Meri Christmas Weekend...

Good-Old busy weekends are back again, and boy ain’t I happy!!! Kuwait never was more fun than this weekend; I had a whale of a time, 2 days full of fun…

The mood was festive as the weekend was the Christmas Weekend, some of our teams went for their Christmas Team Lunches, we were allowed to wear Jeans to Office, and I left home also on time on Thursday, went for Jogging, had my dinner & slept early…

Friday Morning was the HR Team Event at Wafrah Farms which is some 150 kms away & I was all excited for it as I had heard from my colleagues that the Road to Wafrah is one of the best in Kuwait & provides ample opportunities to rip the engine!!! The Mighty Two was also yearning for this kind of a ripe opportunity & I was ready to rip my beast…

We started the drive really slowly with all cars following each other but soon I got bored driving at 100 kmph & decided to go in front and leave everybody behind…the roads were simply too good to resist. I started slowly & got upto 150-160 kmph & when I got a long & open stretch just ripped & got upto 205 kmph!!! Yes you are reading this correctly; this was the first time I had reached the 200 kmph mark which was my dream when I came to Kuwait & I specifically bought the Chevrolet Lumina S to hit the 200!!!

Javed who was travelling with me clicked the pic at the right moment & the dream was achieved…the exhilaration was unbelievable & I could feel the rush entering my body through my arms, after some 5-10 minutes I found another open stretch & ripped the car again & this time reaching the speed of 215 kmph, what a feeling that was & the best part was that the car was absolutely stable and I always felt in control of the vehicle…

Amidst all this excitement I missed the Wafrah Right Turn & instead kept going straight, soon we reached the Saudi Border; I called Amir – who knew the way & he told me that we had gone 40-50 kms ahead, I laughed at me as this was another Misnavigation adventure of mine but I missed my BoP Comrade – Dips with whom I have shared many such fun moments!!! Instead I sent him an SMS telling him about my 200 kmph feat & somewhat shared my excitement…

We finally reached the cut & started the final leg of the drive experiencing one of the most amazing roads I have ever been to, desert on both the sides & no vegetation of any sort – none whatsoever and a perfect straight road to drive the car on, I soaked in the feeling by driving the car slow at 100 kmph!!! We stopped enroute at a Mosque where Javed & another colleague of mine read their Friday Afternoon Prayer & Javed’s wife read her prayers in my car…

We reached the “Asia Farm” at Wafrah where our Team Event was organized, enjoyed some nice mocktails & just roamed around the huge farm house…we all played a game of Volleyball after that with me taking my regular position – one at the centre of the nest & smashed my way through!!! The last time I played Volleyball was way back in October 2009 during my “BoP Redstone Rockets Ride”& what a time the Rockets had then…special mention must go to my dear comrade – BK ATREYA for his exceptional Volleyball skills…

The Lunch Menu was Arabic Cuisine & it was fabulous, I gorged on the Chicken Biryani & the Grilled Meat followed by another gorging session of the desserts…

We left Wafrah at 3 PM & I decided to take it easy while going back & drove relatively slow, when I got back home I was dead tired but then my friend Abhishek Tripathi called me & asked me to come to his home so that we could start the Evening Party, I wanted to sleep badly but decided to leave instead. We had a rocking time at his home, there were 4 of us & we did non-stop Bakchodi was 4 hours before finally calling it a night, I won’t write what all we had during the party due to obvious reasons!!!

I slept overnight at his home only, tired & high!!! I woke up at 9:30 AM the next day & left for my home…enroute I had an amazing breakfast of Poori-Aloo with Tea and the Aloo ki Subzi reminded me of almost the same taste which my Mother cooks…

I relaxed at home after that, Facebooking & chatting with Bandita through the afternoon…the plan for the evening was all-set, we had decided to go to the Shooting Range here in Kuwait where one can shoot real guns with real bullets in a Government Shooting Range open to civilians…

We reached the Range at 5:30 PM and went straight to the booking counter, I chose the 357 MM Revolver, Vikash chose the 40 MM Revolver & Abhishek chose the 9 MM Pistol…we entered the Shooting Area & were all excited after seeing some others taking the shots & knew this one would be one amazing experience…when my turn came, the instructor told me the entire process & asked me to load the revolver and believe me guys its an amazing feeling, the one you have seen in the movies!!! Loading 6 bullets one-by-one!!!

I had an average round & after shooting 20 bullets I could only manage one bulls-eye shot though I am sure with some practice I can be better at this. We have decided to visit the range twice a month for sure & the next time I would try the Sniper Rifle…

After the Shooting High we went to the Arabian Gulf Road & got to a Sheesha Joint by the beachside & enjoyed a bout of Mint-Apple Flavour Sheesha with some Bakchodi, the weather was quite chilly with the sea breeze hitting us vigorously and after an hour or so we decided to leave & call it a day, we all got back home by 9 PM and finally the curtains came down on one of my best weekends spent till date in Kuwait…

Hopefully in time to come I would have many more such weekends…Inshallah…

The "Back to School" Party

I hated my School Uniform in the Summers as it was pure white & my mother used to scold me like crazy everyday when I used to come back home for soiling it like real bad; everyday it was the same story- me coming home & listening to my mother shouting at me & I making faces as I was the most obedient kid around with my head & shoulders dropped & showing real concern on my face!!! But when I got the invite to go to a Theme Party here in Kuwait through Barry - Senior Manager Recruitment at my Organization and we had to be dressed in School Uniform, I got all excited & gave my confirmation in no time as I was sure it would be great fun to re-live my school days again. The occasion was “The Irish Ball Christmas Party” which was to be held in Hilton Resort-Kuwait & apart from the school uniform excitement there was some nice dinner & much needed intoxicants as part of the deal!!! I couldn’t have asked for more…



I wore my Half-Sleeves Blue Shirt with a Plain Dark Blue Neck-Tie and my Brown Check Shorts, perfect new-age School Uniform to say the least…it looked funny but I was all game to soak in the School Uniform Party Fiesta!!!

My Colleague Majid picked me up & then we picked Angelika enroute and reached the venue at 8:30 PM, the place was full of “Goras” and I was the only Indian in the entire big hall, people stared at me surprisingly on finding an Indian attending an Irish party but I am now used to people staring at me with awe courtesy our bike rides!!!

The initial hour or so was quite boring with sad music playing followed by a pathetic band playing Live, infact I started yawning every minute!!! But then the mood changed with the DJ taking control of the music starting with some traditional Irish songs and by now the intoxication effect was starting to get over me, after this I was seen only at one place for the next 3 hours – yes you guessed it right “The Dance Floor”, people who know me well would relate to it as once I get to any Dance Floor & the music is to my liking then there’s no stopping me & this time it was no different either…

I danced as if there was no tomorrow, sweating profusely, shouting at the top of my voice and the best of all teaching others my “Desi-Indian” dance steps!!! Yes you got it right, I taught Bhangra Steps to people on the dance floor & they were well-received as well!!!

The best moment came when the song “Summer of 69” was played, I got up to the stage & then danced like crazy, and it was mad fun!!! I surely gave the message out that when it comes to dancing skills there’s no point competing with us Indians!!! Plus when I start dancing I really become quite high, some people might find it strange but I am damn serious!!!


The night finally ended for me at 1:30 AM, I was completely drenched in sweat and panting for breath but the exhaustion was worth every breath…I had danced this much after more than 9 months – since the “UHG Farewell Party” which my Team-Mates had organized just before I was leaving for Kuwait in March 2010.

I got back home at 2:00 AM, popped a Combiflam and then slept like a baby…

The Mighty Two...

I travelled to Kuwait in early February for my face-to-face Interviews & was taken to the Biggest GM Showroom owned by our company as part of my Kuwait Orientation Tour & saw all GM Cars – Chevrolet, Hummer, Cadillac & SAAB. Chevrolet was the brand which I could afford based on my expected salary here and I liked the 2010 Chevrolet Cruze and planned to pick it up if I got the offer to join. I had seen it on Indian Roads as well & it looked quite impressive, the difference between the Indian & Kuwaiti version was that the Kuwaiti one was a Left Hand Drive & a 1.8 Litre Petrol Engine whereas the Indian one is a Right Hand Drive & a 2.2 Litre Diesel Engine…

I joined here in March 2010 & waited to get my Kuwaiti Residency stamped on my passport which actually happened in September 2010 & I had all my plans ready to lay my hands on the Cruze…

But things changed in July 2010 as that’s when I went to the showroom again with George to buy the Chevrolet Malibu which he was buying; I saw the Red Chevrolet Lumina S featured in the Showroom and fell in love; it was actually the Bollywood style love-at-first-sight indeed!!! The colour looked so vibrant & impressive and the specs. were also damn impressive, a 6-cylinders 3.6 Litre Petrol Engine with 288 BHP of raw power, I looked no further since then & knew that my car had to be that…

I got my Civil ID finally in October 2010 & then the search for a decent 2009/2010 used-car model started as the new one was very expensive & was not matching my budget. I could not find the Red Colour even after searching at all the place, I was getting offers of Black & Silver colour but I was in no mood to change my mind…Red is the colour I like the most & I am sure some of you know that!!! My Bike “The Mighty One” is also Black with a dash of red and my wardrobe has a dash of red thrown in for good measure!!!

2 months of search bore no fruit & I was getting frustrated so I decided to buy a new car only but there also I faced some bad luck, the showroom guys had only 5 new cars in their stock & all of them were Black colour & I said fuck it man & lets go for a Black colour only albeit a used car…but then I found a very decent 2010 White Lumina S but the owner didn’t decide to sell me his car as he was not getting the price he was expecting…

But then Rani (my Syrian colleague & a very good friend) became a Messiah for me!!! One of his friends told him that a Red Lumina S was there in one of our used-car showrooms & he started calling me frantically as I was behind his life for almost 3 months to help me in finding my Dream Car!!! We went to Showroom the same evening & I fell in love all over again!!! The car was in immaculate condition, was driven for 24,000 kms & was a January 2010 Model…God finally showered all his mercy on me as whatever I wanted I got!!! No wonder God loves me the most…

Finally on Thursday 2nd December 2010 I got the delivery of the car & I drove it for the first time even though only for some 2 kms as my Kuwaiti Driving License is still not ready but then the feel was amazing, it had a zip feel to it & I knew I would have a ball of a time once I start driving it on the smooth Kuwaiti Roads here…

I named my car “The Mighty Two” continuing in the tradition of “The Mighty One”, my Royal Enfield Electra & my trusted partner for the last almost 3 years!!! And I hope The Mighty Two also becomes one here!!!

The Specs are also amazing…

1. http://kw-en.chevroletarabia.com/vehicles/view_all_vehicles/cars/lumina/index.html
2. 3600 CC, 6 cylinders & 288 BHP Petrol Engine
3. Blaupunkt Single CD Music System
4. 8-way electronically-adjusted Driving Seat
5. Red & Black Cloth Upholstery Seats – My Dream Colour-Combo!!!
6. Sports Body Kit
7. Traction Control, Front Air-Bags, Cruise Control, Manual Triptronic Gears – Sport Shift, Driver-Information System in the Front Console & Steering Controls for Music
8. And much-much more…

On 6th December 2010 I just could not stop myself & went for a spin early morning & did a 55 odd kms. stretch on the open roads with not much traffic and touched 180 kmph!!! And this one has the digital speed meter in the front console...seeing the rush towards the 180 kmph was such a high!!!

I could have gone easily to the 200 kmph mark but could not gather that much guts...plus I don’t have the license as yet so was taking a big risk of driving without one...

The control & acceleration was unbelievable & I reached 180 kmph at just 2000 RPM so one can imagine what good things are in store for me…I am sure I would reach the top-speed mark of 240 kmph very soon…Inshallah…

I am also getting the Rear Parking Sensors installed today as parking becomes a breeze with the sensors installed & anyway I am not a good reverser myself so just want to make things easy for myself…

And now the biggest threat is to keep myself in control on the roads now & I don’t want any hefty Traffic Fines here, the over speeding fine is 40 KD or 6400 INR!!!

Once my License is ready I would be taking The Mighty Two to the Desert Roads here in Abdali or Wafrah & would be testing the limits of the vehicle…

Me & my Kuwait Buddy George have sure shot plans of driving down to Bahrain (a 5-hours Road Trip) next year in the Summers once his family is in India for the Summer Vacations and I am so madly waiting for it!!!

I would be back again with the 240 kmph mark post very soon…

Till then ride/drive safe & have safe sex…