Foggy in delhi!

(For all you bike enthusiasts out there,,,let me clarify,, Carl Fogarty a.k.a Foggy didnt come to Delhi,, This is about the actual fog! :) )

When people think of mist/fog, its usually something amazing, something we've seen in movies on mountains or the most beautiful and green hills, almost heavenly, like you're sitting on a cloud and everything is floating...Brings out all the natural beauty, and the poets and artists from within us..

I like winters, and i love fog mainly cos of the 'smoke' that comes out of your mouth on a cold misty day! But then,, sometimes,, even i believe that too much of a good things is BAD!! So here goes,,

Dateline - Jan 2010
Place - Gurgaon

It was about 12 or 1, and i was about to leave office. Just then i had this conversation with the electrician...

elec: "Sir-jee, kohra(fog) bahut zyaada ho raha hai."
Me: "Koi nehi yaar, dheere chala lenge, ghar to jaana hi hai"
elec: "Par sir, aaj to zyaada hai"
me: (Thinking the guy is exaggerating as usual) "theek hai, itna kitna ho sakta hai?"
elec: "Agar aap aur mein baahar khade hote,,,to main aapko nehi dikhta"
(He was abt 5 feet away from me!)

I still thought, it can't be thaaaat bad..So i went to the parking lot, but as i stepped out, i could make out it is a bad situation,, but i could still faintly see my bike which was about 30 feet away. I thought, if without a light, i can see this much, with a light, it should be no prob!

And moreover, i would be travelling 5 out of 7 km by one of the best lit roads in the country (the NH8), so it shouldn't be a problem.. Got out, drove about half a km, at a slow and steady 20Km. This is where it got reeeally bad... The visibility drastically dropped..Maybe near my office it seemed better cos of the heat from the office building.. I could barely see 10 feet ahead of me.. I actually realised the gravity of the situation, when the i was looking for my right turn,,but i passed by it without even seeing it!!!! I knew i could drive along that road blind-folded, but this was taking it a bit too literally!! I realised i had missed the right, when i saw the neon sign of an office up ahead! I changed from driver mode, to navigator mode, keeping the speed steady, pointing the bike based on the lights of the car ahead, or on some street light or shop sign i remembered (and could see!).. I really lost it, when i almost hit a couple of pedestrians, and cursed them for not wearing reflectors... So finally, when i got to the the NH8, i breathed a sigh of relief..

But nature it seems, wanted to go that one step further, to drive the point home.. The lights on the highway, seemed to be useful at times, and disruptive at others, cos the light the gave reflected off the fog, onto me!! (sounds weird,, i know,, but you have to see to believe).. I was driving blindly following the tail lights of any car ahead.. Where this failed, i was driving based on the knowledge of the road, and the arrows and lines on it!! To make matters worse, by this time, a layer of dew had formed on my glasses, and once every minute or so, it replenished itself.. To help the cause of my dwindling vision..

So when i finally reached home, i should've been glad that i made it, and slept a good nights sleep.. But then,, a night like this could not be wasted!! So i woke maurya up, out came the cameras, and we went on a photo shoot !!

Here's what we got!!

















Let me answer a few questions here
1. The video's/photos were taken with an average mobile cam.
2. There is no color filter/blur effect applied, what you see is how it was!
3. NO, WE ARE NOT ON MARS!!






Here are a few videos we took!




A bigger and better one,,on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZpl7SrVJDE


So ppl, the next time your flight gets delayed (especially to Delhi) cos of fog, thank your stars, that in conditions like these, the pilots didnt try flying!!

At the height the cockpit and seats are, you wouldn't even see the ground when you landed!!
:D