A fox is the life of the party

He stands tall as always, on a hilltop.
Its dusk, and the sky's all crimson.
He's a big tiger and looks down the valley.
A bunch of foxes have a party in the valley. They have hired a DJ, fixed up disco lights. There's so much beer that you could drink all night.
At places, foxes and vixen have chats drinking cocktail after cocktail, talking endlessly, while the DJ adds more tracks to queue. Such is the sight in the valley, the lonely tiger just looks in despair. He sits down on the hilltop to relax, but still glances toward the fox party.


Just then, a white tiger comes in & joins the big tiger.
"Hey mate, you looked depressed..", the white tiger tries to look jolly. "No, I'm ok", says the big tiger. "Oh, not again mate. I tell you, just look at yourself! You're a real big tiger. You have got power. Your ancestors were kings. They are just mere foxes. To me they look like dogs", and the white tiger bursts in laughter.

"You're too drunk. Leave me alone", retorts the big tiger. "We both are drunk. And just look at yourself, you're sitting head hung", the white tiger tries to convince him to cheer up.

The big tiger looks at the fox party for a minute and speaks, "You know white, we all are so drunk. We just had the purest vodka ever made, that those foxes could never have in their lives. But, they are happy. And we're not!

And the tigers-are-the-king-of-the-jungle stuff is crap. It was true once upon a time long long ago. Now foxes are the life-of-the-party."

The white tiger stills tries, "You need to look at life from a positive perspective. Being a pessimist never changes things."

"Ok, but wake up to the real world. Our world! And the crap that happens to us!"

"You know, your power is within you. You could just go down and scare all the foxes away with your roar. Aren't you happy? Your roar could vibrate the jungle!", the white tiger now tries to talk sense.

"So, what?  At the end of the day, all foxes united could kill you, or make you crippled. Who will come to defend me then? Just you. I have got one friend. And I am not happy."

The big tiger stands up with tears and adds more, "You know what I got for being honest? You know what I got for having this big and useless heart? You know what I got for being so nice to everyone? You know what I got for not telling lies? Not trying to be cunning? You know what I got for doing the divine act of following my mind?"
He points at the bottle, "Alcohol in a cold dark place and Tears."
The big tiger is weak and speaks more, "I would be happier to be a fox rather be so powerful and cry! There are just a handful of tigers left in the entire country. You see, tigers don't survive. One who is honest sucks! He dies! What kind of life is this?"

The white tiger falls silent. May be he starts thinking...

How I found "Golden Eyes"

It was one sunny day in the 90's, the end of the 90's to be precise.
I was 9 and at school, I was inside a class with short desks for kids.
It was afternoon and sun-rays came in through the window slits, and filled the room with a warm and well-lit ambience.

I was still a back bencher then and yawning,
and waiting for time to run fast,
and the big bell to ring.

As my eyes began to close, a teacher came in, with a cute little girl. And interrupted the class. May be I was lost and tired, but any one could well figure out that she was a new student.

The teacher introduced her.
I was still a back bencher then,
and may be she wasn't very loud,
and I was lost in thoughts,
that I didn't hear her name.

All I could feebly hear was "Bombay". So, she's from Bombay. Great.
But why do they still say "Bombay", when my dad just pointed out Bombay is no more Bombay? Its Mumbai. Whatever, people need time to change a habit.

Now my eyes shifted to the girl. Clad in a neat school uniform she was. White hair band and neatly combed hair.
I couldn't see her shoes, 'cause I was still a back bencher then!
She was dressed exactly the way our school diary mentioned the dress code.

She looked sober and relaxed and normal. No fear, no nervousness. She joined the lonely oily haired girl in the first bench,
and I started yawning once again.
Why? 'Cause I was still a back bencher then!

Other kids around me murmured about her.
I still couldn't hear her name.
At the end of the day, when the big bell rang,
and we rushed out of class, I checked her out once again.
Old habits die hard, 'cause I was still a back bencher then!

God, she was cute. Fair like child snow-white she was. Her hair band made her descent, look disciplined, and she had still the same look and a smile was not yet on her face.
I was excited,
just as when you get a new gift and are about to open.
The next day, I got to know her name. But, wait, it was an awkward one.
I mean, a sweet name, but different.

Now she was the cutest girl in the class. She had topped the list. I swear if there were Facebook that day, I would have updated my status and 'like'd her profile pic. If I weren't an introvert, and afraid of strangers, I would have went and talked to her.

Days went by. She used to be the top of my crush list all those days. No one had broken the record. More days went by, she was still there. I never got to hear how she talks or what she talks about.
I was too afraid to approach and start a conversation. I was still a back-bencher then!

One day a teacher made a remark, about her name.
And that was the day I figured out the meaning of her name.
The teacher said 'Sonakshi' means 'Golden Eyes'.
Like always, and to make sure she was not too outspoken,
that day, she just smiled and said nothing.

Good stuff came in 6th grade. It was the year 2000.
All around was the new millennium buzz and the Y2K bug.
I wasn't a geek then,
but I was sure Y2K was something bad for computers.

More Good stuff was,
in one situation she actually talked to me.
And that was the last time we talked.
Kids of the class were running helter skelter in a lunch break,
where I was seated at a single desk in the front.
(I was punished to sit in a single front bench, away from other back-bencher pals of mine, so that the teacher could keep an eye on me)
She was there and playing cheerfully with the other students.
Like always I wished I had the courage to go and speak.
Just then she came to me, bent over and asked "Hey, why don't you join us?"
I was puzzled because those were going to be first words that I was supposed to speak to the girl I had been wanting to talk since long.
"No. I am not interested", I said, still nervous, although I wanted to.
"Come on. Its fun!", she said and went away.

I don't remember much of what happened later.

The next year, in 7th grade, 2001, there was another 'New Millennium' buzz, for those who argued that a millennium starts from 1 and not 0.
I was into other stuff this year. I had turned naughty and was found mostly in supervisor and class-teacher's rooms.

I don't remember well, may be my friend circle shifted. I forgot "Golden Eyes" and her "shiny eyes". She had left school that year.

It had been some 10 years, that she left.
And all these days, occasionally I used to think about the "why-dont-you-join-us" day. And slapped myself for being a coward by not talking to her further.
Life doesn't stop anyway, so I moved on with it.
"Golden Eyes" was no more in my class. Even if I had courage now, I couldn't talk to her.

I tried asking people many-a-times, about her whereabouts,
and no one had any idea. I kept guessing,
may be she had gone back to Bombay, oops, Mumbai.

Those days I thought, lost people could never be traced.
So I would meet her if I was lucky enough.
Like it happens in movies, that old friends meet after years!

Orkut came in '05. And I searched her name. No results. I didn't find the "Golden Eyes" I was looking for. I thought to myself once again, social networks wont help. It was all fate that would help. Eventually I left searching social networks.

In 2010, the old "Golden Eyes" appeared in the Friend Suggestions, in Facebook.
Eureka, I found her. I tried to make sure she remembers me. She did.
And that was fate........

My First Bike Review, published in mouthshut.com

Yamaha SS125:

 

I got my SS125 just 3 days back and have done hardly 150 kms on the bike. I want to share my true experience with the bike till now.

About SS125:
SS125 is the successor to Yamaha Gladiator Type SS, and Yamaha completely dropped the Gladiator name now. Through the years Gladiator has been re-designed and refined 4 times. And SS125 is the latest version, with the best design and graphics and the best handling. The SS125 and Gladiator Type SS have all similar specifications(Physical, Electrical and Mechanical) except the colors and graphics.

Why I bought this bike:
I consulted mouthshut.com and read alreviews of Gladiator before buying it. Gladiator Type SS had the highest rating among all the bikes I had listed for buying, and it had a 99% recommendation. My friends had short-listed the following bikes: Honda Shine 125, Bajaj Pulsar 135LS, and Yamaha Gladiator/SS125.
Honda Shine was fine and engine sound was really smooth, but it lacked the good looks and the features that other bikes in its class had.
About Pulsar I’d like to say, Pulsars have become too common these days. I mean, just throw a stone randomly at a bike in traffic and it would be a pulsar. Moreover I personally don’t prefer Bajaj.
Yamaha SS125 was like the solution to all my needs. It had the best looks, comfortable riding posture, great handling and awesome power!

My observation in the first 150 kms:
The bike is equipped with a 5 speed gear box and a tachometer which makes the bike sporty. Front Disc brakes are perfect. The only thing this bike lacks(and could have made this better) is a digital console which most bikes have. In addition it has a Racing Cowl, which they call the engine cover, which adds a lot to the sporty look.
I am a 6 feet tall person and I was worried about whether a 125 cc bike would look good for my height, but its amazing to find this bike suits me perfectly and I’d recommend it to tall persons too. It has decent dimensions for a tall person:( Overall length x width x height                                    : 1995 x 730 x 1110 mm).

Performance is amazing, but the only con is a bit low torque at 3000-4500 rpm(Initial Pickup is bit poor). But I can assure it, the bike is a beast at more than 6500 rpm. So, the bike is not so good for very heavy traffic like Cuttack city in Orissa. If yours is a metro or a semi-urban with medium traffic then this bike is gonna rock.

The gear shifting pattern(1 Down, 4 Up) is again sporty and comfortable. The bike may fail to start if it is exposed to very cold weather and/or left abandoned for a lot of days. But in that case, the choke works quite well.

I wasn’t sure about road-grip when I found this bike doesn’t have wide rear tires (my first bike was a Bajaj XCD with narrow tires, and its grip used to suck!). But when I rode SS125, I found the road grip is excellent for the narrow MRF Zapper tires too. You don’t slip off on wet and sandy roads.

It has a half-chain cover and machine gun type muffler (silencer) which again adds to the sportiness. The silencer runs parallel to the rear seat, another trait of a superb design!

Mileage:
The last time I refueled, I got a mileage of 47kmpl, which is not bad for a new bike without even the first service done. And I have been riding almost all of the time with a pillion. I had talked to other customers of the SS125 in a Yamaha Service center in Bhubaneswar and all of them claimed that the mileage goes up to 55-60kmpl after the service.

Performance:
I haven’t yet tested the acceleration from 0-60kph yet. But I guess that will be around 7-8 seconds. I’m not quite sure. The best part of performance is that the bike doesn’t vibrate till 65 kph. I haven’t rode faster yet. Accelearation is the best at a range of 6000 rpm.

Cons:
The only noticeable con is a bit low torque at lower engine speeds. But it isn’t very less. It’s Ok. But its a bit less then Honda’s CB Twister 110 cc. But the CB Twister would shake and vibrate your balls off at speeds greater than 60kph and SS125 will take you to 120 kph easily. So, I guess a small ’con’ for this bike wont really matter for all the good features it has.
Headlight luminosity is slightly lesser than the Honda Shine, but its isn’t that bad. Its Ok.

Lastly, I have trusted Yamaha and have been obsessed with buying Yamaha bikes. I had a RX135 bike once, and it used to rock. And I believe this bike wont let me down too.

If you are a youngster and looking for a sporty and reliable bike with great performance in the 125/135 cc segment, then go for it! You will never regret.