started addressing him as uncle.This was the sense of belongingness that we felt towards him<br />
<br />
He lived in another corner of Bangalore but he dropped me right inside the gate of my aunts residence and waited for me to reach the flat before starting his onward journey to his home<br />
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Over the last 2 days I had connected with 7 different unique human beings<br />
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Thats the beauty of being a Tourist<br />
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<br /></div>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-52664487579218212962018-10-07T08:57:00.003-07:002018-10-07T08:57:40.060-07:00Bhadra & Mulyanagiri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had booked a 4x4 Bolero for the day.But it was insufficient for 8 of us. So we decided to take ananths Honda WRV as well<br />
<br />
We had a sumptious breakfast at Hoovi. We were planning to leave at 9 but actually left much later. The bolero driver took us by an infrequented route to a place where we stopped for some nature viewing.<br />
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Till this time Ananth drove and then I took over. We were on our way to Mulyanagiri. We were four of us in the car. Ananth moved to the jeep and I was driving.<br />
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Uncle was in the leading car and he was the monitor. He stopped the leading jeep to ensure that the rest of us caught up<br />
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The route up to mulyanagiri was very narrow with the deep valley on one side and the rock face on the other. The width was just enough for one vehicle to cross. There were times when we had to stop and pass each other by a whisker. Even if we whispered the people in the opposite direction vehicle would have heard. So maybe whisper would have been a more accurate term to use here<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhFJvxBbGsVleN64AobQi6BMhWkCa42vwJeMP_M2rd60ufy5AOEECzJkaKZsvAsqEoPTaOAZTx50AcMrTO_yHskNHlp_TTYMtTXUoFvqNf2eipQ92wkapDbiLbfs758tGLlsn3hq11ncF/s1600/IMG_20180930_115039_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhFJvxBbGsVleN64AobQi6BMhWkCa42vwJeMP_M2rd60ufy5AOEECzJkaKZsvAsqEoPTaOAZTx50AcMrTO_yHskNHlp_TTYMtTXUoFvqNf2eipQ92wkapDbiLbfs758tGLlsn3hq11ncF/s400/IMG_20180930_115039_01.jpg" width="400" /></a>Finally after many efforts and tough driving conditions we reached the top. The other vehicle had gone further and we stopped at a stage from where there were landslides and it was not possible to take our vehicle any higher<br />
<br />
I took a couple of nice clicks here while waiting for the rest to return. Because of the traffic and the narrow road we took much longer than expected. So we decided to go to Bhadra and end the day. On the way, Ananth had a close shave with 3 idiots on a bike<br />
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We reached just in time for the afternoon safari and went for it<br />
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We didnt get to see the famed Tiger but saw some pugmarks and some deer as well<br />
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This was my real tryst with the wild fauna and was a great experience.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CTZBiEy60w0_gYsEp9JuoUdk5EbXJSlqluh2eRc5r7y9VspCosKkdW0U-VKmXrtpqOjvuazlwZ1oEOxCNx-za5MTVr9Mq1pJ-9us0P9YOeDgHwhOKFSOJyvCeYqiw2ENTXNmkmirp8TQ/s1600/20180930_173741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CTZBiEy60w0_gYsEp9JuoUdk5EbXJSlqluh2eRc5r7y9VspCosKkdW0U-VKmXrtpqOjvuazlwZ1oEOxCNx-za5MTVr9Mq1pJ-9us0P9YOeDgHwhOKFSOJyvCeYqiw2ENTXNmkmirp8TQ/s400/20180930_173741.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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We got back to Hoovi and in Malalndur we called Umesh to check whether we needed to pick something from the market. He suggested we should check out the sunset at shooting point and it was just 2 km away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZyzb6bGDZLwPe2BF9HIqz23g42gEL5VKLygAFVPc6Z0G9kj5kCGwIaSRZrldaYxuu4SYKk_QBsfTHE3IIaWFi4PCbyziaJwx5oms1eiVrO1A5Ddm3UGzF5bSvXhmM-_lcug2WqACbH6W/s1600/IMG_20180930_181423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZyzb6bGDZLwPe2BF9HIqz23g42gEL5VKLygAFVPc6Z0G9kj5kCGwIaSRZrldaYxuu4SYKk_QBsfTHE3IIaWFi4PCbyziaJwx5oms1eiVrO1A5Ddm3UGzF5bSvXhmM-_lcug2WqACbH6W/s320/IMG_20180930_181423.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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We got back to Hoovi and since it wasnt raining we decided for a campfire<br />
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Vinod was the guy who was able to speak hindi since he had lived in Mumbai for few years. He was the unassuming guy but you tend to immediately feel comfortable with. During the campfire I shared a joke about the experiment on a frog that Purna had conducted<br />
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I had submitted my photography for the Nephro Plus Talent Contest for dialysis patients. I requested Ananth to videograph a song on his mobile. He kindly did the needful. But the submission was not going through and it was the last date.<br />
<br />
Incidentally Ananth read somewhere that the last date for submission was extended and I heaved a sigh of relief<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HAYwO7Qp_RFIHYuOZXMyC8Fbe910b_rdU2ShSWzBGp-uAN6rfpWX8EWUuaPe_pp8_t-1Do2erkQFcA30xctOh24RcOMXtLnZ5hCJNj7vN_72DkuSU-Tnabdq0w7rLoD6p5UaDt1lZjtB/s1600/20180930_203017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HAYwO7Qp_RFIHYuOZXMyC8Fbe910b_rdU2ShSWzBGp-uAN6rfpWX8EWUuaPe_pp8_t-1Do2erkQFcA30xctOh24RcOMXtLnZ5hCJNj7vN_72DkuSU-Tnabdq0w7rLoD6p5UaDt1lZjtB/s320/20180930_203017.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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I really wanted to also share my singing talent though the photography had also come out well<br />
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After dinner most of us slept as we had to start early the next day<br />
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Purnanand, Vinod and myself sat in the dining area chatting with Umesh our host and I got to singing again<br />
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One Hemant Kumar Song that I love came to my lips and I felt very satisfied after singing it. I somehow felt that this could be a better submission. I sang it again and requested the ever helpful Vinod to record it.<br />
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Purnanand as usual was his encouraging self<br />
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We slept off, thought I was not able to sleep well. I was awake almost the whole night due to a bout of extreme acidity<br />
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But it was great to relive the moments of the whole day and the look forward to the Halebeedu temple the next day<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-37109718601593212632018-10-07T07:31:00.000-07:002018-10-07T07:31:34.102-07:00Mallandur - The Lost Route<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was very tired here and I had lost a lot of fluid as well. my muscles and bones were really revolting after the effort of driving in the sun and photography on my feet immediately after dialysis<br />
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The group was very nice and I moved to Ananths Car which came from Chennai. Here the AC was working perfectly and I sat next to Kishore. Ananth drove the other car which had uncle and Purna with him<br />
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i got my first chance to interact with Senthil, Kishore and Vignesh.<br />
<br />
The route to the Chikmagalur city was straight forward. From there we called the host who gave us directions to reach the home stay from there. We were told clearly to avoid refering to Google maps as it would take us by a much longer and confusing route. From Chikmagalur we took the left from the signal next to the bus stand. This road leads us to Bhadra Tiger Reserve and Mallandur was on the way<br />
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It was getting dark and the fog was setting in. The climate was very romantic and almost like a dream. The fog was dipping over our car windshield and suddenly clearing out making it all the more memorable<br />
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We were in dense forest and there was no habitation, only vegetation for long stretches. The area was almost virgin<br />
<br />
We reached Mallandur and called up Umesh. He gave us directions to reach Hoovi Home Stay. At first we got a bit confused but then made it<br />
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The signal here was very low but luckily the jio had a little bit working<br />
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Purna and Ananth had meanwhile got confused about the turning at Chikmagalur and decided to follow Google baba. When we finally got through to them they told us that it was showing 8 km but some 45 minutes<br />
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I dont know which route they came by which sounded very adventurous but they finally reached Hoovi by around 7.30 or 8 pm<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_TMOLZEGUb8fmqNd9RWWB7TEkBIq5By7vseFd781gGytQNkgE6S3YiB-SXgs-FTHf9vXHPaOI-qma0yJ4iSORI9m2W24QlsFobSS_111nvSFcDv9Ww0_do32pByVX69ZGx-qsWfzjAI9/s1600/IMG_20180930_085301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_TMOLZEGUb8fmqNd9RWWB7TEkBIq5By7vseFd781gGytQNkgE6S3YiB-SXgs-FTHf9vXHPaOI-qma0yJ4iSORI9m2W24QlsFobSS_111nvSFcDv9Ww0_do32pByVX69ZGx-qsWfzjAI9/s320/IMG_20180930_085301.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The starters were ready and we started gorging on the piping hot bhajias, and the dry chicken<br />
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It was now that all of us were together and started conversing with each other.<br />
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Vignesh was the live wire and the kid of the group. Everyone was pulling his legs and coaxing him that it was time to get married and he was coolly playing along as if getting married was the most important thing in life for him<br />
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Senthil was a more sober person, very mature for his age. Kishore was the cool confident guy who was at ease with himself<br />
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Ananth is a legend who has been on dialysis for more years than anyone I know and yet very active. I always had a desire to spend time with him and it was great to know him as a person. I loved his sincerity for the cause and his plans for future of KPSF<br />
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Purna I had met once in Mumbai and I knew that he is an expert in numismatics (Ancient Coins) and extremely knowledgeable<br />
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Babu Rao uncle realised his sugar was very high and slept off<br />
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It was good that he slept off as we decided to start at around 9 am the next morning for Mulyangiri and Bhadra and any other place in the region if time permitted<br />
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Umesh (our host) helped organise a jeep which would take us to all these places<br />
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Babu Rao uncle also was fresh the next day after a day of hectic travel and a memorable trip to Belur Temple<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-74966977975010037702018-10-07T07:13:00.003-07:002018-10-07T07:13:19.360-07:00Chennakeshava Temple - Belur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I was a kid my mother had told me a lot about Belur and Halebeedu and I always had a desire to visit these places. When we decided to go to Chikmagalur I never knew or imagined that these places were on the route<br />
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I had a bad accident in March 2016 due to which I had elbow injuries which were not healing. I didnt have strength to hold a camera and my love of photography had taken a back seat.<br />
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Now the arms are better but my bone pain is terrible and I didnt know whether my knees would be able to take the pressure of the heavy camera and lens. But one day prior the trip Purna called me and coaxed me to carry my camera. I had agreed. Even while leaving from home I was in two minds but I forced myself to pick up my camera<br />
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At the temple, we started with a cucumber from a street side stall. It was such a godsend after driving in the heat without ac. Sometimes natural foods really end up refreshing us but for kidney patients anything that is nutritious needs to be avoided, which is unfortunate<br />
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The temple was a masterpiece. The carvings on the walls were beyond belief. Once we got there we realised that the temple was functional and there was worship happening. We went inside and on payment of ₹30 we were allowed to photograph inside the temple.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxcfMIGB96DiqVwenW2rOe8T1FR6jk4ELo9aorblGMapvXdkro3Son7WlUA4o5kjyJut83DZ0GDHZIvnSbrxm7COms6yprIfDru2R14iSLYuGC1AsqZq1y1caase4HvPy4Frn0n98h2j9/s1600/20180929_163530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxcfMIGB96DiqVwenW2rOe8T1FR6jk4ELo9aorblGMapvXdkro3Son7WlUA4o5kjyJut83DZ0GDHZIvnSbrxm7COms6yprIfDru2R14iSLYuGC1AsqZq1y1caase4HvPy4Frn0n98h2j9/s320/20180929_163530.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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My camera is a dslr and its funny that I could not do photography inside as the techniques for low light photography with dslr are different. But our friends who had mobile cameras got great clicks inside the temple. I took a whole circumference of the temple and clicked some spectacular images on the outside walls of the temple<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpix9HCt7To64IJNo56vAeNVplBTTzrcipFYV1d-d-my0iqy_Xo0dHFGrKe8gazgW12jN_hA20H7YmgnEzDbarejuZDpivTZh4vvifEKqT7m-dyBXzDMA-W_684QmrJTNBfnThgFfEv5J/s1600/20180929_163254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpix9HCt7To64IJNo56vAeNVplBTTzrcipFYV1d-d-my0iqy_Xo0dHFGrKe8gazgW12jN_hA20H7YmgnEzDbarejuZDpivTZh4vvifEKqT7m-dyBXzDMA-W_684QmrJTNBfnThgFfEv5J/s320/20180929_163254.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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It was very satisfying to click the photographs after so long. Photography is and will remain a passion for me and I realised how complete I felt after having the camera in my arms<br />
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It was like a part of me was restored back to me<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-4312580879818223282018-10-07T07:00:00.003-07:002018-10-07T07:00:55.481-07:00Onward Journey - Chikmagalur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had dialysis scheduled for late night. I told the guys to give me zero potassium as I would be travelling and might end up going easy on the prescribed diet<br />
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I finished at 1:15 but then India Bangladesh Asia Cup final was happening and I stayed back in hospital till it got over. Finally I got to sleep at around 2.30 am<br />
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My flight was at around 8.45 am and I had to reach the airport by 7am Along with my meditation schedules etc I woke up at 5 and left by 630am<br />
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The flight was smooth and I landed in Bengaluru by around 10.30. Purna and Babu Rao uncle were waiting outside the airport and they came in to pick me up.<br />
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It was a WagonR and I sat in the back seat. We were to go to Nellamangala where the Chennai car would meet us and then we would go together to Belur onward to Chikmagalur<br />
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I relaxed for a while and it was great to meet the other part of the group at Nellamangala. I was meeting everyone first time really. Most of us had bumped into each other at the Book Launch in Chennai but really got to bond with each other for the first time<br />
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We decided to start moving towards Hasana and I took the wheel. The car was in a bit of a scary condition to drive. There was a creaky sound while driving but then the trip was on.<br />
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As usual I drove at my regular speed. The road was fabulous and the other chennai car was following us. The ac was not working in our car and it was getting hot. I didnt notice the speed till we stopped for lunch at a Kamats restaurant. The highlight of the meal was the Buns Roti that is a typical Manglorean delicacy that most of us relished<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuGkYZccodCm555YZE4UyBaprggNYp9izzpZPGneHVxdE7OkNmieZK0u8qFR-E4u9kvJXV7q7k8Wq8F4UAoZjYO5pYkoFUlT8vrL3BtZcvlr0Z9YQrqqwEAWC9uPyLT1hmWtBR_eSTIJ7/s1600/20180929_133936.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuGkYZccodCm555YZE4UyBaprggNYp9izzpZPGneHVxdE7OkNmieZK0u8qFR-E4u9kvJXV7q7k8Wq8F4UAoZjYO5pYkoFUlT8vrL3BtZcvlr0Z9YQrqqwEAWC9uPyLT1hmWtBR_eSTIJ7/s320/20180929_133936.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Kishore pointed to me that I might have been driving at almost 140+kmph and I felt it was better to slow down as the car was not in very good condition<br />
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We decided to take the next halt directly at Belur and both cars followed each other to the temple. A couple of times we had to stop to take directions and the remaining was done by Google maps<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-64357936972916598702018-10-07T06:47:00.002-07:002018-10-07T06:47:28.408-07:00Chikmagalur Calling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Few of us Kidney Patients who met on fb have been planning to do a trip. I missed the last couple of trips for which I was invited but could not join<br />
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This time I wanted to go at any cost<br />
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We originally decided to go to Mahabaleshwar which is more central so that people from all over India could join. But surprisingly there were no takers. Only people from South confirmed. So we cancelled this trip and announced another with destination in South India<br />
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I had reconnected with a childhood friend whose husband ran a home stay in Mallandur near Chikmagalur. We decided to go there<br />
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Dates were fixed for the long weekend from 29th September to 2nd October<br />
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It turned out to be all all boys gang. There was only one lady confirmed but it was uncomfortable with only one lady and all the others being male<br />
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So I booked my flight tickets to and from Bengaluru and it was decided that 5 guys from Chennai would drive down. The Bengaluru guys would get a car and pick me from the airport<br />
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We were all set for the Trip!!</div>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-30944452710271207802018-10-03T10:11:00.000-07:002018-10-03T10:13:37.743-07:00Mahad - The Call of the Arabian Sea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When we got into the Hotel at Mahad, it dawned on us that we were now almost at sea level and it would be great if we could go to a nearby beach. That would complete the road trip<br />
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Shyam and DP went down to buy some medicine for me. I was very tired after having driven long hours in tough winding roads and rested a bit<br />
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When they returned they had a plan in mind. They felt we should go to Harihareshwar or Shrivardhan. I felt both these places are commercialised and suggested Anjarle. Moreover I have friends here and I could even meet the friends personally<br />
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We came by the Goa Road to Goregaon and then took to Mandangad and then to Anjarle. We reached Anjarle at around 12.30. We first visited the temple of "Kadevarcha Ganpati" and then on to the beach<br />
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It was sunny but we were the only people on the beach. The tranquil environment made the whole experience very spiritual<br />
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We would have spend around an hour here but all we did was actually "Stand and Stare "<br />
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After we were done, we left and on the way met Trushant at his home.</div>
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We started back and on the way we almost missed an accident. A State Transport bus came at us at break neck speed from opposite direction and I barely managed to take my car aside but it hit a rock.</div>
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We moved on and at one point we stopped to ask directions when the villagers informed us that we had a flat tyre</div>
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Shyam took upon himself the task of replacing the tyre and did the needful</div>
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All this while the roads were having hairpin bends and I was driving. My knee was in real pain. It was getting unbearable. By around 5:30 pm we had reached Goa Road and since it was a straight road Shyam took the wheel</div>
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We stopped once on the way for chai before returning to Mumbai by around 9.30 pm</div>
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It was a memorable trip. </div>
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For me all the three Shyam, DP as well as Rama are very close friends and have stood by me since I remember. It was also great to spend time with close friends and catch up</div>
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There is truly no substitute to bonding with close friends</div>
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-81986863311272800052018-10-03T09:46:00.000-07:002018-10-03T09:48:26.366-07:00Varandha Ghat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Right from the time I started hiking, I had heard about a picturesque place called Varandha ghat. It was supposed to be a tough road to drive on but extremely beautiful</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br>
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On this route was also located Shivtharghal which is the place where Samarth Ramdas did penance and wrote the Dasbodh<br>
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I have been trying to check with friends on their availability, but it was simply not happening<br>
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Finally the time came and one friend agreed. But he couldnt drive and it was a good idea to have a spare driver for a road as tough as that.<br>
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It was planned as a saturday - sunday trip and I had late night dialysis on fridays, hence it was possible that i would be tired on saturday morning, so it was even more important that we had a spare driver<br>
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Shyam and Rama both consented to join and Shyam was the spare driver though he is not as experienced as me on highways<br>
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So we set out in the morning, Durgesh and myself started from Tardeo and were to pick up the others at Chembur. We were early and the early morning hunger pangs were killing us. We picked up piping hot samosas at Gurukripa Sion.<br>
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At Chembur Shyam and Rama joined and we set out on our road trip<br>
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Since the Samosas were good enough to keep us alive for a while we took our first halt just at the Bhor turning. We need to be careful here as the right turning is under a bridge just after the road to the left goes to Narayangaon.<br>
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After a sumptuous snack of misal and a soft drink, we started again. The scenery started unravelling. We first reached small rivulets and villagers filling water in the river. Then the dam was visible. First we touched the nira devghar dam and the road curved very beautifully around this waterbody<br>
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The valley looked pristine and mesmerising. This stretch was long and almost unending but it was truly beautiful and very nice to watch. We would have taken at least 5-6 halts along this route just to enjoy the scenery and click snaps<br>
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The winding route then led us to the view spot of Varandha Ghat. It was truly a divine experience<br>
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We stopped for some tea here and then made our way to Shivtharghal. This place is nested in the valley with mountains on 3 sides and is again extremely beautiful.<br>
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Due to my PTH problem I have terrible knee pain and it required climbing a staircase to be able to visit the shrine. I decided against it as I needed to drive for the next day as well<br>
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There was no mobile signal in these regions and yet we never felt disconnected or handicapped. A great feeling to have - one ness with nature<br>
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The first day of our road trip was really memorable and on the way to the hotel in mahad we were looking forward to the next day on the road<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2WPCQ2MWPS8yrHGpH4bRI1v-V4o50mkSqlaVl2-6D5u5JY1AdZ_KDt7akq0UjyP80aXK8_3oWq0fkbBJFC3kq_Sll2dLJh0Pha4fKowkfboFblbz1yOpVy5g_CBo0bUdpVgMqc-iD0M3/s1600/IMG-20180916-WA0061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2WPCQ2MWPS8yrHGpH4bRI1v-V4o50mkSqlaVl2-6D5u5JY1AdZ_KDt7akq0UjyP80aXK8_3oWq0fkbBJFC3kq_Sll2dLJh0Pha4fKowkfboFblbz1yOpVy5g_CBo0bUdpVgMqc-iD0M3/s640/IMG-20180916-WA0061.jpg"> </a> </div>Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-5607498733771959252018-07-30T11:29:00.001-07:002018-07-30T11:29:17.388-07:00Business Trips to Pune<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Couple of Years ago I used to travel to Pune at least once a week. I used to teach online marketing at an institute there as well as consult an automation company there<br />
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However, on March15, 2017 I met with a serious accident on the Pune Mumbai Expressway<br />
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I was lucky to be alive and my car had to be disposed off in damaged condition.<br />
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I had 3 meetings that day and I was very tired. On the way back, where the slope starts a truck was going ahead of me and at a good pace. As the slope started it suddenly applied brakes<br />
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I was not at my alert best and banged into the truck. Thereafter the car was out of control and collided twice with the side partition on the highway. There were 3 collisions in all. The engine was on fire and I was unable to move. I was stuck in the car and thought this was the end<br />
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I was lucky that some good samaritans stopped their car, doused the fire and helped me out. On seeing my injuries, they got me admitted at a local hospital in Khandala<br />
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I had 4 fractures in my rib cage and few other injuries which are still healing<br />
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But after that I stopped driving to Pune for business.<br />
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Now I have got a couple of inquiries due to which I again need to travel to Pune. I am thinking of travelling on Thursday, but this time I might actually take a driver<br />
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Dont know why but I always feel Pune has been lucky for me career wise. Its doors always seem open for me<br />
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Pune is also a city I love<br />
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Who knows whats lies in store in the future<br />
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Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-15845441927505676032018-07-28T10:20:00.001-07:002018-07-28T10:20:38.781-07:00Road Trip Plan<p dir="ltr">I have not been outdoors for many months now. I have been really missing nature badly</p>
<p dir="ltr">Monsoons is the season when we used to trek more frequently, but now that's ruled out<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Road Trips to the regular routes have now become boring and I want to try something new</p>
<p dir="ltr">I had heard about Varandha ghat being spectacular in natural beauty. There are waterfalls at every block. The valley pictures on the net prove that. However the road is supposedly very tough to drive on given serpentine turns and uneven nature due to monsoon potholes</p>
<p dir="ltr">I have spoken to a schoolmate and we plan to do this trip soon</p>
<p dir="ltr">The location is around 5 hours drive from Mumbai so we feel it might be a good idea to stay overnight somewhere.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The route that we plan to take is Mumbai- Mahad-Varandha-Bhor-Pune-Mumbai</p>
<p dir="ltr">Feeling very excited about this</p>
<p dir="ltr">Looking forward!!</p>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-3186964771147412402018-07-26T17:13:00.001-07:002018-07-26T17:13:23.072-07:00Season of Spiritual Practice<p dir="ltr">The duration of 2 months starting from Guru Purnima (Full moon of Ashaadh month in Hindu calendar) is supposed to be the period for rejuvenation in nature</p>
<p dir="ltr">The fishes reproduce. Abundant rains by now are seeing a resurgence in the green cover. For humans too it is termed as chaturmas. The significance of Guru Purnima is that its time to rigorously practice instructions from our spiritual masters</p>
<p dir="ltr">For the last four years, I have had the blessings of the almighty to practice a certain set of rules more strictly</p>
<p dir="ltr">I do follow this to a certain extent normally but its more intense during this period</p>
<p dir="ltr">Firstly and most tough to follow is abstinence from tea/coffee etc as they are stimulants</p>
<p dir="ltr">Secondly meditation I have been doing twice daily instead of once which I follow normally. This is very difficult to follow </p>
<p dir="ltr">If I have to meditate twice then I have to do the first session early morning and second one just before dinner</p>
<p dir="ltr">So on the nights that I have dialysis I finish by 2 and then I return by 2.30 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">I used to stay awake till 3.30 to complete the first set of meditation at around 3.45 am itself</p>
<p dir="ltr">Also sometimes returning late after meetings meant that I had to sit for meditation as late as 9.30 pm which meant late dinner and resultant acidity issues. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition I used to do Devi Anushthan once in a while. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Every year towards the end of 2 months I would listen to my inner self whether to extend this to 4 months or relax the rules after 2 months itself. </p>
<p dir="ltr">By the end of this period I used to feel so relaxed and at ease with myself, its unbelievable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This year I am going through more stress and I have made a sankalpa to have more rigorous practice. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition to the above I plan to practice Yoga as well as do Devi Anushthan at least once a week and regular chanting</p>
<p dir="ltr">Though I dont want to expect specific gains at the end of this period, I am sure the experience itself might help me unravel more aspects of my own self</p>
<p dir="ltr">I know its going to be very difficult. </p>
<p dir="ltr">But what the hell Ill give it my best shot</p>
<p dir="ltr">As they say Fortune Favours the <u>Brave</u><br><br><br><br><br><br></p>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-18707215079206054462018-07-26T00:28:00.001-07:002018-07-26T00:28:48.735-07:00Humane or Ruthless<p dir="ltr">Tough Times will never end</p>
<p dir="ltr">We need to accomplish what we want to despite whatever circumstances life has in store for us</p>
<p dir="ltr">For patients on dialysis the constraints are much more than normal people</p>
<p dir="ltr">In such times it is imperative that we cut off the things that add unnecessary stress in our system and focus on the meaningful activities</p>
<p dir="ltr">Love and Relationships have no meaning. Its time to ruthlessly do away totally with people who have hurt you </p>
<p dir="ltr">Do anything for those who have stood for you</p>
<p dir="ltr">Focus on your dreams, plan activities that need to be completed to fulfill your dreams, set milestones and go for it</p>
<p dir="ltr">In a way, forget that we are humans and start behaving like machines</p>
<p dir="ltr">But is that really possible? </p>
<p dir="ltr">I am going to give it my best shot at being ruthlessly <u>inhuman</u></p>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-85592024747981370692018-07-13T04:55:00.001-07:002018-07-13T04:55:20.086-07:00Adventure Next<p dir="ltr">The last couple of months have been really tough on me. Emotionally it has been tough due to a terrible misunderstanding with a close friend leading to a painful breakup. All communication has broken down leaving any chance of reconciliation improbable</p>
<p dir="ltr">I had a surgery to remove one of mymy parathyroid gland in February. However the readings have not improved. Neither has the bone pain. Sleep at nights is tough and it keeps me tired the next day. This tiredness is now accumulated and I am finding it very painful to even keep standing in a place for 15 minutes</p>
<p dir="ltr">Two years ago I used to go mountaineering in this season</p>
<p dir="ltr">The worst thing is in my last blood testsy hb had reduced to less than 8. This has happened first time after around 12 years. I guess this is also adding to the extreme fatigue</p>
<p dir="ltr">Depression due to all of the above made me feel really low and lonely. The fact that earlier I could go out in the mountains hits me harder</p>
<p dir="ltr">Times are tough and situations are hurtful</p>
<p dir="ltr">I am just focusing on getting my thoughts in order so I dont mess up on the new inquiries that could take my consulting practice to the next scale. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I guess at such times its best to not think about things that are not working and focus on activities that seem to be yielding positive results. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The doctor has put me on iron injections and hopefully the hb readings would improve soon enough. This should allow me to at least get back to road trips that help me "stay alive" </p>
<p dir="ltr">I can only do whats in my control. Beyond that I can pray for things to move in the right direction</p>
<p dir="ltr">I have lost the fear of the unknown long back. As usual trying to look to the next moment to offer its set of surprises as I continue living the adventure called life</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yes the <u>AdventureNext</u> is On</p>
<p dir="ltr">I am not giving <u>up</u></p>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-516065489477461814.post-38333203560912404012018-07-13T04:37:00.001-07:002018-07-13T04:37:00.393-07:00The Adventure Continues<p dir="ltr">I am blogging after a couple of years today. Its really been a roller coster ride </p>
<p dir="ltr">Now I work for myself. While I continue to be in digital communications, where I consult for strategy, I am also working on my dream venture in Rural Tourism. I design and organise trips centred around lifestyle and culture. This venture is named "<a href="http://https://www.facebook.com/mittikikhushbu/">Mitti Ki Khushbu</a>" </p>
<p dir="ltr">Work keeps me busy with lots to do on both fronts. I still take dialysis twice a week and am able to live a relatively active life</p>
<p dir="ltr">I would share in subsequent posts why I am saying relatively active</p>
<p dir="ltr">I do intend to blog now onwards and hope that we can all interact meaningfully</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yes life is still as much an adventure as it was when I used to blog regularly. I am still an adventure tourist</p>
Samyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940832821014974533noreply@blogger.com0