Z's back to cruising the streets

Well every bad thing that happens has a positive side to it. All you've got to do is find that good thing. After the Swift met with an accident I was sad, to say the least. Distraught, but the ray of red sunshine got a twinkle in my eye. The poor beast had been parked there for months and so a couple of days ago, I decided it take it to town.

I was leaving for work and had climbed down as usual, backpack on my back and umbrella in my hand. As I walked past that red feline creature, something came over me, so I put the umbrella down and put the key in the ignition, got astride and pushed the electric start button. No pulse. The battery was dead from several months of neglect.

So I pulled out the kick lever, pushed the choke down and started to kick; first a few hard kicks, then more feverishly and finally desperately. I had broken into a good sweat by now. Having broken into sweat, there was no turning back. So I took a couple of minutes and started pumping the kick start and then giving it a good kick. After several efforts, my Karizma burst to life. A good twist on the accelerator and that warm rumbling sound of the beast got me excited. I revved the engine for several minutes and then immediately turned off the ignition, jumped off my bike, grabbed my umbrella and ran up the stairs in twos opened my front door, dumped the umbrella grabbed my helmet and gloves, told my wife I was biking it to office ran back down the stairs got it started and off I rode.

Yeah I was holding my breath the entire time I typed that last bit. So you can guess how excited I was when I actually was riding my bike. I knew I had to fill gas as the electronic fuel indicator was blinking on the last point. My bike was in reserve. So I made a quick pit stop at the BP petrol pump where I normally fill fuel in the SWIFT, topped up the tank with Speed, got air in the tyres and finally got on my way to office. The ride was the smoothest I had experienced in a long time and before I knew it, I was parking my bike out the office. A quick glance at my watch and the time was 9:10 AM. Wow! That has got to be the fastest I’ve ever made it from home to office. I left home at 8:40 AM, made a fuel stop and yet reached by 9:10 AM. Well I didn’t catch a single red light on the 10 KM ride and neither did I ride over 60 kmph. So I guess that’s how long it actually takes. My normal drive to work on an average on the same route is anything between 40 minutes to an hour.

Well over the next two days, I just had the most awesome time making that to-and-fro journey. And then last night was the best. I had pulled to a stop at the Parama Island Round About. I was coming down the Park Circus Connector this was the point it meets with the E.M. Bypass with the ITC Sonar on my left and Science City Auditorium to my right. Anyway I was the first bike at the stop line and parked a bit behind the line beside a taxi and another car on the extreme left lane. Well the reason I avoid being the first one at the line is because, though I have all my bike papers in order, they have no use in Kolkata. My bike carries a Delhi registration.

Anyway as I looked at the two cops, a sergeant next to his bike and one of his flunkies with a walkie-talkie looking around, I knew I had made the biggest mistake. I kept looking at the signal lights and the countdown clock. Gosh a whole minute and a half before the light would turn green. Just then the flunky started walking towards me. I ignored him and held my breath as he walked past. I noticed in my rear view mirror that he had gone up to a mini goods carrier van. Yeah, they’re always easy targets for making a quick buck. Anyway I kept observing him as he stood next to the window of the van talking to the driver. Meanwhile a biker crossed me on the left and pulled up ahead of me and stopped. He had this half helmet on. Like a skull cap. I looked at the light again and noticed it was still going to be a while before it turned green. Then I saw the flunky walking back. I kept looking in the mirror to see if he was looking at my bike and luckily for me he walked past and caught the biker in front of me. From what I observed having failed to make anything from the van guy he thought he might try his luck with the biker. He asked the biker if he had a license and the biker immediately went for his back pocket. Sensing that the license ploy would come back negative in his money making scheme, he waved at him that it was ok, but then pointed out to him that the helmet he was wearing was not legal. Well I could understand all this from 10 feet away. But then noticing that the signal would go green any moment, he let the biker off.

Just then the light went green; I put my bike into gear and rode off, thanking my lucky stars. I reached home after riding in that beautiful cool monsoon evening wind knowing that from tomorrow I would be back with the SWIFT.

The Rail Museum and on the Kazi, finally!

After an elaborate plan over the past week of going to Bandel today followed by a visit to the Rail Museum in Howrah, we finally managed to do the Rail Museum and that too on my Karizma.

The Rail Museum was a treat and inspiring for my foray into HO Railroad modelling. The grand engines and Coaches were a treat. I think people should visit this place just to experience the evolution of Railways in India. Apart from that, the garden at the museum is beautifully maintained. For the kids a joy-ride on the toy train will be an endearing experience.

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Eastern Railway has the honour of having a prestigious railway museum at Howrah spread over an area of 4 acres. It was inaugurated on April 07, 2006. Presently about 25,000 visitors every month enjoy the rich heritage of railway at this unique institution. It has become a must visit destination for the tourists and railway enthusiasts.

Timings: 10.30am to 5.30pm (closed on Thursdays)

Early Morning Ride to the Maidan

This has got to be the funniest thing that happened to us during our holiday. Among the things planned on our to-do list for the holiday, was a visit to the Alipore Zoo. So suddenly on a Thursday my wife coordinated with my in-laws as they had told us they would also love to go as it had been years since they had gone to the zoo, and the plan was scheduled for early morning on Friday.

So as always, we didn’t really get to sleep early with the stress of rising early in the morning. Of course we did and in fact earlier than expected. My wife was up before dawn and prepared some sandwiches which we packed. We got all ready and hit the road by 6.30am. A little before 7.00 we were at the Zoo and to our surprise my in-laws were waiting outside to give us the news. I parked my bike and got all set for our little picnic and as I crossed the road towards them, I noticed that they were laughing their guts out. As I approached they informed us that the Zoo only opens at 9.00 am. I was devastated, but an immediate alternative saved the morning. We decided to go to the Maidan and have our Sandwiches there. And that is exactly what we did.

Munching our Sandwiches with a view of the vast Green lung of Kolkata is quite a sight early in the morning. One must try it.

The Zoo trip, well after that, I wasn’t really in the mood to go there, so we’ve decided to go some other time during winter.

Monsoon is here finally

Today was the first shower

Return of the Kazi and some Rural stuff

On Sunday we decided to drop into the West Bengal Handicrafts Mela which was happening at Milan Mela Grounds just behind ITC Sonar opposite Science City Auditorium (I’ve given the location, just in case people don’t know where the Milon Mela Ground is). The mela had been opened a little while back and I would drive past it everyday on my way to and from work. So finally when we decided to go on Sunday, I seized the opportunity to ride my Hero Honda Karizma. I needed to get a little work done (a silencer guard nut replaced actually and the accelerator loosened out a bit). So after a 5 minute pit stop at the workshop which was very close to the grounds, we headed there.

Fortunately the time we chose was the late mid afternoon and the place was relatively empty, so I managed to park my bike right in front of the gate. We bought the Rs. 5 entry tickets and headed in. We went from one pavilion to the next and made a full circle of the place not thoroughly impressed with what was on offer. I just felt that somehow, traditional handicrafts had been replaced by more commercial kind of things. Masks seemed to rule the roost. Anyway I also feel that liking and disliking things is very circumstantial. I guess I wasn’t in the mood to buy any traditional handicrafts as of now and thus nothing really interested me that way. But if you’re looking to get some traditional handicrafts to decorate your home, this fair might be worth a visit.

Celebrating the return of the “Red Kazi”

Saturday evening was a celebration of sorts. We went to Kowloon restaurant and it brought back memories of my childhood spent in New Alipore. Kowloon was the ultimate eatery for us as children. The drive down from G-Block till here was an outing in itself. Anyway the cause for celebration was that I finally took my Karizma out today and did some riding. It took me to Kalamandir to witness Atul Kasbekar in action and now it had brought me all the way to Kowloon to celebrate. Yippieee!

Ok I will tell you a bit about the food. It was a Kowloon Special Soup, Mixed Haka noodles and I Chilli Pork in Gravy. Oh and Jasmine Tea. See I’m true to my Foodie instincts.

Kowloon Restaurant
P-504, Block - M, New Alipore,
Kolkata - 700053
Tel: +91-33-24003145

Back on The Road

It’s been like forever that I got on to my bike. A couple of weeks ago I finally took it out of the garage, gave it a complete wash down and then spent a good amount of time bringing the beast to life. I had not ridden it in months and the battery was down and I had to kick and kick and kick to start the bike. The electric start wouldn’t work after such a long break. I finally did manage to get it to fire up and it spewed black smoke from the exhaust. A bit of sputtering and it was lifeless again. Another couple of kicks on the peddle and I managed to fire it up again. I twisted the throttle and kept it there, pushed down into first gear and just let her go. I made sure that I wouldn’t let up on the accelerator lest the bike shuts down again. I rode like that to a petrol pump filled some gas and again spent time kicking it back to life.

The next stop was the workshop. Mallu Motors where I left it for some major servicing and cleaning. The next day I picked up my bike all shining like new. It even sounded so nice when I kicked it to life. That muted rumbling was music to my ears. So I rode off home. The battery needed to be changed, but that was something I’d do later. I could use the exercise kick starting my bike whenever I rode it. Well so I thought. Well it was going to be one kick start to many as I realised when the bike suddenly stopped on the way. Was it the fuel, well maybe I need to get some filled? So while I was on the way there, the bike stopped several times in the midst of peak evening traffic. Anyway I managed to get to the Petrol pump on The R.B. Connector and treated the Kazi to a full tank of Indian Oil Xtra Premium Petrol.

Once out the problem persisted and it was quite painful to get back home with constant stopping. I found the problem finally when I got back home. The Spark Plug connector was shorting with the engine body and I guessed electricity wasn’t passing smoothly. Anyway I took it back to Mallu Motors today and to my surprise they didn’t have the spare part. So one of the mechanics used some black electrical tape and did a temporary fix which worked just fine. Back on my bike, it was now running smoothly and flying into fifth gear in a jiffy.

I’m so glad to be back on my Karizma. Yippie!!!

Two Caged Beasts

Since the weather has changed and its much cooler now, I have decided to walk to work since the last couple of days as I did last winter. So now my two beasts, The Swift Zxi and the Hero Honda Karizma, lay caged in their cell. I clicked this pic this monring just before leaving home with my backpack slung on my back and took a leisurely 15 minute stroll to work.

Kazi gets a washdown

Just before leaving for Malaysia I met with my first accident on my Kazi. Stupid Cyclist is all I'm gonna say. Anyway this is after I got it back from the workshop and getting it readied for battle.

Kazi meets with its first inflight infliction

Yes finally, this morning, I met with my first bike accident in Kolkata. And accidents are your own fault. Riding I believe is something that requires one's utmost concentration. This morning I left home on my bike with too many things on my mind. Matter's of consequence, but then matter's that had nothing to do with my Kazi. And for once I wasn't true to my her. The rider and bike ought to become one when one is astride his machine.

Anyway I rode out from home, took the left and just outside Don Bosco School, a silver Santro came sppeding towards me on the wrong side of the road. I reacted, but not to the environment around me, only to the car hurtling towards me. I faled to realise the other people occupying the road. So while I veered left and saved myself from the oncoming Santro, on my Extreme left were two cyclist following a hand pulled rickshaw. I should've realised that the first cyclist was going into an overtaking maneuver with the richshaw. So while he steeered right to overtake the rick, he was directly infront of me, I stepped on the brakes, the bike held for a bit, then went into a skid, I handled her back to balance, but too late.

IMPACT.

When I sttod back up a bit disoriented, I noticed that there was a woman near the pavement, a boy picking up his bycycle and a fairly decent gathering around us. And all this in a matter of seconds. I instantly enquired and went forward to help the woman, and while the mob was turning hostile, the gesture instantly disarmed them. I offered to assist all who were hurt, if at all badly with medical attention at a nearby hospital. It was only then that some people actually enquired if I had been hurt too. Sure enough, my pant was ripped near the left knee and when I lifted my trouser I had a gash on my left knew which was considerably swolen.

It wasn't long before all setllements had been made, with the bicycle boy, the lady and the rickshaw puller and I proceeded to the workshop with my bike. I quite popular there, and the moment I came in they were not surprised that the bike had been damaged yet again. Anyway all the formalities done, a change of handle and other sundry repairs that would be required, I left the bike and the place to head straight for FORUM Mall. I couldn't go home, especially after the lecture I had got at the dining table from my aunt for coming home at 5 AM for the 3rd time this week.

10.30 AM, Shoppers Stop was still closed, and I headed straight for the Adidas store there. Am a popular visitor there too and got excellent service and walked out in a new pair of Cargos and a checked shirt. From there to office.

I'm just wondering if it I had managed to capture pics of all these events transpiring this morning, it would have made for a funny story.

Around Town

I finally got to get on my Karizma after what seemed like an eternity and took it for a spin around town on a bright and sunny Sunday. It was late morning and after filling in some petrol I went down Park Street to New Market. While going over the Park Street flyover I couldn’t help stopping to capture the beautiful view of the Vidyasagar Setu. The shot of the Floodlights towering over the Eden gardens had nothing to do with me reminiscing about our Cricket team’s dismal performance and early exit from the world cup. It just seemed like something one needed to capture from here. Apart from that the road ahead was inviting and just before I was ready to head out, I took the final shot of the Victoria Memorial and the steeple of St. Paul’s Cathedral rising over the tree line of the Maidan.

The rest of the ride took me to New Alipore, Hastings, Racecourse and the final speed run over the 2.5 km AJC Bose Road Flyover. Back at park Circus, it was time for my bike to go in for it’s scheduled service. I dropped it off and hope I get it back today.

Riding Around

Kamakaze-II

Guess what? I've managed to bring KAMAKAZE-II up-to-date.

So all further posts about my exploits and expeditions on my Karizma will be up on that blog.

Hopefully, soon there will be pics of places to visit when in Kolkata. Have already got my map of bengal out and am scoping places to visit on my bike. KAZI 1, seems to have gone the SWIFT way.

Bro, don't live life "watching the Movie", live life "being in the Movie".

Some Brief News Between Bandhs

The other day, Arindam and I set out looking for some retro kind of stuff and charted the streets of central Kolkata in our endeavour. We started out from Dalhousie and walked till Chandni. We nearly scanned the entire Chandni market. From there we walked till Wellington Square. With no success there either, we headed to Metro gali. On the way we made a pit stop at the new Music World store opened on S.N. Banerjee Road.

Metro gali was fruitless and we decided to scope out Lindsay Street in front of the New Market. Except for passing the Bata Store and reminiscing the times I would buy all my school shoes from here, we didn't find what we were looking for and headed down Free School Street. A bit of success there, but since we had come this far, we walked upto Park Street to check out the various Auction Houses there. Victor Bros on Park Street has some great old stuff, but prices are prohibitive.

After all that, we dropped by at Flury's and picked up a cake for Amrit for his Anniversary.

Below is a picture of the Lane in front of our office on 14th December. It was a Day of Bandh, but I decided to come to office, braving all the cricket balls and footballs flying around the streets like missiles. Since it was a Bandh called by the CITU and there was no public transport available, it was a success. The streets were only inhabited by hordes of cricketers and Police.

Weekend Blues

I spent the entire weekend brooding I guess. And the best thing to do while booding is eat. So I treated myself to some fabulous food from Zeeshan - Chicken Biryani, Mutton Biryani, Paranthas, Chicken Rizala, Chicken Chaap, Malai Kofta and lots of Rosogollas. Ok that was Saturday Night.

Well the reason for the brooding was I finally gave my bike for repairs. When I took it there, I realised that the damage both to my bike and my pocket was more than I had anticipated. My Karizma had been dropped on both sides and the whole front was going to be changed. Other parts that needed to be changed were the handlebar, the silence shield, the side stand and the brake pedal. Man that kid really had a field day with my bike it seems.

Anyway the saving grace apart from the food was the music. I had downloaded a whole lot of stuff and I spent the weekend listening to them. First was Pink Floyd:
1. Wish You Were Here,
2. Dark Side of the Moon, and
3. The Wall.

Apart from that The Band:
1. The Band, and
2. The Best Of The Band.

I also managed to get three albums of Buffalo Springfield:
1. Buffalo Springfield,
2. Buffalo Springfield Again, and
3. Last Time Around.

So I decided if music was going to make me happy, I might as well play some myself too and thus strummed my guitar way into the night.

Sunday was some good breakfast made by your's truly. Fried Eggs, Chicken Sausages, Chicken Salami, baked Beans and Toast. This was followed by some Pulao and Chicken curry for lunch. Then I had tea with some great biscuits and stuff I had got from the shop around the corner.

In the evening I went to Salt Lake to a relative's place and averted a near mishap near Salt Lake Stadium on the EM bypass. I suddenly saw smoke rising from the front of the car and immediately pulled it to a side in that mayhem of traffic. Yeah right outside oneof the gates pf the Stadium. OK the commotion was because "Mr. Suroooor - Himesh Reshamiya" was performing there tonight. Anyway in that melee I pulled open the bonnet and smoke was billowing out of the front. I immediately emptied half the bottle of cold water I had in my hand on the radiator. That cooled the engine down, but still didn't reveal the problem. I started the car and made it to my relative’s place, where on further investigation, realised there was absolutely no coolant in the car. Wow! We were driving without coolant. No wonder teh car kept stoping. The engine was overheating and stopping at will.

I filled water as a makeshift remedy and after having a couple of Shingara (Samosas) and Shonpapri headed back home without much incident. I guess the car needs to go for servicing desperately.

Karizma Smashed

The day can't get worse than this, can it? The love of my life smashed. Well as it happens, I stayed home a bit later than usual waiting for the elusive courier guy who had come to the house during working hours yesterday to deliver my elusive ATM card and since I wasn't there he told me he'd come back this morning. Well I waited till a bit past 11 am and finally decided to head to office. Since I was running late, I thought I'd take my bike to office today.

When I got down to the Garage and asked Mahendar (the chowkidar) to open the garage, he asked me with a look of surprise whether I was going to take my bike. Ya! Duh. That's why I'm carrying my helmet and gloves. His answer made me go dizzy. He told me that the bike was smashed and that's why he was asking me. Smashed what do you mean smashed? I remember parking it in there myself on Sunday and there was not a scratch on it.

The Plot thickens. As he was opening the gate, he told me Rahul (my kid cousin) had come down last night and tried to ride the bike. How the hell did he allow him was my next question. Well stupid one too, that rascal kid threw his landlord weight on the poor guy and rolled the bike out. I'm wondering how he even managed to do that. The last time he tried to hold the bike, he nearly fell over.

So he pulled the bike out of the garage started it, put it into gear and obviously it was beyond his dimwit ability to control the machine, so he just let it fall to it's left side. The entire front faring and handle will need to be changed.

I just took my aunt's car to office.

So much for saving a bit of money this month.

Sunday, What a Sunday!

Sunday Morning was my day to cook breakfast as I had promised everyone. So when I awoke, I realised that the necessary ingredients for a Sunday Breakfast were missing, so I hopped on my cycle accompanied by Rahul on his and we headed to Beckbagan Bazar. Yeah I had got the cycle repaired last evening and this was it’s maiden flight on the streets of Kolakata. We guys rode through some of the gullies and crossed the main road to the market. I picked up some Baked Beans and Tuna. Sausages, Ham, bacon and salami were unavailable.

So anyway got back home and readied the Kitchen for my maiden venture in the Kitchen too. So first I got all the utensils, the various ingredients, like tomatoes, onions, salt, oil, grated cheese, chicken ham and sausages, eggs and chillies in place. I then set about the task of finely cutting the onions, tomatoes and chilies on the cutting board. Then I whipped up some eggs and started making omelette after omelette. Breakfast was a feast. Stuffed omelettes, baked beans and Toast with butter and tuna fish.

After Breakfast there was only one thing to do. I went downstairs, took my ZMA out of the garage, put on my Helmet, gloves, shades got on the bike and pressed the electric start sparking the engine to life, revved bike a couple of times and then headed out. I was off on a joy ride on the streets of Kolkata.

While going down Darga Road, I noticed that the Park Circus Maidan was bustling with life. There were hundreds of youngsters playing cricket on the huge expanse of greenery. I stopped and clicked a couple of pictures and made may way towards the AJC Bose Road Flyover. This 2.5 km flyover was the only place I was going really get the joy of some Full Throttle and shortly after ascending the flyover I was doing 120 kmph. The next 2 km was going to be a rush. I descended and took a right from the Race Course and headed, past the Victoria Memorial, towards Red Road. Here too 120 kmph was a joy. There ar very few stretches of tarmac in Kolkata where one can actually go past 30-40 kmph, so I was making the best of the holiday and empty roads.

On Red Road I remembered that I had come many years ago for the unveiling of my great great great grandfather’s statue. Well it was exactly where I had remembered. I got off and clicked a couple of pictures of the statue of one of the most famous poets of Bengal – Micheal Madhusudhan Dutt.

Later that evening after we had come back from a visit to Kolkata West, while we were sitting around and I was showing my aunt pictures of us (my bro, sis n myself) from way back and with celebrities too, she mentioned just off handedly how the house was host to so many people years ago. A name that made me freak out was Amartya Sen, the noble laureate. He had been married in the very room we were sitting in. His father and my grandfather were friends and when Amartya was to get married they chose our house as the venue for the function. Ofcourse those days Park Circus was a beautiful neighbourhood. I remember the days when the road was much narrower because the pavements were really wide with trees lining the boulevard from the maidan to the No. 4 Bridge.