Desert Rain

Watching people having fun on the road, imagining how it must be; is a different story. You know only when you actually ride. And it is a misnomer that you need to ride with your entire house tied on the back of a 4 cylinder cycle! In fact, it is most fun when you have nothing to worry about. Riding into nowhere with no baggage (body & mind) is what makes a ride worth the vacation.
I have been visiting Jodhpur almost every year since a long time now. For the first time, we rode there! Most pro-bikers have reservations against which bike qualifies to be a cross-country ride. Of course, it would be out of this world if I were aboard The Trooper. Nevertheless, it didn't really matter as we had our own desi Robbie Maddison teaching and flaunting his skills  known to the whole of Kanamwar Nagar except his mother!

Talking about the motorcycles a.k.a. "my foot". All the "it doesn't matter which bike you ride as long as you have fun" is first order bullshit! We rode around on 100 cc CD Dawns, CD Deluxes and Splendors. Just in case, you haven't heard about Dawn and Deluxe, please do not Google it! (I am assuming you know what Splendor is - Desh ki dhadkan after all). In simple terms, these are bikes that weigh less than your girlfriends!
All in all, even the blue city can vanish all blue moods when the journey is so much fun...

Two more to come...

My fellow nationals, with the growth in our country's GDP came the realisation that the middle-class Indian too can spend on luxuries! What the numerous Italian designers, Russian gun-makers and Chinese You-Go Boss cologne makers didn't comprehend before setting stores in India was that whatever be the product, we don't buy before saying "dena ka bhaav bolo". 

So they have to manipulate things. Make the script suit the hero who gave you dates (in a hindi film kind of way). Of course, that's why they call it a consumer's market. 

Stepping into 2011, Harley Davidson launched 2 new motorcycles as promised - 883 SuperLow and Iron 883. As the 883 suggests, both are powered by the same engine. With virtually no difference in any other area, the price space is filled by the dimensions and finish of both the bikes. The cheaper one SuperLow, is well, low! The Iron 883 is a relatively beefed up with black matt finish everywhere you can look. These are no VRods or Rockets, but then the USP of these bikes is the dena ka bhaav! Here are 2 bikes to give company to the entry league biker alongwith the XL883R Roadster.

At prices of 5.5 lacs and 6.5 lacs, this is as close as one comes to bite the sound potatopotato!

 

Any colour you like...

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."

Except for trademark colours like the Ferrari race red (known as Rosso Corsa) or the Pearl Metallic Yellow Murcielago, there are few cars that look better colorful. Even lesser cars can carry off a head to toe white attire. White Range Rovers look particularly smashing!

Hollywood trying to create future in their studio basements has somehow always foreseen cars of the future to be chiselled and DARK. Either bold primary colours or black! Even though the sharp lines concur, more concepts are being unveiled in shades of white or grey. Classic reminds of chrome and shiny black. Future may depict matt black bumpers and white bodies. That to me, is not an exciting sight! We need innovation at being simple. Finding practical solutions to avoid unnecessary complications and not trying too hard to be different could be a the way forward.
 

Household tips to be a kid!

1. Turn on the volume on your favorite playlist. It would really help if you like Rock n Roll or Metal. Go crazy! Mosh with your furniture.

2. Be a potato - For an entire day. Do not change out of those boxers. Grab the remote and watch reality shows all day. You won't like them. But the feeling of having done nothing all day reminds of those good old times.

3. Be the mechanic - We all have done this as kids. Pick up that remote controlled car and open it. Figure out it works on an electric motor connected to some plastic gears (something you already know) and feel the happiness of Colombus.

4. Watch a movie - Gather your friends. Watch a movie while gobbling samosas and pop corn without shelling out half of Kenya's GDP. A random english action movie should work just fine!

5. While you are at the single screen theatre, do NOT carry your cell phone, blackberry, smart phone, dedh shaana phone, et al. Try remembering your friend's numbers and co-ordinate using PCOs.

Get a hair cut

Many a times when you find monotony ruling your routine, it is time to change the way you look. Of course, it may not change anything with how you spend your days. You will still go to the same office, sleep on the same bed, drive the same car. It is obviously only a temporary solution. So until you come up with a concrete solution on how to get rid of the thing that is bothering you, get a haircut. Look different. Feel good about being new again.
Destinations don't matter, the journey does!

World's best road trip!

Atlanterhavsveien! Also known as the Atlantic Road.

This place is a series of bridges connecting two small towns in Norway. It's an 8.3 km long road, meaning hardly a 15 minute ride. And yet, you fall in love instantly with the flatness, the slopes and the curves!

Driving a convertible on a chilly spring morning can take one into another world!

Wiki
Map

Affordable (X)cstacy!

The leading German luxury car makers marched into India a few years ago with it's battalion of beasts and took away more than half the candy from Mercedes.
Here comes another brave new soldier from the BMW stable.

The lowest order link of the X series is here. This SUV has been a success in all other countries and the fate doesn't seem any different in India. It's booked for the next 3 months already.
The looks are typically new-age BMW. A perfect solution to the urban complexities in a grand fashion. Suspension is the key to a good ride and that's where BMW scores all its points on this one. The sharp hood lines convince of a low centre of gravity on this not so magnanimous car. Although, let the size not be a deception as this car has all that can be packed in a small package.
Among the 1800 CC petrol and 2000 CC diesel, the diesel one can be expected to be the better bet.
The engine is a gem and the looks are worth a few heads. Master stroke is the price tag! A BMW X1 can be owned within a price of Rs. 30 lacs.

Joy is what you make of it! And for that price tag, this is joy many can afford!