Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Waiting Game.


Why do you love - you ask!

I don't have a clue.
Now, I see the world only in You!

In the Bliss of a child's smile
and the Emerald isle..
Fresh morning dew
and the moonlight blue..
- I see nothing but you!

Its a heavenly view..
in the world - brand new
Fell in love, even before I knew,

I live - only in your dream
floating in the love stream
I cede - 'To love' is the feeling supreme
and there is no extreme.

Rain cant hide in clouds for long,
Even if everything goes wrong,
Our love will only grow strong
My heart is where you rightly belong!!

I know - You feel the same
Then, why is the waiting game?

--Vinodh

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

To Do B4 30



Here is the list of things that I want to do before I turn 30. The next five years are the ones when I'll be in peak physical health, mental toughness and enjoy total freedom to do all of these..

The list in no particular order..

  1. Running 4 Marathons in 4 weeks
  2. Swimming in Deep sea
  3. Publish some of my poems/short stories as a book!
  4. Sky Diving
  5. Scuba diving/Snorkeling
  6. Skiing
  7. Bungee Jumping - check :)! !!
  8. Gamble - (I hav played poker.. This is about big money in Vegas.)
  9. Getting Drunk..
  10. Smoke a Cuban Cigar..
I have a few personal stuff as well, which I have not included for obvious reasons. ;)

Now, If you have something interesting in your list, post it in the comments...

Happy living,
-Vinodh

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Bungee...



- The Mounting Fear when you look down the platform into darkness from 110 feet.

- The rush of adrenaline when you plunge into nothingness..

- Amazing free fall for 2-3 seconds before the bungee pull-back..


Yeah.. I had all these experiences and much more this friday(10 Apr).


Only 2 other folks showed interest.... We, (Myself, Vachan 'n Millo) had our jumps slotted at 12 to 1 PM on Friday. When we arrived in the arena, there were about 100 ppl already waiting 'n the regn. was temporarily closed. We were asked to come back after lunch at 3.

We headed out to a dhaba, close by. Had some light north-indian stuff.. chatted around.. and when we came back, we had our medical tests done.. and I was the 82nd jumper. I would get to jump at around 6-7 pm. With over 3 hrs to kill, we cheked out the paintball arena near by. They had some cool deals for the jumpers. But sadly, we couldn't find an opposing team. We were only 3 and it won't be fun with just 3. We went out for a walk instead.

Found a good spot by the roadside, had some hot chai... We discussed interesting things about life, spirituality, fulfillment, career and a lot more. That 2 hr chat proved that my theory was right. "People are essentially good, however hard they try to behave as a**holes" .

When we reached station at 6, there were 10 more ppl to jump ahead of us.. As I got closer to the jump, I got more 'n more nervous.. WTH?? And a few more folks joined the queue.. They had come late for their jumps.. That'll delay my jump by an hour.. I wanted to jump before sunfall and It didn look likely.. the full moon was already out...

It was interesting to note that about 10 ppl had gone all the way up but didn jump. They only said one thing: "Dude, you get up there... then you'll know..".. That scarred me even more.. The guy standing close by started the gyan. "Just dont look the ground.. dont think.. Just let go when
you are told to..". Well.. I didn want such a blind jump. I wanted to experince the fear as well.

Finally, came my chance... I was called to be strapped. I kept asking that guy, if thats enough? can I get extra roping done... He assured me that this can hold up to 140 kgs.. I hopped to a chair near by and waited for my chance..

Strapped on 'n waiting...

And WTH? These guys want a break. It was almost 8'o clock 'n they wanted a 15 min break.. I cant move.. I was strapped.. Well. you dont want to push them.. you dont want them to say.. "Oops. minor mistake dude.. I just missed one end of the rope..".

And Finally, I was called up.. to board the basket..
Weight - 72kg check...
Red Bungee - Check...
Master lock - Check...
Bungee end 1 - Check...
End 2 - Check...

Vinodh, are you ready? I nodded.

The crane went up and in seconds, I was in the top..

Up.. up and away..

Wow... The lovely sight of the beautiful full-moon in all its glory... breath taking.. I could only think of MAD! Guess whose face did I see in the full moon??..
Vinodh, turn around to you right. - I did.
Take deep breaths - I did.
Leave the bars 'n extend your arms like a bird.. - I did.
Just lean forward and let go.. I didn't
I could hear my heart beating...
One question.. Is the cord properly tied? Yes. you saw us check it down there..
I cant see the safety net down there. - It is there.. you just cant see from here..

Take deep breaths - On count of five..
5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... And there I was, falling in the night sky.

I lost myself to the free fall for 2-3 seconds.. I wish I could put the experience into words... :) That was Awesome...

Yeah.. That was an Awesome Jump

Waited for Milind, Vachan to Jump, congratulated the organizers, had dinner 'n got back home!!!

That was an awesome day!

Bungee Jumping.. Check!!! One thing off my to-do-b4-30 list..

--------------
Update: On 11 Apr, an unfortunate accident had happened [link] . Was it luck or fate? We could n get slots on Saturday and hence did it on Friday. May his soul RIP.

Monday, April 06, 2009

At times, things go wrong.

In your pursuit, You may fail. Life may not go as planned. Set-backs and break-downs punctuate the path taken. We take a break and relook at the situation, try to understand what went wrong.


There is a great saying in Tamil: Thirukkural

கேட்டினும் உண்டோர் உறுதி கிளைஞரை
நீட்டி அளப்பதோர் கோல்
-திருக்குறள், 796, பொருட்பால், நட்பியல், நட்பாராய்தல்!

Which roughly translates to "Misfortune is the yardstick to measure out kinsmen".

Yeah. The past few weeks have not been eazy to deal with. But It has helped me to identify my Army. When you want to live a fulfilling life, doing unconventional things, helping people along the way and live consciously, you need an army - you can't do it alone.

These testing times, provided me with the chance to get to know my 'real' friends. People who stood by, even in my craziest pursuit!! Folks who would call up and check on you in the middle of the night to make sure, you are OK!.. Lads, who can think for you, when you are too confused to think. Fellas, who would do stuff for you, even without asking 'why'!!

While it is great to know your real friends, its equally important to know whom you cannot count on. I also came across people, who ask questions just because of curiosity. They don't really care. They just want something to chew-on.

And the stuff about True Love:
Love for love's sake. Don't expect anything. Don't even expect to be loved back.
Eazy to say. Its proving to be difficult. Well.. If it were that eazier, we would all be Mother Teresa and the world would have been much better place.

Thought for the week:
Its eazy to fall in Love. But requires significant effort to stay in love!

--Vinodh

There is a whole chapter in Thirukkural on measuring-friendship - link. Amazing how this was thought out abt 2000 yrs back!!