Accepted, all 10 of you who irregularly frequent this blog, you're all right to be annoyed that the last post was three months ago. What have I been upto since then? Well, lets see...oh yeah..work! A month long stint to the UK for work, some crazily packed workdays before and after, and my inherent laziness to convert my writings from paper to bits and bytes, all of these have made this blog a little stagnant. It has been one hell of a summer, and the rains are equally tough work-wise, leaving just enough time for some extra curricular action. Although, I have rediscovered my love for poetry, I've gotten used to Sunday afternoons at the local cafe, which is damn near deserted at that time of the day(suits me fine), where I can down a couple of vegan shakes while reading my favourite book(the book shop is across the street from the cafe), or penning down whatever is rolling about inside my head. It is a routine that I hope I can stick with, because it is just so satisfying to laze about in a coffee shop, play my own music there, read, write, think....it's almost as good as riding around aimlessly on my bike(s).
Ah! I almost forgot to mention, I've managed to get my hands on a Yamaha (thanks Shiv), it's an RX-135, 4 speed, pocket rocket! I've been spending the last few weekends rebuilding it. The frame and other metal parts are stripped down, cleaned and painted. I've spent some time and money on accumulating various parts like the tank, some lights, sprocket's, hub's etc, and the bike will be reborn very soon. GS, who blogs here, has been kind enough to land me parts from his various contacts. Once the build is complete, a week or so of running in the new bike, getting the new piston and block all set for regular use, some oil changes, some tweaking and soon(read 2 weeks), I'll be tearing down Mumbai's roads, using the fantastic power-weight ratio that the good old Yam's are known for. My first bike was a Yam, moved onto my Bullet, which is still the bike that I'll never stop riding, now I have a Yam again! It never fails to make me grin like a madman. The two stroke goodness of a Yam is to die for. So it burns excess lubricant, releasing hydrocarbons in the oil into the environment, so it's not exactly fuel effecient, go talk to all the SUV owners, or Hummer morons, and then come to me. My carbon footprint is miniscule (all things being relative).
Riding in the Mumbai rains teaches one many things. Caution, appreciation for street lights, an overall increase in blood pressure and heart rate everytime the rear wheel misbehaves, and a whole lot of patience. I've been riding in the rain for many years now, and all I've learnt is, accept the rains, be prepared, have a Plan B, you'll smile. Oppose it, crib about all the little pains, and you'll hate every minute of it. Riding in the rain is the best antidote to boredom and depression that anyone could think of...try it, you'll love the ride.
