open engine operation

the tappets in old bullets could be fixed by opening a side hatch in the engine.

now they have to open the whole engine, and here it lies in waiting.

new hydraulic tappets are not available in indore since the last three days.

(forgot to click the heartless bike's pic)

maybe the new bullets aren't made as they were before, 21000k's on the odo,

and the last two services have cost me rs 15500 and a bit more...

just another number

no wonder we are obsessed with cricket statistics...
its not just another number if all are talking about it, is it? ;)

keep riding...

en route to kanha national park, madhya pradesh

the bike thumps along on the open road,
while the eagle soars high, glimpses caught in between the trees.

the sun shines down upon the very few leaves,
the wind hits my body and gives cold relief.

the heated engine now performs at its peak,
a twist of the throttle and refined power within my reach.



now sets in a calmness while in blurry motion,
and the crunching up of kilometers gives languid peace.

the eyes are occupied with the changing vistas,
and the travel infuses new thoughts within.

while the road keeps going on forever,
times presence is only felt as the shadows lengthen.

for the lonely road too, does time stand still,
and the changing riders all get an opportunity to escape.

update

the house comes live on google maps!! :D

Its a dogs life

why cant i sleep the whole day... just wake me up for my meals!!

Maximus II, six months old, already!

plug em in

After all the planning to keep three devices charged optimally,

it is such an irony to get the same email on all of them together.

The digital needs of our times! A whole bunch of chargers and wires carried around everyday in the backpack.

# dell inspiron N5010

# blackberry 9700 bold

# samsung tab2 7" p3100

Think Again: India's Rise. by sumit ganguly

...unless its leadership can tackle problems from corruption to bureaucratic stagnation to political dysfunction, its hope for global standing in the 21st century will remain just a hope, says ganguly.


http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/05/think_again_india_s_rise?page=full

but who is listening?
people like me? busy with setting their own house in order, trying to build up their bank balance?
or the politicians and bureaucracy, who are also just think of their self, like i am...
hahahaha...

my way or no way at all

Seven lane one-way road?

just outside my office window; the center median of the two way road has been broken because of road widening and BRTS corridor work.
full license for the traffic to do as they wish? oh yes!! the attitude of everyone on my city roads is, "i have right of way before all else. let me get through, others will then manage." disregard for rules are second nature to people. like the sun does rise in the early hours, so does chaos during rush hour.
the consequence one fine day: seven lanes, all going the same direction, the scene is a little better at the other side of the junction with only 6 lanes of on coming traffic. traffic does eventually clear after 3hrs!

lack of governance, lack of civil responsibility and utter disregard for others.

and i read somewhere, how a city commutes is how its people live...
...

H-31

yeeehaaa!!!! :)

the new house is almost complete... cant wait to shift there soon.

levelled

then we rode upon 'more plains' and a city emerged within my thoughts. that after the relentless assault of the mountains, which had left me feeling insignificant... at the high altitude plain, the city staked a claim for mankind. my way of trying to prove to nature that we too exist.

we might have all been many atoms in a star once...  if i can relate to that time scale.
but it is easier to imagine we have risen from the earth,
and the vast plain was flanked by many a high mountain on either side.

egg it out

cooking one since i have been 12yrs old!! :)

fast, fun and filling... couldn't miss putting this quick and pleasing fix here.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/18/magazine/anytime-egg-recipes.html?ref=magazine

the best ever! a tribute to rahul dravid

i watched on tv as he made 95 on debut at lords, and i liked him instantly. i guess it had a bit to do with him being my namesake. in his early years, even in the first half of 2000, people who didn't understand test cricket would get at me for supporting and defending him. i eventually learnt that i shouldn't bother, let the skeptics be. a dravid believer need not shout from the roof tops, but would rather go about quietly minding his own business. 

The winning runs (copyright Hamish Blair, Getty Images)

what is it that made him my favorite sportsperson?
he was always a team man before being a batsman. in a team game where individuals fight turn by turn as against together like in football, playing for the team has a very different meaning. ganguly gave the team a new attitude and perspective but even he did not fight for the team cause as much as dravid did. the true fighter.
he always gave me hope and reassurance. for a man not born with genius; he showed me the way by his dedication, for hard work can climb the highest summits and the will of a man knows no boundaries. brian lara once said, 'if i want someone to bat for my life, it would be dravid or kallis.' dravids concentration and determination under pressure were colossal.
he was always the gentleman. with superb ethics and a calm and correct external demeanor, the only times he showed anguish or anger was on loosing his wicket or dropping a catch. how he lived on the field and how he behaved off it; the values that he showed, he has always inspired me to get better at life.


and we have not yet talked about the skills he got to the table as a cricketer...
the glorious cover drive with his head always on top of the ball; the fabulous late cut with the perfect transfer of power on the back foot; countless leaves for blunting the new ball, knowing exactly where the off stump is; rebuilding tirelessly when your top order mates are beaten and sent packing; super fielding close in on the stumps, great reactions at slip; copy book cricket inculcated in his soul, the hand book devoured and then perfected upon!


i just love what the all conquering, tough matthew hayden had to say about dravid. he said, 'all this going around is not aggression; if you want to see aggression on cricket field, look into rahul dravid’s eyes.'


a few accolades i have read recently;
Sambit Bal writes on cricinfo: When we spoke a couple of weeks ago, I asked if he regretted not having retired in England. His response was a further revelation of character. He would certainly have retired if he hadn't had a good series, he said, but after doing so well, retiring would have been selfish.
Rob Smyth writes on guardians blog: Dravid is the he kind of man you'd want your son to grow into.
Rohit Brijnath writes in HT: Runs might emerge in unsightly dribbles - but he would keep going, a leave, a block, a block, a leave, and this should have been boring - and well, yes, sometimes is was - except by the end he'd build a lead, or rescued a situation, or offered us a winning chance and you would look at this man, shirt bound by sweat, ferocious in his concentration, and just think bloody hell. Struggle in all its forms, was his hymn.


apart from his stellar innings with laxman in kolkatta in 2001, which i watched on the first five days of our seven day gap before our 12th board exam chemistry/physics final paper, two mammoth innings stand out for me personally, test no. 1673 played at the adelaide oval in dec 2003 and test no. 1697 played at the rawalpindi stadium in april 2004. in an around this time dravid was the best batsman in the world of test cricket, and there was justice in the cricket field. good guys finished first.


it was a pleasure and and honor to have supported you dravid!! thanks for the 164 test matches (and 344 odis), 13288 runs (plus 10889 runs in 50 over format), 31258 balls faced (plus 15284 in 50 over format), fighting it out for india. you are a legend! but most of all thanks for giving me valuable lessons on how to live life!!!

chores

Not just the will.
We need DISCIPLINE to live the good life.

old dues

all the efforts were long done, the knowledge multiplied two fold since,
how happy do you feel when you receive Rs50000 that you were supposed to get 2yrs and 5months ago!?
feeling drained and elated at the same time...

as it is, i never feel real great once the money finally gets to me.