NRI's and Hypocrisy

What's with this so called NRI's. First they go abroad in search of a better life then they get sentimental and patriotic about India especially after reading about India or listening to Indian songs and then they defend their decision of leaving India and get pissed with anyone who doesn't agree with them and start war of of words against people on social networks when anyone says otherwise. Best of all they cant come to terms or cope up with the problems in India where they have lived since birth after living abroad for a few years. Come on guys India always had its share of problems, its not that the problems came up overnight after you left India. We always had bad traffic, bad road sense, bad civic sense, all sorts of pollution, corruption etc etc. Why is it that suddenly that after living abroad for a few years you cant't handle this problems after coming back? For heavens sake you have lived here and have dealt with this problems successfully in the past. Suddenly after coming back from developed countries the problems of India seem larger and insurmountable to you and you start cribbing about these problems and use it as a defense for leaving the country and at the same time professing your love for your country. I have lot of questions for you NRI's but I am sure you will conveniently neglect those questions and continue to defend yourself to the extent of saying that I selected to work in a private hospital than a government hospital and use the same logic to explain to me why they choose to go to a developed country. Come on man I don't get sentimental after listening to patriotic songs or don't celebrate Indian festivals in a foreign land or carry Indian flags in a foreign land on 15th August because I live in India and I don't need to prove my Indianess to anyone around me because by living here its obvious that I love India and don't have to prove anything to anyone. It's you the NRI who has to prove his love for India after leaving the country, it's you who used to listen to western songs while living in India and when living in a foreign land learned to listen to and appreciate Indian music which you rarely did when living in your homeland (btw I listen to and enjoy both Indian as well as western music). So friends stop cribbing about India and its problems we live with them everyday and get over them. We crib about them cause we have a right to as we suffer from them everyday. I know you suffer more because nobody likes problems on their vacations and you come here for your vacations I think that is the reason why you crib more. There I answered for you. :P.

P.S. : This post was triggered by the following post

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/why-i-left-india-again/

and didnt want to rant on facebook hence put it here cause after all this is my own place.

Why I didn't enter the Ducati Monster contest.

As most of the people know that I am big fan of Ducati (and all things italian) and aspire to own one someday, when Ducati came out with a contest where you win a Ducati Monster I was asked by many to enter the contest. The contest works like this: You upload a photo with a short description and the photo with maximum votes gets a Ducati Monster 795 which will will launched shortly in the Asian markets. Now the reasons why I dint enter the contest are :

1. I am not a good photographer and I know that. Photography is not one of my hobbies.

2. I cant express myself in writing. When I sit down to write I keep on thinking and rarely put pen to paper. (I wish to change that)

3. I hate to request/beg for votes. (I have voted for anyone and everyone who sent me a request for vote). Also I hate all contests/reality shows which determine winners based on votes for e.g. why should the idiot sitting in front of the idiot box and who doesn't know the nuance of singing decide who should win by sending a vote. Most of the times these things are biased and the winner is decided beforehand and he has to pay half the prize money (or half the value of the prize) to the organisers.

4. I'd rather buy it with my own money. I want to deserve this bike. I don't want someone to say to me that I am lucky to win this bike. I would hate that. I WANT TO OWN MY DUCATI AND NOT WIN IT. (People who read Ayn Rand will understand this better) - This is the most important reason.

I hope this clarifies a lot of things.

Long time. No see.

My heartfelt apologies to my followers, however few they may be. I have been absent for a long time from blogging or riding. But don't accuse me of a boring lifestyle cause riding and writing about riding aren't the only things I do. I have taken on a lot of other interests like Driving my Chariot which is a Maruti Suzuki Swift (I agree that its not as fun or involving as a motorcycle but i enjoy it nonetheless), Trekking, Biking for fitness. Henceforth the term bikes will be referred to all self powered versions of two wheelers and a motorcycle will be called a motorcycle and not a bike. I bought a Giant Innova about 3 and half months back and have been riding it for fitness. Also have started commuting to work but one incidence and rains has stooped me from commuting. I will definitely start commuting and riding my bike more once the rains are done with. And guys and gals I'll definitely keep you updated about all the happenings especially the exciting ones in my llife. thanks for your patience.

Breaking Free on my ZMA

It's been a long time since I rode out, actually never since I got my new bike in October 2008, although have done many dinner rides to dhabas out of Bombay near Karnala or Khopoli but never a ride in the real sense. I was hoping that the new year has something in store for me as far as riding is concerned. Also I had never done a solo ride before, although have done many rides in the past in a group (some of them 500+kms a day) so the apprehension of riding solo was there in my mind but had decided will ride solo no matter what. Almost till the end of January never got the opportunity to ride due to work related commitments or lack of Day off. But then one day the gods smiled upon me and I got a long pending off on 30th so decided to ride. Didn't have any particular plan in mind the idea was to just ride till the hearts content and turn back whenever I felt like it so decided on the NH4 or Bombay - Bangalore highway as it is popularly known. Initially had decided to go to Pune and come back since I had one day only but the best part was I was solo so was flexible on the plans to ride. Slept early the previous day putting an alarm for 4 am the next day. Sleep was difficult in coming due to anticipation of the next day but slept in the end.

The D-day arrived woke up early as soon as the alarm went off, got ready and was down at 5am. Started the bike and was on the road within 5mins. Was cruising happily at 80kmph. Took the JNPT Bypass till Panvel and was near the Sai Dutt Snacks at 6am. Had a cup of tea at the tapri nearby, took a snap of the bike and again hit the road in 10mins.

Was doing good speeds cruising happily with Metallica playing in my ears when just near Khopoli saw a guy on a Pulsar 200 doing the same speeds as mine. We were riding together for quite some distance when he let me pass ahead of him as if telling me to lead from then onwards, so I took the lead and we were in good synchronisation like 2 riders riding together to a destination and pretty soon we came to Bhor Ghat and there is no rider who doesn't like twisties so there we were taking those curves in gay abandon. The ghat was over in a jiffy and I think the guy on P200 stopped after the ghat cause I didn't see him in my rearview mirror after that, I continued as I was in no mood to stop and I didn't want to end the fun so early. I continued for some distance and somewhere along I decided to go past Pune and continue till I felt like continuing and turn back when I felt like coming back. I stopped once when the sun started to come above the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful as always with the sky having multiple shades of orange. I stopped and took a few pictures of the sky and myself.

I moved on and crossed Pune around 8am and continued further till Katraj bypass. I always had this liking for the Katraj Via-duct and think that its a beautiful sight so I stopped over there and took a picture of it.

After this my stomach started grumbling due to hunger so stopped at Joshi Wadewale for a good breakfast. Had a stomachful and moved on my way. It was time now to feed my bike as I hadn't filled my bike with fuel so was riding slow searching for a petrol pump and had a tankful of petrol and moved on. I was cruising comfortably at 90kmph and just when I was getting bored of the straights I came across the Khambatki Ghat, so I blessed my luck and NH4 and attacked those curves and that's when I realised that my technique of taking curves needed some more practice. I continued ahead and decided that I was doing good speed and that I will ride till 11am or 300 kms or whichever comes first and turn back from there so continued riding at 90kmph and pretty soon I passed Satara. This is the first time I had gone beyond Satara on the NH4. I was also thinking of going to Kolhapur and saying hi to my Friend over there, but dropped the idea as I wanted to return back before sundown as I am not comfortable riding in the night so just continued with my previous plan of covering 300kms.  At around 10.40am I covered the 300kms from my home on my trip meter so was looking for a U-turn when I saw the Taswade Toll Collection centre and took a U-turn over there and had a cup of tea, clicked a snap of my turning point and was on the way back by 11.10 am.

I was doing good distance so far. On the return leg decided that I wil take fewer breaks so crossed Pune and took a butt break for a few mins. After that I took the next halt at Toni-Da-Dhaba for lunch. Had a quick lunch and was on my way. After this it was quick riding with a full stomach and soon i was on the outskirts of Bombay by 4pm. I hit the evening rush traffic from Vashi till Dadar and reached home at round 4.45pm after covering 602 kms. Salil welcomed me and took a snap of mine. Overall a good ride which cured the itch to ride for sometime and decided that during the next ride will attack the NH17 or Bombay - Goa highway. 

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Commuting!!!

Commuting is what everyone of us does whether we like it or not, though the distances maybe short or long, the mode of transport may be anything from the local trains to walking and everything in between. I am among the very few unlucky (or lucky one as many of you guys might be thinking) whose workplace is just a few minutes from my home (the distance is 1.2 kms to be precise and that also a arrow straight road), and hence I miss commuting to work on my bike over long distances and because of which the average monthly running of my bike is very less and I sometimes really miss riding to work (of course I do count my blessing somedays). 

The joy of riding through traffic is really something diffrerent, you have to be on your toes constantly (not literally) always looking out for the tiny gaps through which to squeeze your bike and go ahead of the pack. It's really challenging and mind stimulating. The reason I am writing this today because I had to go to Malad and this reminded me again today how much i miss commuting ( on my bike, mind you). The commuting I am talking about is not the stop and go or bumper to bumper traffic but the kind of slow moving but flowing traffic where you only stop at the signals, although very few people are blessed with this scenario as most of us have to go to work during rush hour, but still there's no harm in dreaming, is it?