2013…On the Road and Off it…

2009 by far has been the best year of my life so far (http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/03/2009on-road-and-off-it.html) and 2013 for sure comes a close second! It started with a high & quite literally too…we did a SkyDive together in Dubai in February and ended the year with another high…of waiting for our baby to arrive! Even though these 2 highs can’t be compared in the literal sense but surely the levels of excitement were almost equal! And through the entire year we had so many memorable experiences that the excitement and enjoyment levels never went down! Thanks to God, Bandita and my job here in Kuwait we managed to finish another fantastic year and hope 2014 takes the same route if not a better one! It has already started brilliantly with arrival of our son – Abhay into this world! Talk about auspicious & memorable starts!

I made some new friends, watched so many movies (an insane number for some), read loads of books, travelled to 3 new countries, visited India thrice, ran the first competitive race of my life (so what it was just 10 kms long?), explored & sampled many new cuisines and made some amazing new recipes! 

Here are some of the moments from 2013…

Sky Dive

We went to Dubai in February 2013 for a 7 days trip and the most critical agenda item was the Sky Diving Adventure and it was one helluva ride! By far the most exhilarating adventure I have ever indulged in…yes I had my fair share of “fear” moments but somehow I escaped them and finally managed to take that momentous dive! One which would always remain etched in our memories forever…Wrote a BlogPost about the same too….

http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-skydive-dubai-experience.html

Campus Hiring

In 2013 I made 4 International Trips for Campus Hiring events across various Institutes! Amazing learning experiences, meeting new people, exploring new cities and recruiting the best talent for my organization!

1. The First one was in March 2013 when I went to IIM Calcutta to hire Finance & IT Candidates for my organization! And it was a real special one indeed…my first trip to any IIM and that too for recruiting! Recruited 2 awesome candidates who are now very good friends too! Met my College & MBA Senior Abhijit Paul after 11 years! Also met 2 of my closest friends from my MBA Batch – my roomie Aditya Shah and my Bengali Dada – Soumik Roy Choudhury after many years! Met their families as well and had a whale of time with them reminiscing the good old days of Goa! And it wasn’t over like this! Met my school friend Ruchika Katyal after 15 long years! I hadn’t met her after we passed out from school in 1998 and it was so amazing meeting her after all these years! The Kolkata Trip was a grand success for so many reasons….hope I can make a similar trip again! 

2. In March 2013 itself went for the CA Campus Event in Delhi and then again in September 2013 for another such event…recruited 7 fresh Chartered Accountants from these 2 events! And also had a great time with friends and family during these 2 Delhi/Gurgaon Trips!  Full utilization of time and money you see!

3. And then the Lebanon Trip to hire Finance Graduates from American University of Beirut! Which was another awesome trip in itself and for so many different reasons…it is a beautiful country with lip smacking food and yeah gorgeous ladies too! The only sad part was that it was just a 3 days trip; would love to make a longer trip with Bandita and Abhay before we leave Kuwait for good in the future…

Wrote a BlogPost about the same too…. http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-beirut-bonanza.html

Abhay

We got one of the most amazing news of our lives back in May 2013 that we were expecting our first child! It was such an awesome feeling and one for which I had been waiting for a very long time! Even though I wanted a Baby Girl and had finalized Ananya as her name but then all dreams don’t come true or do they? We had a wonderful time all throughout Bandita’s pregnancy – researching, reading, shopping and making all those Hospital Trips! Abhay finally arrived on Saturday 11^th January 2014 into this world! And our lives have become even more beautiful now!

Here is the BlogPost I wrote when Abhay reached his first milestone! 

http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2014/02/abhay-jha-is-1-month-new.html 

MTV India Coke Studio

This year’s CS was simply amazing and much better than the 2012 season! I closely followed all the episodes and downloaded all the music too! The season kicked off with the ever-so-magical AR Rahman and kept getting better with the episodes featuring Ram Sampath, Clinton Cerejo, Salim-Sulaiman, Papon, Amit Trivedi, Hitesh Sonik and ending with a multi-Producer episode (which was by far the weakest amongst all episodes from this season).


The season was filled with amazing songs laced with fantastic lyrics and was so tough picking the favourites! But still my Top 5 (in no particular order): 

Pir Jalani - Clinton Cerejo & Mangey 'Manga' Khan (Barmer Boys)

Bismillah - Salim Sulaiman, Kailesh Kher & Munawar Masoom

Jhumoor - Papon, Dulal Manki & Simanta Shekhar

‎

Rabba - Amit Trivedi, Tochi Raina & Jaggi

Ghar - Piyush Mishra

The Cyprus Trip

This was definitely one of the best highlight of 2013! Our 8-days long Cyprus Trip…had a wonderful time in this amazing country…everything about Cyprus was brilliant – the people, food, terrain, roads, infrastructure and the weather! Wrote a BlogPost about our trip as well…here it goes…

http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-cyprus-chill-august-2013.html

Q8Run

This was another first of my life! Participating in a race and that too 10 kms long! The occasion was the Annual Q8 Run which is scheduled every year in November/December and is hugely popular here! I somehow Ran/Jogged/Walked/Panted/Huffed/Puffed those long 10 kms in some 83 minutes and felt really happy and relieved when I crossed the finishing line! And thanks to the race & the preparations before I lost some weight & also built some much-needed stamina too! All in all it was fun event and very well organized too…I would love to participate again in 2014!

Food

Food is one of the most important parts of my life and this year I added some more masala to it by experimenting with cooking and trying lots of new recipes! All thanks to the inspiration from the FB Food Pages I am a part of – Chef at Large & Sikandalous Cuisine being the 2 most important amongst them! As always Bandita was my partner-in-rhyme in all these rendezvous while assisting me in the kitchen and sampling those risky-first time recipes the first! Once I became a bit more comfortable I started inviting friends to my place too for meals to let them enjoy my cooking extravaganzas! 

My favourite Recipes of 2013 and their BlogPosts: 

UP ke Dahi ke Aloo...Che Style: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/up-ke-dahi-ke-alooche-style.html
Mutton Curry...Che Style: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/05/mutton-curryche-style.html
Pallipalayam Chicken: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/09/pallipalayam-chicken.html
Kabuli Chana Biryani: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/11/kabuli-chana-biryani.html
Methi Matar Malai Murgh: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/11/methi-matar-malai-murgh.html

Books

My big achievement of this year was reading a total of 44 books/novels in 2013! Yeah that’s a total of 10,991 Pages! Thanks to Goodreads I could track all those books and even wrote all my reviews there too! And big thanks to Flipkart and my 3 India Trips for letting me get hold of all these books! My mother is also a big reading fan and she also read majority of these books! And the best part is that our reading tastes and choices match so she reads the books first and then I get them along with me to Kuwait & then gobble them up!

Movies

How could Movies stay behind in my 2013 look back! They have been a very important part of my life since I moved to Kuwait in 2010…and here is the summary of my Movie Extravaganza 2013:

Total Movies Watched: 340
Hindi : 39
Non-Hindi : 301
In the Theaters : 40
At Home : 300

Yeah we watched 340 movies together! I am sure many of you would call us mad and yes we are mad indeed! What’s life without madness! Both of us love this crazy life indeed!

Favourite Hindi Movie : Fukrey
Favourite English Movie : Django Unchained
Favourite Non-English/Hindi Movie : The Past

Some of the Movie BlogPosts from 2013:
Captain Phillips ||| My Review: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/11/captain-phillips-my-review.html
World Cinema Moviethon - July 2013:
http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/08/world-cinema-moviethon-july-2013.html
Lootera...My Review: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/07/looteramy-review.html
My 2013 Oscar Selections: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-2013-oscar-selections.html
Django Unchained ||| My Review: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/01/django-unchained-my-review.html

No Bike Ride

Last but not the least, the only dampener from this otherwise brilliant year! I wasn’t able to go on a single Bike Ride this year and this was the saddest part of my 2013 experience…all those India trips were very short and I could not manage anytime to plan a bike ride for myself! Hopefully this doesn’t repeat in 2014 and I can go on atleast one Bike Ride…

With that hope I end this note and as always am hopeful that 2014 is going to be another kick-ass year for me! And this would be a very different one for me! I won’t be watching so many movies; I won’t be reading so many books and sadly won’t be able to travel to so many new places…due to various reasons & most important of them being Abhay! But be rest assured that I am gonna have a blast throughout and enjoy each day as it comes!

Thanks to God, my family - Mummy, Papa, Bhai, Bhabhi and my 2 lifelines - Nandini & Samyukta, Bandita, all my friends and Kuwait for making 2013 one of the best years of my life! who says "thirteen" is an unlucky number! 

Till the time we meet again…  

Cheers to life…  

Till then ride safe and have safe sex…  

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP…

The SkyDive Dubai Experience

  

HELL YEAH!

Ever since my friend Arunima Sinha went to Dubai for her maiden SkyDive in September 2012 I was inspired to do the same myself! She was the biggest inspiration for me to overcome my Fear of Heights which has plagued me since childhood and beat the shit out of it with a SkyDive…couldn’t find any better way!

Bandita was going to be my partner-in-rhyme this time too! The ever so brave woman! We did our maiden Scuba Dive during our Honeymoon Trip to Andaman Islands in November 2011 and with our SkyDive we were through with the Diving Duo – both above and under Land!

I had already booked the flight tickets in August 2012 itself for our February 2013 Trip (yeah, yeah I know I am an obsessive planner)! And then the SkyDive Booking was done in December 2012 for the both of us along with our Trip Bookings…

This was going to be my first Dubai Trip after spending almost 3 years in the region here and I wanted to make it a memorable one…met so many old friends there and had a wonderful time but the most amazing part about this trip was the SkyDive which happened on Tuesday 26^th February 2013.

And like so many other things in my life this was going to be a ride which almost got cancelled but somehow got savaged at the last time! I just don’t like smooth roads you see! What’s the fun without some “bumps on the road” as they say!

The Lull before the Storm!

We reached the SkyDive Campus at 9 AM and waited for the registration process to begin and admitting that I was shit scared would be such a gross understatement! Maybe I would have to find some more extreme superlatives for the fear which I had! We did our registration and then the wait began and also my innumerable attempts to the washroom! I can recall almost 8-10 trips to that ever-so-welcoming washroom! And all that while Bandita was so chilled; I definitely got to learn from her about how to stay so cool and unaffected in such seemingly frightful situations!

Ready to Rock n Roll!

We went through the simple training demonstration session and also got the gear on while waiting for the first Dive Group of the day to come back…My instructor’s name was Kenny, he was an American and had been diving since 13 years when he was just 17 years old & had completed almost 8000 jumps since then! With that mind boggling diving experience I knew I was in safe hands with him…he tried his best to calm my nerves before we finally sat on that plane but still the fear was not willing to leave my mind!  Jordy, a Belgian was the photographer for my Dive and he was such a chilled out guy too…and as you would read later he was the guy who single-handedly who made my dive a reality else……….

Kenny and Jordy

Bhangra to banta hai! 

Inspiration - Jai BoP!

And then the moment of reckoning arrived at 11 AM…we sat in the plane and it started the take-off!  Bandita and a South African Girl were my group members on that particular dive!  And surprise-surprise…I was going to be the first one to make the dive as I sat last! And I was just not ready mentally! Jordy took a short interview and the words came out of my mouth so gingerly which rarely happens! (Watch the video for that fear-filled interview)!

Confidence for the Camera!

Kenny made the final preparations with me & my gear and tried his best to keep me motivated and brave just before I was ready (or was I?) to jump…I went till the edge of the plane, the door opened and then I made the BIG mistake of seeing down and then I just couldn’t do it…I refused to jump and backed out! It was the perfect example of the mind going completely blank and just not allowing the body to budge! Kenny told me “Don’t jump if you don’t want to” and my heart-mind-body-soul all together replied “I can’t do it” so he aborted my jump and we got back to our seats and then Bandita got ready for her jump! She gave me the thumbs-up before her edge of the plane final moment and jumped without any issues! And the South African girl jumped too…and I was left wondering WTF I just missed!

Real Confidence!

And then reality struck, I thought after planning for so long, paying all that money, getting adequately trained, getting so close how I could I let this opportunity go! Icing on the cake was when Kenny told me that only 2 people had backed out like me before in his SkyDive Instructor experience! And I made up my kind that surely I didn’t want to be the 3^rd one and gave Kenny the go-ahead! But there was a major roadblock thanks to this flip-flop! We had already passed the designated spot for the Dives and the pilot was getting ready for the landing! Kenny told him that I want to do the Dive but he gave a very vociferous thumbs-down and I saw the moment of glory passing my eyes that very instant!

But Jordy was in mood to let that happen! He asked me “Do you want to do it” & I replied “Yes, for sure” and then he got up from his seat, walked up to the pilot, tried his best to convince him and guess what! The Pilot changed his mind, took a U-Turn and soon we were hovering above the diving spot in the Air! Right above the Palm Islands!  For the second time Kenny made all the preparations and conducted all the security checks before we made the final move!

I thanked Kenny and Jordy before I got to the edge of the plane – for the second and hopefully the last time lest I changed my mind again! If I would have, then I am sure Kenny would have pushed me down!  He asked me one last time “Are you ready?” and I shook my head in affirmative!

No Escape now! 

I said “Jai Bajrang Bali” in my mind and then jumped…most importantly without looking down! And yes I was shit scared this time too but the moment I jumped just can’t be defined in words! It was by far the most exhilarating moments of my life…those 50 seconds of Freefall where I was hurtling down at some 220 kmph speed 13,000 feet above sea level! And yeah the Sea was right below me!  I shouted those special words “Jai BoP” like mad while Jordy was busy clicking pics and shooting the video! I kept shouting through those entire 50 seconds and feeling the thrill which was unparalleled! There was no fear but just pure adrenaline rush! Unforgettable moments for sure!

The Thrill!

After those blood rush moments Kenny opened the Parachute, sanity prevailed and I could witness the sights below me and enjoy those moments! The Palm Dubai looked so beautiful from the top and slowly we got ready for the touchdown!

And all this happened in a matter of 30 minutes (from sitting in the plane to the touchdown) but it lasted much longer for me in my mind! I landed safely and thanked the duo of Kenny & Jordy without whom the SkyDive wouldn’t have been possible! The way Kenny motivated me and Jordy convinced the Pilot was definitely worthy of much more than the words I spoke to them after the touchdown!  And then gave my signature pose, the one which I always give during my special milestones!

I hugged Bandita and told her the entire story! She was surprised too as she did the jump so comfortably! Even her instructor told her “Looks like your husband has chickened out” but when she finally saw me jumping from the plane she was mighty relieved that I finally did it afterall!

I removed the gear and then called up my Mother and Arunima telling them about my experience! Both of them were damn excited too and congratulated me! Arunima laughed like mad when I told her the entire story of my jump!

Even though a Tandem Jump isn’t too big a deal for many people as you don’t jump on your own and the instructor is tied to you but for me it was ultra special as I have always been afraid of the heights! And after those flip-flop moments I ensured that the jump became even more memorable! And the fact that Bandita also jumped with me made it further special!

The post-SkyDive Elation Pose!

We waited in the Office while our Video & photographs were being edited, customized and burnt on a DVD for us…we also bought SkyDive Tees for us and I also got one for Arunima as she had asked for it…we also bought some memorabilia items for memories sake, had a light meal and then got ready to leave after experiencing the thrill of a SkyDive! We got the DVDs and then left the campus for a well-deserved & celebratory lunch at the famous Pakistani Restaurant named Ravi and had a hearty meal of Seekh Kebabs, Mutton Korma and Biryani!

BIG thanks to Bandita for being the partner-in-rhyme, Arunima for the inspiration, SkyDive folks for the awesome planning, scheduling & the arrangements and most importantly to Jordy & Kenny for making the dive possible in the end! I had never even dreamt in the wildest of my dreams that I would be diving like this ever but in the end I finally did it!

Till the time we meet again… 

Cheers to life… 

Till then ride safe and have safe sex… 

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP…

My SkyDive Video

Bandita's Dive Video

Facebook Album Link:

https://www.facebook.com/jha.nishant/media_set?set=a.10151550551826291.1073741831.704561290&type=3

Details about SkyDive Dubai:

Official Website: www.skydivedubai.ae

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SkydiveDXB

Fees which we paid: 1750 AED or Dirhams (Inclusive of the DVD of the Video and Pics)

2012…On the Road and Off it…

Years come and go as a routine but some of them are special & unique…2012 was another such year! I enjoyed my time whole-heartedly; watched some real awesome movies and yeah loads of them J, ate like mad – thanks to my Wife and travelled to new places! Couldn't have asked for more I say!

Movies……………..

I have always loved watching & following movies – across genres and languages! And Kuwait provided me the perfect opportunity to follow this passion religiously; as when I was in India majority of my free time was taken up by motorcycling, friends & family! But since I came to Kuwait there has been no looking back!!! And God provided me the perfect partner in Bandita who is a movie freak just like me! She is always game for a movie: whenever & wherever! So here it goes….

My Movie Count for 2012...Total of 287:
Hollywood: 271 - Bollywood: 16

Out of these 35 were Theatre Visits!
Some of my 2012 Movie Blogs:
1. GoW Review: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/07/gangs-of-wasseypur-my-review-hazraat.html
2. Review of Sachin Kalbag's selection: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/sachin-kalbags-choice-my-views.html
3. My Oscar Selection: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/02/2011-academy-awardsmy-winners.html

Food………………...

Food is a necessity for some people but for me it is one of the driving factors of my life! I live to eat and have no qualms in publicly accepting this facet of my life J once again BIG thanks to Bandita for bringing more food pleasures in my life – with her being an awesome cook, a partner-in-crime in sampling new cuisines & restaurants and enjoying the non-vegetarian dishes I cook! We tried out various new restaurants here in Kuwait and during our India Trip…plus she graduated from being a cooking novice to a brilliant cook since she moved to Kuwait…meaning wonders for me! In this process I gained a lot of weight too which was all too visible ;) but then being a doctor she ensured that I exercised regularly and showed restrained….at times! From 65 kgs in Feb 2012 to 86 kgs in Nov 2012 was quite a journey ;)

The London Olympics................

Thanks to the curtailed office timings during Ramzan here in Kuwait and the Olympics happening during the same time I followed the Olympics like never before! Plus I had access to all 3 TV Channels beaming the mega event LIVE! Olympics have been my favourite Sporting Event since childhood and this time was no different! and this time I followed all sport disciplines across countries...these Olympics were also special as India gave it's best performance with 6 medal winners! once again Sports united the country across regional divides :)
My Blog about the Olympics: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-take-on-london-2012-olympics.html

Travel………………

Didn't travel that much in 2012 but whatever I could was full of fun & wonderful memories! During my brief India Trip in March I had planned a much-awaited ride to Abhaneri, Rajasthan with my motorcycle club – Bulls on Parade (BoP) but that didn't finish the way I had planned – nonetheless whatever time I enjoyed with my comrades was good fun!
My Blog about that Ride: http://cheguevaraontheroad.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-bop-abhaneri-ajgars.html

Then came our Oct-Nov Trip to India and we had a ball!

Went to Gujarat to spend some time with Bandita’s parents and enjoy Gujarat during the Navratras Time…

Drove to Agra together for a 1-day Trip…and were mesmerized by “Wah Taj”!

Travelled to the most beautiful part of this Earth – Ladakh…and spent 7 days together in the lap of heaven! Memories that would last a lifetime!

And then I rode to Mandawa, Rajasthan with my BoP Comrades to celebrate our 5^th Anniversary which was another wonderful & fun-filled ride and most importantly devoid of any mishaps plus had all the regular BoP Ride Ingredients. – BBB, Mis-navigation and yeah some Rain too!

Diabetes......................

This was also the year I was diagnosed with Diabetes....on 17-Feb-2012! With my Chronic Pancreatitis history and both my parents being Diabetics I had to get it one day and this year it finally happened...I am on Insulin and take 2 shots a day and this would remain the case for the rest of my life now...Due to my diet control, exercise regimen and Ayurvedic Medicines thankfully my Blood Sugar levels are under control but I would have to remain careful for the rest of my life now! As always I am unfazed by this and have accepted this as a part of my life! hopefully things would get better in years to come....though this has dealt a big blow to my sweet tooth and now I can't eat all those amazing desserts & this is my biggest loss! plus Diabetes also explains my sudden weight loss in the beginning of this year and the steady gain since it started to get normal due to my medications - Insulin and the Pancreatic Enzymes I take daily....

Last but not the least…………..Bandita!

Big thanks to her for making 2012 such a memorable year! We got married in Nov 2011 and then I came back to Kuwait in Dec 11…she joined me here in February 2012 and since then we have spent some awesome moments together….she is the perfect partner-in-rhyme I could have hoped for! Life is indeed very beautiful with her around….she was always there when I was indulging in Movies, Food and Travel! 

2013 has started on a real good note and hope the good times continue in 2013 as well…lot of good things planned for this year starting with our February Dubai Trip….so here’s wishing everybody a rocking, trouble-free & chilled-out 2013 from my side…

Cheers to life…

Che would be back on the road again…

Till then ride safe and have safe sex…

Hasta la Victoria Siempre…

Jai BoP!