Ghumakkar's Diary

( This post has already appeared on Bisons Ride Hard website , to check out click here ) Ever since I read Vinni ’s post on last year’s Ride of Faith , I have been waiting for this year’s ride. The day I came to know about the Bison’s schedule, I started preparing, until I realized I don’t have leaves. Few days left to the ride, multi-reminders received and I was like, will I be able to make it? Something happened, meetings deferred, jobs got completed and I was able to ask my boss for leaves; and, who can deny you leaves that too for a Ride of Faith, Ride to AshtaVinayaka ! I felt blessed that day, and now after the hard ride we had, I know I’m blessed! We are a nation of faith, which plays an immensely large role in our lives, being homely, officially or on the tar. Though Bisons have started riding hard the day they first met at BKC on a fine Sunday evening of July 23, 2011 at BKC; official announcement was made on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chautrthi , Shukla Paksha, Bhadra...

After a long gap, and missed Sundays on different lame reasons, here I'm with another post on Smiley Saturday series. This one I picked at my Odisha visit early this year. Actually, I got two pictures of this old man in two-entirely different moods. One I already posted earlier , and here is the one which is more about a mystic or mysterious, don't know exactly what, smile! Picked it on my D5000, 18-55 lens; one of my all time favorite.

Have you ever been on road to ascend the heights of a jungle? A trip to Naneghat may provide the best of both, a short but marvellous scenic ride as well a moderate but certainly a demanding trek! The Naneghat Peak Naneghat is considered as one of the highest peaks in Maharashtra of the Sahyadris , the Western Ghats mountain range. At an elevation of about 700meters, it provides amateurs and  travelers , especially who spend their hours sedentarily in offices , an opportunity to reveal their limits, a chance to exhaust their hearts out!

So, I couldn’t make to Bisons’ first ride today. All very thanks to an upset stomach, and a bad food course I had near weekend. Nevertheless, I had a small ride of few 10s kilometers last Sunday that not only helped me to scratch the ride’itch but also gave an opportunity to get some fresh pictures for this Smiley Saturdays section. To get more of fresh pictures, I would be posting alternate Saturdays from now on; or if get plenty of Smile, it would be on every other Saturday! :) This guy is Moin. He takes care of the mazars at a hill near Mumbra ; and lives there in a hut-sort of establishment made up of steel sheets, more or less like the one we generally see in Mumbai slums. With my camera, he thought me being someone from Newspapers. When cleared, he as shy enough to give me a pose to snap. Then what he gave me should be called as a Divine Smile , that I wish everybody should be blessed with. Though it was certainly posed for a click, I felt the serenity and genuin...

What’s the highest intensity of itch you have ever tolerated? Well, it actually depends on the person; some just can’t survive it a day, others have mastered the art of living with it forever. I had this itch of riding for last few weeks. After multi-unsuccessful attempts to ride on a Sunday with friends, last Sunday was the ultimately the savior. All I need a little scratch, if not a long ride. I had had a plan to visit the Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai. While preparing for the ride, I remembered a picturesque spot about which Abhimanyu , my unofficial photography guru, told. This spot is somewhere near Mumbra. So, I decided to first visit this place, have some snaps and then ride back/ahead towards Gorai for some 50km a side ride. It certainly was an unplanned plan; and I was really happy to be on such a subtle ride. View Larger Map I started at about 11:30 and took Belapur-Thane Highway, and at Kolwa, took the NH 4 towards Mumbra. On the way I gave lift to a roa...