he's feeling cold and likes it

- dad...
   - hmmm?
- am feeling cold
   - first time?
- yeah... i think first time since i was born
   - hmmm. me too since i became dad
- i've seen rains, lots of it. those cities were wet

   - those water were not good

- ya... i got rusted here here and down there too

   - and the paint...

- is that can empty? next sunday its' my heart's turn

   - ok

- dad... i like this cold. and this sun. i like the mornings here

   - and i push you through those mornings not lettin' you enjoy a lot of it

- na... i don't mind it. thats a good highway there. i love it at 72. am as smooth as on 50. ain't i?

   - yup!

- why there was no cold there?

   - geography. proximity to sea. so it was humid.

- and more watery. that day my wheels were half under water!

   - were you scared?

- yeah... a bit. but felt good when all water drained out of that secret hole!

   - a hole at the underside of silencer... some great mind worked it.

   this cold will grow by mid december.

- you like it?

   - of course... missed it for last three years. my body couldn’t adjust to this cold in the beginning.

- was it cold in Bhopal?

   - yes it was. beautifully cold and then a nice soothing sun. me and Bony bhaiyya ate all the fresh green peas aunty bought when we were leaving for college. then she would buy more for sabzi or pulao.

- dad, we are doing 90.

   - any problem with the rear rubber?

- na... the tarmac grip is good on this highway.

   - you sound grunty these days.

- am fine. daily 20 kms and that too mostly on 70+. we’ll get myself checked again. traffic is bad in the city.

   - it’s not regulated that’s why. again it’s relative. mumbai’s was regulated, still painful. too many vehicles. kolkata was worse with a bit more short tempered and impatient drivers. here it’s free flow, as if everyone owns the road and the turns and rotaries and dividers.

- sometimes we look fools stopping on signals, you wearing helmet. so, which one you say was/is better?

   - highway, anywhere. they are all same. cities are different. adaptation is difficult. you can’t boast your driving skills here in udaipur if you were a traffic cutter in mumbai. the road sense and behaviour is totally different.

- and the truckers on the highway?

   - you’ve seen them. as i always say, they are the best drivers. they drive very sensibly and in discipline. you ask for side they’ll give it. they know in which lane they should be. they are helpless only with the mass of the machine they drive. trucks are so heavy and so difficult to control and we morons jumping in front of them and then blaming those poor drivers for the mishap.

   now look at these cows. having their share of land on this road.

- here. we’ve reached. chalo dad, bye. have a good day at office.

   - you made friends with Bibek’s bull?

- yep!

   - good. we’ll go on a long ride together. bye!

why ride 'not slow'?

you've written 'ride safe not slow'... defend it!
well, safety first.
and the other half? thats something dangerous and contradicting the first half
no its' not. coz' still, safety is first
but...
yes, you can be fast and safe together. you'll be stupid if you always ride slow or fast or only safe. you should be riding smart and sensible.
but why not slow?
the world is not small. its un-imaginably huge. you can't see part of it in your whole lifetime even if you have a flying machine. so forget about biking.
and then when you are on your bike as a biker and not a commuter, you are with your machine to travel the world. you enjoy the road and the street and explore something new every time you tread on it. you watch and feel the scenics, surroundings, people, other vehicles, their passengers, an overtaking biker, a cursing tempowalla, a cautious truck driver, a honking car, cows, their dung, potholes, tarmac, bridges, speed, wind... lots so many things! how can you own all that experience riding slow in your small life?
but you'll rather concentrate only on road when you are riding fast! you can't pay attention to the surroundings?
not asking you to do 80+ kmph when i say 'not slow'. you just have to be 'not slow' enough to witness as much as possible in your small ride span. you have to think and really feel that there's still a lot more ahead and you have to see that. you have to believe that what lies ahead is definitely better than what you are seeing now.
... you have to tell the tale of what you visited atleast to yourself and you should never be short of tales, so you have to move... and move 'not slow'!
and why should i see more of this world?
simple... because this world is awesome!
and what you haven't seen yet is more awesome?
you bet! go ride :)

confession

i confess... with no regret to whomsoever it hurts...
i love my bike more and like it more and it is close to me more than many of my friends!
yes! :)

was just trying to help

i regularly check the tyres of my bike for any sharp objects that might have stuck in the rubber and may damage the tube inside while running. have recovered pins, sharp gravels, glass, nail etc.
this morning i parked my bike and just noticed a nail, buried half, in the rear tyre of another bike beside mine. so, with all good intentions, i went and started pulling it out. it was quite thick and used some extra efforts. but i was glad to work to prevent another puncture and a hapless rider!
then, when it was loose enough and about to come out, a faint sssss... sound started. the nail had already punctured the tyre! a late caution thought came up '*stop! this is a tubeless tyre. it won't deflate until the nail is in. leave it. atleast the guy can take it to a punture shop riding. pull the nail out and u'll pull all the air out and he'll be pulling his bike all the way! stop...!' but, as always, it was too late. the piercing had already started hissing and with a very slight tuck, the nail was out. i saw the poor man's bike slowly lowering towards ground, whisling tunelessly. i tried to put back the nasty nail in the hole to plug it but now it wont go in. withing seconds... flat!
no one noticed what i was doing at the rear of a bike in the parking lot. i placed the mighty nail on the seat and... ran for cover!
sorry buddy, was just trying to help!

no name :(

me: i love my bike
h1: why? it doesn't even has an original name!
me: huh?
h1: search google. bike primarily means bicycle or simply cycle
me: i love my motorbike
h1: still no individuality
me: it has another name! motorcycle!
h1: ahemm!
me: #@$%#%~*&~$$$%#%#@ i... i ride a noname thingy :(
h1: worse is how much you have spent on nothing till date

after a while

sure i'll call it 'after a while' only. 27th oct was last, so its around five and a half months. no i don't have time to count it to the week and then the day... a know a guy who always does that and each time i don't appreciate.

though its only a while as per me, a lot many things have happened since... just justifying the pace of happenings. blog was a new muse but i got a newer one. took the courage to buy the camera, the price of which actuated eyebrow raising in whomever hearing it and then to make this very expression even more difficult for them, spent a few grands more on its accessories. umm... one stuff is still due... ehh!

then, two of my bestest buddies got married. i still don't believe it today and neither do they themselves, even though we were all personally present at both ceremonies. i did a better job than the official photographer... sigh!

the biggest event was my younger brother's Passing Out Parade from NDA, Khadakwasla. this one thing i cant describe, sorry. my parents and he flew in an airplane for the first time and i felt proud and bad when papa said thanks to me at the arrivals. i just bought tickets for them which were even cheaper than my camera and for that papa said thanks!

more responsibilities came up in job as few colleagues left. am still in picking-up stage for those responsibilities. immediate boss is a good guy :)

will copy-paste from my latest facebook status... o yes, created a facebook account too! copy-paste: Gaurav was doing 33.6 meters in a second when he finished 10k kms with his Pulsar! lets leave this self-explanatory.

new gadget: iPod classic 80 gb. it is quiet only while charging or updating songs and from 30mins of my falling asleep to about an hour of me waking up. when i told mom i bought one she said "i thought you were already having it! how come you were doing without any songs in your pocket??!!" on orkut they should change it to 'Six things you can't live without'

so... all this while i was not idle, just that i didn't peeped in here!

gears of my bike named...

coming here after a long time and the stay is again short... was too very busy!
anyways... yesterday as always while riding my bike, my mate, i was talking to it. we were doing through traffic, water filled potholes, rains, slick roads which, for some stretches, were empty. and in those talks, we were talking about its gears. the 5 of them which i was using at different times and conditions.
feeling each of theirs efficiencies and expertise for different purposes, i named them...

1st Gear: Raw Power. too very eager to pounce and getting us running
2nd Gear: Smootho. moving slow was never so smooth, best friend of 3rd!
3rd Gear: The Bridge. preparing well for speed biking... hidden power!
4th Gear: Old Friend. since my first biking days... this is the best. still as good as always.
5th Gear: Gracious Gift. extra for extra gliding speed... and 3 digits on speedo!
these make me feel like i have 5 more mates other than my bike!