Ice Cold Bullets vs My Precious

MHG · 29th August 2012, 08:26

Hello bhpians! I'm Gautham, 21, from Bangalore. I'm currently pursuing the final year of B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering.

I was always a bike guy for as long as I can remember - I used to drool over most bikes I saw on the road as a kid, while cars never received as much attention. Perhaps it was because as a kid I had my own bicycle, which was closer in functionality and appearance to a motorbike than a car.

When I turned 19 I enrolled myself at a driving school and didn't like the feel of a car much - it was heavy, bulky, hard to get into tight spaces and needed time to maneuver. Forbidding costs of fuel on a car didn't help much either. I was never confident enough to take the driving test, and the money spent at the driving school for licence is perhaps now the school owner's lunch for 4 at Barbecue Nation.

I used to commute by bus most of the time, because college was 33 kilometers from home and economics (and parents) didn't allow me to use my own vehicle. To be totally honest, I was not smitten by the vehicle bug unlike most of my friends who outright demanded a bike when they turned 18. I was always the economizer who was more interested in how to make money myself than waste parents' money on bikes. I was (and still am) a computer junkie and the only thing I ever cared for in the world was the laptop my dad bought me during my second semester of college - I still call it my precious because it held all of my creations, everything I ever learnt and researched and it (along the old family dekstop) was the sole reason I ever managed to reach somewhere in life, from a career point of view. All this, and I was not legally allowed to ride because I had neither the skill nor the license.

But it was all fine - I used to manage everything happily till I started working part-time as an intern after college (this was in December 2011). I had taken a room for rent near college, and my workplace was 7 kilometers away and I ended up spending Rs. 26 one-way thanks to exorbitant auto and bus fares (10 for an auto, 6 for a bus and 10 for another bus was my trip log one-way). I used to return home during weekends and my dad gave me riding lessons on his old 1999 Suzuki Samurai (that he had recently stopped using) and got my Learner's License. I managed to convince him to let me take the bike to my room and use it occasionally to go to work so that I can master the bike better.

After I was confident enough, I got my Driving (Riding?) License and I started using it all the time. I also had a good deal of savings from internship money for fuel. I decided to commute from home in my final year since I only had 5 months of college left and Rs. 3000/month for petrol would be more manageable. I was also confident enough of my riding abilities to go long distance daily. And it was all well till something very close to me was threatened - and I did not like it one bit.

It was around 20 days back. I was on the way back home from college and a friend and I were planning to go to this awesome place where ice-creams are really cheap, after eating around 20 chilli bhajjis each and burning our mouths at a road-side shop. I only travelled 200 meters, when all of a sudden it started pouring - it was not rain, it was ice cold bullets firing at me from the sky. I shuddered and screamed when the bullets struck the rather thin 100% cotton formal shirt I was wearing. My friend was worried for different reason - he had his laptop with him. And I realized with horror that my bag was completely wet and I had my precious inside. We halted at a place for the rain to stop, cancelled plans for an ice-cream and replaced it with some hot noodles and manchurian to warm our insides and I dropped him off at a bus stop before heading back home when it rained again on the way.

Back home I turned my bag inside out, removed my precious and saw small amounts of water on the lid and some at the bottom. I wiped it off with a tissue and let it dry more under the fan just to be sure. I booted it and to my relief, all was well. I swore to never again take my precious with me during the remainder of monsoon when I travel by bike.

And finally, I started acknowledging the fact that cars exist. I started noticing how practical they were. I used to have plans of buying a Ninja or CBR 250R the moment I save enough and tour India on it and the plans took a back seat when I asked myself how I would handle the situation if a similar weather trouble arises. The amount of gear I would need to wear, the lack of safety against nature's wrath all changed my mind completely. Cars were hassle-free. If it rained, I'd still be safe inside and none of my possessions would get wet, especially not my precious. I could carry as much as I wanted and even sleep inside if I found no place to crash. Cars finally started looking A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

I decided to save up a car of my own by around the same time next year and take up driving classes in my free time once again and this time master it properly. Meanwhile, I decided to join Team-BHP.com and get acquainted with India's best drivers and here I am

AlphaKilo · 29th August 2012, 11:34

Hey Welcome! A non-petrol head among petrol heads. I appreciate your interests in computers, perhaps you can help us with ECU's and codes. I was also a biker, and yes, it has its own merits and demerits. Enjoy riding and Computing. Have a look around, get to know the rules. Drive safe - wear protective gear always.!

I am sure you will learn more here than you do from your driving classes.

Cheers! welcome!

MHG · 29th August 2012, 12:41

Thanks AlphaKilo! BTW to clear some doubts, its not like I HATED cars, just that I didn't find them practical enough (since I think less with heart and more with head).

On a related note, who IS a petrol head ? I hope someone answers this question satisfyingly. If petrol-heads are car enthusiasts, what do you call bikers since bikes also run on petrol ? And are car enthusiasts with sports diesel cars also petrol-heads ? What about those poor souls addicted to whiffing petrol whose heads are literally filled with petrol fumes ?

vibbs · 29th August 2012, 23:39

Welcome Mate to Team-bhp

Hope you have fun around here. This place is not just about cars but all things automotive and much more which I m sure you'll figure out soon enough.
As Alphakilo said look around, learn the rules and enjoy your stay here.

MHG · 30th August 2012, 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by vibbs

Welcome Mate to Team-bhp

Hope you have fun around here. This place is not just about cars but all things automotive and much more which I m sure you'll figure out soon enough.
As Alphakilo said look around, learn the rules and enjoy your stay here.

Thanks a lot vibbs! I agree, this place seems to be full of people ranging from fellow wee toddlers like me to people over thrice my age, each of them bringing their wealth of experience in all things automotive and a lot more. Perhaps that is the reason I spent over 2 years as a guest/lurker here before jumping in, the posts here are so good that I go through them again and again and bookmark many for my reference. Never before have I seen a bulletin board with such quality content

AlphaKilo · 30th August 2012, 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by MHG

Thanks AlphaKilo! BTW to clear some doubts, its not like I HATED cars, just that I didn't find them practical enough (since I think less with heart and more with head).

On a related note, who IS a petrol head ? I hope someone answers this question satisfyingly. If petrol-heads are car enthusiasts, what do you call bikers since bikes also run on petrol ? And are car enthusiasts with sports diesel cars also petrol-heads ? What about those poor souls addicted to whiffing petrol whose heads are literally filled with petrol fumes ?

Petrol heads are those who dare to drive behind the motorcycle which will put the emission tests to choke to death.

well, technically you are correct about being a petrol head -biker. All I meant by petrol head was a out and out auto buff.

P.S: The guys at the petrol stations are the real petrol heads

MHG · 2nd September 2012, 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo;2887992[B

]Petrol heads are those who dare to drive behind the motorcycle which will put the emission tests to choke to death.[/b]

well, technically you are correct about being a petrol head -biker. All I meant by petrol head was a out and out auto buff.

P.S: The guys at the petrol stations are the real petrol heads

Your first line reminds me of a quote I picked up online somewhere - Smoking and riding behind a Yezdi bike is injurious to health

29th August 2012, 08:26	#1
MHG BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: McLeod Ganj Posts: 342 Thanked: 294 Times	Ice Cold Bullets vs My Precious Hello bhpians! I'm Gautham, 21, from Bangalore. I'm currently pursuing the final year of B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering. I was always a bike guy for as long as I can remember - I used to drool over most bikes I saw on the road as a kid, while cars never received as much attention. Perhaps it was because as a kid I had my own bicycle, which was closer in functionality and appearance to a motorbike than a car. When I turned 19 I enrolled myself at a driving school and didn't like the feel of a car much - it was heavy, bulky, hard to get into tight spaces and needed time to maneuver. Forbidding costs of fuel on a car didn't help much either. I was never confident enough to take the driving test, and the money spent at the driving school for licence is perhaps now the school owner's lunch for 4 at Barbecue Nation. I used to commute by bus most of the time, because college was 33 kilometers from home and economics (and parents) didn't allow me to use my own vehicle. To be totally honest, I was not smitten by the vehicle bug unlike most of my friends who outright demanded a bike when they turned 18. I was always the economizer who was more interested in how to make money myself than waste parents' money on bikes. I was (and still am) a computer junkie and the only thing I ever cared for in the world was the laptop my dad bought me during my second semester of college - I still call it my precious because it held all of my creations, everything I ever learnt and researched and it (along the old family dekstop) was the sole reason I ever managed to reach somewhere in life, from a career point of view. All this, and I was not legally allowed to ride because I had neither the skill nor the license. But it was all fine - I used to manage everything happily till I started working part-time as an intern after college (this was in December 2011). I had taken a room for rent near college, and my workplace was 7 kilometers away and I ended up spending Rs. 26 one-way thanks to exorbitant auto and bus fares (10 for an auto, 6 for a bus and 10 for another bus was my trip log one-way). I used to return home during weekends and my dad gave me riding lessons on his old 1999 Suzuki Samurai (that he had recently stopped using) and got my Learner's License. I managed to convince him to let me take the bike to my room and use it occasionally to go to work so that I can master the bike better. After I was confident enough, I got my Driving (Riding?) License and I started using it all the time. I also had a good deal of savings from internship money for fuel. I decided to commute from home in my final year since I only had 5 months of college left and Rs. 3000/month for petrol would be more manageable. I was also confident enough of my riding abilities to go long distance daily. And it was all well till something very close to me was threatened - and I did not like it one bit. It was around 20 days back. I was on the way back home from college and a friend and I were planning to go to this awesome place where ice-creams are really cheap, after eating around 20 chilli bhajjis each and burning our mouths at a road-side shop. I only travelled 200 meters, when all of a sudden it started pouring - it was not rain, it was ice cold bullets firing at me from the sky. I shuddered and screamed when the bullets struck the rather thin 100% cotton formal shirt I was wearing. My friend was worried for different reason - he had his laptop with him. And I realized with horror that my bag was completely wet and I had my precious inside. We halted at a place for the rain to stop, cancelled plans for an ice-cream and replaced it with some hot noodles and manchurian to warm our insides and I dropped him off at a bus stop before heading back home when it rained again on the way. Back home I turned my bag inside out, removed my precious and saw small amounts of water on the lid and some at the bottom. I wiped it off with a tissue and let it dry more under the fan just to be sure. I booted it and to my relief, all was well. I swore to never again take my precious with me during the remainder of monsoon when I travel by bike. And finally, I started acknowledging the fact that cars exist. I started noticing how practical they were. I used to have plans of buying a Ninja or CBR 250R the moment I save enough and tour India on it and the plans took a back seat when I asked myself how I would handle the situation if a similar weather trouble arises. The amount of gear I would need to wear, the lack of safety against nature's wrath all changed my mind completely. Cars were hassle-free. If it rained, I'd still be safe inside and none of my possessions would get wet, especially not my precious. I could carry as much as I wanted and even sleep inside if I found no place to crash. Cars finally started looking A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I decided to save up a car of my own by around the same time next year and take up driving classes in my free time once again and this time master it properly. Meanwhile, I decided to join Team-BHP.com and get acquainted with India's best drivers and here I am
	(2) Thanks

29th August 2012, 11:34	#2
AlphaKilo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: VOMM-EDDW-EDDM Posts: 1,162 Thanked: 1,188 Times View My Garage	Re: Ice Cold Bullets vs My Precious Hey Welcome! A non-petrol head among petrol heads. I appreciate your interests in computers, perhaps you can help us with ECU's and codes. I was also a biker, and yes, it has its own merits and demerits. Enjoy riding and Computing. Have a look around, get to know the rules. Drive safe - wear protective gear always.! I am sure you will learn more here than you do from your driving classes. Cheers! welcome! Last edited by AlphaKilo : 29th August 2012 at 11:35.
	(1) Thanks

29th August 2012, 12:41	#3
MHG BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: McLeod Ganj Posts: 342 Thanked: 294 Times	Re: Ice Cold Bullets vs My Precious Thanks AlphaKilo! BTW to clear some doubts, its not like I HATED cars, just that I didn't find them practical enough (since I think less with heart and more with head). On a related note, who IS a petrol head ? I hope someone answers this question satisfyingly. If petrol-heads are car enthusiasts, what do you call bikers since bikes also run on petrol ? And are car enthusiasts with sports diesel cars also petrol-heads ? What about those poor souls addicted to whiffing petrol whose heads are literally filled with petrol fumes ?
	(1) Thanks

29th August 2012, 23:39	#4
vibbs Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: SG Posts: 1,125 Thanked: 2,297 Times	Re: Ice Cold Bullets vs My Precious Welcome Mate to Team-bhp Hope you have fun around here. This place is not just about cars but all things automotive and much more which I m sure you'll figure out soon enough. As Alphakilo said look around, learn the rules and enjoy your stay here.
	(1) Thanks