The motorcycle has changed a lot in its century old existence. There have been hundreds and thousands of technological advances, countless changes in design philosophies, lots of ups and downs in the motorcycle industry, but the essence has remained the same - Two Wheels and an Engine.
Among all the various automobiles the motorcycle is the most expressive. In a car or something similar, you are enclosed in a claustrophobic cabin, way too isolated from the elements. On a motorbike you are free. You can be as close to nature as you want to be. They say that only a biker knows why a dog sticks it head outta the car window. The wind in the hair feeling is more than awesome. (The full face helmets take away most of this feeling, but safety is also a prime concern.. right).
I read in a book that the first bike race happened when two bikers met on the street somewhere. That is the spirit of biking. Today, bike racing is a huge sport, spread across various categories. And there is nothing like the sound of a high revving bike engine on an idle Sunday afternoon.
There are various types of bikes available on the market, the lean mean sports bikes with screaming engines, the muscular big engined bikes, and the cruisers with seats like couches and engines throbbing away in a chorus of rumble. Choose whatever suits you, it will be pure fun. Go on a brisk uphill drive on a winding road or let a bike stretch its legs on a long open highway, it will be pure exhilaration.
As I write this post, newer and more powerful bikes are being launched in India, with a lot more hope for the future. Some day, I hope to be able to ride a three-quarters engined bike here, and it might be sooner rather than later given how things are progressing.
This post was a tribute to motorbiking by the author, who returned to two wheels after more than a month of imprisonment inside four wheeled automobiles.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Chandigarh Times
This post recollects some of the memories of the month long Sales and Service "Training" trip to the Chandigarh regional office. Trying to put this one in a new style...
Gurgaon to Chandigarh
Sunday, November 26, 2006. 1100 Hrs.
Dump all the luggage in the car, pick up Rockstar from his place. Drive from Gurgaon to Chandigarh with a lunch stopover at Karna Lake. Reach at about 1800 Hrs and settle into that hole of a PG accommodation.
One hour @ Sec.17
Friday, December 01, 2006. 1700 Hrs
Go to the Sector 17 market in Chandigarh, see a Subway and enter. Eat to your heart's content. Go out and buy two novels at a bookstore, roam around for sometime and then go back "home". One hour, seven hundred bucks. Good time.
Wheelspin / Slipping Clutch
Saturday, December 02, 2006. 2300Hrs.
Front row at a traffic intersection. Slot the transmission into 1st gear, bring the clutch to the biting point. As the light turns green, drop the hammer on the gas pedal (accelerator for the uninitiated) and release the clutch. Wheelspin off the mark and scare the living daylights outta the rear seat passenger. Bliss :D.
Lazy Dayz
Wednesday/Thursday, December 06-07, 2006.
AWOL from office for two straight days, lying down on the bed all day, reading those novels bought earlier. Sort of reliving some of the time spent likewise during college days. Lazy is fun :).
Three Crazy Days
Saturday - Monday, December 09-11, 2006.
Start from Chandigarh at 0615 Hrs for Rohtak, drive in the fog for around quarter of an hour at an ant's pace, and then floor it for a breakneck speed drive at upto 140kmph, making it a total of 240km in four hours. Spend the day at Rohtak, stay up late partying, drive to Delhi and then to Gurgaon, pack up stuff for moving, go back to Delhi to attend a wedding, stay up all night, drive back to Gurgaon. Sleep for four hours before another long drive to Chandigarh. 3 Days, close to 800kms, with a total of ten hours' sleep in between. That's a good pace to live life at.
A novel a day keeps the office away
Friday, December 15, 2006. 2200 Hrs.
Continuing the tradition of the Lazy Dayz, read one more novel in a day being AWOL from office. Perhaps for the last time ever.
Wrapping Up
Saturday, December 23, 2006. 1430 Hrs.
Get a lucky early relief from office on the last working day. Rush to the PG and haphazardly dump all luggage in the car, and pick up some more from Rockstar's place. Drive non stop from there to Delhi to end the month long tryst.
Gurgaon to Chandigarh
Sunday, November 26, 2006. 1100 Hrs.
Dump all the luggage in the car, pick up Rockstar from his place. Drive from Gurgaon to Chandigarh with a lunch stopover at Karna Lake. Reach at about 1800 Hrs and settle into that hole of a PG accommodation.
One hour @ Sec.17
Friday, December 01, 2006. 1700 Hrs
Go to the Sector 17 market in Chandigarh, see a Subway and enter. Eat to your heart's content. Go out and buy two novels at a bookstore, roam around for sometime and then go back "home". One hour, seven hundred bucks. Good time.
Wheelspin / Slipping Clutch
Saturday, December 02, 2006. 2300Hrs.
Front row at a traffic intersection. Slot the transmission into 1st gear, bring the clutch to the biting point. As the light turns green, drop the hammer on the gas pedal (accelerator for the uninitiated) and release the clutch. Wheelspin off the mark and scare the living daylights outta the rear seat passenger. Bliss :D.
Lazy Dayz
Wednesday/Thursday, December 06-07, 2006.
AWOL from office for two straight days, lying down on the bed all day, reading those novels bought earlier. Sort of reliving some of the time spent likewise during college days. Lazy is fun :).
Three Crazy Days
Saturday - Monday, December 09-11, 2006.
Start from Chandigarh at 0615 Hrs for Rohtak, drive in the fog for around quarter of an hour at an ant's pace, and then floor it for a breakneck speed drive at upto 140kmph, making it a total of 240km in four hours. Spend the day at Rohtak, stay up late partying, drive to Delhi and then to Gurgaon, pack up stuff for moving, go back to Delhi to attend a wedding, stay up all night, drive back to Gurgaon. Sleep for four hours before another long drive to Chandigarh. 3 Days, close to 800kms, with a total of ten hours' sleep in between. That's a good pace to live life at.
A novel a day keeps the office away
Friday, December 15, 2006. 2200 Hrs.
Continuing the tradition of the Lazy Dayz, read one more novel in a day being AWOL from office. Perhaps for the last time ever.
Wrapping Up
Saturday, December 23, 2006. 1430 Hrs.
Get a lucky early relief from office on the last working day. Rush to the PG and haphazardly dump all luggage in the car, and pick up some more from Rockstar's place. Drive non stop from there to Delhi to end the month long tryst.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
O, B, T and I
OBT here stands for Out-Bound Training. They say that it is an important part of the training we undergo as fresh engineers but all we care about are the three days of endless fun at the riverbank.
We had our outbound training from 20th November to 23rd November. (Sorry for such a late blog-post). It all began at the factory premises where we all boarded a bus for the overnight journey to Rishikesh and then on to Shivpuri Camp. There were about twenty-five of us and we crossed the river to get to the campsite in rafts, riding on the current of the last rapids, after the bus driver had brought us down to the accessible bank by driving along a precariously inclined path. The view around us was wallpaper material so we all snapped a few pictures.
And then the training began. We had a few sessions of trust building exercises, but this was the dull part of the game. Later in the evening we had artificial rock-wall climbing and grappling, in which yours truly lost his nerves after reaching the midway point. (note to self: reduce weight + gain some more strength).
We then returned to the camp to a bonfire party before dinner. Acoustic guitar and hoarse voices jammed on some of the favorite bonfire tunes, and it was a time to enjoy.
Next day we had some more adventure sports, Burma-bridge crossing, valley crossing (suspended upside down - military style), and the best part of the trip - the raft building and test drive. Using bamboo poles, two large plastic containers, three inflated tire tubes and rope, we made rafts that braved the river. Funny thing was that we thought that each team had to take only one test ride, so we selected all those who knew how to swim for the job. Later, we found that there had to be two test rides and on the second one four of us who did not know swimming at all got to take out the raft. Was awesome :D.
Later that evening, after dusk, we went into the woods for a "night-navigation", where we got thoroughly lost and reached to the camp pretty late. Where it was time for another Bonfire Party. This one was much more enjoyable than the previous day's (primarily because I had about twice the amount of alcohol inside me compared to last evening).
Stayed up that whole night with friends, and then the next day we had another team building and co-ordination exercise. Rolling Basketballs. Had lunch and then we set off back for Gurgaon. Exhausted, almost everyone slept off in the beginning of the journey, but later we all woke up and sang ourselves hoarse(i.e. with whatever was left of our voices after two days of singing at bonfires). We also shot a interview movie with what everyone had to say about the OBT Trip.
At the end of it, these three days seems too less a time, the OBT seemed to get over all too quickly. Kya karein, yeh dil maange more.
Looking back at that time now, it wasn't just an endless sequence of adventures and exercises, it was rather more about strengthening friendships, starting new ones and having one hell of a blast, which for me was after a long long time.
We had our outbound training from 20th November to 23rd November. (Sorry for such a late blog-post). It all began at the factory premises where we all boarded a bus for the overnight journey to Rishikesh and then on to Shivpuri Camp. There were about twenty-five of us and we crossed the river to get to the campsite in rafts, riding on the current of the last rapids, after the bus driver had brought us down to the accessible bank by driving along a precariously inclined path. The view around us was wallpaper material so we all snapped a few pictures.
And then the training began. We had a few sessions of trust building exercises, but this was the dull part of the game. Later in the evening we had artificial rock-wall climbing and grappling, in which yours truly lost his nerves after reaching the midway point. (note to self: reduce weight + gain some more strength).
We then returned to the camp to a bonfire party before dinner. Acoustic guitar and hoarse voices jammed on some of the favorite bonfire tunes, and it was a time to enjoy.
Next day we had some more adventure sports, Burma-bridge crossing, valley crossing (suspended upside down - military style), and the best part of the trip - the raft building and test drive. Using bamboo poles, two large plastic containers, three inflated tire tubes and rope, we made rafts that braved the river. Funny thing was that we thought that each team had to take only one test ride, so we selected all those who knew how to swim for the job. Later, we found that there had to be two test rides and on the second one four of us who did not know swimming at all got to take out the raft. Was awesome :D.
Later that evening, after dusk, we went into the woods for a "night-navigation", where we got thoroughly lost and reached to the camp pretty late. Where it was time for another Bonfire Party. This one was much more enjoyable than the previous day's (primarily because I had about twice the amount of alcohol inside me compared to last evening).
Stayed up that whole night with friends, and then the next day we had another team building and co-ordination exercise. Rolling Basketballs. Had lunch and then we set off back for Gurgaon. Exhausted, almost everyone slept off in the beginning of the journey, but later we all woke up and sang ourselves hoarse(i.e. with whatever was left of our voices after two days of singing at bonfires). We also shot a interview movie with what everyone had to say about the OBT Trip.
At the end of it, these three days seems too less a time, the OBT seemed to get over all too quickly. Kya karein, yeh dil maange more.
Looking back at that time now, it wasn't just an endless sequence of adventures and exercises, it was rather more about strengthening friendships, starting new ones and having one hell of a blast, which for me was after a long long time.
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