Its crazy

For a family of 3, Eva, Dew and I, have 4 vehicles between us. Two cars, One Bike, and One Scooter. No bicycles or tricycles.

Car No. 1 - Battery died tonight and didn't start.
Car No. 2 - Haven't started for months now. Eva tried to start it a couple of days back. It didn't budge.
Bike No. 1 - Less said the better. Haven't started it in years.
Scooter No. 1 - Rear tyre punctured couple of months back. Haven't started it since.

So, we have 4 engines, of which 3 haven't been cranked for sometime, 4 batteries, all of which, I suspect are dead, 15 wheels with tyres (including the stepney for 3 of them), of which one is definitely punctured, 2 haven't had air put in them for years, atleast 5 are low on air and the list goes on...

As they say, the most important part of any vehicle is the nut that holds the steering wheel. Here the DoNut (a.k.a me) is not just grounded, he's up a creek without a paddle. Not good!

Myopic view of personal, funny

He's right where he belongs

F1 Testing has started. Kimi and Massa were in their Brand new Ferraris. De La Rosa and Heikki led the McLaren charge, but its the big boss - Alonso who is in charge!

That too not in the 2008 car, but the old 2007 car. Fisi and Heikki didn't do much with it but Alonso tops the test times.

Myopic view of f1, formula1, alonso

Time for a change

Yes, Yes we all know about the Nano. Not the iPod variety but the one you drive.

So far all the TV channels have been gushing about it, but there are a couple things that struck me.

The Nano employs a CVT gearbox. I remember reading a newspaper article long back, that the Tata's are sourcing this from Kinetic. The Kinetic was famous for bringing the gearless scooter to the Indian market and thereby changing the market forever. "Gearless" essentially is a CVT.

The question is whether the Nano would do the same to the Indian car market. Unlike the US, where a "stick shift" is unusual to find, in India its the norm. The main reason being that Automatics are more expensive and give lesser mileage. But CVTs are different from Automatics, and yet provide the same basic user experience - no manual shifting.

Given the state of traffic in our cities, its logical that we all drive "gear-less" cars. Its less stressful especially for folks who drive on Hosur road and through Koramangala!

Myopic view of CVT, tata, nano

Monkey See Monkey Do

Forget calling someone a Monkey. Here's 11 other animals.

1. McGrath - Pigeon, because that's what they call him.
2. Ponting - Fox, cunning as ever, but he's probably bitten off more than he can chew.
3. Harbhajan - Male Goat (Ram), since he's always charging into controversy.
4. Greg Chappell - Vulture; he picked Ganguly's flesh off his bones!
5. Ian Chappell - Eagle. Says what he means and doesn't beat around the bush.
6. Hayden - Bull Moose, whatever... you know the reason!
7. Warne - Definitely a Rooster. He has his flights of fancy when he tries to surround himself with chicks
8. Viv Richards - Peacock, most certainly
9. Ishant Sharma - Giraffe... Adam's Apple the size of a cricket ball.
10. Boon - Walrus, great Mustache too.
11. Ian Healy - Porkus porkus. Always reminds me of the 3 little pigs.
    

P.S. I'm not condoning racism but here's a chance for caricaturization.

This also reminds me of an anecdote concerning Javid Miandad. JM was considered to be really cheeky, and a past-master when it came to the art of "mental disintegration". He even called Ravi Shastri by his nickname "Rambo", on live tv.

So, this one time, it seems JM was playing Australia and it was Merv Hughes who was bowling to him. MH completed his follow through when JM walked towards him and tried to catch his eye. MH continued towards his runup area when he found JM was still following him. Out of curiosity, MH asked JM what's he doing. JM said, "I wanted to know if you were going to the parking lot". MH was apparently puzzled and asked JM why. JM supposedly said, "I wanted to see you truck because you look like a Lorry driver!". LOL! The mother of all insults!

Myopic view of cricket

Which year is it?

Come Feb 07, 2008, we will start the Chinese year of the Rat. Till then it will be year of the Pig.

Going by all the cricket controversies, you would have thought that it was year of the Monkey. If anything, I think this whole stop-the-tour thingie is all Macaque excreta. If Harbhajan was acting like a Chimpanzee by ignoring express instructions not to bring Race into sledging, then he deserves to be banned. However, if its just a case of the Boarish Aussies, then a better solution could have been thought of.

In the end, I think it was a case of high emotions. The Indian team felt robbed by the Umpires. I don't necessarily agree that they should feel so, but that's just my view.

Its a bit funny that emotions have been brought up this way. The Monkey-God Hanuman is one of the most revered God in the Hindu Pantheon. To compare someone with him, would actually be a compliment. Having said that, there really is no place of racism. If Harbhajan was being a racist, he deserves all that he gets, and the BCCI must also apologize to Symonds.

Lets not forget a real case of Racism. Just a year back it was desi, who was called a Macaca and the American Neta who called him that had such a backlash that he had put his tail between his legs.

In my view, its the ICC who are bunch of Langurs. They have screwed up so badly here, that they have a 800 pound Gorilla in the form of India to contend with and if they toe the Indian line, they will end up looking like a bunch of squirrels. If not, Hanuman help them. As for the Aussies, I really hope they improve their humility. They needn't look any further than, Cliff Young, a 61 year old Aussie who in 1983 beat the best of best in a super marathon from Sydney to Melbourne. Sadly Cliff Young passed away recently.

Myopic view of cricket

That's not cricket

I don't blame the umpires. They could have had a bad test as well. What I'm really dissappointed about is the way the Aussies have appealed. Gilchrist is one of my favourite cricketers. Its not just the fact that he's probably one the greatest Wicketkeeper-batsman of all time, but also the way he "walks" when he knows he's out. He's done that a number of times and he also typically appeals only when he knows its out.

Today, either he was really convinced that Rahul Dravid nicked the ball or he was had a change of heart. If its the former, then its ok. But I doubt it and that's what really irritates me. Had it been some other Aussie cricketer, I wouldn't have complained, but the fact that its Gilchrist makes it hard to believe.

In the Mahabharata, its said that Yudhishtira's chariot would always travel 3 inches above the ground because he always told the truth. The moment he succumbed to weakness and "lied" to Drona, his chariot too touched the ground. Due to this human failure, its said that he spent 1/13th of a hour in hell before seeing Swarga.

You let your fans down!

Myopic view of cricket