Formal Closure - what have I gained?

Though, I could not complete my entire tour, I have gained a lot from it already!!! What have I gained? Have a look...

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Mahipal,

I hope you are feeling better and enjoying a little TLC from family as its the best there is!

I was both relieved and saddened to hear that you have decided to end your Tour of India. It was with such good intention and optimism that you undertook this journey (both literal and spiritual) but I think events have really conspired against you and understand it goes against any sense of realism to try to go on.

It was a day I will remember when we met on a humid night in beautiful Palolem and sat down to discuss pretty much everything from religion to philosophy and politics till the early hours. It also brought home to me that I had met someone special as we discussed so many potentially contentious issues yet were able to debate them and still be looking forward to meeting for breakfast the next morning! It was a joy to be able to talk to someone who had such a wonderfully refreshing outlook on life and reassuring to have so much in common with someone with such a different culteral background.

I will definitely be back in India at some point and will of course always stay in touch. I have gone nearly completely round the world now on my own little journey and you are definitely one of the most special people I have met - if you can make it to Canada then there will always be a room for you there.

I would like to end my rambling blog with a quote a Peruvian friend once told me which i think is very relevant:

"God creates them, they find eachother!"

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your tour and thank you for being a part of my tour.

Take care and i hope your feet get well soon,

Ben
British friend and travelling companion
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Dear Mahipal

I read your latest Nov 8th writeup on the blog. I was really moved with your writing on your states of mind and your search for peace.

I wish you speedy recovery and all the best in your future endavours.

I'll be very happy to help you in what ever I can. If you are persuing a company career, you are most welcome anytime. You can join our Internal Secruity Team in Mumbai or Pune as per your likings.

Hope you find answers to the questions you have come across soon. I think spiritiualists and philosophers have relavent answers to your queries.

Wishing to soon talk to you and meet you.

Regards
Vasanth Pai
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Hey Mahipal,

I didn’t know about this endeavor of yours. Well, hats off to you for the braveness that you have shown. You really tried something which most don’t even dare to think of attempting. I saw a lot of your pictures; they are really amazing and show how much you would have enjoyed living your dream. Well, it doesn’t matter much whether you succeeded or you failed, whether you choose one path or another, but you atleast tried and achieved something which others like me won’t. I would like to know more about this tour of yours and would also be interested in knowing more about a lot of things, such as your book, your accident, your experiences, etc. You have surely made me realize that there is much much more to life, beyond our routines, beyond our usual imagination.

I am sure you want to rest for a while at least. I would be coming to India in December second half. I have noted down your number and would surely like to talk to you, if we can’t meet. Eager to see you. Three cheers for you.

Keep in Touch,
Parag Parikh

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END OF TOUR, END OF BLOG

Hello friends,

Thank you very much for your wishes and showing me that you are indeed with me in this tour. With the help of your wishes and by God’s grace, my feet are recovering well. My right foot has almost recovered. However, due to a little deep burn in my left foot, it is still raw and will take atleast a month or more to recover fully. So, I had decided to travel (ofcourse by car, with my brothers) back from Bangalore to my home town of Amreli in Gujarat (2000 Kms). I am currently in Amreli with my parents, enjoying homely food, motherly care and family criticism (for my decision of doing The Tour of India) :)

Also, for past few days, I have been thinking and I have come to a conclusion that this has to be the END of my “THE TOUR OF INDIA”.

I know, this will come as a surprise / shock to all of you, because in my recent communications to you, I was very upbeat about continuing it further. Actually, I have been thinking about it for past few days and was more inclined towards continuing it, so were my replies too. However, few things became very clear to me now and so this decision. For the kind of response and support that I have been getting from you, I believe, you deserve an explanation from me. Well, it’s the following that has shaped my decision:

Lack of belief that what I am doing now is the best that I could be doing for myself.

Let me explain – while starting the tour, I thought that this tour will help me get away from all the materialistic and emotional attachments and go to Mother Nature with pure heart and mind. It will also give me an opportunity to meet many different people and will help me understand them and eventually help me understand myself thru them. Well, I did meet many different people and it certainly helped me understand them and myself better. But, when I look at myself thru this understanding, I feel, I am no different. I am still emotionally and materialistically very attached to so many things. I believe, I have attained a certain level of peace within me, but these attachments of mine are no help in sustaining it. Somehow, I am unable to be completely peaceful in the company of Mother Nature.

After a lot of soul searching, I found the root cause that makes me vulnerable. The main cause is that I am very emotionally attached to so many people like my parents, my family and my friends. This actually divides me in two pieces from within. The one half wants to be a normal, office going, money earning, family man (as per the wishes and expectations of my parents and my family), I call it the family side. And the other half wants me to keep being adventurous, risk taking, living life fully kind of a person (as per likings of my friends and well wishers), I call it the friends side. While, if I look at my dream for myself, I want to be detached and peaceful person (I call it peaceful mind or the desired state). This 3-way complication keeps disturbing whatever peace and understanding about life that I have attained so far.

I started this tour hoping to move away from first two of the above mentioned states towards the third state of mind. However, due to your overwhelming response and love, I started moving towards the second state of mind. Somehow, I started believing that I am that kind of a person from within. Also, the recent events (my accident) and my interaction with my family has brought back all the sleeping emotions (from the first state of mind) in me and has again triggered that same old battle within me between these two states of mind. This situation combined with my efforts to write a book titled “confessions of a peaceful mind”, has brought me to this understanding that I have described above.

Now, I feel that by continuing the tour, I am not moving towards my desired state of mind. It also is triggering very negative reactions from the first state of mind (the family side). I am really sorry, I might not be able to keep in touch with you frequently as I am at home trying to get myself relieved from my family responsibilities and attempt to win over my first state of mind (the family side). I am unsure as to where exactly will I be and what exactly will I be doing in near future. I will be back in touch with you all when I will be able to sustain the desired level of peace within me.

I really apologize for any kind of disturbance / distraction this whole TOUR OF INDIA might have caused to you. I am really sorry. I would also like to thank you all for all your support. Especially, Pratapsan, Hirensan, KKsan, Virupaji, Ketansan and Avisan… I know how much attached you were to the tour and how much you would have wanted it to be completed but I am really sorry. This is necessary. I am sure, you will understand.

Lastly, by stopping the tour, I am not disturbed or hurt or anything like that. Infect, I am feeling more peaceful. May be that’s the only reward I can take out of my endeavor so far. And may be that’s the final prize (a sustained peace) towards what I have started moving. The only thing that comes to my mind right now is the only poem that I wrote in my whole life.

When I came in this world,

I was alone.

When I will leave,

I will be alone.

When I came in this world,

There were people around me,

Smiling at me, I was crying.

When I will leave,

There will be people around me,

Crying for me, I will be smiling.

When I came in this world,

I was alone,

I did not know fear.

When I will leave this world,

I will be alone,

I will not care about fear.

If I am alone today,

Why am I afraid?

May God bless you all with Happiness, Love and Peace.

Mahipal

PS: This blog would surely make one chapter of my book “Confessions of a peaceful mind” :)

Travelogue - Goa to Bangalore

After celebrating my birthday in North Goa on 3rd sep, I moved to Palolem in South Goa for spending 2-3 days before start traveling further. However, I ended up spending more than a week as I met some very interesting people in Ganesh, Ravi, Ray, Goddon, Jojo (all from Goa), Martin and Rose (from Britain), Moni and Sarah (from Spain), Tom (from Australia). I discovered how different various cultures can be in different countries.

I also met Ben, 28, from London, left his job to do a world tour before moving to Canada to start a new career. After meeting him, I realized that even though one’s religion, color of skin, family background, education level and everything else can be different but one thing that can bind two people together is “experiences in life” and then everything else becomes immaterial. I realized that with similar experiences in life, two people of same age, grown up in completely two different cultures can be thinking so alike. So, I and Ben decided to travel together for some more days.

We started from Palolem -> Karwar -> Gokarna -> Om Beach (night) -> Krishna valley -> Jog falls -> Murdeshvar -> Udupi -> Mangalore (night) -> Kasargod -> Kannur -> Kozhikode (night) -> Vypeen -> Fort Kochi (stay for few days) and day trips to Alleppey, Munnar, Jews town. This is when I met Silvia just a day before biding farewell to Ben who was to travel to Delhi to Hongkong to Japan to Australia to South America to London to Canada. We enjoyed each other’s company very well and met so many people like Mahesh (from Kochi), Gabby, Afonso and Penelope (all from Portugal), seen so many places and shared so many moments filled with different experiences together. I would love to meet him again, someday.

If I think back now, I feel, it was quite incidental and surprising how I met Silvia in Fort Kochi, just a day before bidding farewell to Ben. And how she was searching for some means to explore real India (not like a foreign tourist), how we got along so well even though we shared quite complementary thoughts about life, how a level of trust was developed between us so fast. We started traveling together from next day onwards (19th sep).

We started from Fort Kochi -> Alleppey -> Varkala (2 nights); explored other places like Vettur, Kappil and Bytul -> Thiruvanathapuram -> Nagarcoil -> Kanyakumari (night) -> Madurai (2 nights) -> Rameswaram (night) -> Pudukottai -> Trichy -> Viluppuram -> Pondicherry (10 nights because of the accident) -> Tindivanam -> Tiruvannamalai -> Krishnagiri -> Bangalore. During this period, we have seen some of the best and unexplored beaches, famous and marvelous temples, strangest objects and temples on the roadside and had very good and authentic south Indian food. We also enjoyed those discussions about life, about pain and peace, about darkness and light, about love and hate and about many more things that made me more complete in my perspective towards life. I discovered that I can also fall in love with a girl thinking completely opposite but complementary to me and not only the one who thinks alike.

Overall, my trip so far has been so very satisfying in terms of all aspects of life. I have also seen so many contradictions in India that seems like various pieces of a single puzzle and will fit perfectly to make a bigger picture at the end of my tour. So many of my conceptions about India have changed so drastically and now I feel more peaceful with the way our country is today and the way it is going to be tomorrow. I can see a sunny today and a brighter tomorrow.

Some picks of my travel so far –

My favorite place(s) –
Rameswaram, Fort Kochi, Panchgani, Palolem

The place that I didn’t like –
Minaxi Temple, Madurai; its so commercialized

My favorite drive –
From Madurai to Rameswaram

The drive that I didn’t like –

Driving through Kerala is like hell due to so much of rural areas alongside the road and the state transport buses that drive like crazy on these narrow, people and animal filled roads

Best road –
Mumbai-Pune express highway

Worst road –
NH-4A from Belgaum to Panjim

Best photography moment –
When in the rain, this old man gave me his umbrella so that I could take his picture; look at his smile

Unforgettable photography moment –
When I burnt my feet trying to take picture of this small temple

Consolidated facts that will make every Indian proud –
1) In the most remote part, there are schools and children go to school regularly, in government provided school uniforms

2) Where there is a way (big or small), there is fiber optic cable alongside

3) Young boys and girls (teens) are so forthcoming and experimentive about different experiences in life. For example, talking to strangers and foreigners

Pictorial India - Part 2, 3 & 4: Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu

Its been a long time since I have posted some nice pictures... I am really sorry for that but I was really busy taking those pictures for you :)

Now, I have managed to build a collection of 4500 pictures keeping my pledge (to myself) of 1 picture per kilometer I travel. Since it is impossible to upload all those pitures in here, I have created different albums of selected Top-1000 pitures on Yahoo photos. The links are given below...

SPECIAL

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327976497#page1

NATURE

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327878414#page1

PEOPLE

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327976874#page1

PLACES

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327879711#page1

OBJECTS

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327977668#page1

BUILDINGS

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/mahi_val/album/576460762327880298#page1

ROUTE MAP

Pictorial India - Part 1

Remember, whatever you see here is not even 25% of what I have seen and experienced. And, what I would have seen and experienced at the end of my tour will not be even 25% of real INDIA. Also, this is part 1 (10% of total tour). So, enjoy 0.625% of REAL INDIA in pictures :)

NATURE



















PEOPLE



















PLACES












































BUILDINGS

































OBJECTS

SPECIAL































FOR MORE PICTURES, VISIT... http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mahi_val/album?.dir=1783scd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Tour Update

Hello friends,
I have already started my tour from Mumbai on 15thAugust as planned.

I have spent the first night ontiger hill (lonavale) in the midst of darkness, fog, rain and wind.. in the presence of fire and in the company of some very good friends (who came from Puneon bikes in zero visibility) just to spend some time withme,,,, it was like fusion of all five elements - fire,water, air, earth and sky!!! with mother nature at its best, it was one of the most most memorable night of my life!! Thanx to Abhay, Amit, Anish, Saumik, Mr.Wagle and Samarth. In Pratapsan's terms "It feltlike I was enjoying honeymoon with myself :)"

I am in Pune right now in the company of Pratapsan,Bhabhiji and Chunmun... I must say, my stay here is peaceful beyond description... (but i will eventually try to describe the experience,, however, i need a lot of time to savour and describe what pratapsan has done in this short span of time). He has done so much to me in terms of confidence building and making me believe beyond doubt that everyone of my friend is with me in this endeavor. I am finding it extremly difficult to find words to describe my experince in Pune. So, pls wait for a while to know more :)

During these days, I have met so many interesting people (thanx to Pratapsan again) and to summerize my experience, i would say "when i decided to leave Citgroup and pursue this travel, i thought for a moment that i was special (above normal) but after meeting people like Uday, Gaurav, Rajbhaiya, Abhay and others, i was humbled to believe that i m just normal:)

Last but not the least, a big big thank you to Smitabhabhi for everything... you are surely "Bhabhi No.1" :)

Well, due to lack of time, i m unable to upload interesting pictures but will follow soon! I have decided to start again from here from tomorrow towards Alibaug - Ratnagiri - Goa. My next halt would be in Goa. Keep in touch pls and i will try my best to keep updating you all. Also, from tomorrow onwards, i would be joined by Abhay in my journey (mostly tillend :).. He himself is passionate about road trips andhad done many,, besides, he is postponing his plans to go to the UK to join me in this trip. I heartily welcome him!!

To say the rest,

"Hum chale the akele raho mein, log milte gaye,
karwan banta gaya!!"

Luv you all.
Take care.
Mahipal

To SANGEET and ALL

Hey, even I hope that Wagon R is a reliable car ;) lets see!!!!
To answer your other question,, I m travelling alone or so to say "i m keeping the front seat vacant" for a purpose.... i would like all my friends like you to join me for whatever distance you can... so i would like you to join me from B'lore to whatever place you can come upto,, instead of the petrol :) what say? Besides, i m open for all kind of sponsorships ;)

Thnx for your wishes and am looking forward to see u in bangalore. By the way, i have changed my plan of moving northward first... instead, i will be travelling southward first and following the same route in reverse order... this way, i will be able to enjoy monsoon in south and winter in north :)) This "cool" suggestion came from MIHIR the great!! thanx YO!

TC. Luv u all.
Mahipal

My friends are with me!!!

Mahipal,
Congrats for the courage of leaving the corporate jungleand going to mother nature. Wishing you a great and learning journeyahead.Hope I also get this courage to do the thing I always wanted!
Thanks and Regards,

Niladri RoyChowdhury
_______________________Tech Mahindra Limited
I-MBTt: +91 (020) 56078400- Ext 8677;56078677(Direct)e-mail: niladri@techmahindra.com Website: http://www.techmahindra.com/
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Dear Mahipal,
I really appreciate your decision. Infact, many of us have this wish to escape from our routine corporate culture and explore nature in one form or another. However, very few possess this courage and i am really happy that you have taken this bold decision.
wishing you all the very best for your endeavour and eagerly looking forward to receiving your updates...
love,
pappu
(Prashant Bhagat)
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Dear Mahipal
So, at last you have made it. To meet the goals you have set.... All the Best and May gold bless you with lots of happiness and peace.
Regards
K. Madhu
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Sounds great man, finally you did respond your inner calling.
Great the first thing i remember of this feat is from the movie Forest Gump.
So go ahead and wish you all the best in your endeavours and do keep me posted and i would be looking forward for those pictures.

Kind Regards,
Prasad C Aryamane
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thats awesome man! Have fun and stay safe...Are u doing it alone?
Vikram
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wish you all the best. may god bless you with success.

gaurav (Dr.Pradhan)
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Wow.. are you serious??? sounds very interesting, but bit unrealistic [u know considering price of gas and all] ;) :)) just kidding..have fun man, send lots of pictures, haven't visited india since looooooooong..
Mrugesh
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Hey Mahi,
You are doing something we all just dream of...but never buckle upenough guts to take up in reality.I am in Melbourne, Australia or would have come down to churchgate tosee you start off...Wish you all the very best. Keep posting us on this. Take care of yourhealth as you go around.By the way, which make of car have you selected?

Warm regs,
Rajesh Pillai
Wipro Consulting
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Bravo Bapu! Bravo!

I missed a heart bit while reading your adventurous plan. No doubt that this would be a great challenge! We all wish you the Best of luck. Don’t miss a cup of tea mainly at mid night all the places you travel. While sipping the tea, you would remember that we all are together any ways & always! I would also suggest writing a book about your adventure. Explore our great Bharat with younger generation perspective. I am sure we will see you very soon on all news channels!

Do proper planning for your magnificent journey. My dad use to say, at every venture of life always plan for the worst situation and you would never be in trouble.

Best of luck for the victory. We will keep in touch in conference mode .

Best Regards,
Viren Sanghadia
(Off) +852 2489 5073
(Mob) +852 6341 5015
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Arey Bapu,
While on one thought it does seem to be a wonderfuladventure and looks like very rewarding in terms ofgreat experiences across the Indian subcontinent, onthe other hand it is not very easy to digest that aperson like you is taking it up. Is this mail anyforwarded message that you just passed on to us? Coz Ireally can't believe this.Was it KK, I can believe that he can have some reallywonderful attacks at times, but you????? I neverthought so.Kindly clarify!!
Regards

Ketan
+60 19 2377684.
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Hey man .... enjoy life ... live it up till it last .... happy that one of my friends lives life on his terms.... Cheers to that.

Sorry will not be there to cheer you on you departure... may be if you had decided on a world tour we could have met some where... small world will surely meet someplace somewhere.


Be in touch....keep mailing


Cheers!!!
Venkat
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Hi !

Congratulations on taking a step which lot of us just think about but never get around to do it. Best of lucks

Regards

Ravi kapur
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Heyi Mahipal,
I am glad that you are following your heart. Good going. But hope youwill keep your sources of income open. Take care and I wish you the very best in this endeavor. Keep me postedon your trip. I would love to know more about your tour.
Regards
Hakila
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Bravo Bapu!!! We are proud of you.

Thanks and Regards
-Pratap

"Nothing is obvious"
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ALL THE VERY BEST BAPU !!!!!REGARDS,DEVESH V.
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Wishing you all the best . May you suceed in every step you take.Millenium pe stop jarur karna.... hahahha
Take Care and Have fun
Regards
Minu
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just had a talk with baapu....he s planning something so different...which fits the car he wud b driving! he s going to tour india in a wagon R...unique car unique people :-)... baapu best of luck and let us knw ur whereabouts from time to time....
Mayur
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Oh wow!!! Finally there is someone who doesnt just do "Intellectual Masturbation" and actually does something unique!!! :-)
I just hope that Wagon R is a reliable car...in fact baapu you shud contact Maruti people, they will surely sposnor some part of the trip!!!

Btw when in Karnataka/Bangalore, lemme know...ek baar ka petrol bharva dunga ;-)

Enjoy the trip...

Btw just curious: you are planning to do this alone or going with someone interesting???
Sangeet
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"KHATARNAK"
YEah bapu... take as many videos as you can ..i will allow you to host it on my server for free..not bandwidth restrictions ...all the best .. I would like to sing a song ....Zindgee kaa safar ... hai ye kaisa safar ...koi samja nahee .... koi janaa nahee .... :)Hooo sake to Wangon R ko sheep me dal kee london aajaaooo ...cheers
All the best ..........Barot
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Bapu tame to bhare kari....pan ek vaat to chhe...Bapu ne shobhe tevu karya hath dharyu chhe.... :)

take care....and keep sending the updates...

Bhagirath.
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Good luck for ur adventure ! Avi
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All the best Mr. Pal.
Enjoy the ADVENTURE.Do keep us posted.
I hope you will share your route planning as well for someone to tourINDIA the way you will be touring :)
Best Regards,
Imran
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Hi Mahipal,
Fantastic....!!!!!!!All the bast for your dreams and may you have asuccessful trip with out any troubles.... May Godbless you and be with you always!!!!!Please let me know when you are planning to pass byBangalore....my no is ... 91-98860-67943..... I wouldbe very happy to meet you and wish you luck.... (ifthis would not be a hinderance to your journey)...Please let me know if you need any thing while you arepassing by....I WISH U ALL THE BEST!!!! and a happy journey...Cheers!!!!
Dj.
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Great Mahipal....I really salute your guts...to go after what u want to do takes lot of courage and grit...

Infact, something similar is also my dream...b'cos of passion for driving.

Just a question...r u planning to drive to Leh???

Best of Luck and wishing you success in your journey...

-Viral
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Such a great thought bapu!! Alas i could join you! Forget not to call before you come to Baroda, we'll keep garlands ready for you, and if possible, some news channels also!! Arrey but why did you leave out north-east? 6-months are quite enough to cover that as well... Anyway, congratulations!
Warm wishes,
KK [M:+91-98250-88455]
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Hi mahipal
Amit hear
How r u hope so fine der with yr fr n family So wot is about car tour ???? So wot is reason forthat so r u going alone ?? Let me know about thisthing in detail yaar by the way how is every one howis yr family Its been long time v didn’t talk any way my phone nois 001-201-920-4250 And if u deside to go then best luck have nice timeand make success yr trip One more time wish u good lack ane keep let me know yr update
Bye With love
Amit patel
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Bapu,

Hats off to Courageous decision. You have proved that life is not a puzzle to be solved but mystery to be lived. I will pass-on some nice places that can be included in your wish list during the journey.

'Yatra hi manjil"
Best Wishes.
HiS. (Hiren)
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Hi Mahipal
Sounds like an interesting journey. And Kudos for being able to chuck and do it all!
keep me posted...are you doing a blog on it...would be nice!
chk out mine: www.embraizal.blogspot.com
best wishes
Shalini
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Touring India by Car...10000 Kms...20 states... meeting million people...thats me!!!

Friends,

A news from my side which I want to share with you all.

Finally, I have decided to escape from the corporate jungle and go to mother nature! I have left my job in Citigroup and will be touring India in my car.. I will start on 15th August 06 from Churgate station in Mumbai (to pay homage to those who died in the 11th July blast) and will be reaching Raj Ghat in New Delhi on 26th January07 going via Gujarat (including DDIT :)), Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Himachal, Uttaranchal, UP,Bihar, Sikkim, Bengal, Orrissa, AP, Tamilnadu (uptoKanyakumari), Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, MPthen to Delhi via Agra :)

I dont know what else to say but I am very happy and nervous.. I will keep you all posted of latest andwill keep sending pictures to share my experiences (if u like it or not :)).... I am looking forward to your comments and support troughout the trip!! so, pls keep in touch... you can send me mail on this ID or call me on +91-9819007156.

May God bless you with Love, Peace and Hapiness.
Bye, Take care.
Love, Mahipal