The Sagittarian Angel

Raindrops are back!

2010-06-01T17:47:00.002+05:30

After a lot of teases every now and then for the last few months, it's finally here. Yesterday, on my way back home I wiped the first official raindrops of 2010, off my helmet visor. It was a wonderful feeling yet again. After a gruelling hot summer and an even hotter office, the cool wind carrying little raindrops feels good to the skin. When I left office a small drizzle wet my palms, but as I hit the highway the hot sun was back, reflecting off the shiny glass surface of the Wego's instrumentation. The drizzle felt like just another one of the rain god's teasers as I sighed inside my helmet. But as I rode closer to home things suddenly changed!

A sudden shower hit me. It was as if a south Indian movie director shouted 'Action' and the artificial rain showers were left loose on a bunch of dancers.
I wanted to take cover somewhere for I was least expecting such a downpour. After my iPhone went into coma last month I didn't want to risk losing my iPad and my laptop to the rain monster. But the sad state that we are in today, I couldn't find a single tree that could provide shelter. I quickly flung my bag off my back and onto the scooter's footboard to try and protect it from the rain. I stooped forward to give the bag some added protection, thus looking like some kind of a loser clerk that Shahrukh Khan would enact in a 'Rab ne bana di jodi' sequel. But the stooping didn't help much either. In fact the helmet's tapering chin channelized a stronger flow of water onto the bag that now sat between my calf muscles. However, the Wego's broad apron avoided too much water from reaching the base of the bag.

I somehow managed to reach home within ten minutes of the shower ambush. But that time was more than enough to soak me to the bone! I ran up the stairs to my apartment to take out all the gadgets and get them to dry out immediately. Fortunately for me, the water had just managed to dampen the covers of the iPad and the laptop - but a lil more riding in the rain could have got me into trouble. Looking at the state of the bag, I couldn't believe my luck though. Probably the cockroach I saved from drowning last morning gave me some blessings :P...

Anyway three things to remember from my experience today:

1. Always carry your gadgets in a waterproof bag and don't keep your laptop on standby mode all the time unless you desperately need to.
2. A cool (not cold) Oreo shake tastes better after getting drenched, than a hot coffee.
3. Don't be a stubborn ass and continue riding in the rain with vulnerable stuff inside the bag. If you can't find a tree, take shelter under a building! After all, its not everyday that you find cockroaches that bless you...

Wish-list for 21st Dec. 2009 to 21st Dec 2010

2009-12-19T23:16:00.001+05:30

If any of you noble souls are planning to gift me something for my birthday, then please refer to following items for the preferred gifts :) -
- Shoei Helmet
- Alpinestars 1-pc suit
- Engine performance kit for my R15
- DiRT2 + Assassin’s Creed I & II for PS3
- 1.5 Terabyte external hard drive or 500 GB portable drive (original, not Palika Bazaar)
- Apple Macbook (Pro/Air welcome!) (willing to give my Acer in a buy-back)
- 10-22mm Canon lens
- Any Canon full-frame D-SLR
- 32” LCD Monitor (Sony BRAVIA acceptable) (willing to give my 22” Viewsonic in a buy-back)
- Logitech G25 Steering Wheel
- 2003 Honda City V-TEC (willing to give my Palio in a buy-back)
- Nike+ Chip for my Nike+ Shoes
- Sony Si12 HD Handycam
- 1 year subscription to TATA Indicom 2 MbPS Unlimited connection
- Windows 7 Ultimate Retail (original)
- DRI clearance for my VFR800
- Treadmill (Yes! I promise to use it)
- Studio apartment at Lavasa
- One year membership of Solaris/Golds/Endurance
- TATA Xenon (207 DI will also do)
- Sponsored trackday at the Nurburgring/Laguna Seca/Suzuka

A boy, a doll and some tears...

2009-10-05T00:55:00.003+05:30

Once I was walking around in a general store, when I saw a cashier hand this little boy some money back. The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said to the boy, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll." Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him and said, ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?'' The old lady replied, ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'' Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give that doll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas…She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her', said the boy. I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my daddy so that he can give it to my sister when he goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Mommy says that Daddy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that he could take the doll with him to give it to my sister.'' My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told mommy to tell daddy not to go yet. I need him to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me 'I want daddy to take my picture with him so that he won't forget me. I love my daddy and I wish he doesn't have to leave me, but mommy says that he has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his, without him noticing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money. The little boy exclaimed, 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!' Then he looked at me and added , 'I prayed last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that daddy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my daddy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy and daddy love white roses.' A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a car, who hit a bike being ridden by a young man with a little girl on the pillion seat. The little girl died right away, and the father was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-support machine, for the young man wouldn’t be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy? Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young man had passed away…I couldn't stop myself from buying a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young man was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before his burial. He was there, in his coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in his hand with the photo of his little boy and the doll placed over his chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever. The love that the little boy had for his father and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him. Please DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.

Swine Flu screening centers in PMC & PCMC areas

2009-08-11T10:59:00.001+05:30

PMC has opened 15 swine flu screening centres to ease pressure on Naidu Hospital. Centres won’t collect swabs, only conduct check-ups, counselling

PMC AREA:

Karve Road
Erandvana Hospital, Contact: Dr Sarita Ganala (9764000939)
Mhatre Bridge
Late Anandibai Narhar Gadgil Hospital, Contact: Dr Jyotsana Khole (9422987953)
Ganj Peth
Late Balaji Rakhmaji Gaikwad Hospital, Contact: Dr Sandhya Bahule
Narayan Peth
Late Kalavatibai Mavale Hospital, Contact: Dr Nila Limaye (9881385015)
Lakshmi Road
Late Mamasaheb Badade Hospital, Contact: Dr Swati Joshi
Raviwar Peth
Hutatma Babu Genu Hospital, Contact: Dr Dinesh Bende (9421018878)
Koregaon Park
Late Bapusaheb Ganuji Kavade Hospital, Contact: Dr Jaya Bhondave (9922504428)
Ganesh Peth
Late Rohidas Kirad Hospital, Contact: Dr Chandrashekhar Gujar
Kothrud
Late Jayabai Nanasaheb Sutar MaternityHospital, Contact: Dr Shyam Satpute (9823217047)
Alandi Road
Siddharth Hospital, Contact: Dr Bhagwant Gagare (9423004811)
Sahakarnagar
Late Shivshankar Pote Hospital, Contact: Dr Vidya Rajwade (9422520930)
Aundh Road
Late Baburao Genba Shavale Hospital, Contact: Dr Madhuri Gare (9823224789)
Yerwada
Late Damodar Ravji Galande Hospital, Contact: Dr Ujjwala Khristi (9730571404)
Shukrawar Peth
Dr Kotnis Health Centre, Contact: Dr Asmita Bhoi (9850992960)
Shivajinagar
Late Jangalrao Kondiba Amrale Hospital, Contact: Dr Aparna Gokhale (9823214103)

PCMC AREA:

n Yashwantrao Chavan memorial hospital, Sant Tukaramnagar, Pimpri

n Jijamata hospital, Pimpri

n Municipal hospital, Bhosari

n Municipal hospital, Akurdi

n Municipal hospital, Sangvi

n Municipal hospital, Thergaon

n Municipal hospital, Yamunanagar, Nigdi

n Talera hospital, Chinchwad

The great Indian newspapers

2009-08-07T13:44:00.000+05:30

The Times of India is read by people who think they run the country.
The Economic Times is read by people who think they own the country.
The Hindu is read by people who are not sure who's country it is.
The Indian Express is read by people who shouldn't run the country.
The Statesman is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
The Asian Age is read by people who think someone else should run the country..
The Hindustan Times is read by people who think Delhi is a country.
The Telegraph is read by people who think Bengal is the best country.
The Malayala Manorama is read by people who think Kerala is their country, and God's ... zimble !
The Mid-Day is read by people who can't think in this country.
The Pioneer is read by people who think the Brits ran this country better.
The Tribune is read by people who're more bothered about the country-side.
The Dainik Bhaskar is read by people in the country-side.
The Bombay Samachar is read by people who'd rather be in some other country.
The Saamna is read by semi-literates who think, tujhi aiee chi, everyone should fx%k off from country..
The Femina is read by the fat wives of the rich in this country.
The Stardust is read by people who care a shit who runs the country as long as ... .
The PuneTimes is read by some people who think the pub is their country.
The DNA is not read, but used to pack footwear by people going out of this country

Praveen and his Scale Models...

2008-10-06T17:59:00.007+05:30

Praveen Sathaye is one of the heartiest bikers I have known so far. And apart from riding motorcycles, we share another common passion too - scale models! However I'm no where close to the humongous amount of scale models that he has. So here are some (pun intended) words on my friend and his scale model collection!

Praveen with his motorcycle scale model collection

Praveen's tryst with scale models began when he received his first toy car at the age of 9. Since then he has been actively collecting scale models, cars, bikes, aeroplanes, commercial vehicle et al. Initially getting them as gifts and prizes for birthdays and other occasions as well as for performing well in school and later on using his hard earned pocket money to add to his collection. The collection activity got serious with time and with the advent of proper scale models of motorcycles into India. Ever since these models have been launched in India Praveen has been painstakingly putting together his collection hunting for these models all over the country, sometimes taking help of his friends and family to acquire some of them. The collection today has more than 125 Bikes ranging from old vintage Harley Davidsons to the latest state of the art big superbikes too.

What he has been able to put together is a collection that would draw gasps of envy from any avid biker and that's why he keeps it pretty closely guarded in his house. The collection is broadly categorised as per continents and eras. His largest collection however is of the Japanese motorcycles, coming from the big FOUR Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. The beauties from the far east also include a vintage Yamaha TZ racer , the burly V-max, Roadstars, TDM 800, to the latest R 1, and the small Kawasaki 600 ninja all through the family of zx 7, zx9, zx 12 to the ZX 14 heavyweight. This also includes the Nicest Bike manufacturer with Honda contributing in the form of a Blackbird, 3 versions of the CBR 600, 2 versions of the CBR 1000 RR and couple of low slung Valkyrie cruisers.

He also has the big four Japanese dirt bikes in the traditional motocross colours, Yamaha with blue, Honda in red , Suzuki in Yellow and Kawasaki in it trademark Kawasaki green.

With the Japs taken care of how far would the hot Italians and Germans be. Europe has also produced legendary bikes and this collection has quite a significant chunk of the same. Starting from the Ducati series ranging from 748 to the 100s Multistrada, Ducati itself accounts for about 14 o his bikes. Not to forget Cagiva, MV Agusta, KTM,and the massive Munch. British bikes are present in the form of the legendary 1960's Triumph Bonneville and some of the modern speed triples and Daytonas. The German marque BMW also has significant presence in the collection in the form of the Paris Dakar winner GS series of dual purpose bikes as well as the Funduro and the legendary Cruiser R 1200.

The Ducatis

Last but not least, How would a bike collection be deemed complete if it doesnt have the BIG FAT Cruisers. Yes, there are Harleys and tons of them. Starting from the 1940's Panheads to the 2005 Screaming eagle flagship model Road king. The fully loaded and massive Ultra glide to the fast drag racing inspired V-Rod. he has immense admiration for the Milwaukee manufacturer and definitely does dream of perhaps riding one such beast in metal n chrome at least once in his lifetime.

The Cruisers

Does he play with them or simulate a biking environment? Definitely yes, till some time back. he remembers many an occasion embarrassingly when he has been caught moving the bike on the floor making revving sounds while his parents have just stood there wondering what may have gone wrong with their grown up boy, a management graduate and a responsible family man. Yes Praveen is married and his better half has been responsible for a huge amount of his collection too. Not only does she permit him from diverting some amount of his earnings into the model collection but sometimes even goes out and buys the same for him.

Police Bikes

The way he has procured some of his models is also as exceptional perhaps as his collection. he picked up a scale model of the India Chief as he saw it in a shopping window on his way for a business meeting and landed up late for the same. Of course when he explained the reason and showed glimpses of his collection to his client, things took a different turn altogether. he also picked up the model of the Bajaj M 80 at a village fair on the outskirts of Mumbai, pretty strange place for such a thing as a detailed and authentic scale model.

Not Just bikes he also has paid attention to scooters too, be it the vintage Vespa from the 1950's, starring in the Gregory Peck movie Roman Holiday to the Yamaha T Max or Honda Silver Wing large scooters. he also has managed to land himself a LML Vespa Select, which he picked up from some narrow alley in pune. Concept Bikes also form a part of his collection, be it some designer stuff from Arlen Ness or orange County choppers or simple the Dodge Tomahawk, the largest displacement motorcycle concept.Some of the model bikes also come along with their tiny designer helmets also, which are on display alongside the bike. This Collection however is by no means just a random selection of motorcycles. Every bike that makes it to his collection has a legendary value. Take for instance the BMW R 1200 from the James Bond Movies, or the Hayabusa and Suzuki Bandit from the Indian Blockbuster Dhoom.

Hyperbikes!

An ardent fan of motorcycling racing, he has his own Moto GP lineup.The Bikes lined up at the grid include the bikes of the likes of Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri, Casy Stoner, Carlos Checa, Sete Gibernau, Dani Pedrosa et al.

A personal visit to his home is what would reveal the massive scale of the collection, as one only notices cars and bikes neatly arranged all over the house. “I’m running out of space now, so I have to keep some stuff in boxes,” he says. Although his collection is absolutely priceless, his favourite is a small wooden bike model gifted to him by his 7 year old niece, who too identifies her uncle with model bikes. This entire collection is carefully marked out, maintained through a detailed excel sheet containing particulars of each bike. The records contain such details such as the year of purchase, the model, the model maker, place of purchase and so on. “I can remember exactly where any particular bike is kept, and can locate it within minutes' states says Sathaye, a management professional Praveen who otherwise pursues a career in management with an with an e-learning company.

The Yamahas

Even as he is aiming to complete a 1000 scale models in the near future, what does Praveen have in mind afterwards. Does he plan to exhibit these collectibles. Well, his plan is to open a Motorcycling Hall Of Fame with inspiration from his late father, (who was himself an enthusiastic biker), where in all these models shall be displayed each with a one pager detailing their history and significant contribution to the world of motorcycling.He also has a collection of all motorcycle movies, whether it is the legendary Che Guerra in Motorcycle Diaries or the rebellious biker gangs in Biker Boys or Torque.
The proposed Hall of Fame shall also have a small theatre, alongside where car and bike related movies will be screened.

Why 'Rock On!!' is a must watch for bikers

2008-08-29T14:23:00.005+05:30

Being a dyed-in-the-wool biker, all of you sometime, somewhere come across stories or movies or even incidents in your everyday life, where you can correlate them with your biking life. I’m no different and it happens to me a lot of times too. However, I somehow found the new bollywood flick, ‘Rock On’ to be one great story that a lot of bikers can correlate to.

The movie starts off with a rock band comprising of four members who have the spark and the zest of the early twenty-year olds. The four are passionate about ‘music’ and spend the better part of their time and money composing new tracks that portray their fervor. After a while they stumble upon a contest where their band, ‘Magik’ outperforms the competition to win a one-year contract with a music house and the chance to make their own music video. When this dream is about to be realized, the lead singer suddenly shoots up to fame and overshadows the rest of the groupies. As fate would have it, things start getting sour with ego clashes and self esteem coming into play. The band breaks apart and all the dreams of stardom are shattered. A decade later the members coincidently meet up again and decide to put to rest, all the unfortunate happenings that plagued them. The band comes back together and they plan to enter the same kinda competition that their band won a decade back. As liberty of cinema would portray, the band wins the competition again and their dream is realized – thus making for a happy end.

Now you may be thinking, that I will try and establish some kinda relation between rock music and biking. But no, I aint planning anything on those lines. The movie however has a much larger message for us bikers as well – if we decide to correlate that is. Just like the band members of Magik spent their early youth nurturing their passion, most of us bikers spend all our dough for the love of two wheels. From taking your girlfriend for a movie, to commuting everyday and from going for those weekend rides to being a part of some biker club – a bike becomes a part of our everyday life. Biking becomes such a big passion that we cant think of anything else. But a time finally comes when the college life ends and we are thrown into the world where making money becomes superlative. And just like the members of Magik, we too get on with materialistic needs and the passion is locked into the store room. For some it’s the job, for some its the differences between fellow bikers, for some it’s the lack of money and for some it’s the want of it. Whatever the reason, it’s the biker in you that suffers. You know down within, that you are making a compromise – living a life on terms dictated by your surroundings; forgetting the very basis of biking – freedom.

What the movie tells you though is that no matter what you choose to be your career or your way of life, there is always a way to keep your passion alive. As its rightly said, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. I agree, that earning your bread and butter and much more is an imperative need, but it is not so difficult to get into your gear and onto to the saddle of your bike. Spending time with your better half on the weekend is definitely necessary to keep the spark of our relation alive, but the relation will be complete only when you as a person will feel complete about yourself. It is important to meet up with friends and relatives whenever you find a holiday from your busy schedule. But biking is a passion which can be exploited whenever you find time – no matter what the clock shows, no matter what the weather man says. For all those fellow bikers who have drifted away from this passion, it’s my sincere request that you watch the movie; and I’m sure it will ignite the same ‘want’ to get back to your passion as what happened to the four band members in the movie. The passion that you nurtured throughout your youth still waits for you to come back. The bike that always stood by as your better half and your best friend will be elated to have you back on the saddle and controlling the leash. All that is expected of you, is to take control of your life, dictate your terms, forget about your work when you leave office and ride!

http://100octane.blogspot.com

2008-08-01T21:16:00.002+05:30

Hi ppl,

For all of you who have been following my blog - I'm sorry!

I apologize for the lack of updates for all this while. But it should change now as a lot of things on my schedule have now fallen into place. However, all the automobile related content will now be posted on http://100octane.blogspot.com

This blog however, will still be active but will have all the other stuff that I'll write about. As for my first contribution to the 100 Octane blog, I'm posting a complete story of the R15 that I have experienced so far - from track and road use to the positives and negatives. So what are we waiting for? Head over to http://100octane.blogspot.com and update your bookmarks!

Regards and thanks

-
Rash
rohit.paradkar@gmail.com

FWD.o.t.D: Side Effects of the Tata Nano

2008-04-21T22:54:00.003+05:30

click on the image to enlarge

F1: Force India: Fisichella happy with current form

2008-04-20T12:18:00.001+05:30

Giancarlo Fisichella who is driving with the Force India team for 2008 recently expressed his vindication towards his current form. He was happy during the Bahrain GP that he was ahead of Nelson Piquet – the driver who replaced Fisi at Renault for 2008. Nelson himself has been struggling to come to terms with the Renault R28 and that reflects in his unsatisfactory performance in the season so far.

Force India on the other hand is overjoyed with the improvement that the team is making, considering their former iterations – Spyker, Midland and Jordan had struggled a lot without any fruits. The 12^th place finish for Fisi in both Bahrain and Malaysia after staring at the tail end of the grid on both the occasions highlights Fisi’s driving abilities further. His vast experience along with Force India’s urge to improve will definitely bring them good results in the future.

Chopper Tattoos

2008-04-19T15:45:00.000+05:30

If custom choppers with tribal, abstract of air-brush art fascinate you and so do tattoos, this is one website you need to visit...

www.chopper-tattoos.com

FWD.o.t.D: LIVER & CHEESE

2008-04-19T14:28:00.000+05:30

Three handsome male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful, enticing, female Poodle.

The three male dogs fall all over themselves in an effort to be the one to reach her first, but end up arriving in front of her at the same time.
The males are speechless before her beauty, slobbering on themselves and hoping for just a glance from her in return.

Aware of her charms and her obvious effect on the three suitors, she decides to be kind and tells them, 'The first one who can use the words 'liver' and 'cheese' together in an imaginative, intelligent sentence can go out with me.'

The sturdy, muscular black Lab speaks up quickly and says, 'I love liver and cheese.'
'Oh, how childish,' said the Poodle. 'That shows no imagination or intelligence whatsoever.'

She turns to the tall, shiny Golden Retriever and says 'How well can you do?'
'Um. I HATE liver and cheese,' blurts the Golden Retriever.
'My, my,' said the Poodle. 'I guess it's hopeless. That's just as dumb as the Lab's sentence.'

She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, 'How about you, little guy?'

The last of the three, tiny in stature but big in fame and finesse, is the Taco Bell Chihuahua.

He gives her a smile, a sly wink, turns to the Golden Retriever and the Lab and says....

'LIVER ALONE, CHEESE MINE'

FnF4 coming!

2008-04-19T14:03:00.001+05:30

If you are a fan of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ series of movies, its time for you to rejoice as Universal Studios, who produced the earlier iterations of the movie are getting ready for the fourth installment. The movie will be titled ‘Fast and Furious’ (sans the ‘The’) and will mark the return of Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker). The plot revolves around a common enemy that the two will fight against together. The movie is slated for a release in June next year.

Info on the earlier FnF series :

The Fast and the Furious:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232500/

2 Fast 2 Furious:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322259/

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463985/

Going for a Japanese kill?

2008-04-19T11:59:00.000+05:30

German giant BMW has been doing quite well with their motorcycles in recent times. Though they haven’t matched the Japanese in terms of styling or pricing or even sales figures, they have always been a making a name for themselves. This time however, the Germans have decided to take the battle to a new level. With the new prototype that BMW has displayed, the company has made its intentions clear. The entire package intends to go directly for the throat of the Japanese litres. Take notice people, the beast is called a BMW S 1000RR.

The proto in first glance looks quite impressive. The all carbonfibre body makes it look like a serious contender for the track – and the image below advocates the fact. The exhaust system on the prototype is made by Akrapovic. The brakes are designed by Brembo. The suspension system (along with the radical damper) comes from Ohlins. Making the bike even lighter are lightweight alloys from OZ. Last but not the least, the windshield (visor) is manufactured by the famous German company MRA. Lets wait and watch how the bikes takes shape for production..and most importantly how it performs against the fierce competition.

Empire Rising : Honda

2008-03-09T19:40:00.000+05:30

Honda's market share is rising by the day. The phenomenal growth is heading Honda towards market dominance. Time for the market to take notice ?

At the end of the 2007 calendar year – a year of shrinking market share for individual automakers, Honda registered record sales yet again, not only in the

U.S.

but also in over 85% of the European countries. The highest sales gain came from the Civic and CR-V – highlighting the popularity of Honda’s new models. The Civic is one of Honda’s most successful models and is now a brand name in itself. Today the Civic has become the class leader in every market that it has entered. In 2007, Civic registered a whooping 41% sales gain in Europe. Even its 1.8-litre Indian counterpart is churning out equally good numbers after being voted the ‘Car of the Year’ when it was launched. The CR-V also registered some phenomenal sales in Europe with a 77% and 72% gain over last year for the petrol and diesel variants respectively. The CR-V, even after attracting a 130% import duty outsells everything else in its segment, which is a feat in a cost conscious market like

India

. Honda is now mulling producing the CR-V in

India

, and it’s sure to be a runaway success if it’s manufactured here with the famous i-CTDI (to be replaced with the i-DTEC soon). What makes the i-DTEC special is the fact that it’s been declared legal in all the 50 states in the

U.S.

, unlike other diesel engines from even Mercedes-Benz and BMW. This should further boost sales for the company in the International market. If the engine comes to

India

, it will be Honda’s first diesel variant in the country.

A mention of Toyota is almost indispensable wherever the name Honda appears. Honda and Toyota are two words often associated with the term ‘boring vehicles’ (sarcasm intended). These automobiles are often termed so because their robust and reliable engines go on and on clocking kilometres upon kilometres without any hassle. They don’t give the owner a good enough reason to sell them and upgrade to something else. Hence, Honda and Toyota today have become the most preferred brands across the globe. Both these giants entered the international markets together during the early 1950s. Since then it has been more of a ‘tortoise and rabbit race’ with Toyota being in the lead with its faster development, thanks to its healthy cash reserves. Honda on the other hand has epitomized the fact that ‘the one who keeps moving is the one who goes places’. Though their track record has been overshadowed by Toyota’s fast development, they have been moving positively. Honda has always launched precisely what the customer and the market needs. Hence their brochure has a lesser number of models to showcase instead of having an unnecessarily big product line up that takes a huge toll on investments but doesn’t reflect with equally good individual sales – something Toyota is famous for. Honda has never stressed much on platform sharing either. They believe that platform sharing doesn’t make production cheaper, instead makes products look cheap. The result is an array of reliable and technologically advanced engines across models that different markets around the world demand. Since their entry into our sub-continent about a decade back, Honda’s reliability, quality and design have created benchmarks in our market – all at a competitive price. Further, Honda hasn’t kept the Indian market deprived of any world class technologies either. The fuel efficient yet powerful i-VTEC engines are now at the heart of every Honda available in the country. The soon to be introduced i-DTEC diesel engines will see even healthier sales gain worldwide. With such committed technical innovation, steady and productive development and the reliability to match, Honda sure seems to be heading for greater success. At this rate, it won’t be long before the ‘boring tortoise’ matches pace with the helpless rabbit.

JAGUAR - TATA - LAND ROVER

2008-03-09T18:36:00.000+05:30

2008 will go down history books as one of the greatest buy-outs on the Indian automobile front. Over the past few months the financial news has looked quite similar to pages from some automobile magazine with the TATA-FORD deal blazing the headlines. Tata have been nominated favourites for the buy-out of two Ford-owned brands – Jaguar and Land Rover. However, the food for thought now remains, as to what will be the after effects of these acquisitions ? What does it mean for Tata and the Indian Market ? Read on…

Tata Motors is known for its expertise in the commercial segment with an array of trucks, buses and other load-bearing vehicles. It also holds the spot for the second largest medium and heavy bus manufacturer in the world. In 1991, they launched their first passenger vehicle – the Sierra, while the next notable indigenous effort that changed the face of Tata Motors came in 1998 with the Indica. The car became such a run away hit that its success story is now a subject of study in quite a few management schools across Asia. In between though, Tata got into a joint venture with Mercedes Benz and rolled out the E Class models in India. The company has always been a fast learner and is known to gather a lot of know-how from its technical collaborations till date. I reckon that the story won’t be different this time around either. With this buy-out, Tata will definitely have a knowledge boost for their current and future range of automobiles. The company has already tasted foreign waters with the City Rover, which has given Tata the knowledge of foreign markets, their requirements and behaviour. Along with this, Tata will also study as to what factors have affected sales for these two brands till now and will work towards rectifying them before giving these brands a make-over in the International market. From a financial point of view, Tata is the only Indian Automaker to be listed on NYSE. The news of the acquisition had a negative reaction on the stock market with Tata losing its value by close to 9 Rupees at the BSE and Ford losing value by about 15 cents at the NYSE. Sales in the U.S for Jaguar and Land Rover however had mixed reactions with a drop of 24 % and gain of 3.7% respectively for the two British icons. But steps in the right direction should see Tata’s graphs on an upwards scale with respect to sales.

The Land Rover will definitely feel like home to Tata considering the company’s affection for SUVs / MUVs. It’ll not only help Tata enhance their indigenous products from the similar segment, but will also lay a path for building a strong R&D and a stronger road-map for their vehicles in the Indian as well as the International markets. It won’t be long before Tata’s new lessons will reflect in the Sumo and/or even the 207DI. I’m speculating the Range Rover and its variants will come to India with the high end SUV segment gaining some momentum now. At the same time we can’t rule out the possibility of Land Rover’s CRDI engines and related technology filtering down to the smaller Tatas. Proper pricing for the Land Rovers should pit them directly against its former parent BMW’s SUVs on the higher end and current parent Ford’s Endeavour at the entry level, in the local market. Internationally, Land Rover still holds the pride to be one of the few true off-roaders amongst a gallery of soft-roaders. Tata has to make sure that Land Rover lives up to this pride in its future models as well, no matter how many gadgets its vehicles decide to adapt.

Jaguar however will need some serious inputs for the future models considering the ever increasing threat from the Germans. Ford’s financial woes had further weakened the cat’s ability to leap forward. Jaguar should benefit from Tata’s strong financial background as far as research and development is concerned. It still holds a shiny brand image though and a great fan following in Europe. Tata should capitalise on these facts and consider introducing this species of the cat to Indian waters as well. The company will have to face its German rivals here too. But with a sensible pricing and clever marketing and penetration, the Jaguar range could single-handedly hold a candle to the likes of the 5 series and the E-class. It wont be an easy task though as these cars have set up their base quite well, but then again, the battlefield for all these International brands in India is still fresh. The models we think will come to India are –

Though Tata will now own these two brands, getting them down to the country won’t be an easy task. The homologation, the import procedures, the price points for the vehicles and their marketing are hurdles that are imperative. But the primary objective of Tata in this case would be setting up a strong after-sales service, spares backup and customer care to be on par with their International rivals. Tata’s well knit dealer and service network however will work strongly in their favour. Only time will tell what Tata decides for these two brands and which models will come to India or if at all they will. But I can happily conclude that these acquisitions will significantly improve Tata’s technical know-how, their product range and its image as an automobile manufacturer in the global market.

I wish the following models to hit the Indian tarmac (and ground as well) –

Land Rover:

Range Rover -

The Turbocharged Diesel Engine and the Supercharged Petrol Engine options will make this SUV a serious challenger for the European competitors in India, like the X5, M-Class, Q7 and Cayenne. Going by the International pricing of this vehicle, it shouldn’t be hard for Tata to compete with the Germans on the price point too. If Tata can just about pull it off, it can even take on the Japanese competition – The Montero and the Prado.

Discovery –

The powerful Turbo-Diesel V6 and the rugged Land Rover build and styling can mean serious competition for the likes of the X3 and the 3 Lt. variant of the Q7.

Defender –

If Tata can manage to bring this vehicle down to the country and price it at a point lower than 20 lakhs, it can give the Endeavour, Pajero, Tuscon, X-Trail, and Honda’s new CR-V a run for their money.

Jaguar :

XJ -

This model in its 3 Lt. and 2.7 Lt. engine variants will compete with the Audi A6 and the Mercedes Benz E-Class.

XF -

With a variety of engines at its disposal, this car can be a serious contender against the performance crazy 5 series. Given its aggressive styling, it’s a sure seller.

XK -

This car, if priced well, has the ability to give the Mercedes Benz SLK and the Porsche Boxster a run for its money. This is one car that we would definitely like to see on the Indian tarmac.

(*ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED FOR THE MODELS ABOVE ARE DOWNLOADED FROM WWW.CARWALLS.COM. FOR HI-RES VERSIONS, LOG ON TO WWW.CARWALLS.COM)

(ALL OTHER LOGOS/NAMES USED ARE TRADEMARKS AND/OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THE RESPECTIVE COMPANIES AND/OR ORGANIZATIONS)

Seven

2007-03-26T16:14:00.000+05:30

RIDE, a four letter word, which for many holds equal or more value, as compared to other four letter words like LOVE, SEXY or even FUCK !!! A ride in itself can be classified into a lot of types like breakfast ride, long ride, overnight ride etc. When we ride, our destinations are a chosen few – so few that they can be counted on your finger tips. Many do complain about the same too, because the destinations get repetitive over time. But what is being forgotten here is that it’s not the destination we are riding for, it’s the journey. A journey that consists everything starting from city roads to highways, slow and tight corners to 100+ kmph sweeps and most important – an experience that fits together better than a jigsaw puzzle with single, twin and even four cylinders revving together.

25^th March 07, a day we would never forget for a lot of reasons.

The time period we went on the ride, coincidently is also the time period the movie ‘300’ has been burning the Indian box office. Yes, I know you are already thinking that I’m about to start comparing the ride and the movie. You are right. This idea may sound insignificant and mad. But this isn’t madness, this is RSA J

What happened a night before Sunday, was a RSA Dinner. The regulars were there and a few newbies too. The Sunday ride was planned quite some time before the dinner. Discussions happened about the plan, the probable members who would come for the ride were also being short listed. According to the new rules of the group, Rides and Stunt meets are to happen parallel so that the Stunters get their weekly dose of action and the Riders can enjoy theirs, before mother nature decides to wet the roads later in the year.

The downside of this though is that turnout reduces significantly. Nevertheless, the members enjoy what they joined in for.

As Sunday morning dawned, people started exchanging wake up calls. They all wanted to ride, together. Everyone was very excited about the ride. After gathering at the usual meeting place and waiting for all to do the same, we found that the number of members who had gathered was not very encouraging. Just the way a handful of Spartans went against the rules and prepared for war, we did not let our excitement die down. We had to go ahead with the ride and make the most out of it. Just the way the 300 odd Spartans were some of the finest the land had to offer, the members who had come for the ride and their machines were some of the finest one could imagine riding with -

A bike journo who believes that the handlebar is mightier than the pen – Speedy on a P180C

A racer who wants to undo the fact that the racer should not get his hands dirty in the pits – Kiran on a P220DTSFi

A rider aboard a 1000cc bike that wears the uniform of one of the best racing machines ever built – Sam on a Repsol Replica 1000RR

A car guy who thought bikes were uncomfortable, until he started riding one the way its meant to be ridden – PriyuB on a Karizma

A family man who found his long lost love, away from his family – Morpheus on a CBR 600RR

A tuner form downtown, better known as ‘Mad Bawa’ aboard a technical masterpiece – Mad Bawa on a BMR R1200

And finally a guy better known for his crashes than his achievements, clinging onto the fastest bike in the world – Rash on a GSX1300R Hayabusa.

The start of the ride made the highway sound like an Orchestra Pit, with the seven bikes playing their favorite musical notes in tune with each other. Though is sounded mesmerizing to many, to us it was like the sound of the battle horn. It had begun and there was no turning back. Like the Spartans, we would die but would not be frightened of the hurdles the roads or the ride had to offer us. The first setback came when the Repsol pulled over complaining of a loose right handle bar. But with some quick help from the Tuner-Racer Kiran and the Mad Bawa, the problem was overcome and our march continued. As we took the Katraj by-pass, the open roads were a sight we had been dying for, for quite a while. As the Busa with its free flow ‘can entered the Tunnel, the sound and its reverb was enough to frighten the mortals who were moving around like slaves in their cages. Whenever the traffic used to slow us down, the puny single cylinders would find small spaces to penetrate through them. In this way we could stick together in terms of the road covered. Our next stop was at the re-fuelling station to feed our might beasts. After that every biker was on his own, only waiting to regroup at the next stop – the Toll Booth before Khambatki.

The route to Khambatki is quite tricky. Why I say this is because, though it offers some beautiful high speed sweeps and straights, its often very crowded. As it is the only route from Pune to Bangalore, all the commercial vehicles use the same. To add to that, it is also the route to one of the most famous hill station – Mahabaleshwar and that adds a lot of family vehicles to the traffic. 80 kmph is fast enough for the family cars and legal enough for the right (fast) lane. But for us who like to see the needle above 100 kmph all the time, it’s a hurdle, a big slow moving hurdle !! And this is even before we get down to things like sudden lane changes, improper brake / turn signals, illiteracy of highway ethics and the like. Alas, its better left unsaid. Whenever I take a higher capacity bike on this route, what I generally wait for is the last few kilometers before the famous toll booth. This section offers some of the fastest straights and coincidently I have been lucky with scarce traffic on these sections every time I have taken a ‘big’ bike. What we managed yesterday was 4 gears red-line and 5^th gear 9,000 RPM on the Hayabusa. The 600 on the other hand clocked speeds in excess of 200 kmph. The Busa was very confidently grounded even at those speeds and returned some excellent feedback. But still the sheer velocity was enough to send cubes of ice down my spine even under the hot circumstances. I was the first to reach the toll booth. I had done a similar run on the Fireblade a couple of times before this. But this experience was something that I’ll never forget for times to come. My pillion tells me that we hit the 300 kmph mark, a benchmark that many wouldn’t even dare to think of in our country. I could say nothing. A couple of tears did roll down my eyes, inside the helmet. But that was it, I didn’t have any room for softness. The emotions would have made me weak. There was still more to go. A bigger task in front, that of taking a Tourer through the curves of Khambatki, as if it were a race bike. Kiran and Priyub hadn’t stopped at any of the small regroups that we had in between nor at the refueling station. It gave them enough advantage to cross the Khambatkis before we reached the toll booth. We all regrouped at the toll booth and we rejoined by Kiran and Priyub. Khambatki was waiting for us. It was waiting to throw at us, some very good curves. We were ready to take them with the same affection we have every time. What was different this time though was, gravel on the curves, slow moving traffic on the fast sections and even some slippery coolant on one of the corners that usually has a very fast entry. But we dealt with it with some very good riding, and more important, very good team work. The leader as usual was indicating hand signals wherever required. In spite of all the hurdles Khambatki was conquered in no time and not a single rider was lost. The heat was getting worse as the hands of the clock moved. It was time for some refreshments. The regular Dhaba we sit at welcomed us with open arms again.

While the food and drinks came, we were all very excited about the way the ride had progressed so far. What had been planned earlier was, multiple laps of the Khambatki and back home. But because the ride till now was done in good time, we started toying with the idea of marching further into the Wai ghats and conquer some more land. Without doubt, the idea was soon turned into practice and we set out for Wai – Panchgani. As we approached at the at the foothills of the Wai ghats, its was time to refuel the beasts with gasoline. With the riders and their beasts refreshed, it was time to set these ghats on fire as well. Unlike the Khambatkis, these ghats offer an even greater threat – two way traffic. As you climb uphill, there is a much faster army of illiterate family cars and public transport vehicles heading down straight for you on the narrow road. If you intend to go fast on these curves, you need to follow a fast line, which is very difficult considering the oncoming traffic follow none. The route till Panchgani was finished at a very fast pace with not much traffic attacking us. What was going to be difficult now was the route to the final destination – Mapro Garden. The Sun was slowly getting over head as noon was approaching. The route to Mapro is tarmac laid through woods. The tall trees and their arrow headed branches and leaves were blotting out the sun rays. We had to ride in shade. Such scattered shadows can be very dangerous particularly because its gets very difficulty to analyze the curves, their banking, the bumps, the pot holes etc. which are some of the worse enemies when it come to high speed riding. But we were not to be beaten here. We took the road and we took it fast. I was red lining the Hayabusa even in the curves and my pillion was hanging on for his dear life. Every bump and pot hole was sending enough rebounds to lead to tank-slapping, but we were still going flat out tackling them with as much strength I could use in my wrists. It wasn’t a different story for the others riders as well. The rest of the body weight was being used to tackle the steering of the bikes as the curves got faster and faster. The traffic was increasing and so was the denseness of the shadows. As the reading on our trip counters was increasing, the reading on the Mapro milestones started decreasing. We reached Mapro finally. So far so good. Along with me, it was Priyub who had reached. The CBR 600 followed. Kiran and Speedy were racing each other and went all the way till the end of the Wai ghats stampeding everything that ‘didn’t’ move. As I, Sagar (my pillion), Priyub, Morphues and Yatin (his pillion) decided to settle, we got a call from Mad Bawa. His brake hydraulics had suddenly failed and he ran wide on one of the curves. He was a little shaken up and didn’t want to ride further. Sam was with him at that moment. I and Sagar mounted the Karizma and went back to look for them. Thankfully, we found the rider and the ride standing on their feet. There was no physical damage on either of them. It was Mad Bawa’s confidence that was majorly damaged though. I rode the Beemer back to Mapro. On the way we saw Speedy and Kiran coming back for us. We regrouped and returned to Mapro.

At Mapro, Bawa opened his tool kit and started healing his beast while the rest of us decided to grab more refreshments. Speedy was busy ogling at the beautiful Oracles the great Mapro-land had to offer. Loki (another pillion), in the meantime, had decided to take Bawa’s case and was enjoying every bit of it, while Mad Bawa hated every bit of it. After some good time at Mapro and some good refreshments, we decided to head back to mother land. I was the first to leave among the group as I accelerated through the straights connecting Mapro to the ghats. After some ‘Isle of Mann TT’ kinda ride through the ghats, down to Panchgani, I was stuck in traffic. Kiran gained advantage over me and joined me in Panchgani. The Hayabusa had developed some altitude sickness till then. She had started fluttering and was not delivering much power. However, she had enough power to hit the road downhill. I and Kiran were feeling like kids with wooden swords. We fought all the way downhill. Sometimes like kids, sometimes like pilots in a dogfight and sometime like racers on a race track. We reached back to the foothills safely. My wrists were paining as if they had gone trough some third degree police torture. Talking of police, as soon as we reached down to foothills, some traffic police had caught some over-loaded people carriers. We parked in the shade of a tree and got off the beasts to relax till the others came back. The cops came, not for any legality, but to check out the bikes, the armor we were wearing and the likes. They were overwhelmed to see such stuff. By the time they back to the ground, the other bikers reached. Finally, Wai had reached the same fate as that of Khambatki. What followed after that was quite and slow ride back home. The roads had been conquered, unbelievable speeds had been reached and great team work had been showcased. Once again it is proved, that what has been written or said above, cant be understood easily, until you RIDE WITH THE ANGELS.

The SEVEN riders and the beasts

You, the fire

2007-03-05T08:41:00.000+05:30

U may have eyes full of fire,
that depict a lotta things,
from an ambitious desire,
to the brightness of eclipse rings...

Like fire is ur zest,
burning till the last particle,
a zest that transforms into actions,
sometimes brilliant, sometimes impractical..

Like a slow burning fire,
I feel ur presence,
a comforting warmth,
and a bright enough luminance...

unlike the wildfire in the woods,
u spread happiness all around,
its not the grass but the sorrows u burn,
but even that makes me run like a frightened hound..

The words that u use when u fight,
just like a flame, r so sharp,
but the way in which I hear ur words,
to me they sound like a well tuned harp...

I know u resemble the fire so well,
and like fire u like to behave indeed,
but remember that for a fire to dwell,
just like a human, even it needs to breathe...

Facts to remember

2007-03-05T08:40:00.000+05:30

Life is like an algorithm,
as things r dependant on each other,
the right action at the right time,
can guarantee that the flow of life is smoother..

everything happens for a reason,
and the reason can sometimes be unknown,
but life will always show u a signal,
its u who should understand whats shown..

Everything around u evolves,
and u r expected to do the same,
as time will wait for no one..
The one who moves on is the winner,
the one who lingers is lame..

Time heals everything - they say,
but time can also hurt,
hence ur inner strength is what will help u stay,
else be ready to bite the dirt...

As blades wait to cut ur throat,
I want u to gather all ur strength,
cause Life today is a battle of sorts,
u have to fight before ur soul rots...

Chill and Warmth

2007-03-05T08:29:00.000+05:30

On a very chilly night in early December 2006, I was returning home late from a friend's place. It was so cold that I had a very hard time even crossing 30 kmph on Karizma !! Hence I got my cell phone out and wrote down my experience with a little rhythm to it and with the same feeling of 'insane love' that I have for all my bikes.

Chill and Warmth

Its a cold night out here,
and roads have no life,
its just me and my dear,
trying our best to thrive..

I see trees by the roadside,
and they exhale a cold breath onto me..
I slow down on the roads which were fast before,
n every detail on them I can see..

she knows how much I love her,
n she journeys with me thru this cold night,
still talking in her smooth voice,
as she rotates every step further,
without a hint of fright.

this night is really cold n dark,
as the stars too hide behind a black blanket..
her heart beats to create some warmth,
enough warmth to provide some comfort..

but the chill is winning,
as it grips every finger n thumb,
her warmth cant reach my hands,
hence they start going numb..

I know her balance depends on me,
and hence I fight against all odds,
but now I wish this road to end,
and that is all I pray to the gods..

This aint the last time,
when we journey together,
but lets go home today,
cause I cant see u wither..

Tomorrow is a new day,
and we start a new journey,
and thank you for today,
good night, I love u my honey..

For the Fireblade...

2007-03-05T08:18:00.000+05:30

These are some more thoughts I wrote in regard to the 929 RR Fireblade :
(Ppl close to me might relate a lot to what I have wrote)

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The Insanity is back !!

From the bowels of Earth
and the fires of hell
she's taken a re-birth
as she cracks open the shell

she is hungry for long
and I have hibernated through time
I have so missed her song
as she sings in a melodious rhyme

that sparkle in that grin
those eyes full of pride
her strength till the brim
in her they still reside

The roads will burn and so will souls
with so much force that the body rolls
in her there is no power lack
beware all mortals, the insanity is back !!!

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Intimacy

Do u understand the language,
the language that goes vroom..
If u havent heard it yet,
then hear me when I zoom..

I talk to her now and then,
and ask her out everyday..
And never has she said a 'no',
letting me enjoy all that I may..

Her beautiful skin,
and her sleek curves,
one sensual touch of mine,
and she red lines into endless shivers..

I kiss her a good nite,
and greet her a good morning,
with great joy she cranks up,
and jumps around roaring...

her loyalty knows no bounds,
far superior than 'bitches' n hounds,
a love for me as always narrated,
in all love-stories that are top rated..

I love her more than you all,
n by now u consider me insane,
but if u dont understand the language of vroom, buddy,
whatever u speculate, is in vain..

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Angelic Satan

2007-03-05T00:10:00.000+05:30

As the darkness falls upon me
I can hear the Satan's chant
Just when I thought I was born free
'U r a slave' is his rant..

They say there is light at the end of the tunnel
but all I can see is brightness getting scarce
my life feels bottle-necked going down a funnel
all around me is reducing space..

I wish he had a heart that could understand emotions
but he knew of heart breaks so he took his precautions..

They say he believes in God like we do
mayb thats why he is after us
for God's creations he wants to undo..

Lets hope we can survive in the reverse pentacle
cause just like us, Lucifer afterall is a fallen angel...

Change !?

2006-12-17T21:06:00.000+05:30

You think I have changed a lot,
this is something the world says too,
its just a phase in life my friend,
its hard to find whats false, whats true..

You say my way of talking's changed,
and silence rules my tongue much more,
its not my way of talking, friend,
its just my throat thats gone sore..

You say my eyes are now red with hate,
and love n care r left aside,
but its not what u think my friend,
they r just red stains of sorrows inside..

You say my attitude towards life is different,
and I've started behaving like a pessimist,
what better proof of optimism can I give,
when I even welcome a dense fog like a morning myst..

Dont call a 'phase' a 'change' my friend,
'cause there actually is no change in me,
'cause if I do change then you will see,
what a change in me can really be...

Negative Metamorphosis

2006-12-04T08:56:00.000+05:30

Some time back I told I love you
but for you these words were nothin new
nothin now remains of what I said
'cause my love for you is turning to hatred...

A thousand things I did for you
'cause all this time I deeply loved you
to nothin' positive these things have led
n slowly my love now turns to hatred

I have cried several a time
but you dont give a dime
no more tears now will I shed
as my love for u turns to hatred

For you I have gone through a lot of pain
through summer, winter and heavy rain
I lay on a thorny bed of roses red
as my love for u turns to hatred

Now I have to give some time to me
a lot more in this world is left to see
you showed me how harmful love can be
what an illusion it was to think of 'we'

I never ever felt this day would come
when apart from u I would think of some
I promise, Tomorrow when I wake up in bed
All I'll have for u is hatred...

The Wait

2006-12-04T08:55:00.000+05:30

I felt lonely,no one in sight,
to call my own,someone just right,
a whisper,I always heard,
which in a way,is weird.
'coz for years i searched and sought
for answers in vain,
but all I got was a tormented heart and a lot of pain,
A soul here and a soul there,some tiny reflection reaching the core,
A scattered pattern,a kaleidoscope of emotions,yearning for more.
Amidst this,I stand,seeking solace,
just waiting for you or deaths embrace.

----

written by my close friend TURBOCHARGED a.k.a PRAVEEN BHADE

A Matter of Time...

2006-11-23T09:52:00.000+05:30

A time will come when most films will be remakes
A time will come when technical support will be needed even for eating with a spoon
A time will come when humans will evolve to breathe underwater
A time will come when a finger print will look like a circuit design
A time will come when humans will bond only to fulfill their biological purpose
A time will come when food will be available as mere tablets with different tastes
A time will come when every human will be under continious surveillance
A time will come when memory can be erased at will
A time will come when automobiles wont use tyres for movement
A time will come when emotions will be nothing but graphics and smileys on communication software
A time will come when the 'Wild' will be a subject in history
A time will come when 'Music-on-the-go' will be more important than prayers
A time will come when clothes will be worn only as protection against weather
A time will come when a cellphone will be a person's workstation
A time will come when scale models will run 20+ bhp engines
A time will come when hi definition audio-video equipment will be installed in every enthusiast's brain
A time will come when human brains will be overclocked at birth
A time will come when electricity will be shock proof
A time will come when only selected couples will be allowed to reproduce
A time will come when students wont need to write instead will just 'think-out' the answers
A time will come when 'Love' will considered a negative characteristic of the organ called heart
A time will come when digital lenses will give vision to the blind
A time will come when a camcorder will be able to record your dreams
A time will come when every human born will be bar-coded
A time will come when a clock will show you the past, present and future
A time will come when time itself will be the most expensive ‘commodity’ on this planet. A person will be paid primarily, not for his skills, but for his time.

Lavasa, the virgin land

2006-10-29T10:06:00.000+05:30

Lavasa, a 40 odd kilometers from the usual meeting point of RSA, the Chandni Chowk bridge boasts some of the best curves with a sticky tarmac layer as good as the icing on your favorite cake. And just like your fav cake, the ride is as sweet too. No traffic, no domectic / urban wildlife, no pedestrians, and no tourists either, though riding on these roads is no less than a first hand experience of a Tourist Trophy race (only if you know what I mean).

The USP of Lavasa is the fact that out of the 40 kms that u clock beginning from Chandni Chowk, you can afford to look at your trip meter for only 24 odd kilometers. After that the next 16 kms need your complete attention and concentration as the road throws at you, an array of curves, high speed curves. On any Indian premium class single, you can easily carry 80+ kmph through the curves, which can be amplified to 100+ if ridden with proper concentration and weight balance. The proof of this can be 'smelt' at the end of the ride, coming in the form of over worked clutch plates. The twisties commence with the Mutha Ghats which consist of wide downhill corners with a few blind spots in between. If luck favours you well you may find a completely clean section with no gravel on the edge of the corners. While one side of the road offers a bed of wild flowers the other side offers a run out space so less that you wont live to think or talk about it. The ghat passes through a few villages before coming to a bridge. A bride above a small rivulet having its source from the small leaks in the colossal walls of the Lavasa dam.

Lavasa leads to an almost-table land. Hence we climb up hill with a combination of some fast corners leading to even faster straights which most of the times end in scary and slow hairpins. They are particularly scary while on the way back, because again, the run out space is not much. Carrying a parachute bag-pack wont be a bad idea actually. After the climb is over you are welcomed by a not so friendly speed breaker couple who will make even the last bolt in your machine feel the 'break'. After you are done with them, the table land and the roads will try their best to give you an experience of race track with near flat curves, ample run out space in some section, a brilliant combination of left handers, right handers, slow corners, fast corners, a small straight at the end of a medium speed corner and the likes. A good place for riders to practice weight shifting and cornering.

The only thing that bothers me is however, how long can we enjoy this road ? Soon traffic will increase, nature wil take its toll on the tarmac, civilisation will flourishand the worst is, the road is a private entity. But till the time is road is closed for us, we'll continue to enjoy the beauty.

Here are a couple of videos from the rides we had at Lavasa :

Want more ? check the following links :

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=rashrp

http://rubbersmokinangels.blogspot.com

http://rsa-picturegallery.blogspot.com/

I have gotten over you..

2006-10-05T01:49:00.000+05:30

Every moment of the night
you reign over my dreams
in that every moment girl, I love you,
still I say I've gotten over you

A photo of your smiling face
is still my empty wallet's grace
when I look at it I say, 'I love u',
still I say girl I've gotten over you

I always wait for a chance to talk to you
and wish the conversation was an endless one
after u hang up girl I say, 'I love you',
still I say I've gotten over you

I've still saved every one of your messages
when I miss u I read them with a smile
but with tears in my eyes I say, 'I love u',
and still I say I've gotten over u

My ears still recognise your sweet voice
be it even from the farthest distance
in my contrasting voice I say, 'I love you',
still I say girl I've gotten over you

I know you will not come to me
but I'll still wait for eternity
'cause though I say that I have gotten over you,
the fact remains that I still love you..

A desert called 'Life'

2006-10-04T08:14:00.000+05:30

Life seems barren like a lonely desert,

with ups and downs like the sand dunes,

the mind like a thirsty animal, is hurt,

as the soul sublimes into invisible fumes...

The skies look clear with big white clouds,

but its no use really for this barren land,

What I long for now are the dark black clouds ,

Whose rain can put life in this dead sand...

The vultures linger to enjoy my death,

afterall my flesh is their daily bread,

But I ain't still outta breath,

No matter how much life makes me shred...

Like a fool I wait for a blue oasis,

that would give my life the much needed bliss,

But all I see are endless grains of sand,

On heaps of which, alone I stand...

I agree a desert can expect no greenery,

but still in the emptiness I look for my lover,

Cause even on a land so barren and broken,

a cactus can still grow a lovely red flower.

One Day in the News

2006-10-03T09:19:00.000+05:30

One day in the news
There will be a tiny square
Reporting a horrible accident
Of a biker who crashed.
It will end there
But I will know
I shall be the fire helmeted rider
Astride my Sway,
Outrunning the Sun’s ray.
There shall be one day
I will come crashing down
The tarmac that’s been eyeing me for so long
Shall have me.
Tearing my clothes
Licking my skin
Scars shall be where smooth skin would have once been
I shall lie in bed eyes closed and healing
Either an accident or marriage shall stop me.
Till then my dear Sway**
We got speed limits, time and kilometers
To slay.

-Contibuted by RSA Member Aneesh.

**'Sway' is the name he is given to his beloved Unicorn

The Merit List

2006-09-19T23:59:00.000+05:30

There is a subject that has been questioning our minds for a long time. Maybe since the time when we joined a school. Just like an army is trained for years and years to face a war situation, the students are trained for 10 years of their schooling to face the board exams, which often are described as a ‘necessary evil’. This results into changing the mere definition of a Merit List into a paradox, that though exams are not a very good means of judging the potential of students, they are perhaps the only way of doing so. As a student myself, I always wondered if exams really are the only way of judging the potential of students ? Even if its not the best way to do so ?

Thanks to the media, you must have heard or read about the growing number of suicide cases among students, the primary cause is the examination oriented Indian education system coupled with a heavy-hand domination by teachers. Are the chits of papers and those numbers more valuable than our life ? Students, in order to achieve their goal i.e. a respectable position on the merit list, become book worms and miss the simple joys of life and sometimes their friends too. Seeing their condition, the saying, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ starts making a lot of sense.

I think there should be no merit list, because the ones only to succeed in 10^th are those who follow the principle in Marathi that says “Ghoka ani Oka” which translates to ‘just learn by heart and write it all in your answer sheet’, and that to in JUST 3 hours. What an achievement !! After all, the marks that we achieve are most of time based on the personal bias of the teacher or judges.

The problem has its roots connected with the guidance from parents and their economic structure which doesn’t allow them to give importance to personal interest. Let me explain this, a student may not like theoretical learning, thus getting low marks in exams, but he or she maybe a practical minded person. And another student may not be able to make quick decisions because he is not practical minded, but has secured the merit list with his theory. If these two students were to apply for a job, the latter would always be preferred.

A close but gloomy example that I would like to mention is that of a girl from our friends circle. She used to study 25 hours a day and was a definite candidate for the merit list. Her mom left no chances of scolding anyone who created any kind of disturbances. Finally she scored a whooping 91% marks. Gosh !! Anybody would have jumped with joy ! But this girl cried in agony for she missed the merit list by 3 marks. The next year was spent without studying because she was in a state of depression. I further add that the merit list is responsible for developing an inferiority complex among students. It also leads to irony, jealousy, unwarranted competition among the students at a premature stage, when their vision is not focused on a practical approach to life.

Though I know and agree that the competition is heating up day by day and our students have to be nurtured to face the same, I feel that we are losing more than what we gain. We are gaining an OPPORTUNITY to get a well paid job. I say opportunity because just like the girl I mentioned earlier, you can’t be sure of the end result no matter how much you have worked towards your goal. Evils like politics, bribery, corruption or sheer bad luck are always going to pull you down. Hence to gain an opportunity, we are losing out on small but very important things in life like practical knowledge, basic physical fitness, mental balance and most important, a peace of mind. All this, just for some flashy numbers on the most important piece of paper respected in our country, the Merit List.

Newspapers today

2006-09-18T09:38:00.000+05:30

It doesn’t matter whether your toilet has a normal flush-and-water system, or a tissue paper system like the U.S of A. The most important piece of paper at the start of one’s day still remains the newspaper. For most of the businessmen around the world, the newspaper comes as a light brown paper with black text and loads of charts, but for the rest of the world it is black and white. But is today’s newspaper just black and white ?

When we think of the colors black and white, it can mean a lot of things. But I feel the newspaper should be black and white for one primary reason. The newspaper should only show the world the truth. And truth always comes only in a black or a white, there are no greys in between, or even any other color for that matter. But today’s newspapers are much more ahead than just showing us the facts.

We all are aware of the fact that in order to keep the newspaper’s cost so low, they have to rely heavily on the advertisements. But if you look at the extent of advertising done with today’s newspapers, you would feel that you are not reading the news, but an Ad-agency’s portfolio. More than half of every page is filled with advertisements for new products, new offers from the local market or an online store and even huge full page adverts for some Megastore which offers you commodities at prices lesser than retail.

But no newspaper will go a step in the other direction and investigate the validity of the advertisements they print. Today’s newspaper wont carry any report how these megastores con the public by selling them market surplus. They don’t carry any reports about the hidden costs behind the attractive loan and EMI schemes on offer. After all the newspaper’s business comes from these colorful patches on every page. Turning on to the showbiz section, you will frequently read about the yearly earnings of film stars, but how often have you read about the daily earnings of a common wage laborer or the illegal earnings of the traffic police. That fact of the matter is, newspapers today are becoming more commercialized.

Small news is blown up to infinite proportions for no reason. Take for example, the news of some teenagers barging into the PM’s compound, or a small kid falling into a pit, or some cities in America facing a complete black out for a few hours. Did this news really require so much attention ? Then is the favorite section of every newspaper in the world – War and Riots. The journalists today can write pages together on this subject. Then why not about people who help victims of natural or artificial calamities ? Why is it that only multi-national corporations and celebrities make it to the newspaper for their charity claims ? An Iraqi newspaper once had a Palestinian woman kissing an crying orphan as its cover page photograph instead of the war photos. The war was left to the last pages because they wanted their people read about the good things first. Why cant every newspaper take such an initiative. Why cant newspapers think more about giving the people the news that really matters to them ?

The sports section is no different. All you will read about is cricket, player rants, player endorsements and player facts. Other sports news will include news from other poular sports from around the world like Tennis, Formula 1, Chess and Hockey. Why cant the Indian motor sport, Indian football, Archery, Weight Lifting, Arm Wrestling etc. get coverage ? They make it to the news only when some sports person is caught for things like drug dose or ranting against something or someone. Why isn’t the progress of these sports covered instead ?

During festivals like Diwali, Ganesh Festival, Christmas, Id etc, you will see our newspapers flooding with articles on the festival, the Indian culture etc. But where do all these ideas go when articles on skimpy clothed party animals are printed ? The most coveted section of the newspaper today is the Page 3. Parties, Page3 celebrities, scandals…this is what is gaining popularity. News today is being used to market products, make people famous, cover parties, put forth gossip or even make use as a political tool. Newpapers still live up to their name and do give us the news. But what is the news ? Is it really what we want to know ? Or are we being made to read what they want us to read ?

The difference between a theatre play and a movie is that the theatre allows you to choose your line of sight. You decide what you want to watch and hear during the play. But in a movie, you are forced to see through the Cameraman’s eye. He decides what you are supposed to see. But still the motion picture gains more popularity over the theatre because its considered glamorous and happening. Same is the case with the newspaper. Its us the readers, who have unknowingly supported its transition into a glamorous and commercial thing. We are responsible for reflecting a wrong ‘want’. And the publications are more than happy to give us what we asked for. We added color to the newspaper and hence the facts are no more just black or white.

Am I sorry ?

2006-09-01T09:52:00.000+05:30

It was a dark evening. Grey clouds hovered all around. The atmosphere was getting so grim that even the clouds were weeping. Sunlight was trying to console them but in vain. I was in my room going through all the old photos. My memories were killing me. They were adding to the sadness of the day. My heart was paining even at the thought of it. But I had had enough. How long could I live with this burden. How long could I keep it that way. The effects were showing on my face. My sadness and stress was showing on my face. There was nothing I could do. The whole room started feeling like an asylum. I didn’t want it this way. Something had to be done. A one shot solution. I was fed up. The thoughts of using a sharp blade were haunting my mind for quite some time. A few cuts in the right places and it would all be over. Should I do it or should I not, was questioning my shrinking mind. What would my friends think if I took such a step? Would my family take this shock? I didn’t know what to do. Browsing through more photos from the past couple of years worsened the things. I had to do it now. I had been through enough dark memories. I had to take this step. No matter who thinks what, I had to go ahead. Enough thought and said.

My shaky feet walked me to the bathroom. I picked up that blade. A sharp new blade. It was going to my only weapon to take this step. I wanted to finish it all with the least possible pain. I knew this would be the last time I would feel such pain, after that, all would be over. I made the first cut. It was a little painful. A cold shiver ran down my spine that was bending over the wash basin. A cut more and it didn’t pain the same way anymore. A couple of cuts more and there was no pain left in me. I was just creeping towards the end result. With all the cuts, I could see it slowly flowing away. Falling drop by drop on the basin floor. Its dark color was contrasting against that of my skin. I knew a final set of cuts would finish of things. As was doing this, I looked towards the mirror. All my old memories were slowly fading away. A change could be seen in me. The blade had helped me take the brave step. It was a new beginning. The way people would look at me had changed. The blade had certainly made a difference. It did its job to perfection. I had finally and cleanly, shaven off my moustache and frenchie.

When heaven turns to hell...

2006-08-30T23:44:00.000+05:30

Bikers can be sub divided into many types. The most common classification can be ‘Tourers’, ‘Racers’, ‘Stunters’ and ‘Commuters – people who call themselves bikers just because they own one.’ And then there are some who would like to do everything, from commuting on the street to blazing open highways and turning twisties (ghats) into their own little race track. We somewhat belong to that category. We are always in search of high speed corners with least traffic and more important, least chances of an accident involving other elements of traffic. A few ghats do offer this bliss to us bikers. A bliss to an extent that these places are as good as heaven for us. Instead of living for more than half a century and being dependable on your relatives in the last years of your life, its better to crash and die in such a heaven. Yes, the crash better be fatal, else the ‘dependant’ factor will enter your life much much earlier. Anyway, bitter part aside, lets get back to our heaven. In and around Pune, the places we like to invade again and again are the Khambatki ghats and the road to Amby Valley, courtesy Sahara Group.

During the rains we don’t really go to the Khambatkis because the Katraj ghats which are the origin of the highway to Khambatki turns into a lunar surface. A new pothole is born every minute on these roads. So by the time you cross these, your vehicle’s suspension is ruined. So there is absolutely nothing left to enjoy by the time you reach Khambatki. Hence the only heaven that we can raid during monsoons is Amby Valley, or so we think.

This time around, we decided to go to Amby Valley at night. The mode of transport was not a bike, but a car. Five people, me, 2 friends and a couple. At 10ish we set out on a trip which was not to an unfamiliar destination. But still we had goose bumps even thinking about it. We took the express way, the fastest way to reach Lonavla on 4 wheels. It took us around 16 mins to touch Lonavla. By around 11 we were sitting at Smokin’ Joes for an Italian dinner with an Indian touch. We knew we wouldn’t get any food at Amby Valley due to the rains. So a variety of hot pizzas was a good option. The rains had gotten heavier in Lonavla. My car was parked outside, right in front of the pizza joint. The rain water was caressing each and every curve of this beauty. The sight was nothing less than watching a beautiful lady having a graceful bath. Inside, we were sitting on a nice wooden dinner furniture with our nose being tickled by the wonder aroma of the cheese melting on those pizzas as they were being baked. In spite of the cold weather outside, a glass of soft drink was still very soothing on the throat. After treating ourselves to a wonderful dinner, we finally came to know that we were the only customers inside and that it was time for the joint to pull the shutters down. We cleaned up the dirty work of paying the bills and moved out. It was around 1 in the night and we were going to head for Amby Valley.

Amby Valley is actually built in a valley with its entrance not at the bottom of the mountain but at the top of it. It’s supposedly a wonderful drive up there, only if you know how to enjoy it. We joined the way to Amby Valley, a dark black, winding stretch of road disappearing into such infinite curves that the horizon was not visible at all. The sky looked like a reflection of the road, broad and dark, the stars appearing like the small lights we could see around on the land. It was a complete mirror image. For some reason all were silent. The only sound that could be heard was that of the rain drops hitting the surface of my car and breaking into millions of small droplets. We could feel the temperatures of our blood dropping slowly. We were still silent. The headlights were trying to give their best possible illumination. After a few curves, things were getting worse. The rain was slowly reducing. Liquid reality turned to a gaseous one. A moist fog was slowly making an entrance. It felt as if someone was blowing the fog onto us. Small streaks of wind flowed through it. The fog started getting denser as we were hunting for the white marker lines beside the road as guidance for driving further and on the right track. No civilization could be seen anywhere. The vipers were working vigorously to keep the windshield clean. A few more curves, the fog seemed to be thinner. We decided to stop. As soon as the engine stopped everything broke into a complete silence. So silent that we could hear heartbeats coming from five sources. We dared to get out of the vehicle. We could just see the road a few meters ahead of us. Everything else was covered in fog. Only our surrounding ground was with a thin layer of fog. The feeling was no less than standing in the middle of a spotlight with thousands of eyes watching you. It sure did feel like we were being watched by someone. Maybe the same someone who was blowing the fog onto us. Maybe the same someone who cleared a small stretch of road for us. May be the same someone who was responsible for the silence. Maybe the same someone who was commanding the pace of our heartbeats. Even the hustle of wet leaves with each other was trying to say something. Maybe it wanted us to go back. Maybe nature was having its own party that night and were the party crashers. It seemed so, because the look we were getting from the environs was nothing less than the look an unwelcome party crasher gets. No one had the u-know-what to go ahead into the hypnotizing fog. We were going into a state of brain freeze already. We turned the car around with much difficulty and finally set out on our way back. Things started getting even spookier. The road which we came on was covered with heavy rains on our way up. But on the way back the same road under the blanket of the same dense fog that was staring at us a few mins earlier. There was no sign of rain. We somehow finished the downhill and entered the heart of Lonavla again. We were over-joyed to glimpse civilization around. The road that is heaven for all bikers during the other 9 months of the year, was worse than hell in those 90 mins. Even with the air-con switched on, most of us were sweating. We didn’t need to talk about what he had been through. The mind waves were communicating with each other and that was enough to keep us all silent.

We joined the express way again. We were ready to face a heavy rain again, but no fog. We thought that it was the end of the nightmare. But it wasn’t. My fuel indicator was gearing up to bungee jump to the red line, only to stay there and not come up again like a normal bungee jump would. According to my knowledge of the Express way, there was no fuel pump anywhere till the end of the highway. That meant around 40 kms to be done. The air-con had to go off. The fogging that it lead to on the windshield had to be taken care of by the trusty old cloth. We had to drive in an economy mode. And even after all this, there was no guarantee if she would be able to make it till the end. For some reason, it felt like that someone was still watching us. We were crawling on the road trying to burn each drop of petrol with the best possible efficiency. The end of the express way was driving closer and the gap between the fuel indicator needle and the end of the scale could only be read with a microscope. We could see the light of the fuel pump at some distance. The light to us, was similar to what the light at the end of the tunnel would mean to dying person. We finally arrived at the pump. Barely 100 meters before the pump, the car started giving us a jerky response. On reaching the station we found no attendants to fill her up. Finally after honking a couple of times, a man with a torch in his hand, and wrapped in blankets came walking towards us. He had sore red eyes which didn’t blink even once as he approached us. It felt as if these would the same eyes watching us along our trip. We told him the amount to fill up and he did that without a word, juggling his line of sight continuously between the fuel meter and the people inside the car. After he filled up I just handed over the money to him and got my butt moving immediately. I dropped everyone back to their homes and set back on a journey to mine. Things were calming down in my head. It was almost an hour before dawn. But the dark clouds still hovered in the sky. The horizon was still not visible. I was cruising back. Had no intentions or energy to floor the pedal. When I was almost near my place, I saw a ‘cyclewala’ standing at the side of the road. God knows what he was up to, why he was standing there. All that I could notice was, even he was staring at me. The last 1 km was finished with blazing the street. I had enough of everyone staring at me. My building gate was closed. I got down from my car, opened the gate and sat back to drive the car into the parking. A stray dog that always runs behind every car including mine, no matter what weather, what time, was sitting silently in the corner of my parking today. His ears were up and eyes again, were staring at me. Right from the point I parked the car, till the point I started climbing the stairs, those eyes were following me. I didn’t check my mail, I didn’t switch on the monitors. All I did was just crash on the bed. I don’t remember if I had any dreams. I don’t remember if I got up shouting. All I know is - I had been through a nightmare.

***This picture was taken at the place where we stopped. Not even a single pixel on it is doctored.

Evolution of the Fireblade

2006-08-30T09:14:00.000+05:30

If the evolution of the Fireblade were to be written about, it would run into loads of pages and it still wont be enough. So why dont I just try and sum up the whole process ? Here goes....

The 1000 RR shares the same nose and swing arm with the 954 RR...

...the 954 RR shares the same chassis with the 929 RR...

...the 929 RR shares the same swing arm, suspension and braking system with the 919 RR...

...the 919 RR shares the same chassis and dynamics with the 900 RR...

...the 900 RR finally is the origin of the DNA shared by all these bikes, called the 'Fireblade' !!!

Undoubtedly the best designer out there is none other than the father of the blades, Tadao Baba

My Kid Brother’s Anniversary

2006-08-28T08:49:00.000+05:30

I’m a single child, no brothers, no sisters. A few cousins though. But it’s a known fact, no matter how warm a relation you share with your cousins, your friends are always more closer to you. Some relations can become so strong that they are miles ahead of the term ‘Friendship’. By default, one has only one best friend, I thankfully, I have many. Some of them are so good friends of mine that I guess this paragraph must be the first incident after months and months, where I am referring to these people as friends and not brothers. One such friend of mine is Souly. He too is a single child and as far as I know, he doesn’t have any cousins either. I met this dude in late 2003. A black-metal freak, always clothed in all black, from hair bands to socks, from nail polish to shoe polish, everything black. Since then things have changed a lot, in him, as well as our friendship. Our friendship has grown stronger, stronger to an extent that he is nothing less than a kid brother to me. He and some more friends of ours are now like a close knit family.

As far as Souly goes, he has started looking like a human now. He has become more subdued compared to what he was earlier. The last time his 7 channel speaker system must have played black metal must be more than a year back. Undoubtedly the person responsible for this is the love of his life. The girl he met around an year back. PeeeeChik, as we call her, added to his life, a lot of love and warmth that he so badly needed. Its like an exotic dish you prepare, but there is something missing, one ingredient. You add that and everything is perfect. Souly’s life was somewhat similar. Everything was going right, but it lacked something. A person who could love him with a clean heart, understand him and help him understand life in a more positive way. She did it for him. She has added a spark to his life and he stands by it.

Coming out of the black and white flashback, today happens to be the first anniversary of their relationship.

Both these love birds lie in an age group where the couple cant tolerate each other for more than 6 moths and finally end up in a split. But these two, as if made for each other, understand each other and completely fit the jigsaw. Just like any other couple, they do have their own little kiddish fights. I would COMPLETELY blame that on this stupid girl who still thinks like a school kid. And on that note, our kid brother doesn’t stay far behind either. All said and done, they are a great match for each other.

As I said, their Anniversary was celebrated today at 12:00 am. I and another couple friend of ours were there to witness the warm moment. PeeeeChik was treated to a nice plate of Chocolate Brownie with hot Chocolate sauce. Happy Anniversary to both of you. I hope that just like the Chocolate sauce, your relation becomes thicker and tastier with time. There are many more to come and lets hope we all are together to witness it and be a part of your celebration. After all, at least I cant be absent at any of my kid brother’s celebrations !!!

***He still sometimes thinks, life would have been quite different if he was still single. Whatever that means......

The little baby

2006-08-26T22:00:00.000+05:30

An Italian married a German soul,
the no. of rings was not one but four,
in 18 months it was rock n roll,
as a baby was born with a devil's roar...

the baby she was,
smoking right from her birth,
the baby she she was,
drinking everything on this earth...

the baby she was,
who growled all along,
the baby she was,
she did nothing wrong...

the baby she was,
born frightingly lunatic,
the baby she was,
the word 'baby' is sarcastic...

inspite of all her wild,
she dresses like school-child...

Sometimes lime-green or yellow like a mango,
afterall the Gallardo is still the 'baby' Lambo...:)

- Rash

2006-08-24T11:46:00.000+05:30

Drag King ?

The need for speed is the primary reason that’s pumps up the adrenaline of petrol-heads. The hunger for going faster, the thirst for higher octane and the want to reduce timings between point A and point B and then comparing them to others who attempt the same. Basically all this is can be summed up in one word called a ‘Race’. Just like any other game, a ‘Race’ comes in its own versions and flavors according to the tastes of the people organizing them or participating in them. The end result though is simple, be the first to cross the finish line. One of the flavors of Racing, is the simple yet popular, Drag. The track is a 400 meter straight, or a quarter of the American distance measurement standard, the Mile. Two cars or bikes blazing off the start at the blink of a green light, battling it out till the finish line.

A couple of months back, we decided to have our share of the fun. We decided to drag. On our turf, the blinking of the green light was replicated by the waving of a hand. The road isn’t exactly straight every time, nor flat. Its full of bumps and slight deviations. What a time to start the fun, just at the beginning of rains. So add to our track, a hint of potholes and loads of gravel and also, a wet surface. When I entered the scene a black hatch producing 100 odd horses with a performance filter charger was the car ruling the finish line. Unfortunately she was also in the same segment as mine so she was undoubtedly the opponent to beat. Or so I thought. When I entered the first race with a same car as mine, I was a little tensed. Like a kid who is about the enter school for the first time in his life, my heart was pumping out more frozen blood cells than adrenaline. I had played around earlier on traffic lights but this was the closest I could get to the real thing. Not knowing what my competition was just adding to my tension. As soon as the hand indicated go, my car squeal into a huge wheel spin on the wet and gravel shooting me 2^nd off the line. But the brilliant mid range kicked in as soon as I shifted to the 2^nd gear, edging me ahead of my opponent. The next couple of gears made sure I stay ahead till the end with at least two cars distance between mine and the other. This first race victory gave me an immense confidence boost. The next set of race finished with the same result. Suddenly I had become the unbeaten car of the day. It was quite easy that day. Slowly the inevitable happened and my confidence was turning into over confidence. But the next weekend dawned and as we were getting ready for a series of races before sunset, my confidence was dented when I heard that the black hatch was on its way to claim its crown back. Though it was giving me the creeps, I was also waiting for it. After all, a petrol head would never like to accept defeat, theoretically or practically. On all my single cylinder bikes, I could never win even if I had the technique, just because of those extra kilos armoring my skeleton. I always needed something that had enough torque to carry my weight across the finish line before the opponent. Here the car was giving me that opportunity. I didn’t want to give it away. I wanted that race. I wanted to win, again.

There was another sedan in the line up. A sedan that is highly under-estimated in our country and its styling turned down because it was too European. My thought process was in the same lane and I never really thought she can hold a torch to my car in the drags. I agreed to race that car, thinking it would be a very good practice round before the hatch would start gunning for me. We lined up at the start line. Both engines were revving, though the sound was coming from only one of the two. Even this sedan was running on a performance filter that was giving her a roar. This time around, my car was first off the line. But the other had an even better mid range than mine and she just slid past me in the next gear. I couldn’t believe my mid range being beaten like this. My tacho needle was climbing towards its peak power but for some reason I felt it was not reaching the track. I was losing out. Suddenly the top end came to my rescue with my final gears giving me a hairline victory over my foe. My brain was shivering; I could believe that this heavy Brit-look alike Japanese would give me such a tough time. There was nothing that I had done wrong. Though the result was in my favor, I didn’t like the package it came in. This was just a teaser of what was yet to come. The black hatch, who was the earlier drag king, was supposed to be even better. It was down to power-to-WEIGHT comparison again. Again, in spite of all the power and torque, every kilogram was going to matter on the negative side.

Finally she arrived. A black hatch. No frills, she was not like a performance machine trying to look like a family car or vice versa. She WAS a performance hatch. Every edge and curve on her was shouting it out. She shared a few chromosomes with some of the best race cars built to date. She was focused, she didn’t want to race with anyone else but me. She wanted to reclaim the crown that would make her owner the drag king again. I could smell a battle. I knew it was not going to be easy. The start line was alive again. Everyone wanted to see this race. There were no favorites. No one could judge who would take whom. Both the engines were revving hard this time. All I could see was my own lane. As the hands went down, both the cars smoked the tires and the clutches. Red lining the engines. Eight cylinders were burning octane faster than our thought process. More than a 150 horses were galloping with fury on the track. The tires dissipating liters and liters of water on the side with each passing rotation. Both the cars going neck to neck with each other. The peak power in the final gears was my ultimate weapon. And it performed better than my expectations. It did go faster in the final 100 meters. Giving my a few feet lead over the other car. The race was won. But it was not over. It was supposed to be best of three now. 2 more to go. With every passing race, my lead kept on increasing. Out of the 3 legit races that happened, I had won all three. Rather, my car had won all three. With smoked clutches too, she had managed to perform better than anyone else. Since then I have retained the crown of the drag king, though it really doesn’t mean much. I know better competition will come, with more power. In the small town of mine, we don’t have tuners that would make any difference. But the day I participate in bigger, national level drag championships, I will be battered down. But I will participate because I know I can perform, if not the best, at least the better.

Till date, in my segment, I won’t really call the black hatch as my most difficult competition. The endless thorn in my side will be undoubtedly the sedan, the brit-look alike Japanese sedan.

Life in the dark

2006-08-03T12:16:00.000+05:30

As the darkness falls upon me
I can hear the Satan's chant
Just when I thought I was born free
'U r a slave' is his rant..

They say there is light @ the end of the tunnel
but all I can see is brightness getting scarsce
my life feels bottle-necked going down a funnel
all around me is reducing space..

I wish he had a heart that could understand emotions
but he knew of heart breaks so he took his precautions..

They say he believes in God like we do
mayb thats why he is after us
for God's creations he wants to undo..

Lets hope we can survive in the reverse pentacle
cause just like us, Lucifer afterall is a fallen angel.

Is today a new day ??

2006-08-03T12:13:00.000+05:30

As everything goes wrong,
you decide to start all new,
without wasting time too long,
you wanna start by smelling the new morn's dew...

The sunrise is full of orange bright,
you wanna start new as possibly fast,
but suddenly you are striken by a weiry fright,
as behind you is the dark shadow of your past...

You still give in ur possible best
and start working without any rest,
till the afternoon brings the sun overhead,
reducing to nil the shadow of your past dread...

This is when you put in ur blood n sweat,
Not realising its already time for sunset...
Inspite of all sweat that flowed down ur brow,
all u see in front of u again,
is ur future appearing as a dark shadow...

The Graveyard

2006-06-29T00:19:00.000+05:30

The heart is a graveyard of dying dreams,
where souls of broken relations rest in agony,
where the Undertaker is the God himself,
and the dark nights compose the graveyard symphony..

The blood still drips & the soil still wet,
smelling of memories when we first met..
I remember those eyes with first-love's fear,
which left mine wet till the last tear..

I could see my dreams drifting away,
as the fresh green grass was turning to hay..

She and he raised a relation tree,
on a land made fertile with my own blood,
to me no love n for him a loving spree,
to me a draught n for him its a flood..

My love n my dreams r a distant thought,
now all lie buried in the graveyard of my heart...

2006-06-10T14:03:00.000+05:30

Shying thru the nights
I hide my face in guilt
as every night my love fights
because of my life's evil silt,
as she fights for life
she fights with death
I wish I could help
but ve to settle a debt,
I love her so
and she knows that well
but cause of my evil
we hardly could dwell,
I curse myself because of my sin
two days prior to the devil's grin,
He left his marks on my face to remind
that u ve to settle it all here
and cant leave none behind,
my love and my life r left to dwindle
as everyone laughs by at the Fallen Angel...

And even more biker poetry :)

2006-05-05T08:08:00.000+05:30

Be it the early morning mist

or the bright and flashy light

of what should be a dark night

it doesnt dampen the ability of the wrist...

An open tarmac is treated as a red carpet

shredding a lil rubber everyday to keep her footwear sticky

going up and down through the gears

leaving behind all the damn fears...

Only concentrating on the fastest line

and a small meter with a needle and a red-line

swifting and sliding all along

leaving behind a cloud of smoke and dust

there is no end to our ever increasing lust...

Strapped in a body armour

zooming past everycommuter and poser

flashing lights at the oncoming lot

and changing lanes at the speed of thought...

Our machines working faster than the mind

still the perfet line isnt hard to find

the adrenaline rush on an all time high eliminates the need of any pacemakers

'cause at the end of it all, we are god damn street racers !!!

More biker poetry by Rash

2006-04-24T18:35:00.000+05:30

Her eyes deep blue

sometimes subtle and sometimes fiery

Two devilish nostrils that inhale with fury

She has a black heart

that beats more than 200 times a second

with a demonish growl u wont fail to reckon

Sometimes she is blue and sometimes hell's red

or sometimes as black as the living dead

If the Soulreaper ever rode

this would be the one

a 666 license plate YZF-R1

Biker Poetry by Rash

2006-04-22T10:37:00.000+05:30

Deep down in four cylinders
A few hundred horses are born
Galloping down all the way on an oily chain
To leave a 200 section tyre completely worn

Controlled by 2 leashes actuted by the twist of the wrist
They burn enough rubber to create a mist

They are clad in Red and Wings of Black
Which helps them fly beyond a 300 kmph whack

Which makes it the best engineering ever made
This is my view of the Honda Fireblade !!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say fear is for the prey
and they believed in it
Then they put to the work the matter grey
until all the best was perfectly fit

They engineered it to be the best
the result was seen on every track test

They truly dared to do something no one had ever seen
When they dressed a Japanese Ninja in light green...

Personal Audio : Music Review : Fanaa

2006-04-16T18:33:00.000+05:30

Movie Name : Fanaa
Music Director : Jatin - Lalit

Aamir it seems will be in complete limelight this year with two of his most awaited films releasing in 2006.
This is the first time we see Aamir working under the Yash Raj banner. The music for this film is composed by the Jatin-Lalit duo, which apparently looks like their last major release together. The review goes as follows :

Track 1 : Chand Sifarish
Artists : Shaan, Kailash Kher

This track has more of a fusion touch to it. Kailash Kher lends some sufi touch at the start of the track and Shaan is brilliant as usual. The track can make u relax and tap ur feet at the same time. One significant thing I found out was, the tune of the whistle resembles a lot to the "Yaraa Yarra Mein to..." track from Hum Tum..

Track 2 : Mere Haath Mein
Artists : Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan

Its a typical Jatin-Lalit / Sonu Nigam combination track. The track has a few dialouges in between by Aamir Khan and Kajol themselves. Its a slow track, with a romantic feel potraying the dreams of couple in love...

Track 3 : Des Rangila
Artist : Mahalaxmi Iyer

A patriot song, the vocals try to describe differnt colours and cultures of India. The lyrics are descent but the music doesnt really make any impact on the listner. At the end of the track, Jatin Lalit have even put an instumental piece of our National Antem...

Track 4 : Dekho Na
Artist : Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan

Another Romantic / Slow song. The music, the tunes, the instruments, the theme again sounds too familiar. All in all an average track.

Track 5 : Chanda Chamke
Artists : VARIOUS

AAH !!! AGAIN !!! Listen to this song, and listen to Yaaraa Yaaraa from Hum Tum !!

Track 6 : Destroyed in love
Artist : N/A (INSTRUMENTAL)

The 'Mere Haath Mein' tune mixed and matched with some loungy instumentation sounds good. Quite relaxing, dont know whether and how it was been used in the film, or it is for the Audio release only. A good track and can also be a good 'tru-tone' for next generation cell phones.

Track 7 : Fanaa for you
Artists : DJ Aqueel

It has now become a trend for all filmakers to release remix version of popular / title tracks with the actual Audio release itself. DJ Aqueel seems to have done a good job at playing with the 'Chand Sifarish' track on the turn-tables. The song has a good pace and would surely be a instant favorite among the party animals.

All in all I would like to listen to only 3 track out of the 7 on my playlist. The rest didnt appeal to me much. Overall, I would rate the whole album a 6/10.

The Dream...

2006-04-16T17:41:00.000+05:30

You own a Swiss Mansion, next to the Autobahn, with a Garage, sporting a Germany Luxury Car, a Japanese Tuner Car, an Italian Supercar, an American Muscle along with a Japanese Superbike, a HONDA Cruiser, a German Street bike which is used for everyday riding and when u come home and park the bike in your garage, and shut the door with an electronically contorlled hydraulic mechanism, you head to the main door which is opened by a French Maid who greets you in and you smell the wonderful aroma of Chinese Starters, Punjabi curry dishes, Hyderabadi Biryani and Italian desserts being prepared in your lavish kitchen, smelling which you decide to get ready for dinner, but then u decide to get some body massage from a Thai Massager and then you return to your dining table to eat the wonderful food fare, watching the current favorite movie on a 100+ inches plasma display with a 7.1 Dolby DTS sound system and you enjoy your Italian dessert playing one of ur favorite games on your favorite console which is hooked onto a fast internet connection enabling you to play against your most sworn opponent and just as you are about to make the final blow on him, your Innocent Indian Wife switches off your gaming arcade and tells you its time to sleep and hence you obey and follow her and to your suprise find out that your bedroom has been romantically prepared for a great night ahead :) at the end of which you will sleep as peacefully as a new born and then....
you will have a dream, even better than this one !!!

Poetry : Dahling

2006-04-16T07:03:00.000+05:30

With the dull mirage greeting me
I care for none but my dreaming tree

I search for you in a fragile world
But why should I again care
No, I'm not mean but I do dare
To tell the truth and to swear

Go to sleep
just to keep
some points so blank
these thoughts too deep

Try n hide so tell those lies
Act like spies trying to analyse

Closed the gates for all my mates
Found me to stake so those smiles to fake ?

You left me bleeding, dahling...
Please take me in

Mom says dont play with your food
its a sin, its a sin

Now why the wait, just open the crate
Dont lay the bait please gobble me straight

Those beans I did not spill
so I cannot fulfill
In me is no power, no will
as I lay on the platter for you to Kill.

-----

Varad "Speedy" More
RSA Member

Poetry : Rape

2006-04-13T23:37:00.000+05:30

Darkness surrounds me, as I beg for the light
His weight on top of me makes it so hard to fight
Please don't hurt me I hear myself cry
Be a good little girl is his only reply
I gasp for air as his fingers wrap around my throat
Shivering from the cold as I was made to lay on my coat
Hot tears fall from emerald eyes
Permanent scars warped into pretense lies
Kicking and screaming I plead for him not to touch
A swollen black eye and he promises now he won't rush
Slow and painful like dying from this horrid shame
Led to believe I've only myself to blame
He fucks me hard, makes me feel like I'm no good
My father always told me a whore never would
This is my life and all I could ever amount to
Virginity lost and what's left of my pride will never do
Cold rain falls from a sapphire sky
Broken and abused, left alone to suffer and die

----

Katie
----------------------------------------------------------------

I came across this poem on the net while chatting with a friend. The poem describes the poet's pain in each and every word. Unfortunately, the poet wrote these lines from her true experience.

Poetry : The Little Guy

2006-04-13T23:26:00.000+05:30

When everything goes wrong
I turn to this little guy,
Who shares with me everything…

And when there is no one to turn to,
This little guy never betrays my loneliness.

Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down,
Whatever happens to me, whenever,
This little guy smiles and holds on,
And tells me to do the same….

He gives me strengths,
He reminds me of my strengths

He lets me cry, and cries with me,
He never fights, never ignores…
He keeps his promise of being with me always.

When I look at him I see in his eyes,
The world full of smiles,
In which I see my mom and dad…

I see them there, with smiles on their faces,
And that reminds me what I was born for..

And then I ask this little guy,
Why I did what I should not have done ?

He gives me yet another chance,
And also shows trust.

And gives me the strength
And reminds me of my strengths

When I look into his eyes,
Sometimes I see hatred,
For what I have done
And I see him smilingly ask
If it was necessary…

When I have no answer,
He never scolds

But what he does is,
He consistently reminds me of my strengths
I am so fortunate I found him in there,
I wonder where I would have wandered without him..

When I’m down, or if I’m sad,
I go to him and say nothing

For he knows what I have been through
I need not even explain…

He keeps telling me that all is not lost,
He keeps reminding me of my strengths

Sometimes when I cry
And when he cries with me,
I feel sad I made him cry…
But he never complains
All he does is,
He consistently reminds me of my strengths

All I live for, all I die for, is
This little guy’s smile, when I turn to him
Whatever he does, or whatever I do,
I love this little guy….

…in the mirror…

----

Maitreya 'Mats' Mahajan
Level II Stuntaz,
Rubber Smokin' Angels

Poetry : Word of Mouth

2006-04-13T22:48:00.000+05:30

My soul seeks no help,
From the love of god above,
He says he shall return,
We still burn being his sons

My love for Satan is alive,
And shall die within no time,
They say he will reprise,
And I know he will breach mankind,

So I take to the love of myself
The one I’ve know too far
I know me will return
Once they both have left our hearts

We live in this age of falsehood,
Where people follow the bless of good
They cultivate a feel of pain inside,
Manifest it in their own right

Some know my life is hell,
They believe in what I tell,
For inside they are one like me,
Who just believe in what they see,

These words I write on with pain,
Revenge to god and Satan’s holy fame
They scared our lives with believes
We still ride in their age of infinity...

---
Ashwin
RSA Member

Of mirages and illusions...

2006-04-12T11:42:00.000+05:30

You bet you have eyes strong enuf to beat illusions ? Check these illusions and think again....

http://www.winterrowd.com/illusions/

The Annoying Thing

2006-04-12T11:26:00.000+05:30

And you thought this was the most annoying thing lately...check this out :

http://home.comcast.net/~wolfand/

Unconditional Love

2006-04-12T11:10:00.000+05:30

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me." "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him." "There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live." "No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own." At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg. The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

The 'Ring Road' of the mind

2006-04-07T03:44:00.000+05:30

I crashed from my bike a couple of weeks back. And then, I slept a couple of hours back, prior to writing these words. Why I wrote these two sentences back to back is because, though they seem to be irrelevant, they actually have a lot in common. In both the scenarios, I just remember what happened before and after the scenario and dont remember a bit from what I actually went through. I dont remember much about my crash, nor can I remember much about this small 2 hour sleep that I had.

My crash left its imprint on me in the form of a few friction burns on my body and as they are healing, by brain is shifting its attention from them to the small blows I had on my back. For the past two days I have had a sprained muscle in the upper left part of my back which is restricting my movement a lot. I cant breathe properly, I cant sleep, cant walk briskly, cant move freely at all. All the medication has failed and the sprain continues to spread accross my back muscles.

Today I tried to sleep, a couple of hours back. I know my attempt to sleep has failed else I wouldnt have been writing all this in just 2 hours from the time I closed my eyes. My muscle had locked up in such a way that I couldnt move at all. I was just lying in the same position for 2 hours. All I can remember is that I have been crying for help throughout my sleep. But I guess my screams were echoing in neverland for no help ever came. Somehow I regained my senses and somehow with the help of the surrounding objects I lifted my 100 kg carcass and walked to my room. And then I have been typing all this....All this feels like my mind has been riding on a ring road where it just completes a circle and comes back to the same point where it had left off. The only problem is, this journey on the ring road is always a total black-out and the only thing that the mind can recall is the start and the finish.

Many a times I do wake up suddenly at such ungodly hours. And everytime the only two things I can hear midst the silence of the night are my breaths and my wall clock ticking. I'vent yet understood what that clock is trying to indicate, the time that has passed or the time that is yet to come....

RSA : Radical Poetry

2006-04-07T00:31:00.000+05:30

Soulreaper :

The heaven opened up skies slippin apart..
The passion that comes revving from the heart..
We all rise and wait at the start...
'Cause we are the Rubber Smokin' Angels straight from the heart.
____________________________________________________________________

Speedy :

Live like a devil,
Ride like a Rubber Smokin' Angel
____________________________________________________________________

We live on our own terms
by our own rule book,
On the edge and accross it too,
We are not mortal souls roaming the earth in search of nirvana
We do what we are here to do...

Gear Up Angels, lets Ride !!!
____________________________________________________________________

Humour : Today's SMS updates

2006-04-06T23:25:00.000+05:30

Sent by Kaustubh :

Who is guilty ?

Wife dreaming in the the middle of the night and suddenly shouts "Quick my husband is back !!!"
Hearing this the man gets up, jumps out of the window only to realise that he is the husband..
___________________________________________________________________

Sent by Gatha :

Height of optimism -
Soldier : "Sir, we are surrounded from all sides !!"
Sardar Commander : "Thats a great news. Now we can fire in all directions."
___________________________________________________________________

Humour : Jokes and Stuff

2006-04-06T23:20:00.001+05:30

We come accross so many jokes and hilarious incidents everyday. I feel it will be a good idea to put them up on the blog. Maybe they can bring a smile to the reader's face when he is low or even in a good mood.

RSA : Maitreya, Level II Rubber Smokin' Angel

2006-04-06T20:20:00.000+05:30

It was the November of 2004 when one of group members, Soulreaper, gave me call to inform me of a new Prospective member for our biker club. We were to meet him the same afternoon and we did. He came on a Hero Honda Ambition, tallish guy, long hair with a pony. He came and introduced himself as Maitreya Mahajan.
We headed to our area of practice to find what our new member had in store for us. It was not long before he saw the empty road and started showing off his skill of balancing the bike on one wheel while in motion. In simple terms he was Wheeling to glory. A few tens of meters and quite shaky. He tried showcasing his Endos too which were quite good for starters. Good skills, a biker attitude and a down-to-earth nature had already confirmed his membership in the group. Soulreaper was his idol when it came to stunts. He always had a special attachment with Soulreaper and always vouched to be as good as him one day. Over a good period of 6 months in the group he had formed a strong bond with each and every member and wanted everyone to call him ‘Mats’. He came in at around the same time when RSA was planning to implement the ‘150cc rule’. He knew the bike he had would not suffice, not only for the group rules but also for his stunts. In short, the Ambition was not enough for fulfilling his ambitions to sharpen his skills. He never wanted to tax his parents for his hobby and so he took a job where he worked till he had enough dough to buy himself a 180cc. During these job days he involved in a lot of small and friendly traffic police encounters. This earned him an alias ‘Cop Magnet’ in the group and on the online community, xBhp.com.
I still remember the day he got his 180 Pulsar. He bought it in Mumbai and rode down directly to Soulreaper’s house in Pune to show us his new ride. Mats wanted him to be the first person to ride that bike on one wheel. After this, there was no looking back for Mats. He had earned the bike he wanted and there was nothing that was going to stop him from practicing his stunts day in and day out. Within a couple of months his wheelies had extended from a few tens of meters to a few hundreds. I still remember the photo shoot we had for Bike India’s first issue, where Mats had given one of his best attempts at wheelies. In the wet, he and Soulreaper had a pulled of wheelies together and both went exactly the same distance. Mats had gone as long as his idol. Mats hugged me and Souly with tears of joy filling his eyes. That was a benchmark for him and also a boost for times to come. He was the only member in the group who accelerated to the Level 2 spot in a very small period of time. He was improving at a good pace in Stunts, but he never forgot what his parents expected from him. He was equally concentrating on his studies too. He may not have been the best when it came to academics, but he was not the worst either. But I would surely say that he was the best college student, everybody’s favorite, everybody’s friend.
Again, in early January this year, one of my group members, RDX, gave me a call in the morning and asked me to rush to a hospital he mentioned. I thought that one of my group members must have crashed somewhere while practicing. So I reached the mentioned place. It was not a very good sight, hundreds of his friends gathered over there, most of them with sore red eyes. Mats had left us. He was involved is a freak accident which was fatal. The grounding cable of an electricity pole snapped from the pole and wound around his body, claiming his life. It was unbelievable but true. The person whom I used to meet almost everyday had suddenly left us all. It came as a big shock to the whole group. I and my members are still not ready to believe that Mats is not amongst us anymore. I feel, that’s the best way to overcome this shock. We would rather keep him alive in our senses, in our group and in our hearts. Mats was like a younger brother to me and he even said that every time. I will always be proud of him. I would like to quote his Dad’s words, "I wouldn’t have felt as bad if my son would died while stunting, but this way, its just useless." This shows how supportive his Dad was to him. Today Mats has left behind 30 group members, hundreds of friends, his sister, his mother and his father, who was his biggest support and his best friend.

My Mind : NOW OPEN

2006-03-31T07:54:00.000+05:30

Finally I have jumped on the the bandwagon called the "Blog". Following today, my mind will be open for all, on this blog...