Adventure, fun and excitement

Being in this profession, it’s hard for me to look forward to a holiday on a weekend. It’s a luxury if I get one and whenever I do, I reserve some of the best things for that time.

I’ve always been fond of adventure rides and there are a group of us who have been regularly riding for the last couple of years. So, some of my weekends are reserved for these rides. The planning for the ride, if any, starts on a Friday evening. We decide the captain of the team — the one who usually leads — and the route map. Sometimes, I take over as the captain. The captain has the responsibility of maintaining a certain speed and conforming to safety standards.  

The passion for riding and bikes was sown in me after I watched Sanjay Dutt ride a Harley Davidson in the movie ‘Musafir’. He rode a Street Bob and I had decided back then that my first purchase would be a Street Bob which I bought four years ago. With the bike arriving, the rides have become more interesting, exciting and adventurous. We usually ride to Madikeri where my friend Abhijit owns a cosy place. I reserve time on the weekend for my family too.

We like going for brunches at ITC Windsor on Saturday or Sunday and then visit my father’s friends. We also settle down to a movie, either at my place or at a friend’s house.

Comedy is the preferred genre. I usually don’t watch my movies with my friends because they have a gala time pulling my leg!

People sometimes ask me if marriage has changed anything for me. I tell them that my life has remained the same. Ragini and I dated for 10 years before we got married. Now, the only change is that we stay under one roof.    

If I happen to stay at home, then Ragini, my brother Pranam and I play a round of foosball. Ragini and I are a team and she always manages to overtake the rest of us in the game. Sometimes,  I also play a round of tennis with my father Devaraj.

If I have more time, then I settle down at my PlayStation. I have all the latest games stocked.

Both Pranam and I are big video game freaks. I travel a lot on work and miss home food. So, whenever I am home and not on a diet, my mother Chandra makes some of my favourite dishes.

The menu is usually ‘masala dosa’ for breakfast and ‘chicken biryani’ and ‘gulab jamun’ for lunch and dinner. When I am on a diet, I stick to ‘ragi mudde’ with an accompaniment like any ‘saru’.

Ragini too cooks well. She is a vegetarian and doesn’t usually cook non-vegetarian dishes but since I like non-vegetarian food, she once tried making ‘chicken fry’ on one of the weekends. And I must say that, it came out really well.

 Ragini is an experimental cook and finds interesting recipes online. This is also one of our weekend pastimes.    

Our pet dog Archie was gifted to us by one of my friends. Archie’s mother is from
Norway while his father is from Holland. He’s three-and-a-half years old and is a
special member of the family. He demands a lot of attention and gets it too.  Our pet has been named Archie because I am a big fan of Archie comics and have about 300 of them.

Every weekend is special for me because I do things that make me happy. More than me enjoying the weekend, what’s important to me is that the people around me feel good and stay happy. 

(As told to Nina C George)