One of the rare sites with a negative spike.
wikipedia
wikipedia Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A brave new Bike- Altius Scmitar
Its not often that I come across a brand new biking concept in the Indian context. The biking market in India is the world’s largest and it’s a pity that this segment is largely driven by the mass market. Which is why the Altius Scmitar is a brilliant product for a largely insipid market. Unlike the Royal Enfields/ Ninjas/CBRs - this beast is a diesel driven off road vehicle. Not for the light hearted or for those with a weak spine. There are a number of biking enthusiasts who will definitely love to explore the unchartered territory.
This 2 wheeler has a bhp of 33 (disp 670 cc)which is far higher than a standard bullet (about 20 bhp for a 350 cc engine) . I am amazed that a vehicle with such a heavy engine can weigh as little as 175 kgs. The vehicle is lacking in design, but for the real biker it would not be an issue. With a price tag of less than 2 lakhs, it’s easily the best thing to happen to Indian 2 wheeler scene since the advent of the legendary Bullet. I have a feeling that considerable R&D investment has been done to reach the ambitious cost and weight targets.
Hope that this goes on to cater to the true niche segment bikes and delivers on the promises with the prototypes.
Image and information Sources:
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2006622.ece
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/motorcycles/happiness-diesel-touring-motorcycles-37094/
http://altiusautomotive.com/index.php
This 2 wheeler has a bhp of 33 (disp 670 cc)which is far higher than a standard bullet (about 20 bhp for a 350 cc engine) . I am amazed that a vehicle with such a heavy engine can weigh as little as 175 kgs. The vehicle is lacking in design, but for the real biker it would not be an issue. With a price tag of less than 2 lakhs, it’s easily the best thing to happen to Indian 2 wheeler scene since the advent of the legendary Bullet. I have a feeling that considerable R&D investment has been done to reach the ambitious cost and weight targets.
Hope that this goes on to cater to the true niche segment bikes and delivers on the promises with the prototypes.
Image and information Sources:
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2006622.ece
http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/motorcycles/happiness-diesel-touring-motorcycles-37094/
http://altiusautomotive.com/index.php
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Godhra incident
Update: Today many of them were sentenced to death. Indian judiciary still packs a punch!!!
Its almost 8 years since the train burned at Godhra and at last there seems to have been a verdict. A verdict which holds the muslims directly responsible for murder and conspiracy. Inspite of having a liberal outlook, I have never condoned the aftermath of Godhra. The riots that followed were not just right, but also necessary to set right the balance of power.
At a time when a Hindu extremist is in power in Gujarat, when BJP is at power in the center, had there been no retaliation - then there would have been no stopping the muslim atrocities. We presently put up with a government which is pro muslim & there is little chance that they would risk taking action against any muslim aggression. Lines were crossed at Godhra and they paid the price.
Too bad that most victims( of both the riots & train burnings) are innocent. I would even say that the ones guity of the train burning crime are also responsible for the lives of the muslims who dies in the riots.
The media(local & international) likes to support the underdogs and due to the riots which followed the hindus were given a raw deal. The bias was so strong that even the most independent media outlets were not willing to report the muslim conspiracy angle.
Thankfully the judiciary was not biased and doubt did not enter their minds while setting the death penalty. Only hope that the supreme court follows the same argument from now on.
Its almost 8 years since the train burned at Godhra and at last there seems to have been a verdict. A verdict which holds the muslims directly responsible for murder and conspiracy. Inspite of having a liberal outlook, I have never condoned the aftermath of Godhra. The riots that followed were not just right, but also necessary to set right the balance of power.
At a time when a Hindu extremist is in power in Gujarat, when BJP is at power in the center, had there been no retaliation - then there would have been no stopping the muslim atrocities. We presently put up with a government which is pro muslim & there is little chance that they would risk taking action against any muslim aggression. Lines were crossed at Godhra and they paid the price.
Too bad that most victims( of both the riots & train burnings) are innocent. I would even say that the ones guity of the train burning crime are also responsible for the lives of the muslims who dies in the riots.
The media(local & international) likes to support the underdogs and due to the riots which followed the hindus were given a raw deal. The bias was so strong that even the most independent media outlets were not willing to report the muslim conspiracy angle.
Thankfully the judiciary was not biased and doubt did not enter their minds while setting the death penalty. Only hope that the supreme court follows the same argument from now on.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sam Wisegamjee monologue from LOTR- Two towers
Frodo:- I cant do this Sam.
Sam:- I know. Its all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. Who we are?
Its like in the great stories Mr Frodo,
For once that really mattered,full of darkness and danger they were,
And some you didn't want to know the end ,because how could the end be happy?
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end its only a passing thing, the shadow.
Even darkness must pass,a new day will come;
and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you ,that meant something.
even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think Mr Frodo I do understand;
I know now,folk in those stories,had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't.
They kept going ,because they were holding on to something.
Frodo:- What are we holding on to Sam?
Sam:- That there is some good in this world Mr Frodo.
and its worth fighting for.
Sam:- I know. Its all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. Who we are?
Its like in the great stories Mr Frodo,
For once that really mattered,full of darkness and danger they were,
And some you didn't want to know the end ,because how could the end be happy?
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end its only a passing thing, the shadow.
Even darkness must pass,a new day will come;
and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you ,that meant something.
even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think Mr Frodo I do understand;
I know now,folk in those stories,had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't.
They kept going ,because they were holding on to something.
Frodo:- What are we holding on to Sam?
Sam:- That there is some good in this world Mr Frodo.
and its worth fighting for.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Going to America
It's been a long time since I moved back from the US. Rarely do I think about my life in the US and I am no longer recognized with the US return tag . I live life as though the 3+ years in US never happened. This is exactly the way I wanted it to be and I am glad for that.
Ever since my return its been a dilemma to advise my friends, who are set to go to US. They are all confident of their impending return back to India- once they make 'enough money'. They assert that those who choose to stay back in the US are hypocrites and they are nothing like that.
I want to tell them that they are wrong. I want to tell that the ones who choose to stay back are there because they cannot come back. Its not really a choice that they made, but its a consequence of a flawed logic . I want to tell these soon to be FOBs that they too are well on course to make the same mistake that the NRIs have made. But, as I tell this they are even more fired up . They will retort that I have questioned their sense of duty towards their motherland and parents. Clearly I cannot take this path.
In my case,instead of proclaiming that I too shall return to india after earning 'enough money' ,I started off by studying the exact reasons as to why people choose to settle there.Information is hard to come by as I cannot ask this question directly to desi citizens of USA. I did find bits and pieces of information in books and talking to people and i patched it up to get some perspective.I also extrapolated the information to predict what hurdles I might face in returning to India. I was able to foresee a rough period of isolation once I return to India. When that moment actually came up , I was depressed, but I was under control for the most part.
These are many such complex ideas which evolved over a period of months centered on this theme. So far no one has asked me how I made it back and how tough was it. Its frustrating. The path I have traveled was lonely and depressing. I have the task of getting across the message to those who are headed on to this journey with no return ticket. All I want to tell is that its not as simple as they think.
Going to US is a big ordeal and the last thing on anyone's mind is coming back. The visa, the travel, setting up a living,student life, research, job, work visa , family will keep one occupied for atleast 3 years.Once employed ,life is so comforting there that the thought of returning dosent occur for next few years. Once married its a different game altogether and things get really complex.
And thus the dilemma continues. On one hand I can tell people what it takes to come back to India, but I cannot do that until people seek my advise. Till then all I can do is to silently watch the parade as a spectator hopeful. You know... Such is life...
Ever since my return its been a dilemma to advise my friends, who are set to go to US. They are all confident of their impending return back to India- once they make 'enough money'. They assert that those who choose to stay back in the US are hypocrites and they are nothing like that.
I want to tell them that they are wrong. I want to tell that the ones who choose to stay back are there because they cannot come back. Its not really a choice that they made, but its a consequence of a flawed logic . I want to tell these soon to be FOBs that they too are well on course to make the same mistake that the NRIs have made. But, as I tell this they are even more fired up . They will retort that I have questioned their sense of duty towards their motherland and parents. Clearly I cannot take this path.
In my case,instead of proclaiming that I too shall return to india after earning 'enough money' ,I started off by studying the exact reasons as to why people choose to settle there.Information is hard to come by as I cannot ask this question directly to desi citizens of USA. I did find bits and pieces of information in books and talking to people and i patched it up to get some perspective.I also extrapolated the information to predict what hurdles I might face in returning to India. I was able to foresee a rough period of isolation once I return to India. When that moment actually came up , I was depressed, but I was under control for the most part.
These are many such complex ideas which evolved over a period of months centered on this theme. So far no one has asked me how I made it back and how tough was it. Its frustrating. The path I have traveled was lonely and depressing. I have the task of getting across the message to those who are headed on to this journey with no return ticket. All I want to tell is that its not as simple as they think.
Going to US is a big ordeal and the last thing on anyone's mind is coming back. The visa, the travel, setting up a living,student life, research, job, work visa , family will keep one occupied for atleast 3 years.Once employed ,life is so comforting there that the thought of returning dosent occur for next few years. Once married its a different game altogether and things get really complex.
And thus the dilemma continues. On one hand I can tell people what it takes to come back to India, but I cannot do that until people seek my advise. Till then all I can do is to silently watch the parade as a spectator hopeful. You know... Such is life...
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I got a mail
Its been a wierd week at office. A collegue, whose mail ID is remarkably similar to mine, has been getting a lot of mails meant for me. This must have been happening ever since I joined the company and my namesake, for some reason has chosen not to inform anyone!
Which beings me to my new post. This is a mail has been lying in my inbox for a couple of years. Its a kind of love letter from Hemanth to Aishwarya. Aishwarya forwards it to Karthik and for no apparent reason to me too.
Warning: Super-Bad grammer ahead. The content is so poorly formatted that it can easily confused for Spam.
To: Karthik <@#$%^Y&@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:14:09 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Mr. H 's mail yar
hi karthi,
hemanth sent the following msg. super comedy.
enjoy !!
Which beings me to my new post. This is a mail has been lying in my inbox for a couple of years. Its a kind of love letter from Hemanth to Aishwarya. Aishwarya forwards it to Karthik and for no apparent reason to me too.
Warning: Super-Bad grammer ahead. The content is so poorly formatted that it can easily confused for Spam.
To: Karthik <@#$%^Y&@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:14:09 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Mr. H 's mail yar
hi karthi,
hemanth sent the following msg. super comedy.
enjoy !!
Hello ,,,,
How r u??
Hope you will be fine....... I am sorry to disturb you,,, You will be busy at this time ..
I called you and messaged u many times, for days.........
You didnt replied.................. You might have many friends and more close friends that would have made u to forget me...
Butttttttttttttt i dont have ,u know about meeeeeeeeeeeee very welllllllllll,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
i dont want to miss a nice and golden friend like uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!
Once mine friends Sister told one thing....
" During the final year of engg ,,,, Old Buddies will dispart ,,, all love stories which were prosperous
will come to an endddddddd......... New relations will mould up and that long last forever...........
New friendships willlll Be Begun...."""
That was true to meeeeeeeeeeeeee...
Old Ones got Bursted and new ones are emergerd....................
More over you are too stuborn ....
You have an interesting character.....
how long should i be on u ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111 I have been on uuu for a long long timeeee,,,,
If i have done this on NNNNNNNN ,, means she would accepted mee..
I thought that we would meet sometime alone,, and would talk.....
we can solve this thing only by talking straight one on onee......
remember one day u talked to me in train,,,,, u talked and u only talked on your , not letting me too talk... the whole compartment was watching u only and of course meee tooo..
You were tooo concisee on ur part..... u see only on your side....
Give me a break to explain mine da..................
some time i felt that y should i need uuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!1111
I cant be there without ur friendship.........
But it seems u dont need meeeeeeeeeeeee after alllllll
Shall i tell u one thingggggggggg
from the beginning that is from the first sem,,,,,,,
i thats me and me only was caring about u a lot,,,, i didnt say that u didnt cared me ............... too a small amount only..................
I was calling you i.e by phonee ..... for one or two days .... but u called me once in a month ... Is this true only na.,,
Fine Past is PAst............
Before three weeks also i called uuuuu,,, u didnt even turn,,,,, from behind me one junior boy called you turned and started to talk with with him..... this happens second time...
for the first time u said a reason that was so stupid,,,,
that you cant hear,,,,, poor guy i accepted that toooo
But this time i am so serious.........
I let u on ur way,,i thought ,,,when u get time and when u remember mee , u will talk or messaghe.... but that didnt workkkk.....
I cant be like u ice ,, its somewhat iching me not in the nook and corner of my heart but on the whole..
I tried to speak u after many times but u were tooo too busyy,,,,,,,,,,,
I know about ur character pa,,,, if a person doesnt treat u well , then u will treat him as a third person... L:ike just a Hai .... Bye friend ............
I dont want to be like that di.......................
Even now i am calling u .. But u father and mother are attending not uu,,, dont know whether they are telling you or not.......................
And one thing aishwarya..... i wanna tell this to you from the begining but canttt............
you know that i dont like karthi.....
its fight .... He started.....
I dont like him..... He toooo....
We both are not talkinggg......
One thing .... For boys ....
if there is a fight surely they wont like their friends talking to him...
I am also a human being,, a normal boy...
i too doesnt like... Surely he also doesnt like.....
To be frank He doesnt like kalpana talking with meee....
Surely i have....
i dont like u talking to himm..
But i didnt say this to uuuu.... Because i dont want to interfere your thought...... Sorry for mentioning this thingg.....
But its a great comedy............
U are talking to him onlyy....... Really it hurted me a lot..... '
of course as u say,, i am possesive... my character is a possesive one.. you dont know me fully..... you may think that i have changed,, No no a have not changed... I am as i am...
I was just hiding my character thats it.....
really i am a shy type , closed minded,,, will not talk freely,,
fine thats
i wanna tell u so said,, Sorry it hurts u......
If u find time think of me in the future. i will be so glad...
Bye bye
from a friend whom u have forgot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A mid march resolution list
It’s been a good year so far. 2010 started slowly for me with absolutely no festivities marking the New Year. I would much rather sleep than party on New Year’s Eve. But finally things have started to move. In feb I was finally out of the bench and started moving things to the desk. Things are flowing now and this is where I suppose I need to take charge of how my life is going to unfold.
Lumuhuku(a blog I just came across) seems to have a very interesting style to his resolutions. He has done anaudit of his past years life and come up with related resolutions. I wish I could do that, but since this year is gonna be totally different I will stick to the resolutions part.
I don’t think I will have any unlimited internet access this time around. That means no TV, no internet or even old friends to procrastinate with. YEEAAHHH!!!!
I have decided to continue my boycott of theaters and IPL matches. I am not against either of them, but I guess there is a lot of time left in life for somesuch. Right now, when I have the josh I need to be on the move. Should I extend this resolution to TV serials and TV in general?? Still debating.
I suppose the big change this year is that I am not trying to read any books. Sans any direction, I have read some 100 novels of varying genres over the past few years. I have spent the last few years working it our and now that I am on track I don’t feel the need to read any more arbit books.. So only technical books and acad worthy readings from now on.
Work will obviously take its toll on me and using the weekends effectively is gonna be a challenge. I have shortlisted a few activities for myself in Bangalore like trekking, but i still am not sure. Over the next month I will find some concentration to keep me busy in the weekends and simply do it.
Budgeting expenses has been my biggest weakness over the past 7 years now. I have this new cell phone which has the nokia expense manager software. It seems to be useful and if I even have a fair idea of my expenses I will be a happy happy man.
2009 was a great year with respect to health. I started 2010 with big plans of an exercise routine upgrade, but things have gone badly. I need to re start my exercise-prayer routine ASAP and get things back on track. Early this year I was hoping to continue my previous years form and get into running and cycling.
The past couple of years have seen a lot of travel, official and personal. I am not sure about travelling, but I came across a brilliant temple right next to my place. Will put as many visits to that at least till the time I am based here.
Procrastination continues to be my greatest enemy and I intend to continue the duel with my nemesis.Its seems to be a simple list, but getting back to the simple life is what I am hoping to do.
Lumuhuku(a blog I just came across) seems to have a very interesting style to his resolutions. He has done anaudit of his past years life and come up with related resolutions. I wish I could do that, but since this year is gonna be totally different I will stick to the resolutions part.
I don’t think I will have any unlimited internet access this time around. That means no TV, no internet or even old friends to procrastinate with. YEEAAHHH!!!!
I have decided to continue my boycott of theaters and IPL matches. I am not against either of them, but I guess there is a lot of time left in life for somesuch. Right now, when I have the josh I need to be on the move. Should I extend this resolution to TV serials and TV in general?? Still debating.
I suppose the big change this year is that I am not trying to read any books. Sans any direction, I have read some 100 novels of varying genres over the past few years. I have spent the last few years working it our and now that I am on track I don’t feel the need to read any more arbit books.. So only technical books and acad worthy readings from now on.
Work will obviously take its toll on me and using the weekends effectively is gonna be a challenge. I have shortlisted a few activities for myself in Bangalore like trekking, but i still am not sure. Over the next month I will find some concentration to keep me busy in the weekends and simply do it.
Budgeting expenses has been my biggest weakness over the past 7 years now. I have this new cell phone which has the nokia expense manager software. It seems to be useful and if I even have a fair idea of my expenses I will be a happy happy man.
2009 was a great year with respect to health. I started 2010 with big plans of an exercise routine upgrade, but things have gone badly. I need to re start my exercise-prayer routine ASAP and get things back on track. Early this year I was hoping to continue my previous years form and get into running and cycling.
The past couple of years have seen a lot of travel, official and personal. I am not sure about travelling, but I came across a brilliant temple right next to my place. Will put as many visits to that at least till the time I am based here.
Procrastination continues to be my greatest enemy and I intend to continue the duel with my nemesis.Its seems to be a simple list, but getting back to the simple life is what I am hoping to do.
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