Your trip to Rishikesh

Rule 1: Don't go for a weekend. You need atleast 6 continuous days. You cannot replace this with three weekends. 1 continuous week would be perfect.
My trip to Rishikesh was for 4 full days & it remains incomplete. It aches my heart & because it remained incomplete, I miss my time there terribly. I want to quit my professional commitments & go back there. This must also tell you how lovely the place is!

Rule 2: Go alone. Rishikesh deserves a solo trip. People go there to do rafting and bungee jumping but that's absurd. You may enjoy these activities but Rishikesh is not about it. Rishikesh is about an inward journey. It is Yoga capital of the world. Yoga is union of us with everything else. To make the most of this land, go solo.

Rule 3: What do you need to pack? Get a pair of very good quality shoes. Get good quality socks. Get a light bathing dress to enjoy the water-falls. Get a slipper. Get a couple of pair of very comfortable jeans. Get a light & thin towel. Get a couple of under-pants. Get a good quality camera or a superior camera-phone.

Rule 4: How much do you need to spend? For an Indian or a foreigner -  1 week satisfying stay at Rishikesh shouldn't ideally cross USD 200 or INR 9K. This difference is mostly owing to sophisticated life-style of foreigners viz-a-viz rugged lifestyle of a solo Indian traveller. It also accounts for difference in charges levied upon an Indian in comparison to foreigners for certain activities. This cost doesn't include Rafting, bungee jumping or other activities you may want to indulge in. This includes 2 days bike rental, your economical stay, food, local travel expense, essential local shopping you must do and other unavoidable miscellaneous stuff.

Rule 5: Where you stay would matter a lot. I recommend The Hosteller near Laxman Jhula - location is fantastic & it is ideal for solo travellers. Not recommended for families though. Good for a couple as well.

Rule 6: Where to visit:

a) Visit Vashisht Gufa near Shivpuri, Neelkanth temple, Patna waterfall. These three should be reached on a bike. Do take bath at Patna waterfall. You will cherish the water massaging your body & I don't think you will easily forget the moment.

b) Dedicate a day to walk left of Laxman Jhula upto Garur Chatti & go on daily to attend near by Ganga Aarti in the evening of the day - Parmarth Niketan Aarti is a good one, try all I would say. If you involve yourself fully in these Aarti's in a transcendental sense, you will not forget these evenings for a long time.

c) Visit Neer water fall & spend some tranquil moments with the nature. Carry your bathing dress & take a bath in the natural pool & shower.

d) Attend the famous Ganga Aarti of Triveni Ghat. Camp overnight in congruence with authorised trekkers & camp organizing groups at Rishikesh.

e) Visit Kunjapuri Temple early in the morning before sunrise to enjoy the place to its fullest. It is recommended on a bike as you may want to spend hours there. You may trek for 13 kms after over-night camping or you can take a taxi early morning.

f) Keep a spare day to reflect & go wherever you want to. You will find yourself mixing up with people from across the world.

Rule 7: Switch off the internet for as long as you can in the day. I only made or attended important calls to & from important people in my life.

On your trip to Rishikesh, you must just let yourself be. Don't follow what I have mentioned in any such order or like a routine. I recommend just keeping it in mind & doing it as your heart leads you. I went quite randomly and it was the time of my life. I indeed discovered some bits & pieces of myself I never knew before.

Neer Waterfall

Patna Waterfall

From Laxman Jhula to Garur Chatti

Garur Chatti

Laxman Jhula

Sunrise at Kunjapuri Temple

Kunjapuri

Bank of Ganga near Vasishtha Gufa

Vasistha Gufa

Unflappable

Quite some time!
Whats new?
I think a few steps ahead in life.Is it possible to know whats the correct amount of work you must give in every day of life in order to become addicted to it.I think that process is the pursuit of happiness.So it is a sum of not just how much you have given but also how much you take.Infact,I realized in these times that how much you can take counts much more.Builds you up.If you think of a healthy physique,you could say,what you take is your endurance.What you give is the structure.You know the difference,right?Journey is endurance and the destination is what you give,what is visible.It deludes almost everyone,not me though,not anymore.Strength is all parts endurance and one part structure.
I was talking about being a few steps ahead since the last time.Well,thats in terms of the endurance.You would know already if it was visible but you don't yet and I am sorry to some of you who might be reading it to see some announcements.There is just one,the journey keeps getting better and I keep moving ahead.
What else?
Oh ofcourse,the realization that there are a plenty of folks around.But that many and still together,a vast nothingness.It is not about what they do and how they live or think,its simply the funny approach.Its easy for me to ignore anyone,I am pretty much of an asshole in that sense.I don't care about anyone in a special way.I care about everyone in a similar way.I have a small world of 6 people who have control over me.These 6 never control me though.The beauty.They just inspire.Well it was 2 when I was born.Then it became 3,2 years later.It became 4,4 years later and it became 5,7 years later or maybe 6 or 8.20 years later it became 6 and it stopped.It never changed.Well these are the pillars of my endurance.So many jerks at every stage of every step ahead and just a thought of these 6,turns everything round.Its like magic.
I was talking about correct amount of "something"(have replaced the word work) you must give and take to love life,to pursue happiness.Well,these 6 are the centre of it all probably.So I think I will take this one to thank them.Seriously,it is amazing to drive a car with 6 strong wheels while knowing the destination,while knowing the way to the destination and knowing that you can drive.Its amazing.Well,thats what confidence in essence is too.Thats where your endurance comes from.Thats how you start loving the journey more than the destination probably.
Coming back to the point,the pursuit is still on.Your happiness is the pursuit.And however hard I try to not consider,that your happiness is my happiness, fail.Because my happiness is that too,yours.
Smiling at this hour is good.Well,I was having an iced glass of rose water.And now......asleep......almost................... :)
Keep it going.Have a few to love.Throw the garbage.Do no wrong.Be kind.Be true.Be yourself.Live well....tc..!

If you go forever,I will fly forever.Just because you have stopped,I have stopped.This life is what,but in parts.One part you and one part rest.So in a way,you are the forever.You go or you stay doesn't even matter in those terms.

Beginning of prep for UPSC 2016.

I am taking a shot at UPSC 2016.

This is more like a a sport you play in the evening while you have been doing school,college or office rest of the day.When the sport hour approaches,you get excited and then drain yourself out in those short 2 hours. When you play a sport you don't necessarily want to become a sportsman later in life but still you play with all your heart.Since there is no condition & expectation you usually enjoy it a lot.
Nevertheless,you do have those small ambitions of making it to the team in coveted tournaments or becoming a captain or maybe coming out as the best sportsman.Some similar drive inside me about this exam.
I would like to focus now on the Prep part because down the line,I guess that's what you would ant to read.
I tried to refer strategies and approaches on how to prepare etc but I wasn't satisfied.I liked Ananya Das to an extent while going through few who cleared the exam quite smartly and not that rigorously.My approach towards UPSC is only going to be like that of a task you complete in an optimized manner.What I mean is,becoming a subject expert or becoming too learned on certain topics is not at all my aim.So,my preparation is not going to be a very passionate one but of a different sort.Iam analyzing certain figures and facts on this exam and am thus going to attempt it accordingly..I will share with you the analysis at the end of the line.
I bought a world focus magazine today,cancelled an ordered Indian Polity book by Laxmikanth.I took the 2015 prelims paper,GS.I have scored 62 in the paper.The cutoff this year will supposedly be  between 100 and 110.I am attaching the scoresheet.
I am going to write the exam with Political Science and International Affairs as my Optional.Its going to be self study only.

The self talk of Nov 15

Almost a million things are going on in my small mind.I am wondering about my startup and its future.I am optimistic myself but I am worried about it too.I don’t understand if the track is right,if the people are right,if I am right in how I am approaching my people,if the vision is clear,if our idea is strong,if success is a doubt,if people will accept it at all,whether we are hitting where there is nothing,or we are going good,going well and that’s how everyone would probably have gone before they became known.This is not a simple state of mind,its rather so complex that I haven’t experienced in my life,a feeling alike,ever before.It is distressing and it is irritating.Its not just my mind which reacts to the situation,its my actions,my thoughts and my temperament as well.While doing all this I often try to stay as composed a spossible,I try my best to listen to all sort of criticism and absorb it,I also try my best to learn a lot from critics,I like those who pinch me and I like them too who try to hurt me now.This is because of my weird state of existence right now.I am so hurt already that what could do more wrong.I have developed a comforting resistance to all this and I have somehow become very strong.It is almost like a feeling where nothing can be lost.

I almost wonder half of the time when will this all be over.It is damn tough and very demanding but then I acknowledge these times with a feeling of curiosity rather than hopelessness.I have one thing which makes me strong and inspires me during all this.It snot a person or a feeling.Its rather the toughness itself.I tend to believe that our actions have probably yet not become so intense that the results would be forced to show up.I am yet to hit that part on the graph where the points change their plane and the line changes its orientation and shape.It is also inspiring that what I am trying to do is not merely build a tent which could serve me to live well.My aim inspires me a lot.It is ultimately the effect that motivates and gets a hang over the desolute days and thoughts.

I asked a lot of people about their experiences,difficulties etc before I started.What they shared was so easy to go through and what I am going through is so difficult.This question is some sort of a void.This is good or this is bad can be not known probably untill the end is clear.But you often hear about an unknown identity trying to push you all the time,and trying to make sure ou don’t stop.Well,that’s the case here as well because I have always been made to feel somehow to do even more,a little bit extra,sometimes different,at times to back off,at times to increase the pace,all that is so arbitrary.It is like a billion things that lead to those manoeuvers in my current life and when I think about it I am almost blank.Its very deep and I don’t expect anyone to understand this.

Strangely,this is also a state I always want to be in.There is so much pressure that literally you could bend a metal and change the shape of a diamond if you would place it inside of my body.I often smile at myself when alone thinking about this experience life has been putting me through.The me that has become is one who never any longer fantasies about fame,failure,reputation,wealth.It is my pleasure to have understood that it is really important to just make sure whatever I do and however I do it,I must not ever lie to the soul within.I have actualized about myself that there could be so many attractions in the world that would probably excite that you which doesn’t even exist.It is rally important to impress yourself all the time.It is probably a thumb rule to be honest about your body to your soul and the senses.It is not necessary to mould yourself according to the sight of rest others.Others that could be important would not even notice such things.

Then there has been an amazing experience of understanding others as well while I have been undergoing this tremendous whack of a situation.Its apleasure always to have a chance to know others.My perspective has changed too.I wouldn’t mean to be harsh but I often see a lot of people different from me.I notice their every moment of existence in impressing that which doesn’t exist.Thats a way of life I guess and that’s perfectly okay,it makes me feel vivid too.Its exciting to have myself as different,atleast in my own point of view.I have got an amazing respect for those others who behave in a manner in which that unknown identity behaves.I feel shy to speak to them,I would often assume they know the future already it seems.They really are an important part of that billion of things.

This stage is okay to have.I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasure but I concur that it is a proof of something.I mean ofcourse,if I would simply,start,grow and end,that’s not impressive to my own self.So I appreciate the pressure and I want more of it.But I am pretty sure,at the end of the day,I will have the right layout,the right people,the right time and the right results.I do feel that my head might burst right now but then somehow,something holds it together,like always.Thank you god.

Straight ahead

"Endless path or limitless goals,social solutions to economic impact
challenging patterns of day and night,noons and evenings
freedom over slavery and the guts to dream
the journey then from dream to plan and from plan to goal
the standing wall,strong as steel-nerves wrecked and ethics reeled
world has come to a broadway lie,corporates outward sly
when I dreamt of a far away land,i knew it was easy and lame
if the change was to begin,i had to be one starting a fling
and then the time came by,that decision evoked hue and cry

when everything looked dizzy in mind,some people knew guy wanted to try
they pushed and shoved and loved and adored untill he started by
it created a lasting impact,the lives around were still the same
with now and then seeking support,it was obvious life was just beginning
a life that wanted to lend its years,to buy happiness and end all fears
There were still doubts as ideas were talked,ofcourse some joked
there were all different men and women who heard it out
some were curious some just had doubts,and some had no idea,were knocked out

Thats true,there are people but there are some cool guys
As krishna said in Gita,its really not about shirts and ties,jackets and dyes
Looked secretly to their profiles,took inspiration most times
Its a good fact,life is what but speeding by,either die or you try
Work had to be loved,love was found,creating enterprise that was not around

Everyday was different,It is still,everyone has a different time
An important time of a business life,some to keep but some good byes
Today I want to think and know,a few men,women who reflect a  similar view
Going ahead,it is important to see,who is your own and who a mystery
I dont blame you,oh my dear,its me who keeps looking from the rearview mirror
Important you see its a serious act,a happening life on a very long track,
Decisions are what but looking ahead,seeing the past and fitting it in time..

Saw you Looking for a bunch of pie's,you might well sell tickets in black and white
Decided to move you at the bottom of my pile,you are so fragile
You must endure and dream along,you shake your strength and shake your soul
you have to dance on the wildest tunes,you have to follow those simple clues
I am very patient if you want to try but ruthless otherwise
Business is not just a wallet size,it is creating meaning in lives
Look from my eyes,you will see the sky,never lust when love says hi..
I pity you but who am I,life is yours and hope you strive

Nothing you ever had learnt before,if cash had become a nasty drive
If you were to run an enterprise,keep in mind your vision intact
I wish your health would stay fine,and ethics your solid ground
You have choosen a wonderful path,even today its out of time
father is a great man,who tells this guy,greatest secret beneath the sky
So to say,every day and night,your values my greatest pride
you have done your best all life,yours would be this life lived by..."

Beautiful Patna sky from where I secretly do cig's at times

Driveway...

To the Capitalists

When ideas are born,they are rejected.Then they are admired.And it becomes the most powerful thing.It assumes power first of all by disturbing the most powerful,basically by challenging the contemporary.
I know you're taking it in the teeth,but the first guy through the wall,he always gets bloody.Always.This is threatening not just a way of doing business,but in their minds,it's threatening the game.Really, what it's threatening is their livelihood, their jobs.It's threatening the way that they do things.Every time that happens,

whether it's a government,a way of doing business, whatever,the people who are holding the reins,they have their hands on the switch,they go batshit crazy.I mean, anybody who's not respecting a good idea right now

and rebuilding their work and the world around them based on that idea,they're dinosaurs.They'll be sitting on their ass on the sofa at the end of their life and probably repent over asumptions of if they would have.And thats good because this world is being driven that way.

And bytheway I absolutely despise and hate Mukesh and Anil Ambani who are nothing but crazy crows born in a billion rupee nest.Cronies.No respect and sometime in the future,someone with an intent must and will shake their souls out.

Okay enough of raw feelings,check this interesting pic out which shows the aha moments of few cool guys who are entrepreneurial legends now

Oh and if you do care about music that I hear now a days ..haha its repeat mode,a typical trait of mine.Currently there are two songs really - Time flies tuesday 2011 and Akon's blame it on me.
And,ofcourse I am really hunting bad for a new fav girl.Thats a deep void since what,ages now probably.Good for me.No desperation,no womanising,just chill.

Should old acquaintances be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

And days of auld lang syne?

Tc folks.Life is racing but dont loose your breath and never loose your heart.

Corrupt,oh you anti social

Corruption is very much into your skin.Infact it is your clothe,your bread,your roof & almost your evth.Go back into years and reimagine how you would have lived if corruption weren't that fed you.If you starve a poor and give yourself an extra bread,if you let the roads be compromised and people be killed,what civility allows you to buy yourself many cars,if you are adjusting justice to someone's suitability,you are hurting a poor,you are hurting strugglers and doers of the world,you are stripping those of their money who have earned it by in someway carrying this planet on their shoulder,and then you seek respect just because you built a big bloody house and stoned it with your name.You save a criminal,who rapes many,kills many more, and still you manage to lie to your family that you are a hero and that you punish and catch criminals.This corruption is in the system.And those who practice it are infact the champions of current education system.So ideally,they know that they are doing wrong but they go on and still do it.Whats the root cause of corruption and how could it really be impaired ?
I dont really think they are bad human beings but they are weak men and women who fall for money.So clearly since they are weak and since they do it for money,there could be three simple ways of dealing with corruption 1. Love for society cum weakness of money Psychometric tests for everyone before taking on such responsibilities and zero tolerance for negative results.Declaration of all expected other income before taking up a responsibility.
2. Secret corruption shoppers in each state reporting to maybe CAG or Lokpal who would be monitoring and summoning people,very much operating like RAW with informants etc.Ofcourse evth would need to be cross checked.
3. Further,once proven guilty,at no cost law to be bent or leveraged.Intent of govt to be clear empowering common men that corruption is disaster and that corrupts are social enemies.

PMO India Narendra Modi Arun Jaitley Ravi Shankar Prasad

How I am inspired and why I may succeed...

I wanna write today because I have two hours ago walked out of a movie theatre after having a really fine time watching 2 States.It is so importaant how my thoughts always return to just one thing everytime there is a Tamil connection.There was this girl who was significant enough to leave those ever lasting memories in my mind and that pretty feeling in my heart.Have you ever just stopped and realized that if you hadn't met a certain person in your life, your life would be completely different.Yes,that is the person I always turn back to.Its not that I have become a different person,no.She was very similar to me in a lot of ways and my thinking about life,about shaping life,about living it,my approach towards family,love,happiness,success and all other little things that matter.When we spoke for long hours in night she would not talk about her much,I would talk about her all the time and she would talk only about me,these selfless calls on phone were only a reflection of our unconditional love.What she did to me therefore was that,she made me a big guy-if measured by aspirations and imaginations.She inspired in me her believes,which were my believes too,her dreams,her strive for success,her intoxicating laughter at all serious unimportant things in our lives,infact her complete beauty was unknowingly shared between us.She was an angel, if angels were to be the most beautiful people in the world.With all this,I changed.I would probably have still thought about different aspirations I had but the urge would definitely have been weak and fragile.It could have probably evaporated at a tempting job and a safe life,which usually does happen with 99th percentile among us.It is wiser only because,risk cannot be shared by all.If all were to share this risk,how would everything else function.
So maybe the alchemy of universe points a few out and leaves them out in the wild open to either make a difference or get swallowed while trying at it.Thats the risk you take and it is often inspired by a strong desire.That stregth,which I have in me,has come to me only because she came in my life.My parents,my father and my mother are the reasons I live for and she still is a distant cause of any shape that my life will take.Because really,the very time when those dreams were shaped aren't when I met you,they were long back,when I was still trying to get a hang of how reproduction in humans work,that back.Or even earlier,when I saw my most honest administrator father have all the greatness that respect and integrity brings but still not a step closer to achieve his faraway dreams.These are important moments that happened,when my mother would look at the TV and enjoy those soaps and imagine only what she would know.If all this is landing you to a feeling that I had a struggling story with my family,then I wrote bad,I was trying to say how my dreams have shaped in real.They have been born from different dots in different times.They are more of many people's dreams that I have taken to become mine.It would be a perfect ode to a wonderful man and a lovely woman if their son can complete the circle of their life.It would make a lot of sense.But this needed utter strength and that strength wasnt born out of the dreams themselves,there was only way,it needed an inspiration.I’m pushing you away but I’m pushing you gently so you’re not gone, not completely. I wait for you to resist my feeble attempts and return again and again and again, until you never leave at all.
My entrepreneurial journey will be fascinating to wonder about .It could either become an unknown tale of an unknown dreamer or it will become story of a fearless entrepreneur.In any case when I would probably close my eyes for always,even a moment before that,they wouldn't reflect to anyone else that I didn't live.Popularly known is to all what life is.It is the most amazing opportunity one gets in life and to top it up I got everything else to make it comforting and still when I go how could I ever complain.I would never compalin.I am not coplaining even now.I have started my bit and have become slowly an evolving entrepreneur.Amidst the most impeccable memories of love and childhood nurturing,I have it in me to endure what I aspire.I have seen men-women stubborn in pursuit of path they have chosen because thay don't know the significance of goal,I on otherhand am very stubborn in the pursuit of my goal.I have always been an advocate of ethics ,integrity and honesty and therefore they are in my blood.On the grounds of righteousness,nothing I ever do shall ever harm anyone else.The most interesting aspect of my thought process is,money has no place anywhere,it is only as important as a centimeter ,a kilogram or a miles per hour is.Ideas,management,leadership,contribution,wipe out of crony capitalism,justice to deserved economically,fair pricing,inspiration are rather something's which matter a lot to me,among others.

On a parting shot,I cannot only let her be the cause of it all,what if its a havoc? Its mine more if it blows but if it flies its all yours.