should have posted this earlier

Technically I can't call this post, movie review, as I haven't seen the complete movie.
First of all, I missed the initial 20 minutes of the movie, then I also missed 20 minutes of the movie after intermission. Still whatever little I saw of this movie, I came back touched.
Shah Rukh Khan is my favourite bollywood star and one of my favourite actors.
And he was stunning/brilliant/impressive/superb in this movie. Vinay Pathak was also great, as he added a new character, albeit a different one to his variety filled character list.
The new actress is a good dancer, but her acting is not up to the mark, especially with King Khan around. Though she tries hard, with emotions showed by her, it is difficult to understand what exactly she is feeling.
I call such movies, typical bollywood movies, and I like such movies. They have it all, drama, emotion, comedy (stupid), style, extravagance and of course music. Movies like this, and OSO, yuvvraj among others, may not be super movies,  but they are what bollywood is known for. Even though there is more to chinese movies than martial arts, without martial arts I don't like Chinese movies. Similarly, what is a bollywood movie without the above mentioned formula. So you may have hollywood styled movies in bollywood, but I don't love them much, even if I enjoy them. Movies like Sangam are more bollywood defining than others. And I like these kind of bollywood movies.  Mind you, its not like I don't like other genre's, in reality I like to watch movies of all types. My love for hollywood movies is huge, but true-blue bollywood movies are lovable. And they are joy to watch even if they are less believable or lack a bit of creative level of hollywood movies. Its fine if filmmakers want to make breakthrough/world cinema level movies, but once in a while, it would be great they make a typical bollywood masala flick.

Also

I forgot to mention I saw "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi".
I liked it, more than that, I liked Shah Rukh Khan's performance, and also Vinay Pathak was impressive. King Khan's rendition of a simple punjabi guy was perfect. It may not be the best movie out there, but this movie will surely touch your heart. It doesn't have the best script (in terms of logic), and the actress is a bit confused, in terms of showing emotions on-screen, still you will like it. Shah Rukh Khan fans should't miss it.

I am still not sure what I am going to do on new year's eve.

Annual function (new year celebration) at office is coming up, and as usual I will be singing songs, hopefully dance (in group) and maybe (!!) act in a drama, lets see.

Everyone has seen Ghajini, except me, I wonder why??

more posts to come soon....stay tuned!! I will try ....

well....well...well...

well....well...well...
I don't know how to put it across....but I am back...
its surely been a long time...too many cobwebs here...and reason for absence??
i was lacking inspiration...have I got it back??? don't know.....
its like my poem writing ability, the guy who wrote 70 poems in two years (five years back), can barely string together a rhyme these days.

so its not easy to know where to begin from.....
a reverse chronology can be useful.....

and we begin with jumbo......
for the uninitiated its a hindi-animated movie.....

Its overall a feel-good movie.....animation standard is very good considering bollywood.
Voice-overs are also fine....nothing out of place....yes some locations/buildings/characters seemed a bit south-east asian, but then I found out it has been directed by some thai-guy and was supposed to be a thai movie (unverified fact).
Still it is commendable movie, worth at least one watch.
Its refreshing to see a hindi animated movie which is not based on mythology......
I won't go into the details of this movie, as everything about it is fine.
Actually, I am too bored to write anymore about it.

And, yes, winter is truly here, and I need to apply some stupid cold cream or else my skin is going to be parched like sahara desert!
Coconut oil = works when skin is very very dry, but skin smells of coconut oil (duh!)
vaseline petroleum jelly = again great for very very dry skin, but takes time to apply as it is not a lotion
body lotions = these are easiest to apply, but are not effective when skin is too dry
ponds cold cream = same problem as vasline jellies, more oily than lotions

And plese don't slot me into the metrosexual thingy, because the above info, using a SPF 30 sunscreen and a hair cream(Himalaya protein cream) are the only cosmetic concepts I am familiar with it, of course other than apply hair oil. And these things are placed near my shaving kit(creame, razor, after-shave) and AXE deo spray. Well, lets stop this vanity talk.


The smell of paint still lingers!
It has been a few days since we got the house repainted, the odour of paint, which is not exactly nose-friendly, lingers on, especially if windows are kept closed for a long long time.
Oh yes! When the whole painting routine was going on, the days were a bit powdery....
what I meant was the floor seemed powdery, and there were newspapers on all furniture....and there was powder on these newspapers...!!!

if you don't hate spiders, then check out this site > http://www.onemotion.com/flash/spider/
and also check this site, which prohibits a mouse click, you have to navigate the site without using mouse clicks. check it out > http://www.dontclick.it/

At last a ray of sunlight

At last a ray of sunlight, as for the last 3 days it has been overcast and the climate was london-like, with slight drizzle on saturday, and it was due to this stupid rain I was late to meet someone ,whom I was supposed to meet on time.
Yesterday an interesting astronomical phenomenon occurred when crescent shaped moon was flanked by venus and jupiter in all their shining glory.
But history interests me more than astronomy, just today I was reading about pyramids, it is fascinating. If I would have been rich, I would have been a historian. But then I like so many things, then I would have got bored being just a historian.
Sometimes I feel lonely.... I wonder why?

A Nice Article about Love by Swami Vivekananda

I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were
sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand
with
some water and held it before me, and said this:
"You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes Love."

This was how I saw it: As long as you keep your hand caringly open and
allow
it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to
close your fingers round it and try to posses it, it will spill through the
first cracks it finds.

This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love...they try
to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water spilling
out of your hand, love will retrieve from you .

For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are
people you love, allow them to be free beings.

Give and don't expect.
Advise, but don't order.
Ask, but never demand.

It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly
practice. It is the secret to true love. To truly practice it, you must
sincerely feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet an
unconditional caring."

Passing thought... Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take;
but by the moments that take our breath away.....

Life is beautiful!!! Live it !!!





source>> http://www.funenclave.com/writers-cafe/nice-article-about-love-swami-vivekananda-4536.html

A few ideas for all Indians!!! to combat these terrorizers

A few ideas for all Indians, in the wake of rising terror attacks.

Don't fear!!!
Don't be afraid!!!
Be alert!!!
Think of this whole country, or at least your locality as your house or your kids, and keep an eye on it, as you would on your kids or your house.

Expect the government to be helpless and learn a few things like,
>first aid (things like what to do when shot, to stop bleeding,etc)
>hand to hand combat (at least!)
>increase in fitness levels (in case you have to jump or run)

It would be great if military training and military service of one year, at least, is made compulsory for every Indian (college level) .

Lets fight with power!
Lets fight as tigers!

I know all this is pointless and people who can make all this happen are not reading this,
but still I got to write it.

Jai Hind!
Bharat Mata Ki Jai!

Blank Post In Memory of Martyrs of Mumbai Attacks 26/11

After Effects of Mumbai Attacks

The after effects of a terrorist strike in any part of India (except J&K) is the same, and this time it will be no different.
All public and commercial places will have an alert security setup, which involves checking bags and cars, etc. These checks will go on for few days and then after that, its back to our good old, callous attitude. Sometimes change is inevitable, in India it is avoidable.
------------------------------------------------------------
With all their heart all the humans in this world would like to pay tribute to all the martyrs of this attack.
------------------------------------------------------------
Still some questions arise!
When will all this stop......it seems like a cycle...
one guy in his country has seen his family die, he thinks whole world is his enemy,
and he goes on a killing spree to avenge, then people who were killed in this have to be avenged, so what happens in the end is that everyone is avenging, its a vicious cycle, can't there be peace.
------------------------------------------------------------
But that does not mean anybody should get soft in dealing with such atrocities.
What we can do is, in some way stop the fueling of this terror machine, which would at least slow it down.

Take Care Mumbai!!
Get Well Soon!!

Arsenal will against Chelsea!!!

Arsenal win 2-1 in an well played football match against chelsea. No chelsea player could net the ball, because the only goal they scored was an own goal by Arsenal.
Arsenal team played well, and fought to first level the score after being a goal down, and then continued the fight to get a lead and then to keep the lead. The battle was not fierce as chelsea players could hardly get on target, with only "thug" tactics of Terry being their best show.
Its all good,
>V. Persie got two goals, what more could you ask?
>Cesc and Ade played well
>Nasri and Gallas didn't dissapoint
>Clichy and Sagna are best full backs
>Song tried hard to hide the truth that he is average player
>Denilson, Djourou, tried hard to make a difference
>Almunia was solid

Lots of stuff.....so less time... maybe I should be less lazy.....

I saw hindi movie yuuvraj, it is a fine movie, too many songs and slow pace, Salman khan was better, Anil Kapoor was great, Mithun-da was solid, Katrina was sweet, dialogues average, emotional content not overdone.

I saw Star Wars and Jet Li movies (DVD) this weekend, enjoyed them too.
May the force be with you.

Change of my callertune, from rock anthems to bollywood love songs has spunked many, but what can I say it, that is what happens to a ""un amante"" (Spanish).

Winter is not yet back, it was false alarm, the warmth is still there without the chills.

My cousin Pankaj is planning to buy a Royal Enfield Bullet bike, isn't that cool!
My love for Road-Runner(my bike) is rivaled only by my love for her and my family. Still a bullet is a special bike, a bike that I will never buy, but would always want to ride it.

One of our ex-colleagues, Patricia came to visit us, she bought those expensive chocolates that are very bitter to taste, (yuck!!), give me a chocolate bar like (snikers, mr. big, crackle, five star) and I am happy. My crieria for chocolates is simple.
They should have mix of chocolate/caramel/raisins/nuts!! thats all!!

I have stopped drinking masala soda so my bowel movement should normalize soon enough.

I got two new books, one small book about Sambhaji and other about Vivekananda's teachings.
One is with Mahendra Hasabe and the other is with her. So I have no choice but to read one book which I haven't touched yet, Holocraft Covenant by Robert Ludlum. Lets see how that works out.

Thats all for now, no time to proof read, Sameeta wants to surf the net, so I need to log off and surf my dreams (maybe about her).

Adios my dear readers!!!

Quick Update

Road Runner's (my bike) rear tire got punctured, thanks to a strong thorn. It cost me 240 rupees, and a bit of pushing as the tire repair shop was close by.

Saw the latest bond movie (quantum of solace) thoroughly enjoyed it. James Bond, Joker(Batman movie) Indiana Jones, and Optimus Prime are my favorite movie characters of the year.

A few weekends back went on bike ride to Harihareshwar and Diveagar(465 kms total) it was fun.
Got gods blessings and had fun in sea. On route, Ghondse ghat is a danger ghat.

Her vacations are over and winter is starting to creep back, signaling dry skin(uurrgghh!!)

Overdosed on Masala Soda after dinner the whole week.

I have run out of my hair cream, they are drying up!!

Yes, got new helmet(Studds Ninja), knee protectors and also a pair of closed-fingers gloves.

Well that is all for now, take care.

These are some of the top rated love quotes....

1. There is only one happiness in life -- to love and to be loved.

George Sand
1804-1876, French Novelist


2. What I needed most was to love and to be loved, eager to be caught. Happily I wrapped those painful bonds around me; and sure enough, I would be lashed with the red-hot pokers or jealousy, by suspicions and fear, by burst of anger and quarrels.

St. Augustine
354-430, Numidian-born Bishop of Hippo, Theologian

3. "When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams."

Dr Seuss


4. Women wish to be loved not because they are pretty, or good, or well bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.

Henri Frederic Amiel
1821-1881, Swiss Philosopher, Poet, Critic

5. The best thing about me is you.

Shannon Crown

6. Pleasure of love lasts but a moment, Pain of love lasts a lifetime.

Bette Davis


7. If you love me, let me know. If not, please gently let me go.

Anonymous



8. You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

Sam Keen

9. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

Heather Cortez

10. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

Golmal Returns Movie Review

Golmal Returns Movie Review in a nutshell>>>>

>Rip-off of 1973 Hindi film Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar.

>Even though you can find references to the first part this one isn't a continuation of it.

>Vrajesh Hirjee's serpentine act is repeated from the original and there's also a tribute-cum-takeoff on the missing member Sharman Joshi.

>There is also legacy of 'Black comedy' that is continued and there is also Bhansali's Saawariya to the spoof-list.

>The humor varies from superior to slapdash variety ranging from subtle satire on Saif-Kareena tattoos to the overstated Ekta Kapoor soap spoofs.

>There are some intended parodies like the character names Gopal Kumar Santoshi and Mira Nair. Then there are some jokes like the Ajay Devgan - Celina Jaitley salsa sequence on the yacht.

>The mute Tusshar Kapoor indulge in most of the cursing so that the writer can avoid the censor board sniping.

>Thankfully the first half is devoid of any songs and the only action item number in the second half is fun to watch rumored to be derived from Rajnikant's Sivaji - The Boss.

>The climax is typical Anees Bazmee - Priyadarshan style, where the entire cast gets together for a silly and intentionally exaggerated ending.

>The chemistry shared by Tusshar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade is very good and their comic timing in the film made them the most entertaining acts.

>Tusshar's mute show ranges from the completely incomprehensible to the funnily weird antics. Shreyas has a natural flair for comedy and makes you laugh with ease.

>While Arshad Warsi is wasted, Ajay Devgan was only decent. Amrita Arora still can't act and Celina was fine, Anjana had nothing to do other than smile, while Kareena didn't impress she was within character.

Thats all!! some info sourced from internet

Estoy enamorado!

Estoy enamorado!

Some experiences -- Me and Road-Runner (my bike)

My bike, Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSI is a bike which has never disappoints me, it has done well beyond its so called role.
It has been great in traffic, on highways, on bad roads.
Clutch is not like typical bajaj clutches, no (thunk) noises when clutch is released.
Gearbox is not silent like unicorn, but better than other Bajaj bikes.
Acceleration is addictive, and top speed good, but not used much on our bad roads/highways.
Braking powerful for nearly all situations.
Tips for other P-180 riders:-
Check oil level after 2000kms if you ride heavily, and don't over-inflate tyres.
First two gears are short, so change them quickly if you are in a drag race, and then 3rd-4th-5th gears can be stretched more.
Using only rear brakes at high speeds can lock rear wheel so use both front and rear progressively.
To save fuel, stay in 40-50 in 5th gear, if you are going lower then 35-40 then stay in 4th gear.
That is all for now. Enjoy. Keep riding safe.

Hello -- Movie Review

Hello is based on author Chetan Bhagat’s international bestseller One Night @ The Call Center which is based on the BPO industry. Sitting in director's chair for the second time, Atul Agnihotri has tried to direct a movie about a new subject in such a way that he has included all the essential commercial values successfully. His directorial debut Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha was proved a dud at the box office in 2004.
I haven't read the book (she says book is better), so have no idea how much the screenplay remains honest to the book. It opens through the views of the lead character Shyam (Sharman Joshi). This movie is a melange of shattered ambitions and how people lose their love has been mixed in pretty well.
Agnihotri has cast each character carefully and it shows. He has also aptly portrayed Salman and Katrina(who narrates the story to salman). The comical and serious blend of dialogues written by Chetan Bhagat rightly arouses equal amount seriousness and laughter.
There is enough drama and thrill which has been maintained in the film.
Sharman Joshi has successfully proved his credentials again.
Sohail Khan has improved a lot considering, his past performances. All the three beauties Gul Panag, Amrita Arora and Eesha Koppikhar play their part to the best of their ability.
Nothing much to love or hate in everyone's performances.
Music was average while overall camera work was perfect.
All in all the movie has drama, thrill, good actors and better messages. Still it is only "Worth one watch".
Go with friends, enjoy it.

should have been posted earlier

The following post is late post, and should have been posted earlier, but being lazy means it is not easy to do it. Anyway here it is.

It does feel good, I mean it.
It feels really good when you are able to inspire someone, when you cannot even inspire yourself.
So the thing is that, I managed to inspire Amita to start her own blog, which is great, but she should be careful not to take too much inspiration, because I don't update my blog regularly while she should update hers regularly.
Well, that's the news for the week.
Dusshera went by nicely. And now I am eager for Diwali.
Oh, yes, got oiling done on my bicycle, so now its in running state, a good tool to keep my fitness at healthy level.
By the way, this year my bicycle will be 10 years old. wow!!!! And my bike will be 2 years old.
My tryst with 2 wheelers began when I was in fourth grade and the lovely relationship continues.
And truly, I believe in the saying,
four wheel move the body, two wheels move the soul.
And speaking of love, I love drinking aerated drinks, so dusshera festival was a good excuse to drink down a bottle of thumps-up...yay!!!
Finally I completed reading Rhinemann Exchange by Robert Ludlum.
She is reading Love Story by Eric Segal and Paulo Coelho's Brida, which is two books at the same time! Hats Off!
p.s.
my super sister's blog >> click here
one more very good blog here... >> click here

Shine On... [mobile blogging]

Got this polish to shine my road-runner[my bike].

food and sleep

It is never good to begin the week on a sleepy note. But there are times when monday afternoon feels very sleepy. Well, blame it on the weekend then.
It is not very easy to follow some rules that I have set for myself.
Things like ordering maggi and sandwich in office, only once a week. This rule is to serve the dual purpose of saving money and not gaining weight. Mind you, I do eat enough and these items mentioned only give mental satisfaction as it is more of a psychological hunger. The other rule is to drink less aerated drinks. And drink fruit juice more frequently.

good.... good... no no... no more ...good.

I know the title does not make sense....but still it is a title...
It was nice to meet her after a week, uhhh.. I mean to meet at last is nice, not meeting is not nice.
But she has exams so, .....
Dust storms, thunder storms, etc have visited our city, but thankfully ferocity has been low, so no need to worry.
Arsenal nearly lost against Sunderland because of wrong formation and tactics. A 1-1 draw just hides the fact that we could have lost.
Movie of the week would be ...actually there are two...
Fantastic 4 and Silver Surfer == very good compared to first one
Holiday == a very good movie
Well, those were the movie's of the week, with no cash, it is hard for me to go and see movie's in multiplexes, so (HBO, star movies, Pix, Zee studio) are my best pals.
Got my PC monitor's sparks problem fixed for 900 rupees,,, hmm... doesn't sound cheap....
The last week saw me work late in office due to some critical work, and...well .. nothing else is springing to my mind right now..so I will just sign off...

A quickie...again

Arsenal FC wins a game, its not given much importance by media. It is only when they lose that, Arsenal are shown to be in serious trouble. Now they are saying the defense is lacking, but Arsenal is known for its attacking play, so why expect too much from a attack-minded defense. I am not defending Arsenal's poor performance against Hull, my problem is that the blame should lie on lack of goals. Just look at how Arsenal played when they were goal down and scored two goals, complete blitzkrieg kind of attack. Thats is how Arsenal should be playing, score goals more than your opposition and win matches.

Working on new project is really cool, because since last two years I have worked only on one big project, and now in third year I have worked on three different but small projects.

I completely forgot to write review of the hindi horror flick, 1920. Though this movie is not entirely original, whatever is shown is pretty engrossing. You will enjoy it if you like horror movies, even though the movie picks up speed only after the first half. Still it is not like Phoonk, it has all thrills and chills usually associated with horror movies.

Rise of the machines

These machines have the gargantum task of cleaning up mumbai city

Gone

So its gone, the long hair/french beard look is gone.
After chopping off my hair, even my face has seen a clean shave for the first time.
So from RockStar looks, now I sport a pop-boy-band look of short hair and clean shave.
OK, enough of vanity talk.
I am aching for a bike trip, don't know where, she suggested pune, but the plan has got bunked.
Still JP's plan of ride to Mahabaleshwar is still on, so I am optimistic.
My cellphone is a year old now, which is good,
and mahendra is planning to buy a new cellphone, and I am more excited than he is,
because then I have a chance to compare different phones, their reviews, etc, etc.
Sound of sparks have started to come out of the monitor of my Home PC which means no more playing football manager
and no more surfing the net from home.
Oh! Fridays! always eager for them to get over, so that the weekend can begin.
I was planning to wake up late this Saturday, but I have a stupid early morning medical test scheduled by an insurance company,
which requires 12 hours of fasting, HHHEEELLLLLL!!!

Back with motivation

She updates her blog regularly, so even I am inspired to update my blog.
But its hard to think of any worthwhile reading material to put here.
Still I can't hide my delight at Arsenal's young team winning in Carling Cup match against Sheffield Utd.
Makes you understand why Arsene Wenger didn't buy players during the transfer window opportunity.
A great job done by everyone at Arsenal.
And even my job is fine, by dabbling in technologies like joomla(php, mysql, and apache) my knowledge is going to swell
and my resume will look less empty.
The rains are playing hide and seek. Since last two days it hasn't rained and before that it had been raining inconsistently.
So inconsistent rains meant I was able to ride my bike to work, which is a great way to save time, and anyways I love riding bikes.
Two of my friends are planning to buy bikes, and both guy's buying plans include two cool Yamaha bikes, R-15 and FZ-16, now isn't

that cool?
Lots of trips have happened since last post. Here is a list of the trips, my laziness prohibited me from posting anything about these

trips.
August 1st week=Matheran(Birthday Week)
August 2nd week=Alibaug Beach
August 3rd week=Kolhapur, Amboli
September 2nd week=Ganpatipule
JP's brother has invited all of us on a bike ride to mahabaleshwar, lets see how this can be accomplished.
Yeah, I have shifted to a new house, where I have my own room, which is nice.

To cut a long story short

So many things have happened that I have no idea from where to begin.
As I scratch my head, trying to put some good content here.
It brings back memories of my long hair(shoulder length).
I bid farewell to my hair on 3rd September 2008, it was becoming painfully messy to manage long hair.
Not only did I have waste time in washing, brushing and all those things. I could not wear helmet easily.
And long hair when wet don't dry easily, which made me sneeze on a cold morning.
Still I persisted for more than 8 months, because I wanted to experience long hair once in my lifetime.
And I have done that. Even She agrees that short hair look better something my sister also agrees with.
So now I sport a very short cut. Its very good, now need to waste time in washing hair, just two flat minutes.
No more hair coming on my face, etc, etc.
Still once in a while miss the long hair!!

Movie Lover......but very lazy/busy

I love movies.
I love many movies....action to sci-fi...horror to thriller.....comedies to romantics....epics to spoofs...
I love english movies...enjoy most hindi/marathi movies(prefer oldies)
For me cinema is love...it has no boundaries..language is never used as a basis to judge cinema....be it hindi or english.....I love them all....because there have been bad hindi/marathi movies and bad english movies....


special mentions.....
no time for review of dark knight.....
its been a long time since I saw it....saw it 1st day 3rd show... he he he..after my MCA exam...
An amazingly brilliant movie....heath's dark portrayal is exquisite while bale's silent guardian act as batman was enthralling...and harvey two face was enigmatic....

“When I fell in love”

People say when they fell in love they felt this and that, I have no qualms with that, but is that the only love that can make somebody happy. Why is that many times, people say, there is no love in their life. When all that they are saying is that they don’t have a marriage culminating relationship. Why is the word “love” specialized, when it can be easily generalized? If love is generalized, you will be happier. If you include, everything into love, your outlook towards life would change for good. If I am walking in circles, I will let you know what exactly is on my mind. Let’s take my example. I am not much good at showing my love in spoken words. But I love my family. And this love bubbles up, when they are proud of my job which is two years old. And their love is shown by their sacrifices and putting up with my careless and stupid behavior. That is love, love which exists in spite of the fact that I don’t agree with most of their thoughts. Same goes for my super-sister, we argue with fire, but love and care shines through as we never remember the fights we had, we just put it behind. Then there are friends who too have to put up with my non-sense and still there is love. My absence means many plans get cancelled. Tell them to help me out and they do it without complaint. Such is the bond, that its strength is intact in presence of varied backgrounds/personalities and quirks which define us. We stick together by a common glue of love. Love is like pickle/wine, something which tastes better as it gets older. How can I forget my love for my job, loving the work I do everyday at office, the challenge, responsibilities and pressure I love it all. And running in close is my love for traveling/roaming/riding my bike. Love for cinema in general, and being a lover of music. But this doesn’t mean my life is a bed of roses, with no thorns in it. There are times when it’s hard to smile. There are times when the ability of my eyes to hold back tears is tested. In such times, there are lovely memories come by to dry up any trace of tears. And in such times, it is extremely criminal to think that there is no love in my life because of absence of marriage culminating relationship. But then if it does happen, I am all ready for a new chapter in my life. Well I don’t know if I was on target or I am still not making any sense. But the situation is that my pen is just gliding on this paper as my brain tries to concretize my thoughts. To sum up my motto of my life – Keep doing the job you are here to do. Look at the bright side of any bad/sad thing and cherish the sweet memories. And lastly the only thing that remains to be answered is does a love relationship be considered worthy of compromises/complications. A mystery indeed.

Hancock movie review

This movie may not have the most brilliant script. But in terms of impact, it makes a very big one.
This movie has it all, great action sequences, cool dialogues, solid acting, charlize theron, and will smith.
Only thing it lacked was a powerful villain, but this movie was never meant to be just a fight between good guys and bad guys.
This movie attempts to humanize the heroes, their emotions, reactions, etc, and this job has been done in a very nice manner.
All in all a action packed movie, with a weird twist, and something different compared to all super hero movies.
Don't miss it, even if you are not a Will Smith fan. Even though he is aging, Will Smith continues to enthrall everyone, to the extent he gets standing ovations from viewers.

Movie Review - Love Story 2050

I watched this movie to see how far bollywood has progressed in terms of using heavy special effects(FX) in movies.
And unfortunately I came back disappointed.
Illogical script, stupid dialogues, bad acting marred this film which had decent potential to do well.
Acting was so bad that, OTT acting by Archana Puran Singh felt better than Boman Irani's histrionics.
Mr. Irani was very disappointing, while baweja seems like a hrithik clone sans the acting.
Priyanka was mostly irritating, and there were no steamy scenes to change my opinion.
No powerful villain to save this movie, makes it a very bad movie, still it was better than Nishabd.

Back For You

This is a blog post which should have come long time back.
But being busy with MCA exams meant that it was going to be difficult to post anything.
Now that I am back, I have got loads of stuff to put up, including movie reviews.

Recently I have been fortunate to get acquainted with a sort of super girl.
She is so vastly talented and yet modest about it.
This budding journalist is very proud of her choice of profession and seems destined for a successful career.
And she has one of sweetest smile and deepest eyes that can enchant anyone.

In terms of workplace news, since last week I have been excited to work on new projects.
Its a fresh change and a better challenge, and it would look good on my CV.

One of my coolest friends, Roshan (IT-Superman), Swati and Aalok(Potter Fan) successfully completed their MSC degree's.
Congrats to these masters of science's.

I am undergoing a change of hairstyle.
Those of you see the awesome food/travel show called Highway On My Plate on NDTV-Good Times Channel,
will recognize the long hair and beard style of the two hosts. Well that is the direction that I am moving towards.
Lets see, its a test of patience.

Here it has been raining once in a while. But this while sometimes stretches to a day or two, which is bad since it is monsoon.
And these scarce rains are hampering our trip to a nearest waterfall, since they would not be falling with full force.

Thane Railway Station flooded

Its 1st july 2008 and heavy rains and high tide flooded many low lying places.

story so far

Yesterday was my MCA project viva; and it went very well considering my preparations.

But this viva ruined our plan to visit Raigad Fort.

So now I am left with Semester 6 exams to deal with which are coming up on 17 July. Of course my preparations have begun; I have managed to place the book on my table and have been intending to read them since last few weeks

So now that studies are coming up, I can’t read the book that I have left incomplete>> The Rhinemann Exchange by Robert Ludlum.

Musically I have been listening to a lot Of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. They are masters of guitar. They don’t need words to sing a song; they let their guitars do the talking.

Last weekend I met some of junior college friends, it was great to meet them all together after a long time. It was nice to laugh about the things that we did back then. The chicks, the professors, etc. We met at Pop Tate's who make some of the best pizzaz's for such a low price. On the downside the place is full of smokers, which pisses me off, since the food is very good. But for a guy like me who doesn't smoke or drink, it is just not right.

Anyway thats the story so far, I will try to update regularly but can't promise.

one more ...one more .. mini movie review >> The Incredible Hulk.

And just yesterday I saw >> The Incredible Hulk.

This movie crashed all my expectations. After watching the Eric Bana starrer earlier edition I was expecting even this movie to be only a CG-fest, but this movie easily moves into the league of Spiderman Series. It is a very well executed movie; it is hallmarked by the performance of the lead actor (Edward Norton) and the villain. Even though others did their job with conviction, it was these two who acted absolutely the way we expected their characters to behave. Watch it if you never liked The Hulk, and maybe you will change your opinion. And for other action movie junkies like me, don’t miss it. The action sequences in this movie are mind blowing. There is a surprise at the end of this movie that some comic book fans will love. Watch it. And Liv Tyler is as usual enchanting.

mini movie reviews continue >> Indiana Jones and Crystal Skull

Then I saw this movie; Indiana Jones and Crystal Skull.

It was a very good movie. The script may not be the best one out there, but the adventure element will keep you glued to your seats. The cast is brilliant, and make this movie thoroughly enjoyable. In spite of being the fourth movie in the Indiana Jones series, it is not necessary to have watched the earlier movies to really enjoy this movie. Don’t miss it if you like action and adventure. Harrison Ford belies his age in this movie, and Shia put in a performance I didn't expect him to. Don't miss it for jonsey!

Mini Movie Reviews >> De Dhakka.

A few weekends back I saw the marathi movie; De Dhakka.

It is a very entertaining movie with a mix of emotion, drama, and comedy.

The movie has been almost completely lifted from the Hollywood movie; Little Miss Sunshine. In spite of this movie being completely copied, it is very well made, and the acting by all characters is very much in character. Watch it with you family.

It was great....the rajgad trek

I had the time of my life, when I climbed Rajgad fort with some of my best friends and office mates last weekend. It was challenging, tiring, sometimes scary, crazy, and very historic trek, all the way to the top, nearly. Nearly because even though I climbed the fort, there was a small fort(Bale Killa) inside Rajgad fort which is even higher and it involves rock climbing, and I decided to give it a miss, since I wanted to have reserve stamina to use while descending from the fort.
The trip began on friday, as the eleven of us left office to reach Maitri Park at chembur, from there we hailed a scorpio to Pune, and in few hours reached Swargate. Since the trip was not planned, we did not find any place to stay at 2 AM, other than ST depot. Fortunately we found a Sumo driver who was ready to take us to gunjavane, which is the base village. So by 7 am approximately we reached the village, freshened up at nearby hotel(rajgad pratishthan). Then started our trek to rajgad fort. I won't describe the trek, because it takes the fun out of it, and also makes me want to go back. The route we took i.e. Chor Darwaza is the toughest and the shortest route. After we reached the top it was pretty much routine. Do some sight seeing; have some food and water.; then take some rest and finally descend to ground zero. After coming down from the fort it was too late to head to swargate, and the next bus out of the base village was at 6 AM, so we stayed at hotel rajgad (at small house!) at night when it was very cold. It was just amazing to enjoy the chill, that too in the month of May! Then it was morning, we caught the 6 AM bus out of gunjavane and we were back at swargate and then in few hours back home.
I have not described the trek in detail, because of many reasons, like I am lazy, it spoils the mystery of such a place when you know too much, and not only that I am going to start a blog completely dedicated to forts, very very soon.
So that was the gist of things. To know more about Rajgad fort and its history, just search in google. I would recommend all of you to at least once visit this fort. This fort called as the king of forts. The fort that was never captured. The fort whose diameter is 40 km. This fort is so high you can see lots of forts from its top, forts like sinhgad, lingana, torna, purandar, and the far off raigad, many more. OK! enough of historic facts. Go in person to experience the magnificence.
Our next target is Fort Torna, of course I will climb this fort again, probably next year, as I did not climb Bale Killa this time around.

Shivteerth Rajgad Pratishthan at base village Gunjavane

Thats the fort from far, we climbed it from the right side

thats Torna Fort in the background

View from the top

the mighty sahyadri mountain range in all its sun-lit glory

Rajgad hotel and the foot of the fort where we spent the night.

a quickie!!!

My bike's horn is being controlled by some voodoo magic!!!
Ok! that is overstating facts but it is still quite close.
The problem is that there is a little spring in the horn switch, and that is broken (I think!).
So the horn honks on its own, or sometimes when it is pressed, it remains there and keeps honking. So eventually I have to manually (using my fingers!) put the horn switch in its off state.
I know I need to fix it, but don't have time to go to service center until this weekend.

When is friday coming???
Plan to Raigad fort will friutify only on friday! damn! I haven't even planned anything.....
fingers crossed !!! because you never know when some badass reason ruins the plan!!!

thats all for now..more coming soon...

Mini Movie Reviews:- Speed Racer and Iron Man

Last weekend was movie mania!

On Saturday I watched Speed Racer and on Sunday I watched Iron Man.

Speed Racer is a movie made for kids which can be enjoyed by adults too.

Of course your love for comics and cars would make you enjoy it even more.

And if you are a Speed Racer fan like me, then it’s going to be lots of fun.

The movie maybe a bit formulaic like how good eventually wins over evil. And you are also taught lessons like family are very important etc. In spite of all this the movie is entertaining, thanks to the Wachowski Brothers (The makers of Matrix) touch! Racing scenes, sound effects and other effects are nicely done. Slick editing, nice camerawork no out of place and over the top characters make it a fun flick. Don’t miss it if you like racing! It’s not formula one kind of racing but nevertheless it’s fast!

A movie like Iron Man should have had more publicity than it was really given. Robert Downing Jr. carries the film on his shoulders admirably. Make no mistake; it’s not a one man show. Every character has done commendable job. But it’s Robert who has made Iron Man one of my favourite technologically augmented superheroes (like batman) who don’t have special powers as such. In terms of bad guys, the movie could have delved deeper into the villain’s psyche but the job done by the bad guys is still commendable.

Like some of the good movies it has got it all, good action scenes, superb sound effects, sharp editing and some nifty cinematography, all in all a mind blowing experience. Iron Man is a much underestimated movie, so I say watch it and get entertained beyond expectations.

Tashan Ve ! Tashan Ve ! ..........

Movies have hallmarked my last two weekends. While the last weekend saw me enjoying Tashan, the weekend before that, saw me being left spell-bound by the magic of the huge Imax Dome Theater experience. Watching the excellent movie Transformers (I am fan of transformers since childhood!) On the large screen was fun.

Here is a mini review of Tashan.

Watching Tashan was fun with friends, but it’s not at all a great movie. You will find too many faults with it. But if you want to watch something that doesn’t involve using you brain and just want to chill-out with you friends, then Tashan is a good experience. Of course this film will not be digested by all, but here are a few reasons as to why you should watch Tashan.

Watch Tashan if you agree with any of the following?

>You are Akshay Kumar fan

>You are Anil Kapoor fan

>You are Saif-Kareena fan

>You like watching skinny bikini clad kareena

>You like movie’s with loads of style (ishtyle)

>You like lots of crazy(logic-less) stunts in movies

>You like stylish dialogues, the kind that you can’t say all the time in your normal life, but still they are damn cool.

>You don’t like to use your brain while watching movies, because this movie doesn’t have too much logic. Anyway we don’t always like movies that makes us think,

sometimes it’s just

>> Sun Yaar Chill Maar

>You think Akshay Kumar rocks!

Tashan Ve!!!

Last weekend was also quite special, because I may have come on live television.

The reason being, I had gone to D. Y. Patil stadium, Nerul for IPL cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers on 27^th April 2008.

I had gone there with some of my best friends and we enjoyed cheering throughout the two innings

I am not a fan of cricket, I watch it sometimes, I like the statistics, but I am not crazy about it.

The reason I went to see this match was to experience the dazzle of watching Live Cricket Match involving international super stars. So among other cricketers who graced the pitch? I was able to see Afridi, Styris, Symmonds, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra very closely, while others I watched through binoculars! Although Mumbai lost it, Gilchrist’s explosive batting charged up the proceedings. It was an amazing experience. Now only other very important dream remains is to watch a football match involving Arsenal football club….LIVE at Emirates Stadium! Dream on!! That’s my last two weekends in a nutshell. Yes! One more thing, I just got a new cell phone for my sister, Sony Ericsson W200i (Review coming soon! Hopefully!)

IPL Match -Mumbai vs Hyderabad

Cheering with my some of my best friends at D. Y. Patil stadium, nerul on 27 April 2008. I am second from right! ;-)

My day...everyday...

Everyday begins by sipping turmeric-milk and reading mails.
After some time, its back to programming!
After having food during the lunch break, we go out for a stroll.
Stroll ends and we are back to work, trying to creating binary solutions.
Soon we are eager for that refreshing cup of tea, which eventually drives away lunch induced sleep.
The clock keeps ticking away and after some hours; where hours are directly proportional to work left,
its time to leave. So before leaving, one last check for mails, and we are off.
Of course if tele-conference or software release comes up, then the out-time changes.
This routine is altered if the are project meetings, birthday celebrations, etc.
But that basically sums up everyday of my work week.

Another weekend gone by

Another weekend gone by. It was neither great nor bad.
It would have been great had we not watched the movie Race.
I don't like writing reviews of movies that I don't like.
And Race is a stupid movie which I didn't like.
This post should have come on Monday, but....

Dreams that motivate!

I don't know how to put it.
I know that I have the ability to handle any task.
But today I realized I still got a lot to learn.
I am not a fan of my Team Leader, but I respect her.
Though she looses her temper sometimes, she has this brilliant ability to handle any problem of our

project.
Its not that I cannot handle them, but she does it in a cool manner.
Maybe its due to the fact that she has spent more time on this project,
but so have I, which is of course less than her,
but still I have!...
Then I realized that,
maybe I am not ready for it yet.
like they say to swimmer..you need more practice..more time in water..
so moral is...my goal of Team Leader is not far..but not really close yet..
but the dream of becoming a CTO one day...is something I won't give up..
become Team lead,
then project lead,
then project manager,
then IT manager,
then CTO...or something like that..
big dreams....
if I achieve half of them..
I would be happy...
thats why I won't get into MBA craze....
I want to become master of this field...
thats my take on it...I want to be a technology expert...
someone who will never become obsolete as long as technology exists!!

A quickie

Hi,
Took rest today because I have a running nose, which is pointing towards an incoming cough problem.
Yesterday got my bike:pulsar-180 serviced, last time I got it serviced was in December.
The bus for alibaug-murud-jangira trip has been booked, so looking forward to it.
Was busy last week with taxation stuff among other things.
Thats all for now, have to sleep and go to work tomorrow, so bye for now.
For the time being, this beauty(Sony Cybershot H3) is my dream gadget. Did I forget to tell that I love taking photos.
(CLICK THE PHOTOS TO SEE ENLARGED IMAGES)

Isn't it awesome compared to my current cellphone-camera(below).

Welcome the Indian Summer

On 6^th March I played cricket with my office mates. Though I completely suck at this bat and ball game, I love running around trying to stop the ball and reduce run scoring. It was fun, but more than that it was really good to play under the scorching sun. I was really tired of the cold wave that had chilled this city for almost the whole of February. I don’t really hate any particular season, be it winter, summer, or monsoon. I love them all as long as they are not overdone, like too cold, too hot, and too wet.

On 8^th March I rode my bicycle after about 2-3 months, it was good, but riding at snail’s pace was initially unsettling. This is because I ride a motorbike to work, so I am not habituated to these slow speeds. Still my love for two-wheels is so intense that anytime I ride any kind of two-wheeler I just enjoy it. It’s stupid, that in spite of cycling being such a good exercise technique and also a good and *green* way to commute short distances, in urban India, it is frowned upon as down-market. There are barely any guys of my age who ride bicycles just for the pleasure of it. Funny world this is.

By the way, I have fixed this Chinese gearing system (400 rupees) on my bicycle. This gearing system has reduced the top speed because the chain is unable to shift to the smallest (last) sprocket because the frame of the bicycle obstructs it. This may sound confusing but I will post pictures soon to justify my claim. So even though the top speed has got reduced, riding uphill is a joy because the taller gears allow me to reduce the stress on my legs.

I think the jaw problem that I have mentioned in previous posts stands resolved for the time being. To elucidate, the joint that made a popping sound while moving my jaw was Temperomandibular joint (TMJ). After searching the internet and consulting my dentist I found out that this joint needs serious medical attention only when it aches a lot, which isn’t the case. In my case only if I clench my teeth together and then try to open my mouth I sometimes get the popping sound. So the dentist has told me to avoid opening my mouth in that manner. He has also told me to apply ointments like iodex from the outside to relax the muscles. I have also been told to take care that I don’t stretch my mouth too much while yawning, laughing, etc. So basically things are under control.

Solution to>>Error loading C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll

[X]
Error loading C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll
Access is denied

If you get the above error and you happen to be running COMODO Firewall Professional 3.0.15.277,
then you can avoid the above error.
Read furthur for the steps.
>See the icon of Comodo firewall on the taskbar?
>Now right click on the icon, a menu will open up.
>Go to Defense+ Security Level, one more menu will open.
>From this menu select Disabled
>I believe that is all is required to stop this error
>The reason for this error, is that, though this Comodo firewall is brilliant.
It has this feature called Defense+, which if kept at wrong level locks access to many system files.
Its GUI is not intuitive so its not easy to enable access to these system files. If I am able to get around its perceived complexity then I will post the procedure.
Till then I would say keep Defense+ disabled, and enable it while running strange/unknown, etc kind of programs/softwares
Thats all! I hope that helped, bye bye

Get well soon> Eduardo!

Martin Taylor(birmingham) delivers a crippling tackle to eduardo(arsenal), horribly injuring him.
(image source gunnerblog.com)
Get well soon!!!!!!
I hope he makes a brilliant comeback..fingers crossed
Click for one of the best performances of Eduardo

For more info about eduardo click here

Following details have been sourced from gunnerblog.com

If you want to contact Eduardo, send him an email at arsenal.croatia@gmail.com by Wednesday

Clint Eastwood!

Though I have seen very few of his movies, and all I know about him is what is given in Wikipedia, his quotes(thoughts!) are just brilliant.
Clint Eastwood!
here are some gems from his extraordinary quotes!

The best>>

“I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves -- it's just a question of finding the subject.”

other great ones

“Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power.”

“I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it.”

“"A good man always knows his limitations”

“The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.”

“They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.”

“It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.”

“I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.”

“There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I'll get married again.”

“Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.”

“I'd like to be a bigger and more knowledgeable person 10 years from now than I am today. I think that, for all of us, as we grow older, we must discipline ourselves to continue expanding, broadening, learning, keeping our minds active and open.”


I admire his wisdom a lot!!!

sunday blues

The dentist said its nothing to worry about!
No! my teeth are in good condition(touchwood!) since childhood.
Problem is with right side of my jaw, it makes clicking sound when actions like chewing are performed.
The dentist said its because I may have stretched my jaw a bit too much on some occasion. Now let me see, I did not shout like tarzan so the diagnosis seems wierd. Anyway he said its nothing to worry about.
I am contemplating on learning to drive a car. That doesn't mean my love for two wheels has diluted, it is just that I wanted to add another skill to my skill-set. And talking of that, it brings me to the topic of swimming, which is something I haven't learnt in spite of having a olympic size swimming pool in my vicinity. Definetly food for thought for me.
Today I watched the movie:*The Thing* starring Kurt Russel, again. I have watched it many times! I won't be reviewing it, since I am not in the mood for it. But its good movie, especially since I have playing the game with the same name, and same storyline. Both the game and movie are cool, lots of alien slime! By the way the movie *Aliens* is playing right now!!!
I am aching for a long bike ride! lets see if it materializes this month.
The weekend was quite subdued. Bring on the next week!

videos!!! some shot by me..some shot by friends..

Videos shot by me are using Sony Ericsson Cybershot K810i while others are by friends using Sony Ericsson W810i!! Click the links to view videos...

One of my best pals Mahendra Bhatt's awesome mimicry of nana patekar, shot during our trip to Ganpatipule

One of my best pals Mahendra Bhatt and office-mate Shreedhar's superb duet

A funny video shot accidentally

One of my favourite cartoon series

View from top of Ratnadurg fort(Ratnagiri)

Cool Ganpatipule beach

Working Demo of my friends IPOD NANO

Train ride to tapalwadi waterfall

At the foot of marleshwar hill

A view from mumbai's suburban train on its way to far-flung stations

Spot the bubble!!!!

Tour of my office

View from terrace of my apartment p.s.For Tasha(you can spot saket towers)

Videos of birthdays of office-mates

JP's birthday

mahendra hasbe's birthday

Ravish's Birthday


shreedhar's birthday

ramu's birthday

harish's birthday

swapnil's birthday

sanket kambli's birthday

Jodha-Akbar movie review

Here is it what I think of this epic love story.

It wasn’t really planned, the plan was to watch the marathi movie *Mumbaicha Dabbewaala*, but when we reached Ganesh Theater, we found out they weren’t showing it. So we zipped off to Eternity Mall, to watch Jodha-Akbar. I was reluctant to watch this movie, because I believed that the movie’s grandeur would hamper its pace, and end up making it a yawn-fest. Well the movie starts with Big B’s narration. The part before the intermission is a bit slow, but after the break it does pickup pace. Acting wise everybody is spot-on, and none of the actors seemed out of place. Of course Hrithik was excellent as he got maximum footage, and Aiswarya did her job well. No complaints, their chemistry is also quite bonding. There were times when Hrithik’s character had to show incredible angst and he acted in a way he has never acted before. There is only one problem, mannerism. To spot this, watch Dhoom-2 and then watch Jodha-Akbar, and study closely Hrithik’s mannerism, and you will understand what I am trying to say. His mannerisms are quite similar. Not that they are inappropriate but they seem a bit repetitive and slightly out of place (subjective). The grand war scene is good in terms of bollywood, but not furious like it is done in some Hollywood movies. When you do watch the movie, do follow Sharifuddin’s character. Because at the end of the movie, when akbar forgives him, he suddenly forgets all his villainous instincts, which seems weird as he is shown damn treacherous. But as I said these are subjective interpretations, so overall the movie is without much fault. What could harm the movie is its pace and Urdu dialogue delivery. There were times when the slow pace and heavily cryptic Urdu dialogues induced me to yawn, and bored many around me, forcing some to make funny interpretations, something hard to avoid in such period flicks. Still in spite the fact that period flicks are not my favorite, this movie was satisfying if not hypnotizing. Is it worth watching it in theaters? Yes, because only a large screen can do justice to the grandeur and splendor of a fine interpretation of Mughal era under Akbar, which seems quite real. The sets/scenarios are great and A. R. Rehmaan’s music is just brilliant.

New additions to my biking gear

These are pics of new stuff that I have added to my biking gear
(Click on images for larger view)

1st pic-->Thats an elbow pad

2nd-->Thats close-up shot of the elbow pad

3rd->>Thats the Knee Pad

4th-->These are wrist protectors, they don't fit over my current pair of gloves! :-(

Here are some tips for people learning to lean a bike.

For some people leaning a bike is difficult. There are various reasons given for that, things like, cannot shift so much weight, fear of sliding, etc.

The fear can be overcome mentally, but to overcome the physical problem of leaning a heavy bike there needs to be a correct approach.

Different people have different approaches, here is mine.

Keep in mind I am not referring the whole process of leaning, because even though I lean decently, still I cannot write down the process since it comes instinctively thanks to experimenting leaning on bicycle for 7 years.

Ok, enough of that.

So when you aim to lean,

Decide the right speed (to complete the lean)—this is purely instincts, comes after riding the bike for long periods.

Decide the right line, meaning on which side of your road (your lane) you want to take the corner, is it left or right—choose right for high speeds and left for low speeds for left-hand corners and vice-versa for right-hand corners

Then lean the bike, use counter-steering (google to find exact meaning), avoid front brake use (while leaning), regulate throttle and if necessary use rear brake. That’s it!

This method is similar to mentioned by others. I still think, one thing that can be added, is the importance of using your legs to lean a bike, i.e. if you are trying a left-handed corner, and can’t pull the bike to the left side then you should try pushing instead of pulling i.e. you should push the bike to lean using the right leg instead of using the left leg to pull it. Most riders do this instinctively (again!), but not all. So that would surely help. Of course, while leaning there are more parameters that are to be considered but I haven’t found anything new other than what biking manuals say.

And one more thing, to get comfortable with the weight of your bike, you can do this. Sit on the bike, keep it straight, no need to start it up, now put one foot down and try to lean it to that side, this gives you fair idea of the weight and makes your hands and legs comfortable to the bulk of the bike, repeat this for the other side.

Disclaimer: Please wear protective gear while riding. And in no way is this blog or sanket kambli responsible for readers actions as an after effect of reading this post. Use it as pointer, as this is not a biking manual, it is just a source to enhance your knowledge. Practice safe riding, and riding experiments should be done on empty roads, not on heavy traffic routes.

Here are some tips for people learning to ride a bike-1

These tips are based on my experiences while riding, so are not from some professional racer.

While riding you suddenly spot a speed breaker or a pot-hole and can't avoid and have to ride over it.

Do avoid pressing the front brake too much to slow down, use the rear brake more. Of course this is not compulsory but preferred.

The reason for advocating less front brake use *only* in this case is that when you press the front discs, the front fork(shock-absorbers) compress or *dive* and so when in this state, if you go over a speed-breaker or a pot-hole or speed breaker you will hear a *thud*

This sound is because the front shock absorber has been depressed to its limit.

I don’t think it harms the bike radically, though I will try and find it out.

The above experience is based on having disc brakes at front, I don’t know if drum brakes make the front shocks behave in such manner, even this I will check it out.

Of course having tech like Anti-Dive would change the scenario.

Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS

Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS will soon burn Indian roads...but...
gladiator maybe best in class by its sheer performance...
still it may never be popular for the following reasons...in no specific order..
>it doesn't have the minimum 150cc motor to be called sporty bike....
>its brand visibility and/or promotion(ads,etc) is not upto the mark....
>service center's have to increase in numbers
>and lastly there has to be some way to convince people that buying a yamaha doesn't turn out to be their mistake in terms of after sales service and the company doesn't fold up its operations in India...till then the likes of HH, bajaj, TVS will rule the popularity charts....

Click below to read the bike's review at one of India's best biking websites!!!!

Test Ride/Review of 2008 Yamaha Gladiator Type-SS

Bring on the heat(Click on images for larger view)

This isn't mumbai! Its too cold! Mumbaikar's are not accustomed to handle this much cold!

Biking Gear-1(Click on images for larger view)

My Leather Gloves

Chilling Mumbai

Its damn cold! What next!

Brahmakamal flower(Click on images for larger view)

More pics coming soon. I am blogging from my sony ericsson k810i cybershot phone!

biking and other rumblings

just 2 weeks back I fell...nothing big....but the same thing..riding in dirt..front wheel lockup on a flat(gripless) concrete slab fixed in middle of the dirt track along the IIT(mum)route...and dump...luckily I was very slow..dirt didnt allow shoes(office) to get grip to gain balance...and was left with just a loose fairing ....
--------
for me goggles have been only a dream..thanks to me wearing glasses since 6th standard....
the doctor said in my formative years..my height grew too fast in a year..and eyes could not adjust to it...so I will have far-sightedness...he said not to worry...the number of the lens will stop growing after the age of 21 when your growth stops..
right !!
now i wear glasses with 6 number....people with headache wear 0 number glasses so you get the drift.....till now i used glass for specs lenses...
now my salary affords me plastic ones....
the current one is expensive...its of HOYA....
its got anti-glare(others headlights dont affect me a lot now)
anti-scratch(no distortion)
anti-stick(dust and water don't stick to it)
unbreakable to some extent and very light...
so all this features meant it was a bit thick....there were other lenses which were thin..but didnt have all these features....
so now these hi-tech lenses are perched on my nose by a frame which
has curvature like a goggle...covers eyes!! .. but the frame is wierd..
and take some effort to wear it inside a helmet...
first i wear the helmet..
but only half way through...
then i slide the glasses in but only enough for them to hang on..
then put the helmet in place..
and then the glasses go in place...
tricky system ...it works...
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Hero Honda will launch new models this year lets hope they aren't just addition of new paint and new stickers.
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First Weekend of 2008

In the new year. All that I can do to make my weekends less boring is to hope that MSEB(MSEDC) reduces the number of hours of lead shedding. Thankfully, the power is cut from 9.30 to 11.30 and then 1-3 in the noon, totaling to 4 hours but not at stretch. Still installing a sort of UPS is stupid, as on weekdays during the power cuts I am not at home.
I am contemplating on upgrading my bike riding gear, new set of gloves are already on the cards, and maybe add knee and elbow pads(speculative!)
Some people I know are in love, which is a good thing for them at least. I hope their love stays eternal. And not like some bollywood affairs.
Being a bit of nicholas cage fan, I will try and watch National Treasure 2.
Among Bollywood movies right now, only Jodha-Akbar has me all excited.
Right now I am listening to lots of songs by the band The Doors.
Last week at our office we ordered Chicken Masala from ICH Canteen(Seepz, Andheri). And it was a far better deal, than what you get at KayDee's canteen(Seepz, Andheri), where chicken is not cooked enough so its not soft enough.