A Bike Tour of 4200 Kilometers- Mumbai to Goa (Part-2)

If you're looking for Part-1 of this series, do CLICK HERE

Day 4 : Hyderabad to Bangalore (600kms)

22nd June 2019, I started my journey from Hyderabad around 8AM and reached Bangalore around 5PM. Hard to believe, right? It took me only 9 hours for a journey of 600kms. Usually I take a stop every 70-80kms to have a cup of tea. That's the secret of my energy: TEA.

The roads are just awesome. The highway roads are simply beautiful. You can easily ride at 100-120kmph without any trouble. And when you ride a Dominar the journey becomes even more easier. 

Dominar is not just a bike, it's a BEAST. 

I have friends at Bangalore so there wasn't any need to book rooms. I went straight to my friend's room, saved few bucks.

It was raining

Day 5 : Sight Seeing- Nandi Hills & Lepakshi

So it was my 5th day and Bangalore has some awesome places to visit. So early morning, I took a bath and went straight to Nandi Hills. The climate was a bit on the hotter side but still the view mesmerized me. Sharing some pics of Nandi Hills and Lepakshi

Day 6 : A Day in Bengaluru #BangaloreDiaries

6th day of joureny and it began with the cool Bengaluru climate. Bangalore's climate which is something you can't find anywhere else. I don't think you need AC in your room if you are residing at Bangalore. A friend of mine joined me and we went to see Bangalore Palace, ate delicious Biryani at BTM layout and had some cool bike rides in and around the city. With every passing minutes I was falling in love with Bengalore.

Panoramic View of Bangalore Palace

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Day 7 : Bangalore to GOA (600kms)

I was so much in love with Bangalore that I didn't want to leave that place but the show has to go on and trust me that was the most difficult part. Though I was really excited to go GOA but leaving Bangalore was really difficult.

Bangalore to Goa roads are nice but only till 450kms. The next 150 kms you need to ride along the forest roads and in the state highway

NOTE: Don't cross the road after sunset because the forest roads are damn scary. If you are in car then there won't be any issue but the bike ride is scary.

Adding salt to my wounds, it rained. I had to ride in the rains for around 100kms and that was the most difficult part in my entire journey. I'm sharing some clicks and video and you can imagine the rest.

The scary roads 

I reached Goa around 9PM, went straight to my hotel room. Thanks to OYO again. 

Finally I reached my dream place, GOA. 

For the next part CLICK HERE

A Bike Tour of 4200 Kilometers- Mumbai to Goa (Part-1)

Ever Biker has a dream of going for a long bike tour, at least once in his lifetime. When I say Biker, it doesn't mean someone who just rides a bike. Biker is someone who has a passion for riding. He is someone who loves his Bike like his own baby. He has true feelings for his bike. A Biker is someone who can ditch his GF but will always try to make his bike look beautiful. 

So let's begin my journey. 

I started riding bike from 2007, I wasn't even 18 then. I know it's illegal but what to do, I was desperate to own a bike. So on my 17th Birthday, My dad gifted me a Bajaj Platina. Yeah, it was my first bike. The feeling of owning a bike can't be described. It is just more than awesome. Life moved on, the first time I bought a bike with my own money was Bajaj Avenger 220, back in 2014 (in finance obviously). Well there is a long story about that but this isn't the right post narrating all those. At present I'm a proud owner of BAJAJ DOMINAR 400. The name says it all I guess.

I always had a dream of getting "Leh-ed". All bikers can relate to this word. Leh-Ladakh is a dream come true for every biker. I too wanted to go there but as I was alone and it was my first Bike Tour, I ditched the plan of getting Leh-ed, and the plan shifted to GOA.

Day 1: Jeypore to Bhadrachalam (300kms)

 19th June 2019 was the day, the beginning of my dream tour. I started off from my hometown, Jeypore- a small town in southern Odisha. My first destination was Hyderabad, which was around 700kms from my hometown. Since it was my first day, riding for so long would have been a bit difficult. So I choose a mid place, Bhadrachalam, which was around 300kms from my hometown. I started off at around 9 A.M and reached Bhadrachalam around 5 PM. 

To be honest, the first day itself gave me a horrific experience. At Odisha-Telangana border, I had to cross a 500m river. And the only option was a BOAT; a wooden boat. For a moment, I was pretty scared. Never ever I had a ride on boat. But it was the time to face your fear.

Yes, a bike journey makes you face with many difficulties. Trust me at the end of your trip, you will definitely become much stronger than before. Sharing some of the pics from the 1st day of my Journey.

Where the Road meets the Sea!

Day 2 : Bhadrachalam to Hyderabad (400kms)

20th June 2019, I started off from Bhadrachalam at around 8AM and reached Hyderabad at around 4PM. The roads were super and it was quite refreshing riding along the national highways. Even the climate wasn't that hot and the ride was really enjoyable. The roads after Suryapet was just lovely, smooth like butter. 

I booked a room through OYO. If you're travelling, trust me there is nothing that can beat OYO while booking rooms. Trust OYO, install OYO app and book as per your budget. (you can also use my invite code "SANTBNLGN" while installing OYO app) *winks.

In the evening, I went to Hussain Sagar lake. It was a bliss to watch the lake in the evening. 

                             

Hussain Sagar Lake

Day 3: Sight seeing at Hyderabad (Rest Day)

The next morning, I went to see Golconda Fort. If you are at Hyderabad you can't miss Golconda Fort. I even thought of visiting Ramoji Film City but dropped the idea because sight seeing all alone is a bit boring. And my real destination was GOA. So after sight seeing at Golconda Fort, I went straight to my hotel, ordered Mutton Ghosh through Zomato, relished the dish and took a nap for a couple of hours. ZOMATO is a life savior for every traveller. 

In the evening, I roamed around the Charminar. Trust me Charminar is lovely place. Though it is bit crowded but still it is something which you can't miss if you are in Hyderabad.

Let me share some pictures.

Morning Breakfast

Panoramic view of Golconda Fort

This post is getting longer, so I decided to write my journey in 3 parts. This was the first part,

For 2nd part, CLICK HERE

For more photos, you can follow me on instagram @beingsany

Shweta ka Swayamvar by Sundari Venkatraman

Print Length: 55 pages

Publisher: Flaming Sun (Indie published) 

Publication Date: October 26, 2018

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

Language: English

Available on Kindle Unlimited 

Genre: Romance, Short Story

When Shweta receives an irrefutable offer from a TV production house to participate in the reality show Shweta ka Swayamvar, she’s not as excited as she should be. And there’s a reason for it.

Adi is attracted to Shweta the moment he sets eyes on the fashion model cum TV actress. But he just doesn’t get an opportunity to woo her as he rushes off to the US for his father’s heart surgery. 

Disappointed at not meeting Adi or knowing of a way to contact him, Shweta signs up for the show, unaware of the surprise that awaits her when the shooting begins…

Are the two of them—Adi and Shweta—meant for each other or will fate keep throwing hurdles in their path? Read the full story to know more.

*A shorter version of this story was published before in the anthology Matches Made in Heaven

  

It would be great if you can add this book to your TBR

Sundari Venkatraman is an indie author who has 40 titles (36 books & 4 collections) to her name, all Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon India, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia in both romance as well as Asian Drama categories. Her latest hot romances have all been on #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month.

Even as a kid, Sundari absolutely loved the ‘lived happily ever after’ syndrome as she grew up reading all the fairy tales she could lay her hands on, Phantom comics, Mandrake comics and the like. It was always about good triumphing over evil and a happy end. 

Soon, into her teens, Sundari switched her attention from fairy tales to Mills & Boon. While she loved reading both of these, she kept visualising what would have happened if there were similar situations happening in India; to a local hero and heroine. Her imagination took flight and she always lived in a rosy cocoon of romance over the years. 

Then came the writing – a true bolt out of the blue! And Sundari Venkatraman has never looked back.

Click here to check out all the titles by the author...

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Depression- Kill It Before It Kills You

Being a sufferer of Depression, I know what it feels like when you are depressed. I won't say being depressed is any kind of Mental disease. Being a human, sometimes we do get depressed. It is a part and parcel of our life. The main thing to know is how to deal with it. 

Yes it is true when you are depressed you think of doing certain things which you should never do. To be precise when we are in real depression we try to kill or harm ourselves. That is wrong. Committing suicide or depending on Alcohols is not the real solution. The solution lay with us, with our inner soul. When in depression, all we need is peace. Detaching ourselves from the mean selfish world do help us up to some extent. So let me tell you something that I did when I was really depressed.

The mental trauma that we go through can never be understood by others. So expecting that someone will come and handle your pressure is worthless. A few months before I was in serious depression. I didn't like to do anything. I was praying for my own death, even I tried for it but failed. To kill my depression I went to bars. Yes Alcohols did relax me but only for the time being. I needed a permanent solution to my problem. Even putting scars on my body didn't help. 

One night when I was on a casual chat with a friend of mine on Facebook, I told her the things that I was going through. She gave me a motivational speech. Wish I could write what she told me but even writing a Book on her wouldn't be enough. May be on another post of mine, I might write what she told, not today. 

The next morning was different. I had a new reason to live. Yes, I wanted to live. I wanted to fulfill my dreams. No matter how difficult it would be but I wanted to do the things which I always wanted to do. The society, even my own peoples treated me as a failure. I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to achieve something. Dying before living your life is foolish. God has given us a life to enjoy and live, not to die. 

It was bit difficult at the early stages. Every time I tried to take a step, I fell. But this time I didn't stop. There was only one thing on my mind. I wanted to prove others wrong. I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to live my dreams. No matter how many times I failed, I tried to take a step forward. As the time passed, Depression was replaced by stubbornness. There was a fire inside me which took me forward. It won't be a lie if I say when I got engaged fulfilling my dreams, there was no time left to get depressed. 

I'm not depressed anymore. I'm living a life which I always wanted to. I would have died and the society would have laughed on my cowardliness. I didn't let them laugh, it is me who is laughing at the peoples who have once said me, "You are good for nothing".

Thanks to all those so called well wishers. You guys encouraged me more. Everytime you said I will fail, I became stronger.

Lastly, A special thanks to Miss. Chandni for always being there with me, during my ups and downs. Without you this journey would have never been possible. You are a true friend. Thank you for being the motivator of my life. 

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Author: Vikrant Khanna

Published By: Penguin Publishers

Pages: 224 pages

Price: Rs. 175

ISBN: 978-01-434-3994-3

About The Author:

A sailor by profession and a writer by passion.

Vikrant Khanna is a captain in the Merchant Navy. He is the bestselling author of Secretly Yours, When Life Tricked Me and Love Lasts Forever. Apart from writing, he is fond of composing songs and playing the guitar. He lives in New Delhi.

Book Blurb:

Can true love bring someone back from the dead?

Akshara is left devastated by her mother’s death and spends most of her time in solitude at the local park. One day, as she is sobbing uncontrollably, a young man named Harry approaches her. They become friends and Harry recounts to her a story about the miraculous reunion of a young woman and her dead boyfriend to help ease some of her pain. The story makes Akshara hopeful that she can perhaps see her dead mother again. 

But she soon realizes that Harry isn’t what he seems to be. Even the characters in his story seem dubious, almost unreal. So what is he hiding? And why? Is there any truth to his story at all?

In this darkly suspenseful romance mystery, Akshara is left facing a truth that will make her doubt not just Harry but herself as well . . 

My Review:

Being an ardent lover of Love genre books I feel great pleasure reading love stories. Though I have read more than fifty love genre novels, I still get attracted to the word, ‘Love’. Every book has its own taste. This book, ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much’ is not just any love story but it also has a lot of suspense, twists and turns. This story speaks of Love, Loss, Grief, Guilt, Emotions. 

If you have read the Book Blurb you might be having a good idea about the story. When Harry found a thirteen year old girl, Akshara mourning over her mother’s death, he thought of narrating his story to Akshara. It is then, Sahiba and Siddharth takes over the story; A Triangular Love Story. 

Harry loves Sahiba. Sahiba loves Siddharth. But God has something else to offer. Siddharth dies. Oh well, I can’t narrate the entire story here, it would be unfair to the author. To get your answers you need to read the book. To be honest, you won’t regret spending your bucks on this book. 

There is a lot of drama in the story and kudos to the Author for narrating everything slowly and keeping the readers gripped to the story. First few pages might make you a little bit bore but pages later you will be hooked to the book.  

Likings: Suspense till the end, Page turner, Narration style, Emotions, Easy but Intense read.

Disliking: Not many, I pretty much loved the book.

My Ratings: 4.5/5

( I don't find any reason why this book shouldn't be picked)

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37+ Grace Marks

Author: Vishal Anand

Published By: Srishti Publishers

Pages: 200 pages

Price: Rs. 175

ISBN: 978-93-826-6597-7

About The Author:

Vishal Anand is the author of a bestselling short story collection, Emotions Unplugged. His book has not just carved a niche in the readers’ hearts, but has also remained popular since its release.

The Hindu says, he deals human emotions with deep sensitivity and sensibility. Hindustan Times called him ‘a perfect example of a small town boy with big time success’ and The Telegraph mentioned him as an ‘Author who is creating ripples in the literary circuit’. 

Vishal works with a talent consulting partner to several Domestic and International companies. Currently, he lives in Bangalore.

Book Blurb:

What happens when you fall in love at first sight? That too in college, which is supposed to be the best time of one's life. But is it the best place to find love too?

Viraj falls head over heels in love with his classmate Nimisha, who could make boys on campus go crazy. While his friends Punit and Sahil just want to have fun - despite poor mark-sheets, grace marks to pass, and other everyday adventures - Viraj wants more from his life and love.

Life has led Viraj to the edge of a cliff. He has a choice to make – to forget everything and jump, or fight.

What brought him here? An unrequited love, encounters with law, or the dilemma of grace marks? Where does Viraj's story eventually end?

Welcome to 37 + Grace Marks, Viraj's journey to discover that there is more to life than marks.

My Review:

Well being an Engineering student, who knows better than me what an engineer deals with in his/her college life. To be honest, this book reminisced me about my college days. The grace marks is a big thing for every engineering student, until and unless you are an intelligent studious guy. Well coming to the book, like every teenage love Novels, this book has a nice cute love story to tell. I had read such stories before. 

Having said that, this book is a lot different from other books. The girl protagonist of the story doesn't accept Viraj's proposal at the very first time. Not even the second time. So it was a kind of one sided love story. What makes this book interesting is its narration style. With a very simple and easy language the Author never fails to bore the readers. So if you are someone who is looking for a light easy read, then this book is for you.

The emotions of Viraj feels quite natural. Nowhere the Author has tried to write something out of the box. Keeping it quite real, the book leaves an everlasting image among the readers. 

My Ratings: 3.5/5

(Good one for those who like reading Teenage love stories)

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Let The Game Begin by Sandeep Sharma

Author: Sandeep Sharma

Published By: Inspire India Publishers

Pages: 180 Pages

Price: Rs. 100

ISBN: 978-93-857-8346-3






About The Author:

Sandeep Sharma (23), made his debut in the writing industry with ‘Hey Dad! Meet my mom’, the book which is still a hot topic of discussion amongst readers. He is currently working on his start-up venture named ‘Author Paradise’ that works for the benefit of Authors to provide them well-organized online & offline publicity. By education, he is a civil engineer who graduated from JSS Academy of Technical Education, Noida.

He is very passionate about writing and has been writing short stories for his personal blog since 6 years and they were published various times. He has also co-founded 'The Author's Blog', a platform that tries to bridge the gap between authors and readers. He is an avid reader and loves to review books on his blog. He is a well-known reviewer in the literary world. 

Book Blurb:

Two kingdoms, Chaturanga and Sarprakt, separated by a mystic mountain range are at war with each other since ages. Chaturanga, ruled by King Viratha, is soon bestowed with a dynamic heir, and the whole kingdom is drowned in rituals and festivity. On the other side, Sarprakt is executing a cruel conspiracy. King Viratha, crippled by the conspiracy, urges the mysterious man of the mountain to devise a method to recreate the conspiracy and that gave birth to 'The Game of Chess'.

Serial killings shock the nation as the police are rendered clueless. The killer leaves behind a trail of chess pieces with a strange message. Random people are murdered. Connoisseurs of different fields - History, Chess and the Security forces - have united as the next intended victim is the most powerful person of the country. How is Chess involved in the whole scenario? How will they find a man who died 4000 years ago? Can a person defy the laws of nature? Does history really repeat itself? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

My Review:

Let the review begin. 

Being an ardent lover of Love genre books, Thriller genre books generally fails to impress me, until and unless it has a story which would make me awestruck. Well this book, ‘Let The Game Begin’ by Sandeep Sharma impressed me till the very last page. Kudos to the Author for keeping the reader hooked till the very last page, the suspense gets revealed only in the last few pages. Oh! Wait, the book ended after 180 pages but the story didn’t. There has to be a sequel to this book and after reading this book, I won’t mind buying the next book. 

Well the book blurb says a lot about the story. It begins with the mystery of Lambasa Parvata and the cave of ‘Mrityunjay’ and rivalry between two kingdoms; Chaturanga and Sarprakt. The Author has pretty well narrated the present scenario, keeping in mind the happenings of past i.e. 4000 years ago. The way author has narrated the incidents of the past linking it with the happenings of present is commendable. A reader won’t get bore and would be always be curious to know how the story will end. Great Narration skills!

The Author has pretty well researched about the History of Chess, DNA and Reincarnation. Explaining everything in detail doesn’t leave a reader confused. Sandeep has used a simple language which makes this book an easy read, the suspense and the thrill contents makes this book a good read for those who love reading Thriller genre books.

Likings: Easy and Simple Language, Full of Thrills and Suspense, Page Turner

Disliking: Ending was good but many things went unanswered, A Sequel is much needed.

My Ratings: 4/5

(Want to rate it 5 star, but only after I get to read the second book)

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UNNS by Sapan Saxena

Author: Sapan Saxena

Published By: Inspire India Publishers

Pages: 248 Pages

Price: Rs. 189

ISBN: 978-93-857-8387-6

Book Blurb:

"Of course you know about the seven stages of love, but have you ever lived them?" 

Atharva Rathod and Meher Qasim. Lovebirds since adolescence. Bonded by love, separated by circumstances. They part ways only to meet again. But this time, he is on a secret mission... Are they in control of their own destiny, or its their destiny which is making them dance to its tunes? Only time would answer, as Atharva and Meher unwillingly and unknowingly transcend the seven stages of love. 

A quintessential tale of love and romance marked beautifully by its own rustic old school charm.

About The Author:

Brought up in the city of Nawabs, Lucknow, Sapan did B. Tech in Information & Technology from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad. 

He started taking interest in writing on various spiritual and mythological subjects during his college days and his work found place in leading newspapers on many occasions. His profession is engineering but writing is his passion. He connects and finds links of modernization with mythology having keen interest in the same.

Sapan married in the year 2011 and is now the proud father of a toddler. A responsible father, a loving husband, a supportive brother and a caring son, Sapan generates time to write.

My Review:

UNNS, it took me quite long to guess what the title really means. It is only after the 100th page of the book when I found the real meaning of the word, UNNS. Like the title, the heading of the chapters made me confused too. The 100th page of the book cleared all my confusions. 

Before I begin my review, let me divide the book into 3 parts:

1. Teenage Love

2. Mission Munich

3. Mission Belmont

The first part narrates the love between  Atharva Rathod and Meher Qasim. Like many other books that I have read, this book also has a same kind of love story. Oh! well it wasn't love but a mere infatuation, I guess. Author made the protagonists fall in love with each other quite easily. That never happen in real life, does it? 

Using a simple easy language the author has built some Love in the Air. And what I didn’t like is the editing part. The Author or may be the Editor hasn’t put an end mark when a scene ends. Sometimes it will make the reader confused. 

The Second part, Mission Munich is a pleasure to read, only if I hadn’t watch the Salman Khan starrer movie. I won’t say the movie name or else you can easily guess the plot line used. Let the suspense be intact. So if you have watched that movie then you no need to read this phase of the book ‘coz it would be easier to know how the mission will end. I skipped a few pages. 

Now let me come to the third part, just like the second part here the protagonist Atharva is in another mission. But unlike the previous mission, this mission was something new to read. And definitely a reader will enjoy it. 

A double unexpected ending is what makes this book an enjoyable read. Had it not been the ending I would have rated this quite poorly but a double climax at the end was something which I had never thought. Kudos to the Author’s brain. 

Likings: Easy Read, Page Turner, Double Climax at the End, Love and Hate chemistry between the Protagonists

Disliking: No End Marks at the end of the scenes, some parts were inspired by a Bollywood movie.

My Ratings: 3/5

(Just an extra point for the ending)

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The Four Patriots by Sumit Agarwal

Author: Sumit Agarwal

Published By: Rupa Publications

Pages: 306 Pages

Price: Rs. 250

ISBN: 978-81-291-4204-7

About The Author:

A graduate from IIT Kanpur, Sumit Agarwal is a successful businessman. He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer, actor and writer. His music videos can be viewed on his YouTube channel, or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net. 

Sumit runs an NGO, Prerna (www.prernaa.org). Among its many social welfare initiatives, the NGO has adopted ten government primary schools, in order to facilitate quality education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs formed to aid clean and answerable politics.

Book Blurb:

Have you ever fallen victim to the system? Felt humiliated and helpless? Have you fought back? 

Meet four such patriots: Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman. 

Fate brings these four lives together at a crossroads, pushing these unlikely heroes out of their comfort zones to fight a seemingly unstoppable evil force which wants to hold our country captive. The four companions, who have always had each other’s back, will now come face-to-face with the biggest challenge of their lives—a labyrinthine plot rife with perilous twists and wicked turns. With the nation’s future at stake, will they be able to destroy the Chakravyuh intricately laid down by the enemies of India? Will they come out of it alive? 

A story about friendship, faith and courage, replete with romance and patriotism, The Four Patriots is a racy, contemporary thriller sure to give you goose bumps. Pick this book if you do not believe ‘is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta’; and if you think all is not lost, this is a must-read!

My Review:

Sandeshe aate hain, hume tadpate hain, k chitthi aati hai, to pooch jati hai k ghar kab aaoge.. Likho kab aaoge…

There is a reason why I started my review with the above lines. Every time I hear the word Patriotism, the one song that my mind plays is Sandeshe aate hain from the movie Border. And while reading the book I had the same kind of Goosebumps. No, this isn’t a story about Bhagat Singh or any other freedom fighter but this book is about 4 patriots; Aditya, Raghav, Salman and Varun, who can go to any extent to make India a corruption free and developed country. 

The Book Blurb says a lot about the story so I’m not going to waste your time writing the contents of the book. Let me straight come to the point. The Author has brilliantly crafted the story narrating the present and past life of all the characters. This book is definitely a page turner and nowhere between the pages will you get bored. 

Being an ardent lover of Politics it was a great pleasure for me to read the book. I have read around 100 books till now and it won’t be a lie if I say this book definitely has a different plotline. The Hindi verses used in the book, ‘Dekhna nahi, Karna hai’,‘Isey Prasad Chahiye’ adds more spice to the book. 

This book will take you the real world of politics, not just that it also shows you the way how to overcome the political problems that we are facing everyday. 

If you think, ‘Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta’, then I bet after reading this book your whole perspective will change. 

Likings: Page Turner, Simple Language, Narration Style, The Twists

Disliking: ummmm…. Let me think….. Naaaa, I didn’t find any.

A warm request to all the politicians of my Country, please do and learn something from this book. 

My Ratings: 5/5

(It doesn't matter you're Young or Old, It doesn't matter you are a Politician or a Civilian, you need to read this book)

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