Friday, October 30, 2009

Five day weeks it is...

I was just having a discussion with my team mate as to how I have had 5 day weeks since school through college and now work.. I am so used to or institutionalised to this 5 day week culture right from school... But then i was wondering I have never waited for the weekend to come as I wait for it now...
Scene from office from Monday through Friday is like this...
Monday: Monday blues a term that we dint know existed haunts us... Damn I dint feel like coming to office today.. Yaar aaj kaam karne ka mann nahi kar raha he..
Tuesday: Tuesdayyyyyyyy(yaaawning).... Saala yeh time nikalta hi nahi he.. Aaj bhi saala kaam karne ka mann nahi kar raha he..
Wednesday: After Monday and Tuesday even the week says W T F (if you know what i mean).. OK almost there take a deep breathe just a couple of days to go... Same old story no mooood to work :)
Thur day: Arey yaar i woke up in the morning and it felt like it was a Friday today.. Alas it is not Friday still, another day to go still... No prizes for guessing the right answer aaj bhi mann nahi he yaar..
Friday: Swipe in early into office so that i can leave early back home... ;) My standard dialogue Happys the Fridays guys.. aaj tho fun filled Friday he aaj tho kuch kaam nahi hone waala.. ;)
Saturday and Sunday: Pardyyy time.. Dik chik dik chik dik chik....

Times change people change and so do our needs and requirements..

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Favorite Ice cream parlours In Bangalore.... :-)

Well i was contemplating about this particular topic for quite sometime now.. I was just waiting for the right time to post this up so that others can use up the details too.. :)

There is this myth about ice creams that it is only for kids and adults are not supposed to eat them, but then this is totally atrocious i say.. We too should have an equal opportunity to have one thing that could be had at anytime of the day, as far as i am concerned.. Without being ridiculed and made fun of.. ;)

So with that being said some of the ice cream getaways that i generally go to are as follows,

1) Edge : This particular ice cream joint was discovered during the college days when money was hard to come by, but we still wanted to have good ice cream.. Now we couldnt afford the corner houses and the baskin robbins's so to our rescue came edge.. With equally good ice cream and a great menu and variety edge easily became our ice cream adda... We used to go down to this place and have 4 scoops of ice creams which was by far our favorite as we got to eat 4 flavours of ice creams, and guess what it cost us just 70 bucks for 4 scoops, now thats wonderful both to the pocket and to the taste buds.. Not to forget the great time all the boys had bantering and teasing Abhi as he went for ice creams that the other guy bought.. Boy as the cliche saying goes "Those were the days".. This place is very close to forum and is in pretty central location and which every guy in bangalore would know, if you still dont know what place i am talking about then u guys need to grow up.. :)
Here is the screen shot of the map to the place.. :) Find the place i am talking about and Edge of course.. :)


2) Bowring institute: This place again is a very famous place that has been around for quite sometime... This place is very well known for the kulfis we get here for a very cheap prize too.. :) This place is right in between bowring institute and the petrol bunk and right opposite Stracey memorial school on St. Marks road.. This place is nearby Koshys and hard rock cafe so u are never away from some activity... There are about 5 to 6 flavours of kulfis that one can get here at throw away prices of 16 to 17 bucks a candy.. If one is not a big kulfi fan then u also get other ice creams too made by these guys.. Also the lassi here is simply awesome.. :) Normally on a given night we would have about 2 to 3 kulfis each whenever we go by this place, sometimes we just come here to have kulfis...
Here is the screen shot of the map to the place... :)


What are u guys waiting for, get out there and slog oodles of ice cream till you are satiated.. Who knows i might meet you there.. ;)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Rock and Rollllll..... :-)

I was just thinking as to how I could start this next post… But I was not able to think of a good start to it at all… So I just decided to start it just like this…
Dance is one of those art forms that have a great influence in the way we think and the way we live… From the unadulterated spasm like tribal dance to the fully trained and pristine bharatnatyam to the limber and flexible Ballet and the romantic and busy Salsa…. Dance is one art form which depends entirely on the culture and the way we grow up and the dance form relates to the very roots of our culture…

I am not here to talk about the dances I have mentioned above… My perception of dance is basically to go with the music rather than trained movements to make sure u are with the music… The whole point of dancing for me is for every part and every muscle of your body craving to move to the music… This might seem a bit erotic but alas this could be a mating ritual in some tribes where the best dancer gets to marry the girl… ;)

One such dance form where I can relate and at least termed that I am dancing is called the DAPPANGUTHU… This is more of a local to South India where we dance to let out our frustrations… Well I found a great description to how to perform this form of dance on wiki recently (courtesy my cousin Poornima akka) and I was astonished at the way how someone can explain such a dance in words well to say the guy who has explained this has done a great job…

For all whose who wanna kuthu follow the link I say….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dappan_koothu

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Riding gear : Armoured Jackets and Gloves

Picture this you are riding and something unexpected happens and then you have a fall… Would you like to get up and dust yourself and ride on home or would you like to be carried on over a stretcher to the hospital… Well if it was me I would choose the first option… That’s what we are here to talk about…

The second most prone part of body that’s bound to get injured is the torso or to be more specific elbows and the shoulders… The first thing that hits the ground when you have a fall are your elbows and they can get dislocated very easily and not to forget the bruises that one can get because of the scraping on the ground…

Since we are talking about safety here let me cut the chase and get to the point and tell what one can do to avoid being carried away… ARMOURED JACKETS and ARMOURED GLOVES are for the modern day riders there are a huge number of brands that are in the market that make riding jackets and gloves with all kinds of armor embedded in them to name a few you have alpine stars, thor and the cramster which I own… On a more generic way of classifying them jackets come in two varieties the touring ones and the city ones and then you also have the summer meshed jackets…

The cramsters I own have CE approved armor which is the standard armor approval entity that sets the standard for armor production… I realized the importance of the cramsters when I had the fall and virtually no damage at all to me… But there is an important thing one has to realize that using riding jacket is a precautionary measure and not a free license to go out there and ride like a moron…
Here is a picture of my cramster jackets and gloves…



Here are a few links from where you can get some real good riding jackets and other gear in Bangalore…
http://www.cramster.in/default.php
http://orionmotors.in/Alpinestars.aspx
Catch you all later for other gear soon… Till then Ride safe… 

Monday, September 21, 2009

Riding Gear : Either the HELMET or A HELLMATE

Well the question why we need gear while riding seems ridiculous to some layman or any man passing by seeing u wear all that gear… Well the answer to that question would be... Dude step into my shoes you will understand why… :-)

The first ride I did on my new bike was with sandals and a simple t shirt and a rickety old helmet… and then I realized I was a potential organ donor in the making… Since my first ride I have matured as a rider and got some neat gear from a shop accessible to me, it was a little on the expensive side but then nothing more expensive than life…

There are 3 basic weak points in every body which are most prone to damage or injury when someone falls off a bike…

1) The head

2) Your torso predominantly your elbows and shoulders

3) The legs predominantly the knees and the ankles.

Firstly the head that’s like the most important part of the body… Most of the fatal accidents that happen due to falls without a helmet… hence a good neat helmet that can stand a crash… And when I say a helmet I mean a full faced helmet not a open one or not the one that opens up if we press a little button…

I dint want a fancy looking helmet which shines in the dark or has fancy stickering I just wanted a good old fashioned helmet which hold up and protect you when you need it in a dire situation…

I picked up this AGV from JC road in Bangalore for 2400 Indian rupees which looks classy and is also very comfortable to wear and holds your head perfectly… The visor is perfectly clear and gives a great view of the road and to top it all up its removable to make it easy to clean it up… The padding inside also is detachable and can be cleaned and fitted back again…



















































































There are quite a few shops on JC road that sell AGV’s and different other brands of helmets in case someone needs to get one… Also there are a few shops branded shops that sell AGV’s and other brands of helmets like the one opposite to forum called Orion motors…

Check out the link below….

http://orionmotors.in/Helmets.aspx

Catch you all later with the other gear soon… Till then Ride safe… :-)

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Ride to the tallest peak in Karnataka.. Kemmangundi..

Well the ride to Kemmangundi was something that i was looking out for a very long time.. Some facts about the Kemmangundi its the highest peak in Karnataka.. We were to get to Kemmangundi via the longer route through Hassan and belure and halebidu..

Bangalore-->Magadi-->Kunigal-->Channaraypatna-->Hassan-->Belur-->Chikmagalur-->Baba budangiri-->Kemmangundi
Managed to reach the meeting point before time like i was the first person to reach then Ronald rolled in and we waited for sometime while everyone poured in. Vijay was there to see us off and there was no rain like everyone expected and that was a blessing.... We left and met the other gang at the NICE road junction.. From there it was all Patrang wonlee to the breakfast point at kunigal to have some super thatte idly's and vada and coffee.. :)
After that was all pure riding as we had to cover like another 2oo odd kms.. Next stop was at the kamat in Hassan after a long ditance of patrang everyone wanted a break.. Filled up some fuel here and had a break waiting for thomas to roll in have to tell about this guy, he rides his bullet at 6okmph and respect his resilience and patience great riding man... Once he came we started riding again and reached Chikmagalur in time for lunch and had a sumptuous meal... Filled up petrol here just to be on the safer side and started riding from here.. Once the hills started showing up it started getting real beautiful.. It was a sight i will never ever forget my life... :)
The ride to the top of the hill was about 20 kms and it took us about 2 hrs to do it doing some photo stops and a couple of chai stops.. We reached baba budangiri and it started to pour and
visibility reduced, it was a great challenge riding in the slush and the slippery roads or atleast what was left of the roads.. Managed to reach the place of stay by 4 30 and this place was really really beautiful... Freshened up or rather changed to dry clothes and the party was arranged at another forest guest house nearby so managed to hitch a ride in one of the cars of the shimoga guys as i was in no position to ride in the dark... Reached and started the feast and hogged some nice kababs... After some friendly bantering with the guys we decided to get back as i wanted to leave early in the morning.. Got back to the room and hit the bed and had a great sleep..


Woke up early and got ready and left with a few guys.. The group was Rajeev, Susu maams, Rajeevs nephew sidharth, little johnny aritra, thomas and myself.. We were taking the shorter route back home the route we were going to take was,

Kemmangundi-->Lingadalli-->Birur-->Arasikere-->Tiptur-->Tumkur-->Bangalore
This was going to be a 220 km ride back home precisely so we hit the road and told our byes to the place vowing to come back some time sooner or later.. We did good speeds with a nice formation with the Thomas being the sweep and Rajeev being the point... Had breakfast in birur a heavy one too as we were planning to have lunch in bangalore.. :-)

We were doing great speeds with just a couple of chai stops as it was getting a little sunny and we were getting a little drowsy.. ;) Managed to reach the Tumkur toll booth at 11 and we were only 4 of us.. Aritra had over shot us and we had no clue where the bugger was and Thomas we were not sure about him as we were doing very good speeds.. So we eventually decided to start to bangalore..

Tumkur road was just a straight road and nothing other than road all the way.. So instead of crusing all the way we just decided to blast off the whole distance we did the last stretch of 60 odd kms in a very short span of time.. Reached Bangalore at about 1 and told my byes to Rajeev and sid and reached home at about 1 30...
Super riding with RTMC.. RTMC ishtyle.. :-)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Feel my love... :-)

I was riding back home after meeting a friend in padhbanabnagar.. Was somewhere near thyagarajnar when this auto guy was standing out from the crowd... There was something written on the back of the auto in all colour and in a catchy fashion... Well writing tonnes about it wont suffice what i can say with a picture.. Certainly some real wise person once said "A picture speaks a thousand Words"...
I have no clue what the auto driver wanted to say or what he was trying to say... Well later then my cousin and my friend told me its a dialogue from a very famous hindi movie Darr which was later made in Kannada my our own Upendra uncle... Well now i understand where the auto drivers of bangalore get their inspiration from.. :-)