More than just a bike.

Mom, Vineet, Varun and Dad's Yezdi
Originally uploaded by Varun V Nair

I look at this image and can't help but be filled with nostalgia. Mr Varun has posted this superb photo - a real classic, it shows a sense of belonging, The bike here is more than just a machine. Its an awesome photo IMO.

Short Ride To Nandi Hills

On Kannada Rajyotsava day i.e Nov 1st , three friends decided to raid the Nandi Hills. Luckily, the place was deserted and we had loads of fun clicking pics and posing with the bikes. Check out the album.

Nandi Hills 1st Nov 2009

Classicist vs Romantic

Previously, I had posted a short review of the legendary book "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".

A lot of the stuff in that book wouldn't make sense to the average person but to a bike connoisseur some of the things mentioned by the author ring true even today.

Pirsig manages to view the world and everything in it through both perspectives... almost at will. I reckon most people unknowingly see things only in the classicist way or the romantic way and are not really aware of what these terms mean or how their outlook affects their understanding of things.

I want to revisit the part where he describes the difference between himself and his friends with regard to how they see a Motorbike. Pirsig - a guy who had an IQ of 170 @ age 9 was a classic classicist .... if that makes sense. Structure, Purpose, Reason, Logic ....he is drawn by the function and purpose rather than the form and appearance of the bike. Its not just a bike - its pretty much everything around him - he looks at them in this classicist perspective which is to say that its a view of things as being composed of many elements each with a well defined purpose and structure. The final holistic view/appearance is not really a consideration.

Classicists are people, IMHO who see "inner beauty" . Your engineering classmate who loves the ubiquitous IC's is probably a classicist because he loves the purpose and the function of the circuits on the chip rather than the fugly appearances themselves.

So who are the romantics ? By and large people tend to associate Romanticism with day-dreamers, lackadaisical folk and such like - light / shallow and not too bothered about the why,what and how of things. To them what matters is what they see skin deep and what it means to them at that point of time. Things like why such and such a thing was made , how it was made, etc are not of much interest to them. This is where form takes precedence over function.

To give another example, we can think of Classicists as XML and Romantics as HTML. Maybe its not the best example but I am just trying to draw an analogy here. Among romantics you find people with "different tastes" - just like how HTML can show you the same data in different forms according to different requirements. But among classicists there is something common and fundamental - structure,function. Like how XML stores data in the universal Text Format, classicists all see things in the same structure - well defined elements all coming together to achieve a specific purpose.

Stepping back into the world of motorcycles, it makes more sense now as to why some people still love those vintage motorcycles despite their ubiquity. Conversely, its understandable now, as to why many owners hang on to their flawed beauties "

Where one type of owner sees only the external beauty - those sleek lines and curves, the superb metallic finish etc , and doesn't bother about the pathetic mileage or outdated technology ; the other type of owner can't be bothered by the dated looks, rusted metal and bald tyres on his bike. To the second type of owner, what matters is the amalgamation of all the various components of the machine - all the parts that work in unison - bringing alive what is otherwise a piece of junk. There you see it - the romantic vs the classicist.

Using this, I analysed my eclectic collection of bikes, and I concluded that I was more of a patron or a buff rather than a pure romantic or a pure classicist. Its like how Pirsig describes De Wees. A patron or a buff who can't be too bothered about all the intricate details although he has more than a passing interest in how things work. That explains to me why I am sometimes damn pissed off about how my Yamaha looks in the sun despite not being bothered about its less than optimal performance yet how I am not bothered about the crude metal welding on my Yezdi and all that I think of while riding her is the ultra-simple engine setup.

And so it goes on and on - you can apply this set of reasoning to almost anything in life and you will be amused at the results ! Can you be a Romantic and a Classicist depending on the situation ?

F1 Silly Season 2010

The dust seems to be settling down as a thoroughly entertaining and refreshing season of F1 racing draws to a close.

Perhaps its a fitting end to a glorious season that we should have the final race of the year on the superb Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi - a circuit that has set new standards for every other facility to try and emulate.

There will be plenty of talk about how the season went by after this weekends race. However, right now is a good time to rack your brains about the movements behind the scenes in the F1 Circus.

• Rosberg and Toyota part with Williams : The first one was a given. Nobody likes to stay at one place for a long time unless there is a chance of winning races. And frankly, Sir Frank's team have not been upto it since 2003. And Nico is now definitely a top flight driver who deserves a car capable of fighting for wins.

Williams chose to end their association with Toyota. How times have changed ! At the beginning of this partnership Sir Frank was crowing about how this would be the "cornerstone" of their world championship ambitions. Yet, in all these years, neither Toyota nor Williams mustered a single win. Talk of championships were hollow indeed.

Toyota might yet not be in F1 next year. With their budget not signed off and no top drivers available for them next year, its a long shot to expect them to be competitive next year - if at all they are still around. Personally, they should hang on. I think its necessary that as a platform for global competition, F1 must have a good representative from this part of the world and who better than Toyota - the worlds largest car manufacturer ?

If Toyota do continue in F1, I would be a tad surprised but I don't see a long term future for them if the Japanese bosses dangle a sword over the neck of this F1 Team.

• Button , Barrichello and Brawn : Admittedly, Button's best chance for more glory is to stay at Brawn - a team he has grown with and a place where he will enjoy the best support. And if you have a genius like Brawn who can get an engine put into a car 6 weeks before the season begins and still make you world champion - why would you want to leave ? I think Button will stay put - and it would be best for both parties.

About Barrichello - sadly, always the bridesmaid, he seems destined to go to Williams and that might be the end of his championship dreams. This weekends race meet will be his last shot at a race win in his career. Woobens might sound upbeat about his prospects for next year but anybody thinking that williams will be title contenders next year with Woobens is probably being a bit tipsy.

• Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren - "If you want to win, get the Finn !" : these were the posters that fans would bring to circuits during the hey days of Mika and Kimi @ McLaren. Kimi has openly said that his only option in F1 is McLaren but for some reason ..rather strange really ... McLaren are baulking at it. Norbert Haug is talking about "other options" and I wonder if they have lined up Nico Rosberg...a perfect candidate with a German-Finnish descent which will fit the Mercedes image perfectly. But then, if Rosberg goes to McLaren, who will be no.2 at Brawn ? Looks like Rosberg holds to key to Kimi's future. And who would have thought that Kimi would be dumped by Ferrari ... and ignored by McLaren in the summer of 2001 when he was "hot property" ?

Heikki has been thoroughly outclassed by Lewis and I think he will find himself consigned to a mid-grid team for next year. I think his prospects are rather bleak now.

• Renault : Another team which like toyota needs a real shot in the arm next year to guarantee a long term future in F1. But unlike TF1 they have made the right moves in getting one of the best drivers in F1 and committing to F1 publicly. At least there are no question marks about their presence for next year. But one wonders if they have the technical know how to develop a winning car. 2006 is a long time ago and a few flukey race wins in 2008 will not really be counted as a pointer for 2010.

• Force India : I think they would do well to keep Adrian Sutil. I think Vit Liuzzi can do a good season if he gets a winter of testing. I think Sutil is the key. He is totally comfortable in the team and with the car so as long as the VMJ car for 2010 is competitive and as long as a Ferrari doesn't get in their way, FI will be moving up the grid.

The Drivers :

I think Fisichella has done the right thing by virtually calling time on his active racing career. He was once called the crown prince of F1 by F1 Racing magazine (not that they are very credible..) which was a HUGE overstatement at that time but he is another example of a fine talent not quite having the X factor. Ala Jean Alesi/ Jarno Trulli and Heinz Harald Frentzen.

Webber got his butt kicked in qualifying this year. He might run heavier but its a sign of things to come. He has his work cut out next season and if he can't hold up against Vettel, people will soon be singing his final prayers in f1.

Massa vs Alonso will be interesting. I am sure Alonso will come out on top but I expect the fiery brazilian to be a close second.

The top drivers for next year will be Vettel,Hamilton,Rosberg , Webber, Alonso, Massa and Button. I am sure that all of them will be in cars that are going to be able to win races or at least challenge for race wins and it will be an intriguing battle.

And ...if Toyota stick around, expect them to hire Kobayashi as one of their drivers and this little Jap Whiz kid has got great potential !

If Ferrari develop a top 3 car, expect Alonso to go for the title .

ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

I recall somebody telling me that this was a "seminal" work - a must read for every motorcycle buff. And so I bought it. And I read it...well, sort of .

If you plan to read this book - let me give you some pointers first:

• Robert M Pirsig was said to be a precocious boy whose IQ was off the charts from a very young age. You get the idea that the author is some kind of a genius when you go look at the depth of his thoughts and his solid reasoning. So unless you feel that you can put up with 30-35 pages or "reasoning" or "analytical thinking" blah blah ... this book wont entertain you.

• There is not much about the motorcycle or its maintenance in this book. Rather, the cycle is one of the four main characters in the book so dont think that you can use this book if your bike breaks down on a long trip ! Its a philosophical book IMO and not a technical manual.

• If you are not the philosophical type - or if you don't believe in philosophy at all ...forget about this book.

All said and done, I must admit that I developed deep respect for the author after reading the book. But its tempered by my impression that sometimes the author has forgotten about the fact that not everybody has got an IQ of 170 at age 9 and so a lot of the stuff he talks will be nothing but over-head transmission to most people. And precisely for that reason, this is not every body's cup of tea and is best suited for those who are deeply contemplative by nature and spend a lot of time musing about life.

Dressing the "KING"

From Yezdi Public Photos

From Yezdi Public Photos

From Yezdi Public Photos

WTF ?

From Miscellaneous Use

Made in Czechoslovakia

This beautiful pic is courtesy of a friend who has an uncanny knack of taking pics which arouse nostalgic memories ...

Bangalore in "full flow"

Yezdi Roadking

Fear the Dragon ?

Why is China intruding into our territory repeatedly ? Why the recent spate of incursions by their patrol parties ?

Undeniably, China has always been aggressive against us, covertly or overtly, but the recent reports of numerous incursions, air space violations etc are quite alarming for the lay man.

What is even more worrying is that, the Indian scientific community and the defence community seem to be at odds with the leadership of the nation over our nuclear capability. This is a serious matter of concern.

We share something in common with the jawans at the border. Its ignorance. Or, to be more precise, its a lack of awareness,not because we are unwilling, but because we are not "authorized" to know about it. We do not have access to reports that can tell us our "real" nuclear capabilities.

Thus, when there are doubts raised by the scientific community about our nuclear weapons programme, it puts the lay man, the common man and the jawan in the same situation - lack of confidence in the system. Lack of belief in the system. It affects the morale of the entire nation and its armed forces of course.

Is China playing this angle ? By taking an aggressive posture during this time of internal disarray in India, China might be trying to arm-twist us into something. Maybe it wants to intimidate our armed forces and the leadership into submission or concessions on various disputed topics.

One wonders, why the GoI is so gutless and spineless when it comes to standing up to China. If we continue to offer little to no resistance to Chinese strong-arm tactics, then I am afraid, the future of our territorial integrity and sovereignty is very bleak.

Of Silver sperms and BMWs. Mumbai and Delhi

I think this article is not too far from the truth.