I've been mulling over this for a few days, maybe even more. There's not too many things in the world that can bring emotions to a boil in me, but my motorcycle is definitely one of them. The insane thought of selling my motorcycle would have never occurred to me under normal circumstances, in fact, it's kind of heart rending even to write about it. But it did happen, and I did sell my soul. Wise men do say it's "healthy" to let the story pour, so all inertia and laziness aside, here goes.
The story of my C5 in turquoise green began way back in 2009. Around the time when it was imminent that I was to return to India, Royal Enfield made a big announcement, they were going to assault the Indian public with a "Classic" range of motorcycles. I started scoring the internet for details on almost a daily basis back then. Once the official webpage opened, the image was of a turquoise green Classic 500, and my heart was sold instantly.
Because a vision softly creeping...
I mean, how good is a fuel injected, ECU controlled non leaking bullet? Yes, it's a dream come true. So flash forward to 2010. Post all the family drama and domestic trauma, I'd realized that I let almost a year go by without booking "my dream". I had of course in the meantime followed the reviews and done test rides umpteen times, and despite what the experts said about stability issues, fishtailing, jerking, sooted spark plugs etc etc, I was still convinced, and put down the booking amount at Teknik Motors, Indiranagar. Pages can be written about Royal Enfield and their ridiculous waiting times. Did you know that a female moose makes a baby in 245 days? That's exactly how long it took for RE to deliver my C5!
Your friend from another world visits you a couple of days ahead.
Binge with him two days in a row.
Indulge in innumerable beers.
Do other illegal stuff.
Spend two nights in a smoke filled room.
Sleep no more than 4 hours at night.
Still go ahead and set a sub 1 hour time.
Apparently, Okocim is a polish brewery, and Palone is produced in India by Carlsberg under license from Okocim. Palone is not available freely everywhere, but you can pick up one at "Madhuloka". Particularly strong beer with caramel flavor, taste brings back wonderful memories of Sam Adams.
If you're trying to open the Android browser through intent like this:
siteURL = Uri.parse("google.com");
Intent browserIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, siteURL);
mContext.startActivity(browserIntent);
It's most definitely going to crash. When starting browser through intent, you've got to set the scheme for the url (such as http). If your url does not contain a scheme, like the example above, make use of the Uri class to build a Uri using the scheme before starting the browser, like this (a very crude code snippet, feel free to add any refinements in your comments):
Whats the story with this phrase? Seriously?? Whoever coined this ridiculous epithet was either stoned or had the IQ of an earthworm. Agreed, I've got just about a few months of marriage under my belt. But I've had my fair share of female acquaintance. And I have enough evidence to prove that men are really the weaker sex.
Lets hack this down methodically; what's strong and what's weak? When we say "weaker sex", are we referring to biological weakness? Heck no. I've hardly ever seen my wife sniffling on a cold. She's built to last. I, on the other hand have had every form of allergy you can think of. I've had parthenium/dust/smoke sneezing bouts, insect wings getting caught in my cornea (no kidding!!), butt pain from running and what not. I'm not just basing this on my wife, I've observed a few other women I know (yes honey, on a purely platonic non-pervert non-attraction basis) and they're just totally sickness impervious! There's even been a study that establishes that male fetuses have a smaller chance of survival compared to female ones. Lets face it guys, we might be able to pump up the muscle and blow up our chests, but a pin prick is more likely going to make us flinch than most women we know. And lets see ourselves delivering a baby and living to tell the tale.
Maybe emotional/mental weakness? Maybe in intelligence? Are you kidding me?? They could run circles around us all frigging day, and we'd have no idea. If you've seen this movie called "The Big Fat Greek Wedding" (yeah, a chick flick I watched with You Know Who), there's a pretty interesting dialogue which still resonates in my ears. "Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants." We would be puppets in their hands if they wish to be the puppeteers. Its a miracle that either most women do not want to be puppeteers by choice or do not realize the power they have over men. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying women are manipulative. Well at the workplace, some of them are, but hey, they're just giving us what we want and taking what they want! You know, a smile here, a bending down to pick up a pen there and so on..nothing wrong in taking advantage of the pig-like ways of men. Now the lesser the said here, the better, lets just move on. What other manifestation of weakness is our ignorant male brain conjuring up?
Thinking of it, its all just social. Right from when we're kids, girls are encouraged to learn how to dance, paint and other delicate looking art forms. We do not pause to appreciate their capability and dexterity, but deem such forms to be "fit for women" due to the whole delicate thingy. Young girls are taught to "dress appropriately", talk in a politically correct manner and have oodles of patience. And "boys will just be boys". It is there ladies and gentlemen, where the whole notion of "weaker sex" stems from. Its just what we are conditioned to socially! And I suggest we men give it a thought, and acknowledge the equality if we ever want to have a chance of fighting back..erm...I mean..uh..co-exist peacefully. ;-)
Predictability. That's always been my problem. Anyone who knows me well enough knew this was coming.
Lets face it, when it comes to beer in India, we are not spoiled for choice. For most people, the buck stops at Kingfisher, or maybe even Haywards or Royal Challenge. Other "imported" brands do co-exist in the market, Fosters, Carslberg, Tuborg and more recently Budweiser, but not many of these cater to a picky palate. Personally, after having experienced craft beers, seasonal beers, ales, porter, craft beers and the like over the last two years, coming back home opened up a huge void in beer drinking. So huge a void that for a few months, I hardly indulged in a spontaneous 'kick back with a beer' hour. But again, what are we if we do not learn to overcome (Oh great. Now I have the "We shall overcome" hymn stuck in my head)? So I decided to go about this scientifically. I decided to scour the market and list my options. I decided to stay off the imported list (oh yeah, we do get many of those. Leffe, Stella, Corona, Peroni and what not) since they were all priced at Rs.160 a pint. And yay! Here are the results.
1. Kingfisher
Beer in India is mostly synonymous with Kingfisher, "The King of Good Times". All versions of KF as it is popularly known, is light tasting, easily drinkable with plenty of malt. KF Strong is easily the flagship, with about 8% alcohol and a full bodied taste. KF Premium is about 5% alcohol, and is considered "light beer" around these areas. KF Blue is purportedly aimed at the youth, but is real watery and quite a bummer, tastes almost like Fosters. More recently, KF has come out with KF Draught and KF Strong "Fresh". These are true winners. Draught in a can is a fantabulous idea. KF Strong "Fresh" also comes in a 500 ml can, and is my pick of the lot. Strong and heady, and yet tastes like draught. Ram's verdict: KF Strong "Fresh", KF Draught. Truly worth it.
2. Haywards
Back in the day, this was our most preferred beer. Apparently, its a premium lager. But true to how its advertised, its just a super strong beer and almost tastes medicinal! Its great for someone who's just looking for a good fast buzz, but not so great for self proclaimed connoisseurs (yeah, me). Ram's verdict: Pick up this one only if you have no other option or you want to get high fast. Be prepared for a strong medicinal aftertaste!
3. Carlsberg, Fosters, Heineken, Budweiser
Classified as pale lager, these are watery, and have got no personality whatsoever. Whoever feels otherwise can go write their own blog. Ram's verdict: Strict no-no
4. Tuborg:
For a long time, I was associating Tuborg with Carlsberg. The green lager bottle even looked similar to Carlsberg. If I had written this post last week, I'd have put Tuborg in Category 3. But then, I picked up this "Tuborg Gold" Strong Lager over the weekend. This one was completely different! This one was full bodied, strong, flavorsome and enjoyable. A truly strong pilsner. Ram's verdict: Go for it!
5. Indus Pride
Indus Pride is the surprise of the year, as far as I'm concerned. I'd shelved the idea of picking up one until my 'scientific approach' forced me to. Its marketed as 100% malt beer and is true to its suomoto. Its really "rich" tasting, with a slight sweetish after taste.
Ram's verdict: Extremely refreshing beer, I'd recommend Indus Pride to anyone who likes beer with a flavor.
6. Kalyani Black Label
I know what you're thinking. Cheap ass Indian beer which would definitely make you puke/give you a hangover right? You've got this one completely wrong. As a learned, Kalyani is actually quite smooth and mellow. True, owing to its 8% alcohol content, its got quite a bite, but hey, too much of any beer is bound to give you a hangover! Like the Indus Pride, Kalyani's got a sweet after-taste as well, must be all the malt.
Ram's verdict: Go for it if you like beer with character.
Well, that's it folks. I'd have liked to add King's to the list, but unfortunately, King's is available only in Goa. And Goa was so long ago lost in oblivion, I don't even remember what it tasted like. In India, with such few options, you've got to mix it up. I usually don't pick up KF too often, that just encourages "lazy beer drinking", where you just stick to the known. I highly recommend Tuborg Gold and Indus Pride, to me they've been quite the revelation. There's UB Export, Royal Challenge and Hayward's Black, the last one being some kind of stout beer. These might make it to my list too, lets wait and watch.
I've been trying to get up to speed on Android and I'm going to try to list some of the better books I've come across.
Hello Android - Ed Burnette: This is undoubtedly the best for those like me who are cerebrally challenged. Those who like short and really simple explanations. Its pretty basic and can get you all Androidy in no time.
Unlocking Android - Frank Ableson: For slightly more mature readers who can go past page 5 in one sitting. Still pretty basic though.
The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development: This is more from an application perspective. Little OTT for me, but then hey, I don't judge. My mental maturity is questioned by most people.
There's of course millions of links and resources on the WWW. http://developer.android.com/index.html is great for the nitty gritty. Ok, that's about as much I can write about geeky stuff before i drop off...
Stereotypical quarter century old male. Flaunts a well toned beer belly. Insists that the weight gained over the years is 'on the brain'. Loves leching at shiny plastic fairing adorned bikes.
