2015- the year that was
बेखुदी ले गई कहाँ हमको
देर से इंतजार है अपना
……मीर त़की मीर
2015 was an eventful year spent in wilderness of Ladakh and jungles of Ranthambore National Park. When in Delhi, the weekends were spent shooting on streets, cycling on alternate days and blogging when idling at home.
First couple of weeks of the year were spent settling at our new house and attending to work at my Company’s manufacturing unit away from Delhi. It was my Mom’s visit sometime in March that helped us get organized.
March was the month when during casual talks of adventure- during rides to office- the idea of making it to Ladakh by bike occured. The idea was to go all alone – just two of us- rather than being part of the group trips.
“You need to have a bike and a driving license, Durgesh.”, I said. “It will be a long ride spread over 15 days so difficult to manage on a single bike. Durgesh decided quickly to buy one but it took him a couple of months before his parents allowed him to own one.
My wife allowed me for the trip. I asked once every couple of weeks to go all alone leaving them behind in summer break. And true to her nature she never changed her mind. It was still March when I had my boss’s approval for the venture.
Before our trip to Ladakh was due, my younger daughter’s birthday in April was celebrated with a magician performing at home. I have lovely pics of a white pigeon on heads of my wife and Mom.
A week before May 31 was when we shopped at Karol bagh for the trip. We missed out on a raincoat and water proof shoes.
A full fortnight of June was lived while biking some 3500 km and enjoying the beauty of Ladakh.
My elder daughter’s birthday was celebrated in June. We were all at Chandigarh. I returned same day from Leh. I suffered from food poisoning the whole night but that did not deter me to drive further 270 km the very next day to be back home.
The following week we headed to Ranthambore where my family gets to see the National Park that I have been frequenting for some years now.
July was when I surprised my wife with a new laptop wishing her well in advance for her birthday.
August was memorable for behaving carelessly as a couple. We also went live on a personal mission defined for ourselves.
Whole of September was spent with a subdued mood. I was again lucky to take a break on my birthday.
Plans for Varanasi failed in October. Even bookings for flight to Nagpur had to be cancelled when I could not secure booking for Pench Tiger reserve.
We continued on our goal, for third consecutive year, to travel to my parents’ place for Diwali break. Bookings for Pench Tiger Reserve was cancelled again due to illness.
Decemeber will be remembered for getting back to normalcy. Sometime since beginning of September I had lost my peace of mind.
I am busy working towards meeting the targets defined before 40 on September 29 2016.