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I cried, my team lost

India lost the semi finals of Cricket World Cup, 2015. I am sad but in no way I am shamed. The team gave me enough reasons to be happy.

Those who criticize India now are those who are chronic whiners...those who keep looking for room to blame the National team and some individuals. When our own legends speak high of MSD those who have not played cricket or understood the game well keep pointing fingers against him .. that is foolish and cowardly approach. This is the time we need to support our captain and the team.. a Captain who even refused to visit home to see his new borne baby as he was on national duty.. a captain who was always balanced and focused .. a captain who never complained!!!

It is so easy now a days for these so called experts to question our team on their poor performances, without forgetting that practicing sportsmanship is a lot harder than actually preaching it. Do these morons remember their playing days? If they have conveniently forgotten, it is our duty to give them a reality check.

Dhoni lacked leadership skills need just a gentle reminder, did your uncle score the winning runs in the 2011 world cup? Weren’t you the same bunch who wrote us off before the tournament began? And weren’t you the same bunch who went gaga over we winning seven matches on the trot? Doesn’t that speak a lot about your character? You know fans like me can go on endlessly rubbing it in for questioning our heroes and their commitment. But sadly we have better things to do. Before I end this, seriously ‘Times now’ the nation wants to know “Since when did winning seven consecutive games and having one bad day in office be equivalent to shaming the nation?”

It's a pity that our own country men do not understand and appreciate the importance of Dhoni and go lengths in criticizing and blaming him for anything and everything. Little do they know that in Australia people consider these players in high esteem - Bevan the finisher, Waugh the captain and Gilly the keeper while in India we have all those characteristics combined in one person and that is Dhoni

Yo musulmans ne soyez pas si apologétique

Today I decide to declare my own stand on the major headline that shocked the world.

The attack on Charlie Hebdo which killed 12 people, is a barbaric act of terrorism and a shame on civilization. Without any resevration it is a crime, it is prohibited and it shud be condemned. Islam is a religion of fairness and balance. As we condemn this brutal attack we also at the same time should condemn similar attacks. What's the ruling for killing of innocent children and women in Gaza, Palestine for example. What is happening in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan? They are attacked by drone. These too are crimes. 12 people dies in the attack, it is a crime, I agree but at the same time we need to look at the bigger picture, thousands of Muslims are being killed in almost all part of the world. We are being too negative, too sorry while condemning these attacks.

If we want to compare apple to apple. Which is more severe in light of Islam? killing of 12 people or insulting, ridiculing the messenger of Allah which includes prophet Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Abraham and others (peace be upon them)? The later is blasphemy, an act of disbelieving, an act of hatred and attack to the messenger of Allah, religion of Allah, an attack towards Allah himself. Why you Muslims didn't raise your voice against these acts? Why did the presidents, leaders of those countries not condemn these attacks? This is an irony. This needs to be addressed.

Though the abusers of our Prophet deserves punishment, if not here then in the hereafter for sure but can anyone go around and start killing the blasphemers? Does this justify the killing? Answer is simple as NO! It is to be taken up by ruler of state. It should go through a panel of judges and they should pronounce the verdict, not common people like us. Otherwise there will be anarchy and it would be like a jungle rule, uncivilized and should be corrected.

They say it's freedom of speech. I beg to differ. I don't subscribe to the idea that 'Freedom of Expression' entitles the right to ridicule, insult and provoke others. In my opinion, Freedom of expression is a powerful tool that only comes along with responsibility and sensitivity. So while I condemn this terrible act of terrorism, I am sorry but ‘Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie’! I want to be more responsible than Charlie! I am not worried about the feeling of uneasiness, being not worthy of your friendship.

In these countries nothing is freedom of speech except it is against our prophets, against the religion of Allah, against Allah Himself, say whatever you want. If it is against Palestinian, Iraqi, colored people, step on them you are free to go because it is freedom of speech. But dare to say against the Jews, they will put you in jail because it's antisemitism. You have no rights to talk against gays and homo-sexual. Your freedom of speech ends here. Has the publication run cartoons which mocked Holocaust? Did they drew caricature of people falling over from the WTC making fun of 9/11 victims (I am glad they didn't)? I don't think so.

What nerve!

As a Muslim, I'm Fed Up With the Hypocrisy of the Free Speech Fundamentalists. It was shocking to see leaders (read fools) of different countries in condemning this brutal attacks. What irony! What contradiction! It's nothing but enmity to Islam I would say. Why have you been so silent on the glaring double standards? Did you not know that Charlie Hebdo sacked the veteran French cartoonist Maurice Sinet in 2009 for making an allegedly anti-Semitic remark? Were you not aware that Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that published caricatures of the Prophet in 2005, reportedly rejected cartoons mocking Christ because they would "provoke an outcry" and proudly declared it would "in no circumstances publish Holocaust cartoons"?
But, yes we to have our own demands. Let's not be too apologetic. Apparently, it isn't just Muslims who get offended.

I am here to clarify the saying, "How weak that faith would be that got shaken because of simple cartoons". But my dear friends those cartoons were not just simple cartoons. We do love our mother, we revered our mother so much so that we can't even tolerate if someone abuses our mother, leave aside of portraying her into offensive cartoons. So will it be acceptable to us if someone says "Our love for our mother is so weak that it gets shaken merely because of few foul words (directed to their mothers)?" No, right?

Let's be clear. I do condemn the attack, I am not proud to be affiliated to them, these people do not represent Islam, they do not follow what our prophet prescribed for us. But I do have my doubts here, whether they were paid by other sources to tarnish the reputation of Islam because Islam do not advocate such coward attacks. The attacks created a furore among other anti-Islamic countries. They reproduced those cartoons, so did it serve Islam or was it against Islam? That's where my doubts are.

I'm writing to you to make a simple request: please stop!

http://www.katibin.fr/2015/01/10/carte-des-actes-islamophobes-au-lendemain-de-laffaire-charlie-hebdo/

And now after three and half years in Mu Sigma

When I joined Mu Sigma three and half years back (yes you read the numbers right), these were my thoughts:

 - I am in a good place with good people
 - I like maths (not sure about love part) but they also ask me to code
 - Man! this is too hectic, I don't know if I could survive
 - There's too much expectation, they raise the bar everytime, i don't know if I can cope up
 - I am shy, not too outspoken, I don't know if I could live with this here
 - Kolkata! I love my place....I can't be far away from it for a very long time

But guess what Mu SIgma accepted me the way I am and I reciprocated the same...
19th December, 2014 I got a mail and read this and asked my team to read to be sure of:

"It gives me great pleasure in informing you that you have been promoted to the role of Associate Manager"...

Yes, I am unable to believe it still...the three and half year journey reverberates in my subconscious mind....

All praise to almighty Allah, I feel happy and I want to share my happiness with you...Knowingly or unknowingly your prayers are with me and it works... Khair to everyone!!!! :)
 

In search for shacks

Prologue

It was 11 PM 1st October...

Hemant: Hey guys! We should be leaving at 4. Shaimoon meet us outside Shantiniketan. Saad will be with me
Shaimoon: From Shantiniketan we will go to Hoodi to pick Tanzeel, Naser and Sajid and then proceed to Tin factory to pick Vishwanath and Vipin

3.30 AM 2nd October

Vipin: F*#@ yaar! I didn't sleep
Shaimoon: You won't ride so don't worry. Even I didn't sleep, had work. I have started to pack now, will be half an hour late....

1st day:

And hence it started. We all converged at KR Puram railway station at 5.45 AM. Sun had started to shower it's sunlight and we had started to give each other our company for the next 5 days which could be the unique 5 days that will be remembered for a very long time.

Leaving the city didn't took much time, we crossed Nice road and we were on the highway. Testing the speed of our bikes and the smoothness of the road we went from places to places crossing many cities and rivers in between. Stopping only when Vipin was about to fall due to the insomnia he had last night. We stopped for breakfast at the foothills probably of western ghats. Puri Saagu was the only meal present and we had it to our hearts (+ stomach) content. We were about to enter the western ghats and we were sure that we won't be getting anything else for at least a couple of hours, a glass full of Mosambi juice gave us hope and we started to meander into the ghat. Waterfalls, river flowing by the valley, the ups and downs were the enjoyable experience.

Riding behind the driver gave me a chance to look around and not to my surprise I saw many Masjids on the way to Mangalore and with striking combination of color green and white they all seem to be similar. By time we reached Mangalore it was already sunset and there was no hope left to go to the beach. We took rooms, gave ourselves time to relax and enjoy the moment. After the dinner we went around the city, couldn't find the beach, came back and crowded the CCD near our hotel till 1.30 AM.

Could only find the local version of Coca Cola

2nd day:

It was Friday and we planned to reach Gokarna by evening. On the way highway after Surathkal we saw a paused for some time for the Friday prayer. Don't the exact name but the locals there were very hospitable. We weren't foreigners but we were given look of some outsiders because of our dresses and luggages. A local family invited us for cold drinks and lunch which was awesome. We took off from there and proceeded to our destination as planned.

It was almost 1 and a half day and we hadn't yet seen the sea. Around 3 PM we were in for a surprise. It was Maravanthe a place were you can see sea and river together with only a road separating these two, a pleasing sight to say the least. Rain and road on the hills pushed us behind schedule. We could manage to reach Bhatkal at around 6 PM and Murdeshwar at around 8 PM. We were hungry as wolves and devoured all that were there in a small fast food restaurant in a local area in Murdeshwar. In doing so we totally forgot the plan and the timing that we needed to stick to. At Gokarna at around 12 at night we were left homeless on the beach. All the hotels had full occupancy and we were nowhere to go after day full of travelling we needed rest. Eyelids were dropping but we couldn't find a shack. We searched the localities in Gokarna, they too didn't entertian us. It was a tragedy although we were told of shacks, dolphins and beautiful Om beach by Vipin and all we could find a sleepy town and hear noisy waves while standing on top of the hills. Reluctantly we reached a dhaaba on the highway, undecided what to do next. There we ate bread omlette and decided we will rest in Ankola and come back next morning to Gokarna. And you know what Ankola too didn't had anything for us. It is said that a plan which is unplanned is the best plan, Gokarna and Ankola had a plan that we didn't think about at first place. A ride to Goa! And we took off.

Masjid were we offered our Friday prayer

Kids outside the Majid

Finally the western shore

Locals who invited us

Maravanthe beach

3rd day

All of us were tired except Shaimoon because he belongs to the same species as Batman. He rode continuously for 2 days, eating and sleeping as less as possible but no hint of tiredness were to be seen on his face. Saad had the pleasure to change his position from pillion to rider. Naser sitting behind him had a tough time as Saad took turns at 80 kph. On the way we crossed a scenic town Karawar in north Karnataka, the last town before Goa. Within no time we were in Goa and with no extra energy to go further we decided we will stop at the first beach we see on the map and it was Palolem beach which was a decent one but the problem was to get a resting place. After few searches and waits we got a not so decent place where we had to accommodate 4 in one room. One thing worth mentioning here would be that we saw a school of dolphins in the sea which was a unique experience.

Crossing Karawar - hills cut to make the road

Hemant at Palolem beach

4th day

We said goodbye to Goa and met with other group of bikers from Pune and Belgaum. We traced back the same road we came crossing Karawar once again but this time in daylight which made it look all the more beautiful. We visited a warship museum that was placed near the sea. After much traveling we stopped for a stomach full lunch at Honnavar. From there to Jog falls was ride of almost couple of hours. The road was a bikers paradise with no potholes or undulations whatsoever. The pathway that lead to Jog falls had a mesmerizing views. It was that time of the year when there were not much water in the fall. But it was the thing of beauty that would make anyone appreciate Almighty's creations.

We had already learnt form our experience in Gokarna and this time we didn't want to be homeless so a 3 bedroom was already booked at Shimoga. A drizzle on the way made the travel more beautiful.

From left to right - Shaimoon, Hemant, Me, Sajid, Vipin, Naser and Vipin. Saad was the photgrapher

Saad and others

Jog Falls

5th day

It was Eid day. Any place away from home is any other place. So for me it didn't matter if I was in Bangalore or in Shimoga but the adventure of celebrating Eid in a total strange place was coming true. I woke up early morning and went out to see where are the people moving to know where is the Eidgah. Came back with some news, got ready and went towards the Eidgah with others. Mysorepak along with with local biryani and customary calls to families and friends made my Eid that day. It was midday and it was time to go back. A ride of 300 kms was still be to completed. We met with heavy rain, water logging and traffic jam due to the fallen trees on the highway. The meal of the day was still to be taken and it was at Tumkur were we took a last big break. A dhaba with hot maggie and tea inside and slight drizzle outside made our last day of the adventure a moment to remember. Hemant's papa poka pant (don't know what it means) was the reason for our laughter. We took speed once we touched the highway and in no time we were in the city. It was around 12 in the night when we were at our places, Bangalore was shivering as it had experienced rain in the past couple of days.

On the way to Eidgah

Mutton biryani and chicken kebabs

Hemant with papa poko pants

For me the journey was full of visiting new places of worship, went to many Majsids, offered Namaz on the highway and near the flowing river, celebrated Eid in total strange land. Never had I covered 1350+ km by road in 5 days, our bike touched 110 kph, met with 3 seasons within 2 hours, etc. etc.

Our route followed the path as like this:
Bangalore - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Mangalore - Surathkal - Udupi - Maravanthe Beach - Bhatkal - Murudeshwar - Honnavar - Gokarna - Ankola - Karwar - Canacona - Palolem Beach - Gersoppa - Jog Falls - Sagar - Shimoga - Bhadravati - Tiptur - Tumkur - Bangalore.

Some of the posts that were put up by us:

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

Something that will make me proud till the day I live!..
Everyday came with new set of unexpected challenges...
and we just Rode and rode and rode.. 
From Mountains to jungles to coasts....
Felt like the Hobbits for a moment....
‪#‎LivedMyDream‬

Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost.