Lessons learned while getting Leh'd

The following is what you come out with, when you try to write about something you should have written about but don't know what to. This by no means is a comprehensive travelogue or a guide to a biking trip to Leh, you can find that elsewhere. All in all its just a scribble of some thoughts to make a good read.
I learned that...
Internet reviews are not always true. Starting early is traveler's pipe dream. Its sometimes a good decision to let go of somethings. Poetic inspiration can hit you any time (Yes, any time even while shitting!!). High up the Himalayas Petrol (of course Deisel too) and medicines are a luxury. Enthusiasm alone can conquer ill health, tiredness and tough terrain. Push a man enough and he _will_ push back. In some places foreigners would give the best reviews about Indian roads.At high altitudes, where there is less atmospheric oxygen man and machine cry alike. In the long run its more painful to sit as pillion than to be riding. *There is a lot of beauty in nothingness*. If you think you have done something formidable look around some might have done more. Your out of the world adventure might be someone's daily rut. Good motorcycle mechanics are at a premium. Cold and dry air makes curly hairs go brazen. No modern lighting can measure up to a good sunshine. All of the people do not like all of the things, but it is important that all of the people be considerate about some of the people who like that some of the things. Some places in India are filled with more non-Indians. Rum and riverwater(or plain water)  rocks!!. Diamox works!!. Overconfidence Sucks!!. A palace is not just a mansion its the place from where the King rules his territory. Even monks can Rock'n'roll. Some places are worth going the extra mile for!. *The beauty of nothingness holds true for water bodies too*. Working together makes tough situations less tough. A good piece of humor can work its way anytime. You know your body best, know when to say no. Somethings in life you'd never forget even if you had learned them when you were a small kid (like folding one's countries flag ). *Some moments in life are truly surreal*. Extreme cold can cause desertification and camel the vectors of desert are there too. *Even simple sand of the desert can provide superb panorama*. Camels can cry out loud. Boys will be boys we can get kicks from the grossiest  sites if it has some skin show ;). If you see Indus you'd know why people chose to set up a civilization beside it. Sometimes its better to go _Low-Tech_. Green looks greener after a lot of grey. Everyone throws the towel sometime. Even the normal city crowd, seems abnormal after 6 days of solitude. Do not bite more than you can chew. Dal lake stinks!!. House boats are a sham. Kashmiri food is delicious. Falling is an essential part of biking. Royal Enfields are really solid, loyal and road worthy machines. Its had to work without proper tools. Wife, friends and family are the only of few things that would make someone happy going home after a wonderful vacation. And finally... be it computers, photography or biking its the _Man_ and not the _Machine_.

Of Pani-puris and Women

Pani-puri, Gol-guppa, Gup-chup, Pani-batasha or Phoochka all are the name of the same common Indian fast food & If you have not heard of them please paint yourself white and call yourself "Jonny English". But the special observation which i am going to enumerate here is these round hollow fried crisp, unleavened bread filled with a watery mixture of tamarind, chilli, chaat masala, potato onion and chickpeas have special connection to behavioral pattern of women.

Lets start from the past, I believe most of us have come across such incidents or stories in their, lifetime just didn't join the dots. In the Dutta family there is a very famous folklore,Dr Avantika Dutta (who happens to be my mother too.) the only female in the family (to be exact in the branch stated by Uddipan Dutta) had to once go through a long perilious bus journey with lot of motion sickness, giddiness, nausea and loads of vomiting. Just when the ordeal ended & she got down at the bus-stop, chance to sight a Pani-puri wala.Dr Avantika Dutta prompty hailed the hawker and asked for a plate, obviously her fellow passangers were astonished to see her enjoying food when minutes before she throwing it out. That was as a legend, stuff i have heard (many times & always from Baba) but not seen. What I have seen is my Ma and my cousion eating pani-puri and chat and getting double sick since they were already down with stomach upset from a party last night. What I have seen is my Ma silently pointing to pani-puri hawkers and my Baba (who is by the way a medical officer in the Indian Armed Forces) trying his best to decline with reasons like "its not clean" and "not nutritious" etc but giving in for greater good (& probably peace).

Certainly my Ma and cousin are not big enough sample to generalize a rule for the whole women kind. But i am sure all of us must have seen womens' profound affinity to this grub. I am so very confident that i would place it in the list of things that women (specifically Indian) _always like_ right below diamonds, flowers and above chocolates, soft toys. Why because with advent of modern times have seem an emergence of more health conscious and serious/confident type of females (hence above chocolate and soft toys). Pani-puri fits right into the power schedule of a modern lady, its light low/no calories and fast food (to prepare and to eat). But there is a catch, the image of pani-puri has not always been associated with cleanliness, a quality you would always expect out of a lady. To be gore the pani-puris tastes best when the sweat of the "pani-puri wala" has gone in the "pani". Careful observation brought me to a conclusion that even the most hygiene freak ladies are ready to make an exception to enjoy them. Take the case of a particularly fastidious colleague of mine, who always asks for extra tissue off the food counter and carries and alcohol based super hand-cleaner in her bag. She is of the kind who would carry a jacket to keep her dress clean and another cover to keep her jacket clean. But all her cleanliness falls apart in front of a pani-puri she is ever ready for it, even more it is the only thing for which she ever asks us to stop when our group is out somewhere.

The incident that really got me to think this way though is a different one. Recently or not so recently while we were returning from somewhere and I was totally focused in outwitting early evening Bangalore traffic the soft, pleading yet firm voice of my pillion reached my ears "Gol guppe khaye" ?/. The confusion in the punctuation is because i am still not sure whether it was statement or a query. Any how i had no other option other than to say "Haan.. Jaroor" and to start looking for chaat shops along with impending traffic. The one I found and stopped was hugely a crowded stall on the Banergatta Road, but before i could manipulate by bike into a parking my companion had returned with a fallen face "Saab puriya khatam ho gaye, only toote hue bache hai ". A look to the basket of puries reveled the fact that yes there seemed to be only few left. Getting out of there we started our slow crawl towards BTM in search of a decent pani-puri place. The next one we checked out got rejected after a careful inspection of ingredients "Yeh south Indian gol-guppe hai, matar (cickpeas) dal ke banate ahi, aache nahi hote." . An astute observation that i never knew of in my 2&1/2 year stay of Bangalore. The third place was decent,clean,a less crowded one, but alas its strength became its downfall. My friend said "Kisi ne ek bhi gol-guppa nahi kaya, bahut bakwaas hoga, yahan ka." making a twisted nose but in softer tone. At this point i remembered my yoga exercises and took a deep breath in _my mind_ (yes in my mind, a visible sigh can cause or get you grievous injuries.). I made my voice as polite as i could and asked "Koi aachi jagah jante to? Hum wahi chalte hai". The response to my question was strong nod of affirmation and beaming smile. We immediately hopped on the bike and she started to give me directions with great confidence and surety which was quite a surprise to me. Usually with my rudimentary knowledge of Bangalore roads and her shifted sense of directions we had ended getting lost manier times. Not this times though, she was pointing me to roads and turns much better than a GPS mapper would do, that made me think do all ladies or only this one have a PPS (Pani-puri positioning system) built into them . The place we ended up was "Ladoos" (BTM) which my friend proudly declared owned and run by _biharis_. May be its endorphins, a hormone that is said to make people happy and is stimulated into blood flow by chocolate , coffee, pani-puri etc. (Though not yet confirmed but I am quite sure researchers if try would find the pani-puries act as endorphin producers in a female body) , or its that they look very cute when with their cheeks swollen trying to stuff the whole puri into their small mouth, or maybe its _just_ that for those few minutes they are _quiet_ as its quite difficult to speak with it in your mouth, I don't know. Whatever it was the evident pleasure and satisfaction on her face made the whole effort, every ounce of it worth it.

In an attempt to put my observations in an academic and practicle purpose. I suggest pani-puri can be document as one of strong fondnesses rather weakness of Indian women. All guys, keep it in your mind pani-puri can help you make up for forgotten events, late ariivals and so on. The more dedicated ones can think on the lines of (when looking for surprise presents) a life time supply of pani-puri from some good pani-puri maker or they could even try their hands in trying to make them.