Tales of a Lone Wolf

Dummies guide to car detailing - Part 3

2011-11-08T02:57:00.000-08:00

Wax or Polish? What is in a name?

Though both terms are used interchangeably, there is a fine difference between wax and polish.

In generally, Polish is a mild abrasive substance which will clear the paint surface of mild oxidation and smoothly micro sands the surface and gives the surface a wet, deep glow.

On the other hand, wax is a protective coating - it covers the micro pores in the paint and seals it and helps the paint to shine. A wax does not have cleaning properties, and applying a coat of wax on a non clean surface is not at all recommended because wax will seal the minor aberrations.

Though generally polishes are abrasive, there are exceptions. meguiars claims that they use a secret polishing oil and their 'pure polish' is non abrasive.

To Polish or not to polish?

As you may have already understood, most polishes are abrasive materials so naturally there will be doubts like why should we use abrasive materials on the paint. The answer is simple - to clean the paint surface and to remove swirl marks, to improve surface reflections and to improve the paint gloss.

Generally, if the car is not used in a heavy polluting environment, you should wax your car once in 3 ~6 months (depending on the wax) and should polish the car in once in a year.

The definition of polish is: "Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action" (from Wiki). Polish is the process of making it smooth by friction, but more often than not, it is not the heat which is produced using the friction which does the work, but the friction itself. Most polishes are emulsions of powered abrasive in a carrier. Heat causes paint dull, so wet polishes eliminate the heat induced by buffing action.

Different polishes have different cutting ability, and this cutting ability determines the amount of paint removed in each hand or machine stroke.

There are different kind of polishes available in market - we must choose a polish based on our needs.

Typically, based on technology, we can divide polishes into polishes which uses 'Diminishing Abrasives Technology' and those which uses 'Non-Diminishing Abrasives Technology'.

I am not going into detail of the difference between these two, but if any guys out there want to know more, feel free to ask.

The market have dime a dozen polishes claiming to work miracles on your car paint finish - we really need to know what we are buying before we try them on our paint surface. For example, the outcome of a coarse finish polish and a fine finish polish are way apart.

Some polishes are specially formulated for machine use, while some are for hand use. the difference between them is the way the abrasive materials in the polish 'breaks-down' during the use. As I said earlier, polish in an emulsion and the carrier act as lubricant too.

While polishing, the abrasive materials break down into finer particles to do the work. If you use a machine polish by hand, the particles may not break down, and may not buff out to give you the shine you are looking for. Same way, if you use a hand polish with a buffer, the particles may break down too easily and you will not get the cutting action.

the polishes are scaled on a grade of 0 to 1, 0 being non abrasive polish and 10 being the most abrasive. Most good polish compound use a mix of silica and aluminium oxide - they are hard materials and the kinetic energy during the polish action makes them abrasive.

For our general use, we do not need to go beyond 4. 1 is a Pre-wax cleaner polish, 2 is final finish polish, 3 is final cut compound, and 4 is heavy cut compound.

Polishes beyond scale 4 are generally called grit sanding materials, and we usually do not need so heavy stuff to work on our paint.

the new advancements in technology have helped many brands to manufacture what generically referred as single polish or single liquid polishing system. These are made with the help of advanced micro-abrasives and can be used for cut, polish and finish, depending on the buffing pads or materials used.

Dummies guide to car detailing - Part 2

2011-10-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

surface preparation \ pre-wax cleaning

From the moment your car leaves the paint booth, the car surface gets affected by the pollution.

When the car leaves the paint booth, the paint is at its impenetrable best. It is like a smooth sheet without any pores. As the time goes by, the pollution in air, the regular contamination the car come across in daily life, daily wash with hard water etc open up micro pores on the paint and these contamination gets deposited and some times, a mild oxidation layer gets formed. Most of the times, a regular was is not enough to remove these contamination.

Before we start steps to enhance the shine of car paint, we need to clean the surface first. The cleaner the surface, the better the results are.

Usually paint cleaners are mildly abrasive in nature. The locally available rubbing compounds are a kind of paint cleaners, but personally, I prefer to call them paint killers.

It is very important to clean the paint from all the bonded surface contamination, oxidation layer, surface imperfections,stains,soot etc and a paint cleaner is one way of doing it, if the contamination level is high. How ever, please do keep in mind that the paint cleaner is abrasive in nature and should be used very carefully and sparingly.

If surface contamination is not much, but you feel that car already have wax coating, use good Pre-wax cleaners to strip off all the wax.

If the surface imperfection is not much, use clay bar to clean the surface. Clay bar is neither a substitute for any process nor a one-in-all solution for polishing\waxing. Clay bar is a tool which helps you to remove surface contamination easily and quickly.

It is not at all abrasive and is one of the most preferred method to condition the paint surface.

Let us Clay

Clay bar is a rectangular shaped bar, and is used after lubing it.

Clay is useful to remove metal contamination, paint contamination, soot, embedded micro contamination in the pores and is a very good glass cleaner.

How does the clay cleans the paint?

Now, that is an interesting question. Clay is an abrasive cleaner - but used properly, it is not abrasive to the car paint, but to the contamination. That is why we need to lube the clay before we apply it.

How do you know when it is time to clay your car?

Claying is preferred once or twice a year, unless the car gathers heavy contamination. Once you wash the car, gently slide your hand over the surface - if it is smooth, you are done - no need to do any thing further. If you feel teh surface is rough,grainy or bumpy, clay it.

Apply the lube and gently rub the paint using clay. Do not use much force - clay cleans the contamination by aberration, so you do not want it to do the same on your paint surface. Once the claying is done, you can see a thin film of dirt of it - you will not see dirt particles. that is because clay do not magically lift off the contamination, but cleans it by grinding it mildly.

Remember - Paint cleaners and clay are not your every month cleaning products. They are designed to clean aberrations and are mildly abrasive in nature. Compared to paint cleaner, we can safely say clay is not abrasive, but improper use of clay will mar the surface finish.

Pre-Wax Cleaners

Before we go to next step, let me add a bit more info on pre-wax cleaners.

Many people thinks clay bar is a replacement for pre-wax cleaners, but it is far from truth.

Clay removes surface contamination, while pre-wax cleaners strip old layers of wax, embedded stains and even gives surface a mild correction. They are a mixture of light polishing agents and cleaning solvents, but the cleaning ability is given by cleaning solvents - not by polishing agents. That is why you can use pre-wax cleaners almost monthly, with out affecting the paint thickness in a measurable level.

Claying should ideally followed by pre-wax cleaning so that the surface is ready for the next level of treatment.

I am not going deep into different kind of pre-wax cleaners.

Some points to remember:

Always work under a shade. A hot car surface is not a good place to do any detailing work.

Work on a small area, and buff off residues as you go. Pre wax cleaners usually do not need to dry before you can buff them off.

You can use micro fiber or soft cotton cloth folded like a pad to apply these pre-wax cleaners, but the best applicator is a foam applicator. Use a foam based applicator and use microfiber cloth to buff off. Do not use lot of pre-wax cleaner - a small amount is all you need.

Once you finish Paint cleaning \ claying \ Pre-wax cleaning, your paint surface should be smooth and should be clear of all contamination. Now, the car is ready for the next step.

Dummies guide to car detailing - Part 1

2011-10-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posts I wrote in TFI - India's one of the best Fiat forum.

I am not a detailing hobbyist or enthusiast, but I thought i will share what little knowledge I have here.

While many people are happy with giving the car to their GDW (gaadi Dhone Waala - term courtesy to my friend Guderian in another forum) for daily wash, there are some people who are not happy with the disdain these people having in handling our cars shining paint surface. If you are one of those and want to do some DIY to keep yuor car shining like new, read on.

What is car detailing?

It is not just washing your car with any available substance and pat srying it, but a rigors process of cleaning your car, washing the car with good care, cleaning the surface aberrations, polishing the paint to restore the finish, waxing the paint to form a protective barrier so that the paint is not affected and using quick detailers\spray waxes to keep the car shining like new.

Washing your car

Now, what is the big deal in washing? Let us take a hose, shower the car with water, soap the car with some shampoo and hose down the leather and pat dry the car. We are done - right? Wrong.

Few things always we need to keep in mind for a good wash:

Wash the car is shade. Never wash the car under hot sun.

Wash the wheels first. Wheels are dirt accumulating magnet and clean them first.

What matters is not the form, but the quality of the car was shampoo

Say no to scrubbers\local sponges

Use 2 bucket technique or use a bucket with a grit guard

Different cloths for different purpose - there is no One size fits for all.

Do not let the car dry in sun.

Sheet of water lets the water run off easily from car.

Use soft cotton or much preferably - micro fiber for drying the car

Let us go a bit deep into washing process.

The common tools we need is a good shady area, good length of hose to water wash the car, 2 buckets, a brush to clean tyre, a good car wash concentrate, wash clothes (preferably wash mitts) and a good quality soft cloths for drying the car.

After parking the car under a shade, apply water liberally on the tyres. After that, use a good cleaning agent of your choice - I prefer car shampoo - and use a mild brush to brush down the tyre to clean all the mud deposited. If you are really particular, you can even jack up and clean the stones which have got lodged in the grooves.

Brush down vigorously and follow it up by again water washing the tyres - use plenty of water and make sure that there is no soapy residue left.

When you are done with tyres, start clean your alloys\wheel caps. Dip a rag in the foam and wipe down the alloys\wheel caps throughly and then wash them thoroughly with water.

After thoroughly cleaning with water, wipe down the tyres with cotton waste. If you are particular about tyre shine or want to keep the tyres looking like new, you can apply tyre cleaners.

You can use alloy wheel cleaners \ break dust repellents or as a lesser effective substitute, you can use good wax on the alloys.

Once you are done with tyre and alloys, start hosing down the car with plenty of water. If the water you use is hard water, you can use some softening agents (like ONR in preferred dilution). Use plenty of water to loosen the dirt, but do not use a cloth to drag the dirt - dirt particles may get lodged in teh cloth \ sponge and may introduce micro scars. While hosing the car with water, do not use much pressure - this can make the grit drag over the surface which in turn will results in micro scratches.

After this, take some water in one bucket and add a good car shampoo to it. Car shampoos are usually pH controlled, and are based on detergents - not on soaps. Soap based cleaners may contain trace elements which can damage the paint. Use a wash mitt or a microfiber cloth or a good soft cotton cloth to apply the form on the car surface. general purpose Sponges are less preferred since they have cavities which can entrap dirt particles which can streak the surface.

Use small motions instead of long sweeping motion and make sure that every time the cloth\mitt picks up dirt, rinse it in the water in the other bucket. This technique of using two buckets - one to dip and wash and other to rise clean the cloth - is called two bucket technique. An alternative is to use a bucket with grit guard.

A grit guard is a plastic guard which sits inside the bucket which traps the grit to the bottom of the water.

make sure that you rinse the cloth frequently so that the cloth remains dirt free every time you use it on the car to apply foam. Foam the car thoroughly - it is advised to have different cloths to foam the lower side of the car and upper side of the car. Dirt accumulation are more on the lower half usually.

When choosing a good car wash liquid \ shampoo, do not choose one which contains trace elements of wax -wax is a sealant and when you wash, you want the paint to open up - not seal close.

Once you are done with applying foam and loosening all the dirt, apply water again. Use plenty of water and make sure that you hose down all the foam from the surface.

When apply the foam and water down your car, please make sure that the car never dries under natural heat.

Apply water in sheet like instead of sprinkling it since sheet will remove most water from the surface.

When the car have been properly cleaned using water, use soft cotton towel or micro fiber to pat dry the car. There are special high capacity towels available which can absorb lot of water - one substitute you can look at is a really soft pet towel with lot of water absorption capacity.

Never apply much pressure, and while pat drying, if you come across any dirt particles, do not try to force them off.

Once you finish pat drying your car, evaluate the paint surface. If the car have been waxed recently and you used a wash\shampoo which will not affect the wax, and if the paint is in generally good shape, you can follow up the wash with a quick wax or even with spray wax.

On the other hand, if your paint needs rejuvenating or you stripped all the previous wax layers and you have surface contamination you need to go for surface preparation \ pre-wax cleaning

Shine all the way

2011-09-22T02:01:00.000-07:00

After the excellent detailing by Ultimate Detailerz, I was on the look out for a suitable wax for supplementing the detailing process.

Its been more than 2 months after I got the detailing done and though I have never done a single water wash after that (thanks to Jopasu and ONR) I could feel the friction when I lightly rub a cloth over the body.

After having my experiences with F1 and Turtle wax and couple of lesser known local brand waxes, I wanted to try some thing better this time. After initial searches, I was almost decided on getting Collinite 845 - it is generally considered as one of the best and most durable wax out there. While trawling the net during my search for the wax, I came across many detailing forums and I spent a lot of time reading lot of posts and got introduced to engineered waxes.

After some more reading and lot more trawling, I came to the conclusion that there is no harm in trying an engineered wax - now the choices where between Meguiars NXT 2.0 and Mothers FX SynWax. The opinions were quite divided on some forums - depending on whether the Forum favored Mothers or Meguiars - but the consensus was that both were more or less equal. Most people were prefering NXT 2.0 for Black color cars and FX for other dark metallic colors. After comparing the results of cars and trucks which were detailed by NXT, FX SynWax and Collinite 845, and after going over all the reviews and posts made by people who have actually used them, I could not find much of a difference to ditch the synthetic wax to get Collinite. For dark colors, FX Synwax was giving really good gloss and reflections and I could see lot of flake popping too.

I was not interested in long lasting wax - I take it as an excuse to lavish some TLC over Jai, so a wax which lasts 1~2 months was good enough for me - I was looking for better reflections and lesser elbow grease. All these and the fact that it is readily available off the shelf tilted the scale towards FX SynWax.

Ordered my bottle of FX from automall using there online store (carpolish.in) on Monday night and the wait started. I so badly wante dto wax the car on Friday afternoon and even took a half day leave (who really want to work after a sumptuous Onam sadhya ) but they took their sweet time to courier me the box. I think i will give 7 out of 10 for the service by automall - I had to repeatedly follow up about the shipping, and I did not get the tracking number as promised by them and though they were available on mobile, my sms and e-mails (using the contact us forum) did not generate any replies. Next time, if I need anything from them, I will go and pick it up from their shop.

I got the wax on saturday (5 days for a order to realize - I stay in same city as the seller :Frustrati )

Sunday morning, I started with my usual dusting with Jopasu, followed by a round of quick cleaning using ONR. After this, I started waxing my car with FX - took me only about an hour to wax my whole car and it was really easy on - easy off, with a great shine to boot. I took some old soft cotton cloth and made a jugaad applicator pad and applied the liquid wax with circular motions and allowed it to dry to haze. After few minutes, I buffed the panels using 3M yellow MF and voila. It was as simple as that. Did one section at a time, and it was much much easier to apply that the F1 or Turtle - the wax have some good cleaning power and the reflections are crisp and vivid. Many people are of the opinion that you need to give some time for the synthetic waxes to bring out the shine, so I am all game to wait and see if I get more of it.

I need to get some tire form and some products for taking care of the plastics - the research is on.

Let the pictures do the talking now:

First DIY on Jai

2011-08-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

Did I ever tell you how much i dislike the puny horn which Fiat gave with Jai? The anemic horn is one of the first things I wanted to throw out - I gathered from different threads that Punto used to come with twin horns but from 2011, they have done some cost cutting and the Active model comes with a single Hella 'Popular' horn. Now, for a guy who uses Hella Redgrill on his Unicorn and have never used a factory fitted horn for long time in any of the bikes or cars, this single horn is as unimpressive as they can get.

This week, we were out at Reliance mall and while LOH was happily browsing through the apparels section, I slipped away and started browsing the Reliance Autozone and thought a pair of Hella Silver horn will make an ideal gift to Jai. After clicking couple of pics of some other bottles (not THAT kind of bottles which we men of stronger soul usually lust after, but the automobile equivalent of Olay and Garnier and all that stuff you get to see in your bathroom, if you are that kind of bloke who got yourself married to a PYT) I managed to extract myself with some dignity (of course, after paying the amount and all that) before the sales chap decided to kick me out for disturbing his daydreams.

Took Jai to a neighborhood workshop and got a quote for fixing those lovely silver disks - but being a Saturday, they were already full and wanted to come back on Monday and they want me to drop Jai and collect him after three hours - now, i was ok with the high estimate and everything but 'the dropping him to get things fixed' part - if they want to open him and fix the horns, better they do it when I stand there.

Came home and the DIY keeda started gnawing me - 250 rs for bumper removing and fixing it back, and 250 rs for fixing a horn, which you can even do in your sleep plus all the wire, relay etc on actuals - no wonder these workshops are mushrooming and I am sure they are making a neat packet.

Opened up my tool kit and after rummaging a bit, I got what all I needed - hella horn relay, couple of spade connectors and lots of wire and insulation tape. Armed with some DIY horn fixing gyaan from some other forums, I started opening up the front grill of Jai - I managed to pry open the grill, but the size 8 nut was proving to be a tough nut to crack, so after some futile attempts, I took Jai to the FNM (Friendly Neighborhood Mechanic) and asked him to open up the bumper for me. Once we removed the bumper, I started working on fixing the horns - he was amused to see me pulling out all the tools and sitting down to get the horns fixed, and during some small talk told me that I am the first car owner he have seen really working on the car, after taking the car to a workshop.

I was almost hoping that I will find the wiring for the second horn tucked away, and FIAT did not disappoint me - when the bumper was removed, I saw the wiring for one more horn neatly taped and tucked away. Fixed both the horns and was back home in about an hour with a mighty pleased Jai.

Tech specs:

Name: Hella Silver Horn

Current consumption : 6 Amp (Max)

Frequency: 335 Hz/400 Hz

Sound pressure : 117dB

price: 675 INR @ Reliance autozone, Arekere.

Some WIP pics:

Trivia time

2011-08-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

I had some awesome experiences during the delivery.

The car was driven from Thrissur showroom to Kodungalloor for the delivery - this is around 40 km trip and the car was dusty by the time it arrived in the Kodungalloor showroom. I reached the showroom by 8.45 am and the car was at the wash bay to get the final was before the delivery, but the power was down. We were waiting for the power to come and while checking when the power will be back, we realized that there was some work going on by Electricity board and the power will be down for the whole day. I was ok with taking the delivery with out getting the wash done and I told the showroom guys that it is ok for me to get the car as it is and I will wash it after I get him home. I asked Aldrin (the manager of the showroom - we were directly dealing with him and another SA- Anish, during the whole Booking-delivery) to get the car from the wash bay, but to my surprise, the SA Anish washed the car with buckets full of water. I was really impressed and never thought that the SA will really get down to get the work done by himself. Anish brought the car after wash and the watchman dried the car using some cotton cloth - after taking the delivery, I tried to tip the watchman, but he blushed and politely refused to take any tip. He was muttering "sir, I did nothing more than my duty. It is not right to accept anything for doing my duty", and vanished from the scene.

I have heard stories of gate keeps\cleaning boys hinting for a tip and even asking for baksheesh, but here I saw an old man who believe he should not take anything extra for doing his job.

A big kudos to Anish and the watchman - you guys made my day big way.

The Number plate guy:

It was around 1.10 when I pulled up at the sticker shop at Okkal, near Kalady - the shop was closed and I called up the mobile number on the door to check if the guy will be returning shortly - or else, I can move on and find another shop. The guy picked up the mobile and told me that though he just reached home for lunch, he will come and get the sticker done. He came in five minutes and in another 10-15 minutes, we decided on a font to get the numbers printed, but the real task started when he started removing the temporary registration sticker from the front and back bumpers - it took close to 45 minutes to finish the whole job and by the time we finished, it was past 2 PM. I was pleasantly surprised when I asked for the charge - it was just 100 RS. I tried paying him extra for the efforts he took, but he brushed aside my attempts saying that he does this stuff every day and 100 is his normal charge - he was polite but firm on saying that he will not take extra for doing his regular job.

To top it off, he showed us a small eatery and even guided us to that place - we had the most awesome beef and chicken curry and some nice biriyani rice and tapioca from there - after devouring couple of plates of Beef curry, chicken curry, biriyani rice and tapioca, the bill was still less than 150 rs.
If any of you are driving on the way to perumbavoor from angamaly, stop here for some mouthwatering lunch. After Kalady, look for Okkal co-operative bank on the left side of the road and take immediate left when you see the bank. You will see a culvert when you take the turn - this place is on the left side of the culvert.

I some how managed to forgot where I kept the spare key after I took the delivery of the car. I turned the house upside down but was not able to find the key. Disheartened, I enquired about placing order for spare key, and came to know from the guys at hosur road Prerana service station that it will cost between 3-5K ( a ballpark figure - they do not deal with sale of accessories\parts, so they did not knew the exact price). Before placing the order, I decided to check the bag which i carried to showroom when I took the delivery and to my amazement, I found the key nicely settled under the laptop sleeve on main compartment. This is the same bag I checked at lest 10 times before, but every time I checked, the key remained hidden. Phew!

And he came home one day...

2011-08-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

The background score.

My secret dream was to buy a decent long distance tourer bike which can do a fair bit of trail riding too, but the way the biking scene in India is evolving and the after effects of marriage (complaints from LOH after those long bike rides), made me realize that my dream will remain as a dream for at least couple more years. LOH was giving subtle hints about the necessity of buying a car, but I being me, the hint remind just hints till she point blankly refused to come with me for another ride if I do not get a car.

When it was clear that the ultimatum is given and I do not have choice to buy that big bike I always wanted, I grudgingly gave in and said I will consider buying any car as long as it is a Jeep. She looked at me incredulously and told in that special tone "I want a CAR - any thing with open top/open bed or anything resembles an SUV is not an option". I said that is it - if you do not allow me to buy the Jeep I want, I am not buying anything. This went on for months and all my attempts to woo her with the pictures of tastefully done up Jeeps and Boleros and Xeons did not bear fruit. The only SUV she partially liked was a Scorp, but that is the only SUV I do not like much - imho, I will take a Bolero any day over a scorp- but then, I am digressing from the story.

Though I very much wanted a Jeep, I knew in the back of my mind that a Jeep will not suffice as the only mode of transportation and I had a small ray of hope in the guise of MM Thar, but when it was released, I came to know that it will not to be available with a HT and AC, so getting the best of both worlds was just not possible, and I was not really enthusiastic about buying one and getting an aftermarket HT. After the Thar got released, I was ok to buy a car - the only condition I put forward was, it should be a hatch - a mile crunching oil burner hatchback.

This was going to be my second car purchase in last two years - I did buy a car almost one and a half year back, mainly for my parent's use. The main criteria during the selection process was - should be diesel, should have huge space inside cabin, and an engine which is easy to work on. Indica Vista TDi was the natural choice, and touch wood, till today, the car is serving us very well, and so is the infamous Tata A.S.S.

This time, the priorities were slightly different, and we both sat down with our own priories to discuss - after initial rounds of ifs and buts and what-ifs, there was only one car left - Fiat Punto MJD. For me, it fits my bill perfectly - It is a Hatch, handles good. eats up potholes well and have excellent road manners, comes with the tried and tested 'national engine' and boasts a perfectly weighted steering which is one of the best I have enjoyed so far. Loh was in love with the looks and the T.Wine color and if not Punto, she wanted to buy a sedan which I said I am no way, unless it is a diesel Cedia.

We did a comparative analysis of other cars (Swift, Ritz, Figo, Polo, Fabia, Micra, i20 and Vista) but in our case, the clear winner was Punto.

Though the heart was already set on Punto, we did consider Figo for some time - it was VFM but after everything said and done, I know my heart will ache every time I will see a Punto on the road - so, rational thought was thrown out of the window for once and we booked the Punto. I have a penchant for black color but this time, the opinion was divided - I love the hip-hop black, but BNW was tugging my heart strings. Though LOH wanted T.Wine, we almost decided on Black, but when I saw a sparkling T.Wine punto at Concord, my heart flipped- I know this is the color i want.

Choosing the variant

Now that it was decided that the car is going to be a T.Wine Punto MJD, the next task was to decide which variant to go for. Though I know the importance of the safety aspects and the benefits of ABS+Airbags, the EPack was out of my reach. Though i am not an audiophile, I want a decent music system and the factory provided one was a strict no-no for me. I do not miss things like electrically adjustable OVRM, Dual tone dash board, Blue&Me (I prefer not to use mobile phones in any way when I drive) and all other sundry stuff - If I chose Active, the only things I need to add is the central locking but I will miss ABS+EBD - If I need ABS+EBD, i have no option, but to go for Emotion, and to pay for all the additional stuff which i do not need\can get it done myself in a better way (like music system). After much discussion, I decided I will go for Active and will get a central locking done and will add ICE and some other upgrades (Headlights, horn etc)

Booking and delivery

When it was time to get the cheque book out, I decided to go with Hysone Motors, kodungalloor. One of the main reason was the excellent service we got when we brought out Vista - the manager Aldrin went great lengths to make sure that we had a hassle free experience. This time also, the expriance was not different - they took care of all the paper work and made sure that the loan got approved (From SBI) with minimal fuss. Other than the offer from Fiat (1 year Insurance, Extended warranty and RSA for 5 K) and Corporate discount, I got 5 K cash discount, free Garware sun film, rain guard and car cover. He also offered to get the floor lamination done for free, which I politely declined.

I booked the car in may last week and wanted to take the delivery by June end (the good date and time and all) and I was kept informed about the progress. Got the registration done with our agent and saved couple of thousands - the showroom charges about 2.5-3K as registration charge while we got everything done at outside for 700 rs.

Some pictures of the delivery:

First sight at the dealership - getting ready for the delivery:

Jai with the Team-Bhp sticker:

All Set to go home:

After First rains:

Naming the car

I do have names for all my cars and bikes, and it is usually after I the first ride\drive I name them. I plan to keep the car for long term and want to do lot of road trips as I did with my bike. The first name which came into my mind was Jai - the name of Amithab Bachan in the epic film Sholay.

Travels with Jai

It took me all of just one minute to find a comfortable driving position - kept the steering at lowest and adjust the seat a bit and voila. It did not take much time to get used to him, and what a re freshening experience it was. The cockpit and driving seat is light years better than my Vista and I like the firm support the seat offers. Though I am using Vista on and off and have taken her for some long drives, I am still not comfortable with the driving position - no such issues with Jai. I love the way the doors close with a thud and how heavy and solid the body feels, and I do not even want to start what a dashing looker he is.

But every thing is not that rosy - the door handles and some other plastic bits does not exude the same feeling of built to last like that of the body, and the dash board came off the very second day, but none of them really matters. Though I am not that old, my benchmark for comfort and utility is our old Ambassador and these loose plastics do not bother me a bit. The only major grouse I have is - when it is pouring heavily, there is fog getting formed on the outside of the driver side glass window, which obstructed the RHS rear view mirror view. If I open and close the window couple of times, this goes off, but it is mildly irritating to get the view blocked because of this fogging issue (I checked with my friend who have an I20 and he says his car also have the same issue.) the big turning radius was an issue in some small and tight interior roads of Kerala, but I have got used to it now. I am not happy with the headlight - I think the headlight of my Vista is better in illuminating the roads than the headlights of Punto - I plan to upgrade the headlights and horns soon.

The 1111 km Update

Did 2 small trips (150 km round trip) before we drove back to Bangalore and I was really comfortable by the time we started the journey to Bangalore. It is a pleasure to have his company in highways - I am in love with the steering wheel. Perfect size and perfectly weighed - this is one feature I cannot stop talking about. Every time I sit behind it, my face lit sup with a huge grin. The 460+ km trip through Kodungalloor-Thrissur-Nilambur-Mysore-Bangalore took 10 hours but none of us (me, LOH, My parents) where tiered after the end of the journey. The car performed well with 4 people and a boot laden to its brim, but we did not take him to serious speeds - it is not at all easy to keep him from touching triple digit speeds when the road open up. The a\c is a chiller - not sure whether it is really because the a\c is good or because the weather. I guess i need to wait till summer to measure the effectiveness of the a\c. As of now, the maximum fan speed we use is 2.

Things in Pipeline

Getting central locking+remote locking done
A date with ultimate detalierz - will call them up and fix the date once the central locking is done.
Upgrade the headlights - Current choices are: Osram nightbreaker plus or hella 95\100 with relay (thanks @Pri2 for the info)
Upgrade Horns: Stage1: Hella redgrill\Stebel TM80 for every day use
Stage2: Stebel nautilis Brio (la dolce vita)\Dukes of hazzard type of horn (will be fitted as an auxiliary
horn with a switch to switch between this and regular horn)
Utsav number plates: Right now I have done a sticker number plate and plan to get the Utsav number plates done few months down the lane.
Upgrade Sunfilm to 3M - will be done after using the current garware for couple of months in summer - will depend up on how well the garware performs.
ICE: This IS the major upgrade and I will do it slow - one part at a time. I do not want a very high-fi ICE set up, but I want a set up with low and tight bass and acceptable levels of SQ.
Seat covers: Might get it done depending on Vitamin M factor - not a high priority item though.

Some more shots
Poser:

After first interstate crossing:

There and back again

2011-08-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

No, this is no hobbit tale but a promise to myself that I do not want this place to die. I have been neglecting this space for long and though I have tried few posts in between, I could not find the enthusiasm to continue blogging.

Now, after a long gap, I have started recording the chronicles of a new member in my family and though I regularly update 2 well known forums, I was thinking of starting an independent journal.

First I thought of starting a new blog, but then the idea of reusing my primary blog stuck me - I do not see any other new posts coming here in any foreseeable period, so may be if I keep updating this place with the happenings in Jai's world, may be I will start writing more and more and may be I will start blogging again.

With out further ado, let me introduce you Jai - the Tuscan Wine 1.3 MJD 'Active' Fiat Grande Punto

Chicken in gravy with cashew nut

2011-02-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 kg (1 inch cubes)
Onion - 3-4 big (thinly sliced)
Potato - 1 big (peeled and chopped to 1 inch cubes)
Tomato - 2
Curry leaves - few
Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped fine

Garlic - 7-10 cloves, chopped fine
Mustard seed - 1 tbsp.

Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tbsps.
Garam masala - 2 tbsps.
Chili powder - 2 tbsps.
Salt - to taste

Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 2-3 cups
Oil- 4-5 tbsps.

Ghee - 1 tbsp.

To marinate:
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp.
Salt - 2 1/2 tbsps.
Black pepper (coarse grind) - 3 tbsps.

To make the paste:
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 10 cloves
Cashew nut - 25 full roasted cashews (without skin)

Clean chicken and cut into 1 inch cubes. Add the turmeric powder, salt and black pepper and mix well. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Take a big wok with thick base (cheenachatti) and add oil and ghee (if you do not count calories, and love the taste of ghee, substitute oil with ghee). When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.

Add onions and sauté them till they are golden brown. Add curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic and sauté them for half a minute. Add tomato and sauté till the juices start to flow out and tomato starts to become pulpy.

Add coriander powder, garam masala, chili powder and salt and sauté for half minute. Add the cashew nut paste and sauté again for half a minute. Now add milk, followed by water. Wait for half a minute, and then add chicken pieces and potato cubes. Make sure there is enough water to cover the chicken. Close the wok with a lid and cook over medium flame.

PS:

1. It took about an hour for the chicken pieces to get the flavor fully. Best is to prepare it an hour before the serving time, and let the chicken pieces get the full flavor of the gravy.

2. Thanks to Tys for the push - without that, this post might not have seen the daylight :)

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T03:34:00.000-08:00

We wish you and family a Happy, Prosperous, fun filled and peaceful New Year.

Regards
Anoop and R

Confession (?)

2010-11-28T09:01:00.001-08:00

D'vali-2010, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

It is a strange feeling when you come back to your blog and realize that the place which meant so much in the past is now like a ghost town... I walk through the by lanes, looking at the dusty store fronts and musky glass panes, the discolored walls and peeling pains.. and I feel sad...and a twinge of pain, some where in my heart. my dear blog, I do miss you. I do.

The Silence of Rain

2010-08-17T01:53:00.001-07:00

The rain I know when I was a kid, is different from the rains at Bangalore. The rain here sounds harsh - the sound of rain falling on roof tops, the sound of rain lashing on windows of high rise buildings - this sounds nothing like the rain I have grown up with, or I have fallen in love with - but still, I love this rain too.

Rain has a life of its own - calm and wild at the same time, serene and harsh at the same time - I think it is the duality of its nature which makes it more interesting.

Have you ever tried to listen to the silence of rain? No, you can’t try it in a city - when you sit inside your car with rain drops falling on the roof of your car, which is stuck in the traffic jam for last one hour, listening to the silence of rain will be the last thing in your mind, usually.

Get out and go to an open field, or to a hill, or to a river side - the whole picture changes.
The moments when you are alone, with rain playing the harmony for your company - moments like that are best to listen to the rain and enjoy the silence of rain.

There is silence behind every sound. Listen to the rain - the sound it makes when the drop falls on the leaves, on the ground, on the water puddle - listen to the sound of the wind - take all in, and concentrate. Filter out everything around you, and listen only to the sound of rain drops falling around you - enveloping you in a soundscape of its own - and reach for it - grab it and wrap it around you - and when you are fully immersed in it, the silence behind the sound will draw you in - the silence that allows the rain to sing.

PS: this post was triggered by this song

Spicy Aromatic Chicken Curry

2010-08-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

Marriage have made me lazy - the weekends which were a flurry of activates are now very less - most Sundays we laze @ home. Sunday cooking is something I love, and many a times, I improvise or come up with new recipes. ( Touch wood, no one ever fell ill after what I prepared :))

Chicken - 1 kg, cut to medium / small pieces
Onion - 4 medium size, thinly sliced
For the masala:
Coconut - 1 whole, grated
sun dried red chilies – 6
mace – 1
Black cardamom – 1
Green cardamom – 4
Bay leaf - one small
star anise -1
cinnamon bark – a small piece ( around 5 cm length)
Thyme - a small pinch
Fenugreek seeds - a small pinch
clove - 4 nos
coriander powder - 1 table spoon

Put the grated coconut in a heavy based non-stick pan and dry fry it over medium flame till it turns dark brown. Put the flame to low and add all other ingredients and keep it on the flame till you get a nice aromatic smell. Let it cool and then make a fine paste of this using your mixer-grinder - do not add more water than required it to make it a fine paste.
Clean the chicken and cut it to medium / small pieces. Mix the chicken well with this masala and a handful of curry leaves and marinate for an hour.
Heat 4 tables spoon oil in a wok with heavy base, add the onions and sauté them till they become translucent. Add the marinated chicken pieces along with the masala and add 3 cups of water, cook the chicken in high flame for fifteen minutes (keep the wok covered while chicken getting cooked)
After 15 minutes, remove the lid and adjust the water level and cook for another 15 minutes on medium flame. Sprinkles curry leaves just before the chicken is taken off the flame.
Goes well with ghee rice / plain rice/ Idiyappam (nool puttu) / appam etc.
PS: if you need the dish to be more hot, use only sun dried red chilies – don’t use chili powder or green chilies.

Flower Power

2010-08-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the annual flower show @ Lalbagh last saturday - the crowd was very less, and I could click some snaps of the flower show (last time when I went there, I did not even get inside the gardens after I saw the crowd)

Some of the clicks:

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

For more fotos click here

ps: feels good to be back here - and I hope, I will not be taking another break soon :)

miles to go....

2010-05-25T21:46:00.001-07:00

miles to go...., originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

Shot en route to madikeri. The road is awesome - excellent surface, nice straights, wide sweeping curves, very less traffic. The road from kushal nagar to madikeri is getting laid now, so, one more month, and we will get some nice twisties to enjoy.

We chanced upon some excellent back roads near madikkeri - narrow roads, challenging tight turns, breath taking scenery - had a real dose of corner carving adventure there, and to top it off, we took the madikkeri-dubare route while coming back, which is filled with lot of fun twisties.
Jeevs was at his usual best - he never complained, and did the ride without any issues.

This was R's first real long ride -2 days, 623 km of pure fun!

yellow whispers...

2010-02-22T08:24:00.001-08:00

yellow whispers..., originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

after a long long break, testing the waters again... :)

Two to tango

2009-10-29T01:58:00.001-07:00

Two to tango, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

Shot this at Bennerghetta National park, bangalore.

Sweet-Sour karela (Bitter gourd) curry

2009-10-05T03:48:00.000-07:00

Some time back, we had this awesome sweet and sour karela curry @ kanua, and since then, I always wanted to make it at home. This weekend, I decided to give it a try - here is the recipe I tried:

Karela (bitter gourd) - 3 nos (medium size – pick the white ones if you don’t like the bitter taste – the greener the karela, the bitter the taste) )

Toor Dal - a bit

Urd Dal - a bit

Salt - to taste

Chili powder - a bit

Turmeric powder - a bit

Jaggery - to taste (I used 3 vellams - if you want the curry to be sweet, add more Jaggery)

Tamarind - a small piece

Red chilli - 2-3 nos

Curry leaves

Lemon - one half

rasam powder - 1-1.5 tbsp

Wash and split the karela. Clean the inside and cut into small slices. Mix this with salt and turmeric powder and keep for about 15 minutes.

Soak the tamarind in water and keep it aside.

Mince the jaggery and make powder.

Take a non-stick tawa and heat oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add urd dal and toor dal and fry till they are light brown. Add red chili and curry leaves to this, and then add the karela. Keep it on a medium flame till the karela is almost cooked. Add a bit of water to this and add the tamarind paste, rasam powder and jaggery. Squeeze one half of lemon and add the juice to this. Cook till the curry is dry. Serve it with rice or chapathi.

the tag of A2Z

2009-08-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

Mooched this from tys's place:

A. Attached or Single? Attached.

B. Best Friend? Can't pick one :)

C. Cake or pie? Cake.

D. Drink of choice? Coffee / Wine. If alcoholic, then Jack Daniels. (Wine is NOT alcoholic)

E. Essential item you use every day? my charm ;)

F. Favorite color? Green / Black.

G. Gummy bears or worms? no to both.

H. Hometown? Kerala.

I. Favorite indulgence? Anything to do with anything which have an engine and can run :)

J. January or July? Both.

K. Kids & their names? One - goes by the name --xh--. (incidentally, he is the owner of this blog too)

L. Life isn’t complete without? the ups and downs.

M. Marriage date? April 23rd

N. Number of Siblings? One.

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples.

P. Phobias? mildly claustrophobic.

Q. Quotes? lot of them to choose from.

R. Reasons to smile?almost anything :)

S. Season? Rain.Rain.Rain - and more rain.

T. Tag 3 people: please come forward

U. Unknown fact about me? I can apprate. No kidding.

V. Vegetable? yes.

W. Worst habit? ask my friends/better half :)

X. X-ray you've had? Left knee

Y. Your favorite food? Chakkapuzukku.

Z. Zodiac sign? Libra

playing with myEgo

2009-07-31T02:56:00.000-07:00

dont be too hard on me - this is my first try on both 55wordfiction and haiku... :)

H-1

I will NOT share fame

I will NOT Compromise on any thing

I OWN the center stage

H-2

bikes gadgets food camera books

I learn I experiment and I love

DIY is my golden mantra

H-3

patience is not my virtue

I demand I get what I ask

I never bow my Ego

and here goes the 55wordfiction:

He was not sure how to break the ice. She looked polished, hot and too sure about herself.Resigned, he opened his laptop and started playing his favourite game. Suddenly he felt some one near his seat.she asked him "i love your Ego". He smiled and handed her his brand new Wipro Ego laptop

droplets

2009-06-29T03:53:00.001-07:00

droplets, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

One more from the eyes of Moi...

just 'dew' it

2009-06-23T20:06:00.001-07:00

just 'dew' it, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

sinful indulgence

2009-06-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

Few weeks back, me and R was returning from Commercial Street, and we stopped at Thoms bakery on a whim to find whether we can get some Toblerone chocolates. Though we couldn’t get any, I saw a beauty there who tugged my heart strings a lot. After a lot of deliberation and tug of war between purse (not mine, but R's ;) )and heart, I gave in and last Saturday we went and brought her home - A bottle of Davidoff Café Espresso 57

Until next time, kaapi nirvaana

(Shamelessly smooched this 'until next time' thing from manuscrypts blog)

(ps: we did get the tobleones whn we went to pick up the coffee :) )

Shoolagiri Ride

2009-06-18T22:40:00.001-07:00

We did a small lazy Sunday morning ride to Shoolagiri hills with fellow nomads. The weather was fine, the roads smooth and the company, wonderful. Only spoiler was that, I got a sos from my office in between and had to rip back to reach office to get something done. But overall, a nice ride for three of us :-D

Some pictures from the recent Shoolagiri ride with BN.

A cool breezy and lazy sunday morning, getting ready to start teh ride

Breakfast stop @ A2B, near Krishnagiri

and here we are - Bikes at Shoolagiri

Bikes lined up

The nomads

Symmetry

Self Portrait

The place

Morning glory

2009-06-18T01:59:00.001-07:00

Morning glory, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

With this, I break my blog silence... I am back after the long break.

Ta da, till May

2009-04-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

At last, I am off to kerala, on a 3 week vacation. Will be back by may 11th (hopefully ;) ).
Take care, and yeah, I will miss blogworld.

last weekend

2009-04-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend:

* had fun

* went to Sherlock holmes. Should have found out this place a lot earlier. Liked the place. thnx A, for the fantastic time, and introducing me to SH.

* Met Vicks, went for a spin in his new U-VA. the car rocks. hogged ice creams from Safal

* Watched Fast and Furious 4 - I love the movie, especially, the last scene. Dom rocks. So do Muscle Cars.

* had a long chat with my sis. I Miss her.

* went to Boca Grande, had nice time meeting Minnu and Pratsie. Played lot of pranks and did lot of silly stuff - it was FUN.

* went to Total to do the last bit of shopping before going home

* met friend J and stayed over at his place. Man, I am going to miss you.

* went to lalbagh for a morning walk. Met Monica, Shanu, Minnu and some otehr friends. it was Fun.

* Met Kalyan varma, one of India's most famous wildlife photographers.

* Transported all the stuff I kept at J's home to my home - Jeevs carried more stuff than an Auto could carry. Well, almost.

* called up G, and the news is not that good. Get well soon, G.

* missed my friends S and S. Hope to catch up with you S, before I go home.

*Treated myself with a Sennheiser HD202

Skoda India - Shame on you

2009-04-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

I was and am still a fan of Skoda cars, but I have never owned one - I always wanted to have a Skoda Octavia RS, but after reading the way they treat their customers during the after sales service, I think it might be better if I spendt my money on any other car than Skoda.

Just read this threds here and here if you plan to buy a Skoda - if any of your friends or relatives plan to buy a skoda, make them read the threads.

Please pass the word, and please digg the thread here

updates

2009-03-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

It is said that all is fair in war and love - and it is also said that love is blind. we all have our own reasons to fall in love, and though I love all the bikes, Royal Enfield bullet have a special place in my heart.

If you look form a logical point of view, Bullet is not the most advanced bike you can get your hands on - well, the bike is anything but modern. The bike is heavy, leaks oil (well, most of the time), slow, drinks petrol like she have a drinking problem, and have a thousand and one other issues - but the bike still have a huge fan following, and for many, is not a bike, but a religion. Why? Well, it is very hard to explain the answer, but 'charm' is a word often associated with the answer.

No - this post is not an analysis about why Bullet still commands the heart of many of us - but just a testimony to the old world charm that the bullet is. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce 'Neela', my new 1970 model std 350.

I returned RedEye to her home after more than one month of use, and i have to say that she got me impressed - big time. I took Jeevs out for a spin this Saturday and what is a better way to end his hibernation than some good old mud banging. there is this huge landfill, and we had some nice time, going up and down kicking the dust, doing some torque steer, basic jumps and all that - man, it was serious fun, and by the end of it, we looked like some one showered us with a ton of fine dust. But I tell you again - it was FUN :-D

My favorite movie series - Fast and Furious, is returning to theaters this weekend - the latest addition - Fast and Furious 4 will hit cinemas on 3rd, and I am waiting to catch the action.

Vin disel, Paul walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster - they are re teaming, and I am sure the movie will not disappoint me.

I found this video while I was browsing, and man, the song and the video is awesome.

The Chief

2009-03-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

I saw this test at minnus blog and couldn't resist doing it.

The results are - well, it is out there, and now you tell me if this is the me you know :-D

I am ENTJ according to the test

I found this link (again from minnus page) and this is what the site says about me:

ENTJ:

decisive, fearless, planner, thrill seeker, engaged, social, self centered, comfortable around others, image conscious, likes to be center of attention, adventurous, outgoing, manipulative, emotionally stable, leader, ambitious, hard working, dominant, prepared, hates to be bored, confident, opinionated, analytical, prepares for worst case scenarios, organized, orderly, clean, driven, resourceful, finishes most things they start, achieving, risk taker, desires fame/acclaim, image focused, narcissistic, arrogant, perfectionist, driven, academic, scientific, critical, avoids giving in to others, does not like to compromise, skeptical

Happy Holi

2009-03-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

It is the time again - the festival of colors... Wish you all a very happy holi from Me and R.

Just another random post

2009-03-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

I know there is no point in saying I am back once more, to vanish to thin air after posting one or two posts, so , no, I am not back. But I am alive, and kicking. I think all those who used to visit this place are long gone, and this is like a abandoned warehouse...

Past couple of weeks, I was kind of totally away from net - no blog, not much tweets, no orkut, no chat sessions...the reason being, I was entrusted with some rather heavy responsibilities at my workplace, and that kind of robbed my online life.

Though I am always a hard core Royal Enfield Bullet fan, I never liked the Royal Enfield Thunderbird much - Till LJ loaned me his Red eye for a couple of days, couple of months back. Now Red Eye is again back in my hands, and this time, I let her go completely, and man, I love every moment I ride her. She do have her share of quirks, but hey, she is from the RE stable, and a bike without some quirks is not a RE product. I love the way she scares the traffic and the way she pulls and pulls - thanks to couple of well thought out mods by LJ, and the padded seat is like a recliner chair. LJ, your red-eye rocks. (and yeah, Jeevs is getting some well needed rest, and I am sure he is happy about that. who will not love some rest after a long hard day of work)

I think I will have more time n my hands from this week, and I don’t plan to abandon this place - so if any of you still drop down here, thanks for coming and keep coming.

ps: if you love Dilbert, you may like to take a look here- a HUGE repository of Dilbert strips - from the very first one...

(Img courtsy: http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Dilbert/gallery/Dilbert-02/)

Violet Morning...

2009-02-16T01:12:00.001-08:00

Violet Morning..., originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

Clicked this one when we went for a morning walk at lalbagh - couple of friends from the blogsphere met at lalbag last sunday for a morning walk, and it was fun - i have never been to lalbagh much, and it was a totally new experience watching the park at 7 am.

Q&A

2009-02-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

silverlining tagged me and herz my take on it...

1)What is your occupation?

I Play around with computers... ;)

2)What colour are your socks now?

Black

3)What are you listening to now?

Bob Marley

4)What was the last thing you ate?

Masala Dosa

5)Can you drive a stick shift?

Yes.

6)Last person you spoke to on phone?

My brother

7)Do you like the person who sent you this?

Yup, though havn't met her :)

8)How old are you today?

Age? thatz just a mathematical function...

9)What is your favourite sport to watch on TV?

F1.

10)What are your favourite drinks?

Coffee.

11)Have you ever dyed your hair?

yup

12)Favourite food?

dont ask this Q to one who is pursuing his PhD in gastronemics... :P

13)Last movie watched?

The Art of war (and slep when the movie was half way :P - the last movie i fully watched is Cassanova)

14)Favourite day of the year?

All the days.

15)How do you vent out your anger?

mostly by having a good verbal showdown inside my head.

16)Favourite toy as a child?

automobiles

17)Favourite season?

Rain and cold.

18)Do you want your friends to email you?

what a Q? of course...

19)When was the last time you cried?

dont remember... but not in this year.

20)What is on the floor of your closet?

newspaper

21)Who is the friend you have had the longest?

J and S - they r my friends from my Pre KG.

22)What did you do last night?

Played NFS-MW (Need For Speed-Most Wanted), read a malayalam noval and of course, slept.

23)What are you most afraid of?

loosing my freewill and freedom.

24)Plain,cheese or spicy hamburger?

depends on the mood :)

25)Favourite dog breed?

Bulldog (coz i love Spike the bulldog ;) )

26)Favorite day of the week?

All days.

27)How many states have you lived in?

two

28)Diamond or pearl?

Either of them (not to use, but to give gift)

29)What is your wish for this new year?

grant me the strength to remain happy :)

30)New year resolutions?

Nothing

i want to resume blogging - i really want. but I dont feel like writing anything... I do read most of the blogs, but I dont comment on many - please bear with me.. will soon start spamming ur pages...

(on a sidenote, met with Tys, Madhumitha,Ziah and Vivek - and had a superb time - and forgot to click snaps... duh!)

pretty white...

2009-01-21T22:39:00.001-08:00

DSC_0681, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

taken some weeks back at Nandi hills, the last biking trip before I got the status upgrade :)

rails and roads...

2009-01-20T20:50:00.001-08:00

You know what is most depressing about day time train journeys? Itz them, the roads.

You can see the roads twisting and snaking along the rail track - smooth flat tarmacs, single lane country roads, dusty mud trails - name it and you can see them - you can see them so close that you can touch them, yet they are so far that you cant touch them, and it brings you memories of riding - piloting your bike through the twists and turns, the wind on your face, the control at your fingers, the dust, the music of the engine, the sun and the tea at the road side tea stall and the freedom - the freedom to follow any trail you choose at your own will - and it makes you wonder why are you sitting in a train compartment and watching it like you sit back at the movie house and watching the action unfold than being a part of the action.

But when all said and done, train journey hold itz own charm - the chai wallahs, the food at train platforms, the 'almost forgot' lazy village stations, the bustle and hustle at the major stations, the wide verity of people you come across, the cross section of country where you live, the music of the wheels, the door steps - itz the next charming way to travel than by road.

Lone Wolf en-caged!

2009-01-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

Long crazy lone rides….
Night outs with me, myself and my bike….
Working my a** out like there is no tomorrow….
Getting drenched in rain and giving no hoots to what others say…
Lazing around the whole day on my bean bag, with mugs of coffee, books, songs and my xbox...

Enjoying Life and its simple pleasures as a solitary traveler, I was a happy simple single soul till I met her and talked to her – and then I realized I have a void in my life which I never realized… a space which needs to be filled…

A charming smile, a warm heart, she took me by storm and I decided hang up my bachelors hat….. I am extremely happy to tell you that we – Me and Ramya, celebrated our engagement ceremony on Jan 16th, 2009.

Yeah, i am happy and I feel like a teenager out for his first date...

The New Year Meme

2009-01-05T21:23:00.001-08:00

Thanks Pratsie, for this meme:

1. Looking back on 2008, what might your theme song have been?

Gasolina... just for the foot tapping beats. the last year was a heady mix for me, and so this song. and yeah, the song is 'gasolina', which runs in my vein ;)

2. If 2008 was a movie, who would play you?

I Me Myself

3. What was your greatest gift of 2008?

Happy days

4. What is your New Year Resolution or, what are you committing to this year?

No New Year resolution for me...

5. If January could be represented by one song, what would it be?

till now, oo January from a malayalam movie Big B (adaptation of the english movie Four Brothers) (again, not for the lyrics or meaning, but for teh celebration mood.

6. What do you wish for your body in 2009?

More flexibility, stamina, faster reflexes and of course, more health.

7. Name one new thing you would love to try in the New Year.

Only One? Bungee Jumping (a random pick from the list of things I wanna do)

8. What do you long for 2009 to bring?

More Happy days

9. If that happened, how would you feel?

Happy

10. Where would you love to vacation in 2009 if money were no object?

A road trip across everywhere and nowhere...

11. What would you like the theme of 2009 to be?

Happy days

12. If 2009 was a book, and the title was 5 words or less, what might the title be?

A Celebration called Life

Saw this ad and man - this IS the bike I want... move away R1s and Busas and Blades, I need you, the Duke...

KTM Duke - Funny bloopers R us

Happy times...

2009-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

I think at lest some if you may have wondered where did I go awol - the truth is, no where. I didn’t go any where (well, other than a trip to Chennai and a hitchhiking trip to kerala) but I was feeling lazy to the bone...

I was blog hoping as usual and saw this tag at damsels page and then I read Ps's blog about writing down 5 things which makes you happy and I decided... this is the best way to break my lazy spell... so here it is - a partial list of things which makes me happy... (they r not in any particular order)

1. Rain- it makes me feel at ease...

2.My diaries..:)

3.the sea..

4. calvin and hobbes!!:), P.G.wodehouse, and archies!!!!

5.tom and jerry.

6.Blogs of Tys and many more

7.my college and school

8. my friends

9. the old greeting cards and gifts from college days

10. my collection of automobile magazines and posters

11. my books

12. cooking

13. babies

14. bird's nest

15. playing in the puddle

16. kite running

17. long solitary walks

18. cold.. the more cold it is, the more i love the weather. (I love the weatehr at Bangalore now)

19. times with my friends, the silly talks and all that...

20. Indian coffee house

21. Filter coffee

22. My toolkit

23. working on my bikes and car

24. Long rides on my bikes

25. Train journeys

26. travelling

27. star gazing

29.powercuts

30. rainbows

31. busy getting lazy

32. NFS

33. listening to songs

34. working out

35. trekking

36. ice creams

37. bobbanum moliyum, mayavi and kapeesh

38. Royal Enfield Bullet

39. airtel tune by ARR

40. making my friends smile

41. the 5 minutes sleep, just before I get up...

42. swimming and playing in water

the list goes on....

I would love to read the list of Gazal, Ps, Cess, Anamika, Kochu, Nikhil, Tys and Tia and of any one who would like to do this...

Some snaps I took from the recent Chennai trip:

Goin on...and on.. and on...

2008-12-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

From 33333.3 to 44444.4 in about 10 months... not so bad considering the fact that I was not riding much this year.

Thanks a lot buddy - you mean a lot to me and each and every passing kilometer makes me

happy that I chose you.

2008-12-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

Never I thought all is white and black.
Said people, if you trust-
broken heart is what you will be left with,
but I said, for every broken trust-
i will find ten another
For my trust is not on a man, but on mankind
and one is not whole, but an isle
in the land of Atlantis
Each small piece of trust broken
leaves me a little hollow
but like a ball thrown down
bounce back, I will.
A forfeited smile, a sublime betrayal
will never break the trust
for the forest is not a tree.

This is for you, my friend - the trust you broke today will make place my trust on others with more confidence, and I will keep doing it till I am the last man standing... I promise to myself that betrayals will never take me down, but will make me bounce back harder...

points..

2008-12-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Point 1: Last weekend was hectic - and I discovered a new love - Cycling. The new partner in crime is a slick blue Firefox Fusion - i am now totaly in love with the light weight blue bird or a cycle. Ove rthe last weekend, I put a considearble amount of mileage and did some quick speed runs (and clocked 50+ kmph at ORR, near Marathahally)

Point 2: After a really long gap, I got contact details of a friend and called her up - it was after 10 years we are talking to each other, and man, it really felt good.

Point 3: If any of you like karnatic music, do check out this - Alaipayuthe, new classical album from Yesudaas.

Awesome is not enough.

(If you go to that link, look for teh album Alayipayuthe - i am not able to get a permalink to the album) And yeah, songs from Oye Lucky Lucky Oye! - love them too..

Point 4: NFS is reclaiming me.. ANd I enjoy re-living the old gaming days... and no, I am not playing the latest NFS Undercover, but the old NFS MW.

Point 5: I cook dinner regulerly now, and I am enjoying every moment of it. (Poor my room mate - i dont think I can say same about him ;) )

Point 6: there is no point 6. itz time to get back to work... December is a busy and hectic month... :|

I refuse...

2008-12-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

Open the newspaper any day, and chances are that you will see some news about terror in some parts of our country.

Do you live in a shadow of terror? Do you think twice before you get out of your home? Do you think you are still ready to take that road trip / vacation / outing without some nagging worry in your mind? Would you think twice before heading to a shopping mall or a cinema hall?

I don’t. I feel safe walking down the street. I feel happy riding my bike to there and nowhere. This is MY home. Some insane lunatics can’t take this from me. If you see cockroaches in your house, do you live in a state of fear? Or do you take preventive measures to eradicate them from your space?

I agree that our country is vulnerable. I know that most of our politicians are useless and are interested only in playing poli-trics and making money.
But I will not let that knowledge plant a seed of fear in my mind.

But I know that our army will fight till their last breath before the enemy sets foot in our soil. I refuse to live in a shadow of perpetual terror - for I believe, the moment you succumb to terror, the elements who want to disrupt India wins. The ultimate aim of all the terror attacks is to make people live in a state of fear, and I refuse to be a victim.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once." - Julius Ceaser.

rants

2008-12-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

Am I a feminist?

(This blog is inspired by Usha’s blog. If you have not read it, take few moments to read the blog. )

Dictonary.com says feminism is the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. By that definition, yes, I am a staunch feminist.

I don’t believe in discrimination of any kind. Man or women, at the end, all are separate individuals. And all individuals have equal rights.
I was hoping around in the blogsphere and I saw a blog where the author has written a comment made by author’s friend “A new women joined our office and she got promoted. Obviously, she slept her way around” - I was like – man, wtf. If it is a guy who got promoted, will any one say he got promoted coz he slept around? I hardly see that.
I see lot of discrimination happening around women around me.I have heard many of my friends saying that they hate men because of the experience they had. But when I think about it, I have friends who hate women because of the experiences they had.

In my opinion, generalizing people under a gender is something which one should not do. I have seen many women bloggers saying "never trust a man" and I have seen an equal number of guys’ blogging "never trust women". If you look around, you can see the good, bad and ugly in both the genders. Michael Schumacher is a guy - does that mean all guys are good drivers? Absolutely not. I have seen guys who should not even be allowed to come near a car or a bike, driving merrily to their hearts content. I have seen excellent women drivers who can give any man a run for their money. But that does not prove that all women are excellent drivers.

It is all in the individuals. Why drag gender/cast/creed/color and build barricades? Why cant people be taken as individuals and appreciated / abhorred for what they are, than taking examples and generalize the whole?

Hm. Now I realize I started this blog from one topic, and then went to another topic.. digression digression… the ban of a wandering mind.

IF you are a mallu, watch this video – this is hilarious. I got this from Manu’s blog…

Lori maari poyi….

Happy B'day, Veenzie...

2008-12-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

Wish you a very very happy b'day, veenzie. You are always dear to me, and I know we will be like this in future also.

I wish you more and more happiness, peace and blissfulness in your life and I wish life will present you with a smile, what ever the circumstances may.

Be there always and keep making our life fantastic by adding more and more sunshine as you keep doing.

((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))

Geek Comics

2008-12-01T05:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Vibhu, I found something which made me laugh all the way. Try them and may be you will laugh too...

twiddected.. completely

2008-11-25T23:22:00.001-08:00

Tweeples, i am getting twiddected. now itz the first thing i check, whetehr on my workstation,lappy or even on my mobile.. and tworld is fascinating. Now, when i get some free time, I explore twitter to find out more twittizens - the real time time line is fun.

if any of you use twitter, drop a twitt - http://twitter.com/theexperthand

Observe...

2008-11-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

saw this videos at rearsets blog and to tell the truth, i failed the test miserabily...

take time to watch this, and think about this when you drive next time...

(though it is aimed at cyclists, it is relevent in many fileds of life... just wondering - do we really observe things or do we just pass through them, sleeping with our eyes wide open...)

ps: this videos are made by Transport For London (TFL), and can be seen at http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

happy b'day, Dear Friend

2008-11-21T07:16:00.000-08:00

For being the wonderful human being you are....

For being the fighter you are....

For being the allrounder you are...

For not giving up when the world said you cannot do it, for fighting silently when the ray of hope was not even a distant spec, for making our life woderful by just being there....

Wish you a very very happy b'day...

Ps: sorry for disabling the comments - comments will b bk from next post :)

The list...

2008-11-19T21:23:00.000-08:00

Picked thsi list from Monikas blog..

U got to bold what u have done

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain (well, not a mountain, but hills)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula (me and spider - NO WAY :P )

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said “I love you” and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne (havnt got drunk yet ;) )

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (why just a moment, I feel happy about my life, all teh time :) )

39. Had two hard drives for your computer (just two? )

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk

42. Had amazing friends (had? still have LOT fo amazing friends)

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched whales

45. Stolen a sign (yeah, I have stolen teh sign of peace from many peoples heart ;) )

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day (almost all teh day - had to get out for food)

60. Played touch football

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theatre

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (not D&D, but NFS :) )

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days (yes, only on water and coffee)

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on a television news program as an “expert” (does newspaper count? )

83. Gotten flowers for no reason (nope, but have given )

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music (yeah, soundforge rocks )

87. Eaten shark

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking with the windows open (sang loudly, yes - but never noticed if any one is looking )

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication (yeah, but they never published it :P )

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a TV game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet (want to do it )

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period

123. Visited more foreign countries than India

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (not one, but many)

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (killed - yes, prepared - yes.. but not the same)

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language (language? cant even write a program now and you are asking language.. :P )

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts (love doing that - still I do it for my friends)

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head (just couple of weeks back...)

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

59 / 100 hm.. lotsa things to do :-D

tags.. tags...

2008-11-18T23:19:00.001-08:00

this tag is from Cess, and herez my answers...

1. Who are you?

--xh--

2. Are we friends?

blog pals now.

3. Something I have and YOU want?

hm.. sunny days?

4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.

hm.. sunflower.. coz u love sun so much...

5. Describe me in one word.

nice

6. What was your first impression of me?

Nikon, Food, Wine - I am gng to enjoy her blogs...

7. Do you still think that way about me now?

yeah

8. What reminds you of me?

nothing in particular...

9. If you could give me anything what would it be?

More sun?

10.How well do you know me?

Not Much...

11.How do you see me in the future?

see as in? do u plan to come in my dreams? :P

12.Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't

hm.. ok, lemme try - whatz the tattoo you are having?

13. Are you going to post this in your blog and see what I say about you?

yeah, you are reading it in my blog :)

I am not tagging any one, but will be great if you will do it @ the comments section... and yeah, I ment you.

The second tag is frm Monica - The Tagaddiction.

Bikes, cars, Bus, lorry - anything that have got an engine - Automobiles are an integral part of my life

Books _ i love reading and I love collecting books...

Music - I listen to songs almost all the time I am awake - and I listen to anything - from classical (bach / carnatic) to EDM.

Cooking - my roomamate is a living testimoney that I can cook edible food... poor guy - dunno when he will file a suit to stop me from making him my guinea pig ;)

Google, Blogs, My Camera, Chocolates, Coffee, twitter, friends - my addiction list goes on adn on...

Thanks for the tags, Cess and Monika :-D

a random update...

2008-11-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Jeevs 3rd b'day - itz ben theree yers since we have met each other and we have been through thick and thin, and 3 years and 43,000+ kilometers later, when I look back, I am glad that I have him besides me, ever ready to whisk me from this world to a place where I am free, where I live a life of no worries... where nothing else matters...

From Jeevs @ night

I have been to kerala for a short visit and this time, me and 2 of my friends drove down to kerala - we took my friends Hyundai i10, and man, it is a nice l'll car for some nice highway jaunts - nimble, fast and surefooted, the l'll car is sure fun to drive.

The NFS Undercover have been released.. thinking whether to get it now or not... if any of you have tried it, temme howz the game...
ps: if any one out there want to tag me, most welcome... :)

D'Vali-08

2008-11-03T03:05:00.001-08:00

Itz tag Time

2008-11-03T02:39:00.000-08:00

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by them.

[I don’t dislike any, so I’m not replacing any question]

RULE #2 Tag 6 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by.

[I was tagged by Aarthi]

Continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?

hm.. will bounce back and carry on with my life.

2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?

only one? that is so unfair :P

3. Why do you blog?

I blog coz i love to blog.

4. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

Nope. (She is committed ;P )

5. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?

Being loved by someone whom you love.

6. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?

Till I get bored.

7. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?

I will wish her all teh best and will be happy that she found teh one for her :)

8. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?

Child Labor

9. What takes you down the fastest?

Whatever it may, i make sure it dont makes me keep there for long :P

10. What resurrects you the fastest?

Myself

11. What’s your fear?

No fears. The moment you give in to your fear, you lose the battle.

12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

Dont know her personally. Feels she is some one nice and it is always a treat to read her blogs...

13. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?

Dose it matter?

14. What’s the purpose of such Tags?

To know the author better...

15. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously whom will you pick?

That is not a situation I would like to be in.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?

Nope.

17. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?

Forgive, but forget not.

18. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?

Currently, single.

19. Who/what inspired you to start blogging?

I was always keen on blogging, and started it when I found that company have given me access/

20. Tag 6 people.

I am tagging only three - Winnepoohie, pratz and Cess.

2009, here we come

2008-11-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, perfection is not enough...

Massa drove so beautiful, outdoing himself lap after lap, setting blazingly fast lap timings, pulling clean pit stops - he was clearly in a class of his own.

Two laps to finish, and Sebastian Vettel is almost on the gearbox of Hamilton - and then under tension, Hamilton slid wide , and Vettel passed Hamilton - the tension was high in the room... silent prayers, beating hearts, tension filled moments - last lap, Massa takes the chequered flag, and as we erupt to a collective shout of euphoria, at the last corner, Timo Glock loses his speed and Hamilton passes him to grab his 5th position - an almost unheard cry left my throat, watching the moment when the perfect is defeated by the mediocre...

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali paid tribute to Massa, commenting: “Felipe has grown so much, year after year, demonstrating his talent and personality, answering his critics with his driving and with his mind. He has had an amazing season and would have deserved the title. That's sport, it can sometimes be cruel.”

Filipe, you did well. We are proud of you.

After 143 days, let us show them again….
(Stefano Domenicali's comment and picture - courtsey F1.com)

KLUELESS4 -Addiction has a new address!

2008-10-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

I know I am not regular on my blogs, and I havnt visited many of your posts - I really thought i will be active again from yesterday, but thne I got this link from Sandhya - Klueless4 - the new name of addiction.

Now I am stuck at leavel 25. If any of you ahev finished, clues are most welcome.. If any of you needs clues, hapy to help.

(Nids, where are you? )

EDIT: We -Me and Cheeze, finished the game at last. And we are now going to atack the next one. *raising a toast of JD*

Nothing Much...

2008-10-18T00:55:00.000-07:00

I picked up a set of colors and brushes when I went for the book launch of 34BGAC, and after much delibration, put them to some use today.

It do feel good, playing with colors after a really long break, and I have a long way to go to reach where I was before, but what the heck, I am happy :-D nd that is what all matters.

And then he said..Let there be light

2008-10-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Ps: Aravind Adiga won Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his book The White Tiger

COngratz...

The White Tiger

2008-10-02T23:18:00.001-07:00

Simple, straightforward and different - Aravind Adigas The white tiger do warrants a read just for the fact that it is different from most of the other Indian novels - here you will hear the story of Balram Halwai and his journey from rags to riches.

Balram Halwai is an average Indian - born in a village and raised and conditioned to be servant - this is his story - the story of entrepreneurship and breaking free, the story of how he transformed himself to become one among the entrepreneurs who made their life - the story of Truth about India, as Balram says.

The story unfolds in a series of letters, written to Chinese premier, and follows the path he took to reach where he is today. There are lot of remarks in the book which will leave behind an impression - "In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days there are two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies." - like this.

Adiga have succeeded in capturing the outlook of the poor man about the ways of modern world and the quest of the poor to make it to the rich, and as a side story, he puts light on the true condition of the politics and business - a place where money and power talks.

The author paints the difference between the 'darkness' and the modern world - the entrepreneurs paradise, the call center heaven, the IT city - places like Gurgaon and Bangalore, and he have done it with remarkable effect.

There is no boardroom drama, there is no cut throat business competition, there is no glamorous world of fashion, pubs and high society, but there is a stark naked world of truth - a world where pot bellies are made and cash and shrewdness rules the roost.

Give it a try - I liked it.

Boca Grande

2008-09-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

I love this place - it is as simple as that.

Boca Grande is situated almost diagonally opposite to Koramangala police station (bangalore), so near but away from the crowd. The place is kind of hidden from the view by the trees, and if you really don’t look for it, you may lose it easily.

Parking is not great, but passable, and there are by lanes if you find that there is no free space in front of BG.
The place is spacious and have lot of seating options - the simple task of deciding where to sit - do u want to sit outside, under the tree, or do you want to lounge on those sofas or do you want the wooden benches or do u want some nicely lit corners – it is as tough as choosing something to eat.

The service is nice - they don’t hover near your table or keep asking for orders - they serve you the food and let you continue in your world - the pin up "Don’t look at time, it comes free with the food" says all. (they have got lot of nice and interesting quotes on pin ups)

The selection of food is equally good and tasty - and for a change, vegetarians are not left behind for choices. The Chicken ceasar salad I ordered was nice and the garden salad my friend ordered didn’t disappoint at all. The chicken and mushroom soup was good, but not really impressive, but the potato wedges where quiet good and crispy, without being too much oily. They make some good pizzas, and the Chicken Cordon Blue and grilled chicken with saltimbocca were impressive. The Chocolate milk shake was thick ad creamy, but the litchi milkshake was a tad too sweet for our liking.

They have some awesome desserts and thick and creamy milk shakes and for chai lovers, they do have good verity.

The place is ideal for an unwind session with friends and they do have board games if you are in a mood for a group game. All in all, a place worth dropping in - if you are in and around Koramangala and need a place to while away some time, away from the rush, this can be your ticket.

Oh, and before I forgot, they have a designer dress boutique inside-Irah – some nice designs on display, and they do extensive customization.

thnx winnipoohie, for introducing me to this place.

Questions...

2008-09-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

I was bloghopping as usual, reading and commenting, making most of a lazy Monday morning, and then I saw the post by Crystal

She have given a set of Questions and asked for the answers - and I love the set of questions.

I liked them so much that I just had to share them with you,

so here you go with the questions and my answers.

Do answer them, either @ the comment section or at your blog (if you do it at your blog, leave a link), I would love to know your answers...

The most powerful force in life?
Self Confidence

The greatest asset?
The belief that I can do it

The most powerful channel of communication?
Open talk

The most important thing in life?
Freedom

The greatest joy?
Being happy

The worst thing to be without?
a free mind

The greatest loss?
self esteem

The most worthless emotion?
Guilt

The most effective sleeping pill?
a worry free mind

The most satisfying work?
any work as long as you are happy doing it

The greatest problem to overcome?
lack of self confidence

The best attire?
Constructive ego

The most crippling disease?
Destructive Ego

The most dangerous pariah?
Blind Envy

The two most powerful words?
I can

And the greatest attitude?
I.

Carburetor tuning - a detailed picture

2008-09-18T22:14:00.001-07:00

Dont read it - it is nothing but some tech rant, which will go over your head unless you love your bike and love getting your hands dirty...

I am posting it here to preserve it.

Before I start, one word of friendly advice - more often than not, carburetor is best left untouched. If you really want to play around with your carb, make sure you have the required knowledge, and tools. Carb is a very vital part of your bike, and properly tuning it is no Childs play.

Unicorns use a Keihin CV carburetor - in a CV (Constant Velocity / constant vacuum) carburetor the throttle cable is linked not to the throttle slide as in a conventional carb, but it activates a butterfly valve, and when you open the throttle, the air pressure difference between the sealed chamber above the vacuum slid and inside carburetor venturi forces the slide up and down. the slide is located in front of the butterfly valve. A CV carb gives good mileage, and adjusts better to altitude changes, but the throttle response is not as fast as of a conventional carb.

In a CV carb, the amount of air is controlled by the butterfly valve and the amount of fuel is controlled by drop in pressure, and the jets.

In a nutshell, to tune a carburetor properly, you need most suitable main jet, proper needle height / clip position and optimum float height.

The carburetor has a number of different jets, passages and orifices to control the precise amount of fuel and air flow into engine. Engine idle, part throttle, full throttle and acceleration uses different passages, and are referred commonly as 'circuit'. Practically, more than one circuit will be functioning at a time.

the basic circuits are - choke, idle circuit, midrange/main, high-speed/power enrichment and accelerator pump. Though these circuits overlap, all of these have their primary functions.

Choke helps is cold start and warm up.

Idle circuit controls the idle speed and some low end throttle response. The main function of the idle circuit is to control the idle circuit. It is controlled by slow speed jet and air fuel mixture screw.

Midrange - as the throttle is progressively opened, the flow through idle circuit gets reduced. In this range, the most effective component is the jet needle. Midrange is characterized by steady throttle and light acceleration. Generally the throttle opening will be from a quarter to three quarter of the full range. If you feel your mixture is rich when you are at a quarter throttle, and as you open the throttle further, if you feel the mixture is becoming lean, then you need a jet needle with larger taper. If the feeling is the opposite, then what you need is a small taper jet needle. If the mixture is lean throughout the range, then you need to raise the jet needle by lowering the clip position, and vice versa. From the moment the throttle is opened, till you open it really wide, it is the jet need which controls the flow.

High-speed/power - it is controlled by main jet. A rich mixture will provide more power, and will keep the engine cool. If you have tuned your carburetor lean, then don’t ride with throttle wide open much - it is not good in long run. so, the safe practice is to install a main jet which is one size higher than the one which offers best performance - it will help the engine in long run.

Accelerator pump - usually, this needs no adjustment. If you feel a stumble (a temporary lean condition when you suddenly open the throttle), you can widen the gap on the pump linkage, to delay the timing.

The simple and best way of setting a carb is to set the different circuits with ideal conditions for their primary functions. So, set the air fuel mixture and idle jet for best idle, set the needle for cruising at a steady speed (midrange) and set the main jet for wide open throttle.

Remember - carburetor tuning is and art, compromising lot of experience, lot of science and a bit of black magic... :)

(I express my gratitude to many websites which taught me the basics of carburetor tuning.)

Google says it...

2008-09-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this meme in many blogs, and today, where you google "your name + needs" and list the first 10 results.

i was googling as usual for some stuff and suddenly, I got the idea to goole for "Anoop needs", and here is what I got - and teh result did surprize me - for, the 10th item was actually about me, written by one of my best friend, in his blog, long time back... *wide grin*
so here is what Google think I needs

1) Anoop needs to make drawings that are more complete

hm..now it is a known secret that my sketching talent leaves a lot to be desired.. and now Google have officially proclaimed it :P
(btw - here is one of the last sketches I did, about 4-5 years back. Plan to start sketching again, and some day, I may feed you forcefully with my merciless massacre of lines and curves)

2) Anoop needs to turn 7 more or gain 162 more Vampire points to reach the next level

now now, I have never been much of a Facebook fan, but I did play the Vampire game some time back.. Never knew Google kept a close tab on me.. Big brother is watching....

3) Anoop needs help in expr. essing his ideas mor. e clearl

hm, i do think at times, i need the help. Good old Google uncle knows what I need... :) anybody there want to volunteer?

4) Goshhh, Anoop needs some kind of contract for singing

It is very hard to keep your secret life secret - I tell you. Googleman knows how Good I sing and says I need a contract.. hear hear...

5) Anoop needs to ...

ok, now, are you playing some kind of a game? this is what I asked you, Mr.Google. And I need an answer.

6) It sounds as if Anoop needs to wait for one process to finish before starting the next

my oh my - can you be more wrong. I think I am the king of multitasking :P

7) I very much doubt Anoop needs all this publicity

yeah, so true.. you, out there - please turn off that spot light on me... man, my hand aches after signing all these autographs... google knows whatz best for me.. ;)

8) looks like anoop needs more and more votes, he is still at 4th place

now, isn't this sweet. this one is really about me. before I started blogging here, I used to blog @ yahoo. Once yahoo selected 10 best blogs across the whole yahoo 360 and conducted a voting to see which will come as the best blog. My blog was in the list, and when the voting was over, I got 4th :-D

9) Susan, a developer in California, learns that her colleague Anoop needs to build Susan's software component at the Indian development lab

Now, this is very close to reality.... very very close :-D

10) Anoop needs to turn 4 more or gain 91 more Slayer points to reach the next level.

then vampire, now slayer... hm... the eye sees it all....

I dont tag anyone, other than cess, who is automatically tagged... If anyone finds it interesting, feel free to take it up :-D

A date with books

2008-09-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Harini tagged me and man, this is a tag I love to do :-D

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

my parents encouraged me to read - they used to get me boks from Prabath book house - it was not a conventional book store, but a big red bus. they used to have stories translated from russian. I used to read a lot of them and then i joined the library at my dads village when i was in school. I always liked ot read, and i grew up listening tales of indian mythology from my grandma and reading russian flok tales from the books.

It was my friends shyam who introduced me to English litereture. I started reading english books when i was doing 1st year Pre-University. And I started with Hardy boys :-D

What are some books you read as a child?

Lot of flok tales from russia, malayalam novels and short stories. I used to look at Mirror and Misha - two russian magazines - Our library used to get them and my dad used to bring them home. Though I could not read and understand them, I used to look and imagine the life there.

What is your favourite genre?

Anything other than sweet-sticky-mushy romance.

Do you have a favourite novel?

A lot, and I have said about them many times in my blog.

Where do you usually read?

I read at almost any place. If I am at home, I love lounging on my beanbag. I have the habit carrying the book I am currently reading with me when I go anywhere so that if I have to wait, I can read and pass time.

When do you usually read?

Any free time I can get

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Nope. I kind of like to read one at a time.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

Nope. I ain't a advocate of descrimination :P

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

Buy them most fo the time, borrow them once in a while - but I borrow from those who I am really comfortabel with, and I lend to those whom I am really comfy with.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

Yes, I keep them. I want to ahve a library of my own :-D

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

Yes, i think so. but only thing is, now I dont see much russian folk tales and the books I used ot read as kids. I would suggest Kerala, Bengali and Russian children's Literature

What are you reading now?

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

Yes. I start doing it eitehr wehn I read some reviews and like the book, or when I am almost ready for next visit to book store. But I always not necesserily goes by that list.

What books would you like to reread?

The list changes. Now on the top are - Kalam by MT Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam), My Childhood by Maxim Gorky and Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra.

Who are your favourite authors?

from Ayn rand to Grisham, From PG Wodehouse to Fritjof Capra, from Mt Vasudevan Nair to Shivarama Karanth, from Vijay Tendulkar to sadath Hasan manto, From Kafka to Khalid hosseini, the list goes on and on.

i tag..

Preetz, Veenzie, Winnipoohi, Tia, Prats, Tys and Cess - u r always tagged. I would love to tag Busy_writer too, but she is alredy tagged.

ps: If any of you read bengali literature, could you please ping me on my mail id? I am trying to get the name of some books I read during my school days, but i am not able to pinpoint them. Any help will be really appreciated.

Wish you all a Happy Onam.

2008-09-11T05:43:00.001-07:00

എല്ലാവക്കും എന്റെ സ്നേഹം നിറഞ്ഞ ഓണാശംസകള്‍

(Wish you all a very happy onam)

leaving on a jet plane

2008-09-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly. it is more like leaveing on a red train... no points for guessing, I am off to Kerala, my home for a short break. Plan to be back by 11th.

I have not replied to all your comments in the previous posts, and I am sorry - will reply to it as soon as I am back.

between winnipoohie gave me a very sweet award and I am quoting her verbatim

(yeah yeah, shameless elf promotion, I know. sue me :P )

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

Anoop Kumar is his name,

"xh" is his fame *winks*

A biker to the core

And many other talents, hidden in the core

Cooking and looking ?

Wining and dining

workoholic to the core

Romantic too.. can anyone ask for more?

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

I am giving this award to all in my blogroll :-D

Gato Negro Merlot

2008-09-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

When friends deicide to catch up over a lazy evening, what is better than to have a bottle of nice wine to make the evening more appealing?

Couple of my friend decided to have a mid week break as the Wednesday was a holiday. Now, it have almost become norm among my friends to let me choose the wine and we paid a late visit to Madhuloka, our favorite liquor boutique on Tuesday evening.

After some hunting around, I decided to try 2006 vintage Gato Negro Merlot, a medium bodied wine from Chile.

Gato Negro is one of the oldest brands from Chili, produced at the San Pedro region. Chili does produce some exceptionally good wines, so I had no qualms picking it up from the aisle.

Shyam did the honors with the bottle (we did manage to misplace the wine opener this time, and luckily, I had my Swiss army knife and he used the cork screw of the knife to uncork the wine :P ) and I must tell you, the wine proved very good value for what we paid.

The wine is medium bodies, with a well rounded taste. The wine have a fruit forward taste, and is predominantly pleasant jammy in taste. I believe the grapes grown in Chili is less acidic, owing to the sunny days, and it sure helps the Merlot to retain a smooth, velvet like experience. The wine went well with thandoori chicken and cheese, but however, the channa masala spiced up with pepper was not exactly a good match.

At 545 INR a bottle, the wine is not at all expensive, and I found it better than some pricier wines. The wine goes well with or without food, and is rich in flavor, but not overpowering. I won’t place it among the best out there, but it is one among the best entry level wine out there. If you fancy a easy on pocket, easy on palate merlot to make your evenings merry, this may be your ticket.

Wine, friends, poetry and a cool night sky, what a combination.
(I miss you Reggy Mina, and you are remembered fondly)

Chromed

2008-09-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

It was love at first sight - when i read the comic book about Google Chrome I knew it is something which is worth watching, and when Chrome went online, I promptly downloded it - and boy,it blew my expectations.
Chrome is neat. It is the browser version of google home page - neat, practical,fast and to the point. Chrome dont clogg CPU usage, and lets me do the work more fast, in a neat, well arranged package. Those who have seen my desktop will know that I dont like clutter, and chrome kind of made me a fan with the neat, clutter free lay out. It offers almost all FFX features, and makes a FFX user right at home.

There are some small details I would like chrome to improve on, but I am sure as the time goesz, it will come. And the icingof teh cake is that, Chrome is opensource.

here is a screenshot of my newfound love, Chrome

Read On...

2008-09-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

***warning:Long post ahead***

Usually, I dont blog forward mails. I love reading them and I do ask my friend to keep sending me forward mails. But blogging, I beloive, is a place for me to express myself.

But this mail was so much different, that I had to simplyy blog it. Many tims, we do lose sight of the hardword other put to make our life easy. When we work hard, cutting the deadlines, delivering the project in the stipulated budget, when we let our job guide our benchamark of hardwork, we lose sight of the amount of hardwork other do, and we tend to drive home the point across every one who care to listen that the work we do is the most strenoues work.

I can say from my heart that I dont think the work I do is strenous enough - yes yes, it is all true about the 'we use our brains, not muscles, it is not a matter of writing just few lines' part, and I agree with it, but that does not make the hard work of a daily labourer any less demanding. But I have often seen manyof my friends looking down at people who are not in IT, and saying, they dont know how tough our life is. well, this forward os for all those who think so.

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

A real story ...A gossip between a Solider and Software Engineer in

Shatabdhi Train .........An interesting and a must read!

Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the

air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdhi express could not cool his

frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air

travel. It was not the prestige he sought; he had tried to reason with the

admin person, it was the savings in time. As PM, he had so many things to

do!!

He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to

some good use.

"Are you from the software industry sir," the man beside him was staring

appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in

affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as

if it were an expensive car.

"You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today

everything is getting computerized."

"Thanks," smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always

found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stockily

built like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that

little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was

a railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass.

"You people always amaze me," the man continued, "You sit in an office and

write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside."

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naive ness demanded reasoning not anger. "It is

not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few

lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it."

For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development

Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement. "It is complex, very

complex."

"It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid," came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept

into his so far affable, persuasive tone. "

Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to

put in. Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work. Just because we sit

in an air-conditioned office, does not mean our brows do not sweat. You

exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less

taxing."

He could see, he had the man where he wanted, and it was time to drive home

the point.

"Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation

system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations

from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centres across the country.

Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time

concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the

complexity in designing and coding such a system?"

The man was awestruck; quite like a child at a planetarium. This was

something big and beyond his imagination.

"You design and code such things."

"I used to," Vivek paused for effect, "but now I am the Project Manager."

"Oh!" sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over,

"so your life is easy now."

This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted, "Oh come on, does life

ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work.

Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am

responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to

get the work done in time and with the highest quality.

To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always

changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else,

and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it yesterday."

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realization.

What he had said, was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the

truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.

"My friend," he concluded triumphantly, "you don't know what it is to be in

the Line of Fire".

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When

he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

"I know sir.... I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire......."

He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast

expanse of time.

"There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover

of the night.

The enemy was firing from the top.

There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for

whom.

In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolour at the top only 4 of us

were alive."

"You are a...?"

"I am Subedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil.

They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment.

But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier.

On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow,

open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker.

It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain sahib

refused me permission and went ahead himself.

He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put

the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and

welfare of the men he commanded... ....his own personal safety came last,

always and every time."

"He was killed as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the

bunker. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking

all those bullets, which were actually meant for me . I know sir....I know,

what it is to be in the Line of Fire."

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he

switched off the laptop.

It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a Word document in the presence of

a man for whom valor and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of

duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Subedar Sushant

picked up his bags to alight.

"It was nice meeting you sir."

Vivek fumbled with the handshake.

This hand... had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the

tricolour. Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his

right hand went up in an impromptu salute.

It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life

incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying

to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this

and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the

nation's highest military award.

Live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn!

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

Lety me finish this post with a snippet of comment i nicked from Prasanth bhai at Veenzies blog - "carry on living !!! its great :)"

whatz on ur desk, doc?

2008-09-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Got this tag from Sameera - This is how my desktop looks today. I keep changing my desktop picture frequently, and as you might have guesed, i use ONLY automobile pictures as my desktop background.

A bit about the bike - this is Ducati Hypermotard 1100S - the bike which right now tops my wish list. The wallpaper is downloaded from official Ducati site.
Now now, who all out there dare to bare (their desktop :P )

A must read - Devils Chronicles by Tys on Ice

2008-08-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was going through my mailbox and i end up clicking on the profile link of Tys on Ice - I always like his blogs, and I consider his as one of the most hilarious bloggers around - his sense of humour never fails to light up my day when i read his posts. I saw link to two anotehr blogs, and being a blogphile I am, I promptly clicked on the link to see what more is on store.

And then I found this -Devils Chronicles - One of the best story I have ever read in blog world.
I knew he was talented, but this story made me realise what a talented writer he is. All of you who like good fiction - go there and read, I am sure you will not be disapponited.

lost...

2008-08-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

rain....
strands of rain..
like a shadow
like a cold embrace

she traced her fingers on the windshield of the car. the fogged windows, the lines made by the water drops...

the paper boat
the drenched white petticoat
the long lost childhood
she sat back, lost in the rain

he looked out, trying to make out the penetrating yellow light beams. the winding road. The sleeping tea beds on the roads sides, enclosed in the blanket of mist.

warmth of a coffee mug
fresh Jasmin flowers after the rain...
the wet umbrellas
the overflowing paddy fields

the traveler he was. the crazy paths he trampled. the slow moving cars, the old man with a black umbrella. the stacked logs on the side of a roadside hotel. the lorrys stopped for rest. the gentle kiss of his leg against the throttle pedal. the soft feel of raindrops against his stubble.

the silence is more heavy
than the weight of a thousand words
she looking out, lost in the rain
he looking out, trying to find himself

and they - they traveled along, in different tangents but bonded by the physical presence...

the flowering grapevines...
the rain draped mountains...
and the long winding road, lost in mist...

Hungry?

2008-08-25T21:53:00.001-07:00

Thus spoke the wise

2008-08-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

I love quotes. At times when I have feelt I have no power left in me to fight, I have come across words so powerful that the very next moment I was back with full energy, trying to achieve what I thought I am not going to do.

Tia tagged me recently with a "list-5-of-ur-fav-quotes" tag. This is something I love to do, and here goes my favorite quotes.

1) “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” From Old man And the Sea by Hemingway

2)"I stand at the end of no tradition.I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one"From The Fountainhead by AynRand

3)" I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine" From Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

4) "I have what I have given" - Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

5) "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" - Godfather by Mario Puzo

There are many more quotes which are near ot my heart from all these books, but I have limited myself by choosing one from each book. The next in this list will be Jonathan Livingston Seagull,Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Tao of Physics, Fathers and sons, The Prophet... the list goes on...

I tag WinniPoohie, Sameera, meghz, Preetz and ~nm. And cess, u r always tagged ;-)

Klueless 3

2008-08-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was back to active blogging and was clearing my backlog slowly when I stumbled up on the link to Kluless3.
For those who are new to kluless, it is a puzzle game made by students of IIMI for their annual Management Festival - IRIS. This is the third iteration of the game and it is challenging and addictive to the core.
From the moment I got the link, I started playing around with it, but my monitor decided to play the spoil sport, so i had to call it quits after level 4 (or was it 5). Today I started cracking it again during the free time and by evening, I solved all the leavles. Now i can go hoem and sleep well :)
(thanks Meena and ~nm for teh two clues :) )

If you like solving puzzles, try this - it wont disappoint you.
Try playing it, and if you stuck at any level, ask for clues :)

Horsley Hills, a trip log.

2008-08-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

Phew! it sure feels good to be back here. I know I have been neglecting this place so long that I can almost see cow webs hanging around.

Almost one month of a crazy schedule is over, and life is back to almost normal.
I was so looking forward for this weekend to take a break, and started making plans for a three day getaway. But all the initial plans came crashing down when I realized that I had to be around here coz I might be working on Friday, so we - me and my friend Sivaram, started re planning and scouting for possible routes.
The incessant rain made it sure that most of the plans I had will not be feasible, and then I saw a thread @ BN mailing list about a ride to Horsley hills. A quick call to Vasnath and I was all set for the ride.

The grouping point was hanging bridge near KR Puram, and I reached there by 5.25. Soon one by one, the nomads started arriving and after a set of quick hellos, we started the ride. The road was good, and early morning traffic was not heavy, but once we took the turn after Hoskote to Chintamni, the roads became smooth and inviting. Every one was in the rhythm, soaking up the sweet fresh early morning air and enjoying the smooth, traffic free roads.

After a small sutta break and some more miles behind, we stopped at a small village hotel for some delicious breakfast. Soon after Chintamani, the roads stated deteriorating, and the next few kilometers where pothole filled - the road was bumpy and almost resembled a caterpillar ride in an amusement park. Once we crossed the border and entered Andhra Pradesh, the roads became butter smooth, and soon our steeds started ripping the black ribbon.

A detour en-route took us to Rishi Valley School. I fell in love with the place the moment I saw it - If I can, I want my kids to study there. Click here and read more about the school. The place is calm and quiet, serene and green.

(This snap of white Lilly is for a blogger - I remember reading in a blog the author saying her favorite flower is white Lilly - I am sorry i forgot who it was, but this is for you, my drea blogmate.)

We met some of the students and saw the display of some of their talents. Some of us (I think it was professor, but I am not sure who it was) asked "what do the students generally choose as a career once they are out of the school" and Jitu, a 7th standard student gave a prompt reply - "Something like agriculture or other options." Imagine asking the same question to a student from most of the educational institutions, and I am sure you wont come across many who have the same answer.

After spending close to two hours exploring the campus, we traced our route back to the highway and then to Horsley hills. The road was better than when I visited last time, and we didn’t waste time but started devouring the twisties soon.

After a small on-the-rocks session and enjoying 'hot' chilli bajjis, we parked our bikes and started scouting the area.
After rounding it up by a nice buffet from the AP tourism hotel, we started our journey back by 2.30. This time, we took another route - around 50 kilometers extra - one of the best decisions we took that day. The tarmac was smooth, sprinkled with lot of nice curves (yeah, I love curves - cant get them enuf.. ;) ) We took fewer breaks on the way back, and before duck, we reached Hoskote. By 7.15, I reached home (Sorry Prof - lost you in traffic between Marathally and Sarjapur junction)

A nice ride, lot of enjoyable roads, nice scenery and cool weather - what more can I ask for to take a break from the daily work grind?

Click here for the Picasa album
PS: I have not startd visiting the blogs, but will start soon...

grey cells

2008-08-12T09:14:00.001-07:00

grey cells, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

As many of you might have guessed when you see this photo blog, I am still missing from action, coz of my hectic schedule @ work.
I don't want to keep this place without any new posts, so i though why dont I make you suffer with one more of my 'creative' photograph (creative being the operative word).

ps: a huge thanks to all who did the captions - what a verity of captions - all of there where exceptional and I laught till my lugs hurt, but Tys, anonymous and G - your's where outstanding.

Get creative...

2008-08-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

I know itz been long time since I have visited all you pages and spammed your pages with my comments, but trust me, you wont get spared for much longer.
I am just waiting for this crazy spell at work to end (now I send so much time @ wrk that I am really thinking of getting a sleeping bag to wrk :P ) and then I will be back, spamming all you pages.

I took a much needed break last sunday, and me and my friend Jubi went for a ride to Kolar Gold Fields town and kotilingeswara temple. the ride was small, less than 230km round trip.

I will post a trip log and photos soon.
Now, I am posting a mug shot of yours truly, captured by Jubi, while I was trying to comb my hair. Go ahead and give it a tag line - funny, whacky,outlandish - get ur grey cells running, and let us have a laugh.

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Now playing: Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi - Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi
via FoxyTunes

Tag of Books

2008-07-31T02:26:00.000-07:00

Winne the poohi tagged me, and man, I love this tag.

The Rules are as follows:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you really love (and strikethrough the ones you hate!).
4) Reprint this list in your own blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (have read some, but not complete works - nt much of a shakespeare fan here.)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

My score is: 43/100 or shall i say, 43.5/100 since I have read many of Shakespeare? though exactly my kind of list, I had fun doing it. Now, who all are going to take it up?
Prasanth, Gazal, Pratz, Suma,Joy, Tia - game for it?

(I could not find a shortcut to underline in blogger, and too lazy to go to the code and do it... I like almost all the books I have read in this list)

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Now playing: Harold Faltermeyer - Top Gun Anthem via FoxyTunes

The role of Lady Luck...

2008-07-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

"When you starts driving, you start with a pot full of luck and an empty pot of
experience. The art of driving safe is to fill your pot of experience without letting
the pot of luck go dry". I have read this line in a couple of biking/touring forums
and always wondered about it. It is so true. Though you may be an extremely careful
driver, sometimes, the sheer stupidity of others may put you into a position where
your experience cannot bail you out, but your lady luck may.

S is an extremely competent and safe driver. He have lot of expertise, and have done
quiet a lot of driving in various conditions. I can any day vouch for his driving, and
if I have to trust my life at ones driving, S is one guy I can blindly trust to take me
safe from anywhere to anywhere.
We have done many long trips (driving and riding) together, and
I have never seen him exceeding 100 kmph - he is a guy who always like to play it
safe. The only time I saw him pushing his ambassador to the maximum speed, well past
100 kmph; was when he was trying to take an accident victim to the hospital.

We where on the return leg of a long drive, on NH 47, and it was raining slightly. We
saw a white ambassador, with lights on and blaring horn, coming down very
fast, trying to overtake us. S promptly gave way for him and we both exchanged couple
of remarks about the foolishness of driving so fast on a wet road. We kept driving steadily, and soon we saw a big crowd in front of us, blocking the road. We stopped the car and saw that a tree
fell from the side, and it nearly crushed the car which over took us. But luckily, the
tree fell on the rear of the car, sparing the driver and passenger. The passenger
escaped unhurt, but the driver was bleeding, and so S took both of them to hospital -
and it is the only time I have seen him pushing the car to its limit.

The inroads - the roads which connects the villages - they are usually narrow and
winding in Kerala. Yesterday, S and G (wifi of S) where going for a long drive, and on
the way there is a series of curves which are kind of accident prone. It is very near
to the home of S, so he was very cautious and he took them as usual - slow and safe,
honking at each turn. A Mahindra Bolero was coming in the opposite direction, and it
was coming so fast that, when the driver heard the horn of S's car, he almost stood
on his break, and in the force, the jeep did a ninety degree turn and skidded and the
back of the jeep came and hit S's car between the right side tyre well and front door
hinges.
The guy was out of his mind to driving so fast in a narrow road like that, and
only by gods grace that the hit was on a spot where the shock was absorbed by the car
with minimal structural damage, isolating the passengers. If the hit had been on the
door, S could have been seriously injured, and if the hit have been on the tyre well
or on the side of the bonnet, S could easily could have lost control. By Gods grace,
what could have been a serious disaster turned out to be a not so serious accident.

It just sent me thinking - no matter how careful we are, some times, lady luck have
to smile on us. Experience alone cannot bail you out all the time.

PS: Yesterday I read in the newspaper about an accident. A bus was coming down a ghat
section and a tree fell on the bus. The driver saw the tree falling down, and he had
two options - stop the bus and get crushed, or take the bus so that he will be saved,
but passengers will get crushed. He chose to stop the bus, and the brave guy lost his
life, but saved the life of all the other people in the bus. I salute his spirit. If
only the people who are blasting the bombs and paying the horse trade in politics had
at least 10% of his conscience.

Suma, at last, I did break that jinx of drying out :)

I sat there

2008-07-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

I sat there, on the boulder
Watching the life whiz past by
I saw the rising sky line of the city
And the standstill Ulsoor lake
I saw children playing gully cricket
I watched the yellow balloon up in the sky
And the madding rush of vehicles from MG road
The street Romeo on his loud two stroker
The business tycoon wafting in his Mercedes
The fearsome army trucks
The autos trudging away with heavy burden of weights
The gray overcast sky
The giggles of kids returning from school
I saw the dog and the lady rummaging through the garbage bin,
One for food and one scavenging used plastic
I saw the happy middle aged couple
Happy in each others company, oblivious to world around them
I sat there with no hurry,
Enjoying the breeze and watching the life whiz past by

Oh these women drivers...

2008-07-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Women drivers – oh, don’t tell me about them. They drive like they are walking in the park. Believe me man, they don’t know how to drive, the take up the whole road, they don’t move and they don’t even have good reflex. You know what – they should not drive, or we should keep a line separate for them. This is the kind of reaction you get from the average Joe if you talk about women drivers. People do accept women as their equals in corporate world, at homes, but strangely, when it comes to road, it is like a male owned territory and many guys treat women like trespassers. And try overtaking them and man, you have just let the gate of hell wide open. The hurt male ego will brook nothing till they overtake you.
Now, guys don’t jump on m e- I am not saying every one of us is like that, there are guys like that. But though there are guys like that, we are not ready to accept it. I agree not every female driver is good and there are ladies who drive irresponsibly but there are guys like that too. So why brand lady drives as a whole for the act done by few?

I came across a feature in Auto India about this subject last month, and the author recounts an incident happened to her. She was driving home after a party with her friends, and they spotted a car crawling along, giving confused signals and not budging from the road, and the guys spotted long flowing hair and started making fun of lady drivers. At last, when the author overtook the car, they saw a bearded face – it was a guy who was driving the car, not a lady.

I, personally believe there are only two kind of drivers – those who know how to drive and those who don’t know how to drive. And gender doesn’t have anything to do with it. I have seen excellent male drivers and crappie male drivers who should put behind bar if ever you find them behind the driving wheel, and I have seen the same with ladies too.
So, when next time the discussion is about male-female drives, please don’t pain the whole side with one color – remember, it is the individual who drives and it is the ability of the individual which matters, not gender.

Drive / ride long and drive / ride safe.

(this blog is inspired by the article published in July 2008 Auto India – She Drives… under the section In Focus and is written by Vineetha Mokkil)

Hall of fame - Lit.Charat.

2008-07-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

Whew, i finished this post at last. When I saw it @ Prats page, i wanted to flick it, and man, btw the crazy schedule, i had to keep track of this post (a very rare thing forme to do - really sit down and write a blog)
So here is my personal hall of fame...

Howard Roark
I came across him when i was going through a time of doubt and confusion, and he made a lot of sense to me. Though I won’t say that he changed my life, i can never deny the impressions he had in shaping me. The sure foot youth with blazing orange hair, who decided to design his own destiny, he showed me there is nothing a man cannot achieve if he believes in it.

Favorite Dialogue:
"I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one."

John Galt
The striker, the inventor, the one who is not ready to adjust or compromise for others... the ultimate hero is many counts; he showed mass of people may not always be right. He showed there is no point in being intimidated by the majority, and what is more important is to stand up if you think what you do is right, even if the whole world thinks it is not so.

Favorite Dialogue:
I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of
another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

Francisco d'Anconia
Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastian d'Anconia - the multitalented young genius... who made one of the best cover to mask his true intention... he is the genius of a character - if ever I get a chance to live as a character, I will choose him.

Favorite Dialogue:
The paragraph where he speaks about money and refuting the argument that money is the root of all evil.

Jeeves
Ah, Reginald Jeeves - what do I tell about you, the best 'gentleman's personal gentleman' ever took birth? I like him so much that I named one of my bikes after him... He have saved me from many a moody days, and with his fine and subtle wit and brainy ideas.

Santiago
The old man who taught me that man cannot be defeated, but destroyed. The one who showed me what persistence is all about. The one who said men never give up. He is certainly among top 10 in my hall of fame.

Ari Ben Canaan
The six feet and three inches tall hard rock of a man. The one who braved the difficulties and did what many thought cannot be done. he became the mould for the rough, unpolished and courageous hero in my mind when I read the book first time.

Don Vito Corleone
The Godfather - no one have made me feel the power of the word Power like Don Corleone. The dialogue “I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." is enough to send the waves of power he wields through the skulls and the way he controlled his empire is nothing but a grand game of chess which is worth the prize for best game ever played. .

Sherlock Holms
The imperfectly perfect sleuth... the cocaine snuffing genius. I read his stories when i was a kid and fell in love with his observation and deduction power.

The Jackal
One of the best assassins - it is a treat to read his ways - the subdued violence, the cat and mouse game, and the climax where a perfect plan gets thwarted by a most unpredictable moment... He is one hero who is an anti hero and an anti hero, who is heroic in proportions.

Calvin
The ultimate brat, the adorable pocket bomb. He and his partner in crime – Hobbs, is one package which can send your blues and mood swings to moon. Perhaps my ever favorite cartoon character, he never fails to lit up my face when I read or reread his strips.

AWOL

2008-07-16T03:40:00.000-07:00

Last few days, i went AWOL - to my hometown.
I love travel by train. no, let me rephrase it - i love travel- it entices me, enchants me and make me dream... when i travel, my first preference is to go by road. Swing my legs across the saddle of a bike and devour the road or strap myself to the cockpit of a car and let the pedal do the talking - the cocoon like a/c Volvo buses doesn’t figure in my scheme of road travel. If not by road, I love travel by train - here too, not by first class or a/c, but by sleeper class.
When ever I travel to Kerala by train, there are two things which I don’t miss - Valayar Checkpost - the first sight of Kerala, and a steaming hot cup of
Coffee from Palgat railway station. I love getting down to the platform, taking few steps to teh nearest tea stall, and having a piping hot coffee
along with a fresh Malayalam newspaper. The coffee is a refreshing break from the watered down coffee-water the chai/coffee wallas server inside the train.

Now, why was this AWOL? well, it was not exactly an AWOL, but a planned leave - we just finished building our new home, and last Monday we shifted to the new home. so that is where I was for the last few days.

(any of you heard a new Malayalam song "Right ottu potte"? heard this when i went home this month, if any of you know the movie, please drop me a line)

Fire Wok - review

2008-07-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday me and my fried decided to checkout the restaurant 'FireWok' at Polynation - the food court of Oasis mall, one of the new entrants into teh already crowded mall list of Bangalore.

First things first - Oasis is bang on Koramangala 80Ft road, and it is impossible to miss it - once you reach the mall, parking is easy - they have parking spaces at each floor, so if you want to head to food court directly, you don’t have to park your bike at basement or ground floor and have to catch a lift. We parked out bike on 2nd floor and decide to give do a quick check out @ lifestyle before heading to Polynation.

Polynation have some well knows outlets such as Madras Curry House, Yellow Chillies, Tandoor, Fire Wok, Cream&Fudge Factory, Doughnut bakers and Pizza corner. Our main aim was to try the Noodle bowl @ FireWok, so we headed straight there. The ambiance is ok, and tables near the glass wall give good view.

The concept of noodle bowl is - they have three varieties of noodles - Flat, regular and rice - you can take a bowl and pick you choice of noodles - u can mix them also - and then you can pick the vegetables you like from the vegetable counter – once you fill your bowl with noodles and vegetables, pass it to the chef, pick the spices you want from the list, and pick the sauce of your choices. If you want chicken, paneer or prawns, they will add it - and they will cook it the way you asked them.

I picked up rice noodles, spring onions, carrot, bean sprouts, mushroom, fungi, and an assortment of some other vegetables i didn’t much cared to identify, and asked the chef to add chicken, ginger, garlic and crushed black pepper, black pepper sauce and oyster sauce.

The service is fast, before we had time to decide whether we want to order starters or not, we got our main dish. The dish tasted more or less like I expected, but a l'll less on salt. It was not much oily, but then it was not exactly superb also. Priced at 135 a plate, the bowl is a good option if you are really hungry, but don’t go there expecting the authentic Chinese taste - it is more like commercialized Chinese taste.

Ps: after the lunch, we had ice creams from Cream&Fudge factory - they really do make superb ice creams... I tried a combination of one scoop cookie dough, one scoop caramel, macadamia nuts, gummy bears, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce - yeah, perfect recipe to forget all the calorie count, but take it from me, you will never regret the decision... :-D

Updates...

2008-07-03T02:53:00.000-07:00

It rained yesterday - not a light drizzle, but good old heavy rain. And I got drenched :-D Was riding to home from office, and when i passed the Domlur fly over, i felt the first kiss of a drop, and soon the drop became a downpour. I was more than happy - after a long day at work, what more can I ask?
Took the long way around, and on the way, stopped at Nilgiris for some shopping. Thankfully, the rain didnt get over and by the time I reached home, I was wet like I took a swim for a good length of time...

Saw a lady fell down from her scooter, and some idiots riding at full throttle - when will people learn that when it rains, you should ride smooth and slow?

Today we are having a Bharat Bundh - called by BJP, to protest against teh happenings linked to the Amarnath land allocation issue. But thankfully, life is as usual @ bangalore. I am sure today will be like a public holiday @ Kerala. Keralites have really taken the art of enjoying harthals. And teh leaders have modularized to concept well - there are area wise hartals for small issues, Town / Panjayath wise, District wise and then the whole state hartal.
Happy holidays to you, people @ Kerala.

I am reading Dune by Frank Herbert now - itz an amazing book. I am totally hooked to it. After finishing dune, I have QB VII by Leon Uris. Time to fill the book shelves again...
The day is moving slowly, and I am looking forward for teh weekend...

the Flickr Mosaic

2008-07-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

I nicked it from selah.

the rules are:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food? right now?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your user name?

and the resultant mosaic is:

Why don't u guys join the fun? take it up - it will be fun to see the mosaic...

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Now playing: Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
via FoxyTunes

back home...

2008-06-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

It always feels nice to be back home... I have grown accustomed to this place - 'blogsphere'- that i can really call it home, and when I open it after a long dry spell, I feel like coming home after a long trip...

I have been quiet busy @ work and my creative (ahem ahem!) side have taken a back seat for the time being. I have not been to most of your pages, but I hope I will soon start roaming around...

Let me signoff now with a small poem - Preetz wrote it for me, and man, she just read my mind when she penned down the lines...
I am really touched with this, and Preetz, a huge hug to you, dear....

LAZY!

Writing is a passion I indulge in to express
Though many a times from what I wanna write I digress

But these days I'm just too lazy
Or call me plain crazy
But writing is a far-away thought!

I love to curl up with a book in one hand
And a lovely drink in the other, not too bland

Food and travel I want to do
But writing suddenly seems too difficult to do!

It's not that I'm losing interest, no no It's not even that blogging isn't enticing, no no!
It's just that I'm plain lazy
And everything else seems hazy!

I hope I'm ok pretty soon
Too many people consider my writing a boon ;) That is just my ego kicking I hope so would the writing!

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Now playing: Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi - Bavra Mann
via FoxyTunes

Eyes

2008-06-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

I saw the eyes...
eyes where dreams walked once..
eyes which sparkled with curiosity

an empty stare, a stretched hand
rugged and callous, a blank face
she walks from car to car, with opened up palms
her bro tugging her skirt

the man in the car averted his glaze,
the mademoiselle kept petting her dog insider her air-conditioned car
the lovers on bike continued their talk
and the average Joe on his bike
didn’t even bother to acknowledge her existence

the signal changed to green,
and the cab driver hooted his horn impatiently
she moved slowly to the sidewalk
her face saying a polite sorry for her existence
and she stared to emptiness
her eyes, cemetery of her dreams...

And Quiet Flows the Don

2008-06-18T23:31:00.000-07:00

Itz been long time since i have put any update on my life here. it feels strange considering the fact that i stated blogging about me and my life... the main thing why you don't see any updates here was I was being lazy and then there was nothing happening in my life.. it was just flowing, no changes, no new faces, no new outings... well, no that is not true.. there where incidents I cherish, incidents i love to share, but i was too lazy to pen down them...

This weekend was a lazy one. i didn't even get out on whole Sunday... tried reading Snapshots by Shoba De, but could not finish it.. man, I know thousands of better way to waste my 250 rs. Never thought it will be this bad...

I have a tag left out - the book tag, and I was contemplating on doing it. I have been tagged by Preetz and by Ceedy, and today Emaan the Kewl too tagged me with it, which actually made me to the tag.

For this tag, I'm supposed to Pick up the nearest book. Go to page 123. Find the fifth sentence.Post the next three sentences.Then tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

The nearest book I have here is 'The Unbearable lightness of being' by Milan Kundera, and here goes the 6th, 7th and 8th sentences from page 123.

"They sought out the company of friends, colleagues, students, and strangers, and enjoyed sitting, drinking, and chatting with them. They took frequent excursions to the Alps. Franz would bend over, the girl hopped onto his back, and off he ran through the meadows, declaiming at the top of his voice a long German poem his mother had taught him as a child."

I am lazy and I am not tagging the next five people...

Never let me go - Kazuo Ishiguro

2008-06-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Imagine sitting besides a pond still and deep, nestled in the middle of a tranquil landscape, with a gentle wind to give you company - this is almost what i felt when i was reading 'Never let me go' by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel was more of a poem than a novel. The style so subtle and masterful, that it overpowers the substance at many places.

When you travel with students of Hailsham from the innocent dorm days to their last days, you get a feeling of an urge to explode, to run down the street screaming, to reclaim the personal life from what is to what it could have been. The novel is simple and deceptively sad, and a journey from hopelessness to more hopelessness...and when you encounter the breaking point at last, you feel an emptiness... an emotion which cant be described using words...

the relation between Kath, Tommy and Ruth is strong and deep and the effect of it in the story is like a tide, which strikes you with full force when Ruth passes away... the mental agony each one goes through, the state numbness which tides over Kath when she have to do anything but break the silence... I am at loss of words...

The book is not about science, it is not a science fiction... it merely uses a concept to weave an intricate story - a story so beautifully intricate that the concept (or medium? ) on which the story is build is reduced to nothing but a spectator...

Man, I fail so miserably when I try to describe this work. I should have known my limitations before I set out to write a review to this fantastic piece of novel with an intriguing poetic beauty.

Go and read this book if you are in mood for something stirring, something pulling the strings of your heart... and don’t try to analyze this book with reason or science - that will be the worst thing you can do to this work of art. Not recommended for time pass reading or perk up reading... it may even bog down you mood a bit...

Why do any one need a helmet?

2008-06-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

A non descriptive day, some where in the middle of last week. I am all ready and fresh as a whatchamacallit and all set to go to work. I ease out Jeevs from the parking lot, pat him gently, and he greets me with a warm spark. We both starts rolling, and the day seems perfect as a picture post card.

Beep beep.. ka boom.. screech... A sudden jolt made me break my reverie and I see traffic suddenly comes to a jarring halt... I ease down the speed, idling the engine and starts pushing the bike slow and then I saw the cause of the jam - an accident. A silver Pulsar 200 lying on the road, no visible damages - not even broken headlamp or mirrors, a red pulsar, being lifted up and a shaky rider standing besides the bike... nothing out of ordinary - after all, these small kinds of accidents do happen. But then I saw the other guy - the P200 rider - lying next to his bike. No damage on his body other than on his head... his head is lying in a pool of blood, and I stopped and was going to help people moving him to hospital - when they said that he is already gone. On the spot. Like a puff... The guy just came to main road for something - and he was NOT wearing a helmet. Only if he would have wearing a good helmet...

Fast forward to today morning. After wading through almost half a kilometer of traffic jam at Old Madras Road, Me and Anikutty had a sigh of relief when we cleared the snarl and slowly took her to a sweet 60... The road was almost empty - a straight stretch (between Infinity Tech Park and BigBazar - when coming from KR Puram towards MG Road) and I saw some vehicles coming from opposite direction... people never learn the meaning of one way... I saw a BMTC bus breaking the one-way and coming in my lane, and the suddenly, I saw a bike and the rider flying across the road - hardly 20 - 30 mtr ahead of me. I still don’t know how it happened - may be the bike guy misjudged the speed of either his bike or the bus while trying to over take another guy - what ever it may, it resulted his black Pulsar hitting the bus and he flying across the road... and his helmet flew before him. Luckily, the guy survived, and was able to sit and take water, and people caught an auto to take him to hospital.
What shocked me, apart for the accident is, though the guy wore a helmet, he never fastened the straps. Now, what is the use of a loose helmet with out straps on? The whole point of helmet is to make sure it helps you to save your head when a collision occurs - but if the strap is not fastened, it is as good as not wearing it.
The Bus driver was shaking, and the furious mob didn’t leave him - but luckily, there where many sane people around, so the moment a guy started beating up the driver, other guys made him stop, but not before the driver getting a heavy blow on his temples by a guy’s helmet. Now, it is one thing to catch hold of the driver if he tries to flee the scene, but when the driver feels guilt (a look of his face and you could have read it) and is genuinely tries to help the victim, do people have to flog him? I know what the driver did was wrong - breaking the one way and all that - but he did take responsibility of the mistake. At last, when I left the scene, the driver and some others where shifting him into an auto to take him to a hospital...

A very simple question to all those who are out there riding their bikes/scooterettes... is it that difficult to properly wear a good helmet? I mean, what is the use of wearing a helmet with the straps off? I have seen many people buying helmets from roadside, or going for the cheapest helmet they can find - all this when they invested tens of thousands of money to buy the bike of their choice... aren’t your life worth the extra couple of hundreds of rupees?

please buy a good ISI standard helmet - don’t go for the looks alone, don’t go and buy the brands like Kimi/Ocra/XYZ... stick to a reputed brand like Steel bird/Vega/MPA or if you can stretch your budget, get a good international brand like GP One/AGV/Shoei/KBX etc...And do wear it properly whenever you take your bike out... there are people out there who care for you... so, if not for you, do this for them...

Nandi hills - Once again...

2008-06-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Its been long time since i have 'written' anything here - not that nothing is happening around me, but I was in a kind of lethargy... the moment I start to pen down my thoughts, my words will start drying up - and how ever I may try, I never get past first few sentences...

It was almost like this with my riding too. Itz been quiet some time since I was on road, and whenever some of my friends start planning, I somehow end up missing them...

This week, I was in a mood to rest, so Saturday I was almost home all the time. By evening, the ride bug started crawling under my skin, and after a few failed attempts to chalk out a plan, decided to hit roads early morning to see sun rise at Nandi hills.
Nandi hill is a place around less than 100 KM from my home, so it was more or less like a jog in the park than a proper ride. Woke up by 4, and set out from my home by 4.30, and went to pick up my friends Sivaram. We left from his home by 5, and when we passes Hebbal fly over, I knew my plan for a lazy ride was ready for a toss - Our plan was to reach Nandi hills to watch the sun rise, but the sky already started showing signs of rising sun... this coupled with a sparse traffic three lane highway (at many places, the highway was almost like a runway, properly lit and marked lanes, arrow straight road, and no traffic) was more than enough reason to wring the throttle and Anikutty (She is my cousins Bullet, and I ma her temporary custodian) surged past 100 kmph effortlessly.
Just before 6 am we reached Nandi hills, and what welcomed us there was -believe it or not - thick mist. We had a ball there - walking around and getting lost in the mist, enjoying the blowing winds and hot hot coffee...
A slight overlook from my part saw Moi running out of juice, and it was kind of damper coz we where quiet shutter happy and was planning ahead to take lot more pictures...
By 9, we said good bye to Nandi hills and started our journey back. On the way, we stopped at a wayside place and had hot yummy Appams, and reached Sivaram’s place and crashed... the only downside of the trip was, it gifted me a mild fever... hope I will be ok in two days time... :-D

Some pictures...

(Ps: now reading a book by Kazuo Ishiguro - Never let me go... Man, it is a beautiful book, one which I will recommend even before I finish reading it)

meme of quirks (or are they?)

2008-06-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

These are the rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you…Ceedy
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours...
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them…
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged..
here goes teh quirks...

1) When my computer slows down, I scold her and call her gaalis... Sme times, I even beat my home pc...yeah yeah - case of domestic violence, i know :P
2) I talk to my bike when I ride.
3) I keep forgetting things... and can forget anything at the drop of the hat. This hv landed me in sopu quieta lot of times.
4) Like connecting unrelated ideas and concepts to create a funny situation. Sometimes results in atrocious PJ's which even surprises me sometimes. (picked straight from Ceedy - this is something I share with him)
5) I usually never talk whn I take the first bite of the food - I let myslef seduced by the taste buds.
6) I have to have at lest some junk jwellery on me all teh time... chains, rings, bracelets... chances ar ethat you will never find me without some thing or otehr on me :-D

now, itz my turn to tag - I tag Preetz and Ashu :-D

(Totally adidicted to Jaane Tu Mera Kiya Hai, Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi and lazy lamhe and Azhiyilae from Dhoom Dham - amazing songs... Ada is also not at all bad... )

FireFox 3 Download Day

2008-05-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

The first ever web browser I used was a Netscape, and from there browsers have grown a lot... Of all the things that happened to the web browsers, the most important (well, at least for me) was the launch of FireFox, a robust and secure browser. It didn’t take much time to take over the heart of netizens, and I believe a good percentage of you use FireFox to browse.
Now, the new version of FireFox is getting ready to hit the market, and they are doing a grassroots level campaign to set a Guinness Book World record of having most downloads on a day.

This blog is to pledge my support to Mozilla download day. If you have used and like the earlier versions of Mozilla, then give this new avatar a try. If you are still a Fox-Virgin, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, pledge and download it on the big day and be a part of history.

Click on the button or any of the link to go to the page and pledge your support now. Click here to read the official blog. Go spread the word.

Ps: If any of you out there would like to get a FREE CD of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, drop a mail to me. I am giving away FREE CDs (yes, you don’t even have to pay postage if you are inside India) to all those who want to try Ubuntu.

one more meme

2008-05-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Got tagged by sandhya a while back, and this is my take on the tag...
10 THINGS I MISS IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW:
Ride: yes, I miss riding out... the way I see it, it will take me some more time (at least 1 more month) to be on road for some good rides
crush: long time, no crush and of late, no dates too.. man, whatz hapening to me :(
a juicy, tender beef steak: Any one game for Lazzio or tiffany for lunch?
college days: will that carefree days ever return?
My bro: would have nice if he was around :)
i think thatz it - cant think of anything i miss NOW... I am happy as the way life is :)

10 things i want to achieve within a decade:
( i did a meme earlier abt 50 thinsg I want to do - i am picking 10 from the list, in no particular order)
01. Ride to Leh on Bullet.
02. Self modify a Contessa to produce over 1000 bhp power and win drag races.
03. Learn professional photography.
04. Learn to bake.
05. Cook and server a moonlight dinner for my future wife .
06. Make my dad and mom feel like King and Queen.
07. Visit Utah Salt Flats.
08. Do bartending at a party.
09. Race with my future kids.
10. Make my children study without ever letting them know the pressure to perform and get high grades.
now it is my turn to tag, and I tag
Preetz
Shanu (dude, itz time for u to update ur blog)
Meenu
~nm
Suma
Aner
Wildflower
ps: my short trip to kerala was awsome.. thanks for all the wishes...

Thithli....

2008-05-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

Going home.. ooo la la la... I am on cloud nine - I am leaving to Kerala today...
and will be back on monday morning. So till tuesday, I will be absent from all your blog pages...

Of late, my page have turned to a photo / tag blog.. sorry all you peeps... am still breaking my block.. a big thanks to all who visit my space...

(clicked this last saturday when I visited Butterfly park, a part of Bannerghetta national park, Bangalore)

Oye bubbly...

2008-05-19T00:28:00.000-07:00

Bangalore introduced me to the fine art of wine tasting, and to say least, I love them.

If you have ever been to kerala, and wanted to get a bottle, the only place which can help you is cvil supplies shops, where you have to stand in queue under hot sun, among the company of flies and mosquitoes and if you are fortunate, reeking drunkards and even the guy sitting in the counetr looks down to you like an ugly toad.
So, coming from a place like that, the Foodworlds and Spencers and umpteen other shops at bangalore where you can walk in, touch, feel and buy liquor was a pleasent surprise for me.

Last saturday evening, me and my friends went to Madhuloka to pick up a bottle of bubbly, and man, I got bowled over by the reinnovated shop.

The scotch and Vodka section

Some of teh finest Scotches

Wines

and more wines

Beer, Breezer and non-alchoholic drinks

No, I didn't buy this

neat, spacious, comfortable chairs, swaky LCD display units, multiple billing counters, and with a well laid out display, this is by far the best place I have seen to pick up a bottle. Drop down to pick up anything - from tootch pick to glass to ice buckets to some not so common aged wines, and am sure you will be happy.

the fiver u never knew...

2008-05-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Got tagge by macadamia, and boy, it really came at the right time. having a hectic schedule which kind of kept me off from writing anything, and at times like this, i really like to do the tags :-D
the rules of the tag - I have to share five things which I have never sahred with you my blogreaders before.
hm.. it got me thinking for a while... and here is my list:
1) I read fast and I can read for long time without losing concentration... many times, I finish books at one go. when i read, i may not even realise even if teh world collapse (ok, taht is an exxageration, but you can sure come to my room, yell at me and go back, and i wont even realise you came to my room)
2) I sketch at times. I dont think I have posted any of teh sketches I made coz I stopped sketching almost 5 years back. but now I plan to do it again, and I made a sketch of sophia, and she says she can recognise it is she.
3) I mix right and left a lot... I never get confused whn i ride, but whn i give directions, or talk, I get both confused.
4) spiders are soo yuck... can stand any oterh instects, but spider - no, never.
5) I tasted Lassi for teh first time in my life almost a month beofre. Till then, belive it or not, I have never tasted it. yes, it do tastes good.
hm.. now itz my time to tag, and I tag
Preetz
Veenize
Shruti
Ms.Taggart
Prasanth
Go and spread.. muhuhaaa...

Stranded...

2008-05-13T02:22:00.001-07:00

Stranded, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.