Andrea

You are the most beautiful thing in this world. I have never seen such a lovely bundle of happiness. The expressions that you make are graceful like the movements of a dancer. The way you stretch your arms after your nap makes me want to pat you back to sleep. Your hairdo is like the soft bristles of a tooth brush. The fingers in your hands and toes are so tiny that I sometimes feel afraid to hold them. The way you smile in your sleep makes me want to sit all day and watch you sleep. When I sing to make you sleep, I feel like a child. When I look at your innocent face, I just loose myself completely. Everything else in this world goes completely out of focus. Nothing else seems important to me. You are an angel sent from heaven above and the answer to my numerous prayers. You have made a father out of a man like me. You have given me unbounded happiness. I promise to love you and take care of you till my last breath. I love you my little darling.

Just another Budget. Just another Tax Slab

There are two things that are certain in life. They are Death and Taxes.

I have watched taxes being deducted from my hard earned money month after month for almost eight years now. I have also silently complied with the rule in anticipation that my tax paying money will be used for better roads, infrastructure and better quality of life.

My observations have been quite different from what I wished to see. Politicians and Government officials easily pocket the money that I paid in taxes through corruption in various Government schemes. Road contractors build poor quality of roads that do not last even a single season. They bribe the official who comes to perform a quality check. Same for road over bridges that develop cracks within few months after construction.

Taxes are the curse of the salaried class. There is no choice but to pay the taxes as they get automatically deducted by the employer. Every year the Budget brings about a change in the Tax Slab hoping to impress the Common Public. But it is never done away with completely.

I was wondering why pay taxes when all the money that I pay is swindled by corrupt officials. I travel through worn out roads, suffer from long power cuts and spend a huge amount of money to get good food and water. I just wonder when my dream of Utopia City will get fulfilled. Now I realize why my friends who go out of the country for work, never want to come back.

This is definitely something to ponder about..!

Driving is an ART

Driving is a form of an ART. ART encompasses a diverse range of human activities. Traditionally ART was used to refer to a skill or mastery. Everyone can dance, sing or draw. Everyone can also drive with a little practice. The point is how well can you really drive.

Like any dance or singing competition, everyones guesses that their display of art is the best. The best judges of the competition should not be you, but people around you who have seen you drive.

A student in a driving school is taught that the control of the vehicle at all times is the key to a successful drive. Control of the vehicle is just another element in the exercise. When you are going to push your vehicle to the limit, you are surely going to end up at a point where you are going to loose your control of it.

I draw inspiration from watching a famous video of Ayrton Senna where he drives a Honda NSX around Suzuka Circuit . With one hand on the steering wheel, another on the stick, right leg half on the accelerator, half on the brakes and his left leg on the clutch, they way he drives is a magical work of art.

You are a product of your environment. You driving mannerisms always match your environment. In places where there is complete chaos, you always tend to drive more aggressively, breaking the rules and with complete disregard for others. Where there is complete order you are more disciplined and you follow the rules.

Driving is best enjoyed, when the drive is more of a pleasure than pain. All participants in any Singing competition will always comment that they enjoyed singing the song. Similarly always enjoy your drive. Life is best lived, a mile at a time.

Pulsating Pulzar

I had always dreamed of riding a bike that tore down roads with aggession. Had always felt the need for a bike which makes me awed with immense torque reverberating and an engine thats revs up ready to shoot me off to a place far far away. Believe me, that was the feeling i got, when i rode the pulzar to its very fullest for the first time. Though a friend of mine had owned one, I had never got a chance to get a feel of the bike until i had laid my hands on my own bike.

Throughout my college days yamaha was always the furthest that i could think of as a bike that actually fulfilled my innate desires in a bike. But my opinions changed in due course. The prospect of buying a Pulzar occured when i moved out of college life. At that time unlike today there wasn't much of a choice in the high end bikes. All the ideas and suggestions that i had gathered from my friends zeroed down to just one and that was a Pulzar. Little did i know that this descision in my life would affect my life in so many ways.

I still have retentive memories of the day when i rode back from office after a hectic day. The Bike was shining new and Speedometer was at 998. The ECR was at its silent best and all that i could hear was the music of a engine roaring under me giving me more than i has asked for. People always tell you that when you fall in love you dont know it instantly. Well i had fallen fallen in love with my bike on that day and i did not know it.

Every time i rode on it, it has always given me more than i have asked it for. It has given me some great moments on it, moments which have been etched upon my brain like the drive back from Mahabs in about 18 mins and the drag races in beach. There are numerous occasions like these and all the times when i have felt lonely and the times when i have felt down it has brought me back to life with a bang. This is my tribute to a bike that is a part of my life and the gratitude that i express to it for scintillating rides every single time.