Our family has always been close, and once a year we make it a point to have a reunion of sorts. And we plan for a day or two when everyone can make it: Aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, grandparents, siblings, and all the spouses and kids who have joined our family through the years! Since most of us are in North India (Delhi and Gurgaon to be precise), we usually have it in a Himalayan hill station. Normally it happens to be Nainital. This year, a few of the kids wanted to go someplace different. To us adults, it doesn’t really matter because the company was what mattered. My brother and I were given the responsibility of planning it this year, and we decided to do a Himalayan hill station itself since it was logistically feasible for most of us, and all of us loved the weather in the mountains and the views are always a delight (provided the weather is clear of course). After asking around, we got the usual answers of “Nainital”, or “Ranikhet”, but we felt thes
I’d always ridden a motorcycle in college and in my younger working days. Riding long-distance on my bike then was more of a necessity as I didn’t have a car to make long trips in. But as my I got married and my family grew, my priorities changed and the motorcycle made way for a car. Of course, I still loved watching videos and reading blogs of various bikers, hoping someday to join their ranks. I retired a few years ago, and decided to spend some of the retirement money I had tucked away on a new motorcycle and some decent riding gear. Nothing high-end or top-of-the-shelf mind you. Just good enough to be reliable on a long trip. I started off slow, first doing short half-day trips to the outskirts of NCR. Eventually made a few riding friends and went on slightly longer trips. A few months back, a few friends and I decided to do a slightly longer trip. I was initially a little hesitant due to my lack of experience, but some cajoling and the promise of nice win