Editorial

A big thank you to Manish, Vibha and DL for allowing us to stalk them, bombarding them with conflicting parameters, contradicting and cajoling them on every opportunity and being the source of constant worry for the last two weeks of 2012.

After that, we agreed on some common guidelines and shared them with our esteemed Jury and the game began. After multiple rounds of conversations, jigs and re-jigs, we arrived at the final list. But before I announce that, a special shout out for Rishi Raj Gupta, Sushant Singhal and Praveen Wadhwa for giving the winners a fighting finish. All three of you were favorites to more than one Jury member and need a special hug. Congratulations.

And now, to the blow of a thousand trumpets, here’s the announcement of the fab final four Ghumakkars of the Year 2013, in reverse alphabetical order:

Change is born when there is a need or demand for it. Ghumakkar monthly newsletter too is changing – to a more convenient and accessible format. It will now be published directly on our website in the name which we have christined as “Monthly Digest”.

The decision to shift from Newsletter format to Monthly digest happened based on the feedback we have received and from what we have learnt over last many months. And hence this change. We believe at the end of every month, the Monthly Digest will be a collation and celebration of the FoG, Insight, Author Interview, new Authors’ introduction, Featured Story etc. We value your feedback on this and other points which you feel should be brought to our notice.

A biker is often engulfed by an insatiable thirst for exploration. Different terrains gives these bikers a high and they cannot be stopped until they decide to!
Our biker Rishi Raj has a set of entertaining and adventurous stories in his motorcycle diaries. Here is a snippet from once such tale:

“….I am sparing the readers with details on what I saw at and around Rohtang – surprisingly, I didn’t find this Pass any tougher than Bara-lacha la. If it were not for slush and traffic, it would’ve been a smooth sail. However, I must say, riding amidst the clouds atop the Pass was some experience I would never forget…

Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh…Riding Back Home…

Coming back to the music. Those were the days when patriotism rode high with the pride of a successful freedom struggle still fresh and a series of wars with the neighbouring countries. Aao bachchon tumhein dikhayein jhanki Hindustan ki was another travel song with generous sprinkling of patriotism or should I say the other way round. The song has impeccable rhyme and rhythm and the pace ensures that you cannot stop yourself from tapping your feet.

Travelers perhaps have more opportunities to run into adventures than anyone else, and are also more likely to find themselves in risky situations. But if they weren’t willing to take risks, they wouldn’t be travelers, right? We pride ourselves in taking charge of life and heading out into the unknown, ready to take any trouble that fall into our path by its horns. And the particular community of travelers who are likely to tread glaciers, or explore jungles on foot is constantly growing larger. And through all this, they take a lot for granted, in particular their own safety.

These are some of the proverbs we have practically grown up hearing and, unfortunately, all of us have been “bitten” at least once and, in most cases, multiple times in our lives. All of us experience minor failures every day without realizing their impact on our psychology. At times, these so-called minor failures have such a huge impact on our confidence that we can hardly gather courage for a second try. Every New Year Resolution that we are not able to fulfill leaves us with slightly less confidence in our ability to achieve goals. Each promise that we make to others but are not able to keep, not only impacts the trust others place in us, but also makes us lose faith in ourselves.