Royal Enfield V-Twin

I received this video as an e-mail forward from one of the groups I am a member of. This guy in UK had a dream of building a 700 cc V-Twin motorcycle using two Royal Enfield Bullet engines. He is one of those characters who is not just a dreamer and decided to do it, and the result is this fully functional V-Twin motorcycle engine. Sounds great and I am sure runs smoothly too. I wish Enfield guys will take note of this biker's innovation and try to produce it commercially in India so that Bullet enthusiasts will have something more than the 350 and 500 cc bikes to ride and rave about.

Freezing cold creates ice everywhere

Temperatures really dropped to sub-zero levels for a few days during last week and I was walking around wearing 3-4 layers of warm clothes. One morning I came out of the house to find my car caked completely in ice and had to wait for about half an hour after switching the car heater for the ice to melt and then start off my day. The same evening as we sauntered out to get some fresh cold air, I thought I'd capture some images of the ice and here they are for your reference. Ice is on the plants, trees, bushes, homes, roofs, cars and on the floor. The most dangerous part of all this is if you are not careful you will most definitely slip and fall and break your bones.

Karnataka - A video presentation

I was going through some pictures of my travels in Karnataka and thought it would be a great idea to share them all on youtube in the form of a video presentation. Here is the result....

Humor in the classroom!!

Once again my good friend forwarded this trove of school jokes and as I read the mail I couldn't help but laugh my head off. I thought it would be a great idea to share all of them online here on my blog.

Dilemma: English or Hindi
Teacher: 'What is your name?'.
Student: 'Mera naam Suraj Prakash hai.'
Teacher: 'When I ask a question in English, answer it in English.'
Student: 'My name is Sunlight.

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Teacher: 'What is your name?'.
Student: 'My name is Beautiful Red Underwear'
Teacher: 'What kind of a name is this? Don't joke tell me the right name'
Student: 'My name is Sunderlal Chadda."

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Happenings in the history
Teacher: What happened in 1869?
Student: Gandhi ji was born.
Teacher: What happened in 1873?
Student: Gandhiji was four years old.

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Subject explanations
Question: What is the full form of maths.
Answer: Mentally affected teachers harassing students

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Attitudes, Analogies and Relationships
Teacher: Now children , if I saw a man beating a donkey and stopped him then what virtue would I be showing ?
Student: BROTHERLY LOVE

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Teacher: Because of Gandhiji's hard work what do we get on 15th August.
Student: A holiday

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Teacher: Tomorrow there will be a lecture on Sun. Everyone must attend it.
Raju: No mam! I will not be able to attend it.
Teacher: Why?
Raju: My mother will not allow me to go so far!!!

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Teacher: 'Can anyone give me an example of Coincidence? '
Johnny: 'Sir, my mother and father got married on the same day same time.'

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Teacher: How old is ur father.
Sunny: As old as I am.
Teacher: How is it possible?
Sunny: He became father only after I was born.

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Teacher: There is a frog, Ship is sinking, potatoes cost Rs3/kg...Then, what is my age?
Student: 32 yrs.
Teacher: How do you know?
Student: Well, my sister is 16 yrs old and she is half mad.

Suspended for winking at the President

This video newsreport stuck me by surprise. Apparently a Cleveland fire fighter band member John Coleman winked at President Barack Obama as he participated in the inaugural parade and his superiors took serious exception to this act and suspended him for six weeks.

Coleman, a member of the Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial Pipes and Drums is clearly seen winking at the president in the above video. It is a miniscule... quite negligible gesture but the bosses of Coleman are not happy, they feel that he has broken protocol and compromised the decorum of the band.
I wonder what would happen if someone in India were to wink at the Prime Minister during the Republic day parade?? :):D

Some Great Jokes

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping the channels..
She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust!'

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My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.
She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 100 in about 3 seconds.'
I bought her a scale.

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My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.
My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'
'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'
'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

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When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf - always something more important to me.
Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors.
I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I came out again and I handed her a toothbrush. I said, 'When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.'

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A great one liner about marriage
Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is the husband.

Ted Murphy's Twitter

The internet brought it with wave after wave of innovation. First the email, then websites, social networking, advertising, blogging and now Twitter. This is the latest platform which helps people keep in touch with their friends, family, fans, readers etc... I recently found ted on twitter and saw that his profile is really cool. He seems to be using twitter completely well and getting popular by every passing hour. This is a great step forward, I need to start one myself.

Amazing Jessica Cox - The armless pilot

I recently received an e-mail forward with a set of pictures of this amazingly determined young woman Jessica Cox. Born without arms Jessica Cox, is a native of Tucson, Arizona (USA), she has done almost everything that any normal person of her age could do.

Her latest achievement is to obtain a pilot's license to fly a plane using her feet - one manning the steering column and the other the controls. Her license allows her to fly upto 10,000 ft on light sports aircraft. She steers her car through the meandering roads of Arizona effortlessly with her feet.

Human beings are amazingly talented and possess phenomenal strength. If only they are lucky to realize this innate strength in themselves there is no feat that can't be achieved. But the crux is in realizing this strength... because very few people end up working hard enough to realize this strength there are only few super achievers in this world, rest of us invariably end up as mediocres or what is called "Normal".

Jessica Cox Picture Gallery

Movie Review: Sur - A Stupid Musical

I recently watched this Hindi Movie Sur - The melody of life starring singer Lucky Ali and other non-descript actors. The movie was supposed to be a romantic musical drama but failed miserably in the box office when it was released in 2002. I had liked one song in that movie when it was released and thought about watching it but never got down to going to the theatres for this flic. Now after wasting three hours in front of the idiot box watching this boring and quite stupid movie I am glad I didn't waste money and time to go to the theatres to watch this.

Anyway the movie features Lucky Ali as renowned singer Vikramaditya Singh (note the name - Vikramaditya - one of the most honorable Hindu kings in Indian history) who brings Tina Marie from Goa to nurture her talent and make her a great musician. In the school there is a student Aqib who is always ridiculing Tina's humble beginnings.

Over a period of time Vikramaditya trains Tina and ensures her trasnformation into a brilliant vocalist and talented music composer. But deep within Vikramaditya is jealous of her talent. Hence he starts snubbing her and insulting her at every opportunity and even steals one of her compositions and produces an audiotape which outsells his own previous ones.

The people who know the truth, Aqib and Tina are totally devastated by his actions. An angry Aqib quits the school and a devastated Tina returns home and decides to give up everything and become a nun. Meanwhile a guilt-ridden Vikramaditya hits bottle. His assistant Divya makes him realize his folly and he heads out in search of Tina with a vow of making her a star. He finds her in a convent and begs and pleads with her to sing with him again. Finally she relents and a few minutes before the program, Vikramaditya disappears, leaving the entire stage for Tina, who delivers an enthralling performance and wins everybody's hearts. Vikramaditya returns to his school humbled and continues teaching and mentoring young students. Tina goes on to become a great musical phenomenon.

Performances of all artists/ actors lack maturity and professionalism. Some of the songs are good, but apart from that the movie is completely passable.

Now if the movie is so bad why am I writing about it here. I was just wondering about the nomenclature of the artists in this movie.

Vikramaditya, the jealous, under-talented teacher who steals his students composition is named after one of the most honorable kings in India's history. Vikramaditya is known for the justice and fairness with which he ruled India.

Tina Marie, a Christian, is the highly-talented youngster who is mentored by the former. In reality it is the British (Christians) who stole everything from India.

Aqib, a muslim fights for justice and getting Tina her due. Quite surprising isn't it....

I wonder if the names were chosen purposefully or if it were just an accident? Only the director can answer this question...

Paintball an entertaining sport!!!

In modern games apart from computer-based war games the sport of Paintball is one of the most entertaining activities I have participated. Teams playing paintball fight like it is a real war, but at the end opposing teams get together and enjoy a drink before going home.

Paintball needs spme special gear such as guns, color dyes, pellets etc and one of the best places to buy gear is Ultimate Paintball. You could go to paintball online and get cool stuff from Tippmann, Spyder, Smart Parts, Dye, Empire, Draxxus and other paintball gear. The best part of this online store is that they offer free shipping and their prices are really competitive. So if you are looking for great paintball stuff just go to Ultimate Paintball and order online.

Movie Review: Enemy at the Gates

I recently watched this 2001 movie Enemy at the Gates. The film is based on a true story of a Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev's fight against the German army during the siege of Stalingrad. The movie begins with a very sombre note of a under equipped Soviet army getting battered by the better equipped Nazi forces.

The main reason why I am totally impressed by this movie is the way in which a relatively unknown soldier is made into a national phenomenon and his name is deified to inculcate a sense of national pride and global respect. Vassili Zaitsev is a normal soldier fighting for his country like millions of others across the world. But by making a movie and highlighting the story of achievements in an exemplary movie format he has been made a phenomenon.

I wish our Indian film makers would learn from hollywood about the type of movies to be made. Instead of sticking to the stupid love-sex-violence formula which don't provide any intellectual stimulation, Indian film makers should start thinking about making movies which create a sense of national pride, patriotism and a sense of the Indian identity among its viewers who are primarily the uneducated and undereducated masses.

Plot Summary
The initial scene is specially scary when we see groups of young Soviet recruits being pushed into the battle. They have one rifle for two men and an officer is screaming on the megaphone: "When the one with the rifle falls, the one behind picks up the rifle and fights." The motivational speeches work and unarmed and under armed soldiers rush into a confrontation with the third reich, knowing well that they are facing certain death. If they advance the enemy bullet is likely to get them and if they retreat their own officers will kill them as deserters.

Vassili Zaitsev played by Jude Law is one of the soldiers who displays exemplary marksmanship and kills five German soldiers with as many bullets. This feat gets noticed by Political officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) who writes about Vassili in the army newspaper and thus begins their journey to fame. Vassili goes ahead daily killing German officers and virtually creates panic among the army of the Third Reich. Not to be out done the Nazi army calls in their best sniper Major Konig (Ed Harris) to eliminate Vassili. At this point the story takes a turn and becomes a cat and mouse game between the two snipers leading to one triumphing over the other.

There is a little love triangle between Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz which leads to some complications in the story. Jude Law plays the central character Vassili and Rachel Weisz plays his lover Tania, also a Russian soldier. Their stellar performances are very efficiently supported by Ed Harris who plays Major Konig (German sniper) and Joseph Fiennes (Political officer Danilov).

Antiquated Enfield Commercial

I chanced upon this TV commerical of Royal Enfield Bullet on youtube and thought I'd share it with my readers. This is one bike which I probably owned for the longest period of time while I was in India. I have ridden several motorcycles since parting with the Bullet but none have come anywhere close in terms of the feel and riding comfort of this big thumper. It is on this motorcycle that I doscovered the joys of riding in the backroads of rural India... places where there are no roads but only foot trails... places where rivers flow across the roads... places where traffic is so thick that one has to inch along for hours before opening the throttle. But all said... Enfield Bullet is the bike...

Russia... Going back in time!

When the whole world is progressing in terms of lifestyles, social patterns, ways of expressing love and affection, technology etc... some nations are taking retrograde steps. Couple of years ago when I was in India there was a flurry of activity in the country's college and university campuses. The authorities were trying to enforce dress code for students, especially girl students. Naturally numerous feminist organizations protested against the diktats and reasoned that women should be free to wear or "not wear" what they want.

Anyway I guess the Indian university administrations and students have made peace I suppose. But this news item I read on CNN shocked me completely. According to a Reuters report authorities in Moscow, Russia are considering imposing a ban on Kissing on the city's underground rail system. If couples are caught Kissing, then they could be fined or even jailed. And this ban could extend even to married couples and also to plain hugging. Anyone and everyone caught hugging or kissing in public places would be fined and/ or jailed under the new set of regulations.

Well... well... well... I really don't know what to say. When Indian newspapers and feminist organizations fought for liberating women from the clutches of dress codes, I thought it was a necessary move and that women should be allowed the freedom to choose their attire. But now Russia, the seat of global revolution in communism and socialism is passing laws to constrict its citizens expressions of affection.

I wonder if the nation is slowly inching backwards towards the middle ages. First kissing and hugging ban, then there will be restriction on holding hands, then on women and men travelling and working in the same room and so on...

Of course the newsreport is pretty old... I am reading it after a few years.... :):):)

Involved in an Auto Accident? Find solutions here!!!

In most parts of the US it is possible to live without legs but not without a set of wheels. Therefore it is not surprising that this country consumes 40 percent of the world's fuel and accounts to nearly 30 percent of all the green house emissions.

Quite naturally automobile maintenance and repairs is a big business in the US. But like all other places there are good places and there are bad places and finding a good place without burning fingers is the key here. Suppose you are in Colorado, the mountain state of the US, where keeping your automobile in top running condition is vitally important. How would you find auto body shops denver, that is good and that is in location convenient to you? The simplest way to do that is to visit the Collision Repair Experts online directory.

This website is perhaps the best online directory and the simplest to use too. The site offers you facilities to search by zip code, city name or even by state and city. The best part of this website is that they don't list every shop in the area, only those that meet stringent listing requirements are listed on this site. So when you visit a shop from this website you can be assured that they meet all the requirements. One of the requirements is the customer satisfaction index, a least rating of 95 % is required to be listed here.

Book Review: The Courtesan and the Sadhu

The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A novel about Maya, Dharma, and God by Satya Avatar; Dharma Vision LLC; Price: $20.95; 361

One of the most difficult challenges that every Hindu parent living in western societies faces is how to educate their children about the complexities of Sanatana Dharma. With its multitudes of gods, numerous texts, hundreds of sampradayas, thousands of religious gurus and numerous regional, caste, and linguistic communities, Hinduism is perhaps the most fragmented religion in the world. One of the reasons for Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism to be such is its open and accepting philosophy. Hence there is not one straightforward, black and white way by which one can explain all the tenets of Hinduism to children, teenagers, and young adults. This ambiguity in the faith often leads to fundamental questions in a teenager’s mind.

This need to explain Hinduism to his teenaged son motivated Satya Avatar, who hails from Mysore, Karnataka (South Indian) to write a novel drawing heavily upon certain historical incidents in India’s history. “More than four years ago, my son came to me and asked me how we related to God in Sanatana Dharma. As I progressed in formulating an answer to my son’s question, it occurred to me that the best way to explain the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma to my teenage son was to write a novel set in ancient India and explain the tenets through the spiritual journey of the characters in the story,” writes the author who came to the United States in 1978 to pursue graduate studies at State University of New York at Buffalo where he received his Ph.D in 1981. Since then he has worked in the high-tech industry where he has held several technical and management positions in research and development, product management, and marketing.

Set in ancient India just after Alexander’s invasion, The Courtesan and the Sadhu takes the reader through the spiritual journey of two seekers: Kautilya and Manu. The former is a highly learned and erudite Vedic scholar, whose life takes an unexpected detour, and he ends up building the Mauryan Empire. Although successful in re-establishing dharmic values in the Indian subcontinent and getting rid of the vestiges of Alexander’s invasion, he continues to have inner struggles about the path he has chosen.

Manu, the other seeker, is an elite warrior in the Mauryan Army but ends up becoming a seeker of Truth at a young age. Disappointed in love, he tries to find answers to his spiritual questions, first as a Buddhist monk and later as a Sadhu. In this story, the author takes the reader through the intriguing journey of the two seekers as they finally overcome Mâya to reach Moksha (emancipation).

The book starts off with Kautilya being asked by a Greek (Yavana) general to modify the Vedas and perform a yagna (vedic ceremony) to praise his accomplishments. A completely angry Kautilya decides to take matters into his hands and seek help of the king of Patliputra to chase the Yavanas out of the Arya land (India). “As Kautilya entered Pataliputra, he was surprised to see that it was much larger than he had imagined. It was a well-planned city with large boulevards and stately buildings. The city was bustling with commerce, and trade. There were stores stocked with expensive and fine jewelry, clothes, and furniture. Many stores were selling vegetables, grains, and wine. He could also see many dance halls, restaurants, and temples,” explains the author speaking about Kautilya’s journey.

One of the most interesting facets of The Courtesan and the Sadhu is that apart from being an absorbing story, the book subtly teaches the readers about Hindu theology and scriptures. Written in the deceptively simple style characteristic of American writing Satya Avatar effectively communicates the anger, insecurity, adventure, pains, fears, and wonderment the characters of the story. The author has taken pains to describe in exacting detail the various aspects of his story and how they relate to various aspects of the Sanatana Dharma and its allaccepting philosophy. This book would be highly useful to all those people who wish to learn about Hinduism and its philosophy.

“It is interesting to note that for Manu and Kautilya, Dharma without a Creator God was not acceptable, whereas for Chit-Ananda and Chandra Gupta, the existence of a Creator God was immaterial. What mattered to them was the spiritual experience in the material world. The greatness of people of Aryavarta is that they respect and honor all these paths with or without a Creator God,” concludes Satya Avatar in the epilogue of his Magnum Opus.

An Effort to Transform the USA

The largest (geographically) and the most powerful democracy in the world (USA) is in facing its worst crisis in history. When in crisis what do American's do? They go shopping, do business and improve economic value of their nation. This is exactly what Michael Tchong wants to do, he has started a new venture known as Reinventing America through which he hopes to rid the country off its crisis and put it on a path of progress and peace. The website stresses heavily on values, virtues, transparency, ethics education and similar measures as a solution to the present crises.

Fantastic Motorcycle Display

This is a fantastic synchronised motorcycle riding display by the Italian police. The precision of riding, timing and the amazing balancing act by these bikers is something to be emulated by every motorcycle enthusiast. If this kind of skills were developed by every biker then there would be very few accidents.

Great Italian Motorbike Display - The best free videos are right here

Hilarious Joke :) :) :D

The New Lexus
I bought a new Lexus 455l xs but returned to the dealer the next day complaining that I couldn't figure out how the radio worked. The salesman explained that the radio was voice activated.

'Watch this!', he said, 'Nelson!' The Radio replied, 'Ricky Nelson or Willie Nelson?'
'Willie!', he continued and 'On The Road Again' came from the speakers.

Then he said, 'Kishore!', and in an instant 'Yeh Shaam Mastani' replaced Willie Nelson.

I drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time I'd say, 'Shastriya Sangeet,' I'd get beautiful classical music, and if I said, 'Lata,' I'd get one of her awesome songs.

Yesterday, a couple jumped a red light and nearly creamed my new car, but I swerved in time to avoid them. I yelled, 'Arse Holes!'

Immediately the Pakistani National Anthem began to play, sung by Asif Zardari, Mian Sharif, backed by Musharaff and The PPP Party, with Imran Khan on guitar, Farzana Raja on drums, Shah Mahmood Qureshi on harmonica, Judge Chowhury on tambourine, George Bush on sax and Sherry Rehman on scotch...!

Damn, now I LOVE this car

Is it a blow to feminist movement in France???

I recently read this newsreport about Rachida Dati, the 43-year-old French minister of justice. According to the news-report she took only a 5-day maternity leave even though she gave birth by caesarean section. France is one of the few nations which accords a long four-month maternity leave. Of course this long leave has been mandated thanks to the feminist movements. Now by not taking the mandated maternity leave, Dati seems to have outraged the feminists who claim that she has "undermined" the cause of women's maternity rights.

I look at it in a different way. By forfeiting her maternity leave Dati has displayed to the world that her first commitment is to the people of France who have bestowed upon the responsibility of being a justice minister.

Another facet of Dati's personality protesting feminists seem to have conveniently ignored is that, this woman is a single mother and a high-achieving one at that.

An Introspective Message

This is one of the latest e-mail forwards I received from a good friend of mine. A very insightful message indeed and something that would make everyone of us think and reflect upon how we interact with others. Like the message says we only need to learn how to read faces of people we interact with to know what they think about us. Once we learn this our life will get lot more simpler and easier to lead...