Mudguard fantasies

Hi all .... this post is somethin that I have been wanting to write since long. As the title suggests, the theme of this post is about the weird writings on the mudguard of the two wheelers. As I travel by, I see many bikers having such things written on their mudguards ....call it a fantasy or a passion for them but it does seem funny to me at times. The most common quote being 'Catch Me If U Can' ..... is this some kind of a police thief chase or of all the things to be done do u think anyone wud have time to do so?? Some people even have their mobile numbers with a ' Would b waiting for your call' written :) .... nd guess from whom wud the next call be?? Ofcourse the traffic police :) .... Funny people and funny ideas

'Alampanah' of the new Era !!!!

I happened to experience an historic revival this weekend. And, this was after watching the most awaited movie of the year 2008, 'Jodhaa Akbar', an untold love story of a Mughal Emperor and a Rajput Princess. Admist all the speculations cropping up in the country with reference to the name of the Rajput princess, the film has started off fairly well, with a rating of 4 on 5 by the viewers.

Keeping aside the controversy for a while, let me give you a brief review of this retold historic epic. Ashutosh's niche for the recital of historic events seems to have reflected again, which has paid off. The perfectionism which he looks for, right from the minutest thing is quite impressive. The locations and the backdrop brings a real sight to the viewers, hats off to the camera-man and the location director.

The dialogue writer seems to have done his home-work quite well and the extensive usage of 'Urdu' verbose eg. 'Alampanah' meaning 'King' and 'Muhaf' meaning 'Forgive' might sound a little strange in the beginning, but brings a huge impact as the 3 hour 25 mins saga moves on.

The cast choice could have been better, since Aishwarya fails to portray the courageous and the rebellious Princess as told in the story and Hrithik trying his best to woo his lady-love by showing of his biceps and torso instead of portraying the 'Romantic' side of the Emperor. The plots by 'Maha Manga' played by 'Ila Arun' (not sure if this character existed in the real epic) was more like a 'K' serial Saas plotting against her Bahu, bringing in a very commercial aspect, which I felt was a waste of time.

The jewellery designed by Tanishq brings in the essence of the jewellery previously designed for Rani in the movie 'Paheli', nothing very new.

The musical score by A.R. Rehman is not that impressive when compared to the real 'Rehman' scores in the past. Except for 'Jashn-E-Bahaara', rest of them lacks the soul that one expects from 'Rehman' music.

On the whole, the attempt of bringing to light the never told love tale was partly successful and my final verdict would be 2.5 on 5.

30 mins !!!!

Hi all......I know its been quite sometime now that I have blogged. So, thought of penning down my experience in a stand-still 'Traffic Jam' for an unbelievable 30 mins. Ohhhh my godddd .... I can't even think of things that could have and can be done in these 30 mins :) .... neways.

It was quite a sunny day and ofcourse the most loathed day of the week 'MONDAY'. I started off on my two-wheeler with the wonderful moments of the weekend spent and the dreaded feeling of getting back to work and having to slog at the work-place for the next 5 days, with the wonderful lyrics of 'Angel' by Shaggy playing in the background and by then I never realized that I was already in HPS, Begumpet, the place where you find vehicles literally creeping. And, on that paricular day, I was astounded to find the jam packed traffic coming to a stand-still position which was atleast 2-3 kms long. Being a strict follower of the rules nd regulations, I thought of relaxing the same for sometime coz my headgear was getting a lil too heavy for my small head, and thats when I decided to notice the different attitudes of people around me. Everything seemed to be well and silent for the first 5 mins, the 6th minute things happened to turn flip-flop, there was noise from every possible direction. Before you all begin to wonder what the noise was, lemme tell you that it was the different ringtones right from 'Right here Right Now' to 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare' ringing from the mobiles and the different tones of 'Hello, I would be late!!!!'. For a moment, I felt a lil out of place coz I was the only person in the traffic who wasn't receiving or making a call and that was when I realized the extent of progress in technology which has made us handicapped without them. The beauty of the entire scenario lies in the fact that this noise continued for the next 24 mins with the thankful interruption of the clearing traffic-jam, else, I still wonder as to what would have happened to me !!!!!!!

Here, I would like to extend my heart-felt thanks to the traffic police for coming to the rescue of my poor ear drums at the right time :) !!!!!!!!!!!

A Feast for the Car Lovers

With Tata ready to unveil its Rs. 1 lakh car this month, all eyes are set on this little thing which is giving a tough competition to the entire automobile industry. Meanwhile, Bajaj, the country's second-largest two-wheeler maker in collaboration with Renault and Nissan unveiled the prototype of its small car today with the promise that it will be twice as economical to run as the most fuel-efficient small car in the market and ofcorse with a competitive price as that of the Tata's. These small cars have been targetted to the middle class incomes and time would speak about the success stories!!!

So, coming back to the real feast....... 2008 is all set to launch some of the hottest models ... errrr ... i mean the car models of different makes. I was spellbound at the sight of these hot cars, so, I jus thought attempting to list down some of my hot favs:

1. Maruthi Suzuki Splash : This car is likely to replace Maruti's Wagon R model, which has already been launched in the US market and is ready to be launched in India next.

2. Maruthi Suzuki A-Star : Alongside the Tata Rs 1 lakh car, it is perhaps the most eagerly awaited model at the Auto Expo. Kitted with a newly-developed 1 litre Euro V-compliant aluminium petrol engine with CO2 emissions lower than those of European competitors (target: lower than 109g/km), the car will be a hatchback positioned in the A segment.

3. Skoda Fabia : Skoda Fabia, based on the Volkswagen platform, will be Skoda's first small car in India. The Fabia will be up against the Chevrolet Aveo UVA, due to roll out sometime later this year or next.

4. Renault Sandero : The design of the sandero is a mixture of European Clio (Renault's popular hatchback) with some characteristics of Logan.

5. Volswagen Jetta : Jetta is being pitted against mid-size market leareds like Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Aveo and this will be made at the Auranagabad plant of Skoda.

6. Fiat Linea : It's a four-door sedan based on the Grande Punto. It is 4.56 metres long, 1.73 metres wide, 1.5 metres tall and has a wheelbase of 2.6 metres, as well as a 500 litre luggage compartment.

7. Chevrolet Captiva : The Chevrolet Captiva has been mainly developed in South Korea by GM Daewoo, with a view to global sales. It comes with 2.4-litre (133bhp) petrol and 2.0-litre (150bhp) diesel engines, with the options of a seven-seat layout and a five-speed automatic gearbox.

8. Dailmer C Class : The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a luxury compact car. First introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 190 range, the C-Class was the most affordable model in the marque's lineup, until the 1997 arrival of the A-Class.

9. BMW [M series] : M5 and M6 are the ones being launched in this series. The BMW M6 is a high-performance version of the 6-Series automobile, designed by BMW_Motorsport division of the German manufacturer.

10. Honda Civic Hybrid : It’s a hybrid version of the Honda Civic sedan.

So, guyz watch out for the zooooooommmminggggg year ahead!!!!