To my fellow bikers… This cross is ours to carry

This week yet again we lost a fellow biker. Long days of riding, back-to-back long distances, and fatigue bad luck what ever. The truth is a good soul was laid to rest too soon leaving behind a grieving family and a few friends. The rest of the world will forget in a matter of weeks may be days, the Facebook posts will fall down the timeline, the tweets will be buried, the newspapers well they just about managed to sell a few more copies with the death of a biker on a big bike. Today there are judgments and there is gyan. What happened? Then come the guessing games. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe the breaks gave way, may be the rider was going too fast, maybe was not able to bank the bike, was a novice, was a good rider tried too hard to keep up with the boys …. It’s endless for about 3 days. The postmortem report gives closure from the speculation – internal injuries. In the end the family and the friends grieve alone. 

A lot of us bikers push the limit once too often, brag about the speeds we reached, proudly share the 1000 Kms runs without a break, share horror stories of near misses over a drink, take off on 10 K in 7 day missions the list is endless. I am guilty of it myself. So why the gyan? If we are so learned what are we doing about it? All our experience, and learning for the day a biker goes down never to get back up again, and mark my words at this very point some hard headed fellow biker who is short by 2 days of leave from office is planning a 8000 Kms X 7 day trip, motivating his buddies to take the plunge with him. When was the last time you said NO? No to a certain road because it was unsafe, no to a certain speed because it was not ok? No to a couple of extra 100 KMS because it was too much in a day? No to riding like a maniac at night to get from point A to point B? How many times did you put your foot down and said NO I will not be party to this? If you did then my guess is that you got snickered at behind your back, got called a chicken or worse your pretend friend called you a back stabber for not taking that trip with him / her.  

Pushing the limit on safety is like drinking and driving you cannot do that even one time! Same with safety you cannot ignore it even once. And lets not make bones about it; safety is not about just the helmet the gear and the boots, because when you hit the concrete at 150 Kmph no amount of gear will save you. You will get hurt and really badly hurt. You may not get lacerated or get road burns but your insides will turn to mush and your brain will dislocate inside your skull – oh yes the helmet will protect your skull from cracking but fat lot of good that will be to you when you are dead or even worse a vegetable for life. Are you angry yet? Well you should be because this is the truth, the truth always hurts and unless you have one of those nine lives stacked away ready to use, you better pray that the next high speed high fatigue crash either leaves you completely unharmed by sheer luck or you end up dead on the spot, being a vegetable will be no fun for either the biker or their family.  

This part I will get a lot of flack for and there will be many judgments on this article but I will say it any way. If you want to end up an old biker with the engine still running and a couple of lac kilometers on the ODO you know that safety is about discipline. You also know that when you are old only a certain type of friends will still ride along side you. The ones, who will still be alive. So the next time some one makes a trip that is more than a 550 odd kilometers a day, rides faster than their guardian angel, goes without a break for more than an hour, rides without gear, rides on a rickety bike or rides when fatigued. Say NO!. Loose that friend or one day you will loose that friend anyway and then you will be party to the blame for a rider dead. Every one of us who have pushed the limit, been party to the limit being pushed or bragged about it so that some idiot with a piddly ego wanted to better those stats, we are all guilty. Say no and stop making kilometers, speeds and hours into medals to be stuck on our jackets. 

To all the experienced bikers out there the cross is ours to carry …… to all bikers everywhere God be with you on the road you are going to need him.

An open letter to a young professional

I prefer not to name you, not because of any courtesy but simply because I can’t recall your name. There have been more than a few of you walking through the hall ways over the years looking quite important but frankly noting inspired me to remember your name. There have been an increasing number of you over the years, fresh out of college thinking you were the topper of the smart batch wanting success to be your inheritance. This is open advise which you will do the rest of us a favor and not take. 

The next time you read that article which talks about taking it easy, strictly 40 hour week, offline

weekends, no calls after office hours and all that lovely watch the sunset in peace on a work day do your self a favor, check the bio of the author and figure if he is a fellow 26 year old with 4 lines of professional experience. Then it would be good to research how the author spent his time when he was 26 and what he spent his days doing. I have yet to come across any published author or journalist of repute who sailed through with 40 hour no pressure work weeks and has found a publication worth its salt to feature him. 

I’m glad that you have made up your mind that your senior colleagues at work are over loading you with unnecessary pressure, and that they spend all week conspiring to ruin your weekend, when they are working away on their desks they are actually figuring 20 ways to ensure you basically have no Friday evening peace. That they are lucky bums who hit the jackpot and its a matter of time before the biggest cover of their last 10 years of profession life is blown! Before you cement that thought remember Darwin’s theory? (Its the theory that was being taught when you were busy thinking that the professor is an idiot) well this is the practical of that theory. I have never seen any lazy idiot make the cut for a leadership role professionally if it wasnt their daddy’s business. But go ahead disregard Darwin had he included you in his research he would have modified his theory. 

You have skills, you should believe your Mom, you really are cut out to be a leader, get famous, be on the the cover of Time Magazine, or (begin with India) Economic Times. Before you sit back and relax sit and write that nomination. Nominate your self for that cover (actually Time magazine should find you and nominate you by them selves) but they haven’t heard of you either. Wrote that nomination? Now compare the 1st 10 achievements you jotted down (did you get to 10? "I have friends" and "mommy loves me" does not count) with any of the last 10 years featured professionals. Where did you get to? - Blah! don’t worry! All this is not for you. At your level of professional excellence you must not cloud your mind with this benchmarking. Just focus on how to improve your life with your next paycheck. 

One thing you have absolutely got right you will get hired, (may be the 5th time in 3 years will take longer, but look at the bright side - more personal time) you will almost always have a job (till the India economy is growing). You will get promoted probably with a double digit hike (for the first few years any way) every organization needs fuel for Darwin theory (yeah it works). The fit, hard working co workers who gave up that all important movie and learnt from their more experienced colleagues and set goals, benchmarks and all that unimportant stuff will of course be happy to hire and promote you when they are calling the shots. 

To every one who I know is going slam the insensitivity of this letter, or say its too scathing or in-fact advocate this upcoming trend of belittling those who are one step up the ladder and over valuing your current call to fame, face it! Its a competitive world and survival, let alone excellence demands hard work and commitment. There is a time for enjoying that awesome self earned lifestyle and then there is a time for giving it all you got to get to that awesome space in life. To the 26year old as I said right in the beginning do not take any of the advise from this piece, you may actually start doing something worthwhile and give the goal oriented ambitious ones added competition.  

Business owner by accident, Entrepreneur by design

Once upon a time there was a stingy King of a small kingdom. The kingdom was small, the King was rich, the people were poor. A port town and the king earned taxes on every thing that landed from the sea to his land. The port was busy and there was money to be made, the shacks for food, the pubs, from the tailors shop to the ship yard everything belonged to the king. The king managed his kingdom like a trading war zone, young outsiders ran his business while the people of his kingdom labored. One day a young sailor was having his ship mended and seeing the poor work, he asked the ship yard manager "is this ship yard yours"? The manager said "I am just the manager no one but the king trades in this town",.The sailor was puzzled and he said why do the people not have the need to progress in life? The manager replied "those with the skills and the will moved on, those who are here do not have either.

The sailor walked across town and found the same story every where, people labored while outsiders managed and the king filled his coffers. The sailor wend to ask audience of the King, and sent him a message, your ship yard looses 20 gold sovereigns every day. The King was perplexed and furious, he rode out of his castle to meet this sailor. The king asked him for the logic behind the 20 sovereigns loss because his ship yard earned 10 sovereigns, how could it loose 20?. The sailor replied for every day that you do not earn 20 Sovereigns its 20 sovereigns lost. The king was greedy and thought "this sailor knows how to run a yard", so he fired the manager and gave the yard to the sailor to run"

The sailor was happy that he had got a yard to run and worried that he knew how to mend ships but knew nothing about running a yard. He set down to work, mending ships by day and learning to manage a yard by night. As 2 years passed the King came to admire the sailor, the 10 sovereigns grew to be 100.  The King was worried that the sailor will run away and his shining yard will fall to ruins the sovereigns grew to 300 as another year went by. The King got restless, he called the sailor and promised him a share in the yard next year. The sailor was thrilled, for the 1st time in his life he would own a part of something he began to work harder. The sovereigns grew to 600 a year passed and the King never mentioned the share. The sailor patiently waited, he was enjoying his learning, the year grew in business and the sovereigns grew to 2000, yet the King never mentioned the share. 

One night the sailor went to to the town tavern, tired but happy with the days work. He ordered a beer, as he was about to sip his drink he got thinking about the last 7 years, about the sailor who was now the captain of a yard it struck him that he was no longer a sailor and that in this yard he could never be captain. The sailor made up his mind to set up his own yard. Time went in whirlwind as the sailor put together all his savings and then walked miles to a shore line farm which was ripe for a yard. He bought the land from the farmer and began to plan his yard. 

One bright Sunday morning after church the sailor announced to the king that he will be moving on. The King was aghast! He offered the sailor 5 times the money, a horse and a boat. The sailor politely declined "Sir Its time to move on" he said.  The King tried harder and offered the sailor 8 times the money, a horse, a house and a boat. The sailor politely declined "Sir Its time to move on" he said.  The King was angry and said what will you do sailor? If you refuse my offer I will destroy you!  The sailor politely replied "I am a small man sir not a great King but Sir Its time to move on". The sailor packed his bags and the king threw him a tearful farewell. The sailor saw the tears and thought "the crocodile cries for his sovereigns" and he politely said "its time to bid farewell sir". God be with you sailor said the king. As the sailor walked away the king sent his spies after the sailor. 

The word spread far and wide, the sailor had his own yard, captains turned their boats towards the sailors small yard. The king rehired the manager. The sailor worked day and night as his little yard bustled with ships big and small, the manager packed his bags and shut the yard at sunset. The King grew more vengeful with each passing day, his yard was the largest in the 7 seas, a mere sailor dare challenge it!  The king asked his manager, why are you loosing the ships? The manager said "the sailor works for pennies sire" the King hated the sailor and sent his army to scare away the sailor, but the sailor stood strong. The king ordered the manager to personally tell the ships that the sailor was a thief. The captains still went to the sailors yard, The manager began spending his waking moments conniving to harm the sailor and the kings yard saw fewer and fewer ships. As years passed by the kings yard looked deserted and the manager's waistline grew. The Sailor's yard grew from humble beginnings to become a a big yard famed across the land. 

One day the sailor and the king crossed paths, the king asked the sailor why did you give up the big yard! I was going to give you a share, you could have been rich. The sailor quietly replied, sir for every year you did not keep your promise I lost 100 sovereigns.    

Kingdoms and corporates the soldiers and the generals will always be the same

Once upon a time there was an ambitious soldier, his ambitions ran high, he wished to be the General. So strong was his desire that he secretly started hating the General and systematically began maligning the good general's name. 

As time went by the soldiers evil ambitions grew, the King and his parliament began disliking the general. Seeing that the kingdom was doomed the general retired happily to his farm. 

The soldier was elated, he began preparing for his new role as general, he got his uniform stitched, made the announcement to his fellow soldiers, bathed and dressed his horse, worked hard on his list of favorite cronies, got a new hair cut and practiced his speech full of humble surprise. 

On the day of the big announcement he stood in line, expectantly waiting for the King to call out his name. The King walked in, and made his announcement. 

"Country men, as you know our beloved general has retired, My nephew has returned from France and i hereby announce that he be my new General" 

The soldier was stunned, heartbroken, as the King walked out he whispered to the soldier, "you have done me a great service, I never did like that righteous fool. You will get a new horse"

HONDA SBK in india - a Total NO!

I have 2 reasons for writing this, to thank all the fellow riders from GODS who were most helpful and all those who may be facing trouble with a Blade (or will the minute you buy one). To every one who got told by honda that they were prompt in solving customer issues!  Its a blatant untruth! 

I had serious trouble with  my new Honda 1000 RR 2010 C-ABS model. The Honda India team made me go around in circles learning on my time (wasting my time) as it turns out giving incomplete information and skirting the real issue. 8 months of harrowing time and Unfortunately the Honda Service team was  unable to pinpoint the fault, let alone fix it. Every time I complained they changed something on the bike, BUT still dint identify the trouble area. Complete nightmare despite changing 3 batteries, rectifier, magnet, starter motor checking the wiring every possible check that could be done it continued to give trouble starting. Until I scanned the forums and called HONDA in other countries!! And found out that they were lying through their teeth. There was a fault in the ECU of the bike. This fault is world over in the 2009 – 2011 model, whats more Honda India knew this as well as the solution but still for some reason dint address the problem but continued to waste customers time!  They infact changed the ECU in december for a Blade in Mumbai yet they kept avoiding the solution for a full 2 months changing every part they could think of eventually under pretense of ignorance telling me that the "JAPS DINT TELL US" rather than letting them know "I know you are lying" I decided to just get my ECU and move on with life. 

Problem: There is a fault with the ECU on the C-ABS models that causes battery drain intermittently. This is caused by the ABS servos remaining on with low speed maneuvers (ABS is not correctly calibrated below 6mph and when tight turns are made under 6mph this causes the ABS servos to 'activate). When you turn the ignition off the servos can remain on and this is what causes the battery drain (less than 1 hour to fully flat battery). 
Solution: Since then, Honda Japan have developed a new ECU (as the existing one cannot be re-programmed to fix this) THE NEW ECU FIXES THE FLAT BATTERY ISSUES! This ECU is ready with Honda and Honda has started providing it to customers replacing the old one in the UK. 
I confirmed with the customer care in UK post being informed of the solution via the forums in UK. Honda UK Motorcycle (@01753 590510) customer care and they confirmed that a replacement is on and the Honda dealer will be able to arrange one for me. Sadly India Honda SEEMED uninformed or was withholding information which could have fixed the issue. On contacting HMSI India and detailing out the issue they readily provided me with a speedy ABSECU replacement, a unit which is meant to tackle this issue. 2 months down the line as on date no starting issues as yet, thank heavens. I havent been stranded with a dead bike for a whole 2 months in the early morning I actually feel lucky! 

Now a new problem has started the bike makes a whirring sound! And instead of sending me a mechanic they sent me a lecturer!! Who's advise to fix the problem is "aap apna attitude badlo machine hai problem toh ayee gi" pathetic. I might as well have bought an ambassador for all the time it spends in the shop!. If it were not for the warranty I would never ever approach the official Honda shop for anything!  

While all my bike issues are sorted (no thanks to the honda shop) any my machine is behaving perfectly. I still love the Honda But never will I recommend a HONDA SBK in India till things change with them! So here are my 10 reasons why not. (will certainly not buy one myself).

1. If you want to buy a Honda SBK then you have to go to Manesar for the test ride, to Naraiana for the purchase & delivery & to lajpat nagar for the registration :-S. no one single location the purchase process itself is a mess. (PS: they have no provision of a choose your number etc, any which way by the time u have the bike you will not want the number but just want the process to end) 
2. There is just one workshop – Naraiana. Whats more there is just one mechanic (all india) so be sure to book 20 days in advance as he is always traveling 
3. If there is any trouble with the bike – be sure to be prepared for them to pull out a fat book and begin flipping through the pages – not very reassuring. 
4. The service costs a BOMB ! Be prepared to shell out 5 grand just for the labor, on a good day the service bill looks like 10 – 14 K at least (that too if you carry your own oil). Considering the warranty is 30,000 KMS that is almost the downpayment on a new bike. 
5. The Shop knows ZILCH! And what they know they wont tell. They have no definite solutions to any issues you may face. All that needs to be done by the rider. 
6. If you get your bike serviced or a part changed they wont give you the invoice (looks like even their invoice machines never work) I think they don’t want you to have any documentation to prove their mistakes if so needed – so I had to chase them for a month to get invoices. 
7. Most of us can change basic parts but Honda India wont retail. So if you ever need an extra set of levers be sure to shell out to have them installed. (ps remember at this time the labor charge)
8. Standard excuse! The japs dint tell us
9. Standard operating procedure - don’t tell the customer the truth or the solution create a diversion to keep them occupied! 
10. Standard answer – we don’t think there is a problem at all. 

Well this is for every one who would like to be well warned before making their choice! Also because just cause in India we cannot sue such incompetence does not mean we can be taken for a ride. (no pun intended).  

The Wind In My hair

In a country where grown men are at times not allowed by their parents to buy a two wheeler I have chosen the strangest of passions! Super bikes! These 1000 CC Machines of the “dangerous kind” are certainly not for women! I have heard that more than once accompanied by shocked and at times disapproving expressions. It’s amusing to say the least however this is the lighter fun side to my not so common hobby. I come from a family where “you can’t” was not a term my parents used, fauji kids we traveled the country climbed every mountain and swam every river celebrated every fall and got on bikes before our feet touched the ground before landing up in the sea of humanity in Delhi. Delhi came as a culture shock and I guess I came as a culture shock to Delhi.
It’s from here really that the fun began and it’s been a series of shocked amazed faces and more over some very upset guys! I have yet to come across a guy who will not be extremely uncomfortable being the pillion with a woman rider. In fact the hint of the suggestion to do so gets hurt indignant looks accompanied with a quick step backward. The strangest looks and reactions are however the ones I get when I’m on the road and that’s quite often with rides every weekend and outside of the city within a 500 Kms radius every chance I get. Not only do I get almost every guy on the road rearing to race but it’s the fellow travelers who suddenly see the kajal mascara lined eyes behind a helmet on a mean bike which is my gallery of Kodak moments. Guys nudge each other, women at times give the thumbs up sign and kids just wave happily.
Once in the middle of getting back from Jaipur I stopped at a roadside stall to get a cold drink and in seconds the bike was surrounded by people mostly men who were interested in knowing mileage, weight and top speed of the bike strangely asking each other not me, while there was this one old woman who was interested in knowing how my mother allowed me to ride a motorcycle! Then there is this nice neighbor who asked me if I was preparing for a competition why else would I be out on a winter Sunday morning at 6 AM? The fellow riders I ride with have now got used to my eccentricities but still never let go of a chance to pull my leg about the big hoop earrings under the Shoei helmet or pink socks under the reinforced riding boots.
The eccentricities aside I sometimes wonder at the stereo types we create for ourselves and for others around us, everything we do is typecast not because it’s a written rule but cause “aise hi hota hai” wonder of wonders for riding a bike I get asked if I’m competing with the boys, or if I’m a feminist, the questions surprise me cause this is not about competing with any one or being to any school of thought it’s just about going ahead and doing what I love to do without the excess baggage of socio political jargons. I have always believed that we are limited only by ourselves we can’t do most things because we think we can’t and thus never even try. So I am a superbiker I ride a 1000 CC bike and on any good day flying at 275KMPH is part of the deal, but that does not keep me away from my French manicures and perms. Just like the reinforced riding boots on weekends don’t keep me away from the dainty heels for the rest of the week. I don’t believe it’s a contradiction it’s just me being me. (Femina June 2010)

Chaos

I open sleepy eyes to another day. Bright, clear and sunny, perfect weather, not too warm not too chilly, clear skies. Smile, stretch and close my eyes again, smiling. It’s that time of the day when there is really nothing weighing you down. Dreams and reality both blurred. If it weren’t so bright it would be the twilight zone of sorts, in a macabre sort of way. Eyes flutter open again the moment is gone as reality floods in.

I’m awake now but not quite so, the mind sleeps. I haven’t quite used it lately. No long debates and drawn out conversations. Lost! Lost, the companion of a life time. I step out of bed, the step is still light. The sunlight streams in broken rhythmically only by the curtain which gently sways. I move the curtain aside, it is a bright day, I step out, startled by the grass cold with not yet dry morning dew, at my feet. Fresh air fills my lungs, not for long as out of habit I reach to light up, inhale, nicotine hits home. Coffee, I’ll get it after this stick burns out; the smoke wraps itself, seeping through lungs and fabric alike. Inhale! Yes I know it’s the devils knife cutting out slices from life 5 minutes at a time. It’s gone with barely a few flakes of ash to show for it.

I close my eyes, tight so as not to let the light in, as my hands run through my hair holding it back. Sigh. I haven’t slept in a while, yet I just woke up, the mind sleeps and there is the day to go. Thoughts are empty, yes haven’t been using my mind much the past couple of days. What was I thinking? Wasn’t thinking at all I guess? Living it all in that moment. One crazy single moment at a time. Dumb, beautiful, crazy, all about that win, all in one moment, then to the next. Not thinking. Not today. May be tomorrow.

The day is bright and warm; still fresh, yet, the dew that tickled my toes is gone. I need a break. I have in living life, forgotten how to live. It’s time to pull out that list which gathers dust somewhere. I remember striking out something’s which were dreams well achieved. Each task, every test a celebration of self. Some things are just done to enrich life.

To myself aloud: ok quit dragging your feet and get back on that path. Not to be on amongst many but strive to be much more. It’s strange how we are always so busy running after what everyone wants that we forget what we actually wanted. Have to kick that habit. Soon. So what is next?

Back on track!