Sid.

Next time I come back from Mumbai, it will be bit difficult for me to accept this flat as 'house'! No, not because you will not be there, but there will not be any stuff lying around on sofa, bed, chairs, no fan running at full speed, no shoes scattered everywhere on floor. And surprisingly, somehow, to me, it will look like no one stays here! Without the dry daaru bottles and drying utensils, the kitchen too will look empty. I will not have to remember to close the gas knob before I go to sleep, neither will I have to think whether to keep the outer metal door open so that you can come in anytime at late night (rather morning). It will be like, I will have nothing to do in this place still called house! (oops little too senti!)

It's not that I have never stayed alone in this house before, but then I always knew that you will be back sometime, may be we will even see and talk to each other once in 3-4 days at least. Even when you had gone for your long jaundice holiday, I still didn't feel like I feel today (not for you, for myself). Sadly, I also feel that it's not because you are leaving, but because I will be alone, that I am sad. But I guess that's the case with everyone in this selfish world.

When we were classmates in NID, I never imagined I will spend so much time with you after NID! At the end of these 4 years (f...o....u...r.... years!) of sharing a house (and few other things, like your laptop charger and my laptop), I still find it surprising that we actually did! And if someone asks me what made you two stay together for this long, I have no answer! I wonder how come we even never had any fight or argument!
As if this feeling was not surprising enough, as I am writing, I receive an SMS from a very distant friend,"Some reasons definitely make relationships strong, but the fact is, only strong relations will remain forever without any reason!"
aamen
take care
bhavin

Epilogue: This reminds me that I will have to buy a new laptop charger now! :( This post would have been a much better read, had someone paid me to write it. I might have even taken little effort to find and photoshop a good picture of yours then, and name this post as 'an open letter to my house-mate' etc. Jokes apart, there were so many things coming to my mind as I thought of writing this Sid, but somehow its not possible and even required. To some extent this whole blog itself is somehow related to all the time we spent together, all the things we did, from chatting on our own blog comments, to bike rides, photography, to window shopping, movies (and writing the reviews on blog!)..... I have to stop writing now as the dictionary meaning of epilogue uses the word 'short' write-up. I also have to spend some time talking to my next room-mate, a much better one! ;)

The Last Sunday.

1 route
2 Bikes
3 winters
33 months
825 happy mornings
33,000 km
3,21,750 distinct jerks to spinal cord.
Restart.


Few dreams
some wishes
many people
some friends
few relations
lot of exposure
some lessons
few realisations.
Refresh.

love you rossi

Today Aakanksha asked me why my gtalk status is '46'? I asked her to type 46 in google and see. ;)
First result is 'Valentino Rossi' and second is 'the number between 45 and 47'!!!

'What if I had never tried it' is his autobiography. Got to read few pages on Amazon. Quite interesting, or may be I was just overwhelmed by the fact that I was reading something written by Rossi!, the person whose mere name turns my hands into fists with a sudden need to grab the handlebars of my bike and tear the road with eqaully brutal sound. OK, most of my readers won't be able to relate to this, so i won't stretch the topic more.
Read some reviews and found that its not a 'great' book 'as a book', but the fact that its about 'the god on two wheels' needs no reviews by us mortals. For me, the review by wife of some lucky husband felt more justified/appropriate/convincing or whatever.
So the point is, if someone is looking for a gift for me, its on Amazon! :)

Ohh and by the way, very interesting information as good as his autobiography is available on his official website here. Check that for his childhood stories with his father and some rare pics.
And the book is here.
:)
Its 5:30pm... I can happily grab the bars now... ;)
YO rossiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....

the good mornings!

ego,
loneliness,
superiority complex,
inferiority complex,
headache,
heartache,
memories,
hatred,
love.

Riding heals.... almost everything!

To fly or not to fly?

This is a part of conversation with my friend Sagar. Please comment with your opinions on this topic.

sagar: i was looking at some jet pack videos, as in a device which one carries on the back and you can fly with it. what do you think wil be the next thing in transporation
me: next as in?
sagar: it will be a matter of a little more time that we will start seeing people flying
me: hmmm, but as a designer i don't find that so real. think bout it and by real i dnt mean technlogy... i mean real people
sagar: ummm why not?
me: it takes a lot of courage, skill and mental acceptance for most of the common people to ride even bikes at speed of 60kmph with both wheels on ground!.... some prefer public transport... some who afford... go for personal cars... so flying... is much challenging for common people
sagar: hmm,thats true
me: what is required and will be preferable is public transport
sagar: its a personal choice..but it still exists
me: i agree, i wil certainly go for flying jet pack, but wrt to personal mobility, there are people who commute because they want to ride and then there are people who ride just because they need to commute.
I commute because I want to ride!
sagar: hmm interersting,but dont you feel after surface and water air could be next medium?
me: it already is
sagar: no for example travelling from my home to a nearby cinema
me: yes.. but I remember when we were doing systems project, we thought best thing is to avoid human transportation for as many tasks as possible..
but yes.. still air could be most preferred medium for some group of people, including me :)
what do u think?
sagar: hmm, yes.. as in its overcoming one of human limitations
why do u think nobody has tried to commercialise the jetpack?
its such an old invention!
me: may be not enough MARKET!!!!!
thats the reason so many vehicle concets go in R&D scrap!!!!
even the normal vehicles I mean.
sagar: why wouldnt anyone want something faster than a bike and somehting which doesnt need roads?
me: faster than bike? which bike? You know 100cc is the largest selling category in two wheelers! I mean people dont want faster bikes too! a large group of people!
so for mass commercialisation... jet pack may not be right thing...
for a small goup of people it may be... those who have enough money and also want to fly.. on their own..how many are they?
sagar: i think its same as the situation when the automobiles were first commercialised.
with more and more of automobiles on roads they felt the need to have signals and there were tarffic jams and we still are fighting with jams
bike is a better vehicle because it doesnt occupy unnecessary space on road anywhere... so if we say we eliminate 4 wheelers and have public tarnsport and bikes it may be good
me: do u know in most countries bike is proved to be the most dangerous mode of transport and they are planning to restrict use of them?
sagar: yes true, so we need an option which is for one person and occupies small space, need not be bike, sometihng which is stable
me: and SAFE
sagar: hmm, flying vehicle is dangerous than a bike
sagar: this is one way of looking at it,
public tarnsport and compact and safe personal vehicles is i think a fair option.. given the man needs to travel and explore .
now if this scenario comes into reality some time.. the next fair and logical extension would safe compact personal flying vehicle, because space on groud is limited
me: see you can sell anything!!!! u just need the right context :)
for commercialisation... u either need to fix a target group ( the profitable one) and design or make something for them.... or if you want to make something...then u see whom you can sell it to.... right?
sagar: hmm right
me: there are people who have designed and made bikes which they sell for more than a crore!!!! but one has just to be clear to himself if he wants to help people do something or to commercialise and sell something!!!
sagar: but we r not trying to sell something unnecessary.. its to satisfy the human spirit of exploration and learning and facilitate his movement because he cant run faster than his physical abilities
me: "its to satisfy the human spirit of exploration and learning "
very true and appropriate.

We don't want to keep The Doctor away!...

The 'Gallina Vecchia' (old chicken) Valentino Rossi, The Doctor, the greatest motorcycle racer of our times, has laid one more egg! With yesterdays third place finish at Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, he has won the 2009 MotoGP world championship, his seventh premier class world title and ninth world title! With 103 wins on record, and 7 premium class World championships at the age of 30, Rossi has proved (as he says) he is the old chicken who can still lay eggs! We can see a promise for next season too in his statements, so 2010 show is for sure. We don't know what he will go for after that, but we hope his passion for two wheels keeps him riding for many more years in all possible healthy and wealthy conditions,,,
Good going Rossi...
:) (for more amazing statistics about the hero, read here at faster and faster.)

Dang, it's so slow!!!

(note: dang - damn, interj. Used to express dissatisfaction or annoyance)

Today I am feeling so nice! :) Yes one reason being that it was a nice holiday yesterday, which started with watching a very entertaining movie and ended with very tasty food cooked at home by anup and mosh (ghosh)... I still can't believe she actually did!!! But thats a different topic... What made me feel so nice today morning is nothing else but my bike ride to office! Mannn I was actually riding at 70 inside city!!! I couldnt believe that I am still able to do it after riding at 35 kmph max for last few days! Dang, I did it! hahahah
Ok to make the whole picture lttle clear, I must tell you that like many girls, miss Nidhi Dang (the actual Dang and not damn) had always complained about the small and too tall pillion seat of my bike (FZ16). More than that she also had always complained that I ride too fast (read: 45kmph). So recently she declared no matter what, she is not going to be my pillion rider. And thats when dear god decided to put her in situations which demanded her being my pillion rider! :)
Now looking at miss Dang, who has a long list of secret (and some open) admirers, this should be a very good opportunity for any biker... like me... ;)
But Riding all the time at 30-35kmph!!!!!!! On a Yamaha!!!! Dang, it's so slow!!! I tried my best to be a good boy for this virgo and kept riding at 35.... with all splendors and victors overtaking from my left and right, activa girls and scooty babes running over my baby FZ, making way for all the faster entities... I kept riding at 35... unknowingly even when I was riding alone!!!
At the end of every ride (read:journey) i felt like I had been a really good boy and just to confirm (not impress) I tried asking if she was comfortable now? But dang!!!! I could see her happily nodding to sid's "bahoot bhagaayaa na?"
With memory of my morning rides, a KTM sticker on helmet, MV Agusta on tank, and a Ducati in mind, I may be seen riding my Yamaha at 35kmph again with someone like Nidhi...
Dang!!! thats life...

almost me (still riding like rossi)

Long time ago I started riding like rossi, expressing myself, exploring myself... through my blog 'ride like rossi'. There is more to me than rides and roses. I thought I will change the blog name to 'simply me'. But found so many 'simply me's on internet, so I thought 'almost me' says it better. Found a song named 'almost me'! Liked that too.. here it goes.

Someday soon I'll be ready to go
Mind, body, spirit, I'll be out on my own
80% of me is done, yeah yeah yeah yeah

I'm in the car but I'm missing the keys
See them on the top shelf, still outta reach
They say the only way is up, yeah yeah yeah yeah

So take these days
Feel the sun, soak in raise
It's all good, I've got a lot of time
Feels so free in this little world of mine
I figured out I'm gonna have to fall before I learn to fly
I'm almost me, I'm almost me

Wrong time, right time, ready to change
Find that clear path out of the maze
It's like I'm living in between, yeah yeah yeah yeah

If life's a ride
Guess that I'm waiting in line

It's all good, I've got a lot of time
Feels so free in this little world of mine
I figured out I'm gonna have to fall before I learn to fly
I'm almost me, I'm almost me

I'm almost me, I'm almost me yeah yeah yeah
I'm looking for the answer yeah yeah yeah
I'm living in between yeah yeah yeah

Going nowhere, heading somewhere all at the same time
Reaching up and looking forward, just about to fly

It's all good, I've got a lot of time
Feels so free in this little world of mine
I figured out I'm gonna have to fall before I learn to fly
I'm almost me, I'm almost me

I'm almost me

Viramgaman

"Little more than 60km from Ahmedabad, there is this place Viramgam, an ancient town with fortification having five entrance gates. Munsar Tank, the finest example of civic architecture, is located on the western edge of the town. This is one of the largest man-made tanks in Gujarat, dating from the 11th (or 12th?) century. The tank epitomizes the fusion of hydraulic engineering and architectural aesthetic values of Minaldevi, who patronized the construction of this tank. The architectural style is similar to the Sahastralinga Talav of Patan. The shape of the tank is not a perfect rectangle, but like a Conch or Gomukh. Originaly there were 520 shrines on the bank of Munsar Tank, out of which 360 survive. Most of them are Shiva Shrines, along with a few Vaishnava Shrines. These shrines are typical of the early Chalukya architectural style. Each Shiva Shrine has 3 niches housing images of Mahakaal, Bhairava and Natesh. Two large twin temples, located in the middle of the south side, are also of great tourist interest. "
OK, what you all read above is taken from the great internet! So even I was quite eager to visit this munsar tank since a long time and finally managed to do so on 15th Aug 09. What me and sid got to experience can be best described as the pic below!

I mean, can you imagine the feeling of witnessing a dog peeing on the sexiest bike available and that too owned by you! But thats characteristic of this place! The carvings, sculptures, architecture is really good as described on the internet, especially the bigger twin temples with that layered wavy roof. We didn't count the number of small temples around the tank, not just because they were too many but because, to move around the place we had to be extremely cautious... some part of the place was functional as open-to-air public toilet of Viramgam! Sid and I was quite happy that the two girls, Pogo and Poorva refused to join us at last minute! But apart from the Munsar tank the trip was very nice, thanks to the extremely ride friendly weather and good road throught the ride! Even Sid was happy to ride whole 60km in one stretch which I never expected! :) ( may be because he was not riding his oldy goldy TVS victor but my Yamaha FZ... yes sadly the bike in the pic above!) The experience of riding on confusing narrow lanes of Viramgam was interesting, and so was the discovery of Sid's capability of conversing with buffaloes! We managed to enjoy. :)

For some good pictures visit my album on Orkut, and sid wil paste a link to facebook album in the comments, with some more interesting insights I guess.

(above pic is clicked by my 'dear friend' sid when I was on phone. Don't know whom to 'thank/blame', sid or the dog! both found the golden mean of their own passions)

My 10,000 km on Yamaha FZ 16 :)

4th Nov 2008 - 4th Aug 2009.
9 months 10,000 km Rs 10,000 of petrol!
everyday morning trips to office. :)
Dholka, Thol lake, Indroda nature park, Adalaj, Hathisinh temple, few aimless night rides. :)
photography (sadly I haven't clicked her enough properly, still searching for the dream model ;)
Top speed ride to Gandhinagar for Tabala concert.
one frightening oily skid recovery, :o
Please don't cut trees, they fall on bikes costing Rs. 3000 :(
my favourite slow turns, one crazy hairpin leaving NID parking challenging maximum lean angles. ;)
little tyre burnouts, hard front braking and clutchless gear-shifts (but still no stopies!) :(
everyday fast overtakes from Neharu circle to Shivaranjani bridge ;)
some of them causing my heart to beat as hard as enfield.
my pillion riders (almost everyone I wanted to be) ...... ;)
my dream pillion riders (menaka if not keira knightley) hehehehe ;)
Waiting for winter again, Modhera, Nal sarovar, Munsar tank still on plan only... :(
still planning for new paint scheme, performance kit, silencer etc
wish Vijay, Akash, sanjeev were around for unplanned trips... :(
Anyway now that I know her quite well, should take the experience few steps up ;)

Following is a video of my trip with Poorva on the never-ending thorny road (?) around Thol lake. The lack of road is quite visible, but it was a very amazing experience to ride to go nowhere....

one crazy intro...

Came across this introduction of flautist Milind Sheorey on the website of Dirt Track Productions ( of Riding Solo To The Top Of The World, which won many awards last year).

This is how his introduction goes on the website:
"Please welcome the most whimsical guy you will ever meet. If you don’t know about music then please don’t talk to Milind about it. There have been instances where directors and producers have told Milind to play the flute in a certain way and he has invited them into the recording room to play the flute themselves. He played the flute in a concert with his back to the audience because a well known singer introduced him as “his musician.” Milind’s actions are not unwarranted. Music is his religion. He has spent years learning flute from "Padmabhushan" Shrimati Annapurna Devi also guru to Hariprasad Chaurasia. Milind’s music comes from his heart. On the day of the recording Milind entered the music studio, saw Riding Solo and quietly went into the recording room, closed his eyes and we recorded whatever he played and have used all those compositions in the documentary. Milind has performed at various concerts in India, France, Netherlands, Norway and U.A.E. "
hoooshhhhhh...
Don't expect anything from art or the artist, they are those few enviable people who get to express truely what they feel without caring for the response.

Rossi's sexy new $1 million toy

Valentino Rossi recently baught a sexy new yatch Pershing 56 for around $1.15 millions. It can take 14 people, has 1,300 hp power and is one of the few very fast luxury yatches. An Italian beauty for the Italian hero! Valentino is 5th on the list of world's top earning athletes. This year he earned $35 millions for riding a Yamaha around few tracks, getting clicked for media and baught a sexy yatch like this! I ride my Yamaha everyday to office to sketch things which I may never be able to buy or even see coming to life! Sometimes I feel I am in wrong profession. ;)

This one is another sexy Yatch Pershing 72.

When going gets tough, the tougher gets GOAing...

It's been a long time I didn't go anywhere other than office!!! I miss those nice winter sunday morning rides to places around ahmedabad... I still miss the great trip to Kutch... I miss those longg hours spent at the bandra kurla bust stop with satish and amit... i miss photography, I miss ( actually I don't) the never ending 'joke' (!!!) by vijay on way back to ahmedabad from fruitless trip to Alang...
I am working... and working... am I? don't know... needed a break... and this should be the perfect one...
:)
GOAing tomorrow!!! :)
(mannnn it's been 3 days and I haven't even seen my bike :( :( )

Thol Lake revisited.....

The first thing to notice was.... it was a completely different place this time!!!

Just compare two pics of the same tree shot on 23rd Nov 2008 with its highly interesting reflection and the one shot today on 26th Jan 2009 with bikes parked around it!!! For most of the initial time we spent there, I kept on telling Poorva how and how much the difference is and then realized that I should just enjoy seeing what we can, at that moment!

The interesting part of this visit was a lonnnnnnnggg walk 'inside' the lake (obvisiously not covered by water now!!!!) in an attempt to reach the other end of lake! But the small pack of Poorva's biscuits couldn't energise us so much! ;) And sadly we couldn't go far enough from the loud firangee music played by gujju families talking and eating..... wherever we went.

The last part of this trip was also quite nice, since as I had wished last time, we rode to the other side of entrance... around 4km.... again in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the other end!!! :) The ride on 4 feet wide kachcha road surrounded by thorny shrubs was quite interesting. We did discover a nice place there with 2-3 small boats, cool breeze (and gujju famiies having food). Poorva didn't seem to have any problem with these people talking so much... as she was quite busy clicking her favourite subject..... kids playing!... :)

At the end of the day... there is still so much to be seen at Thol lake!!!!

(this is the link to my last visit post)

The sad thing is that...

people judge the content from the title... thats why I avoided to write the bike word in title!!!

Just came across an article which also attempts to express what biking is and what it actually is not in real life... trying to remove the normal misconceptions about biking... yes it's actually not about just speed and the thrills involved in competing with others on road!! It's more about yourself and your daily commutes too!!!

This is the link to 2nd page of 3 page article, do read next page also... for those who don't know, and for those who 'think' they know...

:)

No, I am not searching for a faster girl, but....

Here it goes again....

Trillium Muir, 382.98km/h on her Suzuki Hayabusa.... becomes the fastest woman on two wheels in the world! Those who have already read a post about Leslie Porterfield who did 374.72km/h on her hayabusa earlier, it's now 28 yr old Trillium Muir who has only 4 years of biking experience, to gain that world's fastest title! It's tough competetion now!!!

This is what she has to say about:

Her first motorcycle ride:

I have been riding for only four years. The first bike I rode was a 1977 Honda 500, around the yard. My brother John ran beside me yelling instructions on how to shift and stop…

riding on the street:

I ride my 2008 Blue/Gold Suzuki Hayabusa on the street. We have some really strict laws in Canada, so I try not to get too carried away. And the potholes are so big, I could get lost in them…

hmmm cooooool........

;)

(from FasterAndFaster blog)

I feel the need....

A boring afternoon,
overload of stupid work,
going for a meeting in the lunch time,
I pass by the parking lot,
and I feel the need,
the need for a quick ride.

I am back from office at 6pm today!
Standing in my balcony, I look at the bridge jumping swiftly across the river.
i feel cool breeze coming from that new bridge over sabarmati,
as I sip hot tea, I sense blood rushing through my hands to fingers,
and I feel the need,
the need for a long ride.

No new mails in inbox,
nothing happening on orkut.
not a single soul is online!
While youtube is downloading julien dupont's freestyle urban stunts,
I stare at the screen for a while,
and I feel the need,
the need for a crazy ride.

I am having my midnight coffee,
sitting quietly at the middle-gate pillar,
with my baby FZ parked just in front of me.
I can't resist but continue staring at her thirstily,
I don't know if it's coffee or something else!
but I feel the need,
the need for a hard ride!
- Bhavin
(source for the (edited) pic unknown)

Ruling the LORD...

"Remember remember the 5th november!!!..." :)
Finally, today was my first morning ride to office on my new Yamaha FZ16..
If I have to describe her in just one word, it will be 'EFFORTLESS'.. you think left and she turns left, you just wring the throttle little and it touches 50 before you notice, just after 7km of my ride and at her age of 14hours I feel as if I am using her for ages... yes... thats what I mean.. effortless!!!
Though I couldn't enjoy the ride fully because of my physical condition today, it did assured me of the joy of riding to come in future. She is called 'The lord of the streets...' And what can make one more proud than ruling the lord?...
(more later)