As I tread the Globe....

Random thoughts on Life and Death...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:08:00 +0000

During childhood, at some point in time, I suddenly realized that there is a voice inside me that is talking to myself. Every moment and action got recorded somewhere inside There was a feedback, followup, discussion, agreement, disagreement, suggestion and all kinds of things talked inside. I don't remember when this awareness was felt. I have faint memories of early days. Can't say exactly when I really started feeling it. Perhaps it was there since beginning but it was not in a form of dialogue. It started subconsciously and someday I realized that it is none other than "Me" talking to myself. This was the moment of inner-self-awareness. I felt like Number 5 - a robot in movie who realized that he has got human ability - "Number 5 is alive!"

I wondered, "Where does it voice originate? Is it the heart? the brain? or the eyes?". Funny enough, on occasions, I felt that this is something abnormal. The continuous talk bothered me. I even tried to stop talking to myself, in vain :) It took time to accept that this is just human.

Being able to talk to yourself is such an amazing thing. You know that there is someone who knows everything about you. Knows what you want to do, say, feel, touch, ignore, accept, reject, listen, curse, love, hate and know! Is this someone not YOU? will it exist without you? will you exist without it?

Another thing, we usually converse with ourselves in the default language that we are thought. How do people who can't speak or hear, "talk to themselves"? There has to be a way for them too. We often see that even animals have a thought process. Many of their actions are based out of hardwired instincts and behavioural traits. But sure there has to be a way for them too!

This question always brings an interesting chain of thoughts to my mind (sic)...

"If this is being alive, what is being dead like?"

How does it feel to be dead? There are times when I brainstorm what would happen to people around if I happen to die suddenly, maybe the very next moment? Like when someone casually calls up home and announces that he will be there in few minutes and he doesnt! Or like when you speak to someone and next day you hear sad news about him!

This blog post was in draft for many months, till I came across this disturbing situation. I recently met one fellow biker. We became part of an online group where we discussed riding together and many other things about the motorcycles. While our riding plans took time to materialise, we kept exchanging facebook comments, often witty, poky and informative. One fine Sunday morning, we met near our house for the ride and went 90kms with 3 other bikers. We returned after breakfast and nice chat and waived each other bye-bye as we neared my house. That night I came to know that he met with an accident near his house in the evening and three days later, he succumbed to fatal injuries to head. This entire episode disturbed me a lot. I kept thinking how unexpected life is and how quickly it ended when it seemed like a new begining. Felt like lost someone close. The thought of how his kins and family would be dealing with this made me shake.

Its kindda easy to imagine how others will react, including family, neighbors, friends, colleagues and even strangers. But its still not easy to imagine what happens to you and this voice after death? Is it like you feel when you are deep asleep - total blackout and a calmness surrounding you (and at this point, YOU really stop existing)? This is no easy question to answer I think.

If your inner voice becomes quiet after death, are we dead every time we are sleep? I agree that our body keeps functioning and we even dream. But does that happen to people in coma also? Is difference between being in coma and being asleep, is that the brain forgets to wake up?

At the end, its so fragile and short-lived experience to be alive anyway. Our existance is so tiny in front of the entire universe!

Is this Time-Travel?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:32:00 +0000

Case 1 : Catching up with others who have gone past you, in time before you.

Time	Scene 1	Scene 2	Scene 3
7.00 am	Arrive at a the highway signal as it goes RED right in front of youself. Watch others speeding away. Notice one particular biker who managed to pass when it was gree and revved up as if there is no tomorrow	Arrive at a the highway signal as it goes RED right in front of youself. Watch others speeding away. Notice one particular biker who managed to pass when it was gree and revved up as if there is no tomorrow	Just arrived at a signal as it goes RED right front me. Watching others speeding away. Noticed one particular biker revving up as if there is no tomorrow
7.01 am	Signal goes GREEN, start moving at leisure speed, the biker has vanished ahead	Do nothing, stop aside	Do nothing, stop aside
7.06 am	Keep moving slowly, the biker has reached next signal	Still wait	Still wait
7.07am	The biker gets GREEN again, he starts ripping	Start ripping	Still wait
7.09 am	Keep moving slowly, you reach next signal and it just goes RED as you reach	Reach the signal just before it goes RED, continue, biker is almost in sight,	Enter time machine
7.15 am	Biker has gone much ahead	Rip further and zoom by him. He is taken aback by the close fly-by	Exist the time machine behind just before the biker. Surprise him by similar fly-by as in Scene 2

Case 2 : Reaching office before those who start before you and reach after you.

Time	Scene 1	Scene 2	Scene 3
7.00 am	Wake up, hurry up, get ready for work	Sleep	Sleep
7.45 am	Ready to leave house	Wake up!	Sleep
7.50 am	Catch auto	get ready	Sleep
8.05 am	Reach bus stop	get ready	Sleep
8.10 am	Get into bus, sleep	Ready to leave the house, start bike, rip hard	Wake up!
8.20 am	Sleep	rip, rip, rip	Enter time machine
8.45 am	Sleep	Reach office	Exit at office
9.00 am	Reach office

Note: Dont disect the timeline, but get the idea. Travelling on Momo is like time travel :)

Wikipedia blackout workaround

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:31:00 +0000

Overall perceived IQ of humanity would drop down significantly today. Thanks to the Wiki Blackout :)

If you are those who still want to desperately refer wikipedia, try this:
Press <esc> (Escape Key) as soon as the page loads, it should prevent the redirection to blackout banner. Worked with Firefox atleast.

:)

so how does Mr. Sibbal expect to implment this pre-screening?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:28:00 +0000

- Apply for SSN (Social Sites & Networking) ID (So be prepared to witness yet another fraud related to preparing and distributing cards, goof ups etc...)

- A new department will be formed and centers put up across the country. The department would be called - Department of Union Ministry of Badmouth Against Sajjan Sarkar (DUMBASS)

- Every time you wish to tweet or post on social sites, you would need to write all the posts/tweets in prescribed format on a form and submit it to the nearest center alongwith photocopy of your SSN ID

- The department would scrutinize and selectively approve your form and approval number would be provided. The approval is at sole descretion of the department and UT Tax is applicable (Under Table Tax)

- If you are part of any political family or on the official list of VIP (Very Irritating Persons) then this process is exempted.

- There would be standard tweets/posts which would be pre-approved e.g. Hi, whats up, happy birthday, congratulations etc...the government does not wish to take away your freedom of expressions you see.

"Living with Ninja Experiences" - First Day Out

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Rode it to office on Temp registration. Didnt get caught :)

As expected, it was attention grabbing in the common parking lot. Colleagues came down to see and hear it live. Some unknown employees too went down and had a look. Got glances and questions everywhere :) The size and color is more attention grabbing that exhaust.

There was one moment on road when I decided to open throttle a little and it just surged ahead, I felt as it I would be thrown off. But realized that this can be avoided by leaning ahead a bit before doing so. It then beams ahead easily and objects in mirror start getting smaller faster :)

Heat was manageable too. Lights still need to be adjusted. The adjustment screw seems unresponsive :(

On return trip, it started drizzling and lightening due to receding monsoon (was I being photographed from above? :D ). Managed to reach home before it rained but bike had to face rains afterwards in parking. Will have to wipe it off before sleeping and put the covers on.

Loved the first day out!!!

"Living with Ninja Experiences" - Preface

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 05:29:00 +0000

They always said that life changes in India after you bring home a superbike. Ninja 650R is not really a superbike but by Indian standards of commuter biking, it definitely is one.

Its been just two days that the bike has come home. Registration formalities are underway and I am already feeling the "Living with Ninja Experiences".

People started approaching right at the showroom door and started asking price. Dad was zapped after knowing it. He couldnt believe that it costs that much. and then "You could buy a big car in that money!". The sweeper in the next building came running and insisted that I tell him the price.

One shop owner offerred me to park it inside his compound instead of parking on the road, without asking. Never happened in past when I parked P180 or P220F in front of this shop.

One guy on road, honked and gave thumbs up, then proceeded to tail for a while.

Met a guy at RTO, very excited to see "Ninja ZX 650". kept talking in english though I answered in hindi. He showed the "air cooler" to his partner, and then proceeded to tell him, "mere ko car me jyada knowledge nahi hai, lekin bike ka sab pata hai" (I dont know much in cars but I know everything in bikes)

Another guy : "isme silencer nahi hai?" (Doesnt it have a silencer?)
me (very innocently)": "nahi hai" (No!)

One fellow asked if he can sit and take a pic (I really appreciate these manners, as long as I can politely say No :) ). He took a pic and told me, "It would go on facebook now and your bike will be famous"

Two typical questions that deserve a placard to be put on bike with answers
- "Kitane ki hai?" (How much does it cost)
- "Kitana deti hai?" (How many kilometers a litre)

And thanks to the Daytime Running Light, people go crazy, drop their work and stand in middle of the road to tell that I am running with the lights on. This is accompanied with palm gesture similar to screwing a bulb in-out of its socket. I usually have my lights on so this is less of an annoyance now :)

Havent gone out since registaration is not completed, hopefully that happens next week. Till then it would stay parked :( More after that... :)

An unusual wedding...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:52:00 +0000

She arrived and preturbed my miniscule world. I was simply love at first sight. Her voice was not the sweetest yet it was seductive enough. Touching her was romantic. Cupid arrow hit the vantage point and paralysed rational thinking system.

I looked in her eyes in anticipation. "I am no rich, I am no superhero, You will get small place to stay, but endless road to travel with me. Will you still be mine?", I asked with anxity. She was responsive and ready to come along.

"I want to take you home!", I promised her as I left. And it was another love story starting to brew...

The family was orthodox. I had to arrange dowry. "Nagad do, Dulhan le jao", her caretaker said withough blinking an eye. The demand meant a fortune and years spent inside four walls of professional jail to earn it. Friends were critical. "She is an expensive women and you are not meant to have one.", I was told and joked around.

She was not the only one around but she seemed perfect. "Would I want to give up a fortune to be with her, pamper her and take her places?", I asked myself.

"YES", this echoed somewhere deep within. Submission was destined.

The wait was long. I had time to prepare. I had to buy her stuff before she arrived. I wanted to look the best on "the day". The nights were long and days were dreamy. She was with me virtually every minute and on every road. The feeling of wondering didnt seem to end. There is always something in life that you crave for all along. It was this at moment and it seemed like a mirage.

Finally the day arrived. I reached the venue, eyes rolled in every corner for a view of her. Feet were shaky and palms had become damp. The priest stood in front and finally she arrived. My eyes didnt blink for next few minutes. She seemed eager too, anxious and nervous, I was more. Time was running slow and heart beat faster than an crazy engine on track.

Priests announced, "Who gives this woman to be married to this man?", her caretaker came forward, "I do".

I heard further, "Let me charge you both to remember, that your future happiness is to be found in mutual acceleration, idling, revving, honking, touring, commuting and affection. It is your duty to love her as yourself, provide tender leadership, and protect her from danger.", "It is your duty to treat him with respect, take him places and father happy triplogs.", "It is the duty of each of you to find the greatest joy in the company of the other; to remember that in both interest and affection, you are to be one and undivided. You will be rider because of her and you will ride because of him."

"Do you accept each other as your partner to hold and have hold from this day forward, for better or worse, to love and cherish, till 'death do us apart?'"

"YES I DO!", I couldnt say anything else.

I can now kiss the bride!!!!!!

Thank You Teachers!

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 04:52:00 +0000

I miss the teachers day. We always celebrated by dressing up as teachers and peons and conducting classes for juniors. Could ring the bell once and perform announcements as a Principal :)

You need teachers in life, sometimes they in school, sometimes they are your friends/parents/neighbours, sometimes they are strangers, sometimes they are your own mistakes.

Respect the knowledge that you get. The world wouldnt have been here without it.

भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:07:00 +0000

प्रत्येक सिग्नलवर आज तिरंगा विकेल

तो विकणारा आज २ पैसे जास्त बांधेल

घेणारा म्हणेल, आज मला अभिमान आहे,

कि भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

एके काळी रक्त सांडलं स्वदेशीसाठी,

आज आपल्या मनात फोरेनला भाव आहे,

कोण म्हणतो ही गुलामी आहे?

मनात आणा, कार्ड फिरवा, परदेशातला उत्तम माल हजर आहे.

काय घ्यायचं, काय नाही, ठरवायला मी मुखत्यार आहे

कारण, भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

तेव्हा प्राण दिले देशासाठी, आपला माणसाच्या खाली राबण्यासाठी.

आज गोर्‍या बाईला सलाम आहे आणि तिच्या हुजरीत दरबार-ए-खास आहे.

तिला डोक्यावर बसवणारा निर्णय माझाच आहे,

कारण, भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे.

आज जिकडे तिकडे भ्रष्टाचार आहे, हावरट नेता मोकाट आहे

उघड्यावर रक्ताचे पाट वाहणारा बिर्याणी खातोय

आणि उघड्यावर पाण्याची वाट बघणारा गोळी खातोय.

शेतात विज बेपत्ता आहे, आणि मंत्र्यांच्या बंगल्यात लखलखाट आहे.

याचा जाब विचारायला कुणाला वेळ आहे?

खरंच भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे?

काय कमवलं स्वातंत्र्यापायी?

काल बाहेरचा नासवत होता,

आज आपल्याच माणसासमोर हार आहे

तरी १ दिवस झेंडा मिरवायला मन आज खुश आहे,

खरंच भारत एक स्वतंत्र देश आहे?

Authorised Bajaj Service?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Early Sunday morning, decided to go to nearest Bajaj Service Center (Suraj Bajaj Service, Majiwada, Thane) for getting minor things taken care of. I was out of chain cleaner spray so getting chain cleaned was one of them.

The authorised pro-biking showroom that I earlier preferred didnt work on Sunday. This one is not pro-biking but operated on Sunday. Now Bajaj announced that non-pro-biking centers can work on P220F, so wanted to try it out.

I remembered that it opened at 9.30am so went at 9.15 to be first in queue. I was indeed first and the shop had a board that mentioned time - 10am! Spent time watching cars and people on road and few more people lined up.

10.00am: no go, more wait
10.15am: 3-4 guys, who looked like mechanics, arrived

10.20am: Owner comes and hands over keys, opening ceremony started. They start taking out bikes from inside and parking outside. Aah, there was another board inside the shop that mentioned opening hours - 9.30am!!!

One guy seemed the most experienced one around (and probably formally trained). He took some bikes for test ride. Other guys spent time aligning parked bikes, starting them and revving happily.

10:45am: Finally my time comes, why late? well, they decided to prepare job cards for all others for free and paid service. I had asked for tightening chain and lubing it so i was asked to wait.

Meanwhile, I took a look inside service station. Barely 15x15 room, one corner was counter, other corner was spares shop. There was dirt, oil sludge and abandoned spares all around floor.

A blue board on wall mentioned Japanese 5S principles - seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. But I did not find any of that given much importance :) There was a chain cleaner machine. I was wondering how it works and expected that I would get to see it in a while.

Finally my time came. The experienced guy was still busy with test rides so other guy came with spanners and oil bottle. Chain slack was adjusted and he was about to put oil on it to lube.

"Clean nahi karoge? chain ka spray nahi hai?" (wont you clean it? havent you got the spray instead of oil?) - I asked.

He went inside and asked the owner for spray. Owner had a small bottle but it was empty. He asked the mech to take the bike to a water washer behind building to get the chain washed (Apparently they did not have their own washing area)

It was time to get out of there! Needless to say, I would never go there again :)

Is it fair to say that an Authorised point like this reflects the after sales attitude of a company? I never had good experienced with pro-biking service centers and this was no exception :(

Is there any certification policy for Bajaj to grant authorised status to service centers or is it just an option on sale?

प्रिय आतंकवादी मित्रांनो...

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:03:00 +0000

मूर्खांनो,

कधी कळणार तुम्हाला, असे स्फ़ोट करुन आणि मध्यमवर्गियांना निशाणा करुन काही मिळणार नाही. तो मरतोय कि जगतोय याची काळजी फ़क्त त्यालाच आहे.

त्यामुळे तुमचा पैसा आणि वेळ, आमचे टिव्हीवाले, पेपरवाले आणि राजकारण्यांची पोटं भरायला खर्चू नका. हिंमत असेल तर एखाद्या नालायक आणि भ्रष्ट नेत्याचा बुडाखाली स्फ़ोट करा, मग आपण मानू बुवा तुम्हाला.

निदान पुढल्या वेळेला तरी चांगला नेम लावा!

लोभ असावा...

Dear dumb terrorists,

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:16:00 +0000

You are such morons, you will not get anything by blasting places where common man of Mumbai spends time. No one really cares for them other than another common man. Please dont waste ur money/energy to keep our news channels/print media and politics running.

Try putting a bomb under a few corrupt and powerblind politicians and I would respect you.

Improve your aim next time.

Yours truly,

Is India ready for big bikes?

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:59:00 +0000

India is land of commuters. Majority of Indians use and think of motorcycles as sole means of transportation. They are quick, economical and can carry two/three people easily around. Lack of big roads and growing population compliments the need of motorcycles than other means of transportation.

Laws have favoured Indian manufacturers by imposing near 100% duty on foreign imports. This was done to protect Indian manufacturers and to help them grow. Unfortunately, this growth got limited to financial growth only. After two stroke era died, for years, Indian industry kept manufacturing tiny 100cc scooters and motorcyles till date. Later the manufacturers created higher segment by introducting engines bigger than that.

While rest of the world considers 650cc as beginer's bike, 220cc is still a power packed sports motorcycle here. Ther is a wide choice for a buyer for bikes between 100-150cc and manufacturer's boast increases of single digit power as a *huge* gain over competitiors :)

Recent time has been quiet exciting for Indian biking enthusiasts. For those looking beyond Pulsars, Karizmas and Bullets, few good choices are available.

Well, if you have enough green papers, you can now legally buy following machines in India. Pricing of these are still un-affoardable for the masses.

Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR
Kawasaki Ninja 650R
Hyosung GT650R
Hyosung ST7
Yamaha FZ1
Yamaha YZF-R1
Yamaha VMAX
Yamaha MT-01
Ducati 696
Ducati 1100
Ducati 1100S
Ducati HM 1100
Ducati HM 1100S
Ducati GT 1000
Ducati GT 1000 bicolor
Ducati GT 1000 Touring
Ducati Sport 1000S
Ducati Fighter
Ducati Fighter S
Ducati 848
Ducati 1198
Ducati 1198 S
Ducati 1098 R
Ducati 1098 R TB
BMW R 1200 GS
BMW S 1000 RR
Harley Davidson
Suzuki Hayabusa
Suzuki Intruder
and more...

People who buy or import such motorcycles generally prefer to keep it as a second choice. Daily commute on these are impractical because of the road conditions/jams and higher maintainance costs. They end up being ridden for 100-200kms on weekend around city and as a mental satisfaction in the garage :)

Hyosung and Kawasaki (through BAL) have introduced the 650cc segment and there is a sure buyer for them. Those who have got fed up of saving for superbike, those who were about to retire from biking and move into cage, riches who simply can, and the serious riders would flock to buy these. No wonder, first batch of Kawasaki 650R was a quick success. Intial bookings got closed within weeks!

650cc segment is best of both worlds. You get a powerful commuter that has enough juice if you want to go out for a nice tour. Its neither as expensive as a superbike, and not common as a commuter bike. Limiting the discussion to this middle segment created by Bajaj and Hyosung, are they really ready for these kind of machines?

Service network: Bajaj may score more points here because of their existing service network. It would be good to know that an authorised dealer is in the town but they would not be able provide consumables and other parts if you need them. It can be arranged through the network but if you are on a trip then its almost end of it. Garware motoros are aware of this and they are trying establish the network. It would take a while and hopefully they do not get into deadlock of service network-sales. People would buy less since service network is small and Garware might not be able to expand due to low sales.

Trained Labour: Even if you are able to reach to the nearest point, will you have a trained guy to help you out (forget about repairs, just consider routine maintainance)? At such point, a remote help over phone and prayers are only way out :) I am not undermining the experience of the mechs but just the fact that all that experience was gathered on different set of machines and problems.

Service attitude: Like all other Indians, the service engineers do not understand difference between a commuter and a more serious rider. Manufacturers have created specialised service bays or service centers for *their premium* models. Their premium models differ by just few handful digits of power, rest is almost same as their entry level model. These end up as sales gimmicks and different plastic stickers.

Routine service comprise of basic wash, chain cleaning, lights/horn check and oil change.

I was never happy with attitude of Bajaj service center near me. In my personal experience with Bajaj auto service, the mechs have always disregarded my comments, observations and requests. Speak anything more and you are an oversmart customer!

Perhaps, this was the reason for rejecting oil change on a new bike before its first service interval.

Despite advising that battery is dead and needs replacement (and not recharging, as I had already done that), my bike was returned by mere recharging. It failed to crank on post-service pickup. It was lying for two days with them with expectation to sort it out completely.

In the same service, I had asked them to check fork noise thoroughly. It was present since last few services and every time they the bike with simple nut adjustment. The nut was tightened this time again and mech was pretty confident that it was solved. He had not taken the test ride and I had to return the bike to them for next two days to get it fixed.

Now the same set of deaf mechs are going to work on foreign models. Its quiet likely that they are going to do a lot of things, alone on their own for the next few months. Perhaps they attended a small workshop. Is that enough for trusting them for the job? If they are going to ignore what customer says, will that help?

Choice to the buyer: What is logic of giving just one color to choose from? It may work well for them as free moving advertising across the streets. But for a customer, its just a bullying when he is ready to shell out money. Hyosung was nice to offer three choices atleast. But I hate the green Ninja. You are not going to loose your brand if you offer other colors!

What about accessories? None in sight. You are just giving the bike for the price and nothing else. The buyer wont get simple thing as an OEM slider or a topcase. It would have to be imported personally and the service mech would refuse to fit it for warranty reasons :)

There was another fiasco about the test rides. Initially the site offered email ID for requesting test rides. That was taken away in two days. While the potential buyers would be very few, it could still be offerred to previous customers? or offerred on Dynos? I recently got an invitation for test ride of Bajaj Discover as a customer of Pulsar 220F. Was Bajaj expecting me to dump 220F and buy Discover?

On the other side, Indian Roads continue to dissatisfy. Some highways are exceptionally well. But even major city roads loose themselves during monsoons. Coming home with damaged/scratched underbelly is not great :p Sometimes, if the road is good, there are ocassional speed bumps like mountains. If used properly, they can be used to launch cars into air like in movies :) I have heard Hayabusa owners getting down and manually push it over the speed bump to avoid damage. Cant keep doing it every few meters happily :)

Dhoom and Roadie effect: Nothing painted bad image of riders than these two stupid things. Every faired bike is now known as dhoom bike and I was even asked - "Are you a roadie?". With help of this and due to accidents involving motorcycles, Riders have become evil.

There are few highways and bridges denied for motorcyclists - reason cited as "accidents happen due to motorcycles". Its the stupidest conclusion to draw accordin to me. If statistics are true, 100% accidents that occur on the restricted roads involve cars/trucks :) Cars in which the passangers do not use seat belts, or have bald tyres can enter the highway, and drive their heart out, yet a safety concious 1000cc rider cannot! Differentiating between the two is not mechanical but then why does it go in favour of car owners?

Another road was closed due to accidents that happened at night. At times it involved speeding cars that went out of control, at times it involved motorcyclists who raced on empty patches. Result: blanket ban on motorcycles. Couldnt it be done just for night? How long indians will continue to have stupid beliefs about road safety?
Road sense and Common sense: Getting a license is easier than getting a passport or landline connection. Generations have been driving/riding without basic road sense. Anyone who can twist the throttle or drive can get it and consider himself an experienced one sooner. But we never follow basic road sense of yielding the right of way, lane driving manners. Such things do not have place in Indian upbringing at all. There is a good bunch of youngsters who believe superbikes are only for speeding. Hopefully these do not lay their hands on them and end up crashing. Which would further damage image of riders :) I remember in early days of Pulsar, it was considered by many as bad motorcycle. Failure of using disk brakes properly was major cause for that. One Bajaj showroom supervisor considered Ninja as most accident prone since he had three of them at once for full repair. People need to understand the technology and respect it.

Having said this, the change is pleasent. The pricing is much appreciated and this is sure sign of things to come. Hopefully this changes the perceptions and market over time. There should be more from the competition to keep things level. Many out of us are definitely ready for the change. Its going to be a dream come true moment ahead to lay hands on the machines and weaving memories with them in the years to come.

Let the good times come soon :)

My way of controlling Inbox SPAM

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:56:00 +0000

Despite taking basic care to avoid SPAM, I still end up receiving much. Some of that is not SPAM per se but regular newsletters, forum notifications etc. I read those but if not actively deleted, they tend to pile up.

One way of deleting such piled up mail is to search using wildcards or labels. But managing multiple labels or wildcards becomes pain after a while. My solution? read below. This is specific to GMail accounts but can be used for others

Open a mail that you frequently receive. From the "More options" select "Filter messages like these".

You will be shown messages that are similar to the mail you started with. Gmail automatically locates similar mails based on sender or mailing lister headers inside mails. You will need to create a good criteria that nabs lots of unwanted mails together. Some mails have common title or part of title that you can filter. Some come from same sender. Some senders use different usernames but same domain name to send mails. If you find such trend, you can filter the domain directly. You can try to update search criteria and click on "Test Search" to see how many mails get fitered. Once done, click "Next Step"

Create new filter from the "Apply the label". Once you create this label, subsequently use same label for filtering.
Also check "Never mark as important" and "Also apply filter to n conversations below"

Its done. Now all mails will keep aggregating under the label that you created. When you are in clean up mode, just click the label from left. Select all mails and delete!

Hope this helps :)

Making fun of tele-marketing callers - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Globe Treader™ - © Kiran Ghag) — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:37:00 +0000

<RING>
Caller: Hello sir mai sharekhan se baat kar rahi hu

Me: nahi nahi, aap mujh se baat kar rahe ho

Caller: nahi sir, mai sharekhan se baat kar rahi hu

Me: Arey nahi madam, aap mujhse baat kar rahe ho

<HUP>

Installing phone charger on Pulsar 220F

Finally got time to install the phone charger.

The device I got is from ideaForge. It comes with two major parts

1 - Part that connects to battery. This has a round connector that is supposed to be connected to dashboard.

2 - Part that connects to Part 1 and has the voltage processing circuitry to bring down 12V to 5V. This can take additional tips so that you can charge different types of phones. Not sure if it has any kind of current limiter or protection.The part 1 could be designed in a better way. The round connector needs additional jugaad to put it on the dashboard. Because of the separable parts, you can remove the charger from bike when not required.
The charger assembly was lying with me for months now :) I just couldn't figure out how to tap 12V point through ignition. Here's how I manage to work around it
- Connected the charger directly to the battery
- Added a switch and fuse in-line and kept this under the battery panel.
- Drilled a small hole on fairing and pulled the part 1 through it. Taped connector on the fairing. The cable that connects to battery was connected to this and kept under fairing

Now its ready :) I can flip the switch when not in use and the charger would not get voltage. This is less convenient than having the charger always on with ignition switch in between. But works good enough!

पुणेरी पाटीची दुसरी बाजू...

एका मिसळवर दुसरी मोफ़त देणारी ही पुण्यातली पाटी टिव्हीवर दाखवली गेली आणि बेचैन झालो. मन मानेना. इतक्या प्रेमाने लिहिलेली ही बहुधा एकमेव पुणेरी पाटी असावी.

बिछान्यावर टेकायला गेलो तरी पाटी काही डोक्यातना जाईना. शहानिशा करणं जरुरी भासू लागलं. आपण नोंदणी केली नाही म्हणून काय झालं, उगाच कुणाची फ़सवणूक नकॊ व्ह्यायला, काय?
सकाळी उठून कामावर न जाता घटनास्थळी गेलो आणि मग खरीखुरी बातमी हाती लागली. आनंदाच्य भरात सगळे समोरुन पाटी पाहून गेले. पाटीमागील पाटी कुणीच पाहिली नव्हती. तुमच्यासाठी पाटीमागील मजकूर खाली देत आहे.

सूचना:
- नोंदणी कूपन हरवल्यास आम्ही जबाबदार नाही. अशा स्थितीत मिसळ मिळणार नाही
- फाटक्या, ओलेत्या कूपनवर मिसळ मिळणार नाही
- एका मिसळवर एकच मिसळ मोफत मिळेल. मोफत मिळालेल्या मिसळवर मोफत मिसळ मागून स्वत:ची अक्कल दाखवू नये
- अतिरिक्त पाव मोफत मिळणार नाही
- एक मिसळ एकालाच खाता येईल. ही अट फुकटच्या मिसळवर पण लागू राहील
- कामशिवाय बसता येणार नाही. मिसळ कमीतकमी वेळेत खाउन इतरांना संधी द्या
- मोफत मिसळ फक्त ३१ मार्चलाच मिळेल तसेच हॉटेलची वेळ संपल्यावर ऑफर संपेल
- इतरांनी हळू मिसळ खाउन वेळ दवडल्यास आम्ही जबाबदार नाही
- पाकिस्तान जिंकल्यास पैसे परत मिळणार नाहीत

टिव्हीवरील अर्धवट बातम्यांवर विश्वास ठेवू नये हेच खरं असं म्हणत कामाला लागलो.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
टिपेची पाटी:
- वरील पोस्त काल्पनिक आहे. उगाच खरी मानू नये

Funny Tata Photon customer service call...

Called up Tata Photon customer service number, the recorded greeting told me to carefully listen to the menu choices as they had been recently changed.

I did so and selected "English" from the choices. The agent answered the call in Hindi! When I replied in Hindi, the agent started talking in Marathi!!!

Exapnding ext4 root filesystem

Almost doomed the box while doing it :)

resize2fs utility allows you to expand e2fs filesystem online but there is a catch -> you cannot expand the filesystem beyond its partition boundary. Your filesystem is most likely using entire partition anyway.

- Use fdisk and first "p"rint the existing partition table

Disk /dev/sda: 8032 MB, 8032092160 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7660 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00027054
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 7660 7843824 83 Linux

- Note the Start and End of the partition and partition number (sda"X")
- Delete the required partition
- Create same partition again. Use same partition number and start cylinder number
- fdisk should prompt you with maximum number cylinders you can expand to. You might need to delete partitions before doing this.
- "p"rint the partition table again and make sure that the partition number and start cylider matches
- Make sure that you toggle the bootable flag if the partition was already bootable. I missed this step and subsequent boot failed. Luckily the bootable installation media was around
- "w"rite the changes, exit and reboot. (You can abort at this step and you would be still fine if you wish not to continue)
- After reboot, resize the filesystem

root@atom:~# resize2fs /dev/sda1
resize2fs 1.41.9 (22-Aug-2009)
Filesystem at /dev/sda1 is mounted on /; on-line resizing required
old desc_blocks = 1, new_desc_blocks = 1
Performing an on-line resize of /dev/sda1 to 1960956 (4k) blocks.
The filesystem on /dev/sda1 is now 1960956 blocks long.

- Enjoy!

NOTE: As long as your partition table is properly aligned on cylinder boundaries, you should be ok. These steps worked for me and you can follow them on your own :)

Installing VMware ESXi 3.5 on Intel Atom D945GCLF2 using USB Flash drive

11th day of the month seems to be a potential VMware day. After the initial failed attemtps to install VMware on Intel Atom board, I tried to install ESXi 3.5 today after more than an year :)

First, I was not aware that VMware ESXi installation can be customised. After I came to know that this can be done, I could not succeed, for the fact that I was using Windows to achieve this :) The hard disk crashed and took the Windows installation with it. Ubuntu came to rescue. A pen drive based installation was quickly done.

Customizing ESXi for Realtek 8168 NIC on D945GCLF2 seems straightforward (After I managed to get it done after 1+ year :D )

- Download ESXi 3.5 ISO image from VMware site
- Extract the image and locate VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_5-207095.i386.dd.bz2
- Extract VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_5-207095.i386.dd from above file
- Use dd to transfer this image on a flash drive
dd if=VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_5-207095.i386.dd of=/dev/sdX bs=100M count=1
sync
- Re-insert the flash drive into slot and mount Hypervisor1 partition
- obtain custom oem.tgz (http://www.vm-help.com/forum/download/file.php?id=136&sid=b9568bc1d9037cf1483e39e9eaf3124b) and overwrite in the mounted partition
- Restart and boot with the new drive :)

The onboard SATA controller (ICH7) has been discovered but there is no disk connected. Once I get the failed disk repaired, can check if its detected in native mode.

Till then back to diskless Ubuntu :)

Satara Solo Ride - 2010

Date: 17th December to 19th December 2010
Route: Thane-Mahad-Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar-Bamnoli-Kaas-Satara-Sajjangad-Thoseghar-Sajjangad-Satara-Pune-Thane
Distance: 650-700kms

The annual vacation was about to end and frustration was building up. The vacation was spent in family affairs and had not been able to ride out. Usual partners in ride were unavailable, so it was a kind of unplanned solo ride to Satara.

I had been to Satara 10 years ago. My friend's village is situated at the base of Sajjangad fort and we had spent two weeks there. Unfortunately we both didn't know how to ride so we couldn't travel around. We spent our time walking up on Sajjangad top, socialising with relatives and discussing nerdy things. His cousin was kind and adventurous enough to take both of us pillion and visit Kaas lake. That was the only traveling we did around Satara.

Oh and the only technological advancement we had with us was a loaned Pentax SLR!

Satara is reachable via NH4 and NH17. Riding to-fro via same route gets boring so as usual I decided to include both roads in the plan. NH17 and NH4 are two different routes - NH4 is still undivided tar road and IMO more fun to ride. NH4 on the other hand, is concrete now after pune and bliss for those who wish to ride on full throttle. Tends to get boring after a while but.

I decided to explore Mahabaleshwar-Bamnoli-Kaas-Satara route. The route is available on maps but not much information was available.

From Mahabaleshwar you need to ride towards Tapola. There is an indian oil pump and snacks joint next to it after approx 20 kms on this road. Try the misal pav here, Its awesome! 4-5 kms after that you will hit small tar-road diversion for Bamnoli (hotel sagar would be on right). This diversion is not marked. Take left here. Bamnoli is appox 30 kms from here.

There is one T junction on the way near a bridge. A rusty signboard indicates Bamnoli. Take right here. You dont have to enter Bamnoli. Continue on the road and you will reach satara tunnel via kaas plateau. It`s another 30kms so total 60 odd km from the Tapola-Bamnoli diversion.

Road between Bamnoli and satara is being patched/reworked. There are no pumps on the way but you can get petrol from local shops for a premium price. No major shops/dhabas on the way. And the road is non-existant for about 5 kms. Absolutely no signboards between Tapola-Bamnoli point and nokia gps shows only road (as part of jaoli taluka). Good curves along the road but unusable due to patchwork and gravel. The road is scenic though. Runs on the periphery of Tapola lake for most of the time.

Destination arrived by evening. Things have changed much there in last 10 years. Most notable change was that the kids have grown up :)

In the morning I went on the hill for usual morning photoshoot.

Next day went to visit Thoseghar Windmill plateau and Sajjangad top. I had planned to leave Satara by evening but got delayed by 3 hours! Had to ride at night between Satara and Pune. Thanks to HID, the night ride was swift.

Slept at Pune at night and Sunday morning was a quick ride back home.

मुख्यमंत्र्यांचा राजिनामा रद्द :)

आत्ताच आलेल्या बातमीनुसार,
मुख्यमंत्र्यांनी "आदर्श" सोसायटीचे नाव "राजीव गांधी को. औ. हा. सोसायटी" असे बदलण्याचा प्रस्ताव दिल्याने त्यांचा राजिनामा हायकमांडने रद्द केला आहे.

टीप: वरील बातमी खरी मानण्याची चूक करू नका. पण नेहमीप्रमाणे त्याना क्लीनचीट मिळाल्यास आश्चर्यपण वाटून घेउ नका. बराच बोभाटा झालाय त्यामुळे क्लीनचीट उघडपणे देणे कदाचित शक्य नाही होणार. मग राजिनामा घेउन सोडले जाईल.

एका राजिनाम्यामुळे तसा फारसा फरक पडणार नाही. पैसा खाण्याचा वेग जरा मंदावतो इतकच. सत्ता मिळाली की प्रत्येक जण आपल्या भविष्याची सोय करुन ठेवतो. त्यात असं एखादं प्रकरण फुटलं की चौकशी तितक्यापुरतीच राहते. प्रकरण मिटलं की बाकीची सोय कामी येते. एकदा खाल्लेले पैसे कोणीच परत मागत नाही. मग एखादा राजिनामा म्हणजे किस झाडकी पत्ती.

वास्तविक पाहता, आदर्श सारखी प्रकरणे म्हणजे टिमवर्कचं आदर्श उदाहरण आहे. इतकी मोठी इमारत फक्त नेमक्या ४ मंत्र्यानी बांधली नाही. यात आख्खी यंत्रणा नि:संशय राबते.

लवासादेखील असाच आहे. राण्यांनी तो धरून लावला खरा पण ज्याप्रकारे त्यानी नंतर घुमजाव केलं त्यात काय घडलं असावं हे सांगण्याची गरज उरत नाही. राष्ट्रवादीवाले एरवी चिखलफ़ेक करतात पण या घोटाळ्यात तेपण कुठेतरी अडकले आहेत. त्यामुळे ते फक्त सावध विधान करत आहेत. . ज्याची नावं उघड बाहेर नाहीत ते आपण कसे या घोटाळ्यात नाही याची दवंडी पिटत आहेत. नैतिकतेच्या निकषावर, सरकारचे समर्थन करुन तेपण या घोटाळ्याचे साथीदार ठरतात. अन्यथा सद्य परिस्थितीत हे सरकार पाडणे काही मोठी गोष्ट नव्हती
असा प्रत्येक घोटाळा म्हणजे एक "Organised Crime" म्हणून सोडवायला हवा. पण सगळ्यांचे हात दगडाखाली असताना दगड हलवणार कोण? याच जागी जर एखादा गुंड असता (निवडून न आलेला) किंवा नकोसा झालेला बिल्डर असता तर त्यावर मोक्का कदाचित लागला असता. मोक्कासारखा कायदेशीर मार्ग भ्रष्ट राजकारण्यांसाठी लावता न येण्याची तरतूद घटनेत आहे की काय हा संशयच येतो अशावेळेस. त्यात भर म्हणून आपली कायदा(अ)व्यवस्था जलद न्यायनिवाड्यासाठी प्रसिद्ध आहे. तिची भिती राहिली कुठे राजकारण्यांना?

वरवर दिल्लीत जी काही हालचाल चालू आहे ती असेल, आता हे पाप कसं निस्तरायचंआणि बळीचा बकरा कोणाला करायचा याचा शोध चालू आहे. तो संपला की कळेलच...सध्यातरी निशाणा मुख्यमंत्र्यांवर आहे.

बघुया कसं दडपलं जातं हे सगळं...

Discrimination at Indian luxury Hotels

Had been to a luxury hotel to meet a friend. I was initially suprised since I was allowed to park inside their compound. While leaving, I rode up through the porch and two guards instantly came forward to stop me.

Guard - "Stop, Exit is that way"
Me - "Yes, I know, but I have to pick up somone from the porch!"
Guard - "Bikes allow (sic) nahi hai sir. (Bikes are not allowed)"
Me - "Why, I am not going to live there forever, will just pick up and go."
Guard - "But sir..."

I did not stop to argue further with the guards and went ahead through the porch.

All cars were allowed, no matter how cheap or underpowered they were. I wonder if he would have stopped a foreginer, or a guy on a superbike in same place.

What kind of discrimination is this? This is plain stupidity or just another example of socio-economical beliefs engraved in Indian minds. Or is this reflection of moronic understandings of people who made these rules?

Handsoff!

They recently installed this Shoe polisher machine in the office washroom. And instantly people were seen using those and at times queing up.
I wondered how they realised that they need polish after this machine was installed. Or perhaps it was just the novelty factor :)

PS: I admit that I couldn't control temptation and I tried it out too ;)

"सिंहासन"च्या निमित्ताने भूतकाळात डोकावताना...

नुकतच कुणीतरी सुचवलं की "सिंहासन" बघ. जुना आणि मस्त पिक्चर आहे म्हणून. आता तो कुठून मिळवायचा हा प्रश्न गूगलबाबांनी चुटकीसरशी सोडवला. TPB वर एकजण चक्क seed करत होतं. वेळ न दवडता download केला. १९८० म्हणजे माझं जन्मवर्ष. त्यावेळचं आता काही फारसं आठवत नाही त्यामुळे त्यावेळचा चित्रपट बघायची उत्सुकता खुप होती. त्यात राजकारण म्हणजे अजुनच.

चित्रपट उत्तमच, "जाने भी दो यारो" च्या पठडीतला. अनेक दिग्गजांनी भरलेला. राजकारणाचं अप्रतिम चित्रण आणि सुरेख संवाद. राजकारण फारसं बदललेलं नाही (अफरातफरीचे आकडे सोडले तर). चित्रपट जसाच्या तसा आज पुन्हा आणता येउ शकतो.

पण त्या काळचं एक प्रतिबिंब किंवा documentary evidance म्हणून पाहिला तर जुन्या गोष्टी बघायला मिळतात. त्यापैकी काही खाली देत आहे...

गांधीटोपी आणि शबनम घेऊन फिरणारी लोकं

लोलकाची घडयाळं आणि त्यातल्या काचेवर नक्षीकाम,
सलूनमधली पाण्याची फवारा करण्याची बाटली (तिच्या नळीला असलेल्या गोफात बोट घालून पाणी फवारले जायचे)

जुने काळे फोन. प्रत्येक मुख्य पात्र एकदा तरी फोनवर बोलतान दिसतं यात. (आजोबा त्यावेळच्या BSNL मध्ये कामाला होते आणि आमच्याच इमारतीत त्यांचं ऑफीस त्यामुळे असे फोन म्हणजे आमची खेळणी होती!)

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अल्युमिनीयमचे भांड्यांचे स्टॅंड्स आणि डालड्याचे "रीयुजेबल" डब्बे. डालडा संपला की त्याची जागा डाळी घ्यायच्या.

नक्की कळत नाहीये, पण मला वाटतं हा वरळी सी फेस आणि मागे सी रॉक हॉटेल दिसतंय

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पुठ्ठ्याचे कॅलेंडर, त्यांच्या खाली प्रत्येक तारखेचा एक कागद. तारीख सहसा मराठी, इंग्रजी आणि गुजरातीत, तिथीविशेषासकट. दिवस उलटला की आदल्या दिवसाचा कागद फाडायचा. पुठ्ठ्यावर एखादा देवाचा,मुलाचा किंवा मस्त बाईचा फोटो!

न ओळखता येणारे मुंबईचे रस्ते

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