Tour Report Approved

You may be one such case of wanting to return. It is not true for a lot of others. I enjoy riding/driving much much more in countries where there is a sense of respect for fellow drivers/riders and pedestrians on the road. Traffic laws are obeyed and I can go on and on...

Anyway... waiting for the rest of the log.

Its always good to be back home! Bring on the rest of the log!

Emotionally penned down.Waiting for the rest!!

its not easy to live in a foreign land specially when your whole family is back home. it IS tough and unfortunately lot of people realize it after they have moved into a different country. there are lot of things that will make you laugh, sad, happy, annnoyed and even disguised. but its all part of the package mate. you witnessed a cultural shift and most of us go through it. for me, it was much much easier i was told about the hardship of being alone and work in UK in advance by my mates and family members and for a matter of fact, i love it here now. Anyways, I never liked US as a country to study and work. I still have a good designer job waiting back in California but I cant live in a country full of guns and supersize people.

You have made me nostalgic Yatishankar. When I was in standard I was in CA for almost 6 months. LAX, Torrance, Long beach, Irvine. Disneyland.
Anyways, waiting for the rest of the log.

I’m glad you got that ‘push’ to get out of your office chair and see the country. I guess its all good as long as your basking in the sunshine after going through the tunnel.
I’m an expat as well but my experiences are VERY different, different enough to want me to stay on Downunder.
I got to Melbourne around three years ago after doing my fair share of travelling India by rail, bus and on two wheels. So I did get to see a bit to compare it to the country I was now travelling to. My first 18 months in Melbourne were...lets say dry. I studied when I wasn’t working and worked when I wasn’t studying. I did have a great bunch of friends but they didn’t enjoy the sun beating on your face, an empty country road or the V8 bellow as much as I did. So although I had good company I didn’t get to do some of the things I liked doing.
Its funny, but sometimes when you leave some place you only remember the good things. Like you love school after finishing it but totally hated it when you were studying. I missed my parents and friends and all the things we did. I missed those long solo rides from Hyderabad to Nashik, riding up the Himalayas with the boys on red bikes and just kicking back with my mates and a kingfisher by a lake after tearing up some dirt tracks. All these things brought back happy memories while I wallowed in self pity after a 12 hour day at school. Yes I liked Australia, I had a great bunch of friends & like any 20 year old I did have hopes of buying a big bike...but I did wonder if I picked the short straw in my gamble to study abroad.

But then in the summer of 2008 (our summer starts in November) it hit me. I was having a not so good time here because I wasn’t taking the initiative. I was the kind of guy who’d prefer to go alone to a movie I wanted to watch than to go with friends to a movie I don’t want to watch. And if I wanted to have fun I had to take the step.
Step one was meeting new people and go trekking, and then I realised that there are HEAPS of people like me in Melbourne, I just wasn’t looking in the right places. One Saturday on a bicycle ride to a neighbouring town I was shocked to see the number of SUVs in the country just having fun, yes there are government run & maintained 4WD parks for 4WDs and dirtbikes. For the next 40 km the little boy that I was started getting more evident, I remembered a poster I had of a Gypsy kicking up dirt in Ladak. Two weeks after that with some searching on ebay, car yards & public auctions I had my very own Pajero.

Going back to India after two and a half years was interesting, it was great to see friends and family after so long but for more reasons than one I was happy to have a return ticket back to Australia. The traffic discipline and road sense drove me up the wall, someone drove out of a side street hit my bike and then blamed me for riding fast. I just couldn’t drive in India because I followed rules.
And its fair to say that our people need a lesson in manners. I got so used to people barging in a que, on my flight back home when someone stopped to let me get my bag and exit the plane I nearly hugged her.
I’m not saying that Australia is a bed of roses, and I am saying NO country is a bed of roses. But your life is what you make of it. I don’t get people who whinge about living somewhere when they made the decision to go there. In your case you wanted to be back in India and thats where you are, hope that makes you happy. And enjoy the ride! I’m glad you have new found respect for the land.

Knowing you, I am surprised it took you 18 months!

I am glad you took the initiative... opens our eyes to ALL that one can do there.

So true!

Nicely put!

Very well said overall in your little piece Gaso. Like the way you expressed in your inimitable style.

I so totally agree. My first few months in Us were not that easy but adaptation was pretty quick. I was taking road trips with friends just after a month and it was amazing. The freedom, the traffic, hjighways, friendliness of people,everythjing was great. Then after almost 2 years bought a ninja and rode on track. Did skydiving. Financially not great desicions but I knew I won;t be able to do all this in India. so I did it.

Then there are things you can not do in US. They do not have Ladhakh or Spiti. Neither they have bikes which can take to office on weekdays, himalayas on weekends and on track if there is one and at the end of it all you get mileage 38 kmpl! Nor do they have dhabas you can enjoy chai at while getting wet in rain!


@yatishankar:Really like how you put your emotions. yeah its not easy living in a foreign land. But the best way to do is to adapt. if you go back, rather than seeing everything cynically, try to accept the cultural differences. I likes working in US - you could question your boss, you can crack jokes in ront of a VP, you can share ideas now matter how ridiculous they are. As of now looking up for your ride report

very well put yatishankar, i would 200% agree with you.. coming back to your family, friends with whom you grew older is just not comparable with any happiness in the world. Being on the places where we had most fun, got drunk, place where we acted an eye-killer for all beautiful chicks passing by.. Passing 1 hour with friends in the day is not even equivalent with spending a day in a place where we dont want to be..!
And thinking about the discipline in our country, yeah it wont be good,.. but there are always some loop holes in any & every country.!! I never had any problems being around roaming in Mumbai anytime anyday, but when i was in South Africa, while I was roaming on Durban beach at 5.30pm which is a peak time, when you will find people moving around on roller skates, chicks lying by, surfing on, the walkers & the cops petrolling.. I was mugged in middle of all this by 7 Blacks(negros), they put a knife on my neck & twisted my wrist behind & left me only with cloths.. People where passing by just treating it as an usual activity. I regretted to be on such place, i cried. not because i couldnt take this damage, but just due to I thought about my past life in my own country, this reminded me of people who use to be around in my own country & then i concluded, nothing is comparable with your 'own' motherland whatever it may be.
As said in some movie, No Country is perfect, it has to be made perfect. If you expect a change, be a change..!!

And yeah.. Am happy for you to come back to your home & living back the life which you always lived. We never realise the value of what you have in hand today, but will only realise it when we start missing & no-one misses this situation in life..!! Cheers mate..

Man that is some soul talk. You did what your heart told you to do. And nothing else matters then. No maniac riders, no bad roads, no lousy traffic or an underpowered bike can take away the joy you got when you came back and set yourself free on the land your heart loves and wishes to travel on.

Thumbs up to you man.

Guys pls bear with me....trying to shift my house and without internet connection here...cant upload the rest inside office...please bear with me....

heavy.. loved the words.. your thoughts came out pretty clearly thru that!

Beautifully written yatishankar.. Loved reading through your write up.. Welcome to the motherland..