Somewhere I Belong

Ride to Jog Falls & Murudeshwar

2010-09-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Day 1 : Saturday 21^st August

0530 : I am ready. The bags are packed and hauled onto the Red Stallion. I am a bit nervous like I am before every long ride. But this time its gonna be 1000km+ adrenaline gushing ride through mountains and jungles and beaches. I just cant wait to start. My mother is in the parking to bade goodbye to me. She is as usual cynic about why I am going for such a long ride again. I don’t have an option to kick start (it feels so good to kick start a bike) so have to push the start button to bring the RS to life. Start from my home at 0540 to meet the rest of fellow bikers at Chandni Chowk. When I reach there, I find only Faiz along with his yellow FS-S. Ayush comes after a few mins on his black Thunderbird. Sagar astride his black P150 is waiting for us near Sinhgad bypass.

0545 : Rest of the team is going to be late so we three decide to start the journey and head towards Satara leniently so that others will catch up soon. Sagar start on his own too.

0730 : We reach Satara without any break leisurely cruising on dear NH4. (NH4 has went on to acquire highly sentimental value among bikers in Pune. Such is the beauty of this road). Sagar joins us too. Come to know that Bharat is not gonna make it to the trip because of his tooth surgery and Royd will be catching us up on his Red Fazer very soon. Ankur and Arti join us too on the black CBZ.

0800 : 5 bikes start from Satara. Hardly after 40 kms I notice Faiz’s rear tyre is almost flat. We stop to check and find that the rear tyre is almost flat. Sagar goes ahead to find a puncture-wala. Thg guy says he cant mend tubeless tyre. So its decided that Faiz will walk back some kms and mend the puncture in that village. Meanwhile Royd joins. Enthusiasm somewhat subsides because of this but still be move on.

0900 : Faiz head back and we move on. Decide to stop at Sai International before Kolhapur for breakfast and reach there by 1000 something

1130 : After a good and heavy breakfast, we target Hubli straightaway 230kms ahead. Top up the fuel tanks and start the ripping. The Nh4 stretch after Kolhapur till Belgaum is heaven. Sparse traffic. Excellent roads. Even speeds of 100+ feel like its nothing. Stop in between for some photoshoot while crossing some random lake on highway.

1300 : Reach Belgaum and rains start. They start as if there is no tomorrow. We keep on continuing but speeds drop a little.

1415 : we are in between Dharwad and Hubli where we find a turn straightaway going to Yellapur by passing Hubli. 15 mins gone but Ankur fails to turn up. Ayush goes back and both the bikes re-appear after few mins. Ankur’s bike is not picking up speed. Try a lots of stuff. Also my bike shows low battery. I ignore it. A couple of good natured villagers come and help out by cleaning the spark plug. But still that doesn’t help. To worsen the matters, rain start again. We take a shelter under a bridge as Ankur shows the bike to a mechanic we find luckily. He is unable to help and tells us to go to Dharwad to mend it. After half an hour of rains, we start towards Dharwad towing ANkur’s bike (actually pushing it with our legs). I go ahead to find a mechanic. Luckily find one just 2-3 kms ahead. Tell him the problem. He goes back on his scooter and somehow manages to bring bike to his shop. When he opens spark plug, he smiles and just resets the distance between two point at head of spark plug and voila!!! The bike is up again. Then it strikes that we are hungry and have skipped lunch. So munch on bananas at the shop besides the mechanic. Now its my bike’s turn as it refuses to start. The mechanic suggest a shop 2 blocks ahead. I show the bike to him. He says starter relay is gone and needs to be fetched from a Bajaj shop on other side of town. Royd takes the guy as we are new to the city and I sit at his shop (Yeah!!! This is what he requests me to..). After almost 25-30 mins, he turns up and fixes the new relay. The bike is working again. Look at watch and its 1730. Our plans to reach Jog Falls that day itself falter. We decide to target Sirsi.

1730 : We start for Yellapur. The state highways are in a pretty bad shape and somehow we reach Yellapur and fuel up the tanks again.

1845 : Catch the road to Sirsi. Now this road seems to be a single lane without street lamps and completely immersed in a jungle. We decide to make a formation. 1. Royd. 2. Sagar. 3. Ayush . 4. Ankur .5. Me. The ride through jungle starts. Its pitch dark and nothing else except 4 sets of tail-lights before me and sinister night behind me. Some occasional vehicles pass by. Otherwise its just dark. After almost 60 kms, and more than an hour we reach Sirsi. Decide to take a halt and find a suitable hotel. Find it very soon.

2030 : The owner says dinner will close by 2130, so quickly change and come for dinner only to find that the menu consists of Rice Plate and nothing else. We are grateful that food is there and pounce upon rice plate like anything. After super heavy meal, just head to the rooms and crash on beds. Even before I hear something its already bright outside window.

Route: - Pune – Dharwad – Yellapur – Sirsi.
Distance: -560 kms

Day 2 : Sunday 22^nd August

0800 : Packing up we decide to head to Jog Falls straightaway as breakfast will eat up most of the time in Sirsi. Nitin + Gita are gonna catch us at Murudeshwar from Pune astride Red P150 .

0900 : Leave for Jog Falls from Sirsi. Some directions from locals and we are on way to Jog Falls. And that is where I find the shitiest road I have ever rode upon. For every 50m, I could find loads of dung cakes happily lying on road waiting to be cut across by not so fortunate wheels of the tourist vehicles. I am finding it pretty hard to avoid cutting these (dung) cakes as I don’t want any part of those things upon my riding gear or my bike. At last reach Mavingundi on the SH towards Jog Falls. Reach there by 1030 something.
1045 : Security guards tell us that we cant go to the base of falls during monsoon and also they cant keep a vigil on to the bags we have put up on our bikes using bungee cords and all. Again a super heavy breakfast. The bill amounts to some 600 for 6 guys and what we east is only idli-wada, dosa and omlettes. Roam around Jog Falls. The water level in falls is at normal level so do not find the views as breathtaking as we saw on internet. But still the view is amazing. We laze around for quite some time.

1500 : Start towards Murudeshwar. The roads are straight i.e. no diversions but there are lots of twists and turns and we all enjoy them to the core. Encounter ghats and fog reduces visibility. Stopover for a photo-session.

1545 : Start again and fogs disappear very soon. The twists and turns are too good to resist and our speeds increase. But the roads are not so good and we rally cant rip off. One scary incident when I almost go offroad on the wrong side while negotiating a left turn. I come back to my senses and reduce my speed.
1600 : A similar S turn ahead and I take it easily. After the turn watch the RVM and don’t find Ankur. I hope that has not happened. But turn back nevertheless and as I approach the S turn find 2-3 people around Ankur and Arti. He hurt his knee but thankfully she didn’t have any injuries but just a sprain in ankle. But the bike had lost a lot. The visor , headlight dome and RVM are gone. To top it off my battery again is low and I find out that the battery is about to go.
1630 : Reach Honawar and make some amendments to Ankur’s bike. My battery is gone and it requires push start every time (courtesy – no kick). Start for Murudeshwar and reach there by 1730. Get to hear from Nitin that Gita is not feeling well , so they halt at Yellapur itself.
1800 : Check in RMS residency at Murudeshwar. A beautiful resort overlooking beach on one side and Arabian Sea on other side. Feels really peaceful. After a walk on the main road, decide to have dinner at Naveen beach resort. It is for those tourists staying in RNS residency who wanna booze and have non-veg. Both these things are not allowed in RNS as it is adjoining the Murudeshwar mandir and also a gigantic statue of Lord Shiva resides in RNS as well. JFunny indeed!!

2000 : A nice dinner at Naveen beach resort. Come back to rooms and celebrate Ankur’s birthday as well.
2300 : Sleep off after another eventful but satisfying day.

Route: - Sirsi – Jog Falls – Murudeshwar
Distance: - 160kms

Day 3 : Monday 23^rd August

0600 : I wake up and start packing my bags. I am gonna head back to Pune alone as I need to be home for Rakhi the next day. The other guys gonna head to Goa for a day and then to Pune the next day. Royd has a call at 1300 and he decided to accoampany me till Goa so that he can reach his uncle’s house before the call.
0700 : Push start the bike (I keep on doing it till end of trip) and head towards Goa. The roads are bad from Murudeshwar till Honawar (30kms). After that the good stretch starts and we keep up the good speed. I call up Nitin asking should I come to Yellapur in case he needs any help as Gita’s health is still not so good. She has high fever running. We decide that they can take rest that day and head off to Kolhapur / Pune next day depending on her health. Push start…
1030 : Reach South Goa border and take a break to tank up as Royd’s Fazer has hit reserve. We continue together till Panaji.
1130 : Reach Panaji and Royd bids good bye. I continue towards Sawantwadi. As soon as I hit Maharashtra border, bad roads start and continue till Sawantwadi. A right turn and I head towards Amboli ghat. Once again rains decide to accompany my lonely soul. Even if I need to take a break to drink water, I search for a slope so that push start will be easier.
1230 : Start ascending Amboli ghat. Rain is pounding. I feel thirsty so I just open up my visor and taste the sweet rain. The water is sweet indeed. But decide to stop nevertheless as quenching thirst through raindrops means I will require rain all the way till Pune. Just before Amboli waterfall, witness the part of road battered by a landslide. It scared the shit out of me. Its like I am travelling on a road climbing a ghat and suddenly there is no road. On your right is a huge mountain, a plain stretch in front of you about 3-4 meters wide and a plunging valley on the left without any barricade. I just halt there till I see a vehicle coming after some time and entering this patch from other side. I make it to the falls and decide to have hot bhajji- wadapav, etc. The stall owner explain me regarding the landslide and how I wont encounter rain after crossing Amboli. Push start…

1330 : Start from Amboli towards NH4 near Nipani. The roads are boring, bad, monotonous, etc. Moreover I am completely drenched. So pen up my jacket a bit to let some fresh air in. A bad decision I take and instead of heading towards Sankeshwar via Gadhinglaj, I take the internal route to Nipani. Road quality worsens intermittently. I cross into Karnataka and I loose track of route as all sign boards and in Kannada. So I use Indian GPS i.e. locals at every next village to ask directions.

1445 : At last I hit NH4 and I feel relieved as if I have reached home which although is almost 300 kms ahead. Deciding not to waste time I hit the accelerator and reach Kolhapur.
1530 : A stop at McDonalds for lunch. I want a dal-roti kinda thing but settle over here as I need to move quickly. Fast food literally. Push start…
1630 : The battery is almost discharged and my horn is working infrequently. Indicators are dull . I fear for headlight. So I forget everything and make a point to reach pune before daybreak. Practically impossible. But still I can try. Again fuel up the tank and I am off to Pune. Push start…
1715 : Reach Karad. Make mental calculation that I covered 83 kms in last one hour. Its amazing as the bike has been seriously battered in last 2 days and still its running this good. But however I try its not hitting top speed in excess of 100. So I cruise along at 90-100.
1800 : Reach Satara. Lubricate chain as its making some noise. The mechanic gives me a stare looking at my bike, me, my attire, my body language. I am hopelessly tired and ignore him. Push start…
1900 : Reach outskirts of Pune and cross Katraj tunnel. Traffic starts.
1930 : I reach home. Notice that I did Kolhapur-Pune in just 3 hours including a couple of breaks.
My fiancé is dead worried for me so she comes home to visit me. As usual mother is happy to see me. I just smile at both of them. Manage to change and take a bath. Have dinner.
2100 : I am dead asleep.
Route: - Murudeshwar - Panaji - Sawantwadi - Kolhapur - Pune
Distance: - 680 kms
Total Distance :- 1400kms (Approximate as tripmeter got reset during the battery fiasco..)

Hyderabad to Pune Ride

2010-07-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Date: - 3rd July 2009
Route: - NH9
Time: - 1030 to 2045 [10 hrs 15 mins]
Distance: - 547 kms

So finally I came back to Pune after a year in Hyderabad. I was on so-called riding hiatus more because of non-availability of good riding destinations nearby. I came back on a Wednesday leaving Red Stallion in Hyderabad. Joined the office in Pune and again on Saturday took a bus back to Hyd so that I can ride back all the way to Pune.

Sometimes people do make a mistake of over-estimating themselves. This time I was one of them. I was so sure that I can leave Hyd by 1000 and reach Pune by 1900. I was wrong indeed. After confirming with the mechanic that bike was in a good shape to make this trip as silencer was making some noises, I headed towards Lingampally from Madhapur at exactly 1030 hours. Not even out of Hyd and heard some weird noise from somewhere. Again a stop at mechanic and did some cleaning of disc brake. Started off again but noise still persisted. I decided to carry on. The bike was loaded with almost 20kg of load in form of saddle bags and a backpack fastened on the back seat. So I started real slow occasionally touching 90s. I had to watch the Germany-Argentina encounter in the evening that was about to start at 1930. So I planned accordingly. That means only body-respite breaks and nothing else.

But this trip turned out to be a lot different than other trips. As I left Hyderabad city and entered countryside, I really didnt cared about time and speed and just watched the cities, villages, pastures, people I passed by. Initially I was about to take break after every 2 hrs, but soon I didnt mind the time intervals between breaks.Sometimes, it was 2 hrs, sometimes 30 mins. Was calling up my fiancée/mother alternatively updating my status (read "Read I was OK or not?"). I crossed AP without hassles.
Even about 50-70kms stretch of Karnataka was eventless. Then I entered Maharashtra and a homely feeling crept into me. I was sure now that even if something happens, at least I can communicate with people around me. And then eventually came the rains I never had ridden in such torrential rains. So this was a complete new experience. I just loved every part of its.. I loved the way nature changed its colours around me from time to time. At a time it was pitch dark and cloudy, then it started raining. No sooner than few kms and I could see sun some out and shine upon fresh greenery all around in a perfect magnificence. I loved every part of it. I didnt even notice when did my speeds dropped to meagre 60-70 as I was absorbed enjoying the beauty around me. And just when I was appreciating and thanking rain gods for showing me such a wonderful view, came another spell of rain. I didnt even notice the clouds gathering and all I saw was that people running helter-skelter in the next village I saw. The rains caught me unaware and I was drenched to the core. The visibility was very low and I was moving at 40s. Now being drenched back to reality I remembered the football QF in the evening and suddenly wanted to reach home early. Guess I was too late. I reached Solapur @280 kms in by 1600. Quite unlike me. On some other day I would have been there by 1400 itself.
Took a long break for body to get some respite. Already came to know that I gonna miss the match. But still tried to give it a go to reach Pune by 2000 at most. But the traffic increased and the road conditions degraded exponentially after Solapur because of 4 laning process of the highway. It was becoming pretty difficult to maintain the constant speeds. Moreover single lane bad NH was not helping either. As usual the ST buses never give a damn to bikers along with the innovas and scorpios. Wet roads worsened the situation. But finally found an able ally in a Sumo that was overtaking the slow moving trucks in all the fury. Got hold of that one and rode non stop was almost 2 hrs again untill my bum gave up and I had to take a halt. The roads were bad for almost 150kms from Solapur and by the time I hit good roads at 1900, it was already dark and as I am not that a good rider in dark had to follow a ST bus to avoid oncoming uppers. So finally reached Hadapsar at 2015 I guess. The last 15-20 kms inside city felt like the previous 500kms. But nonetheless reached home by 2045 and guess what saw that Germany was 3-0 up on Argentina. Quite unbelievable!!!

A turn in life

2010-04-27T04:07:00.000-07:00

After a lot of resistance and lots of discussion, finally I permitted my mom to start looking for a perfect life partner for me. She was so confident that I would require at least a year or maybe more to zero out on the right choice. Even I wasn't ready to give up my freedom so early (I guess there is no lower limit for this so called "Early").

But how wrong my mom was and I stumbled upon my better half in flat one month. Now not that they forced me to accept her. It was a mutual agreement and now I am very glad that she is by my side today and forever from now on..

So today I broke up this news to all of my friends. So as expected received a lots of heartfelt comments and since morning I was busy attending calls. Tried completing some work between calls too.

But I noticed one disturbing trend. Most of my friends told me "Pushkar! Man now you will never be same again!!". Such is the impact of this society upon us that even I acknowledged them without even thinking about what I was accepting. Then after all calls were over, I just contemplated that why most of them said this same thing to me.

Why is it expected that a guy(girl) will stop meeting his(her) friends after marriage?

Why I wont be able to go out whenever I feel I want to?

Why I wont be able to work late in nights if the project schedule gets heavy?

Why I wont be able to attend the late night beer parties by my friends?

Why I wont be able to attend a rock show by Iron Maiden when they next time play in Bangalore or Mumbai?

Why I wont be able to take out my bike and head into some unknown road just because I feel like doing it?

I know she would also have the same question as me.

So many whys... Why everyone expects that once a guy marries, then his social life is over. His wife will take over all of his time so that he will never be able even think about something else (forget about someone else..) What I found was that I never even thought in my dreams that I would change. But its the change, whoever or whatsoever has initiated it, engulfs everyone and makes them bend to their knees and follow it. A person never changes. The society makes him change. Maybe I wont call up my friends as frequently as I used to do before, but they will stop calling me completely. I might have to hang out with them once in a while but they might be apprehensive in talking to me..

I know after marriage I will have to look after one more person in my life apart from me. It will never be for ME but it would be for US. That that doesn't mean that I should forget ME. It is ME who is sitting right now typing this crap on some dumb monitor.

I know sitting and typing all this bullshit is one thing and following it for all the rest of my life is another. But at least I am trying to resist this change.

It is said that after the so-called honeymoon period of marriage is over, the real life starts. It is because one gets carried to much into the newly found sensuousness, romance and affinity in this period and hence forgets what he was before marriage. But instead of using all this newly found bliss in my life in a single shot, I would like to use it in installments for the rest of my life. So that I will keep on feeling blessed forever.

Neither am I stoned nor drunk while writing this!! Guess today I didnt have much work, so I ended up writing this. Need to get something before I start acting like crazy!!

Hyderabad Nagpur round trip

2009-12-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

Date: - 23rd Dec 2009
Route: - NH7 Hyderabad - Nagpur
Time: - 1345 to 2215 [8 hrs 30 mins]
Distance: - 497 kms

1345: Started from Hyderabad. Took NH9 as a bypass towards Bowenpally and off to NH7. The first 130kms are superb 4 laned along with electronic display boards for warnings. Was pleased to see that max. allowed speed as 100kmph. Didnt disappoint the authorities. No breaks for 3 hrs and managed to cover 220kms.
1645: Suddenly before Armur road changed to single lane and bad roads started. Again a small patch of 4 lane between Armur and Nirmal for about 40 kms and then started the worst roads. Firstly a small ghat section with a lot of monkeys on the road. Need to be careful, as there are monkeys all over. Even saw an unforunate dead one lying in a pool of blood.
1740: I had crossed Nirmal and it was getting darker. My P200's stock light failed to help me. Took a break for tea at a dhaba.
The road condition further worsened after ghat as there were practically no roads for about 20kms. Had to follow an APSRTC bus at meagre 30s.
1900: The last 20kms took me almost 45 mins and I reached Adilabad. A left turn inside city and I was again heading towards Nagpur.
1945: Once I crossed Bori, I was into Maharashtra. The roads again are no better here too. The complete NH7 is under 4 laning preparation. So one side of road was working and other under construction. So had to cross innumerous diversions. It was total dark around and at one point of time no one was following me too. So I decided to stop for a while as the night sky was too inviting. I have never seen so many stars in my lifetime till now becuase of the light pollution inside cities. It was scary as well as exciting to stop in middle of nowhere in complete darkness. A break for 10 mins and I started off. Found an Indica moving at some 60ish. So started tailgating. Very soon one more Indica overtook us and I started following that one as it was moving at 80-90s. It was getting damn chilly as night progressed. The Cramster jacket was keeping the torso warm but cargos didnt help much for my lower body.
2145: A small scary incident on outskirts of Nagpur. One dumb cyclist was crossing a crossroad on a 4 laned National Highway as if its his backyard without bothering about the oncoming vehicles. Sadly it was only mine. I breaked so hard that my front tire skidded. But thanks to P200s superb grip, I managed to keep it straight. The tires made sucha huge noise that we became a show for the others at that chowk. That dumbo smiled sheepishly and went ahead. I was also in no mood to get into an argument. So I made a move too.

2215: Home sweet home

Date: - 28th Dec 2009
Route: - NH7 Nagpur - Hyderabad
Time: - 0545 to 1345 [8 hrs]
Distance: - 494 kms

0545: Started from Nagpur and planed to reach by 1300 if my luck was good. Nothing special as kept on riding till AP-Maha border.
0730: Heard some strange noise from my bike's lower portion. As if someone had put a spoon inside an empty tin can and shaking it vigorously. I stopped and checked if some nut bolt had loosened or what. But no signs.
0815: Reached Adilabad. Tried searching for some mechanic but none of the shops had opened. Moreover the bad patch from Adilabad till Nirmal was about to start. I took the risk and moved ahead towards Nirmal. The noise was still there and I was not able to make out what was causing it. Most probably it was something related to silencer as I didn't notice any change in bike's performance.
1015: Reached Nirmal and found a mechanic. He said some part of silencer had fallen inside and making noise and it was not a major problem. I suspected catalytic converter. Now as the noise was really distracting me I put on my IPOD and started ripping as the road conditions bettered.
1100: A few kms after Nirmal encountered a road block on highway. I tried to negotiate from sides but everything was blocked. Reason... Separate Telangana.. The protestors had put about 8-10 bikes across the roads and also a Tata 608 after that just to ensure that no one escapes. It was nothing to worry about. They sang some songs and raised a lot of slogans. As I dont understand Telugu, I didnt get even a single word except that one of them involved the named Chiranjeevi..
1130: After half an hour they released the block. A commuter besides me told that now there will be a blockade after few kms.. Maybe more. As good patch had started, I ripped my bike as if devil was chasing me. And as a matter of fact, some guys were planning a blockade after some 30kms too. I made out this was the next batch of protestors. But they were just preparing and one out of the 2 lanes was not blocked. I didn’t bother to stop and sped away.
1300: Reached outskirts of Hyderabad.
1345: Finally reached at home in Madhapur.

Now as soon as I get time need to show the silencer to any decent Bajaj service station. Hope it’s not a silencer replacement.

Ride to Warangal

2009-11-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Date: - 31st Oct 2009

Route: - NH202 Hyderabad - Warangal - Hyderabad

Time:- 0630 to 1410 [7 hrs 40 mins]

Distance :- 345 kms

After a long hiatus from my riding trips, finally found a well deserving weekend off on 30th October. I had already decided the destination for my next ride and that was Warangal(… what is that???). It is only famous for its NIT and nothing else. Maybe I wanted to confirm this universal fact. By the way, it is also supposed to have a Fort and a thousand pillar temple(people make a big issue out of nothing..)

I sleep early on Friday night so that I can catch some good sleep before my ride. Saturday morning I wake up damn early – thanks to the bedbugs in my bed – I see that clock says 0415. Cursing the bedbugs I open my laptop and see that a live show by Iron Maiden named "Death on the Road" has been downloaded. Start watching the show. Next I look at watch and its 0545!! Man. I am late. This is what Maiden has done to me again and again. Make me forget time. A quick bath and a glass of milk and I am ready to go.

Leave my house at 0630. As usual I am always excited before my ride begins.Warangal highway is at other side of city. I prefer taking Uppal ring road instead of traversing in narrow lanes of Nampalli and Koti. Just near Warangal highway someone gives me wrong directions and I am almost 7-8kms ahead on the junction to Vijaywada. Ask the directions again and I take a U-turn. Don’t miss the Uppal circle this time and by 0730 I am cruising towards Warangal. Roads are quite empty for a NH. Catch a glimpse of Bhongir Fort on the way. It is built atop a big hillock. Don’t know its significance. Need to surf net for that.

I try hard not to rip through. But guess my instincts don’t allow me to. Soon bike is doing 110+ and I set my top speed of the day at 122kmph. But I did that with the help of a road with slight slope and that too with me fully ducted on tank.

At about 80kms from Hyderabad, find an unusual site on my left. The time is approx 0830. Two small hills, they seem to be wearing out on account of very old age (maybe thousands of years). Fortunately I find a detour that I feel that will lead me towards those hills. Take the detour and some photo session for my baby. I never get bored of these snaps.

The curious keeda inside me leads me inside the kutcha road. I can find no sight of any living creature. I go inside for about 5 kms and still no signs of getting any closure to the hills. I stop for one more photo shoot. Get off the bike after putting it on side stand. Hear a thud!! I look back and my bike is kissing the ground. Am still puzzled why it fell down??? I had put it rightly on the side stand. Don’t know, but some cynical feeling sinks inside me.(Maybe I am nervous because of all this loneliness and this bike falls for no apparent reason at all makes me more nervous) I take this as a sign to make a U-turn and head back to where I am supposed to go – Warangal . Lift my heavy Rosie with lot of effort (thank God there are no saddle bags.) Check what’s the damage. The leg guard has gone into its favorite position … inside where it is not supposed to be. Pull it out with some effort. Gear lever is just saved from breaking it seems. Not able to put my bike in the gear as it has also gone inside. But good news is that its not bent and just slipped inside. Do some hara-kiri and then finally its working. No more damage!!! Take the snaps and then head back to highway.

This is where bike fell down and I gave up chasing the mountain(in the background)

Civilization!!

Now no more timepass giri as clock is almost 0900 and I am still so far away from my destination. Get into top gear and start ripping.. Non stop I reach Hanamkunda at about 1015 hrs, the sister twin of Warangal @ exactly 170 kms. Make way to Warangal through crowded streets. Start asking locals for directions. Then I realize this is not Hyderabad and almost nobody knows Hindi. People want to help, but they just can’t. Also I start getting many weird looks because of my riding gear. Take off the gloves and the knee pads. Finally find a guy who knows Hindi and he tells me the route to temple as well as fort.

First Disappointment: -

I really wanted to see 1000 pillars inside one roof. I thought it would be huge. But that was not the case. Most of the pillars are broken and it is after that I think Archaelogical Survey of India declared it as a monument of historical importance. Such a shame!!! I hardly spent 10 mins at the temple as some renovation was also going on.

Do I see 1000 pillars??? The 1000 Pillars Temple.

Second Disappointment: -

Feeling dejected, I start finding route for fort. As usual, after many a wrong turns, I finally manage to reach the fort and guess what!! There is no fort. The fort has been destroyed long time back (similar to Tipu Sultan's fort at Mysore) and the whole fort has been converted to a part of city. Just in one corner, a small part of fort still stands that is also half park and half fort. The park being used by lovey-dovey couples having a good time. I make way through the park towards a small old building that seems to be part of the fort at some point of time in history. Almost all the corners and secluded spots are pre-occupied by the couples. I feel like a fool roaming alone there in the lovers den. Take a few snaps to make myself believe that I was at fort. Eat up an energy bar as I didn’t have any breakfast. Wash up my face and I am ready to head back. So as destination did not live up to expectation, I decide to make the most out of my journey back.

First one of the only two monuments all over the fort

The other monument at fort :)

Finding way out of city is a relatively less pain than earlier as I had marked a bypass from fort to highway in the google maps. Once out of city limits I again wear my riding gear. With Hyderabad reading 120kms, I start off non stop. I don’t even break for water. Keep going on and on. A Santro gives a challenge for a race. Accept it. That guy whips his baby with all the disdain. Whenever traffic comes, I lead and on empty roads he leads. This goes on for a while before he takes a turn somewhere and then there is no one to challenge me. Apart from the train. Oops! Where did the train come from. Most of this part of highway is parallel to a railway track. So I challenge the train. Unfair on my side as the road keeps on zigzagging while the rail enjoys a straight route. Somehow I manage to catch last 2 bogeys and then the road turns and I see train taking off like anything. Reach the Uppal circle and my bum is sore now, as I didn’t have any break since 120kms and almost 100 mins. Still carry on saying a break now will disturb my riding rhythm (as if city riding requires some kind of rhythm??). Trudge through the Uppal ring road but as soon as I hit Secunderabad, traffic hits like a bolt. I drain almost half of my battery only in honking till I reach my home by 1410.

Pune Hyderabad Ride

2009-09-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Date: - 8th Sept 2009

Route: - NH9 Pune - Solapur - Hyderabad

Time:- 0415 to 1300 [8 hrs 45 mins]

Distance :- 547 kms

Again my bike needed a transfer along with me to Hyderabad. Reached Pune on 5th Sep. Immediately gave the bike for servicing and all the marammat thing. Costed me a whooping 3k as bike neared 20k kms in almost an year. And as its a Bajaj I prefer to service it and replace parts as per manual because dont wanna take any risk on highways.

So my bike was ready. This was first time I was gonna sport my brande new riding gear. That means Cramster jacket, gloves, knee pads and my brand new Vega helmet .

Started from my home in Pune at 0415 after saying tata to aai. I left early because I planned to reach Hyderabad early afternoon so that I can attend office as I didnt have a leave for Tuesday. For first 50kms from Pune, road was a 4 lane with dividers. But as soon as it changed to single lane, my speeds dropped to as low as 60s. The upper light coming from oncoming vehicles was making life miserable for me. I had no option but to trail behind any big vehicle that can shadow me from the lights. For some time I was trailing a truck at meagre 40. Found an able ally in a pickup truck that was moving at respectable speeds of 70s. But soon he may have gotten suspicious about a bike following him at a close distance for such a long time and he too slowed down. I had to overtake him anyhow. So I trudged along the highway slowly till the daybreak.

At about 0545 the horizon lighted up and I took a small tea break. Feeling fresh from the break I started to rip the bike.By ripping I seriously mean it. I dont remember any instance when my bike was below 90 when I was on trafficless roads. Most of the times I was 100+.

Reached Solapur i.e 265 km by 0845. Tanked up my bike and also my stomach by sandwiches mom had prepared early in the morning. Well cant miss "Maa ke haath ka bana khaana"

Then started the ultimate part of the ride.

I started at 0900 from Solapur with Hyderabad exactly 300kms. Continuing the high speeds, I averaged almost 75kms per hour and managed to reach my home in Hyderabad @ 547 kms exactly at 1300. So that last 288 kms I covered in 4 hours with only 4 small breaks for water.

Yeah sometimes in between it did get monotonous. At one point of time I almost fell asleep. Stopped the bike immediately. Relaxed for 10 mins by just sitting down and closing my eyes and I was ready to go.

NH9 road condition is not great. But bikes, yeah they wont feel much brunt as they can easily ditch most of the potholes swiftly. Unlike cars that had to bear the brunt of the bad ditches on the roads. Also when a long lane of trucks comes in front of you, bikes can easily overtake and such is not the case with cars as they loose precious time behind stubbornly moving slow trucks.

So my take is that this route is doable by car as well as bike in 9 hrs considering road conditions. If the conditions improve, it maybe done in only 8 hours by car I guess. Need to try that too..Maybe next time

Pune Nagpur Pune Again

2009-07-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

But this time I took my brand new Chevy Spark. This time I wasn't alone. I took my mom along as wanted to show her how does it feel during a long trip on road. Well she was not complaining as she was sleeping all the time in comfort of AC with stops whenever she wanted.

Stats:-

27th June 2009

Route: - Pune - Ahmednagar - Aurangabad - Jalna - Mehkar - Karanja - Wardha - Nagpur

Kms :- 710

Time :- 0915 to 2130

2nd July 2009

Route: - The above route reverse

Kms: - 716

Time: - 0830 to 2100

Just the difference that coming back I took the so called Aurangabad by-pass which must have saved me at least 20 mins at cost of 6 extra kms.. I dont know but whenever I do trips which are not related to sight-seeing I am rather particular about timings. So be it..

Up the Irons : Flight 666

2009-05-09T00:58:00.000-07:00

Saw the documentary "Flight 666" in Inox today. This film depicts the legendary world tour conducted by Iron Maiden during which they covered 45000 miles and did 23 concerts in 21 cities all across the world (except Europe) in 45 days.
Iron Maiden got their own Boeing 757 customized to carry tons of music instruments as well as the hell lot of speakers, amplifiers and all the stuff along with 70 crew members which includes the band as well. And the most stunning thing is that the band's lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson was also the one who piloted the flight which has been rechristened as Ed Force One.
The movie shows how it is when the band is on road. What sort of compromises they need to make once they start touring. Right from performing the show even when down by fever till braving an injury so as not to affect the schedule of the tour which may cost a bomb.
Also the band members provide the insight as to how do they feel when they face the audience like us. The most humbling thing about Iron Maiden is that in spite of being such a successful band all over the world, they always give their best. Their spirit shows that they are not at all interested in making big bucks but just to enjoy their music and give their faithful fans one hell of a show. That is why Iron Maiden is so famous all across the world inspite radio never played thier songs, neither do music channels used to support the band during their heydays. It is just because this band has been touring consistently since thier inception and still believe that live shows are the ones which should be used to reach out the fans. It took almost 30 years for thier own country UK to realise what Iron Maiden really are and finally in 2009 they were rewarded with the Best British Live Act award.
But as humble as they are, Iron Maiden dedicated the award to thier audience. They are as good as any normal person like us are. They dont think themselves as celibrities, just a bunch of musicians who want to make amazing music and nothing else.
What truly shocked me during the movie was the amount of fan following that Iron Maided get in Latin America. People there just worship Maiden, just like our very won Sachin is worshipped in India. For them Heavy Metal is religion and Iron Maiden are Gods. It was really amazing stuff to watch.
One more amazing thing which has amazed even the band members is that more and more young people are turning towards Iron Maiden which is rather surprising because IM is quite an old band now. This shows that Iron Maiden's music is their for long......very long.

All in all a great documentary movie which has provided us Maiden fans of all the inside stuff that goes on behind the stage. I really dont care if this movie at all gets any recognition or not, anyways neither any of the band members nor any true Iron Maiden fan across the world would care a damn for the award. But thanks to this documentary, I have started to respect Iron Maiden much more than ever.
Up the Irons!!!
Forever a Maiden Fan

Semi Ashtavinayak Ride

2009-04-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

Date: - 4th April 2009
Route: - Pune -Daund - Siddhatek - Theur - Pune - Khopoli - Mahad - Pali - Khopoli - Pune
Distance: - 485 kms
Time: - 10 hrs

Long weekend!! Pre-planned that will be going out to Matheran for two days along with my parents in our new cage "Chevy Spark". On Thursday night, get a shock that trip-plan needs a change and finally decided that will be going to Mahabaleshwar for one day trip on Saturday.
Now I am left high n' dry. With nothing to do on Friday with a holiday.
Suddenly I remember that I am supposed to take my mother to Ashtavinayak (a set of 8 Ganesh temples in Pune/Mumbai/Nashik area which are considered highly important from religious point of view) in coming month. So I decide to get my P200 to some temples before I take our cage there. I did some homework on the maps through wikimapia on Thursday night.

On 3rd April morning 0630 I set off for Siddhatek on Solapur Road.
No sooner than I cross Hadapsar, I just get a rude morning alarm on the highway.
"A slow trailer moving in front of me. Being the single-lane road, can't overtake from right side as I see a long line of trucks coming from opposite side. Decide to overtake from left hand side. While I am overtaking the trailer, hear a huge bang and see debris flying all over me from the truck on my right. I don't understand what is going on. See the trailer wobbling and I get shit scared because there is a almost 5-6 feet pit on my left. I rev my throttle to get out of this as soon as possible.. anyhow. Again hear the bang on my left and again some debris flying over me. This must have lasted only for 5-10 seconds, but seemed like an eternity to me.
Finally cross the trailer. Get my bike on the left side of the road after some 100m and look back. The trailer had stopped. The truck driver either had lost control or went asleep or must be drunk. He had hit, I think, 3-4 trucks sideways coming from opposite lane one by one. The driver side windshield was shattered to pieces. I couldn't make out the condition of driver. But I don't think it was serious as the truck was quite slow. See people gather around the
spot. I am just numb for a couple of minutes and keep on looking at the sight before me. I made out that the debris that fell on me must be some stuff from the load the truck was carrying."

After some time I gain my composure and start off to Siddhatek. A good 100 km from Pune towards Daund.
Clicked some snaps on way to Siddhatek. I am not that good of a photographer. Just always keep on trying ;)

Bridge just before Siddhatek temple

Pune Solapur Road

Reach Siddhatek by 0815. Dist. covered :- 110 km.

Now next destination being Pali near Mumbai. For that I again need to go back to Pune. Start back for Pune. Reach Hadapsar by 1030. The curious keeda inside me leads me to the Pune bypass from Hadapsar via Saswad road. And I end up in Chandni Chowk by a good 10 kms long route but traffic conditions still same. Disgusting.

At 1100, I am at the the common tapri we all BNers hang out at before heading for any ride towards Mulshi. Have a cold coffee which is anything but cold.

Dist. covered:- 230 kms.

If I have to go to Pali, I need to cross Tamhini ghat. The roads arent good and its getting quite hot. My home is just kms away and I almost leave for home when I decide that I will go via NH4 and Madh Ganpati temple. I am happy because I just love NH4. Soon I am hitting triple digits. In meantime, take some snaps of expressway as seen fom Old NH4 near Khandala ghats.

Reach Khopolo by 1245. Dis. covered - 312 kms

End up at Madh Ganesh temple which is just 1 km from NH4.

Its damn hot and I drink whatever I can lay my hands on - Limca, coconut water, sugarcane juice on the way.

Start searching for the way to Pali temple. Stop for purchasing a water bottle and ask the shopkeeper for directions. He says"Go straight. You will hit a bridge and then take first left."

I again hydrate myself as its very hot and start for Pali. Soon I reach the bridge and then head for Pali. After sometime I notice that the roads are really good and somehow I didn't expect such good roads for Pali as its not even a state highway. I see the signboard reading Penn. Shit! I am on my way to Alibaug and I forgot to take that left after the bridge. I am almost 15 kms ahead. Take a U-turn and come back to that bridge and there I notice a left heading towards Pali which is now at my right. As expected road conditions deteriorate. Pali is 33 kms. Make to the Pali temple. Start back to Pune. Again decide to skip Tamhini ghat and come back via same dear NH4 route. Take a small break for some refreshment

Time:- 1415 . Dist. covered :- 377 kms

First time I think about getting my snap. Somehow manage to get it, happily munching on the Horlicks energy bar. The energy bar is a recommendation from my side. It substituted for my lunch.

The water from the bottle is so hot that I would trade it for a hot bath on any chilly morning. Don't even want to taste it, but have no option as heat is at its peak.

Head back for Pune. Soon touch NH4 and am off to home sweet home. Surprisingly I don't at all rip off and happily cruise on 70-75. Maybe I subconsciously want a good mileage from my bike.

On the way in between see a patch of land on my left and decide to test my photography skills, again failing miserably.

Reach home at 1640 clocking 485 kms.

Dig Out Your Soul

2009-03-08T03:16:00.000-07:00

Oasis released thier seventh studio album Dig Out Your Soul last October. Although its a bit late, but here is my review.

1) Bag It Up: - Instant classic. Various magazines touted it as next to Columbia from Definitely Maybe. But I didnt find any similarity betwwen any of them. The only thing both the songs share is that they are the most energetic songs in the respecive albums. Apart from that both are completely different. 9/10

2) The Turning: - Good song. will give 7/10

3) Waiting for the Rapture: - Penned and sung by Noel. Love the fast pace and very heavy guitars. Also the falsetto by Noel. 8/10

4) The Shock of the Lightning: - Great song as the first single for the album. No guitar solo but surprisingly a drum solo. Damn fast song. My fav on the album 10/10

5) I'm Outta Time: - Penned and sung by Liam. As Noel says this one is for ladies. Though I didnt understand why he included lines by John Lennon at the end. Anyways a good ballad and again one of my fav from album. 9/10

6) (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady:- Worst song of the album. I just dont know how it made to the album. This song may justify the lower sales of the album. 3/10

7) Falling Down: - Another one sung by Noel. Good song overall. Somehow it doesnt feel as Oasis to me. Its as if Oasis tyring to imitate some other band. But still it gets 7/10

8) To Be Where There's Life: -Gem Archer at work. Album name is taken from a part of lyric of this song. The sitar reminds me of George Harrison. And that's why its again one of my fav on the album. 8/10

9) Ain't Got Nothing: - A silly song with silly lyrics. Liam at work here. But still the song manages to grip you thanks to its short duration. Length is just 2:14. So it becomes bearable. 5/10

10) The Nature of Reality: - Andy Bell at work here. Nothing exceptional in the song. It gets 6/10

11) Soldier On: - Liam closes album with this brilliant song. Has a kind off psychedalic feeling which reminds me of Gas Panic!! 8/10

So the total album gets :- 80/110 i.e. approx. 8 stars out of 10.

Tapola (Mini Kashmir) Ride

2009-02-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

Bladerunnerzzz, my corporate biking club sent a mail citing that next trip would be to Tapola which is often cited as Mini-Kashmir of Maharashtra. I was up and ready for yet another ride. After my Nagpur trip, I really never went to any decent ride.
On Sunday 18th Jan, I picked up my cousin from Swargate, as she also wanted a break from her college routine. She was pretty much excited to hear that she would be going for a 300 km trip.

After much of delay, we finally started from the Katraj by-pass. In all, there were 5 bikes and 6 people. After some pet-puja in the way, we reached Panchgani at Harrison Folly. This point is famous for its paragliding. But as it was not scheduled in our trip, we just shot some snaps and were off towards Tapola via Mahabaleshwar.

On the way, I again saw the marker on board saying Tapola(Mini Kashmir) some 40 kms away. I have never been to Kashmir and all I have seen is what Bollywood has shown to me. So I was kind off excited to see a replica of the Earth's Heaven pretty soon. But as we reached Tapola, our excitement soon died down. The place was so hopeless that we just wanted to leave that place right away. Although after some discussion, we decided to atleast have some photo shoots at this place as this was the prime destination for our ride. (What the heck!!!) The surrounding topography can be termed similar to Kashmir with a serene river surrounded by hills and small boats seen moving along water.The restaurants had a setup like Kashmir too. I mean when we were seated on the porch, all we could see around us was water...............

but........

-the hills that surrounded river were not at all green.. they were yellowish with all the grass dried down
-the boats were as hopeless as any boat can be
-the restaurants were small tapris which were just extended with the help of a porch just to be above water.
A thorough disappointment.

This spot is supposed to visited in monsoon. Maybe we will try again I am really that how can someone name this place as mini kashmir???

My second ride when I came to a place at wrong point of time in the year.

On our way back, we stopped at a strawberry farm and picked up fresh strawberries from the farm itself. The farmer was happy to share with us the information as to how the strawberry farming was done.

We headed back to Mahabaleshwar where we did some boating. I got a chance to row a boat for the first time in my life. Again some pet puja at highly bragged Mapro's restaurant before Panchgani. The place is too costly although I love the hot-chocolate brownie that they serve.

Now the only good part of this ride. I was approx 140 kms from Swargate. I covered that distane almost in 2 hours (maybe 5 mins late). Those 140 kms included 20 kms of Mahabaleshwar ghat and again 15-20 kms of hopeless Pune evening traffic. One helluva ride back which saw me taking my bike to extreme limits for a first time with a pillion. My cousin Preshu was a silent spectator, she didnt chose to speak much until we reached her home. In the end, but she confessed that it was exhilirating for her cruising at triple digits. I think girls make really good pillions instead of guys.

Statistics:-
Distance :- 326 kms
Route :- Pune - Mahabaleshwar - Tapola - Mahabaleshwar - Pune

Stop Crying Your Heart Out v\s The Hindu Times

2009-01-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today, I am in mood to become a critic of one of my most favorite band.
OASIS (Can I hear Go Let It Out.........?)
So I am comparing 2 of the songs which are in no way related to each other. So what does this means?
It means,I have hell lot of time to kill today

Stop Crying Your Heart Out
Hold up!
Hold on
Don't be scared
You'll never change what's been and gone

May your smile (may your smile)
Shine on (shine on)
Don't be scared (don't be scared)
Your destiny may keep you warm

Cos all of the stars
Are fading away
Just try not to worry
You'll see them some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out

Get up (get up)
Come on (come on)
Why're you scared? (I'm not scared)
never change
What's been and gone
Cos all of the stars
Are fading away
Just try not to worry
You'll see them some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
Cos all of the stars
Are fading away
Just try not to worry
You'll see them some day
Take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out

We're all of us stars
We're fading away
Just try not to worry
You'll see us some day
Just take what you need
And be on your way
And stop crying your heart out
- Noel Gallagher (Oasis)

Such a wonderful song!!!! mean, look at this, such a cute but sad ballad typically for girls to keep on drooling. A typical song for heart broken ones to get up and move on and all that stuff...
But is this really Noel?

Noel is known to make some stupendous music with the help of some nonsense lyrics like the song below:-
The Hindu Times
I get up - when I'm down
I can't swim - but my soul won't drown
I do believe - I got flare
I got speed and I walk on air
Cos God gimme soul in your rock'n'roll (babe) (x2)
And I get so high I just can't feel it (x2)
In and out my brain, running' through my veins
Cos you're my sunshine you're my rain

There's a light - that shines on
Shines - on - me - and it keeps me warm
It gimme peace - I must say
I can't sleep - cos the world won't wait
Cos God gimme soul in your rock'n'roll (babe) (x2)
And I get so high I just can't feel it (x2)
In and out my brain, runnin' through my veins
Cos you're my sunshine you're my rain
- Noel Gallagher (Oasis)

What the hell?? What the South Indian leading English Newspaper Daily has got to do with swim, sunshine, rain, God and all........
And still this song went on to top the UK Singles chart....
Hmmm!! If you listen to it once you are surely gonna like it. But what the title track has to do with lyrics and by the way what lyrics are supposed to mean?? How can someone sound so stupid and still be so famous...
After listening over and over again hundreds of times(which I never regretted), I noticed some things: -
As per Noel, the main guitar riff in the song sounds like a heavily tuned Indian Sitar.. (Now the Hindu walaa thing makes some sense) Noel claims to have gotten the title from the T-shirt.
And the lyrics, if you closely have a look at them, they have optimism written all over them. In fact there is nothing negative in the song, if there is anything, its just brightness & cheerfulness.. Listening to song always makes me happy. It is kinda song which you should set as your alarm clock on your high-watt deck. Rising up in morning listening to this song surely will make a great day.. (Gosh!! I miss my stereo system lying in Nagpur..)

So The Hindu Times is a clear winner although I also love Stop Crying....

P.S. - I am listening to The Hindu Times while writing this....

Black Ice

2009-01-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

No this is not about the black ice that we find in Ladakh in winters or as a matter of fact any frozenland.

AC/DC released their first album in Nov' 08 after a long hiatus of 8 years by the name Black Ice. I was pretty much excited when I heard in last July that AC/DC will be realeasing the album After all which rock would not like to hear another Back in Black from one of the greatest rockers of all times. And the name Black was common in the name of both albums, so I was really waiting for album to hit the stores. As soon as album released worldwide, I could see the revies on net which further increased the desire to lay my hands on the album. At last after a week, the album hit the Indian stores.
"Rock N Roll Train" An unusual name for a song. But the song rocks and rocks really damn good. I was listening to only this song for straight 2 days. Angus Young still has the power to make you headband melodiously. And no wonder why AC/DC's years without Phil Rudd were not productive. I have always liked Phil drums. They are not phenomenal but no one can fit into his shoes in AC/DC. His style is so unique and you can instantly tell its Phil on drums. He is always reciprocate to the rawness created by Young brothers on guitars.

Amongst other noticable tracks are Big Jack, Skies on Fire, Smash N Grab. Also the highlight is title track Black Ice. Rest of the songs failed to impress me. I was expecting much more good songs from a list of 15. So the verdict is that its not as good as Back in Black or I would rate Higway to Hell better than this.
Anyways, Rock N Roll Train has became one of my all time favorites.

Bullitt Mustang

2009-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

I happenned to watch the movie Bullitt recently. I had heard that the car chase sequence in the movie is phenomenal. But you have to watch it before you believe it.

Man!! The car chase scene will surely blow you away. It is one of the most amazing and thrilling scene I have ever watched in any movie till today. What made it special was that the movie was made in 1968 when special effects weren't in. The villian was stunt driver himself, so he performed most of his stunts. Even the hero, Steve McQueen, had given his own stunts in the stunning 1968 Ford Mustang.

I will heavily recommend the movie because of this car chase. The rest of movie isnt that bad either. A typical thriller movie in which detective McQueen busts the bad guys. But it was one of the first movies which showcased hero as a rough n tough cop.

The 1968 Bullitt Mustang (the name it got after movie) in the foreground with GT390 Mustang in the background

P.S. :- I am a great fan of the species called Ford Mustang specially the 80s series.

First Milestone for Red Stallion

2008-12-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

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.

Nitrogen works

2008-12-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

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

Pune Nagpur Pune Ride

2008-11-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

Date : - 8th November
Route : -

Pune – Ahmednagar – Aurangabad – Jalna – Mehkar – Karanja – Amravati – Nagpur
Distance : - 725 kms
Time Reqd. : - 12 hours 45 mins

Route Map:-

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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 and looked into mirror. My eyes had become red like a hot iron rod. Then I realized that I was not blinking eyes as frequently as needed because of high speeds. Thankfully I carried ITone eye-drops with me. It cooled off the eyes as I gave my body some break. But 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 50kms, 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 1 km ahead one which 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 : -

Nagpur – Amravati – Khamgaon – Chikhli – Jalna – Aurangabad – Ahmednagar – Pune
Distance : - 746 kms
Time Reqd. : - 14 hours

Route Map :-

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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

2008-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

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

The Break-Up

2008-06-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

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 with my CC, 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 & holidays, good days & bad days, enjoyments & beatings. 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 dont last forever and finally I stumbled upon the confrontation of this harsh truth in my life. She had 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 dont 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 couldnt 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. Still I think I deserve that.

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......

The Great Misadventure

2008-06-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Million Dollar Question

2008-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Political Dictatorship

2008-05-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

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??

Why Me?

2008-05-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

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

Club Foot

2008-05-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Dream of Mirrors

2008-04-28T04:31:00.001-07:00

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 .

Iron Maiden

2008-02-28T05:10:00.000-08:00

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”……….

The Republic Day Ride --> Bangalore to Pune

2008-02-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

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........”

Tata Nano

2008-01-11T01:27:00.000-08:00

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.

Ride to Mysore

2008-01-09T04:05:00.000-08:00

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

Blackbird

2007-12-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

So finally after long wait of two and half months, I got to lay hands on the new Alter Bridge album Blackbird. The album was released in US in October. As this band is not much famous in India, it took two months for the album to come in India. Well truly saying, the wait was really worth something. It is a modern album having a feel of traditional rock. Even the lyrics are so motivating. The whole album screams out the message "Move on. This is your life. Live it."

I read its reviews on net and likewise wasnt let down by the album. I really dont know why people dont appreciate good music. The guitar riffs, solos, bass riffs and also drums are amazing in this album. Even the lyrics do stand out. Specially the title song Blackbird which was written as a dedication to the Myles'(vocalist) friend who passed away during the course of the album. It is really an awesome dedication to someone who passed away.
But I was really dissppointed that the way the album fared in market. Anyways as Mark Tremonti(lead guitarist) has said, they make the music only for thier fans. So here it is, an album made perfectly for the fans who love the band from the bottom of thier hearts. And I am surely one of them.

I know the band Alter Bridge. since 2005 when I happened to hear their first single "Open Your Eyes". But then I had a premonition that its just Creed with a new vocalist as it contained three former Creed musicians and a new vocalist. Then over the course, when I used to hear Creed songs, I liked the way Mark played guitar. But I always felt that he could play much more heavier than he used to play in Creed. I always felt something was stopping him. That's when I decided to re-hear the Alter Bridge closely. And to my joy, that was the music which I wanted to hear all along. Only two more bands were able to do this for me till now - Oasis and Iron Maiden(Gods of Heavy Metal). And from then there was no looking back. i immediately ordered for the first Alter Bridge album One Dy Remains. People ask me why do you waste 400/- on some stupid Audio CD. They really dont understand the real love for Music I can say. Anyways, that album was the one which rekindled my interest in modern rock(after Linkin Park). And I was waiting for the next album to be released very soon.

For me Alter Bridge a truly genuine band with a wealth of talent hidden within those 4 amazing musicians. Even if the band doesnt receive any awards or certifications, it will remain one of my most favourite bands of all time.

Kudremukh trek

2007-12-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

24th November 2007
It was Pushkar and me again. Yeah the two Pushkar Patils were again on the way for a new adventure. (Let me clear, my room mate’s name is also Pushkar Patil. Strange na….) After Gokarna and Pondicherry, Chickmagaluru was our next destination. We boarded the bus from Bangalore at 2300. Reached Chickmagaluru early in morning at 0430. Wondering what could we do? We had come there as usual without any plans or preparations. We loved it much more. Just to go out without plans and then everything falls into place as the time moves on. We had heard that some Kudremukh peak is really a thing you should see if you visit Chickamagaluru.We headed for Kudremukh. Got the first bus for the place from where we could get a bus to Kudremukh. Sadly as both of us were Marathi and conductor was a Kannada, so a big misunderstanding was creates between us. We told him the station where we wanted to go and he heard something different because of some mis-pronunciation from my side and also it was one hell of a bus. Each and every seat of that bus was sounding in unison and the windows were just adding to the chaos. He gave us the ticket to some other station and when that other station came, he asked us to get down. Once we got down and we enquired about Kudremukh. Thankfully the babu there was well conversant in Hindi. He told us that we had got down at wrong station. But he guided us the right path and we took the next bus to Mathikere from where we were supposed to catch the bus to Kudremukh. After getting down there we had nice hot idli and some tea. At 0700, the bus started for Kudremukh. It was damn chilly as winter was already on. The drive was uphill for almost 2.5 hrs. We enjoyed the scenic beauty. On the way, we encountered many tiny villages where some students were boarding a bus. We were spell bounded by the beauty on the way but for all the school children it was a daily routine (Just like Hosur Road for all the Electronics City guys in Bangalore or NH4 bypass for the Hinjewadi people in Pune ). I supposed that there was only one school for so many villages. After sometime, we arrived at the school town(I don’t remember the name of the town). All the school children go down and the bus was again empty. Finally we reached Kudremukh at 0930.
Now we knew that we had to get some forest officer permission before we ventured into the jungles/mountains of Kudremukh. We got the forest office in no time and were glad to find a group of 7 guys just like us(You got it right, they were all software engineers from Bangalore). 2 among them were Kannada, so our interfacing problem from there on was resolved. The forest officer gave a common guide to all 9 of us and thus we set out for the trekking base. We had to book some a jeep to climb uphill for some part of hill. The rest was to be covered by foot. The jeep was old styled Mahindra. I was surprised to find that the jeep had only 3 gears and no wind shield. It was quite a unusual difference. I understood the difference as soon as we started. The climb was so steep and the road so bad that forget about 4th, the vehicle never reached the 3rd gear. I think they must have found it pretty weird to design a 2 gear gear-box, so they just kept a third one just for the sake of keeping it. Anyways, at last we reached the base of summit from where the jeep could take us no further.It was 1130 when we started the trek. By now we both had acquainted ourselves with all the other 7 guys. They seemed to be kind of regular trekkers and one among them seemed to be an avid photographer. He had some mind blowing camera lenses which could zoom upto I don’t know how much x. He also had those camera tripod and all stuff. He really seemed to be passionate for photography. I had a simple(????) digital camera with me. And I was satisfied with it. I am not a good photographer either. We set off for our memorable trek. The guide was a young man. Must be in his middle 20s. He immediately glued with us all.

On the way..............
He said that the normally trekking should start by 0600 in morning, reach the top by 1200 and after spending 1 hour at top, one should come down. He told us that it was about 12-13 km uphill. Hearing that we were stunned for a while. We were already late. We looked at our destination. Faraway, the peak was resting in peace waiting for us to ascend it. The guide told us that we have to hurry up and climb the peak before 1500 so that we can be back before dusk. We started the trek with great enthusiasm. Some time after start. You can see the peak farthest at left.

We were really not worried about the distance, we were just too much pumped up to see what lay ahead for us. For almost 1.5 hours, the trek was fine with no steep uphills and we were enjoying ourselves to heart’s content taking snaps wherever we could find. It felt so good to watch the greenery all around you. No sign of human life was visible. As far as we could lay our sights, only there were beautiful mountains perched between each other. I looked at our destination, it lay ahead beyond some 2 hills. The guide asked us to have the lunch at 0100, as the path ahead was going to be somewhat difficult.

After one hour of walking, still the peak didnt seem to be close.

I didn’t knew how difficult, but I thought that the rate at which we are going, we would definitely make to the top by 1500. But I was wrong.After lunch, we continued our march towards the peak. And that was when we saw the first steep climb. Just after looking at that, we came to know what lay ahead for us. Suddenly the cliff seems farther. We managed to cross this climb and then we were at the top of some small hill. But the top peak seemed to be at same distance as it were sometime back. Panting, I asked the guide, how many such climbs. He smiled and said 3 more to go. And then started the real trekking. A decapitated house on the way. Sole thing in whole path showing some kind of human life. Although it was empty.

At about 1430, we were still faraway. The unexpected physical exertion was taking a toll on some of the guys and we could see a difference of almost 1 km between the first and last. The breaks became frequent and duration started to increase. Often we used to gasp for air. But one of the best thing to happen was that we had a stream of fresh water running all along the way. So we were never short of water. The water was really sweet and chilly. It just used to refresh us. At one such break at the stream side, one of the guys removed his shoes and to his horror, he found it all smeared with blood. Suddenly the guide said, Leaches. All of us checked our shoes, to check who all had done the social service of feeding the leeches. Thankfully I wasn’t the one. I had one leach being stuck in my shoe lace knot. After bit of cleaning up, we continued forward. At last we ascended the last steep climb.

Destination just in sight....

We were now almost just a km away from peak and it was almost a plateau with again a small steep climb near the top. Well nothing comes for easy man, I thought to myself, whether getting a job or a girlfriend or climbing this peak. I don’t know why I could find a similarity between all this stuff. Maybe climbing the mountains also raises your philosophical / spiritual levels. Maybe that’s why all the great sages and saints, the ones which we used to hear about in Ramayana or Mahabharata, always used to go to some mountain for their penance. And that was why we need to climb treacherous climbs like Badrinath, Kedarnath, etc.. for all that Bhagwan ke Darshan. Well this one is just off topic, so I will leave it here.
Anyways, I wasn’t going for any penance there. I just wanted to climb this peak. As soon as the peak same closer, our speed increased. Finally it was only me and Pushkar ahead. Even the guide had started taking frequent stops. We had lost our physical endurance long back. It was only the longing/will to climb that peak, which had dragged us on. I don’t even walk 2 kms daily and here I was climbing 12 km hastily when I knew that I have to go back the same distance downhill. So finally at 1545, we made it to the peak. At the Zenith. the cloud level can be seen.

The view from the top was just awesome. We were already above clouds. As far as we could lay our sights on was just green all around us. The others followed. Some sooner others later. I think the last one came almost 20 mins after we reached. The peak was about 1880m above see level. I just laughed at myself saying that just multiply it by 4.5 and it becomes Mount Everest. We kept on snapping the marvelous piece of nature and munching some stuff which was remaining after our lunch. We just wanted to lay down flat on the ground and not move. All of us were dead tired and everyone knew that. But anyways, we had to get down at least half way before dusk or it would be a problem as there were a couple of small jungles which we had to cross on the way back.

At the top...

We started downhill at 1630. It was getting chilly very fast. The sun had started to set down as it was winter and we were at height as well. The descend was tiresome and difficult as descending any peak is. It always takes the better of your knees. We slipped a lot.... first because of the steep slope and afterwards because the dew seeting in made the ground and grass slippery. We managed to reach half way down before 1800. The light had became indeed low. We had crossed two forests and only one was remaining. Just then we saw a Bison. Took some snaps although everyone was tired. Well we cam into a forest and never saw a wild animal…(kind off funny). But we never went there to see wild animals. At 1830, the last ray of sun had gone and ray of lone torch that we had among 9 of us came out. But the guide was an experienced one. He knew that road like the back of his hand. But just then we haw the moon rising up the horizon and to our astonishment, it was a full moon. We thanked our stars and were happy. The guide just mocked at us saying that all the wild animals always come out when it is full moon. We just laughed off his comments. But what if……??

We had the last patch of jungle behind us by 1930. We were so much tired and weary that we had become numb of walking. We jut were searching for the sight of the blue jeep which was waiting for us at the foot hills to take us to our bus. At 2000 finally we reached the base. So finally after an arduous up-down walk of almost 27 km, we finally were relived to see the jeep. We climbed into it with the same desperateness as a thirsty man stranded in the middle of desert will show when he sights an oasis. The whole day was a memorable one indeed. Well now the spiritual/philosophical feeling was lost and nowhere in sight and we longed for some good food and good sleep of course. We just checked into some XYZ hotel in next town and had some good food over there. Then as soon as we returned to our room, we slept of almost instantaneously. So it was a fitting end for a memorable day.