On 20th December, the Red Stallion completed 10000 km.
Hmm it took me exactly 6 months to complete the 10K, although I had planned in less than 5 months. Maybe none of the things you plan out materialize. Also my riding schedule has gone a bit awry because of heavy office work load.
Anyways, the icing on the cake was that I touched the personal best in terms of top speed.
130 km/hr near the new Katraj tunnel on NH4. Sounds fast right!!!!!!
I know this is way beyond the top speed claimed by Bajaj (which happens to be 121). But I cheated and took the help of slope and also I fully ducted on the tank. Man! Things move too fast at 130. I was in a dual state of mind whether to look on the road or at speedo and I gave preference to former (obvisouly). But last thing I saw on speedo was 130.
Who Feels Love?
Oasis - Band that changed my life
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Nitrogen works
I had heard on lot of motorcycling forums that filling up the tyres with Nitrogen greatly helps the performance. I had even heard that there is an improvement in mileage as well. So me the curious buff, decided to test the nitrogen myth on my bike. Results.....
- The only advantage I found was that in last 5 months I checked the air pressure only twice after interval of 2 months each. Surprisingly the air pressure was low by only 1 or 2 psi. I wikied and found that the nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen and hence the air escape ratio is lower in case of nitrogen. This is a great news for a lazy bone like me.
- Increase in mileage thing is a bluff. The truth is, people normally do not think that tyre pressure is an essential thing to check. So they do not care to check the psi level frequently which should ideally be done every 2 weeks which results in lower mileage. Now as they fill Nitrogen, the air pressure remains as it is so they fell that mileage has increased. But as a matter of fact, that is the mileage which they should be getting in normal circumstances.
- Now the main thing... Price (Every Indian's criteria of judging the things). I filled up Nitrogen for 30 bucks in both wheels. Seems quite expensive!!! Well, I dont think so. Every fortnight, I end up paying 2 bucks to the puncture wala for checking tyre pressure. So eventually , in 7.5 months I will spend 30 bucks. The difference is that I will have to visit the local puncture wala for 15 times whereas for nitrogen, I will visit him just 3 or at max 4 times.
So final verdict is.. Nitrogen in tyres is good thing to have.
It is available with the HP pump in Hinjewadi (one having Crossword).
Mahabaleshwar ride
29th Nov 2008
We4 people --Ravi , his wife Trupti, my friend Devyani and me went to a ride to Mahabaleshwar on 2 bikes. Sadly, we chose a wrong day as it was pretty cloudy, but me and ravi were planning for this trip for quite some time and we didnt wanted to cancel the trip again. The decision proved a bit costly.
We started at 0630. The clouds became darker and darker as we approached Mahabaleshwar and mild showers were accompanying us all the way. And then it started raining heavily. As we approached the ghats, we were completely drenched by 0900. Started ascending ghats and the visibility started getting shorter and shorter. And in the end we were not able to see each other's bikes also. Visibility was almost 5 meters. Reached Mahabaleshwar by 1030.
There was no point in going to any tourist spots as visibility was next to nothing. All we saw was clouds. We were almost eating clouds. But then for sometime, the Rain-Gods showed some mercy upon us and the weather cleared a bit. Quickly we made our way to elephant point and clicked some snaps. As we were all drenched up, a hot cup of tea became order of the day. We had tea wherever we could lay our hands upon. But again the clouds got darker and rains...
Finally decided that not point in roaming around here and there. Even a tourist spot like Mahabaleshwar can become a ghost town. We lost our way in the town while returning back to Pune and we were really not able to find any people on the road to help us out. Finally some by passer appeared and showed us the way.
We purchased some strawberries and started back to Pune. On the way, decided to have lunch at Mapro's at almost 1500. Hmm, I had heard a lot about it,, but experience wasn't that good. A bit overpriced and way to over hyped is all I can say about Mapro.
Reached Pune at almost 1930 and I was shivering all the way back as I was completely drenched from head to toe. Making way through hopeless traffic of Swargate and Solapur road, I dropped Devu at Magarpatta City(one corner of Pune). Again making my way back through the same dumb-ass traffic, I reached my home at Pashan (other corner of Pune) at 2130.
Decided I will never ever pick a pillion from the other corner of Pune from here after.
Those final few kms in the city traffic are way more tiring than the hundreds of kms I cover during the day.
I didn't even have a dinner and slept of almost instantaneously as I was dead tired.
Statistics:-
Distance :- 323 kms
Route :- Pune - Mahabaleshwar - Pune
We4 people --Ravi , his wife Trupti, my friend Devyani and me went to a ride to Mahabaleshwar on 2 bikes. Sadly, we chose a wrong day as it was pretty cloudy, but me and ravi were planning for this trip for quite some time and we didnt wanted to cancel the trip again. The decision proved a bit costly.
We started at 0630. The clouds became darker and darker as we approached Mahabaleshwar and mild showers were accompanying us all the way. And then it started raining heavily. As we approached the ghats, we were completely drenched by 0900. Started ascending ghats and the visibility started getting shorter and shorter. And in the end we were not able to see each other's bikes also. Visibility was almost 5 meters. Reached Mahabaleshwar by 1030.
There was no point in going to any tourist spots as visibility was next to nothing. All we saw was clouds. We were almost eating clouds. But then for sometime, the Rain-Gods showed some mercy upon us and the weather cleared a bit. Quickly we made our way to elephant point and clicked some snaps. As we were all drenched up, a hot cup of tea became order of the day. We had tea wherever we could lay our hands upon. But again the clouds got darker and rains...
Finally decided that not point in roaming around here and there. Even a tourist spot like Mahabaleshwar can become a ghost town. We lost our way in the town while returning back to Pune and we were really not able to find any people on the road to help us out. Finally some by passer appeared and showed us the way.
We purchased some strawberries and started back to Pune. On the way, decided to have lunch at Mapro's at almost 1500. Hmm, I had heard a lot about it,, but experience wasn't that good. A bit overpriced and way to over hyped is all I can say about Mapro.
Reached Pune at almost 1930 and I was shivering all the way back as I was completely drenched from head to toe. Making way through hopeless traffic of Swargate and Solapur road, I dropped Devu at Magarpatta City(one corner of Pune). Again making my way back through the same dumb-ass traffic, I reached my home at Pashan (other corner of Pune) at 2130.
Decided I will never ever pick a pillion from the other corner of Pune from here after.
Those final few kms in the city traffic are way more tiring than the hundreds of kms I cover during the day.
I didn't even have a dinner and slept of almost instantaneously as I was dead tired.
Statistics:-
Distance :- 323 kms
Route :- Pune - Mahabaleshwar - Pune
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Pune Nagpur Pune Ride
Date : - 8th November
Route : -
As expected, I forgot to purchase the Crep bandage for my knee. And I was to suffer because of that in the later part of my ride. I decided to start after dawn because the initial 50 km from Nagpur to Kondhali are not at all good. The 4 laning of the road is underway and as usual the upper lights of the oncoming vehicles would have created problems. So I started at 0600 taking the Hingna Road towards Wadi. The stretch till Kondhali was as expected very rough but at least most of the vehicles had switched off their head lamps so I made it to Kondhali just by 0700.
I saw a bunch of guys and girls on their bikes heading out for a trip or something. It made me remember my college days. Man!!! Those were great days.
The awesome Kondhali- Talegaon stretch was off in a whip. I was in some experimenting mood. I decided that I will break only after 100 kms and no way before that (just stopping for emergency leak breaks in between). Also this time I took different route back. I didn’t go to Karanja after Amravati but straightaway headed to Khamgaon via Akola. The trip was quite eventless till Khamgaon. Except that I tasted one of the worst teas at one of the dhabas on the way. I had to throw away the tea as I almost got nauseated because of its taste. I had a long day ahead and didn’t want to experiment with my health.
Till Khamgaon for almost 300 kms I took 10 mins breaks only after each 100 kms. The road used to switch from good- bad- worse- good. I made it to Khamgaon by 1100. A left before Khamgaon and I was off towards Chikhli. This time around I never encountered any problem for directions as the sign boards were quite helpful. However I miscued one of the turns and was on the way to Dhule before being corrected by a local. He asked me for a lift till Chikhli but sadly my back seat was all packed up with bag.
The stretch from Khamgaon to Jalna was quite lonesome but kind off scenic. I said kind off because the landscapes were not as beautiful as the any of the ghats in Sahyadris. It was just a barren patch of land for almost 100 kms with farmlands in between. There was quite upheaval in the land level which resulted in formation of small tekdis along the way. But somehow I really like such kind of places. All deserted with no remote human movement. Just a village after few tens of kms otherwise everything just silent.
The traffic was very less. The cattle and bullock carts were more of a menace on this road as compared to vehicles. Yeah, also the red ST buses. They never ever give a damn to bikers. During this trip I never encountered a bad truck driver but I also didn’t encounter a single good bus driver. Several times I had to go off roads because the ST bus in front of me wanted to use the entire road for overtaking without acknowledging my existence on the road. Well, I never had any other option. I decided to keep it cool and voluntarily go off road if I see any overtaking ST bus coming in front of me.
Well, I just didn’t took any major breaks till Jalna though I wanted to. I was stubbornly adamant that I won’t be having lunch before Jalna. At last I crossed Jalna at 1330 and now Pune was 300 km. I thought it was time for well deserved break. Got hold of one decent hotel where I thought the security guard will guard the bag on my bike all strapped by bungee cords with great difficulty. I didn’t want to repeat the process again. But he straightaway refused. I would have generously paid him for guarding the bag. But he was in no mood. I had to remove all that stuff from my bike and carry it in the restaurant.
Lunch break took 45 mins and I was feeling refreshed. But my bum had become sore and for the first time I felt as if I should stop for the day. I never had any option as I was supposed to be in office on FridayL. Strapping the bag again on bike took me another 15 mins. I started off with IPOD blurting Iron Maiden and AC/DC numbers so that I should not fall asleep after a good lunch.
Jalna- Aurangabad stretch is again a mixture- good-bad- worse. I reached Aurangabad by 1530. The city traffic hit me like a bolt and I was finding it difficult to carry on. The traffic was not heavy as in Pune, but still the ride was departure from the one I was doing since morning. I somehow managed to crawl off the city. I filled the tank up to the brim so that I could take a break and also be free of petrol worries. Pune read 220 kms. After starting, I had not even covered 40 kms and I had to stop otherwise my bum would have fallen off. Took out one T shirt from my bag and spread it on the seat so as to provide some cushion. Washed my face and started off. The heat was getting better of me. Thank god it was winter (although it didn’t felt like one, thanks to Global Warming).
At last reached the good stretch between Aurangabad and Nagar. Soon I was doing 100+. I had realized that I was not going to make home any sooner than 1930. So there was no question of bettering my personal best of Pune – Nagpur under 13 hours. I crossed Nagar at 1700. Took a long break and had one ice cold Thums Up at a dhaba with my bum resting on the stringed beds we typically find at dhabas. By now it was getting dark and again I feared the uppers from oncoming vehicles. So I started off quickly and tried to make as much distance as possible before complete dark.
But the Nagar- Pune road is a serious joke I think. There are so many lanes under various stages of completion. It reminded me of the Need For Speed 3’s one track named Lost Canyons. I thoroughly used to enjoy that track as it provided ample opportunities to overtake with lot of crash-boom-bang. But any of the crash-boom-bang here means I am off for good. Suddenly my prayers were answered and I saw one beige Baleno in front of me hastily overtaking all the vehicles ahead. “Bakra mil gaya” I thought. I started tailgating him at a safe distance on 50-100m and soon it was only 2 of us on the road with no one in rear view mirror. I have to admit he was one hell of a driver. I found it very hard to keep up with him as he was doing almost 80-90 on that stupid road. Tailgating at safe distance provided me 2 advantages:-
· I got to know about the diversions
· As I was driving on the left hand side of the car, it avoided the glare of the oncoming headlights.
But as all good things come to an end, a toll gate came and that car got stuck in the long queue. I don’t know for what they were collecting the toll, it was not for the road I am sure. I know I am heavily criticizing the road—maybe it wasn’t that bad. But at that time my mood was bad and the road just added to the irritation. The road was not having many potholes, but there were abrupt diversions and too many.
As I had lost my ally on the road I started searching for any other fast car to tailgate. But no car was going anywhere above 70. So I had to carry on alone. Soon I saw something flashing in my rear view mirror and I was more than happy to give side. And it was the same Baleno. Man!! This guy was a maniac. He cleared the queue at toll gate and still managed to catch me up in less than 10kms. Again I happily started tailgating him. This time my sore bum eventually made me stop and let that car go. Pune was less than 60 kms now and thanks to that Baleno, the last 60 kms seemed to be nonexistent. (The feeling for which I was hoping since last 200 kms). As it was complete dark now, my speed dropped considerably and reached Ranjangaon by 1815. From there it was traffic all the way to Pune. At last I reached Kalyani Nagar where again I encountered that Baleno. Poor guy!! Got stuck behind a PMT. I reached my home on Sus Road exactly at 2000.
Although the last few hours of the trip were kind of torturing for me, but still I enjoyed the trip immensely. First thing I have to do now is to get the seat covers changed and put some cushion inside it. Needless to say, mom was happy to see me back. Called up all of my worried friends and told that I have reached safely. Accepted bricks and bats from most of them and praises from them who are aware of this wonderful world of biking.
The trip meter clocked 1673 kms which included commutes in Nagpur as well.
Route : -
Pune – Ahmednagar – Aurangabad – Jalna – Mehkar – Karanja – Amravati – Nagpur
Distance : - 725 kms
Time Reqd. : - 12 hours 45 mins
Distance : - 725 kms
Time Reqd. : - 12 hours 45 mins
Route Map:-
0500 hrs
I was ready for my ride to Nagpur. The one I was dreaming since long. My Red Stallion (P200) was going to see my home at Nagpur where I was born and brought up. Gosh!! I miss Nagpur sooo much!!! As usual I was a bit pensive at start of ride because this was my first solo ride for such a long distance. I expected to reach Nagpur somewhere by 2000 hrs. I wanted to hit NH6 near Amravati before the dusk so that I do not need to search for routes in dark. From Amravati it was all the way straight to Nagpur.
The Nagar road was empty unlike NH4 where I have done most of my rides before. I was waiting for dawn so that I can start ripping off. The stupid drivers on Indian roads like to ride with headlights in UPPER making life miserable for oncoming traffic especially the 2 wheelers. After 0600 the horizon started to lighten up. But still I was in no mood to start ripping. Also the road wasn’t that good. Still I made it to Ahmednagar by 0715. The tank wasn’t anywhere near empty but still I topped it up as most of my route wasn’t a National Highway and I was not sure of number of petrol pumps on the way. Having small breakfast of cakes and cookies which I had brought from home, started towards Aurangabad. I was not at all expecting a good road, but brilliant stretch just after Ahmednagar was a sudden jolt to me. Here the roads were so inviting that I couldn’t stop the urge to rip off. I told myself to make the most out of good stretch which will compensate for any bad roads further. Soon I was travelling at 100-110. The bike was responding like anything. I just fell in love with my bike again. During the whole ride I do not recall how many times I did.
The next 100 kms to Aurangabad I covered in less than 1.5 hours which raised my hopes of reaching Nagpur earlier than I anticipated. Now I was hoping to reach Nagpur by 1900 instead of 2000 as scheduled. The next stretch was towards Jalna. The roads are not so good. I was going so fast as compared to other vehicles on road that I always ended up with my rear view mirror empty. I am used to riding on traffic heavy roads like NH4 or NH17 which always had some Safaris, Mercs to make you realize that your bike is underpowered. But as this route was a State Highway (SH), the traffic was altogether different. I encountered only a handful of taxies on the way and the brainless State Transport buses. And not to forget the local town guys on their 100/125cc bikes. I got some weird looks from onlookers because of my attire. I was covered from head to toe with gloves and a heavy jacket because of so-called winter.
Just before Jalna, I missed the bypass somehow and ended up in a mess called as Jalna city. I started asking locals for Mehkar, my next stop. One auto-driver told me way to Mehkar. Somehow I felt that he was not telling the right way. I asked another auto-driver and then I came to know that there are two Mehkar towns, one in Beed district and other one in Buldhana. I wanted the Buldhana one. After maneuvering my way through small lanes of the city, I finally ended up on way to Mehkar. The road from Jalna- Mehkar is OK-good kinda road. Time was almost 1030 and heat started to rise. It was never unbearable though. This stretch was really lonesome and ironically my Ipod started playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.
So I walked(rode) alone... I walked alone....... :-)
I reached Mehkar and this time I made a point not to miss the bypass. I was quite hungry by now. The funny thing was that in this part of Maharashtra, not many people travel by personal vehicles. So absence of good restaurants was quite evident. There was not even a decent restaurant on the way. All were just makeshifts from a house to restaurants. Just few kilometers from Mehkar, saw a restaurant named Pariwar. After one look at it, I felt there must be a good restaurant inside it. As my bike was all strapped up, I had asked the security guard to just keep an eye. He responded enthusiastically. While leaving I handed a 10 bucks to him and he was really surprised. As this place was quite small, 10 bucks seemed to be a grand tip. I asked him the route forward to Nagpur and he was more than happy to help. He almost explained me the nature of next 2 diversions, one near Malegaon and next near Karanja. Those helped me a lot.
Wait a minute. This is not that Malegaon where recently some bomb blasts happened. I really wonder did Maharashtra villages run out of name during their naming-ceremony. I already know 4 Malkapurs, 2 Mehkars, 3 Khandalas and now 2 Malegaons in Maharashtra itself. And on the way I encountered 2 different Karanjas too. Phew!!!!The SHs in Vidarbha are excellent. Nice signboards on smoothly laid tarmac. Although the road was single lane, sparse traffic made the ride easy. Again I hit 100+ all the way till Karanja. I crossed Malegaon and then cruised towards Karanja.
Just before Karanja, I found 2 routes going to Nagpur, one via Wardha and other via Amravati. I stuck to my plan and took a left turn towards Amravati. The high speeds continued even after Karanja. I couldn’t believe I was going so fast. I had covered almost 500 kms since morning. The breaks were limited to just 5-10 mins after every hour or so. The bike was at its phenomenal best. It was performing as if it was built only for such rides. It was as if the city commutes don’t interest her. The growl at first gear, the half switch start, the pick up at any gear and on and on and on. I can go on writing about her pros.
At about 1450, I took one break just in middle of nowhere. I decided to take a good look at my bike and me. Washed up my face as I was feeling sleepy. My right knee had started to pain. I was using the right leg a bit too much as rear brake of Pulsar 200 is not very good and at every stop I had to apply a great deal of pressure for braking. I decided to purchase one of those elastic crep bandages for my knee in Nagpur for my return trip. The pain was there till end of ride. All I could do was to stretch my legs during the breaks.
I decided that I am going to rip all the way till Nagpur and see how fast I can reach there.At last I hit NH6 and was greeted by traffic. The road conditions degraded. But I was well before my scheduled time when I reached Amravati. The Amravati bypass is stunning which reminded me of NH4. I had last fuelled up after Jalna; the tank was more than half empty. I started searching for petrol pumps. Co-incidentally none of the pumps were having petrol. After searching for almost 50 kms, encountered a Petrol Pump which was overflowing with vehicles. As I made it the point to reach Nagpur before sunset, I didn’t want to waste any time. I decided to skip that one and headed forward and found out another pump hardly few kms ahead and it was totally empty. Took one 15 mins break there at a dhaba besides. The dhaba boy enquired about the bike and was pretty pleased to have a look at red P200 coming from Pune. Nagpur was about 100 kms of which first 50 kms from Talegaon- Kondhali was world class 4 lane road and then from Kondhali- Nagpur was worst class.
Just before Kondhali when the 4 lane -road was about to be over, I spotted a stationery police jeep at a long sweeping right hand turn. I was doing more than 100 at that time. I braked immediately but couldn’t slow down much and I saw a policeman waving at me. My heart skipped a beat. Last thing I wanted was a stoppage and that too by Police. As I neared him and I was about to stop, he just said loudly in Marathi “Halu re pora” (Slow down son). I apologized with a wave of my hand and was greatly relieved that he was just advising me. No further than 50m, I saw the reason for his advice. A heavily mangled bike was carried away by two people. But I couldn’t see the other vehicle though.
Suddenly I was brought back to the reality. I had made sure to take at most care while driving. I never overtook from wrong side and always gave side to bigger vehicles specially coming from the other side. Abruptly, the words of some of my near and dear ones about hazards of riding recalled automatically. It’s not that I am not aware of them. But the passion and craving for riding is much stronger than the fear of something untoward.
It is said by Paulo Coelho in THE ALCHEMIST
“If you really wish to achieve something, the whole universe conspires to help you in your endeavors”.
So I know as long as I have passion, I will always be guided in some way or other. Anyways I am now habitual of seeing accident sites during my rides and I always take them as a reminder and try to drive as safely as I can.
I finally made it to Nagpur by 1745. There I met my buddy Vishal whom I was updating my ride details since morning. He was also very well excited about my ride. He is one of my friends who loves riding as well and never questions me when I say I am gonna go for a ride. And it was he who suggested me the Mehkar- Karanja route instead of the Chikhli one and I ended up in Nagpur almost 2 hours before expected.
I took just 12 hrs 45 mins. Heck! I beat the Pune- Nagpur Super Fast express (15 hrs 30 mins) and also the Khurana Volvo (13hrs 30 mins). Feeling proud of myself for this small achievement, me and Vishal opted to party out in the night. Although I was tired, I didnt mind it.
One of the best days of my life and the my best ride till date.
HAIL! THE RED STALLION
The Nagar road was empty unlike NH4 where I have done most of my rides before. I was waiting for dawn so that I can start ripping off. The stupid drivers on Indian roads like to ride with headlights in UPPER making life miserable for oncoming traffic especially the 2 wheelers. After 0600 the horizon started to lighten up. But still I was in no mood to start ripping. Also the road wasn’t that good. Still I made it to Ahmednagar by 0715. The tank wasn’t anywhere near empty but still I topped it up as most of my route wasn’t a National Highway and I was not sure of number of petrol pumps on the way. Having small breakfast of cakes and cookies which I had brought from home, started towards Aurangabad. I was not at all expecting a good road, but brilliant stretch just after Ahmednagar was a sudden jolt to me. Here the roads were so inviting that I couldn’t stop the urge to rip off. I told myself to make the most out of good stretch which will compensate for any bad roads further. Soon I was travelling at 100-110. The bike was responding like anything. I just fell in love with my bike again. During the whole ride I do not recall how many times I did.
The next 100 kms to Aurangabad I covered in less than 1.5 hours which raised my hopes of reaching Nagpur earlier than I anticipated. Now I was hoping to reach Nagpur by 1900 instead of 2000 as scheduled. The next stretch was towards Jalna. The roads are not so good. I was going so fast as compared to other vehicles on road that I always ended up with my rear view mirror empty. I am used to riding on traffic heavy roads like NH4 or NH17 which always had some Safaris, Mercs to make you realize that your bike is underpowered. But as this route was a State Highway (SH), the traffic was altogether different. I encountered only a handful of taxies on the way and the brainless State Transport buses. And not to forget the local town guys on their 100/125cc bikes. I got some weird looks from onlookers because of my attire. I was covered from head to toe with gloves and a heavy jacket because of so-called winter.
Just before Jalna, I missed the bypass somehow and ended up in a mess called as Jalna city. I started asking locals for Mehkar, my next stop. One auto-driver told me way to Mehkar. Somehow I felt that he was not telling the right way. I asked another auto-driver and then I came to know that there are two Mehkar towns, one in Beed district and other one in Buldhana. I wanted the Buldhana one. After maneuvering my way through small lanes of the city, I finally ended up on way to Mehkar. The road from Jalna- Mehkar is OK-good kinda road. Time was almost 1030 and heat started to rise. It was never unbearable though. This stretch was really lonesome and ironically my Ipod started playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.
So I walked(rode) alone... I walked alone....... :-)
I reached Mehkar and this time I made a point not to miss the bypass. I was quite hungry by now. The funny thing was that in this part of Maharashtra, not many people travel by personal vehicles. So absence of good restaurants was quite evident. There was not even a decent restaurant on the way. All were just makeshifts from a house to restaurants. Just few kilometers from Mehkar, saw a restaurant named Pariwar. After one look at it, I felt there must be a good restaurant inside it. As my bike was all strapped up, I had asked the security guard to just keep an eye. He responded enthusiastically. While leaving I handed a 10 bucks to him and he was really surprised. As this place was quite small, 10 bucks seemed to be a grand tip. I asked him the route forward to Nagpur and he was more than happy to help. He almost explained me the nature of next 2 diversions, one near Malegaon and next near Karanja. Those helped me a lot.
Wait a minute. This is not that Malegaon where recently some bomb blasts happened. I really wonder did Maharashtra villages run out of name during their naming-ceremony. I already know 4 Malkapurs, 2 Mehkars, 3 Khandalas and now 2 Malegaons in Maharashtra itself. And on the way I encountered 2 different Karanjas too. Phew!!!!The SHs in Vidarbha are excellent. Nice signboards on smoothly laid tarmac. Although the road was single lane, sparse traffic made the ride easy. Again I hit 100+ all the way till Karanja. I crossed Malegaon and then cruised towards Karanja.
Just before Karanja, I found 2 routes going to Nagpur, one via Wardha and other via Amravati. I stuck to my plan and took a left turn towards Amravati. The high speeds continued even after Karanja. I couldn’t believe I was going so fast. I had covered almost 500 kms since morning. The breaks were limited to just 5-10 mins after every hour or so. The bike was at its phenomenal best. It was performing as if it was built only for such rides. It was as if the city commutes don’t interest her. The growl at first gear, the half switch start, the pick up at any gear and on and on and on. I can go on writing about her pros.
At about 1450, I took one break just in middle of nowhere. I decided to take a good look at my bike and me. Washed up my face as I was feeling sleepy. My right knee had started to pain. I was using the right leg a bit too much as rear brake of Pulsar 200 is not very good and at every stop I had to apply a great deal of pressure for braking. I decided to purchase one of those elastic crep bandages for my knee in Nagpur for my return trip. The pain was there till end of ride. All I could do was to stretch my legs during the breaks.
I decided that I am going to rip all the way till Nagpur and see how fast I can reach there.At last I hit NH6 and was greeted by traffic. The road conditions degraded. But I was well before my scheduled time when I reached Amravati. The Amravati bypass is stunning which reminded me of NH4. I had last fuelled up after Jalna; the tank was more than half empty. I started searching for petrol pumps. Co-incidentally none of the pumps were having petrol. After searching for almost 50 kms, encountered a Petrol Pump which was overflowing with vehicles. As I made it the point to reach Nagpur before sunset, I didn’t want to waste any time. I decided to skip that one and headed forward and found out another pump hardly few kms ahead and it was totally empty. Took one 15 mins break there at a dhaba besides. The dhaba boy enquired about the bike and was pretty pleased to have a look at red P200 coming from Pune. Nagpur was about 100 kms of which first 50 kms from Talegaon- Kondhali was world class 4 lane road and then from Kondhali- Nagpur was worst class.
Just before Kondhali when the 4 lane -road was about to be over, I spotted a stationery police jeep at a long sweeping right hand turn. I was doing more than 100 at that time. I braked immediately but couldn’t slow down much and I saw a policeman waving at me. My heart skipped a beat. Last thing I wanted was a stoppage and that too by Police. As I neared him and I was about to stop, he just said loudly in Marathi “Halu re pora” (Slow down son). I apologized with a wave of my hand and was greatly relieved that he was just advising me. No further than 50m, I saw the reason for his advice. A heavily mangled bike was carried away by two people. But I couldn’t see the other vehicle though.
Suddenly I was brought back to the reality. I had made sure to take at most care while driving. I never overtook from wrong side and always gave side to bigger vehicles specially coming from the other side. Abruptly, the words of some of my near and dear ones about hazards of riding recalled automatically. It’s not that I am not aware of them. But the passion and craving for riding is much stronger than the fear of something untoward.
It is said by Paulo Coelho in THE ALCHEMIST
“If you really wish to achieve something, the whole universe conspires to help you in your endeavors”.
So I know as long as I have passion, I will always be guided in some way or other. Anyways I am now habitual of seeing accident sites during my rides and I always take them as a reminder and try to drive as safely as I can.
I finally made it to Nagpur by 1745. There I met my buddy Vishal whom I was updating my ride details since morning. He was also very well excited about my ride. He is one of my friends who loves riding as well and never questions me when I say I am gonna go for a ride. And it was he who suggested me the Mehkar- Karanja route instead of the Chikhli one and I ended up in Nagpur almost 2 hours before expected.
I took just 12 hrs 45 mins. Heck! I beat the Pune- Nagpur Super Fast express (15 hrs 30 mins) and also the Khurana Volvo (13hrs 30 mins). Feeling proud of myself for this small achievement, me and Vishal opted to party out in the night. Although I was tired, I didnt mind it.
One of the best days of my life and the my best ride till date.
HAIL! THE RED STALLION
*******************************************************************************
Date : - 13th November
Route : -
Route : -
Nagpur – Amravati – Khamgaon – Chikhli – Jalna – Aurangabad – Ahmednagar – Pune
Distance : - 746 kms
Time Reqd. : - 14 hours
Distance : - 746 kms
Time Reqd. : - 14 hours
Route Map :-
As expected, I forgot to purchase the Crep bandage for my knee. And I was to suffer because of that in the later part of my ride. I decided to start after dawn because the initial 50 km from Nagpur to Kondhali are not at all good. The 4 laning of the road is underway and as usual the upper lights of the oncoming vehicles would have created problems. So I started at 0600 taking the Hingna Road towards Wadi. The stretch till Kondhali was as expected very rough but at least most of the vehicles had switched off their head lamps so I made it to Kondhali just by 0700.
I saw a bunch of guys and girls on their bikes heading out for a trip or something. It made me remember my college days. Man!!! Those were great days.
The awesome Kondhali- Talegaon stretch was off in a whip. I was in some experimenting mood. I decided that I will break only after 100 kms and no way before that (just stopping for emergency leak breaks in between). Also this time I took different route back. I didn’t go to Karanja after Amravati but straightaway headed to Khamgaon via Akola. The trip was quite eventless till Khamgaon. Except that I tasted one of the worst teas at one of the dhabas on the way. I had to throw away the tea as I almost got nauseated because of its taste. I had a long day ahead and didn’t want to experiment with my health.
Till Khamgaon for almost 300 kms I took 10 mins breaks only after each 100 kms. The road used to switch from good- bad- worse- good. I made it to Khamgaon by 1100. A left before Khamgaon and I was off towards Chikhli. This time around I never encountered any problem for directions as the sign boards were quite helpful. However I miscued one of the turns and was on the way to Dhule before being corrected by a local. He asked me for a lift till Chikhli but sadly my back seat was all packed up with bag.
The stretch from Khamgaon to Jalna was quite lonesome but kind off scenic. I said kind off because the landscapes were not as beautiful as the any of the ghats in Sahyadris. It was just a barren patch of land for almost 100 kms with farmlands in between. There was quite upheaval in the land level which resulted in formation of small tekdis along the way. But somehow I really like such kind of places. All deserted with no remote human movement. Just a village after few tens of kms otherwise everything just silent.
The traffic was very less. The cattle and bullock carts were more of a menace on this road as compared to vehicles. Yeah, also the red ST buses. They never ever give a damn to bikers. During this trip I never encountered a bad truck driver but I also didn’t encounter a single good bus driver. Several times I had to go off roads because the ST bus in front of me wanted to use the entire road for overtaking without acknowledging my existence on the road. Well, I never had any other option. I decided to keep it cool and voluntarily go off road if I see any overtaking ST bus coming in front of me.
Well, I just didn’t took any major breaks till Jalna though I wanted to. I was stubbornly adamant that I won’t be having lunch before Jalna. At last I crossed Jalna at 1330 and now Pune was 300 km. I thought it was time for well deserved break. Got hold of one decent hotel where I thought the security guard will guard the bag on my bike all strapped by bungee cords with great difficulty. I didn’t want to repeat the process again. But he straightaway refused. I would have generously paid him for guarding the bag. But he was in no mood. I had to remove all that stuff from my bike and carry it in the restaurant.
Lunch break took 45 mins and I was feeling refreshed. But my bum had become sore and for the first time I felt as if I should stop for the day. I never had any option as I was supposed to be in office on FridayL. Strapping the bag again on bike took me another 15 mins. I started off with IPOD blurting Iron Maiden and AC/DC numbers so that I should not fall asleep after a good lunch.
Jalna- Aurangabad stretch is again a mixture- good-bad- worse. I reached Aurangabad by 1530. The city traffic hit me like a bolt and I was finding it difficult to carry on. The traffic was not heavy as in Pune, but still the ride was departure from the one I was doing since morning. I somehow managed to crawl off the city. I filled the tank up to the brim so that I could take a break and also be free of petrol worries. Pune read 220 kms. After starting, I had not even covered 40 kms and I had to stop otherwise my bum would have fallen off. Took out one T shirt from my bag and spread it on the seat so as to provide some cushion. Washed my face and started off. The heat was getting better of me. Thank god it was winter (although it didn’t felt like one, thanks to Global Warming).
At last reached the good stretch between Aurangabad and Nagar. Soon I was doing 100+. I had realized that I was not going to make home any sooner than 1930. So there was no question of bettering my personal best of Pune – Nagpur under 13 hours. I crossed Nagar at 1700. Took a long break and had one ice cold Thums Up at a dhaba with my bum resting on the stringed beds we typically find at dhabas. By now it was getting dark and again I feared the uppers from oncoming vehicles. So I started off quickly and tried to make as much distance as possible before complete dark.
But the Nagar- Pune road is a serious joke I think. There are so many lanes under various stages of completion. It reminded me of the Need For Speed 3’s one track named Lost Canyons. I thoroughly used to enjoy that track as it provided ample opportunities to overtake with lot of crash-boom-bang. But any of the crash-boom-bang here means I am off for good. Suddenly my prayers were answered and I saw one beige Baleno in front of me hastily overtaking all the vehicles ahead. “Bakra mil gaya” I thought. I started tailgating him at a safe distance on 50-100m and soon it was only 2 of us on the road with no one in rear view mirror. I have to admit he was one hell of a driver. I found it very hard to keep up with him as he was doing almost 80-90 on that stupid road. Tailgating at safe distance provided me 2 advantages:-
· I got to know about the diversions
· As I was driving on the left hand side of the car, it avoided the glare of the oncoming headlights.
But as all good things come to an end, a toll gate came and that car got stuck in the long queue. I don’t know for what they were collecting the toll, it was not for the road I am sure. I know I am heavily criticizing the road—maybe it wasn’t that bad. But at that time my mood was bad and the road just added to the irritation. The road was not having many potholes, but there were abrupt diversions and too many.
As I had lost my ally on the road I started searching for any other fast car to tailgate. But no car was going anywhere above 70. So I had to carry on alone. Soon I saw something flashing in my rear view mirror and I was more than happy to give side. And it was the same Baleno. Man!! This guy was a maniac. He cleared the queue at toll gate and still managed to catch me up in less than 10kms. Again I happily started tailgating him. This time my sore bum eventually made me stop and let that car go. Pune was less than 60 kms now and thanks to that Baleno, the last 60 kms seemed to be nonexistent. (The feeling for which I was hoping since last 200 kms). As it was complete dark now, my speed dropped considerably and reached Ranjangaon by 1815. From there it was traffic all the way to Pune. At last I reached Kalyani Nagar where again I encountered that Baleno. Poor guy!! Got stuck behind a PMT. I reached my home on Sus Road exactly at 2000.
Although the last few hours of the trip were kind of torturing for me, but still I enjoyed the trip immensely. First thing I have to do now is to get the seat covers changed and put some cushion inside it. Needless to say, mom was happy to see me back. Called up all of my worried friends and told that I have reached safely. Accepted bricks and bats from most of them and praises from them who are aware of this wonderful world of biking.
The trip meter clocked 1673 kms which included commutes in Nagpur as well.
Pulsar 200 - Review
I bought the Pulsar200 earlier this year in June. Now the bike has done over 6000 km and I found it prefect to write a review so as to help the guys who might be going (or not going) for this bike.
Performance :- The bike has a great pick up. On signals the bike wont disappoint you in zipping past other bikes. Vibrations are minimum for the city ride.Once you hit the highway, you wont even know when it reaches 100. But after 100/105 the bike drags a bit to reach to the higher speeds. The max I did was 124 on NH4. Bike vibrates a bit after rpm crosses 7000rpm. Pick up in 3rd and 4th gears are better than in 1st or 2nd which helps in overtaking a slowly moving vehicle in front of you. The engine isnt as refined as Karizma though.
Looks :- I think no comments are required in this dept. P200 is easily one of the best looking bikes on Indian roads. The total black theme with an Aluminium coated silencer gives it a really sporty look. It always seems ready to pounce upon roads and munch kilometers.
Mileage :- We cant expect a good mileage from any 200cc bike. The highest I have got was 48 during my running in when the top speed didn’t exceed 55. Otherwise in normal city riding it hardly reaches 40 wherein I do not race the accelerator excessively and average speed is 50-60. On highways, if you really want to rip apart, you better forget the mileage. During my 1000 km trip I never came below 100kmph and the mileage dipped to 35. Decent highway mileage can be obtained only at max 70-75 kmph.
Handling :- The bike is really stable at all speeds. The wide rear tyre gives you the confidence to keep moving at high speeds. Even the cross winds on highways are not an issue. The turning radius,however, is very large and the bike cant even make a decent U-turn. (Reminds me of the old Premier Padmini). Its very bulky and while parking in the highly crowded parking lots of Pune, its really a damn pain. Pillion is surely gonna complain. The rear saree guard doesnt have a footrest. So your mom will be complaining. The split grab rail -- The more gorgeous it looks, the lesser it is of any significance. The pillion just cant hold on to it. He/she either has to hold you or pray that you drive slowly.
Braking :- Front Disc Brake is capable enough to manage this beast. However I feel rear drum brake could have been made more powerful. Mind you, whenever braking at high speeds, apply both brakes especially on straights. Otherwise the bike wont stop where you want it to. When both brakes applied, the braking becomes awesome or even front brake is fine if you can manage it.
Chain :- The chain is uncovered and requires some special attention. You need to oil it every 1000km. The Bajaj Pro-Biking guys suggest you should clean the chain seperately which costs you 75 bucks. I would be doing it after 10000km. Planning to do that every 5000 km afterwards.
Gear-Shift :- The Gear shifting has thankfully been improved by Bajaj. No more false neutrals. Shifting becomes smoother as the bike becomes older. Yeah! Sometimes you can find it difficult to find the neutral due to the toe shifter(It is more of my problem than the bike’s).
Reliability :- I have made one 1000 km trip and scores of 200-300 kms trip. I have never encountered a single problem. You can happily cruise along at 100 without worrying about engine sieze up. Plus the tubeless tyres give the confidence that you can go on longer trips without worrying about punctures. The seating position is quite sporty. You might feel a bit elbow pain after some hours. But elbow rests (kinda we get at medical stores for 30 bucks) are a good solution for that.
Maintainence :- This baby is a bit costly affair. You should change the oil as receommended. Get proper servicings typically after every 2500km (either from Pro-bking or your trusted local ones) without fail and this bike will never ever let you down. The bike has only electric start. So its of utmost important to keep the battery in proper condition. Although there is an indicator in console which flashes once battery is low like the ones you have in cars. Standard battery is Exide Low Maintianence one.
Others :- Headlights are decent. I have done a few night rides on highways and am satisfied with the quality. They are way better than karizma. Horn is excellent. The digital speedo console has hell lot of goodies. All the switches are provided with backlight so that they are easier to spot in the night.
So if you want a sleek, sporty tourer with acknowledging glances in city.. this is the bike for you...
Price :- 74740/- On Road
Model :- June 2008
Dealer :- Bajaj Pro-Biking, Pune
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Break-Up
So finally I am going to part with her. It been six long, dramatic and most important years of my life. After six year long relationship, it is really hard to realise that we wont be together anymore. I am going to miss her so much. I still remember that first day we met at Khamla square (Nagpur) in my second year . Those moments are still vivid in my mind. She has been my companion since then. She has been with me all the time I needed her-- during my exams and holidays, good days and bad days, enjoyments and fights. She has been loyal and faithful ever since we met and never caused me any major worry (apart from minor scuffles). She knows all the secrets in my life which any other living person may not know. I even did leave her almost for a year when I went to search for a job in Pune. But she welcomed me after 15 months even though I neglected her for all that time. One couldn't ask more than this.
But as it has been said, good times don't last forever and finally I stumbled upon the confrontation of this harsh truth in my life. She has to go. All I can say is that I took this decision for the greater good of both of us. Sometimes I feel like re-considering my decision. But I have been thinking about this for almost 5 months and I cant afford to spend much more time. It has already caused me a lot of agony. I really don't know how much I am going to miss her.
I hope with the entry of RS, life would never be the same again. The RS will definitely help me achieve those thing which I couldn't ever dream of with CC. I hope the chemistry between me and RS will be the same as with CC. Maybe I am asking too much.
So today I sold off my CC, Caliber Croma and welcomed RS, Red Stallion, a brand new red Pulsar200. Hope my relationship with RS will be more fruitful and intense, although its still hard to forget my dear old Cali...
RED STALLION......Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Great Misadventure
1800 hrs
22nd May 2008.
It was an indeed an awesome sight. The first rain of the season had hit earth. The mountains surrounding my office campus suddenly looked refreshing (although not green). All the nearby trees were glowing in green. It was a sight to behold. It was a complete change from the view that we were used to see the whole summer and i.e. heavy sun pounding heat with all its might. The mesmerizing smell of scorched soil damped up in the rain water filled up my nostrils.
This smell made me reminisce the good old school days when I used to cycle back home hurriedly so that I can save the new books in the bag on my back. Then after reaching home, aai’s scolding for not taking the raincoat to school in spite of several warnings. Neglecting that scold and asking for hot food and then relishing it with full heartiness. . Ah!! Those were awesome days.
I was sitting with my friend Ravi on the pavement of our office food court watching the rainbow above the building in front of us and recalling all the olden days. It felt so nice that even he had the same kind of story or share with me. We were so much engrossed in chatting that I forgot what the time was. By the time, we saw the watch, it was already 1930. It was time to go to home after yet another office day but a splendid evening. I hopped on my bike and started on my way back home. I was just happy and just thinking that nothing would go wrong today.
I made my way through the daily traffic and found that my daily route back home was overflowing with vehicles. Not wanting to ruin my evening, took a detour and a long way back to home but with less traffic. And when my house was just 4 km away, some foolish thought entered my mind and I took one more detour which took me home in less than 1.5 km. Big mistake for that day(Cos every day I commit at least one!!!!). But this one was gonna cost me a lot.
The road was fine for almost half a km. I was so overawed by the evening’s proceedings that I forgot to notice when I hit the kutcha road and suddenly I felt “Man! My bike is slipping”. I saw around it was pitch dark and not even a single source of light except my headlamp as this was a small path between Baner and Aundh’s villages. And by the time I could get the control of my bike I sensed that something was terribly wrong. I saw the road in front of me and noticed that the whole road was actually a dirt track (Dirt track racer’s heaven..) But my bad luck, my bike wasn’t a dirt bike. And then came the nail in my coffin. The bike refused to go ahead. How hard I tried, but the bike refused to budge. Then it stuck to me (me the tube light), that the mud has made way between my front tire and the mud guard and the tire is jammed. Thankfully rear wheel wasn’t jammed. Now the million dollar question, how do I get the mud off. It was complete dark and the time was almost 2000. So people were also less. Those who came on bike, saw me stuck and asked me whether the road is bad. On receiving my affirmation, they turned back and went off. I expected at least some one to help. But no one did. I cursed myself and said that as it was me who got myself in this mess, so obviously it had to be me who will get me out. But how??????
Somehow I decided that I will get the bike backwards near a puddle of water and get the mud out as the mud was really semi solid and it refused to come out easily. I tried so many yoga-asana with my bike to get her reverse but failed. Then I somehow managed to lift her rear and turned her 180 degrees. That’s when my bike made love with the mud after a perfect fall. Somehow I managed to lift her up. Whoa! That was some exercise. I was really clueless when an angel dawned upon the scene. Some local boy came up and started helping me. After 5 mins, 3 more laborers on their way back home came to the scene. I asked for help and they agreed. Then all 5 of us lifted the bike altogether and took it to the water puddle. After this task was done, I was panting like a tired horse.
With the sole source of light being a mobile, I took out a pair of spanners from the tool box. Meanwhile my helmet wanted to join the party with bike and happily made a fall into mud while I was extracting the tool box. Now only I was remaining to join the party. But I was in no mood to soak my expensive jacket in the mud. The spanners did help and after intricate effort of 20 mins, we finally managed to free the front wheel. I was so damn tired and engrossed in the work that I fell to notice that a passing by Good Samaritan had stopped just for me and focused his car’s headlight on my bike so that I could get a good illumination. I was really astonished and glad someone at last did offer help without asking for.
Anyway, but now the work was done and I just signaled him that the work is done and he may leave. While leaving he once again asked whether I needed any help, I replied in negative and thanked him with all my heart. I also thanked wholesomely to all the 4 people who helped me. That was all that I could do. I felt a little embarrassed too. Had I been alone, the bike would never have budged another meter. Just then got to know the kid who helped me out and came to know that his name is Santosh and he plies a goods carrier in and around Pune. So this was the other side of all these people whom we curse upon all the time on the road. I have a different perspective of them after that day. When all the bikers like me failed to help me, some local driver helped me out.
Indeed this world is not that bad as we think. It depends on how we perceive the things!!!!!!!!!
So finally my bike was moving. Helmet was all smeared with mud, so I locked it on the helmet lock and then bading goodbye to Santosh, I made my move towards home. Once I reached home, I saw that I was a complete mess. My shoes were almost 1 inch higher because of mud and trousers were full with deep stains of mud. The bike was a combination of black and brown. And to cap it off, when my helmet made a fall, the visor had cracked. So finally this misadventure did affect my pocket. After reaching home, got questioned glances from my mom. First thing I said before she even asked me anything “No!! It wasn’t an accident. My bike got stuck in mud” And then proceeded to explain the complete thing just to make her sure. At last I examined myself and found that I had sprained my back and my neck while pulling the bike in reverse.
Man! So that was one hell of an evening.
22nd May 2008.
It was an indeed an awesome sight. The first rain of the season had hit earth. The mountains surrounding my office campus suddenly looked refreshing (although not green). All the nearby trees were glowing in green. It was a sight to behold. It was a complete change from the view that we were used to see the whole summer and i.e. heavy sun pounding heat with all its might. The mesmerizing smell of scorched soil damped up in the rain water filled up my nostrils.
This smell made me reminisce the good old school days when I used to cycle back home hurriedly so that I can save the new books in the bag on my back. Then after reaching home, aai’s scolding for not taking the raincoat to school in spite of several warnings. Neglecting that scold and asking for hot food and then relishing it with full heartiness. . Ah!! Those were awesome days.
I was sitting with my friend Ravi on the pavement of our office food court watching the rainbow above the building in front of us and recalling all the olden days. It felt so nice that even he had the same kind of story or share with me. We were so much engrossed in chatting that I forgot what the time was. By the time, we saw the watch, it was already 1930. It was time to go to home after yet another office day but a splendid evening. I hopped on my bike and started on my way back home. I was just happy and just thinking that nothing would go wrong today.
I made my way through the daily traffic and found that my daily route back home was overflowing with vehicles. Not wanting to ruin my evening, took a detour and a long way back to home but with less traffic. And when my house was just 4 km away, some foolish thought entered my mind and I took one more detour which took me home in less than 1.5 km. Big mistake for that day(Cos every day I commit at least one!!!!). But this one was gonna cost me a lot.
The road was fine for almost half a km. I was so overawed by the evening’s proceedings that I forgot to notice when I hit the kutcha road and suddenly I felt “Man! My bike is slipping”. I saw around it was pitch dark and not even a single source of light except my headlamp as this was a small path between Baner and Aundh’s villages. And by the time I could get the control of my bike I sensed that something was terribly wrong. I saw the road in front of me and noticed that the whole road was actually a dirt track (Dirt track racer’s heaven..) But my bad luck, my bike wasn’t a dirt bike. And then came the nail in my coffin. The bike refused to go ahead. How hard I tried, but the bike refused to budge. Then it stuck to me (me the tube light), that the mud has made way between my front tire and the mud guard and the tire is jammed. Thankfully rear wheel wasn’t jammed. Now the million dollar question, how do I get the mud off. It was complete dark and the time was almost 2000. So people were also less. Those who came on bike, saw me stuck and asked me whether the road is bad. On receiving my affirmation, they turned back and went off. I expected at least some one to help. But no one did. I cursed myself and said that as it was me who got myself in this mess, so obviously it had to be me who will get me out. But how??????
Somehow I decided that I will get the bike backwards near a puddle of water and get the mud out as the mud was really semi solid and it refused to come out easily. I tried so many yoga-asana with my bike to get her reverse but failed. Then I somehow managed to lift her rear and turned her 180 degrees. That’s when my bike made love with the mud after a perfect fall. Somehow I managed to lift her up. Whoa! That was some exercise. I was really clueless when an angel dawned upon the scene. Some local boy came up and started helping me. After 5 mins, 3 more laborers on their way back home came to the scene. I asked for help and they agreed. Then all 5 of us lifted the bike altogether and took it to the water puddle. After this task was done, I was panting like a tired horse.
With the sole source of light being a mobile, I took out a pair of spanners from the tool box. Meanwhile my helmet wanted to join the party with bike and happily made a fall into mud while I was extracting the tool box. Now only I was remaining to join the party. But I was in no mood to soak my expensive jacket in the mud. The spanners did help and after intricate effort of 20 mins, we finally managed to free the front wheel. I was so damn tired and engrossed in the work that I fell to notice that a passing by Good Samaritan had stopped just for me and focused his car’s headlight on my bike so that I could get a good illumination. I was really astonished and glad someone at last did offer help without asking for.
Anyway, but now the work was done and I just signaled him that the work is done and he may leave. While leaving he once again asked whether I needed any help, I replied in negative and thanked him with all my heart. I also thanked wholesomely to all the 4 people who helped me. That was all that I could do. I felt a little embarrassed too. Had I been alone, the bike would never have budged another meter. Just then got to know the kid who helped me out and came to know that his name is Santosh and he plies a goods carrier in and around Pune. So this was the other side of all these people whom we curse upon all the time on the road. I have a different perspective of them after that day. When all the bikers like me failed to help me, some local driver helped me out.
Indeed this world is not that bad as we think. It depends on how we perceive the things!!!!!!!!!
So finally my bike was moving. Helmet was all smeared with mud, so I locked it on the helmet lock and then bading goodbye to Santosh, I made my move towards home. Once I reached home, I saw that I was a complete mess. My shoes were almost 1 inch higher because of mud and trousers were full with deep stains of mud. The bike was a combination of black and brown. And to cap it off, when my helmet made a fall, the visor had cracked. So finally this misadventure did affect my pocket. After reaching home, got questioned glances from my mom. First thing I said before she even asked me anything “No!! It wasn’t an accident. My bike got stuck in mud” And then proceeded to explain the complete thing just to make her sure. At last I examined myself and found that I had sprained my back and my neck while pulling the bike in reverse.
Man! So that was one hell of an evening.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Million Dollar Question
Yeah so the million dollar question (in the world of music.. rock music to be precise). Which one is the best Guitar solo till today?
Well popularly its "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin or "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. I beg to differ on that. Please forgive about the bragging which I do about my favorite band Iron Maiden,but the best guitar solo has to be "PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" by none other than the Gods of Heavy Metal. Its really difficult for me to give any other the numero uno status. The solo in Phantom although is a dual guitar solo, but still its the best and I can listen it over and over and over again till eternity!!!!!!!!
And this one is undeniable.....
The best guitar riff of all time is unarguably "HALLOWED BE THY NAME". Heck!!! Name other one??
UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well popularly its "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin or "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. I beg to differ on that. Please forgive about the bragging which I do about my favorite band Iron Maiden,but the best guitar solo has to be "PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" by none other than the Gods of Heavy Metal. Its really difficult for me to give any other the numero uno status. The solo in Phantom although is a dual guitar solo, but still its the best and I can listen it over and over and over again till eternity!!!!!!!!
And this one is undeniable.....
The best guitar riff of all time is unarguably "HALLOWED BE THY NAME". Heck!!! Name other one??
UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Political Dictatorship
13th May 2008.
Tuesday 1800 hrs.
Tuesday, the first official working day of the week(As on Monday people normally recuperate from the weekend hangover). So obviously I was a bit strained. I left from my office at Hinjewadi on my bike. Traffic was as usual at its best. Somehow I managed to clear through the irritating traffic of Hinjewadi village and made it to the Wakad bridge and as soon as I crossed the bridge, I saw another traffic jam. It wasn't a new thing as the small croosroad after the bridge is always jammed. But as I neared the crossroad, I saw that the traffic was extending beyond it. I started to use the technique which I had learnt while manoeuvring through Hosur Road in Bangalore(trust me, its one of the most hopeless road to drive on with trucks, trailers, hoards of buses, swanky SUVs, cars and two wheelers-- all in the exponential quantities, specially on weekday evenings. Bangalore folks will definitely agree on this.) Anyways Pune is not that far behind Bangalore when it comes to traffic. As I started moving forward, I saw the traffic line as long as I could lay my eyes upon. This was not normal. I hoped it wasn't an accident. Last thing I wanted to see was a gory sight of accident on this messy evening. I kept on moving forward, sometimes at the kuccha road on left of the road or sometimes in the wrong lane to the right. There was no traffic coming from opposite side. I wondered what must be the problem. At last reached the spot where I found a deadlock between a truck coming from opposite side and a bus in my lane. I started cursing these drivers for the stupid mess they had put the me and all the other people behind me. Almost I must have crossed not less than 200 cars and about 50 buses and uncountable number of 2 wheelers. I saw on my speedo that the traffic jam longed for more than 2 km and it took me almost 15 mins to cross that. I managed to cross the bus and that's when I got a real shock. In front of the bus was a grandly decorated truck with loud music being played in from of it. I was not able to see exactly what was all this fuss about. Just then a biker besides me found a detour. He took his bike from above a closed manhole cover onto a small ground which joined the road after about 200m. I gladly followed him. When I made it to the ground, I saw the correct picture. The vehicle belonged to some political party and they seemed to be in festive mood celebrating with all the "sandaal"(Hey! not a girl's sandal. Its a group of drummers who play number of big drums(dholaks) in sync. The noise is comparable to some big DJ night. May be more than that). No one knew what they were celebrating. All I could see was the helplessness on the face of all the commuters who were facing the brunt of this foolish act of the nonsense political party people(goondas to be precise). They were not at all concerned about the trouble they were causing almost thousand people because of this so called celebration of theirs. Had it been some college students dancing on road, people might have swoop them in no time. But as these people are known to have a hand above their head which everybody knows, so no one dared even to talk to them.
Such is the situation in our Democratic India, where all the political parties are free to carry out whatever they want. No one can voice their opinion against them ,because if they do, they know the consequences.
Hey!! am I seeing a Hitler in making??
Tuesday 1800 hrs.
Tuesday, the first official working day of the week(As on Monday people normally recuperate from the weekend hangover). So obviously I was a bit strained. I left from my office at Hinjewadi on my bike. Traffic was as usual at its best. Somehow I managed to clear through the irritating traffic of Hinjewadi village and made it to the Wakad bridge and as soon as I crossed the bridge, I saw another traffic jam. It wasn't a new thing as the small croosroad after the bridge is always jammed. But as I neared the crossroad, I saw that the traffic was extending beyond it. I started to use the technique which I had learnt while manoeuvring through Hosur Road in Bangalore(trust me, its one of the most hopeless road to drive on with trucks, trailers, hoards of buses, swanky SUVs, cars and two wheelers-- all in the exponential quantities, specially on weekday evenings. Bangalore folks will definitely agree on this.) Anyways Pune is not that far behind Bangalore when it comes to traffic. As I started moving forward, I saw the traffic line as long as I could lay my eyes upon. This was not normal. I hoped it wasn't an accident. Last thing I wanted to see was a gory sight of accident on this messy evening. I kept on moving forward, sometimes at the kuccha road on left of the road or sometimes in the wrong lane to the right. There was no traffic coming from opposite side. I wondered what must be the problem. At last reached the spot where I found a deadlock between a truck coming from opposite side and a bus in my lane. I started cursing these drivers for the stupid mess they had put the me and all the other people behind me. Almost I must have crossed not less than 200 cars and about 50 buses and uncountable number of 2 wheelers. I saw on my speedo that the traffic jam longed for more than 2 km and it took me almost 15 mins to cross that. I managed to cross the bus and that's when I got a real shock. In front of the bus was a grandly decorated truck with loud music being played in from of it. I was not able to see exactly what was all this fuss about. Just then a biker besides me found a detour. He took his bike from above a closed manhole cover onto a small ground which joined the road after about 200m. I gladly followed him. When I made it to the ground, I saw the correct picture. The vehicle belonged to some political party and they seemed to be in festive mood celebrating with all the "sandaal"(Hey! not a girl's sandal. Its a group of drummers who play number of big drums(dholaks) in sync. The noise is comparable to some big DJ night. May be more than that). No one knew what they were celebrating. All I could see was the helplessness on the face of all the commuters who were facing the brunt of this foolish act of the nonsense political party people(goondas to be precise). They were not at all concerned about the trouble they were causing almost thousand people because of this so called celebration of theirs. Had it been some college students dancing on road, people might have swoop them in no time. But as these people are known to have a hand above their head which everybody knows, so no one dared even to talk to them.
Such is the situation in our Democratic India, where all the political parties are free to carry out whatever they want. No one can voice their opinion against them ,because if they do, they know the consequences.
Hey!! am I seeing a Hitler in making??
Monday, May 12, 2008
Why Me?
How often you feel "I wanted this thing." But exactly opposite happens. And then you wonder "Why me God?".
I dont know why ?
Maybe we are so much engulfed in our own prejudices that we fail to foresee what lays in store for us. Even when we can see it clearly, we just dont want to see it or rather believe it. And this leads to our dissappointment.
Sometimes maybe we know that whatever we are doing is wrong, but however we try we cannot stop ourselves from doing it.
And sometimes bigotry may lead us to our disgrace. But the saddest thing is that there is no cure for one untill the person himself faces one of the consequences and realises his mistake". OR he is strong enough to ralise and accept that he needs to change his outlook towards life.
Sounds so simple!!! But equally difficult to put it into practicality.
Do we entangle our life too much just to be free?
This just makes me wonder how much more complex our human mind is which has led the human being in the victory over other creatures on this earth.
One last hope
To rise and break away
Above the fading line
Way beyond the ties that bind
This I know
The risk is worth the gain
It's worth the sacrifice
Way beyond the ties that bind
-ALTER BRIDGE
I dont know why ?
Maybe we are so much engulfed in our own prejudices that we fail to foresee what lays in store for us. Even when we can see it clearly, we just dont want to see it or rather believe it. And this leads to our dissappointment.
Sometimes maybe we know that whatever we are doing is wrong, but however we try we cannot stop ourselves from doing it.
And sometimes bigotry may lead us to our disgrace. But the saddest thing is that there is no cure for one untill the person himself faces one of the consequences and realises his mistake". OR he is strong enough to ralise and accept that he needs to change his outlook towards life.
Sounds so simple!!! But equally difficult to put it into practicality.
Do we entangle our life too much just to be free?
This just makes me wonder how much more complex our human mind is which has led the human being in the victory over other creatures on this earth.
One last hope
To rise and break away
Above the fading line
Way beyond the ties that bind
This I know
The risk is worth the gain
It's worth the sacrifice
Way beyond the ties that bind
-ALTER BRIDGE
Monday, May 5, 2008
Club Foot
CLUB FOOT
I happened to hear this song by a British band KASABIAN on VH1 on Sunday. As soon as I heard it, I remembered that I had heard it somewhere before which was in a Hollywood soccer flick GOAL! (Hollywood's Chak De India :D). Immediately started my search on internet. To my amusement the video of the song is available on the band's website. I couldn't thank my stars. Since Yesterday just listening to the same song over and over again. Can get enough of it.
The song is really cool. It has quite hummable chorus which keeps on playing inside your mind again and again. Well dont know what the name of the song means though.
The video of song features some war torn area, soldiers, tanks, some civilians and a student in particular along with the band singing the song. The video ends with a tank shooting down the student. Read somewhere that this song is a tribute to a Czech student who immolated himself in the protest of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia sometime during Cold War in 70s. A nice way to pay a tribute I can say.
Also first time I have heard this band. Seems to be quite a band. It has that typical Brit feel.
I happened to hear this song by a British band KASABIAN on VH1 on Sunday. As soon as I heard it, I remembered that I had heard it somewhere before which was in a Hollywood soccer flick GOAL! (Hollywood's Chak De India :D). Immediately started my search on internet. To my amusement the video of the song is available on the band's website. I couldn't thank my stars. Since Yesterday just listening to the same song over and over again. Can get enough of it.
The song is really cool. It has quite hummable chorus which keeps on playing inside your mind again and again. Well dont know what the name of the song means though.
The video of song features some war torn area, soldiers, tanks, some civilians and a student in particular along with the band singing the song. The video ends with a tank shooting down the student. Read somewhere that this song is a tribute to a Czech student who immolated himself in the protest of the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia sometime during Cold War in 70s. A nice way to pay a tribute I can say.
Also first time I have heard this band. Seems to be quite a band. It has that typical Brit feel.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Dream of Mirrors
Everyone gets this feeling at least once in a lifetime. One feels like the present in which he is leaving is from somewhere in past. Yeah it is called as Deja-Vu popularly.
I still remember my first Deja-Vu very strongly. I must have been around 12 at that time. I was attending some camp is the summer holidays. It was kind of military camp organized by a popular organization called Prahaar. Daily in the morning, we were made to walk about 2 kms to a obstacle training center where we used to do some training. One day while walking back to my camp, I just happened to look at my shadow on the road and suddenly I felt really strongly that I have been in this place before though I surely know I never had been to that place before in my whole life.
I felt amused and was just lost a bit till my friend just shook me bringing me back to my senses. Till today I just don't know why this happened. Why did I feel that I had walked before just like that looking at my shadow with some group of people. Although when I try to remember , I just cant make up the exact picture of what I saw exactly at that time. But it was strange as well as weird.
After that I have felt such occurrences quite a time but it just baffles me because as per my memory, I never have done such things which my mind says that I have already done. Confusing na [:)] . Well it confuses me till today.
Just last year I heard a song "Dream of Mirrors" by Iron Maiden which tells a story of a man experiencing Deja-Vu. Anyone who has experienced it even once will relate himself/herself to the song for sure.
Anyways I am no more worried about these things and whenever they happen to me, I just laugh it off .
I still remember my first Deja-Vu very strongly. I must have been around 12 at that time. I was attending some camp is the summer holidays. It was kind of military camp organized by a popular organization called Prahaar. Daily in the morning, we were made to walk about 2 kms to a obstacle training center where we used to do some training. One day while walking back to my camp, I just happened to look at my shadow on the road and suddenly I felt really strongly that I have been in this place before though I surely know I never had been to that place before in my whole life.
I felt amused and was just lost a bit till my friend just shook me bringing me back to my senses. Till today I just don't know why this happened. Why did I feel that I had walked before just like that looking at my shadow with some group of people. Although when I try to remember , I just cant make up the exact picture of what I saw exactly at that time. But it was strange as well as weird.
After that I have felt such occurrences quite a time but it just baffles me because as per my memory, I never have done such things which my mind says that I have already done. Confusing na [:)] . Well it confuses me till today.
Just last year I heard a song "Dream of Mirrors" by Iron Maiden which tells a story of a man experiencing Deja-Vu. Anyone who has experienced it even once will relate himself/herself to the song for sure.
Anyways I am no more worried about these things and whenever they happen to me, I just laugh it off .
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Iron Maiden
Won't you come into my room; I wanna show you all my wares
I just want to see your blood, I just want to stand and stare
See the blood begin to flow, as it falls upon the floor
Iron Maiden can't be fought, Iron Maiden can't be sought
Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are
Iron Maiden's gonna get you no matter how far
See the blood flow watching it shed up above my head
Iron Maiden wants you for dead
Source: Iron Maiden
Well if you are thinking that this has something to do psycho-rapist hell bent upon killing his victim, you are wrong. Iron Maiden. This is the name of the song by heavy metal band by the same name (Oops! I meant Gods of Heavy Metal.)
If you want are getting some notions about how the band is by reading the lyrics above, then you are apparently heading the wrong way. Actually the song is about a medieval torture machine. It was a hollow iron mummy which had very big spikes inside it having a face of a woman. And that is why it was called Iron Maiden. When any person was to be punished, then he/she was put inside Iron Maiden. As the door was closed, the spikes used to pierce such parts of the human body that the occupant wasn’t killed in an instant. But the death was slow and torturous. And that was why it was referred as a torture machine.
Anyways, let’s leave apart this gory story. That was just for G.K. and nothing else.
Steve Harris, the founder of the band got this name, I don’t know why???
But today I don’t know whether Iron Maiden is made of Iron or is any Maiden part of it? All I know is that I have associated this name with some of the greatest music I have ever heard. And I will always respect this name whatever may be its meaning. The kind of satisfaction one achieves while listening to Maiden really can not be explained in words. You need to hear them before you can say anything about them.
The anecdote of my relationship with Iron Maiden started when I first heard “Fear of the Dark”. I was captivated at that moment itself. I knew that this was the band I was searching for so many years. Then I happened to lay my hands on “Run to the Hills” and that was it. The super fast guitar & drums just enthralled me. And since then Iron Maiden has been my favorite band. I have found it really hard to replace it with some other band. Now the list of my favorite Maiden songs is endless. I have heard almost all the Maiden songs. I mean Studio and live albums.
The band has been active since almost 30 years. The adrenaline gush that you get after hearing the songs is just amazing. Dave Murray's guitars are so unique that you can almost recognize that its Maiden that is being played. Steve Harris mentorship can be seen in the music as well. The marching bass always gives a string foundation for any song. The bass coupled with Nikko's superb drums is just too good to resist. Even though Nikko plays single bass drum, its really as fast as a double bass. The trio of Dave, Janick Gers and Adrian Smith give all the guitar hungry fans a food that they can relish upon time and again.. and again... Which one of them is playing lead and which one rythm.. it doesnt matter because all of them are just awesome personnnels.
And finally the favorite member of the band, yeah its the vocalist Bruce Dickinson. He is just too good . "Hallowed be Thy Name" (My favorite Maiden song) epitomizes his legacy. His voice does appropriate justice to the meaning of the song. The exact feelings which a man can feel once he has been sent to gallows....
I had a chance to see my Metal Gods last year in March 2007 when they had came to perform in Bangalore. It was their first show in India and I was obliged to attend that. Even though all these Gods of Heavy Metals are well above 50 years of age, their live shows are as electrifying as they were 30 years ago. May be they are much more pumping than before. The way Bruce keeps on jumping on the stage just defies his age. The stages and lightings were at the supreme best. And also the band's mascot Eddie was the thing to watch out for during the live shows. Earlier this year, when Maiden came in Mumbai in feb, I was not able to go for the show as it was my friend' s wedding. But next time when they will come I am not gonna miss them for sure...
“Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are
Iron Maiden's gonna get you no matter how far”……….
I just want to see your blood, I just want to stand and stare
See the blood begin to flow, as it falls upon the floor
Iron Maiden can't be fought, Iron Maiden can't be sought
Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are
Iron Maiden's gonna get you no matter how far
See the blood flow watching it shed up above my head
Iron Maiden wants you for dead
Source: Iron Maiden
Well if you are thinking that this has something to do psycho-rapist hell bent upon killing his victim, you are wrong. Iron Maiden. This is the name of the song by heavy metal band by the same name (Oops! I meant Gods of Heavy Metal.)
If you want are getting some notions about how the band is by reading the lyrics above, then you are apparently heading the wrong way. Actually the song is about a medieval torture machine. It was a hollow iron mummy which had very big spikes inside it having a face of a woman. And that is why it was called Iron Maiden. When any person was to be punished, then he/she was put inside Iron Maiden. As the door was closed, the spikes used to pierce such parts of the human body that the occupant wasn’t killed in an instant. But the death was slow and torturous. And that was why it was referred as a torture machine.
Anyways, let’s leave apart this gory story. That was just for G.K. and nothing else.
Steve Harris, the founder of the band got this name, I don’t know why???
But today I don’t know whether Iron Maiden is made of Iron or is any Maiden part of it? All I know is that I have associated this name with some of the greatest music I have ever heard. And I will always respect this name whatever may be its meaning. The kind of satisfaction one achieves while listening to Maiden really can not be explained in words. You need to hear them before you can say anything about them.
The anecdote of my relationship with Iron Maiden started when I first heard “Fear of the Dark”. I was captivated at that moment itself. I knew that this was the band I was searching for so many years. Then I happened to lay my hands on “Run to the Hills” and that was it. The super fast guitar & drums just enthralled me. And since then Iron Maiden has been my favorite band. I have found it really hard to replace it with some other band. Now the list of my favorite Maiden songs is endless. I have heard almost all the Maiden songs. I mean Studio and live albums.
The band has been active since almost 30 years. The adrenaline gush that you get after hearing the songs is just amazing. Dave Murray's guitars are so unique that you can almost recognize that its Maiden that is being played. Steve Harris mentorship can be seen in the music as well. The marching bass always gives a string foundation for any song. The bass coupled with Nikko's superb drums is just too good to resist. Even though Nikko plays single bass drum, its really as fast as a double bass. The trio of Dave, Janick Gers and Adrian Smith give all the guitar hungry fans a food that they can relish upon time and again.. and again... Which one of them is playing lead and which one rythm.. it doesnt matter because all of them are just awesome personnnels.
And finally the favorite member of the band, yeah its the vocalist Bruce Dickinson. He is just too good . "Hallowed be Thy Name" (My favorite Maiden song) epitomizes his legacy. His voice does appropriate justice to the meaning of the song. The exact feelings which a man can feel once he has been sent to gallows....
I had a chance to see my Metal Gods last year in March 2007 when they had came to perform in Bangalore. It was their first show in India and I was obliged to attend that. Even though all these Gods of Heavy Metals are well above 50 years of age, their live shows are as electrifying as they were 30 years ago. May be they are much more pumping than before. The way Bruce keeps on jumping on the stage just defies his age. The stages and lightings were at the supreme best. And also the band's mascot Eddie was the thing to watch out for during the live shows. Earlier this year, when Maiden came in Mumbai in feb, I was not able to go for the show as it was my friend' s wedding. But next time when they will come I am not gonna miss them for sure...
“Oh Well, wherever, wherever you are
Iron Maiden's gonna get you no matter how far”……….
Monday, February 4, 2008
Bangalore to Pune ride
Date :- 26/27 Jan 2008
Route :- Bangalore - Belgaum- Kolhapur- Pune
Distance :- 898 km
Time :- 20 hrs(Riding Time)
0430 hrs
So finally this was the time what I was waiting for so desperately for quite a few months. Me and Aditya were at the gate of my room in HSR layout, ready to start our trip from Bangalore to Pune on my bike, the 2002 Caliber Croma. I was kind of pensive because the bike was quite old for a 900 km trip. But as I was getting transferred to Pune, my bike also needed a transfer. And what better way other than riding it all the way to Pune. I had traveled many times by NH4 by bus. So I had a feel of the road. It is by far one of the best highways of India, dare I say. Almost 800 km was a 4 lane highway, so it was quite safe from driving perspective. We already had analyzed the whole route on net. I didn’t knew how the bike would be respond as this was the first time I was going to ride her this long. Before that, my longest trip was just 350 km. So we decided to play it safe and slow. Considering the frequent stops we would be taking in between, our aim was to reach at least Maharashtra-Karnataka border [Nipanni] by day break which was almost 580 km. The odometer read 48403 km. It wasn’t quite chilly but we had donned ourselves with jackets and gloves [I thanked myself for this. Will explain in detail very soon.]
Straightaway headed to Yeshvantpur from my house. This was the last time I was going to drive on the Bangalore roads and I was surely gonna miss the good moments which I had here. The roads were empty and in no time crossed Yeshvantpur and were on NH4. We made our first stop at about 0530 at a roadside Dhaba for a hot cup of tea. We were so much raring to go that we didn’t stop much. It was still dark. Our next stop was at about 0630 and Pune was 740 kms from there. So it was almost 130 km in 2 hrs. Well we were pretty much on track.
Destination => 740km still...
We continued till the sun showed up on the horizon and then we again decided to take the break. And that is when we got the first shock of our trip. The rear wheel rim was being sprinkled upon by oil. I checked the engine oil level and to my horror it was just above the minimum limit. The oil was leaking from somewhere. We got hold of one mechanic. As expected, he told us that he was a 4- wheeler mechanic and he couldn’t repair a bike. But he told that it doesn’t seem to be a serious issue. We just filled up some oil from him and continued on our way. At that time Chitradurga was just 20 km away. Had a nice breakfast at A1 Plaza.
Then started a long ride towards Hubli- Our next destination for lunch. Taking the occasional breaks for letting the shutterbug inside us to get free, we continued till again the oil leak problem started. We tried to find out the exact source of leak. But failed miserably. We decided to carry on as the issue was not of high concern and we had plenty of extra oil with us
Some thoughts on the way
We continued. Shooting snaps all the way long. It was this patch from Harihar almost till Hubli which can be termed as bad along the entire NH4. No milestones and sign boards. We almost kept traveling for about 100 km without any guarantee that we were heading to Hubli. So we occasionally used to ask the locals. As this was our first ride of this kind, inexperience was clearly evident. At that moment I realized that what it must mean to wander into no man's land. Anyways we were far away from that. Road construction was stopped at almost all the bypasses on the way. So the roads were dug up, no roads at all at some places. Till almost 1400, we made our way through the dusty and crowded raods of Ranibennur, Harihar and all the cities lying on the way. But soon we were greeted by the excellent roads once again. Now it was almost 1430 and we were nearing Hubli. We were damn hungry and started looking for any restaurant. Soon we saw an A1 again. Had a nice break there and relished some good heavy lunch which made us a bit drowsy. Adi said that he needs to drive some more other wise he will fall asleep if he becomes a pillion. Well I could understand his position but I decided to fight my sleep sitting behind.
At about 1530 we crossed Hubli and then I took the driving honors again. The roads were at the best and we cruised as we crossed Dharwad and some small villages. Till that point my bike was just awesome apart for some loss in power when it came to any steep climbs. At our stipulated break time of 50 km I just checked the oil level and again it dipped low and this time oil was dripping heavily. Suddenly our plan of reaching Karnataka-Maharashtra border before sunset seemed bleak. We had to find out a mechanic. Thankfully the next village was very near. Found a mechanic pretty soon. After some RnD by him, he quickly found out the root cause. The culprit was the Oil filter casing. He told that during some previous servicing, that revered personnel must have by mistake slashed the filter casing which was the root cause for the oil leak. I felt relieved that the problem was not a big one. We got it replaced and lost some 30 min in that.
It was almost dawn when we crossed Belgaum. Had a hot cup of tea as it was getting quite chilly. The Belgaum to Kolhapur patch was just simply awesome. The roads are wide as a cricket pitch. The vast plains surrounding this road and the sun going down was an awesome sight to watch. We kept on cruising and the odo kept on rolling. At last we reached Nipanni at about 1930. So we were one hour late of our schedule. Still it was fine.
One that made it all possible.
Earlier we had decided to break at Nipanni for the day. We decided to change the plan. Actually we had to leave from Pune to Bangalore the very next day itself at 1600. Both of us needed at least some time with our respective folks at Pune. We really would have made it to Pune that day itself had we kept on continuing. But thought it would be better to have a overnight break. We kept on moving and once we crossed Kagal, Pune's distance came below 250, we thought that this much distance could be covered next day early morning and we can manage a heavy brunch at Pune. At last we stopped at 2030 at a highway lodge just some kms after Kolhapur Bypass. We covered about 650 km that day after a long 14 hr eventful ride. We checked into lodge and had a nice dinner of Egg Curry in typical Kolhapuri style.
Next morning we had again decided to start at 0430 morning. We were just 15 min late. As we started, soon we realized that something was not fine. It was really damn cold and we were really fighting hard to keep the cold off. Anyways, we didn’t want to stop... so we continued. But our first break came very early at 0530. And we had two cup of teas and still the cold refused to budge. We were wondering that what should be the temperature, but thanked ourselves for donning us with jackets and gloves. [Next day we came to know that the temperature was nearing 5 Degrees that morning. ]
We kept moving and at about 0600 I just glanced across the horizon. On the west was a small hillock basking gloriously in the moonlight and towards the east, far beyond the plains I could see the sky getting reddish orange. I have to admit that this was the best sight I have ever seen till today. The scene was really amazing and I just kept gazing at this marvelous sight of nature. And the saddest part was that both these scenes could not be captured in a camera together. Maybe some magnificence of nature is supposed to be experienced in real only!!!!!! This helped me forget the cold weather for some time.
When we stopped for our next break at 0700, we were already closing in towards Satara and the bike just refused to climb a small hill. The cold had had taken the better of the bike. We decided to give it a good break. As the day was breaking in, we took some beautiful snaps of the vast mountainous plateaus. In between we stopped for one more cup of tea. The owner enquired from where we were coming from. I still remember the reaction from him when we told him that we came all the way from Bangalore. I called up at my place and told that my esteemed arrival at Pune will be happening by 0930 in Pune. Well I expected some sparks flying at other end. But everything went cool (considering I hadn't informed them about this so-called adventure). Finally we started at 0720 with Pune about 130 km away. This last part of ride was really an impatient one. We just wanted to reach Pune soon and reached did we.... finally at 0900 I had a hot Vada Pav at Joshi's on the highway. Adi refused to have it as he hates it. But I just love it. Shot some last snaps of our memorable trip. I dropped Adi at Chandni Chowk where his friend had come to pick him up. I continued till Sus Road and finally made it to my didi's place. I checked the meter and it showed 49301. So it was 898km. Not bad for my first long ride.
In the End............
I just recollected Iron Maiden’s Total Eclipse >>>
“It’s not the journey's end, it has just begun........”
Route :- Bangalore - Belgaum- Kolhapur- Pune
Distance :- 898 km
Time :- 20 hrs(Riding Time)
0430 hrs
So finally this was the time what I was waiting for so desperately for quite a few months. Me and Aditya were at the gate of my room in HSR layout, ready to start our trip from Bangalore to Pune on my bike, the 2002 Caliber Croma. I was kind of pensive because the bike was quite old for a 900 km trip. But as I was getting transferred to Pune, my bike also needed a transfer. And what better way other than riding it all the way to Pune. I had traveled many times by NH4 by bus. So I had a feel of the road. It is by far one of the best highways of India, dare I say. Almost 800 km was a 4 lane highway, so it was quite safe from driving perspective. We already had analyzed the whole route on net. I didn’t knew how the bike would be respond as this was the first time I was going to ride her this long. Before that, my longest trip was just 350 km. So we decided to play it safe and slow. Considering the frequent stops we would be taking in between, our aim was to reach at least Maharashtra-Karnataka border [Nipanni] by day break which was almost 580 km. The odometer read 48403 km. It wasn’t quite chilly but we had donned ourselves with jackets and gloves [I thanked myself for this. Will explain in detail very soon.]
Straightaway headed to Yeshvantpur from my house. This was the last time I was going to drive on the Bangalore roads and I was surely gonna miss the good moments which I had here. The roads were empty and in no time crossed Yeshvantpur and were on NH4. We made our first stop at about 0530 at a roadside Dhaba for a hot cup of tea. We were so much raring to go that we didn’t stop much. It was still dark. Our next stop was at about 0630 and Pune was 740 kms from there. So it was almost 130 km in 2 hrs. Well we were pretty much on track.
Destination => 740km still...We continued till the sun showed up on the horizon and then we again decided to take the break. And that is when we got the first shock of our trip. The rear wheel rim was being sprinkled upon by oil. I checked the engine oil level and to my horror it was just above the minimum limit. The oil was leaking from somewhere. We got hold of one mechanic. As expected, he told us that he was a 4- wheeler mechanic and he couldn’t repair a bike. But he told that it doesn’t seem to be a serious issue. We just filled up some oil from him and continued on our way. At that time Chitradurga was just 20 km away. Had a nice breakfast at A1 Plaza.
Then started a long ride towards Hubli- Our next destination for lunch. Taking the occasional breaks for letting the shutterbug inside us to get free, we continued till again the oil leak problem started. We tried to find out the exact source of leak. But failed miserably. We decided to carry on as the issue was not of high concern and we had plenty of extra oil with us
Some thoughts on the wayWe continued. Shooting snaps all the way long. It was this patch from Harihar almost till Hubli which can be termed as bad along the entire NH4. No milestones and sign boards. We almost kept traveling for about 100 km without any guarantee that we were heading to Hubli. So we occasionally used to ask the locals. As this was our first ride of this kind, inexperience was clearly evident. At that moment I realized that what it must mean to wander into no man's land. Anyways we were far away from that. Road construction was stopped at almost all the bypasses on the way. So the roads were dug up, no roads at all at some places. Till almost 1400, we made our way through the dusty and crowded raods of Ranibennur, Harihar and all the cities lying on the way. But soon we were greeted by the excellent roads once again. Now it was almost 1430 and we were nearing Hubli. We were damn hungry and started looking for any restaurant. Soon we saw an A1 again. Had a nice break there and relished some good heavy lunch which made us a bit drowsy. Adi said that he needs to drive some more other wise he will fall asleep if he becomes a pillion. Well I could understand his position but I decided to fight my sleep sitting behind.
At about 1530 we crossed Hubli and then I took the driving honors again. The roads were at the best and we cruised as we crossed Dharwad and some small villages. Till that point my bike was just awesome apart for some loss in power when it came to any steep climbs. At our stipulated break time of 50 km I just checked the oil level and again it dipped low and this time oil was dripping heavily. Suddenly our plan of reaching Karnataka-Maharashtra border before sunset seemed bleak. We had to find out a mechanic. Thankfully the next village was very near. Found a mechanic pretty soon. After some RnD by him, he quickly found out the root cause. The culprit was the Oil filter casing. He told that during some previous servicing, that revered personnel must have by mistake slashed the filter casing which was the root cause for the oil leak. I felt relieved that the problem was not a big one. We got it replaced and lost some 30 min in that.
It was almost dawn when we crossed Belgaum. Had a hot cup of tea as it was getting quite chilly. The Belgaum to Kolhapur patch was just simply awesome. The roads are wide as a cricket pitch. The vast plains surrounding this road and the sun going down was an awesome sight to watch. We kept on cruising and the odo kept on rolling. At last we reached Nipanni at about 1930. So we were one hour late of our schedule. Still it was fine.
One that made it all possible.
Earlier we had decided to break at Nipanni for the day. We decided to change the plan. Actually we had to leave from Pune to Bangalore the very next day itself at 1600. Both of us needed at least some time with our respective folks at Pune. We really would have made it to Pune that day itself had we kept on continuing. But thought it would be better to have a overnight break. We kept on moving and once we crossed Kagal, Pune's distance came below 250, we thought that this much distance could be covered next day early morning and we can manage a heavy brunch at Pune. At last we stopped at 2030 at a highway lodge just some kms after Kolhapur Bypass. We covered about 650 km that day after a long 14 hr eventful ride. We checked into lodge and had a nice dinner of Egg Curry in typical Kolhapuri style.
Next morning we had again decided to start at 0430 morning. We were just 15 min late. As we started, soon we realized that something was not fine. It was really damn cold and we were really fighting hard to keep the cold off. Anyways, we didn’t want to stop... so we continued. But our first break came very early at 0530. And we had two cup of teas and still the cold refused to budge. We were wondering that what should be the temperature, but thanked ourselves for donning us with jackets and gloves. [Next day we came to know that the temperature was nearing 5 Degrees that morning. ]
We kept moving and at about 0600 I just glanced across the horizon. On the west was a small hillock basking gloriously in the moonlight and towards the east, far beyond the plains I could see the sky getting reddish orange. I have to admit that this was the best sight I have ever seen till today. The scene was really amazing and I just kept gazing at this marvelous sight of nature. And the saddest part was that both these scenes could not be captured in a camera together. Maybe some magnificence of nature is supposed to be experienced in real only!!!!!! This helped me forget the cold weather for some time.
When we stopped for our next break at 0700, we were already closing in towards Satara and the bike just refused to climb a small hill. The cold had had taken the better of the bike. We decided to give it a good break. As the day was breaking in, we took some beautiful snaps of the vast mountainous plateaus. In between we stopped for one more cup of tea. The owner enquired from where we were coming from. I still remember the reaction from him when we told him that we came all the way from Bangalore. I called up at my place and told that my esteemed arrival at Pune will be happening by 0930 in Pune. Well I expected some sparks flying at other end. But everything went cool (considering I hadn't informed them about this so-called adventure). Finally we started at 0720 with Pune about 130 km away. This last part of ride was really an impatient one. We just wanted to reach Pune soon and reached did we.... finally at 0900 I had a hot Vada Pav at Joshi's on the highway. Adi refused to have it as he hates it. But I just love it. Shot some last snaps of our memorable trip. I dropped Adi at Chandni Chowk where his friend had come to pick him up. I continued till Sus Road and finally made it to my didi's place. I checked the meter and it showed 49301. So it was 898km. Not bad for my first long ride.
In the End............I just recollected Iron Maiden’s Total Eclipse >>>
“It’s not the journey's end, it has just begun........”
Friday, January 11, 2008
Tata Nano
10th December 1130 IST.
Something happened at this moment. Well truly speaking each and every moment is unique and has its own significance. But on this very moment, something really out of world happened. Tata Motors presented its most ambitious project to the world. TATA NANO -The first car in the world to be brought into market for Rs.100000/- or 2500$. No one had ever thought that this wonderful 4 wheeler invention will be available at such an affordable cost.
Man! That's really something to think about. A person who never thought that he can afford a car is made to think twice, thrice.... I dont know how many times. Suddenly, the real driver of the India's ever up surging economy --the Middle Class thinks that it can afford a car. And that too without compromising on its lifestyle at all. The car is now available for a college student, a housewife, an elderly person, a family whose annual income is just 2 Lac per annum with the help of car loans. And that too at so low cost. Is this car bent on to change the view of how the whole world will look at the cars from now on?
As this will be the cheapest production car in world, it has created a buzz in the Automobile Industry (at a very large scale in India and worth mentioning scale all over world). All Aotu-Cos especially in India are analyzing the gravity of impact they will be suffering (They will be for sure). Will they enter into this micro-mini car segment or drop the prices of their existing lower end models. May be they have some time as Tata wont be rolling out the first car till Diwali. So we still have 9-10 months to see what are the tactics of other companies. It will be a really interesting episode in history of Indian Automobiles.
Will it follow the footsteps of the Telecommunication Industry where,
-Once a Nokia 3310 with minimal features was priced at 5000 Rs. and now a mobile with even more features comes at less than 1000 bucks(of course no mobile can beat 3310 when it comes to sturdiness).
-Once incoming was charges 1 Rs/ Min and outgoing as 3 Rs/Min for a local call and today forget about incoming, the telecom service providers provide the outgoing at mere 10p/min.
Only time will tell!!!!!
But one thing is for sure, consumers are gonna be the ones having the broadest smile on their faces.
Something happened at this moment. Well truly speaking each and every moment is unique and has its own significance. But on this very moment, something really out of world happened. Tata Motors presented its most ambitious project to the world. TATA NANO -The first car in the world to be brought into market for Rs.100000/- or 2500$. No one had ever thought that this wonderful 4 wheeler invention will be available at such an affordable cost.
Man! That's really something to think about. A person who never thought that he can afford a car is made to think twice, thrice.... I dont know how many times. Suddenly, the real driver of the India's ever up surging economy --the Middle Class thinks that it can afford a car. And that too without compromising on its lifestyle at all. The car is now available for a college student, a housewife, an elderly person, a family whose annual income is just 2 Lac per annum with the help of car loans. And that too at so low cost. Is this car bent on to change the view of how the whole world will look at the cars from now on?
As this will be the cheapest production car in world, it has created a buzz in the Automobile Industry (at a very large scale in India and worth mentioning scale all over world). All Aotu-Cos especially in India are analyzing the gravity of impact they will be suffering (They will be for sure). Will they enter into this micro-mini car segment or drop the prices of their existing lower end models. May be they have some time as Tata wont be rolling out the first car till Diwali. So we still have 9-10 months to see what are the tactics of other companies. It will be a really interesting episode in history of Indian Automobiles.
Will it follow the footsteps of the Telecommunication Industry where,
-Once a Nokia 3310 with minimal features was priced at 5000 Rs. and now a mobile with even more features comes at less than 1000 bucks(of course no mobile can beat 3310 when it comes to sturdiness).
-Once incoming was charges 1 Rs/ Min and outgoing as 3 Rs/Min for a local call and today forget about incoming, the telecom service providers provide the outgoing at mere 10p/min.
Only time will tell!!!!!
But one thing is for sure, consumers are gonna be the ones having the broadest smile on their faces.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Ride to Mysore
Well this one was my first ride. Till now I had never travelled more than 150 km on my Caliber Croma at a stretch. It has almost been 5.5 years now. So before persuading my passion I just wanted to test the endurance of my bike as well as myself. I chose the day as Saturday(obviously) 21st Dec 07 for the first long ride in my life. Mysore is just approx. 150 km from Bangalore.
Saturday morning I made a quick dash to office as had to complete some urgent work. I was done by 1000. I had a nice heavy breakfast of bread-omelet and juice. I started at 1030 from my office at Electronics City. Filled up the petrol worth 400 bucks which was enough for my bike. As soon as I reached Silk Board, the traffic was as usual horrific at its best. Some cynical feeling creeped into my mind. But I was going to do this time around. It took me almost 1 hour to hit the Mysore Road. If you are starting a long journey, start before dawn so that city traffic wont spoil the beginning for your journey. Anyways as soon as I hit the highway, I could feel the difference. No more toggling of the gears. I just put in on 4th(unfortunately that is the top gear on my bike) and zoomed ahead. I knew that my bike wont be able to withstand high speeds for a long time. So I decided to play it between 60-70 /hr. I just looked at my watch it was about 1145. Milo read Mysore as 125km. When I was travelling I encountered quite a beautiful views on the way. A series of small mountains was accompanying me for quite some time. I just stopped for a break and then I realized that I have missed out my Camera. SHAME ON ME! I forgot such a vital thing. As I already had quite a heavy breakfast before leaving, I didnt stop on the roadside dhaba. But just I was midway between Bangalore-Mysore, I saw a coconut-water guy. Immediately I stopped. Had good two coconuts full of water. That's the beauty of SOuth India, you can get rehydrate anytime, anywhere with this wonderful source. That was enough for me to get going till Mysore.
On the way I saw a group of bikers on their ZMAs, Pulsars and all. They just zoomed past me. I was helpless. Anyways soon I would be having one of those. I gave myself some consolation and moved on. The road was just awesome and I reached Mandya in no time. I saw the clock and it was 1300. Mysore was still 60km away. Well almost 65 km in 75 mins. It was OK. I had a small break there as I am not used to such long rides and I already started having some butt-ache. I headed towards Mysore. Just as Mysore was aout 25 km, there was one big procession and one side of State highway was blocked. Suddenly my speedo dropped from 70s to 20s.. It was blocked for almost 1 km and took about 5mins. Whoa!!! Again I hit on accelerator and reached mysore within half an hour. The time was about 1415. Now the big question? Should I head back or go somewhere in Mysore???? I decided to visit my office campus in Mysore. Well 2 years ago, I had my training there and just wanted to reminisce those old days. Got the directions for the campus in no time. It was about 8 km from where I was. Reached there within 10 mins. The time was 1430. I decided to have a glass of juice at my favorite swimming pool-side juice center. Had a nice Pineapple juice. Took a small walk around campus and decided to head back as I was running out of time.(?????) (Just wanted to get back before evening as had a party with some friends at 1930)
Started at 1515. This time I wanted to travel non-stop for 1 hour. As soon as I left Mysore, again encountered the procession. This time I had to take the wrong way as my lane was closed. I dropped the idea for non-stop 1 hour in this part of ride. Kept on continuing till I encountered the Hotel Amravathi just before Mandya. When I was in Mysore, every time I used to travel to Bangalore, the KSRTC bus would stop at this restaurant and I loved the Curd Rice there. Immediately I stopped and had one Curd Rice and a Idli-Wada (Actually I wanted a Dosa, but it was not available in afternoon and I had really heavy breakfast for a full-fledged South Indian meal)
After that I decided to have the non -stop ride till Bangalore almost 90 km away. At 1615 I started from Hotel Amravathi. Again ZMAs, Pulsars, TBs were zooming past me. And not to forget the super fast Lancers and Mercs. Volvo buses were giving them a tight fight. I kept on continuing at my pace but I gradually saw it increasing to 80s. I didn't worry as Bangalore was approaching near. Almost at 1700 I was not able to take it anymore and I had to stop. My bike's sitting position is a bit awkward which led to the strain on my shoulders. Took rest for about 5-10 mins and headed back towards the Silicon city of India and reached by 1745.As soon as I entered Bangalore, I was greeted by enormous traffic jam. Finally managed to reach home by 1900 as the Saturday evening traffic was really very bad.
Well the trip was quite event less but I really enjoyed the ride. Surely will be having many more in the times to come. In all a very satisfying day for me..
Statistics:-
Distance :- 350 kms
Route :- Bangalore - Mandya - Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore
Saturday morning I made a quick dash to office as had to complete some urgent work. I was done by 1000. I had a nice heavy breakfast of bread-omelet and juice. I started at 1030 from my office at Electronics City. Filled up the petrol worth 400 bucks which was enough for my bike. As soon as I reached Silk Board, the traffic was as usual horrific at its best. Some cynical feeling creeped into my mind. But I was going to do this time around. It took me almost 1 hour to hit the Mysore Road. If you are starting a long journey, start before dawn so that city traffic wont spoil the beginning for your journey. Anyways as soon as I hit the highway, I could feel the difference. No more toggling of the gears. I just put in on 4th(unfortunately that is the top gear on my bike) and zoomed ahead. I knew that my bike wont be able to withstand high speeds for a long time. So I decided to play it between 60-70 /hr. I just looked at my watch it was about 1145. Milo read Mysore as 125km. When I was travelling I encountered quite a beautiful views on the way. A series of small mountains was accompanying me for quite some time. I just stopped for a break and then I realized that I have missed out my Camera. SHAME ON ME! I forgot such a vital thing. As I already had quite a heavy breakfast before leaving, I didnt stop on the roadside dhaba. But just I was midway between Bangalore-Mysore, I saw a coconut-water guy. Immediately I stopped. Had good two coconuts full of water. That's the beauty of SOuth India, you can get rehydrate anytime, anywhere with this wonderful source. That was enough for me to get going till Mysore.
On the way I saw a group of bikers on their ZMAs, Pulsars and all. They just zoomed past me. I was helpless. Anyways soon I would be having one of those. I gave myself some consolation and moved on. The road was just awesome and I reached Mandya in no time. I saw the clock and it was 1300. Mysore was still 60km away. Well almost 65 km in 75 mins. It was OK. I had a small break there as I am not used to such long rides and I already started having some butt-ache. I headed towards Mysore. Just as Mysore was aout 25 km, there was one big procession and one side of State highway was blocked. Suddenly my speedo dropped from 70s to 20s.. It was blocked for almost 1 km and took about 5mins. Whoa!!! Again I hit on accelerator and reached mysore within half an hour. The time was about 1415. Now the big question? Should I head back or go somewhere in Mysore???? I decided to visit my office campus in Mysore. Well 2 years ago, I had my training there and just wanted to reminisce those old days. Got the directions for the campus in no time. It was about 8 km from where I was. Reached there within 10 mins. The time was 1430. I decided to have a glass of juice at my favorite swimming pool-side juice center. Had a nice Pineapple juice. Took a small walk around campus and decided to head back as I was running out of time.(?????) (Just wanted to get back before evening as had a party with some friends at 1930)
Started at 1515. This time I wanted to travel non-stop for 1 hour. As soon as I left Mysore, again encountered the procession. This time I had to take the wrong way as my lane was closed. I dropped the idea for non-stop 1 hour in this part of ride. Kept on continuing till I encountered the Hotel Amravathi just before Mandya. When I was in Mysore, every time I used to travel to Bangalore, the KSRTC bus would stop at this restaurant and I loved the Curd Rice there. Immediately I stopped and had one Curd Rice and a Idli-Wada (Actually I wanted a Dosa, but it was not available in afternoon and I had really heavy breakfast for a full-fledged South Indian meal)
After that I decided to have the non -stop ride till Bangalore almost 90 km away. At 1615 I started from Hotel Amravathi. Again ZMAs, Pulsars, TBs were zooming past me. And not to forget the super fast Lancers and Mercs. Volvo buses were giving them a tight fight. I kept on continuing at my pace but I gradually saw it increasing to 80s. I didn't worry as Bangalore was approaching near. Almost at 1700 I was not able to take it anymore and I had to stop. My bike's sitting position is a bit awkward which led to the strain on my shoulders. Took rest for about 5-10 mins and headed back towards the Silicon city of India and reached by 1745.As soon as I entered Bangalore, I was greeted by enormous traffic jam. Finally managed to reach home by 1900 as the Saturday evening traffic was really very bad.
Well the trip was quite event less but I really enjoyed the ride. Surely will be having many more in the times to come. In all a very satisfying day for me..
Statistics:-
Distance :- 350 kms
Route :- Bangalore - Mandya - Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore
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