Visual clutter and what I did last night

Last couple of weekends have been terrible. Filled with fatigue and boredom. Why the fatigue? Coz I read, read and read. And read not one book. But simultaneously was on to four or five books. Why boredom? Precisely the same reason. Was only reading and doing nothing else. Just reading.

I have this habit. I keep buying books, left right and center. And start reading each of the books as soon as I buy. With the result that I had 16 books in total with bookmarks on my shelf. And I felt like these books were staring at me every day. As much as these books were visible to me, as much was my anxiety at having left them midway, and about thinking of finishing them.

And I was exasperated just seeing those books with bookmarks lying on my shelf. More than the activity of reading, now the books as objects were filling my eyes and my mind, and consequently, my time.

While driving back home last evening I simply asked myself, "What is it that I want?"

I said, "I want a room painted all white and all empty, with just one thing: the thing that I want to spend my time with. Be that a book, or drum-set, or leather and leather tools..."

The key is one thing to focus and apply myself on and fill my time with without distractions. Empty room of the sort I just described is might tough in Mumbai. So this is what I did. I banished all but one book from my sight. And I said to myself, "I am not gonna touch another book until I am through with this."

The morning was peaceful and brighter.

How will you fill your time in 2010?

With these objects? Unlikely.

Look what Business Today wants it's readers to do. Buy these objects. They'll fill your cupboards and whatever space you have. But not your time; unless you love those cars and bikes so much that you are always out driving them, exploring and wandering. That's quite something, indeed.

However, most people would only drool over these cars/bikes. They can't buy. Should these objects become the goals to achieve, then? Not really. Yes, they can be bought once you also have some good amount of money. But where will that money come from? By doing something worthwhile. And what are you most likely to do? For you to figure out. Once you figure out 'which activity', strive for excellence in that activity, find out ways which will help you perform easily and excellently.

Fastest Indian status for the P220 might be shortlived

If this piece of information is anything to go by, then Bajaj is gonna have a headache selling Pulsars. It says:

Next month, Yamaha Motor will launch an upgraded model of Fazer that, sources familiar with the developments said, would be able to do 150 km an hour. The company’s R15, currently on sale, can attain a top speed of 140 km/hour without the performance-boosting kit, and sources said the new Fazer would easily cross that. (read more here)

So if fast is what you are looking for, postpone your purchases.

Another red beauty - Yamaha Fazer

Another beauty from Yamaha. The touring machine.

Indeed, people will compare it with FZ16 itself (coz of the obvious similarities), Pulsar 220 & Karizma (for the nearness in prices and some lack of power). Pulsar220 may be the fastest India-made bike but there have been concerns about its reliability, refinement and comfort. Karizma is good but an old horse.

Yep, I know what you are thinking. Am not saying it's an easy choice. Go for it if you want style, refinement, and stability, and if you are not thrilled by some risky racy antics on the highways. Even so, this bike has awesome torque and won't disappoint. Touring spirit undoudtedly! Yes! Yamaha.

Yamaha R15 - nothing less than exhilarating

It's a sort-of review. Late one but adding to the positive ones and countering the detractors of this bike :).

For people familiar with Mumbai, my ride was about 25kms long from Bandra to Powai. Usually this road is choc-a-block with commuter coming back from office but today being a Saturday the road wasn't exactly empty but not really crowded and that made for a perfect test ride of my cousin's 2-week old R15.

Mind you I am not a stunt freak. Though am a motorcycling enthusiast and like to ride fast, I fear trying out any kind of stunts on my bike. I could even say that none of the bikes until now gave me the confidence to try any kind of stunt. May be it's the lack of feeling of good balance or sturdiness or any other factor but somehow I never got the confidence to try anything out on any motorcycle till date. I could even blame my own disposition. Perhaps my mindset has changed and unarguably am less fearful now than what I was a few years back.

So coming to the R15 ride. On a couple of traffic stops, when the light turned green I actually felt like I can jump off the mark and shoot ahead. Considering my conservative stance on stunts, it does say something about the confidence the bike instills in the rider after a little bit of riding.

I didn't go past 80km/hr but on Mumbai roads even 75km/hr speed feels like flying. And R15 makes it more exhilarating. On turns or while overtaking it feels so sure. There were a few stretches where I could enjoy the 6th gear - the bike really rides free in that gear. Braking is superb with disc brakes at the front and the rear working in perfect unison; indeed, you also need the timing right :). The gear changes are so crisp; at stops, changing to neutral was perfect. No false neutrals at all. That's Yamaha engineering.

Every biker I passed, at least paid a glance to the bike; without doubt it's a looker.

So the thing is, you can go on cribbing that Indian motorcycle makers aren't launching higher-end performance bikes and so on... The really high end bikes have already been launched and we know how many Indians can afford those bikes. So the thing is, no matter what anybody says, for an average motorcycling enthusiast who doesn't just vainly dream big and crib, Yamaha R15 comes as close to anything as sports motorcycling and, I should say, at a very reasonable price. It deserves every penny you pay of that 100 grands. You ride it, you'll know it.

Think of any other sports bike and you'll atleast have to pay double, nothing less. For e.g. Kawasaki Ninja 250R, it will cost you anything around INR 2.25 to 2.5. Got that kind of money? If yes, I would say go for it :); otherwise also no harm, R15 will give you as much thrill.

Mahindra Two Wheelers will it be called?!?!?!

The news is it will be called Mahindra Two Wheelers. Strange.

Mahindra has been always associated with rugged utility vehicles. For years, it has been known for geeps in India. Though it owns the Scorpio brand Mahindra is still more about utility.

Having bought Kinetic's two-wheeler business, is it a good idea to call it Mahindra Two Wheelers? Not really.

Firstly, Kinetic made scooters which were far from utility scooters. They were largely meant for women until the launch of Blaze.

Secondly, Kinetic didn't know how to focus on the market that it helped create, so it simply launched new brands without any sense of direction.

Thirdly, Mahindra had an amazing opportunity to create a new brand and create greater buzz in the market.

In the automobile business it seems that corporate brand (name of the company) matters at least as much as the individual brand. Would you say I ride a Mahindra Blaze? Or a Mahindra Nova? Not only does it sound unfamiliar, it also sounds weird.

Naming must be a consequence of strategy. Not just a matter of labeling or showing off the largeness of the company. Being a late comer, Mahindra needed to first work out the strategy to gain a foothold in two-wheeler market and then decide upon a name.

Instead it has publicized Mahindra Two Wheelers and branded the Kinetic Two Wheelers website with the same. Everything else remains the same. Pity! What was the hurry?

It could be that, even after Mahindra Two Wheelers, the game might not change much anyway. If a new name wasn't acceptable then even keeping it Kinetic could've worked.

Mahindra has risked diluting whatever the brand has stood for over the years.

Indica Vista shouldn't & doesn't CHANGE EVERYTHING

The commercials say CHANGES EVERYTHING. How come? The car's called Indica Vista. Firstly, the name is the same apart from the addition of Vista. The design is inspired (in fact, is an improvement of) by the original Indica design. And it still offers the same thing that Indica offered: Space.

What's the need to CHANGE EVERYTHING? Perhaps the folks at Tata do not want to keep Indica attached to taxis. Perhaps they are not happy with the perception of Indica as it stands now - that of a spacious but inexpensive small car. But the ironically they are using the same name: Indica (perhaps to leverage the name). So how does it CHANGE EVERYTHING? At least not the perception of brand Indica.

But, what if it does? What if the consumers do come to believe CHANGES EVERYTHING? Yes, of course the price has gone up. The design has become better but then perhaps it's not really that great when compared to other brands in the segment. The argument can go on. But what Tata might end up losing the strong positioning of MORE CAR PER CAR. Yes, that's what Indica is. That's what sold Indica in spite of all the problems.

On Indian roads, size of the car really matters. Small cars won't lose favour for a long long time to come. But with that the requirement for adequate space is also not going to go away. MORE CAR PER CAR is what made Indica, is what gave Tata a foothold in the India car market. Invaluable and lasting position!

Tata had better not change anything. Simply make the same thing better.