Harsha and I have been fighting, literally tearing each other's hair (and he's got a ponytail, too!).
Why?
You can ask him why he has a ponytail, but I can tell you why we've been fighting.
We have a dream, its a small dream, considering the vastness of the universe, but a dream still... and it was about to be fulfilled when we are facing glitches.
Why?
You can ask him why he has a ponytail, but I can tell you why we've been fighting.We have a dream, its a small dream, considering the vastness of the universe, but a dream still... and it was about to be fulfilled when we are facing glitches.
We have a dream to drive all along the borders of India... that means travelling by road from, say, Mumbai, through the ends of Gujarat, to Rajasthan, along the Pakistan border, to Punjab, the Wagah border, to J&K, the mighty Himalayas, along the Chinese border, from Leh to Spiti, the Tibet border, across Himachal, Uttarkhand, then to Uttar Pradesh, along the Nepal border, to Bihar, to West Bengal, to NorthEast, via Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, along Bangladesh border, to Calcutta, down the east coast of the sub-continent, to the very Southern tip of India, Kanyakumari, then up the west coast, along Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and back to Mumbai again!
Phew! Yes, that's our small dream... borderline madness, as a friend called it and simply madness, as another put it.
So here we go about talking endlessly to people about this, some said 'great', some said 'wow', some just couldn't comprehend this and some just forgot to shut their mouths in awe!
We put our plans down in paper, on the comp, stuck maps on walls, and did just about everything to come up with a plan. We spoke to friends, friends of friends, from various regions of India, and roughly figured out the roads. It would take us anywhere between 70 to 90 days. And the more we thought about it, the more we got excited.
We put our plans down in paper, on the comp, stuck maps on walls, and did just about everything to come up with a plan. We spoke to friends, friends of friends, from various regions of India, and roughly figured out the roads. It would take us anywhere between 70 to 90 days. And the more we thought about it, the more we got excited.
People keep using the words 'huge, big, all over India', in our day-to-day talk. Do they really, really know or comprehend the meaning of such words, or do they use them just like that? Think about it....
And we could think of a million ideas and a million people who would benefit from our drive... any corporate could use us to collect data, any social cause could use our drive to create awareness across India, anybody could use us to penetrate the corners of India for anything... one can only penetrate the fringe of what we can achieve in all of 3 months.
Just the planning of it is exhilarating and imagine, if we could complete it! Has anyone done it before? We got Googling and figured out that no one has ever done it for any country in the world! That means, hold your breath, we will be the first to attempt something like this and if we are successful, maybe, get into the Guiness Book of World Records TM! Yay!!
It all sounds so good. So, why were Harsha and me fighting?
Its all about money, honey.
Doing something like this should actually be attracting sponsors and the press like bees to honey. But sadly, as we discover, that is not the case. Some sponsors say 'hey, we get applications by the hundreds for sponsoring events', and another in the media says, 'we at the press report events that have happened, not something as a prelude.' What the...?
Doing something like this should actually be attracting sponsors and the press like bees to honey. But sadly, as we discover, that is not the case. Some sponsors say 'hey, we get applications by the hundreds for sponsoring events', and another in the media says, 'we at the press report events that have happened, not something as a prelude.' What the...?
Dampeners! Discouragement!!
Oh, we are getting that a lot. And let me mention what else we are getting - ideas by the minute, on what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. I think our credibilities are enough to prove that if we do this, we will do it well. So, what is with people who sit at their desk, who haven't driven even a thousand kms in their lives, trying to tell us how to do it?
We ask for help in money or kind, and sigh... this is all that we are getting.
Oh, we are getting that a lot. And let me mention what else we are getting - ideas by the minute, on what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. I think our credibilities are enough to prove that if we do this, we will do it well. So, what is with people who sit at their desk, who haven't driven even a thousand kms in their lives, trying to tell us how to do it?
We ask for help in money or kind, and sigh... this is all that we are getting.
I understand the thought of this drive by itself is exciting, but, ladies and gentlemen, please try to help us by getting us sponsors, by participating (literally, I mean, by accompanying us physically, in a part of our journey), or by getting the press to write about us. Right now, this is what we need.
Oh, by the way, what is the fight about?
Its about who is going to drive; because between Harsha and me, we have a deal - whoever takes the wheel first will drive till the end!
