Thej sent me this link.

Seems interesting. And something that is totally up my alley. Can blog, can take photos, can drive!

But one small hitch. It’s only for couples so that pretty much rules me out unless I find a willing man (or woman) soon :-p

I see fellow blogger Charukesi there already. And a surprising number of enthusiastic couples!

Want to take part? The details are here.

So a year or so ago, I was presented with a Hercules bicycle. It’s a really reliable cycle and stood me in good stead over quite a few long trips that I made. Of course, by the end of the trip, every muscle of mine would be strained, but at least I was getting some good exercise in the bargain (and burning more calories too).

But I figured that it was time to upgrade. Especially seeing folks talk lovingly about their Treks and Meridas made me also think of taking a step up in the cycling world. Of course, it’s always difficult to make that decision. Which bike to buy?
~ Road or MTB or hybrid?
~ How much should I spend on a bike?
~ Which brand? Trek/Merida/Cannondale/Bianchi/Hero/Firefox?
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Of course we all know what happens on Bangalore roads when it rains. But I was the least prepared for the events to unfold that night. After dinner with friends at Indiranagar I set off towards Koramangala. It had been raining for around an hour but I didn’t really realize how bad things were outside.

The Intermediate Ring Road had gotten fully water logged. Worse still the water on one side was sloshing over like huge ocean waves into the other side (the side I was on!). As a result, there were cars trying to move through higher than knee deep water on the same side of the road in two different directions. In Bangalore, traffic is disastrous enough even on different sides of the road. So you can imagine the scenario.

In front of me, stretched an endless stream of vehicles all trying to negotiate the high waters and not having much luck. Some vehicles had gotten stuck adding to the woes of those behind.

Suddenly, I felt a gushing sounds inside my car and realize that water had begun to enter the vehicle. I decided that panicking would not be the right thing and weigh my options. Going ahead and getting stuck in the water with no way out of the car. Or jumping out of the car and letting it go down instead. Smartly, I decided on the latter.

I tried and park the car somewhere on the side though there was considerable water there. Some chaiwallas were having a great time laughing at what was happening around. What did they care? I looked with slight dismay as the car started getting submerged with the water rising every minute.

A guy who was at the chai shop helpfully pointed out a lane just behind me and suggested I should try getting back into the car and reversing into it. A smart suggestion in hindsight. I dove back into the car, now with water covering the base of the car, and said a small prayer. The car started and I reversed quickly into the lane. Thankfully, there wasn’t any vehicle immediately behind me.

I found higher ground and decided to stay put for a while. This was a dead end lane and there was really no way out. It was past midnight now. I looked out into the main road – cars still honking, and utter chaos as people were getting stuck everywhere. I decided that I didn’t want to get back there in a hurry.

Just inside a lane, I found a few service apartments and one of them let me use their rest room to freshen up (I had also gotten drenched after all my adventures). A friend called suggesting I try and reach her place in Koramangala. Another friend gave me his colleague’s number - she happened to live across the road (but I couldn’t even think about crossing the road!).

There was absolutely no way to get out. Finally at around 1 am I decided to stay put and got myself checked into the Golf Inn which looked like a decent place. From my window I could get a glimpse of the chaos that still ensued outside.

At around 6 am in the morning, I checked out and finally drove home. My Zen didn’t let me down and actually started even after the night’s lashing. The ring road bore a rather worn out look with garbage scattered everywhere.

It was relief to finally get home!

After hearing of my rainy night adventure, a well meaning friend (instead of rescuing me from my night stranded out!), said I could avoid what happened by getting this instead.

The weather was hot and balmy. It was our last day in Kerala and we were looking forward to spending the night on a houseboat.

On my previous trips to Kerala, I’ve only gotten within drooling distance of a houseboat. It’s a rather expensive proposition. There was one time when Steph was down from Switzerland and we did some sightseeing on a small boat, and then went around in a little canoe (that was fun!). But I hadn’t been on a big boat…
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In my perfect world, I will be surrounded by a lot of teapots and kettles of varying shapes and sizes. There will be steaming hot cups of tea in different flavours waiting to be tasted. Tea strainers, tea pots, tea cosies and the intoxicating smell of the dark brew everywhere.

When I chanced upon TPot on Petercelli street one afternoon as I was wandering around aimlessly, I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn’t walked into a dream or a scene out of Alice in Wonderland!

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The Mumbai run was an exciting event for me. The registrations start way in advance so there is quite a build up over the months. It was another story that I wasn’t too prepared and hadn’t put in any long runs in the month prior to Mumbai.

But I was excited, never the less.

My mom expressed her surprise when I said I was going to Mumbai. To run. I had after all lived in the city for well over 5 years and she couldn’t quite figure out why at this stage in life, I was suddenly travelling all the way to another city just to run. Some things are just too hard to explain.

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A quick update… It’s been a hectic few weeks. My blog looks a little forlorn. I have a tea story from Cochin in my head and I haven’t managed to post it. Besides running a 5K in the women’s corporate rally at the Midnight Marathon on Jan 9, I haven’t really done any long runs mainly out of laziness and the cold (it’s a nice excuse!). So, I am definitely not happy with my preparations for Mumbai, but it’s too late for hindsight and after thought…

But, on the bright side, I’m looking forward to:

~ Catching up with old friends

~ Eating (no trip of mine can be complete without this anyway!)

~ Window shopping (somebody will need to stop me from splurging)

~ Running in Mumbai for the first time!

And so, here I go…

So, in a few weeks time, it will be time to visit Mumbai!

The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is on January 18.

I am hoping to run into a few bloggers and familiar faces on the race day. If you’re in Mumbai during the time, do come out and cheer. There’s the dream run too (6k) where you can run/walk and I’ve asked some friends to participate in that at least. Quite a few of us from Bangalore will be travelling for the event.

In my 5 years in Mumbai, I was never even aware of the marathon and it’s actually quite ironical that I will be travelling all the way from Bangalore to be a part of it now! But, that’s life… always full of surprises :-)

Anyone planning to run? Or coming out to cheer? :-)