one cute l'll thing

I am a petrosexual, and fall for anything which has an engine. I like my bikes/card to have as much power as they can have (when it comes to bhp, more is never less) but some where in my heart, i have a soft corner for this cute little city runabout.

Itz a electrical car, called Reva, developed by Maini motors, and a cute one, i say. Very manageable inside city, and parking is never a problem. With a decent range of 80 kmph and top speed of 65kmph, it is perfect to run errands inside city. I am sure I will be getting one when i am ready to buy my second car. My one big concern about the car is safety of the passengers in case of a mishap, but most of my fears got alienated when I saw this today morning.

There is a crossing in front of my office, and this car tried to cross the road when one bus was coming down the lane. According to eye witness, it was the mistake from the part of the car driver coz the bus was coming on main road, and it was clearly visible. Some drivers are plain stupid - if any of you have driven a six wheeler at lest once, you will know how tough it is to manage the vehicle. So, when the driver saw this small cute thing suddenly bang on the middle of the road, he tried to avoid the car, but hit the car and then hit the electric post.

The impact didn’t affect the car much, as it is evident from the pictures and both the passengers got escaped largely unhurt. (I heard that one lady got a swelling on her forehead, and the other lady was fine)


Ps: am not frequent on most of your pages - please excuse me till April 9th. I will be back with a bang after that. Now i read some updates randomly, and really miss you all guys out there.

In Search of...

I posted this originally here, but my blog didn’t had much readers. So re-posting it again (yeah, i am an ego maniac, go sue me :-D)

Suddenly, I woke up from my sleep
No, it was not the howling of wind,
Nor hooting of owls, or a strange step in the attic
But I woke up, and realized -
of all the things I lost,
I miss my mind most

She was pure and white,
Not the pale white of death, but the white of a flame
But that was then, and time changed
Lust and pangs of desire
The aberrations of pure and unadulterated

Somewhere along the path, I kept her safe
And she kept her word
- She kept her safe from me, my lust

When I went looking for her
I saw a heap of ashes with some dying embers
And she was already free
Left the cage long time back
And what left of her,
was strange to me.

(Inspired from the quote "Of all the things Ive lost, I miss my mind the most" by Mark Twain )

Thank you, God...

Of all the people who are near and dear to me, the most important one is Sophia. She is not one, but many, and the relation we share is beyond words to describe.

She lives in another country, and one fine day I got a message saying that she is kind of ok after an accident. I didn’t had any other way to contact her, so I prayed to God to make her safe, and at last, I got a mail from her - she and one of her colleague was traveling in a cab and the driver rammed their cab behind a truck - their cab catapulted to a pit, and her co passenger got 14 fractures - and Sophia miraculously escaped with only one hairline fracture.

to take her words...
"You know....that moment I really thought I was going to die and surprisingly.... instead of feeling fear or anxiety like always......I remembered everyone who came and went in my life and was really quiet during those moments. I was incredibly cool for the first time in my life..... and I thanked God for everything in that one moment. I was really ready to die.... because the accident was that horrible man.... "

I can’t say how relived I am to read the mail...

Her real name is not Sophia. I call her Sophia coz Sophia is a Feminine figure, analogous to the human soul but also simultaneously one of the Feminine aspects of God; the Greek for wisdom. She is one of the most powerful female figures I have ever come across.

“For I am the first and the last, the honored and the hated, the saint and the prostitute. Sophia.”


She is subtle but powerful, sharp but soft, smooth but unyielding. When I fall, she gives me her shoulder to rest, and when i need, she is not afraid to give me her hand, and lead the way. She is my strength adn my weakness, she is my power and my Achilles heel. She makes me feel proud of my value and she makes me realizes that I am yet to have a value. We stand at the different ends of a spectrum, and in her i find the meaning of my existence. She is the root and the cause, the courage and the truth. She is the bribe and the wine, the flesh and the temptation, the fire and the ice the cosmos and the dust.

In her I confide, and in her I find my strength.
I thank God for giving her back to me.

Restaurant review - Kanua

I am a lazy guy generally, but if i set my heart on something, i don’t mind going that extra mile to get that. I have heard a lot about this place called Kanua, but have never gone there till last Saturday.
By noon I finished my work at office and called up my friend Jubi and said that we will go to Kanua. No particular reason - I just wanted to go there. Soon, we found ourselves eating the dust @ Sarjapur road, hunting for the place. The only thing I knew was the name of the place, so after some unsuccessful attempts, stopped at the nearest cafe and got the address from net - and ironically, the place was just two lanes from the cafe we stopped.

We reached the place, after wading through crater sized potholes and clouds of dust, and what welcomed us was an industrial warehouse. I really got confused for a moment, but then the watchman came to my help and told me that the restaurant is on the top floor.

The restaurant is on top floor of a three storied building and is sports an antique but spartan theme. The walls are only half height, so if you are lucky and you manage to get a side seat, cool fresh wind will keep you company.
We where really lucky that we got one of the most comfortable seats - and even before we tasted any of the food, we both liked the place - roomy, airy and not at all stuffed.

The menu is authentic mangalorian and they don’t use artificial colors and chemicals. You get to taste lot of old and authentic dishes here which are tough to find at most of the places and let me tell you - it is not at all easy to decide what to feast on.
We helped ourselves with Soorna Kachri (sliced yam fries, with tangy tamarind chutney dip) and I got an excellent glass of sugar cane juice - with hints of ginger and lime, it is undoubtly one of the best I have ever had - though I cannot say the same for the lime juice my friend picked up.
It was time to order the main course, and after much pondering over the menu, we settled for Soorna Paachi ( yam cubes in medium spice gravy) and Zalke Randhei (excellent seer fish in a semi thick gravy). Though the menu says Soorna Paachi is a 'mouth watering, eye watering' dish, we found it more moth watering than eye watering. When you order a main curry, you can choose from Rice, Panpole, Tava roti or a preperation of rice balls (sorry guys, i forgot the name - time to upgrade my RAM, i think) to compliment the curry.
Panpole is fluffy soft pancakes made of rice, and it was our unanimous choice. The curries arrived without much delay, and was a treat. The fish was fresh, with good texture and the yam curry was a treat on the taste buds. The portions are large, and we had difficult in finishing them and eventually ended up getting more than half of the yam curry parceled.

The place is a bit out of the way, and is a bit hard to find. The ambience is good and the seats ranges from good to excellent, depending on the place you get to sit. The food is excellent - the best mangalorian cuisine i have tasted in Bangalore - and the food makes up for more than the drive you have to take to reach the place. Must visit - if you like mangalorian cuisine. Will I visit the place again? I already visited the place again on Sunday with more friends, and they all enjoyed it. :-D

Kanua
Near Wipro Headquarters
Kaikondanahally
Sarjapur Road
PH: 65374471
(Advanced booking needed if you plan to catch up on Friday, Saturday or Sunday dinner)

Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI) 2008 Awards

(PRWEB) March 19, 2008 -- Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI), announced the winners of the 2008 Riders Choice Awards. The awards, voted by thousands of motorcycle riders in 77 countries, recognize significant achievements and serious lapses in judgment during 2007 by motorcycle and related product manufacturers, persons and organizations. This years winners are:

MBI Riders Choice - Star Awards

- Object of Lust -- Ducati Desmosedici RR
- Best Concept Motorcycle or Scooter -- Honda Evo 6
- Best Manufacturer's Website -- BMW Motorrad
- Best New in 2007 Scooter -- Piaggio MP3 400
- Best New in 2007 Motorcycle -- Triumph Street Triple 675
- Most Environmentally Friendly Motorcycle - ElectricMoto Corporation Blade XT
- Wish We'd Thought of That -- KTM Bread Toaster
- Women Riders Booster of the Year -- Lois Pryce (20,000 mile solo ride, Alaska to the tip of South America on a 225cc bike)
- Thumbs Up -- Ewan McGregor/Charlie Boorman ( Enhanced image of motorcycle riders)

MBI Riders Choice - Fallen Star Awards

- Most Disappointing Motorcycle - Suzuki B-King
- Thumbs Down -- Loud Pipes Save Lives
- What Were They Thinking -- Babecage
- Worst Manufacturer's Website -- Cycleport/Motoport

The Riders Choice Awards are unique in that the nominees and winners are chosen by every day riders around the world, not by professional journalists. The awards reflect the judgment of the motorcycle buying public, not motorcycle industry insiders.

Anyone could vote, there was no restriction on age, gender or country. Even non-riders could vote. No registration, nor email addresses were required. However, a system of storing and analyzing IP addresses was put in place to minimize duplicate voting.
About MBIMBI (whose motto is "Riding and writing is what we do") is a group of 161 international motorcycle weblog authors from China to Chile.

Membership is open to any motorcycle rider who maintains an active motorcycle-related Internet weblog or news web site with original commentary. With a combined readership over 5 million readers per month, the awards represent a true feeling what lives amongst the biker communities. The awards are not given by professional journalists, commercial publications or companies, but by the public.

More information about MBI, its members and the complete list of nominees will be found at the MBI web site http://www.mbiweb.org/.
MBI Website: Http://www.mbiweb.org/

MBI Awards 2007: http://www.mbiweb.org/2008/
Interview Contact: Mike Werner
Telephone: +33-2-35297230

Email: mwerner@mbiweb.org

(article courtsey -http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/03/prweb778444.htm)

Bitter gourd stir fry – masala version.

Disclaimer: This is the outcome of an experiment by your’s truly. Who ever try to do this, do this @ your own risk. I am not liable for any outcome. :-D

Was l’ll bit bored yesterday so thought about cooking something, and since I had only bitter gourd in my vegetable tray, the choice was easy. I server it with rotis, and it tasted good. (taste certified my one of my poor friend who happened to drop in and became my guinea pig)

Bitter Gourd - 6 nos (small. Dark Green if you want bitter taste, otherwise white green colored)
Onion - 2 nos (medium size)

Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Chilli powder - to taste
Salt - to taste

Garlic - 5-6 cloves
Ginger - 1 small piece

Oil - 2 teaspoon
Vinegar - 1 table spoon ( I prefer organic than synthetic)
Ghee - half table spoon
Pepper powder - half table spoon (optional)

Water - half a cup

To make masala:
Coriander seeds - 1 pinch
Cardamom - 1
Cloves - 1-2
Cinnamon - small piece
Curry leaves - 3-4
Cumin seeds - 1 pinch

First take all the ingredients to make the masala and mix it in mixer to make a fine powder. Keep it aside.

Mix ginger pieces and garlic cloves and make a paste

Wash the bitter gourds and slice it at length. Remove the spongy stuff from inside and chop it to make fine pieces of 2 mm thickness.
Chop the onion to make fine pieces. Heat oil in a deep pan and sauté the onion till it is golden brown. Add bitter gourd pieces when the onion is golden brown and sauté the bitter gourd pieces in low flame till it is half done. Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, Chilli powder, salt and vinegar one by one. Keep stirring so that the bitter gourd doesn’t stick to the pan. When the bitter gourd is almost done, add just enough water to immerse the bitter gourd, and add the masala powder. Stir till water is evaporated. Add ghee just before all the water is evaporated. Sprinkle the pepper powder just before the bitter gourd is taken from the stove and server hot along with rice or rotis.

(image courtesy : http://static.flickr.com/64/192696198_43a88a5510.jpg)

born from an unborn....

strands of music
slight drizzle of a forlorn rain
i sat there enjoying getting lost
spring will come, summer and then winter
and flowers will bloom
but who knows where we will be...

the slow blue fire of moonlight sky
burns my mind, a throbbing deep pain
plays peak a boo with me

yesterdays,
the land of lost opportunities
the shambles of broken dreams
of lost time and bleak hopes
try to weigh me down


the uncut beats of my heart
the warmth of my unborn dreams
the unlit flame of passion
I hear a faint crescendo of rising
of new tomorrows
of new fertile land of hopes

the rain beats itz rhythm
on the window sill
and i sat there with an empty glass
and an empty mind
trying to find my way
through the maze called mind....

(PS: The I in this scribbling is not me, nor do he reflect my state.)

trail rats...

Itz been long time since I have actually done some dirt/slush bashing, and was itching for a trail ride for long time.
Tarmac will never satisfy the nomad in me all the time - i love tarmac - the straights and the twisties, but trails have a beauty which haunts me all the time.

This weekend was a relatively free one, so I and Vicks decided to make most of it. We met by 8.30 pm Saturday night, and it was pouring. We rode out from the town and Jeevs made most of his new twin spotlights to make way through heavy rain. It was pure fun filled water splashing ride and by the time we reached Vicks home, we where dripping like anything. This ride also rain baptized my new leather jacket, and it didn’t allow a single drop of water inside. LJ, the jack is really good:-D I clearly got more than I paid for.

Sunday morning we sat through the F1 race - not exactly a good race for us Ferrari fans, but the fight Kimi showed was great.

After race, we decided to hit trails, but Vicks Yammy has developed a leaking oil tank, so we decided to take only Jeevs.
I am not at all new to trails, but it is the first time I did a trail with a pillion, and I am sure if the pillion was some one other than Vicks, he/she would have called it quits before half way.

We forked off the main road and entered a field through a tractor trail and hit a jeep trail soon. After a couple of miles through the jeep trail, we saw a walkway, and decided to go ahead - and we hit pay dirt. It was a dream come true - there was no road - a trail of mud, slush, sand and loose gravel. Just to make it a complete package, the trail threw in a couple of swaps and water crossings - man, it was FUN. Once Jeevs got stuck in mud while I was trying to steer an almost 40 degree incline, and I had to get down and push him with the help of Vicks.

After a long ride, we took a breather in the middle of nowhere, and decided to practice some target shooting (I was carrying my .22 along). After an hour of fun hitting tree trunks, we started riding back, but more dirt beckoned us, and soon we started more and more trail instead of coming back. this time, we went over rocky patches, bushes and more and more swamp and sands. We hit an almost dried water trail and followed it till we came across a marshy swap which can swallow us :-D

After all the riding, we where thirsty and hungry, so we head to Sports bar @ cosmos mall for a very late lunch. Caught up with a couple of other friends, and sat there chillaxing till the sky started opening up. Came home, took a bath and fixed a dinner of rotis and aloo methi, and spend rest of the evening with Hitchhikers guide to galaxy, listening to Avial.
The weekend was pure Bliss....

a piece of fiction...

Wrote it some time back for my old blog. Kind of self reflecting piece...
He was upset. After all these years, suddenly it came from his past to hound him. First he tried to escape. He ran till one day he realized that his feet cannot but stand still. He tried drowning himself in wine, in idle chatter, in the company of friends and merry faces... but it always came back to hound him - the moment he took a break to catch his breath, the moment he sat to wipe his brow, it leaped silently.. It waited in shadows... with no haste... He was confused. He knew that he don’t want to confront it. No, not confront; he don’t want even to recognize the existence of it. He is the primeval man. He is always proud of himself; of his control over the chaos his mind goes through; of his controlled emotions; of his independency on other souls... He was afraid; afraid of confession; afraid of recognizing the existence of something he hurled to doom years back.... he was afraid of losing to himself. He can lose to any one but to himself. He love to play with fire, even though he knew one day it can turn back and lick him; and take him with it. He enjoyed his control, and the arrogance came with the realization that he can control. He no longer seeked acceptance; nor gave acceptance. He sneered at those who asked for his acceptance; he enjoyed his actions and laughed at those who tried to dissuade him from playing with fire.Then it came from his past; with a vengeance to destroy. With a calm face and iron grip and it gained force every moment he tried to deny the existence of it....He knew he could not go on, and one day it will confront him. It took him all the energy he had to do it - at last he faced it, stabbed it with cross made of silver, and put a garland of garlic on Itz throat. He said the last amen... and walked in the rain....

whatz inside....

I sw this @ mezzis page and pinched the idea. Let me see what all i keep in my purse usually...
visiting cards
credit/debit cards
insurance card
license
my lucky charm
route map to a place i havnt been
cheques
Photo of lords
a surgical blade
Two fivers given to me by my grandfather before he died.
and sometimes - money.

A-2-Z

I am taking this tag from Aneri, but I modified it a bit - i am listing words which comes to my mind when i hear the letter... so here goes my 24 carrot of wisdom :P
Get ready to get bored.
A - Automobiles... I am passionate about them,
B - BHP (break horse power) the more, the better :-D (no wonder I am a sucker for old Muscle cars... )
C - Cars. Do i need to explain?
D - Dusk and Dawn. love watching them...
E - Eat. A big time foodie here :-D
F - Ferrari. Food. Fire arms.
G - Gardening- I love it. Google.
H - Home. nothing like it.. :-)
I - Internet.
J - Job. Not exactly a workholic, but I love my job.
K - Kite. Love running Kites...
L - Lemonade. Lamborgini.
M - Michael Schumacher. The god of speed.
N - Nature. not a tree hugger, but a nature lover.
O - Off roads. Love trail riding.
P - Photoshop.
Q - Quick fix.
R - Royal Enfield. Romantic. Well, not really, but in a certain way.
S - Speed. Only @ deserted roads; not in traffic.
T - Torque. Tea.
U - Unicorn (not the mythical creature, but Jeevs, my Honda Unicorn)
V - Values. I have my own set of values I live by.
W - Wine.
X - Xenon head lights, X windows.
Y - You (you-know-who-you-are ;-) ), Yahoo.
Z - Zero

A leaf from my college life

I passed SSLC with somewhat moderate success, and managed to get a PUC admission at Christ College, Irinjalakuda. (Little did I knew that time that I was taking a decision which will alter my life altogether) My batch was ‘D-Batch’ and I soon made lot of friends there. Since I was fresh out of school, the tendency to sit at the first bench was still prominent, and I shared the first bench with Shyam, Ashiq, Dayne and Sandesh.
Though I tried my best to keep my attention, it was a bit difficult for me because of the change of instruction medium. The only classes I really enjoyed where English classes (irony!), and one of the most boring class was Zoology and Botany. Not that I didn’t like Zoology- I like the subject but I the class was a bit lifeless and boring. (Baby Sir, who taught zoology was our class in cahrge)
Soon I find a way to beat the boredom – when the sir starts the class, I used to open my text book and keep it in front of me in such a way that he cant see my face. The next 45 minutes I will be blissfully sleeping. All was well and fine, and Baby sir never caught me sleeping. I really thought that he may have thought it is better not to bother with me than scold and wake me up.
I was happy and then came a bomb – the parent teachers meeting. Man o man, I was really tensed. What if baby sir told my mom that I am sleeping always? She know that I have the tendency to fall asleep while trying to study ( I don’t sleep much – but, u show me a text book or make me attended a class, and I will be fast asleep before I know) but if she knew that I am sleeping in the class, better not to imagine the consequences.
With a pounding heart, I told my mom about the Parent teachers meeting, and I made it sound real casual – and I tried my level best to give an impression that she need not attended it. But lady luck was visiting someone else that day. She told me that she will be definitely attending the meeting, and I retired to my room with a heavy heart. But, little did I know that it was not over. When dad came home, mom told him about the meeting, and somehow, he decided to attend the meeting.
Disaster, Disaster. This was a contingency I never thought would happen. I waited with heavy heart, praying that they he will change his decision to attend the meeting.
At last the D day came, and my dad came to college. We sat through the whole meeting – he really enjoying it, chatting with my classmates and their parents, and with many teachers and I, counting minutes before the disaster stuck. After the meeting, it was time to for the parent-teacher interaction, and Baby sir called my name.
With a heavy hart, I walked towards him, not unlike a guy who is going to face the firing squad.
And what did i hear - "Hi Anoop, how are you; Nice to meet you, Mr. Sasi. You know, you son is very studious. I haven’t seen much students who have a keen attention like him. H never talks in the class. The moment I start the class, he buries himself in the text book and he wont keep it down till I finish my class” Man, I couldn’t believe my ears. His words made my Dad happy, and then we sat there chatting for another 10-15 minutes. I was dumbstruck and couldn’t believe my luck.
When we came out, Dad told me – “next time when I come for the meeting, I want to hear the same words” and I said to him “by all means”

(A, this is for you. You said you want to read something written by me, and here it is... )

Avial - Not the curry, but a Malayalam RockBand

Saw an article about this band @ a news paper some days back and searched for them @ youtube, and man, am hooked. Planning to scout CD shops today to get their album.For more of their videos, go to youtube abd search for avial.

Ubuntu Brainstorm.

Though I use Win XP now, I am always a hard core open source fan. The first computer I used ever was a RedHat box, with out the GUI, and boy, it got me hooked.
I used to recommend RedHat but then I came across Ubuntu, the best Linux distro.It is easy, and user friendly and have got a slick GUI, which is ages ahead of Vista, and it is completely free.
They have now come up with this imitative where you can have your say about things which should be fixed in Linux. So, go there (Ubuntu Brainstorm) and say it!

Thnx Vibu, for the pointer

How do u want urs?

Now don’t kick me for this one.. I am not feeling low or anything - its just an idea crossed my mind (thatz y learned ppl said 'an idle mind is devils workshop')

How does u want to die? That is, if you get an option to pick and choose from a menu made by lord himself - how will your last moment will be?
Remember that you can get the moment tailor made to the last T, so go ahead and decide what you want....

I want to die of a sudden heart attack when i am my riding favorite bike, on my favorite isolated stretch..... Thatz the perfect death I can have.... along with my sweetheart/most trusted companion.....

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? (Khalil Gibran - The prophet)

Things I love about me

When i finished reading this tag @ aneri_masi's page, i let a sigh of relief coz i was not tagged, but that relief as short lived.. :P

This is one of the most challenging tags I am doing - challenging coz it is tough for me to single out just 5 things i love about me. Being the egomaniac I am, i love just anything and every thing about me.

Here is my go on five things I love, picked up in randomly.
1) I like the way I cook and keep my home. You can drop in any time, and it will be tough to say that itz a bachelors pad.
2) I like the way I ride - not too aggressive, but ready to pounce when needed. Kind of restrained violence.
3) I like the positive attitude I keep. It is very rare to see me in a downcast mood. I believe in the philosophy of rubber ball - the hard we throw the ball to the ground, the hard it bounces back.
4) I am game for anything new and advent ours. I am kind of perfect partner in crime ;-D
5) I am a bit crazy - friends who know me will vouch for that. And i like it that way - Dont try to put me in a box, and I am happy with you :-D
I am not tagging any one - too lazy, if any one want to pick it up, feel free to do so. I will really be glad :-D

Witch of Portobello - a review

Finished reading witch of Portobello last Saturday.
My first impression - It is different. The book is different, and really didn’t left me with the feeling usually associated with books of Coelho, but if you discount that fact, this is a fantastic book. I have heard some of my friends saying that this book didn’t measure up to the usual Coelho standard, and I have only one thing to tell them – read it with a clear mind, not with a prejudiced mind, and you will enjoy it.

I like the way the narration goes - no dialogues, no letter, not even a straightforward narrative; but a series of first person accounts - like a collection of beautiful beads connect by a carefully woven silken thread. Only by the end of the book we realize the existence of a narrator, who decides to let unfold the rather unusual story of a rather unusual heroin - Athena, through events, impressions and memories of people who knew her. These showcases more than one Athena - each person paints a picture different from the other one, and we readers are left with liberty to paint the picture with the help of our own imagination.

Read it, for it is a different experience. And don’t read it with expectations or prejudices - open the book with a clean mind, and you will be rewarded.