My beloved bike recently achieved the 30k milestone without any major glitches. I got the timing chain replaced once and so were the front shocks and rim after an accident. But that’s about the only major repair the bike underwent apart from some cosmetic ones like the front fairing and side panels. My bike has been running exceptionally well of late, the engine having become used to my riding mannerisms (red lining almost every time before up shifting, testing the top speed twice every day while crossing DND flyway, wheelie-ing and burning out when possible etc etc). The best part is that it’s held true to the original CBZ character with a rev-happy engine, super-cool engine growl and a sweet exhaust note. I don’t even mind the excess vibrations. In fact I hate the silky smooth Hondas and Hero Hondas and even the Pulsars lack the feel – vibrations, noise, sheer drama and exhilaration, the ability to make you feel like Valentino Rossi! The CBZ just doesn’t seem to fit in the boring Hero Honda family picture. The new CBZ Xtreme might, but is it even worth having the CBZ tag? Don’t think so. Apart from all that, I just love that ticking sound that comes from the muffler when you shut down the engine after having a good hard ride. And I’m pretty ok with the mileage I achieve after all the hard-revving. The thing I like best is that other bikes might go faster(including JK's P150), but the “feel” (I don’t know what else to call it!) is definitely the one thing that keeps the CBZ a firm favourite for me. I don’t even regret selling my RX-100 anymore.
A few new happenings on this front…
1. My bike’s been touching top speeds of 120kph since the last servicing. Now, I won’t really bet on the accuracy of the speedo readings, but my good friend JK who happens to ride a Pulsar 150 DTSI, says this might well be pretty close to the actual speed. His P150 can’t do any better than 100-105kph (again taking into confidence his speedo readings) and my CBZ beats his P150 hands down on the DND flyway, the tacho needle playing touch-and-go with the red line@9300rpm as the speedo nudges 120kph.
2. I used to have a very stiff riding stance earlier which I thought was good. I used to lean hard onto the handlebar and have a tight grip on the fuel tank with my legs. I thought that was sporty. But this stance actually hurt my back and wrists in the long run. Now I have consciously changed my stance to a more relaxed one with a straighter back and less pressure on the handlebar. And it’s been working wonders for me. No more pain in the back and wrists and much improved handling. I still clutch the fuel tank hard while braking though, coz it makes braking a lot easier and the bike more stable while decelerating.
3. As a result of this change in riding position, I have been able to achieve better cornering speeds as well. I now love to take the exit towards Noida Sector 18 on DND and also the exit towards Sarita Vihar on the Modi Mills Flyover faster than ever before, at times even touching 70kph while taking the “ρ” exit.
In short, as McDonald’s puts it, I’M LOVING IT!!!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Boys are from Mars…Girls are from Venus...a different take...a new perspective...
This has been an age old saying which has withstood the test of times and still holds true. Boys keep saying girls can do this, girls can’t do that and in turn girls keep saying the same to boys. I won’t go into much detail here coz we are all quite familiar with things each of them are good at and things they are not.
I’m here to tell you my own part of the story. This is an incidence which took place recently at my home while I was playing with two kids just about 2 years old and who live in the same apartment building as mine. Well no prizes for guessing one’s a boy (Aryan) and one’s a girl (Samya). So these kids were playing with their toys and I did my part by giving them a few crayons and a pair of rattling magnets.
I first gave the magnets to Samya. She couldn’t understand what to do with it. So I gave one magnet in her hand and took the other one closer so they attract. But quite unexpectedly, she got scared with the rattling sound the magnets made when they stuck and threw the magnet away. I tried once again and after a little coaxing gave her the magnet. Alas, same result, a misguided throw this time missing my face by a millimeter. She just wouldn’t touch the magnet again, as if it was a ball of fire or something. So I gave up and handed her the crayons. She seemed to quite like them and thus began her abstract sketching session (making things that looked like my face, some numbers, and a few freestyle sketches too) which lasted for almost an hour. This girl sure got some creative talent!
But Samya could pick up the crayons only after the mighty Aryan had almost broken half of them into pieces. He thought they were meant to be broken and not make drawings with. So I tried the magnets with him. And guess what, he thought that was the coolest toy he ever had. He left everything else to concentrate on discovering the laws of magnetism. By the time his mom came to drag him back to home, he had already understood how poles attract and repel. He discovered that the magnets could also stick to door and window frames, the fridge and also the fridge’s voltage stabilizer (wow, I never tried that!). He even found some nails, a hammer and a pair of pliers under my bed that he could stick the magnet to. I mean, kids are smart, but this smart, I never knew.
The point is, these kids had not seen these things earlier and they did what their instincts made them do. Nothing that they had seen or been taught. Just plain natural INSTINCT!! It made my belief in that phrase even stronger…it’s in the genes, you just can’t help it!!
I’m here to tell you my own part of the story. This is an incidence which took place recently at my home while I was playing with two kids just about 2 years old and who live in the same apartment building as mine. Well no prizes for guessing one’s a boy (Aryan) and one’s a girl (Samya). So these kids were playing with their toys and I did my part by giving them a few crayons and a pair of rattling magnets.
I first gave the magnets to Samya. She couldn’t understand what to do with it. So I gave one magnet in her hand and took the other one closer so they attract. But quite unexpectedly, she got scared with the rattling sound the magnets made when they stuck and threw the magnet away. I tried once again and after a little coaxing gave her the magnet. Alas, same result, a misguided throw this time missing my face by a millimeter. She just wouldn’t touch the magnet again, as if it was a ball of fire or something. So I gave up and handed her the crayons. She seemed to quite like them and thus began her abstract sketching session (making things that looked like my face, some numbers, and a few freestyle sketches too) which lasted for almost an hour. This girl sure got some creative talent!
But Samya could pick up the crayons only after the mighty Aryan had almost broken half of them into pieces. He thought they were meant to be broken and not make drawings with. So I tried the magnets with him. And guess what, he thought that was the coolest toy he ever had. He left everything else to concentrate on discovering the laws of magnetism. By the time his mom came to drag him back to home, he had already understood how poles attract and repel. He discovered that the magnets could also stick to door and window frames, the fridge and also the fridge’s voltage stabilizer (wow, I never tried that!). He even found some nails, a hammer and a pair of pliers under my bed that he could stick the magnet to. I mean, kids are smart, but this smart, I never knew.
The point is, these kids had not seen these things earlier and they did what their instincts made them do. Nothing that they had seen or been taught. Just plain natural INSTINCT!! It made my belief in that phrase even stronger…it’s in the genes, you just can’t help it!!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
New Poll...Please VOTE !!!
Hello friends and fellow bloggers...
I got this idea for a poll while biking from office to home today. When exactly do you get most of the ideas for your blog?
I've voted (co-incidentally!) for the 2nd option. You could of course have in mind other places and times. Please feel free to throw any brickbats (as i like to call "comments") at me.
Enjoy...and keep voting!!
I got this idea for a poll while biking from office to home today. When exactly do you get most of the ideas for your blog?
I've voted (co-incidentally!) for the 2nd option. You could of course have in mind other places and times. Please feel free to throw any brickbats (as i like to call "comments") at me.
Enjoy...and keep voting!!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Back to Pocket Tanks....and i'm loving it !!!!
Pocket tanks was the one thing i used to be really good at while at college. Used to score points by thousands and beat every other person in the hostel. And now i'm back !! With a vengeance.
Downloaded the full 210 bomb pack version recently and i've been bitten by the PT bug since. Every spare minute is now fully utilized by playing a quick game of PT deluxe. Although i haven't been able to score points like i used to but i feel i'm still pretty good at it. Besides, i've done the noble task of spreading the PT bug around my office and i now have some pretty good competitors to challenge my undisputed PT champ title. My good friend JK and i have had some interesting duels in recent times and he's almost as good as me now (at times even better !!)
I've now decided to take up the task of coaching and extend my knowledge and skill to aspiring PT'ers. Hope i'm as good at this as i am at playing myself...
LONG LIVE THE DEVELOPERS OF POCKET TANKS-THE GREATEST GAME THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN !!
Friday, September 5, 2008
I hate women's tennis...
Not less than 6 women’s tennis players were in contention for the top spot in the rankings at the start of the US Open. 2 of them have fallen on the way, 4 still remain in the hunt by reaching the semi-finals. I don’t know what to call this - solid competition between the ladies, or simply the lack of consistency in any of them!!
I’ve been a keen follower of tennis since the days of Michael Chang, Pistol Pete, Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg n all…Those were days when you expected the top 4 seeds to reach the semi-finals of every grand slam and make worth every penny their supporters paid to watch them. These were the masters of the game and other players seemed mere spectators playing against them. Men’s tennis is still ruled by such masters as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and it’s nice to see one of them picking up the crown at the grand slams.
But what I’m talking about here is not men’s, but women’s tennis. They had their share of champions too. Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and later Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters and Justin Henin have all shown to the world how dominating they can be. But the story seems to be going in some other unknown direction now, at least to me. The WTA rankings have been more or less made a mockery of by the players from Russia and other former soviet nations. This new breed includes players such as Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Swetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina (she seems like the only genuine contender to me), Maria Sharapova, Anastasia Myskina, Daniela Hantuchova and so on and so forth. Try going through the WTA rankings and chances are there would be at least 30 players in top 50 whose name ends with an “ova” or an “ic”. As of date there are only 2 Americans (who else but the Williams’), 2 Serbs (No.1 & 2, the ‘ic’s, Ana and Jelena) and an astonishing 6 Russians in the top 10.
I would like to give full credit to the Russians (and Serbs and Slovaks and Czechs) for creating this super-powerful (Universal Soldiers??) breed of players who have taken the tennis world by storm. No wrong in that. But my point is, what about people like me who want to see class tennis, players who like to serve and volley, who have more style and grace than power, who out-think and out-serve their opponent rather than grinding them with their muscle. It’s almost like watching 2 Energizer bunnies playing from the baseline picking up every shot till they drop dead. No elegance, no grace, no style, just power-packed forehands and two handed backhands from the baseline. And when was the last time the top seeded women reached the semis? Or a lady winning back to back grand slams? Top 3 seeds in the men's draw have made it to the semis on the other hand. The least I demand is a little consistency. Instead what we get to see is the top seed not even making to the quarters in most of the slams. They win one slam and then drop out in the 2nd round in the next. Case in point, Ana Ivanovic (No.1 seed, haha) and Swetlana Kuznetsova (No.4 seed, former champ), both falling at the US Open before someone even noticed. And here’s more…the no.2 seed, Jelena Jankovic hasn’t gone past the semis in a grand slam ever, and Elena Dementieva hasn’t been ranked higher than no.4 in her career and still has shot at the top spot…WOW!!! What a grand mess women’s tennis has become.
The only saving grace has been the Williams sisters yet again battling it out in a slam and giving top notch performances. Yah yah, I know most of you loath them for whatever reasons, but the fact remains that they have managed to stay at the top of the game for almost a decade now when compatriots like Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters have already retired. These Williams girls play only a handful of big tournaments and they win!! I beg you Justin Henin, Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis…please come out of retirement for our sake and show these Russian chics how tennis was meant to be played and the art of winning Grand Slams!!!
I’ve been a keen follower of tennis since the days of Michael Chang, Pistol Pete, Jim Courier, Stefan Edberg n all…Those were days when you expected the top 4 seeds to reach the semi-finals of every grand slam and make worth every penny their supporters paid to watch them. These were the masters of the game and other players seemed mere spectators playing against them. Men’s tennis is still ruled by such masters as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and it’s nice to see one of them picking up the crown at the grand slams.
But what I’m talking about here is not men’s, but women’s tennis. They had their share of champions too. Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and later Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters and Justin Henin have all shown to the world how dominating they can be. But the story seems to be going in some other unknown direction now, at least to me. The WTA rankings have been more or less made a mockery of by the players from Russia and other former soviet nations. This new breed includes players such as Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva, Swetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina (she seems like the only genuine contender to me), Maria Sharapova, Anastasia Myskina, Daniela Hantuchova and so on and so forth. Try going through the WTA rankings and chances are there would be at least 30 players in top 50 whose name ends with an “ova” or an “ic”. As of date there are only 2 Americans (who else but the Williams’), 2 Serbs (No.1 & 2, the ‘ic’s, Ana and Jelena) and an astonishing 6 Russians in the top 10.
I would like to give full credit to the Russians (and Serbs and Slovaks and Czechs) for creating this super-powerful (Universal Soldiers??) breed of players who have taken the tennis world by storm. No wrong in that. But my point is, what about people like me who want to see class tennis, players who like to serve and volley, who have more style and grace than power, who out-think and out-serve their opponent rather than grinding them with their muscle. It’s almost like watching 2 Energizer bunnies playing from the baseline picking up every shot till they drop dead. No elegance, no grace, no style, just power-packed forehands and two handed backhands from the baseline. And when was the last time the top seeded women reached the semis? Or a lady winning back to back grand slams? Top 3 seeds in the men's draw have made it to the semis on the other hand. The least I demand is a little consistency. Instead what we get to see is the top seed not even making to the quarters in most of the slams. They win one slam and then drop out in the 2nd round in the next. Case in point, Ana Ivanovic (No.1 seed, haha) and Swetlana Kuznetsova (No.4 seed, former champ), both falling at the US Open before someone even noticed. And here’s more…the no.2 seed, Jelena Jankovic hasn’t gone past the semis in a grand slam ever, and Elena Dementieva hasn’t been ranked higher than no.4 in her career and still has shot at the top spot…WOW!!! What a grand mess women’s tennis has become.
The only saving grace has been the Williams sisters yet again battling it out in a slam and giving top notch performances. Yah yah, I know most of you loath them for whatever reasons, but the fact remains that they have managed to stay at the top of the game for almost a decade now when compatriots like Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters have already retired. These Williams girls play only a handful of big tournaments and they win!! I beg you Justin Henin, Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis…please come out of retirement for our sake and show these Russian chics how tennis was meant to be played and the art of winning Grand Slams!!!
The taste of broadband...at home...in India...
Recently i downloaded the IE 8 using my good old trusted BSNL "broadband" ADSL connection at home. An average download speed of 194KBps is what i got. Not bad for a home user in India i guess...And judging by the feedback friends using other private operators' connection gave to me, i must say BSNL is doing pretty well at least in this department. I have been able to download at least 3-3.5GB data every night courtesy the night (2AM - 8AM) unlimited plan...
Thank you BSNL !!!
I know many friends of mine have connections a zillion times faster than this at their disposal at their offices or in different countries. Hope India catches up soon enough and more home users get access to faster internet connections, at least in the cities.
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