G Sangram

 Let's start with habits & achievements to add weightage to this blog. I have been exercising consistently for the past 4.5 years, ran half-marathons, cycled 100km couple of times, motorcycled entire nation (except North-East) during lockdown, done numerous treks, been to major religious places across the country. Also habituated with novel reading from last 7 years, practising quick meditations (before & after bed) and worshipping just after the bath. Starting from 2024, included Digital-Fasting-Days (DFDs) to minimize digital penetration. Interestingly I have adopted all these though raised in a rural family with no trace of any goal-based value system. How did I pull that off?  This blog focuses on the physical aspects of my habits. Why it started In 2019, just after finishing a 2 km running event at Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad, I felt drained out with exhaustion. Though being raised by a hardworking man in the backdrop of rural Bharat, here I am struggling with...

(My rider somewhere in the middle of Thar desert of Rajasthan) riderNot just travel, I always had this dream to experience our Incredibly diverse country. When I say experience, I mean staying at places for an extended time, indulging in local culture, cuisine, language, customs, beliefs, geography and its people. And I did. I had travelled 25000km all alone across India in 3 phases including 20000km motorcycle(RE Himalayan) ride with an estimated cost of 250000 INR that took 1.5 years to complete that too even working parallelly without an unpaid leave. Considering the distance and time span, the expenditure is quite low provided that tourism is an expensive affair. This is so low that, a 2-day MAKE-MY-TRIP curated Kashmir plan is estimated to be 40k, a 5-day Kashmir package through a travel agency cost my friend(+wife) 75k, but I had executed my month-long Kashmir exploration in just 18k. Insane right! How did I pull that? Takeaways This blog will help you with effective travel plann...

My father was not exposed to education (educated till 2nd standard), can't even read. I choose to share because he himself an interesting case study of social & financial wisdom. Events took place in the backdrop of rural India. Let's start. "Do work as your own", my father always tells me. For him, work provided a reason to survive. He was born in 1953 and lost his parents early in childhood itself. Soon after he started his career working as a shepherd merely to get two times meals in a day that to staying away. He took his first annual pay of just 140 INR from the herd owner. In the year of 1974, he formally joined as a Steelman (staff) at nearby Sugar factory (Aska, Odisha) drawing an initial monthly pay of 90 INR. He retired in 2014 with an in-hand monthly salary of 14000 INR. That is so less, his annual pay of that was 1,68,000 but he invested 1,60,000 solely on my education that year apart from sustaining a family. That brings the question of how he pulled ...

           (Google map timeline of my South tour) The Subtle Power of Literacy    Did you ever wonder how literacy makes difference on a broader perspective? Well, then Kerala (popularly known as God's Own Country) might have an answer for you. In India, state Kerala has the highest literacy rate which hovers around 96.2 cents, way higher than the national average of 77.7 cents. Here is a story.    On a delightful morning around Nov-2020, I was hovering on the roof of my PG at Trivandrum, Kerala. The time was atypical as the Coronavirus cases were soaring in the state shutting the vibrant tourism industry of GODS OWN COUNTRY. From the roof, I saw a pedlar wearing a mask selling breakfast on his Luna motorcycle. Upon arrival of a customer, he got down the bike, sanitized his hands, pulled an elastic glove in his hand, handed over the Puttu-kadala curry (a variety of breakfast) and gently put his glove back to its place. he repeated it fo...

 Jasmine City of India     J asmine , a sweet-scented flower also referred to as "Malligai" by the majority of Dravidian people is an important element of Indian culture. But do you know the biggest market of Jasmine in India? Yes, it's Madurai, an ancient temple city known for the glorious Menakshi Amman temple where the famous sweet-scented Malligai has been grown for centuries. References to Madurai’s jasmine is can be traced back to Sangam literature which revolves around 300 BC to AD 300.     In Hindu rituals, pujas or auspicious occasions remain incomplete without the family members decorating their homes with fresh, sweet-scented Malligai. For children, young girls, brides and married women as well as the elderly women, tucking in a strand of jasmine is a part of their beauty, an indication of their personality and a celebration of an auspicious occasion. Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier    M adurai , the ancient city located in the s...

 Tales of South series holds short stories of my solo motorcycle ride throughout the southern India. Though my personal experiences, it's not really about me, it's about SOUTH India, its kind people, unique culture, customs, beliefs, food and biodiversity. Through this series, you will have a glimpse of how unique is this region in India as well as in the entire world. Preface to 'An act of kindness' It's been little more than 270 km since I started from Hyderabad with a tiny halt near the roaring Krishna river. I was completely wet as it was raining most of my journey. Due to the heavy rain from the last few days, the water bodies in or around southern Andhra were either full or overflowing by causing a flood-like situation. Many lower lands even suffered from floods. An act of kindness I was riding high, slicing the air, grasping the chill. Just crossed Kurnool district of the state Andhra-Pradesh and rolling somewhere on the Kurnool - Ongol highway. My body was a...