Happy Diwali

Photograph picked up from Captn Nandu Chitnis's flickr

The Stock market is like traffic...

This thought, incredible as it may sound, has been going on in my mind since some time now.

Small investors are the ones on two wheelers. Quick, and fast to react. Usually, they are the ones who reach their destination (financial goals) faster. Again, those who take a risk too many, well, they go somewhere else. Those who ride carefully, picking safe gaps, are more or less guaranteed to reach their goals. Sounds familiar till now?

Here comes some more.
Public transport buses are mutual funds. Take a lot of people, for cheap, to their destinations. Will not be the first one to reach there, but are reliable.

People in cars are HNIs. Safe and fast.

While on a highway (Bull run), every one reaches faster. There are no road blocks. Its a virtual free for all.
But in a traffic jam, everyone is stuck. Only those who really work to pick up the small gaps, and are quick to grab them get ahead.


I am sure that there are a dozen points that don't match, but hey, this is to be taken in jest.

BikeNomads logo ideas - Part 2

Finally managed to create these logos. Any suggestions/comments welcome.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

HR says there is a "Retention" problem...

I don't know if i should write about this. Considering the fact how blogs are monitored, and the risk of rubbing the right people the wrong way.

But anyways, here it goes...

I have been thinking about the so called retention problem which HR people commonly face. The issue, according to them, has grown to gigantic proportions. The common thing which you can hear from HR (My feedback comes specially from iflex. Thank you U-KNO-WHO) , and elsewhere, is that the generation is an instant noodle generation. They want everything in two minutes. Not ready to wait, not ready to settle down. Its too difficult to retain them, and idiotic even to try.


I have a question for them. What do *you* do to retain them? Do you try to understand and solve the remuneration issue? Why is there so much a difference between a new joinee having the same experience as an old hand? Yes yes, i know, in order to recruit him, we have to pay him more than what he is getting. But do you ensure that the old employees also come up to that level in the next cycle? From what i have heard, its a BIG NO from most of my friends.

This brings us to this example, from the employee's POV.

There is a company called corn-flex, with Dilbert working with them for 2 years now. His project is expanding, and a new member joins his team. The new member -say Asok- has a very similar background as Dilbert.
Now Dilbert finds out that Asok is drawing much more than he is. Dilbert expects the normalization to happen during the appraisal cycle, but it does not.
So, now the only option for him to come up, is to quit and move to some other company.
Would he have done that, if he was at the same level?

Disclaimer: This is NOT my story. :P

BikeNomads logo ideas

These logos have been on the back of my mind for along time now. These are the first prototypes. Have one more idea, but need Adobe CS to create it.

Hopefully, should be able to make it this weekend...

Till then, leave your comments on these two.

BikeNomads in Pune Times of India

Read the entire article here

My Photographs

Here are a few photographs. Kindly leave your comments. It will help me improve.

Meet me...

That's me, in full riding gear...

My ride to Malshej

I finally went for a ride yesterday. After months of planning and plotting, it finally happened. I rode.










The road to Malshej is fabulous with awesome twisties. Hats off to Doc Arn for suggesting this destination over our regular Lonavala.












The weather Gods also blessed us with equally great weather, with dry roads and comfortable temperatures.

We started off from Powai in the morning, and a couple of brief halts later, were at the base of the twisties.



Here, as decided, we broke formation, and everyone was going at their comfortable pace.

Yes, thats yours truly astride Phoenix. This was the first time I was trying the Fieldsheer mesh riding jacket, the Mach 6 gloves, and the Alpinestar knee pads for a long ride.



Must say, that the jacket works brillant and you can actually feel the breeze when moving.
I had a lovely time leaning right over on curves. Cant wait to go back there again !!!

Meet Phoenix. Resting after a long climb.















The pics are clicked by Harshad Sharma, who as you can see is a great photographer. Check out the rest of the pics here.

My buddies from Fr Agnel

I am going to meet my old old buddies from my college days today.

I never imagined that I would look forward to meet them so strongly. It has been almost a couple of years since all of us got together.

With everyone being married (Sorry Ajay, if you are reading this :) it sure is difficult to make time for buddies. And friendship is taken for granted. But then, what is friendship, if not this !!!

How time flies... its been 15 years since we first met. FIFTEEN years for God's sake.

How many people do you know since that long?

I need a bike trip

I wish I may, I wish I might
Get on my bike
and leave tonight.

I want to go, I want to ride
Out on the road
and live outside.

If I could, I want to roam
My bike and I
The road's my home.

Shamelessly copied from : Meanderings on Two Wheels

My first publication...

My first photograph to make it to print.
:)

I know its not impressive. But hey, they printed it :)

The Root Canal...

I am undergoing a root canal.

I went through the supposedly worst part last week, and what did i find out? Well, it was not that bad.
Mentioning the word Root Canal brings out the sympathy from everyone, but as I found out, the fears were unjustified.

It essentially comprises of cleaning up the infected nerve from inside the root canal. The dentist uses files - essentially like the soft-board pins - to clean up the inner part, and once every bit of muck is out, then some sort of rubber is inserted in the newly created hole, and sealed with some quick setting cement. This is the temporary cap. Next comes the permanent cap. That's it. The tooth's as good as new.

Thanks to Dr. Arnob, I actually had good fun during the entire procedure ;-)

Hyderabad Blasts...

The terrorists are at it again :(

When I heard of the blasts in Hyderabad on TV, I got on the phone to my S-I-L and a very close friend there. The surprising part is that both of them were unaware of such an incident taking place.
Its almost as if the TV news channel knew of them, even before they occurred.

Looking at the levels they can stoop to raise TRP's I wouldn't be surprised if one of the news channels knew about it before hand.

The gory-ness of the entire coverage has reached new heights. (or is it depths). They are now using shock value to raise viewership. I miss those old B&W days.

One thing which I fail to understand is, who are these against?
I can understand if its done by Religion A versus Religion B. But here, the victims are of both religions!!!

Who stands to gain from such deed?
Surely not the terrorists. The shock value only lasts for days. Public memory is short.
The government? I don't think so.
The ubiquitous foreign hand? Maybe, but isn't it obvious?
Then who???

But one thing is for sure. Someone's life has changed... forever.

Pics from Home

For those who do not know, I live very near to IIT Powai, just before the Gandhinagar Signal.


This photograph shows the view towards East. The flyover is the one over Gandhinagar signal. Now only if the cable guy gets rid of those ugly wires :(


This photograph showcases the Renaissance Hotel in Powai. This lake stands on the edge of the Vihar lake, making it the only lake side property in Mumbai.

Heckles...

I was riding in full riding gear on Saturday. What I noticed, is that I got noticed. :)

Now, this works both ways. Splendors want to race with me. Auto guys give way. Pedestrians stare. And most strangely, some people taunt.

Have heard people calling out aaaay rider, John, dhoom, and i guess many other names which i didn't hear.

What have you been through?

Armchair riding helps…

I am an armchair rider. 90% of my riding is done while commuting from Home to office and back. The rest is done on the online forums.

Does being a armchair rider help?

As comes from my experience today morning, it does.

I was caging it to work today morning. As usually, the roads were muddy, and with heavy traffic. I was in the second lane, with a biker to my right. In front him was a Scorpio.

Suddenly he tried to pass between the Scorpio and my car. At that moment, the scorpio braked and this bugger went straight into the scorpio.

He hit the scorpio and fell right in front of me. I had already stopped by the time he crossed over to my lane.

Thankfully, it was a low speed crash and all he had to show was a muddy pair of pants.

Point is that something told me that things were not going right. And I presume that it is because of the awareness built by reading so many posts and mails about safe and defensive driving.

Three cheers to all those who promote safe riding. For those who are new to biking, and want to improve, here are the links

1. http://www.msgroup.org/
2. http://www.bikenomads.com
3. http://www.bajajpulsar.org
4. http://rearset.blogspot.com/

Ride safe.

Is this true?

Lord Macaulay’s address to the British Parliament in 2 February, 1835.

I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.


If this is true, then they have succeeded. And how!!!

:-(

The Mosquito...

I was playing around with my Canon, and this is what I caught...

The Rain...

Rain rain, go away, come again, another day..

God, I am so fed up of the rains. Because of it, I have not been able to ride for a long time now. Am spending all my weekends at home (Which is not necessarily a bad thing ;)

I hope that September brings some respite, as I have loads of plans for that month...

Motivational posters for bikers...

Click here for a great set of motivational posters, just for bikers.

Here is a teaser for you guys...



Thanks Gliff for the link...

Fieldsheer Jacket & Gloves - review

As you would already know, I am the proud owner of a spanking new riding kit.

Following are some of the positives and negatives on each

Fieldsheer mesh jacket
The jacket is much better than what I expected. The quality is really good. The elbow armor is hard plastic and foam. It also extends till the forearms. The back protector comprises of three pieces. One is the removable foam inner, second is the embossed foam in the back, and the third is of dense rubber/foam for the lower back.
It also has a couple of inside pockets for a mobile and misc stuff. Shipped with is was a rain inner, which i feel is useless for more than 10 drops of water ;-) But then, you cant expect a mesh jacket to be waterproof...

The only sore point in the entire package, is the shoulder armor. Its made of dense foam, without the hard plastic backing. I am thinking of replacing it with a better armor.


Fieldsheer Mach 6 gloves
The gloves are a little bit of a disappointment for me. The reason for this is that they seem to be very flimsy. Although, i must say that, it is reinforced at the impact points, like, for example, the palm is leather, with gel dots on the upper part and memory foam padding on the lower palm. It also has a hard knuckle armour on the back. The sore point is the material used to join the front of the palm to the back part. This material feels like its lycra. :-(

Alpinestar Reflex knee guards
Well, as they say, one size fits all :) And it does. The quality is excellent. Even the straps to secure them are of excellent quality. One concern is that the knee cap, does not bend with the knee. I hope that this does not cause the guard to shift when taking a fall, otherwise the entire purpose is defeated.
I am considering adding one more strap to the top part of the knee guard, which will anchor it to the knee.

Overall, very good value for money, specially, due to the weakening of the dollar :)

My advice, go get it...

My riding kit...

After months of longing and yearning for one, i finally got it.
My own riding kit.

:-)

I don't remember being so excited for a long time now...

It consists of the following:









A Fieldsheer High Flow Mesh Jacket @$89.99


















Fieldsheer Mach 6 Glove @$35.99





















Alpinestars Reflex Knee Guards @$24.99

Rich Dad Poor Dad...

Some random thoughts from Rich Dad Poor Dad.
A MUST read.

"The avoidance of money is just as psychotic as being attached to money."

"Be an observer, not a reactor, to your emotions. Most people do not know that it's their emotions that are doing the thinking.
Your emotions are your emotions, but you have got to learn to do your own thinking."

"Once a person stops searching for information and knowledge of one's self, ignorance sets in.
That struggle is a moment-to-moment decision-to learn to open or close one's mind."

"Learn to use your emotions to think, not think with your emotions."

"If you are going to build the Empire State Building, the first thing you need to do is dig a deep hole and pour a strong foundation. If you are going to build a home in the suburbs, all you need to do is pour a 6-inch slab of concrete. Most people, in their drive to get rich, are trying to build an Empire State Building on a 6-inch slab."

Outrun the tiger...

Two friends who are walking in the forest. Suddenly, one of them spots a tiger who looks both hungry and angry.

The other friend sits down, and puts on his running shoes. Seeing this, the first guy says "Do you really think that these shoes will help you outrun the tiger?"

And his friend replies calmly " I don't have to out-run the tiger. I just have to out-run you."

That, boys and girls, is how competition works...

PS: This is not my creation. I have copied it from a forward.

Brownie Points...

Ever come across a situation where you can earn brownie points?

Someone asks you to do a favor, and you don't really want to do it, but still do it, just to get some brownie points to redeem later. Specially in the corporate world.

Turns out that the favor is conveniently forgotten, once the work is done.
What do you do then?

Harry Potter - The deathly hallows..

Finished reading the book yesterday. Sad to say, but read it in the PDF version. (Will get around to buying the hard-copy as soon as sonny boy starts reading. :-)

Coming back to the book, well, its nicely written. Classic JKR stuff. It does answer a lot of questions, which were raised, but remained unanswered in the previous book... like... :)

I am very tempted to let the cat out of the bag, but will resist from it. Go get your own copy, and read it.

Life main twist...

Last week was pretty mixed for me.

I got to know that the project on which i was working on, for the past year and more, is going to be 'postponed'. And all this for no fault of ours. The database on which our part is based, will not be ready for the next 6 odd months, atleast. So till that time im effectively jobless :(

Current situation is that the upper management is trying to fit me into a different project. Should be fun. Change from the routine.

Also, i am gonna be attending lots of trainings starting next week.

Yippie-yay-yiee !!!

Cruise control...

Here is a very interesting product. A very simple cruise control.

<The CrampBuster provides a way for comfortable throttle control, and dramatically reduces the wrist fatigue often caused by long rides. The Acrylic compound cruise control fits on the throttle grip. No tools are required for installation. Just spring it open, and slip it on.>

Buy it here.

Simpson-ized

I have been Simpson-ized.

Create an Simpson avatar of yourself here.

Sea food anyone??!!

This was sent by ViVi.

<<
well.. y'day i almost ordered the "Pomfart Fry"... but then.. i had to stop laughing before i could :-))))) and it was a long long while before I did !!!

cheers
>>

Teaching A Newbie To Lean..

Excellent article if - you are interested in riding bikes, and if you love to lean as much as I do...

The MSGroup is an excellent place to learn the basics of riding, as well as the advanced methodologies.
The riding Bible.

I specially liked the advice in this particular tutorial:

"A simple exercise for you to do each time you come to this parking lot. Full stop, handlebars turned in either direction to their full stop position, then drive out of it. Oh, and for your personal score, see how fast you can get your feet onto the pegs."

Read the full article here : Teaching A Newbie To Lean

Cooling vest...

Here is an innovative product. Im sure bikers will love it, specially in the summers :)

The site says:
The ventilationVest from Entrak personal climate systems is designed to evenly distribute air around the torso and provide evaporative cooling for up to eight hours on a single battery charge.

Read the original article here.

My parents went to Europe, and all I got is a Swiss knife... :)

Actually, that is what I had asked them to get for me. See the exact model here.
I have been craving to buy the real Victorinox for a long time now, and finally managed to get it.

The quality is great, and will be quite helpful.

Go get one for yourself...

The Stock market...

I have had an umm.. interesting experience with the stock market till now.

All my positions till now have been on the advice of others, with zilch inputs from my side. Predictably, everything went down the drain. Whatever I touched, went way down south. The anti-midas touch was so bad that my friends even blamed me for the Reliance split, since I had bought REL shares. Mind you, just 2 shares. TWO.

But one thing is for sure, the potential of the market is immense. You just need to learn the rules of the game.

Here are a couple of good books, which will help.

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad
   I consider myself a voracious reader. I read everything in sight, including the label on cough syrups. This book, in my opinion is the most mind-blowing book I have ever read. It should be on the school curriculum IMHO.
   
2. The Five Minute Investor
   This book has a very different approach to stock picking. I am currently trying this approach out, and will keep you updated if it works. (Fingers crossed)
   

Interesting bit of advice...

I was going through random blogs today, and came across this gem of a advice.

"I’ll tell you the one thing I’ve learnt while blogging. Don’t ever lose your originality. Don’t make posts for others."

Read original blog here.

Improve your photography with classical art.

Excellent tutorial explaining a novel way to adjust color, during post processing...

Access the tutorial here : Improve your photography with classical art.

Some more of my pics...

This one is taken from a moving Innova at night.














This one is taken at Kashid Beach, sunset.














Ditto.

Table Tripod....

I just acquired this.

Its a mini table top tripod. I recently got myself an Canon S3 IS with a blazing fast Sandisk Extreme III card. Having upgraded from a Film SLR, to this digi prosumer has been an excellent experience till now.

The couple of pics below are taken from the S3.

How cops ride bikes...

Video showing Japanese cops showing off their riding skills...

Sonny boy...

Sonny boy...
Originally uploaded by ihrishi

My Experiments with GIMP

:)

The model is my sonny boy named Krish...

One of my best pics..

One of my best pics taken from Candlewood Suites
Originally uploaded by ihrishi

Took this photograph from Candlewood Suites, NJ.

There is a tram track passing next to the hotel. Had around 15 odd tries before i captured this beauty...

Super Cat

Is it only the rats who desert an sinking ship ? (or raft, in this case...)

Amazing pic..

One of the most amazing pics i have seen in the recent times...

My weekend...

Had a very interesting weekend.

As planned I had gone to Reddy's garage for overhauling my bike. Plans on to re-do the entire thing, with loads of modifications and changes.

I shall be publishing the list of all the changes and their prices soon. Watch this space.

Also will take this opportunity to thank Arpan, who was there with me all the time to help out. Right from going to chembur to pick up the Zapper Q to going to Reddy's place.

Thanks Arpan mate. I owe u one. (As always...)

Dressing up my bike...

Planning to get new shoes for the lady in red. Yeah, that's my bike.

Have been pondering about modifying my bike for a long time now. Finally decided to go ahead with the mods. Am doing a lot of things, like changing the tyres, new faring, new swing arm et al.

These changes should last me for atleast 1-2 more years. After that its going to be a real sports bike for me.

Talking about sports bikes, i loved the P200. It fits me like a glove. Very smooth and refined. Excellent riding position. Like its made for me. Purrrrfect.

Will post the pics of the modded bike soon.

Cheers.

Bomb evacuation drill today

We had a bomb evacuation drill today.

Was kind of funny. The instructions were to leave every thing and rush to the assembly area. We had someone from the bomb squad to address us.

Among the things which he mentioned, he told us to get all our personal things during evacuation, and leave our cupboards unlocked - which was in clear contradiction to what the instructions we got.

Secondly, shouldent the evacuation area be FAR from the building? Definately not next to the basement. Also, woulden't it be easier to plant the bomb in the assembly area and then make an hoax call? Duh!!