Pandemonium

The thought of dependence on someone remote and variable makes you feel so helpless and handicapped. The things obvious to you are termed weird and the weirdest of all things somehow fall right in to the realm of normalcy. The incessant efforts to bring you back to chores is seen as a frown that you carried all day because the thought process supersedes all efforts to put up a brave front. Suddenly the fallibility of your chosen path of success dawns upon and very treacherously the disappointment creeps into the cerebrum. Suddenly, contingency impetus gets emphasized and the short film of lack of efforts starts projecting on the closed eyelids. Optimism changes its definition subtly to 'hope against hope'. The pain has to borne by the self. But then you long for someone to just hear it out and not say a single word and give you the biggest assurance through your eyes!!!!!!!

Just a Thought

'Commit all your crimes when HE is batting because even God is busy watching the magic' read a placard in the stadium.

The fiery fast pacer came charging and hurled his heart after the cherry. 

HE just took a firm step forward and caressed it with finesse between the helpless spectators on the field while the crowd rose in awe - another TON by the master blaster!

How many times have we seen this - a hundred times? a tad more or less than that - but - does it matter?

For me he is GOD : SIR SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR...

What do I say about the stature of this man - the eternal simplicity of thought, behavior, and everything -

everything we dream should be happening with us every time.

The lesser mortals - the rest of us have ruined our life with complexities en route the road to make our life better... 

For me, simplicity is the mother of complexity and the solution to it! The most complex situations have the simplest answers and this is not just a co-incidence.

Such is nature, the nature of life, ours and the one around us!

All revolutions were brought around for the want of a simple change.. a change in thought, a change in society, a change in the way of life, a change in power, a change in faith.

So why do we end up making things complex for the want of simplicity???

That makes me think of our own selves to be the biggest enemy. I guess it is this that separates people like us and the likes of SRT or BUFFET or EINSTEIN.

We do everything - apply all logics,speculate and calculate,but, forget the basics.

The basics of what we really want. If what we really want is required, the course of action justified? See? I am again adding to the complexities.

We probably have lost our way of clear thinking under the banner of evolution.

Is this really evolution??? or should I say - Devolution???

I guess all we want is to be happy someway or the other. But, is there a way to be happy - a way that is defined and applicable to the common man???

I guess retrospection, self realisation and implementation are some tried and tested tools to happiness - long lasting and easy to find.

Here is the million dollar question - Is it really easy???

I would say Yes - you should just have the patience and persistence.

Which brings me to the PATIENCE - a quality that most of us, the fast and the furious generation, lack.

I am not trying to criticize, but, some facts cannot be overlooked.

Ahhh, is it becoming too spiritual? But then its worth giving a thought - isn't it?

CoMeDy Of TrAgEdIeS

CoMeDy Of TrAgEdIeS

DAY 0

CRASH : Hey Turbo, what are you doing tomorrow?

TurboSID : Nothing Much. What’s on the Cards?

CRASH : Need to drop a bike to a place around 150 kms from here…. Need to be back by afternoon. You coming ???? We will go on two and be back on one.

TurboSID : Alrighty Bro…. I will get a bike.

CRASH : Okies. C ya tommo 6.30 am sharp…….

A night of sound sleep. All energy gathered together. Bikes seeming to be ready. We gonna have fun tomorrow. 300Ks a day is gonna be real fun. (Actually we had to back for a reason that no automobile enthusiast can ever miss. We had 7 hours for the whole and work of around an hour. Seemed like Cake-walk)

DAY 1

6.15 AM SHARP….

CRASH : Hey Turbo, You up? M ready.

TurboSID : aaaaaaaa???? Jst woke up man??? Be ready in 10.

7.30 AM SHARP…. ( After a BABA RAMDEV pravachan on TV and a couple of TELEBRAND Ads)

TurboSID : Come down bro, M der.

8 AM ….

Bikes fueled up as per the additions multiplications divisions and subtractions… in short… Calculations…. And off We go. Turbo Leading on a Bike and Crash following on a Cruiser.

All Set…. Me in a Cramster and My GPR lid, TurboSID safe in a Cramster again and his DAIJYA lid.

Nice morning sun peeping out of the dark clouds. Pleasant for a change, after the BAD summer. I am KNOCKIN ON HEAVENS DOOR, requesting the Rain God to spare the leash but hold the clouds. Mentally preparing not to crash or bang someone (Coz its been the reason for my name). All set. Nerves settling down. Both bikes dislike rear brakes and so are we compelled to.

Anyways…. We roll on. Doing steady decent speeds and banking our way around corners. Most of them not even needing weight shifts, but then, we wanted to enjoy. Both bikes screaming out of their exhausts. Need no music when the engine is singing for you.

Rain God heard my prayers. A little shower, not heavy though, just to remind us of his presence and to keep us cool. What else you want????

9.00 Am sharp…. Around 8+20+27+4 Kms done.

Bike tyre goes flat. No garage for the next 10 KMs. Awsum. Rode it that way. Got one Garage. Mended the tyre.

Sippin some nice hot tea,

TurboSID : Imagine this atmo with a 600 under your arse… Whatsay????

CRASH : Anything left to say????

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………... (Day dreaming of hitting apexes at 150s and doing power wheelies on exits with the aftermarkets raising pandemonium around)

9.30 Am Sharp….

We have our asses back on the saddle and ready to roll…. Shit happens you know. Don’t worry the further rides gonna be great.

15 Kms Ahead….

The Bike starts missing. Jackshit. Somehow we manage to pull it off. With two Automotive engineers around, we had to pull it off. We roll on.

15 Kms Ahead….

The Bike decides to go dry. Out of fuel…??? W T F …??? Averaging less than one third of what it regularly does…. Shit happens…. Pulled it off too…. We roll on.

10 Kms Ahead….

Now The Bike Clutch and gearbox go kaput. No response. Doesn’t go to Neutral. Alright. Clutch pulled, Wheel still locked. No exclamations left. Mechanic stands clueless. Excellent. We find a way out. Open the chain and free the rear wheel. Tow the bike to the destination.

Good decision worked out awesome. 40 kms of tow in less than an Hour that too on a NH which passes through a huge city with traffic and unprecedented diversions. That was a task and man we made it.

We had a meeting at 11 Am.

We reached at 11.15 Am. Good enough. IST. Wrapped up the Meeting by 12. Dropped the Bike there. Coming back on the cruiser, Turbo riding and me Pillion.

Had to collect documents from a place around 20 kms almost in the direction of our way back.

Been there Done that.

12.45 PM SHARP….

All set. Helmet, Jackets. VROOM… Off went the starter…..

Here I am , On the road Again.

Here I am , Up on the stage.

01.00 PM SHARP….

We are goin steady…. And suddenly the engine starts loosing revs. W T F….????? The bike stalled. I call up my mechanic around a 135 kms away…. The starter aint workin. Kick not goin down.

Mechanic Says…. Nothing much to worry. The magnet bush may have run down. 10 minute job…. We call up one of our friend. He reaches there in 5 minz flat. We tow the bike to a nearby Garage. The owner of that garage is a good friend of TurboSID.

A technician opens the magnet. Bush is perfectly in place. A Sigh of relief came from within. And then the technician uttered those Three Magic Words………………..

“ The Engine Seized “

Me n TurboSID look at each other’s faces. The eyes said it all…..

“We are Fucked”

And then I remembered what Turbo had to say when we started in the Morning.

“ Tough Day Ahead “

4 PM Sharp…..

Engine down and opened…. The gudgeon pin also seized…. Need to replace the whole thing….

Con-rod, Bearings, Piston, Rings, Valves, Guides, Gear shaft, Clutch Plates….. Lovely…..

A day gone for sure….

We were very sad…. Shouldn’t have happened….. Could have avoided it….. We knew it…. But now its past…..

Back to reality….. CASH…..

The biggest question…. A whole day ahead to spend….. the garage bill to be paid…. Awsum….

No money in the wallets….. Even Better….

A smaller question….. Where to stay…???? can’t afford a hotel….

Then I remember my Man Friday…..

CRASH : Hey Bro, M dropping down to your place 2nite…. May I ????

PANDYA: Any time bro….

A huge sigh of relief…..

Then comes a statement….

“Crash….. Thank god we weren’t riding a 600…..”

The whole evening to be spent at the garage….. The rain god unleashing his arsenal and the efficient sewage system snaps…. Water logged on streets… traffic stranded… chaos…..

People trying to reach home as early as possible leading to even worse traffic snarls and jams….. what an atmo….. We should have been at the place we so desperately wanted to reach by now…..

Effects of stress showing out….. Helplessness killing us….. Hard times…..

Luckily the Mechanic told that the Bike will be ready to roll by next Afternoon so that we can crawl back at 40 kmph before the sunset….. Some respite…..

Time was speeding past at snail’s pace…. We managed to reach our Man Friday’s place just before dinner…..

Had some nice and tasty food. Surprisingly TurboSID dint like it….. He had a Glass of hot milk in the nearby BAR….. A lot of first times today…..

Settled on the bed (dry clothes Courtesy Pandya) and slept a nice sound sleep…..

DAY 2

10 AM Sharp…..

Good morning!!!!!!!

11 AM

Left home…..

12 PM

The Friend of ours who towed us from the highway to the garage had stayed with us. He wanted to buy a helmet, so, off we went to a famous biker store…. Got a DAIJYA for half the cost we paid for one we bought a couple of years back.

A nice start to the Day….. We came out of the shop to find our Friend’s bike punctured…..

Pushed it to the nearby garage…..

Good News Again….. Tube Gone… Tyre needs a Patch…. Rather Two…..

Spent an Hour in a nearby Mall… had some juice…..

Now off to the Garage where we left our bike to be repaired…..

2 PM sharp…..

“ Bhai, Piston oout of stock….. Cant find one…. The whole market scanned….. a guy says it will be there in an Hour or so….. “

“ Fuckin Shit….. No Matter whatever it is….. We reach home tonight….. Fuck everything….. I don’t care if a typhoon hits the Highway….. M done with this fuckin trip….. “

4 Hours later….

“Bhai , piston Mila…. “

Neways…. We met a guy… an Idol of TurboSID for a long time after a long time.

A real nice guy and the brilliance of his aptitude glows from his face…. Had a long discussion with him…. Learnt some nice things… Shared some opinions….. Looking forward to work with him….. Its always an honour to work with a genius…..

7.45 PM….

“ Bhai, Engine Built….”

Started at the second Kick after the engine assembly…... Great…..

Kept it running Idle for half an hour…..

Got the LOVE LETTER from him…..

Thanx to BEAST….. We did all Payments…..

BADSHAH BHAI….. a gem of a person…. And all his technicians too… were working really hard to get our bike done as soon as possible….. But no compromise with the quality of work….. Had a real nice two days at the garage talking about bikes, cars and Bikes and Cars….

8.30 PM….

All kit up again…

TurboSID : Dude, Better we stay here tonight as its raining like hell… and with a newly built engine… a night ride of 150 kms is senseless…

CRASH : Point taken bro… Let me call our Man Friday again…

9.30 PM….

Met him, went for dinner…. He took us to a local joint which served good Kolhapuri style chicken…..

After a long day in the Rains….. all we wanted is some piping hot Chicken and soft Bhaakri (Typical maharashtrian bread) ….

After a nice meal….. we went to home….

11 PM…...

The bike had to be run in…. atleast an hour…. We were damn tired…. The eyelids ready to shut anytime….

But the bike had to be run in…. we both started the bike and kept it running idle for an hour… we had to …. We loved it so much…. Straining ourselves to the Z…. again… the time was fighting against us…. A minute seemed like an hour…. And an hour like a zillion years….

We fought… nothing could bow us down…. And then…. The clock ticked 12…. Yippee… we did it…..

Now was time for some well deserved sleep…. Good night…

DAY 3

8 AM ….

My Good morning….

9 AM….

TurboSID’s Good Morning…..

10 AM…..

On the Highway….. A bright morning….. Breakfast into our bellies….. Pleasant atmo….

I was riding….. steady…..

TurboSID : If you continue riding at 20 – 30 Kmph…. We will need another day…..

So upped the ante… around 40s….

10 Kms ahead…..

Started raining cats and dogs…. It took less than two minutes for the rain to get through everything and send a chill down our spines…. ( only riders can know it!!!!! )

11.15 AM…..

Another 30 Kms down….

TurboSid found a place BIG WHEELS MOTORING CAFÉ on the highway and we stopped…..

I was actually in no mood to stop. I was all set and in rhythm…. Wanted to cruise another 40 kms before we stopped… First halt at half Distance makes a lot of sense…..

But still… we stopped….

The place turned out to be great….. A complete automobile themed Resto-Bar…. A lot of attention paid to the finer details…. Pistons for Ashtrays….. A lot of quotes which were genuinely good….. A huge collections of pictures of racers, races and cars and bikes and bikers and revolutionaries and everything and anything that was related to automobiles….

Had some black coffee to keep up the spirits and off we went…. Into the rain which was on no mood to stop….. and so were we…..

12 PM…..

Reached halfway point….

A small ghat to be taken care off….. But we had to take a leak before that… tanks were filled to the brim…..

So…..

We took a break…. Had some Tea coz it was too damn cold out there and with the strong wind blowing…. We had no option…..

Back on the road… Off we go…..

1.30 PM…...

45 more Kms to Go…..

The Ghats were maddening…. After the First halt…. TurboSID was riding….. It was chilling cold….. It was raining….. and the fog helped us with a visibility of 15 metres maximum….

The helmet visors frosted…. So TurboSID opened that…. His glasses fogged….. Removed them….

I am pillion with my ballz slowly climbing their way to you know where…..

And a car came to our rescue…. Parking lights on…. Driving steadily at 30 Kmph….. Escorted us to safety to the other side of the Ghat…..

So when our tanks were filled to the brim again…we took a Halt….. Another couple of Teas down the throat and then I took the saddle….

Surprisingly… Both were quiet throughout the journey….

2.30 PM….

Destination reached….

Rain still pouring…..

Been one of the most challenging trips till date….. we were mentally fucked…..

Riding steady at 40 Kmph for 150 kms is something that we thought we could never do….

But the love of our machines helped us through…. Now we know there is a different fun all together when you ride at a steady RPM… a steady exhaust note… minimal braking….

The best Part is you get into trance….. and kilometers just fly by…. You aint tired….. you can go hours together…. A thousand kilometers a day at 80 kmph steady wont be much difficult….

Anyways… Back to the pavilion… safe and sound…. Learnt a lot….

MORAL OF THE STORY :

Always check the oil level when going out…. ( Our mechanic there couldn’t find a single droplet in out crankcase…..)