Dreams of a rusted rider!

I am flashing the headlamps repeatedly, trying to warn that zillionth driver on the road today who has decided to swerve into my lane without even giving a passing glance to the desperate biker asking for his own space. As I grab the brakes and blip to drop the cog, my arms cringe and my back groans. I am holding the handle-bar firmly, forcing my eyes wide open against the wind, the gust of air drying my eyes up as I make an attempt to improve visibility keeping my muck/shit laden helmet visor open. Its twilight and all I can see are blurred tail-lamps and blinding headlamps. No, I don’t want to stop to even clean the visor. To stop means to shift gears, brake and then get off the motorcycle. However tempting that may be, I know for a fact that getting back up on the saddle would need much more effort and then getting the concentration back would be a gargantuan task. Why are my thoughts drifting? I am not giving up, not now.

They always say ‘it is the last few miles that eat up the smiles’. But what about the 900 kilometres I have ridden since morning to fulfil my promise? My best friend is getting married to the love of his life and I had promised to co-host his sangeet that would start in an hour. There I was today morning, 950 kms away, I was cheering other bestie as he participated in the last round of the Indian Rally Championship fighting to be the champion co-driver for 2014. If I said I was tired, tears would well up litotes’ eyes! The Suzuki though, is cool and calm as ever, just like she was in the morning – not even one bit tired, not even one bit grumpy for all the grime stuck upon her. She is the one who is driving me up to pull myself up or rather what was left of it and reach home safely.

The calm and serene hills of Chikmagalur, famous for the sprawling coffee estates, were alive with the with the growling and screeching exhausts of rally cars that turn up here every winter to race against nature, terrain, rain and time to finish one more round of the Indian Rally Championship. The beaten dirt track of Birur with its narrow flowing high speed sections has always been one of the toughest challenges for the Indian rallysts. I am actually able to recall some of the sections like it was yesterday! Sadly, the stage has been phased out since last year with increasing traffic and safety concerns. A new stage has been built through the coffee estates. Though it is not as fast as Birur, it is scarily narrow and immensely technical and now an even bigger challenge.

All the cars were gleaming in their colourful liveries - spruced up and repaired after the beating down they had taken over their previous outing - ready to hit the road as fiercely as they can in the able hands of their drivers. But as fate would have it, it rained the previous night, throwing all equations in to a tizzy. Friday morning it was and the pits transformed into a war-zone with tuners fighting hard to change the suspension set-ups and tyres for each car to get them to their competitive best in the short one hour time window before the super special stage. Wrinkles of worry were quite visible while I prayed for my friend to get a fair chance in his race for the title.

My phone started ringing. I wasn’t wired nor I had Bluetooth synced helmet and I had forgotten the phone in my shorts that were buried under my riding pants. I was sure it was my friend who had called me to ask where I was. He was completely against me starting on the Sunday morning, the day of his sangeet, to ride down 950 kms and make it in time. Everyone said I was out of my mind to ride across the Deccan plateau within a day. My mother even offered to buy me air tickets but then, I had to salvage my lost pride of being a tourer, a long distance rider – something that I had not done in at least the last two years. There are quite a few riders who have sailed through the Iron-Butt challenge, doing close to 1700 kms within 24 hours, almost twice my target – but this was my ride for redemption.

The adrenalin rush to conquer my quest had me going strong for quite some time since my departure into the freezing cold at 6 am. It started getting better as the sun steadily made its way up. In the meantime, I had joined the NH4 – one of the few roads in India where you can crunch miles steadily and at good speeds. I did not even stop for breakfast, not wanting to lose time. As exhaustion started creeping up, I stopped in Kolhapur for a quick bite just after noon.

Slightly ahead of my schedule after the dream run I had since morning, I did not want to relax. I got back on to the saddle wringing the throttle open every time I found an open stretch. I was carrying good steady pace but somehow, I don’t know why, the odometer seemed to have slowed down. My body was tiring out faster than ever, may be due to that extra pack of fries I munched at McDonalds. After riding hard for two hours, I was still at Satara. I stopped in the shade of a massive roadside banyan tree for a break, trying to evaluate what was going wrong.

The rally is spread over three days with the Super Special stage on Friday followed by six special stages on Saturday and three on Sunday. He did well on Day 1 and Day 2, looking poised to bring the trophy home. I had wished him all the luck in this world and left today morning. I called him up when I stopped over at Satara. The ‘hello’ was low and I knew something was wrong. An electrical failure robbed them off the power steering and they went straight into a tree stump that ripped the front suspension and axle off. Both occupants were safe, but he lost the championship by just 6 points! Aaaarrggghhh!

Only 250 more kilometers to go - which means a maximum of four hours of riding left to be done. Yay! I just did 700 kms in 9 hours. A pat on my back and back on the road!

Well, the phone is ringing continuously now. Well just 50 more kilometers. I have been riding for the past 13 hours. The traffic in Pune and Lonavla have already taken a huge toll on my flailing spirits and Mumbai was yet to come. Well, just 50 more kilometers, you can do it!

a-ring a-ring a-ring a-ring!

What! Why is my morning alarm ringing? Am I day dreaming on the motorcycle? Wait!

a-ring a-ring a-ring a-ring!

Let me snooze that one first and then think!

6 Reasons why Bikers are worse than Geeks!!!

1.       A geek will run you through books and web pages – a biker will run you through dust and smoke!

2.       A geek will really know where he is going – a biker most probably won’t!

3.       A geek will always play safe – a biker will always play, safe or not!

4.       A geek will never get his hands dirty – a biker knows exactly how to get them dirty!

5.       A geek will have a perfect closet – a biker won’t even have one!

6.       A geek will be out of place at a social do – a biker will still be searching for a place!

The Duster that does not bite dust!

You are up early in the morning, driving a nice compact SUV towards the wilderness and it starts raining. You venture deeper into the sea of bright green on the narrow internal roads of the Western Ghats and you come across a small off-road trail – the one that’s disappears into the woods just to peep out above the tree-line on the hillock yonder. You sit up in your driving seat, gripping the wheel hard. The boulder patches, running streams and slush fields are running in a loop in front of your eyes just like the breaking news reel on our TV channels. It just makes you want to go in and take the plunge! What a dream!

Here in India, such dreams seldom come true. You are left wanting your little SUV to have a four-wheel-drive system, so that you can just hit off the trail just for the heck of seeing where it goes. But now that I am writing about it – yay – I have lived this dream. Yes, I was previewing a compact 4x4 SUV, the Duster AWD from the French manufacturer Renault, on invitation from the team at Blogadda. Being an automotive fanatic, I had been tracking the Duster since its global launch under the brand Dacia. As the car was being launched in India, Dacia had already built a Dakar spec Duster with a high performance engine and an effective four-wheel-drive system. I had been waiting for this car since at least a year and now that I got a chance to lay my hands on it, I was quite excited.

The test schedule for the day was planned really well as we drove off from Pune city towards Lavasa getting to drive the car on the highway as well as on narrow country roads filled with pot-holes and the challenging twisties of the Mula and Mutha Ghats. The Duster has always been a great handler. If you could live with strictly plain interiors and some weirdly positioned switches, you would love this car. This probably is one of the best handling cars to be launched in India for people who can spend about a million bucks and a bit more.

The second leg of the test drive was something that I had been a dream for quite some time. I got to hit a long 5 km off road trail. As I was leaving tarmac, I offered my prayers to the Gods of Speed – Hanu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen, Sebastien Loeb et al – and let all the 110 horses go! The ESP light blinked frantically on the dash as the wheels kept spinning on the loose gravel. The car lunged ahead with zest. I was really surprised by the composure of the Duster. It always had the right amount of driver aid kicking in to keep the car in check. The Torque-on-Demand and the ESP work in great unison letting even novices cruise through the obstacles. The car is quite capable of handling a 30-35⁰ incline on a dirt road even when it is raining! 

After some water crossings and more broken tarmac, we could finally hear our stomachs calling for food.

The last leg was the drive back to the Courtyard Marriott where we had been hosted by the extremely friendly and hospitable team of Blogadda and Renault. I took it easy on the way to feel how the car would feel in real world. As I ran in 2WD mode, the Duster just ate up all the road undulations. Being an automotive engineer, I have an idea of how difficult it is to get a car to ride like that at low speeds and also hold corners at high speeds.

It had been a fun day, the exact kind of a getaway I was planning for – a good road, a mad location and a crazy car – it doesn’t get better than that for someone who has more gasoline and oil in his veins than the blood corpuscles. It turned out to be the one of the best ways I could have celebrated Independence – the freedom to hit that unknown trail which I would probably have turned away from for the lack of choice!

-          - This blogpost is written as a part of the #DusterAllWheelDrive event by Blogadda and Renault India.
--         - For further details about the Renault Duster AWD and any other car please log on to CarWale - The biggest Automotive Website in India

The ‘CAAAAR’MA : Nissan Sunny

Nissan made Sunny to be the dream car for Indians, bigger and cheaper. My first glimpse of the ‘New Sunny’ was the rear end and I said, ‘Hey, Baby Teana !!!’. The nice curvaceous back end with swept up tail lamps look good. The car is long and has a rich feel to it given by the subtle strokes of chrome. The front look can be said to be docile as against the ‘Aggressive’ looking cars of the segment. The body has a distinctive and a broad shoulder line. The stance was nice and not low, very efficient on Indian roads.

Keyless entry, grace XV variant, I entered into the Sunny world. Space was overflowing. If you thought Tatas did a hell of a job with the Manza, the Sunny is going to make yours jaws drop. The interior is bright and sleek. The plastic quality could have been better but the fit and finish matches the Japanese élan. The dash is huge but sleek. The circular theme of the overall design is evident. The climate control, integrated music system and other functional buttons are strategically placed and are discreetly spaced for un-inhibited use without taking your eyes off the road. The instrument console is stylish with the chrome rings and has a nice mix of digital and analog meters.

The diesel engine came to life with the gentle push of a button and settled immediately to idle. The sheer length of the car came into perspective when I had to reverse her out of the tight parking space. It sure seems like a MUV from inside. On the open road, the car has a nice presence, good riding height, elbow space, seating comfort, thigh support, smooth clutch, nimble brakes and more than a 100 horses under the hood. The steering is just near perfect with the weight responses on corners and ease on the straights. It tends to roll over tight turns and high-speed lane changes, given the size of the car. The engine performs enthusiastically from over the 1500 rpm to 3500 rpm mark, below which it feels a
bit sluggish (typical diesel) and above which the cabin noise starts moving up.

The suspension setup is just in place for typical Indian ride. After the slow speed stiffness, the car feels absolutely at home. The Sunny is planted right up to 140 kmph. The wind noise, though, creeps in after 80-100 kmph. The car has good bump absorption with almost no pitch or yaw, courtesy the long wheel base that matches a Civic. The Sunny takes a big leap towards the cliché ‘Affordable luxury’.

That takes me to the USP of this car, leg-room. Pull the front seats as far as u can and still you’ve got space good enough for a 6’2” guy to sit comfortably. As experts say, it has got leg-room more than a Merc E-class! With the retractable armrest, the car is cozy for 5 hefty adults. The sloping roofline means a more slant backrest that may be uncomfortable over long tours. The smart and efficient system of routing cool air to the rear seats gives the passenger that extra bit of indulgence. The door knobs are one of their kind and nicely blended into their design. You may take some time to get used to these.

With the Nissan diesel, economy is never an issue and so is the build quality. Also, Nissan ramping up the dealer network over the country, customers eyeing an budget up to 8-9 lacs, have got a
CAAAAR to buy!!!!

Blood Shackles

The right to live life on your terms is something that you should be born with. It is okay if I have to be fed, to be held, to be taught till I grow up or when I grow old - but- I still have the right to live my years of independence with my choices.

It becomes even more difficult when the people who 'own' you can not just let go. There is a reason why all these family soaps have run for ages. It is the battle for control, the tactics and the strategies to cripple your target into submission that are formulated, executed and revered.

'Family' - the concept - has its origins to ancient civilization and is still a consequential part of society all over the world. Family, if you go very basic, is group of individuals staying together to help each other survive. Add love, compassion to it and things like rights and duties emerge. Emotions are an integral part of the human psychology and hence with more emotions into the mix, the complications multiply.

The definition of Family has changed over the years due to continual exposure to this deadly mixture of complicated emotions called relations. This has led to concepts of moral liability or emotional ownership that in turn have made this cordial in-habitation a ghastly affair. 

The individualism has been lost in this congregation of egos and expectations. The identities have either been lost or are so blurred that 'identity-crisis' sounds like a primordial definition. These people with identities in 'no-man's-land' are highly susceptible to influence -good or bad. 

The solution to this is not breaking the shackles and walking away. Giving back the help you got when you were incapable is your moral responsibility and you can not shrink away from it. The catch here is having the choice to give it back in the way you prefer!

Dribble Drabble Wibble Wobble....... Thud!

Shards of Flesh

The grass seemed greener, the sky blue felt richer, the moon glowed brighter. Everything fell into place. Nothing could go wrong. Being on cloud nine. the universe revolved around a single sun. The abundant mirth of tiny things, the sequence of mischievous winks, the shivers of those tender touches.

What an illusion!!!!

Happiness - FTW 

Happiness is that random fantasy in life created to make you want it, want it so bad that you end up being unhappy for the most part of your life.

What if we could just ignore the existence of happiness? Would that make our life easy?

What is happiness? Happiness for me is the emotion that arises when your expectations are matched by the event. It is that feeling when the people around you match your expected frequency. Happiness is achieving something further than your expectations.

Lord Krishna in his unfathomably deep philosophy ‘Bhagvad Geeta’ says ‘Do your deeds and don’t expect any results’ which kind of matches in here. What if you never expected anything out of anything you did? You could never be unhappy!

So, why should we not fuck this shit and not bother about anything, just do our stuff and leave it all to the so called Almighty to keep the balance skewed!



The Evil Within!

I am not the one you thank
I am not the one you want
I am not the one you think
I am not the one you wish
I am not the one you dream
I am not the one you feel
I am not the one you love
I am the one who killed your dove!!!

Rock Bottom

There are moments in your life when you want to run away from everything. There are moments when you would be unnoticeable. That you just want to be forgotten like the floods that rocked us a decade back or like the bullets Kasab sprayed. There are these moments when you think you have actually hit rock-bottom.

That brings me to ‘rock-bottom’. How would I define rock-bottom? I don’t really know! Is it something that you reach when you have failed miserably or is it something that you did not account for? Rock bottom, for me, is that ocean trench you never fathom. The deeper you fall every time, you think you have hit the sand and you try and get up and fight back until the next time when you know that this time it is surely deeper.

That is surely depressing. Depression is probably an expression of knowledge that the trench is much deeper than what you thought. And that, according to many ‘gurus’, should be enlightenment. Enlightenment or self-realization, probably, is knowing where exactly you lie amongst the co-ordinates of the universe.

Expression is to exhibit. Exhibitions are to be seen carefully to understand the thought behind the charade. And sometimes the fascia is cleverly painted to work exactly the other way. The mind is a processor of a trillion thoughts at a time. Some are known while most are just there and to be paint one like that, you need to be focused.

Focus is the key that mostly unlocks success. But is it success that keeps you away from hitting rock-bottom? Or is it that you are always on the sand bed, devising criteria in your head that become the ladder you would want to climb out to be a success?

My date with a SuperModel!

I couldn’t sleep that night – I was nervous. I was supposed to spend a good lot of time with this beauty tomorrow. You know you have to prepare a lot for a date and I did not want to goof up for the zillionth time. I know bikers are dim-wits but I was hell bent on getting this one right – you don’t get such chances every other day right?

They said she is bad-ass, but, I still went on reading about her. Frankly, it was seemed as if I was going for a lot more than I could handle. Her very potential and its enormity got to the nerves of even the best – and I am just a mere mortal – a beginner. I needed some sleep. You don’t want to go red-eyed and yawning half through the day. I somehow close my eyes trying to fend away the thoughts. I knew it would be a long tiring day ahead and I should be at my best to even be considered – forget making even an impression.

There she was, dressed in bright sparkling green mixed well with touches of black. Her eyes were big and focused. Her voluptuous curves were to die for and not even the cork-screw¹ could match the mix of their diversity and insanity. Her stance was well spread and planted, just like a predator preparing to pounce. Spell bound at her first sight, I could not decide if I was in awe or love!

I started the day with my poker face – holding my nerves - trying my best not to blow it. Surprisingly, she turned out to be sweet-tempered. Beyond her daunting façade, she was actually very easy to get along. As the day progressed, the grin on my face started getting wider. I was getting in to my element and pushing myself to go further and at the same time probing cautiously. The catch is not to get over-ambitious and rub her the wrong way lest you get thrown out.

But then, I had my set of charms too! Soon, she started loving the way I was treating her. (You have to learn these things over time or you end up alone on some bed²). It is real fun when you meet ‘someone’ new and you know that ‘someone’ is certainly out of your league and you still prod on that treacherous path trying to win over. In spite of a string of failures under my belt, I always look out for another opportunity to get it right.

By the end of the day, I was pretty much there. I knew how far to go (and it wasn’t even getting her miss a beat). I knew I was doing my best as we floated around, cutting through the crowd. I wanted to go unspotted, but then, with someone like her, you are going to get noticed. And when that happened, I absorbed every bit of the lime-light in the most gentlemanly way I could.

It was evening and she had to go back and I could not stop myself from being sad. I was just getting to know her and probably needed some more time (count them in years) to get into her league and I knew we would have a ball together. As I left her, I was engrossed in thoughts – thoughts about life as such (No - I am not going to cry).

Ta-da!!! Happy realization! 

I agree that super-models are something you always aspire to have. But then, what is the point if you cannot savour the company – except that you have something to boast about! (It’s a different case for the ‘experts’). For somebody like me, it would better to date the girl next door while I inch my way up to the ‘expert’ league. I am certain it would be a lot more fun!

PS : All this while I was talking about the lady in green – the Kawasaki ZX14R – the mothership of motorcycles across the globe!

1 – Cork Screw : Laguna Seca

2 – Hospital Bed