The best things in life are free

Yes, absolutely. We could not agree more. Sample this. While going out for a photoshoot today, we decided to take the longest route to the chosen destination. Now that involved a thirty five km stretch on the 6 laned NHAI maintained toll road.

Cars are charged 55 bucks for a multiple entry ticket and trucks and buses almost a 100! But, when you are on 2 wheels, the stretch is yours to sample for free. Awesome we say. Once we crossed the toll, the tarmac was amazing and it stays so for the next 200 kays. Trust us, you will get tired of keeping the throttle twisted, because there will be no need to slow down at all unless some truck decides to pull off one of their 2 minutes overtaking procedures!

And that too, on roads like these! See? Another reason why we will always strive to keep Monoshock free for you.

- Enjoy

Dusk at Chandennagore

We do not need to go far and wide to see amazing things. I have seen people take pictures in their backyards that look out of this universe.

So, when Nitin and I were riding to Chandennagore (a 45 kays ride from Kolkata on some blissful tarmac) we found this amazing scenery at dusk! You can click the image and save it as a wallpaper too.

Photo data: 24mm 2.8 lens used. Aperture set at 2.8, spot metering taken off the blue top end of the frame, exposure locked, re framed and shot! No filters or software tools used!

The Sunday Morning Breakfast at Wenger's, New Delhi

For all of you who have a free Sunday morning in Delhi, take an auto/ your car/ bike and head to A 16, Connaught Place and get into Wenger's! It is essentially a pastry shop that serves some of the best tuna/ chicken/ ham sandwiches in town. Add to that amazing pastries, tarts and desserts.

For the more discerning ones, try the Shammi Kebab there! Its something made in God's own kitchen we say! No place to sit in there though. Get your grub packed, head out and use the metal pipes or the tougher to find park benches around the place and soak in the breeze while your tongue savours the goodies. Must do. 10/10 from our end.

Discover 135 Wallpaper

We were very pleasantly surprised by the new Bajaj Discover 135!
The feel, the handling and the engine note were really top of the line for a 135 cc machine. We are sure that some serious numbers are going to be racked up Bajaj here..

Here is an image for all who own/ aspire to own/ love the Disco 135. Its a 1024 x 768 image. Just click it and save to a desired location!

Full road test of the Disco 135 in the August issue of the Monoshock emag!

Monoshock E Magazine August Issue Now Online!

Hello Folks,
The Independence Mega Issue of the Monoshock E Mag is now online for your viewing.

In our fattest issue till date, we have:
- The Apache RTR 160
- The Discover 135
- Honda Dio and Hero Honda Pleasure
- Biking into the Indian Cake
- Synndicated Programming
- Rearset
- Bodh Gaya and much much more!
Log on to Monoshock now and get your share of biking action in a format never seen before!

For those who are lazy as hell, right click this link and select 'save target as' to download the entire mag on your hard drive!

Comments and feedback welcome on this post about the August Issue!

Protection does not kill the fun!

"Offering to the God of Speed"- The World's Fastest Indian.

We are sure that there is one such deity among the hundreds. Be fast, but always wear a helmet!

And make sure that:

1) Its a full faced lid with a visor that is strong and not fragile
2) The lid fits tight. When you move it after wearing it, your cheeks should also move.
3) Check the rigidity of the shell. Avoid non branded local makes
4) Guys in Delhi, NEVER buy one from the street side vendor. They know nothing about lids at all!
5) If you suffer a crash or the helmet is subjected to severe impact, change it, even if you cannot physically see the damage.

And, NO! Full faced helmets do not impair visibility or audio! So cut that crap!

If you like the image, it will fit your desktop as a wallpaper too! 1024 x 768!

Ride Safe

Pleasure Up!

Hello ladies, if you are deciding between motoscooters without gears, please give this post a serious read.

Between the new jazzy Dio and the Pleasure, most technology bits like the engine, the automatic, the suspension and the wheels are exactly the same. What is different is the human engineering, if we may call it that!

There are nice little touches on the Hero Honda Pleasure like a big storage area below the handle up front, better seating, amazing foldaway footpegs for the pillion (trust us, this alone swung the scales in favour of the Pleasure, the Dio is actually uncomfortable for the pillion) and ample storage space.

Its great to see a contemporary design in the Dio, but that is the only thing that could be an edge! The Pleasure is a winner hands down. As far as the road test goes, there is our man riding pillion and gesturing franctically about the er, situation! Yeah we know Nitin, the scoot is good! The perks of the job, well we will be.....

The road has promises #2

We recently got a couple of ungeared scooters to test. The Pleasure and the Dio. I took the pleasure and scooted off one evening with my girl riding pillion. Through the villages and the back roads we went, in the search for the perfect roadside chai.

The tea took very little time to find but we found this amazing temple in a village, tucked away from the hustle- bustle of city life. No crazy load of worshippers jostling for space. No chaotic levels of noise. Just peace and a sense of warm loneliness.

While she did her share of praying, I walked around taking pictures, and this is one of them. Legend has it that whatever you ask for here, is inevitably granted. Sharing a half hour with the locals at the holy land revealed mystic tales about the powers of the place. And if you travel through the heart of India, you will find millions of such mystic tales. Fused with the daily lives of those who live around such magical places. I say hit the road. It always has promises!

From the night club!

Its early Sunday morning. 3 am to be precise. I am at a happening night club. The lights are blazing in glory, colouring everything in all shades of yellow, green and red.

The bartender is busy mixing up concoctions, to give the nervous systems of the people there an overdose of 'outta control' therapy. There are pretty women around. Their rope like slender bodies moving in rhythm, helped by the lights that skirt the edges of those supple curves.

There is romance in the air. And the music is just helping fuel that. People are close, their bodies entwined for the moment, dancing is the religion here. I close my eyes. Suddenly everything goes quiet. The music simmers down. The lights die out. The road sweeps ahead. Shiny from the rain. Red tail lamps of trucks greet me every one or so minutes. I write this down on a napkin from the bar top:

"No myriad hues of laser lights

No bottles that are oozing with nectars from heaven

No beautiful body, soft and warm to the touch

I have a very small desire

Give me a dark, long winding road

Three gears to go

And my Hellas on fire"

- Good night