John Grisham - Ford County

What a joke sirjee

Wow a new Grisham….Should I buy it? What a stupid question right, for any self respecting book lover I am sure even the momentary pause before picking up the book from the stand and adding it to your trolley bag would be considered sacrilege. But I had other restrictions…a couple of books I had enthusiastically bought a few weeks back were still waiting for me, and I had resolved ( ya ya in true new year spirit) that I wouldn’t buy any more books till I finished them. “That resolution is only for nonfiction books (which the two were) so I can buy a fiction one and that too a Grisham….” My internal dialogue continued and soon I was trudging back to my room with more than a couple of books…obviously buying only one book is a sin.

My girlfriend went boom “What!!!! You bought four books?? I thought you said you wanted to cut down on your expenses…that’s what you meant when you said No more Mainland China and Little Italy right?” (Well actually being a couple of years into a relationship I thought I could get away with such a statement)

So after much more such road humps I got to read the book (sometimes this makes me wonder whether the universe conspiring to direct one towards a course of action thingie from alchemist was at work here) Now the book is a compilation of short stories set in Ford County, I was salivating in the expectation that Grisham would live up to his reputation as a thriller something like Archer and Forsythe short stories. Much to my disappointment, the stories were extremely bland and frustrating. The twist in each tale was that there was no twist in the tale, Grisham will be going “HA! Gotcha there you suckers” I read through the entire book looking for some salvation but that wasn’t to happen. The story goes like a narrative, each with a thriller potential but be disappointed my friends be very disappointed. The stories go something like ‘he went to the market, bought vegetables and came back’ straightforward and bland. The book has absolutely nothing in it and personally it wouldn’t merit even the fifty bucks for a pirated copy (and I got mine from Crossword…that means 300 bucks down the drain….ah the price for being a book lover).

Now some might argue “Hey try to appreciate the flavor, he is trying to portray the life of common people, event which never come to light” but puhleeeaze…… does anyone read a Grisham for such stuff? The Grisham website says “Featuring a cast of characters you’ll never forget, these stories bring Ford County to vivid and colorful life. Often hilarious, frequently moving, and always entertaining, this collection makes it abundantly clear why John Grisham is our most popular storyteller.” My take on this is “ hey Grisham…we like you best in the courtroom dude, please don’t try any other shit and take us loyal readers for granted”

I give this book half a star out of five (the half star for the name John Grisham on the cover only)

De gaddi De Doodh ki dukaan part thoo

I apologize to no one for the delay in following up on my motorcycle diary ( he he he simply because I don’t think anyone other than me has read it). Now the reason for my “Rip Van Vinklish” writing skills to awaken is that recently while looking into my laptop bag, I found in one of its numerous zip pockets my pocket book wherein I had jotted down the entire journey. I had originally planned to give a kilometer by kilometer account, but midway realized

my odometer was probably not functional and hence am sticking to the general story. So here goes the account

Day 1

Started off from Symbiosis Boys hostel at 6:10 after having spent half an hour packing and loading all my baggage onto the bike. I didn’t want to be a character out of Hanzel and Gretel leaving behind me a trail of my belongings. This was my first long trip and I was alone too, I was sent off by Kaka, our hostel security guard and was soon thumping my way towards the Pune-Bangalore highway. Had to stop half an hour later to rearrange my luggage, my laptop bag was already making my back sore….not a good sign just starting into the journey. With some brainstorming I managed to rearrange the luggage more conveniently and was soon belting it out into the highway after Katraj.

Lesson 1 : Try to avoid carrying any weight on self, it will be a lot better to put all the weight evenly on the bike and ride freely.

By 900hrs I was getting into a nice rhythm and had also started looking around, noticing a few hotels along the highway, decided I was hungry and needed to stop for breakfast. 10Km short of Karad, I had a tasty breakfast of Idlys and tea. My bike and me were already inviting stares from others and I really felt

good. The road was awesome and I was never a speed guy, so at steady speeds of 70KMPH I was really feeling relaxed and elated. Some deficiencies were that my music player conked off and hence had to depend on myself for some background entertainment.

Lesson 2 : Keep some good music for entertainment, a mix of different songs…then you can actually sing out aloud without scaring anyone.

At 1230hrs I found myself in front of KLES Medical college calling my friend Guru, who is an associate professor in Forensic Medicine in Belgaum Medical college. Dumped my luggage at his pad and after a good lunch, we were soon catching up on each other. I had decided to halt for the day though I was feeling really fresh even after the 336 km ride. This was officially my longest ride in one day, my previous long ride being 250km from Aurangabad to Pune.

Day 2

Day 2, I started off early by 0545hrs thanks to my friend who woke me up ( else there would be no way me waking so early) This time there were no hassles in packing my luggage onto my bike. The road, being part of the Golden Quadrilateral was smooth, wide and relaxing to ride. Today’s stretch was 500km and would be my personal record for longest ride. 7 km short of Dharwad filled 10lts of petrol. My bike was giving me an amazing mileage (close to 45KMPL). I had breakfast just after Davangere, it was amazingly cheap ( Rs 12 for a plate of three Kerala Parotas). By 1230hrs I was starting to get bored, the roads were empty, straight and I was tired of my mental monologue. Also I had this burning sensation on my arms ( turned out to be a good case of sunburn)

Lesson 3 : Travelling with some company would be nice

Lesson 4: Take adequate sun protection, I was peeling skin off my arms for almost 10 days after the ride.

Lesson 5: lesson 2 revisited…music would be nice accompaniment.

By 1330hrs I was in Tumkur and decided to visit my college. Stopped on the outskirts for some tender coconut…oh it was damn refreshing. A couple of people asked me from where I was travelling and were amazed that I had reached here from Belgaum so soon ( and still I wasn’t overspeeding). In Tumkur, I caught up with few of my friends who were professors in our medical college. I was a bit exhausted and wanted to reach home as soon as possible, and hence without lingering too much started off to Bangalore. I started at 1500hrs and by 1630hrs was at Yeshwantpur ( did stop for a loo break and some petrol). It took me another two hrs to negotiate the Bangalore city traffic and reach home ( it had begun to rain also and the roads were a mess) Reached home exhausted but elated. I had done it. My bike had performed flawlessly and I had only consumed 22lts of petrol for the entire journey. This had worked out a lot cheaper than I expected.

As I look back on the trip I wish I had been more adventurous and had visited more places, I wish I took more pictures, for that I realized I needed to keep my camera handy, keeping it in the bag proved too time consuming where I had to stop, take the camera out click and then put it back, restart the bike. More often than not, while I was riding, by the time I debated to stop for a pic, I would have already crossed the place and would have had to turn back for a picture. I wish I had researched more on the route so that I could have visited some places rather than sticking to the road. But considering this was my first ride I am proud of it and happy I did it. As my enthusiasm for more such ride builds up, I have decided to make the trip more memorable than just feel good that I had made the trip.