The Intruder

Well...we found this one standing outside a gate in a nearby area. My better half did a few quick clicks and here is one of them:

A 1783cc, stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 54° V-twin monster.

Heard a few days after the click that suzuki fianlly launched this monster for india and bookings are open.

11/26 - Mumbai - 2

36+ hours and no one is sure even now that it is over.
Longest siege in india as i can remember.

11/26 - Mumbai - 1

Its becoming the longest street battle ever. Hostage situations and Bombings are old fashioned now! Its simply a street battle!!
I am getting goose bumps whenever i look at that TV screen with a news channel on.
This is depressing!!
And yea...England cricket team takes the safe way out. Champions league is postponed. Almost all inbound international flights are off..and one of my client executives is asking.."do you think it's still safe to do my trip to India?"....i would need to answer that!!...Thats a shame!!

11/26 - Mumbai

Blackest day for Mumbai and India. I Dont feel like writing on this more.
Well, where is Raj Thackrey and his Daredevil north india bashers now?
God bless everyone stuck in this.

A Star - not shining enough

This sunday was another car service day. generally a car service takes double the time that of a bike service. And there is always some free time in between like workshop's lunch hours. So i decided to walk to the nearest Maruti dealer to check out the new A Star.

First Impression when i had a go at the driver's seat/cockpit....Cramped!! Rear seats...Cramped!! There are some serious space issues with the car. Boot...Cramped!! It is basically more of a Zen or a spark than an i10. Interiors are interesting but not lush. A popup tacho is good idea but sometimes can be a vision blocker.

Time for a test drive.

The engine is interesting and has good power not sure about its behavior on high speed though. Engine noise/vibration, negligible as expected from a new car.

Overall a good attempt by Maruti, but i honestly feel that something very similar to the original concept even with a slightly higher price also would have done wonders. The stripped down A Star might not create that big an impact.

I would love to write a detailed report but since i dont get paid for these reviews..and also by the average length of my posts you might have guessed by now that i generally dont get time for it... .so..this is it!! :)

Good ad..strange music

Another member in the DTSi club.



Good ad though....but the music sounds kinda funny!!

The Mayhem so far....

Well.... its been happening in bulk lately result of a doldrum called recession. It started long back but the real trigger happened with Lehmann Brothers episode. It has many names: job cuts, layoffs, downsizing etc..etc..

Bodycount so far:

Pepsi Bottling Group: 3,150
HSBC: 1,100
Citigroup: 52,000
Fidelity Investments: 3000
RBS: 3000
Sun Microsystems: 6,000
BT: 10,000
Morgan Stanley: 19% of 44,000
Virgin: 2,200
Nokia-Siemens: 1820
Volvo: 6000
DHL US: 9,500
NNC: 1,300
GM: 3,600
Ford: 2,600
Corus: 400
American Express: 7000
Bank of America: 7,500
DBS: 900
New York City: 3000
AMD: 500
Goldman Sachs: 3200
GlaxoSmithKline: 1000
Jaguar Land Rover: 400
Nokia: 600
HP: 24600

TCS: 1000
IBM: 700+
Wipro: 1000
Hewitt Associates: 200+ (rumoured)
Accenture: 150+
Capegemini: 700

The list is long.
Survival of the fittest as they say...!!I Hope the situation improves soon.!!

A star has arrived.......

Maruti Suzuki launched an i10 & swift cross with a price tag between 3.47-4.12 lakhs, named A Star. Powered by a 998cc K10B petrol engine, it has looks very similar to i10.

Initial reviews on different TV shows are pretty much same and from inside everyone is saying that its too cramped space wise..but alot is being said about its almost 1000 CC engine.



It looks very different from the concept that was showcased at Auto Expo earlier this year. The most sad part of the car so far..the rear door windows!!

Well..this one might qualify for a test drive :)

F1 at Rajpath

The occasion was the world famous prestigious ING-Renault Roadshow.

The Venue was Rajpath, New Delhi.

The stars were Nelson Piquet Jr and fellow teammate and test driver Luca De Grassi in their F1 cars, the special Renault Megane Trophy cars, the icing on the cake was the Renault F1 cars setting the tarmac on fire at over 300 km/h on the same stretch of road.

Well, there has been many speculations about the stretch on rajpath that goes right through india gate and turns near Rashtrapati Bhawan being considered as a F1 track as and when F1 debuts in india.

I gave the event a miss considering the fact that there were traffic diversions for the half marathon as well on the same day. Here is what i actually missed :(



There was one hugely popular stunt done by Piquet where he just jumps out of the F1 car waving towards the crowd leaving the car burning the track on a 360 spin and then jumps back in it and drives away.

I hate the damn marathon!! :(

Solace...

QOS starts from the point where CR ended, Bond introducing himself to Mr.White, and it starts on a very high speed, a car chase with an aston martin and and a alpha romeo tearing each other apart. The intensity ends only when the movie ends.



Daniel Craig lives upto the expectations but the line between Bourne and Bond is getting thinner with every bond movie.

3 Years

Its been some time since i last posted. I had to do this today as it is an important day for me. Recently i completed three years here in down town Gurgaon. Its been quite hussled up three years, lots of goods, quite a few disappointments...success...losses....victories..defeats..everything. So what next?
Next can be anything!!...last three years have been very fruitful and learnt alot..personally and professionally. But a time comes when one needs to move a bit to the next step..move ahead and i think i also might get the urge to move on for better things..for more stuff to learn..for better future for me and my life partner. Its just a little thought in a corner of the mind right now..but might grow big and become a decision.
I might sound like...i have changed or something..but am still that irritating one with a special attachements with Bikes...with a special liking for cars.....with an unbeatable inclination towards chinese cuisine....with an attitude that sometimes crops up (no regrets on this).
And with that ...on this important day on behalf of everyone i know...i wish myself..a very happy birthday!!

And here is another 4 wheeler that i test drove in recent times...

Dont ask about the top speed, the mileage and the horse power. it just had 4 wheels a steering and a crappy engine!!