Bike

KTM Adventure 390 Sold

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Well. It has been just 20 minutes since the bike changed hands.

Morning I removed the helmet box, side box ( got it when San got her side panniers for Vulcan, she wanted only one – both she said makes her look like a delivery agent ).

My last ride on Adventure 390 was from the basement parking to the outside car parking.

I had lot of dreams when I got this bike. Thought I will go all over the country.

Managed a few long rides. Bang to Coimbatore. Bang to Bheemeshwari. Multiple trips to Bettamugilaalam.

Had an insignificant fall once. The only time Krishanu sat on the bike, I was being extra nice and put the laptop bag in the front, and it slid down and got entangled in my hand and I could not turn the handle – and we both fell. After that he never got on my bike.

Had a serious fall another time – because of me riding still on jet lag. Had a microsleep moment and I found myself lying on the road. That kind of woke me up. [ https://kvrlogs.me/2022/09/08/i-fall-down/]

After that fall my drive for riding 390 reduced. My speed reduced. Earlier I would always look for any opportunity to take the bike out. But slowly unconsciously I started taking less and less of the bike.

Anyway.

I think I am just trying to justify and patting myself saying – that we were anyways drifting apart.

Noooo. I want to experience the thrill of going on 100+ with the confidence that I can come to a stop if needed ( KTM always gave me the confidence ).

I am having that teeny weeny regret of having let go of my bike. But I had to do it. Next few years I am going to be away from Homeland for extended periods of time. Don’t want such a fine machine to stay unused.

Here are the bikes I rode so far.

  1. Hero Honda Sleek – 1998 ( My brother-in-law handed me this – had it in final semester of college ). Many of my friends learnt riding on this bike.


  2. Hero Honda Splendour 1998 – 2000 ( The fill it shut it forget it bike, I think it gave 80km per liter. Seriously! ). Had this during my 2 years of my Chennai life when I worked in TCS. Lovely bike. I took it to Tirupati from Chennai. The only long ride. And many office commutes from home in Velachery to Sholinganallur. The day I wrote GRE, I had a fall on Old Mahabalipuram road. A small child suddenly darted across the road. The car in front me, a doctor’s car, hit a sudden brake. I was in dream state and before I could react I banged the car and broke the tail light. The doctor was furious. The crowd got me soda and supported me – what can the bike guy do – the girl crossed suddenly. I was in a daze for a few minutes – the helmet strap choked me during the fall. Then I rode back home with a few bruises.




  3. Honda Unicorn. 2006 – 2019. 150 cc. After we returned to India we were out looking for a house. Once we went to see an Apartment in Outer Ring Road and could not get an auto back – as it was so deserted. These were the pre-Ola and pre-Uber days. Had to fight to get back. Next day we went to Honda showroom in Domlur and bought a Honda Unicorn. It had lovely suspension and San loved its pillion riding. Later she learnt riding on this bike. Rode it a lot from home to work and numerous shopping expeditions to MG Road, Commercial Street, Lal Bagh, MTR, Cubbon park… San’s family, my sister’s family would visit us and there would not be space in car, and I would be on the bike with one more person pillion riding. Oh those memories.

    This was the first bike Puttu rode sitting on the tank. We used to drop him in First Step – Montessori school in AECS Layout. And the trips to Narmada clinic – he sitting in between us – for vaccinations and during fever boughts.

    Once we had a fall on Marathahalli bridge. San and I were lugging lot of stuff. We had got 2 floor fans for the office from Home Town in Marathahalli. This was the 1st summer in our little office in AECS layout and it was getting quite hot. I saw some dark substance on the road – oil – and saw a bike hit sudden brake and fall down. By instinct I too hit a sudden break and the bike skidded and we both fell down. Luckily nothing happened.




  4. Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500 cc- 2014 – ( with me still ). Mid life crisis! And REs are the solution. Got a 2nd hand bike from Bangalore – it had a MH number plate and I was in Mumbai that time. Rode it from Bang to Mumbai. Later would make one more Bang to Mumbai ride. After we got back to Bangalore it got stuck in paper work transfer. I found an agent and he was to transfer the papers and get a KA number plate. The bike got transferred but KA transfer didn’t happen. He has disappeared. My bike is in Tirisangu state now. Plan is to keep it for a few more years and mod it. This one will always stay with me. Has raw power and can feel the thump while riding. The feeling is Indescribable!

    But the brakes never gave confidence. So I would stay within 60-80. And touch wood – never had a fall in this one.



    [https://kvrlogs.me/2014/06/05/bangalore-to-mumbai-on-a-thunderbird-500cc-part-1/]

  5. Bajaj Avenger 220, 2018 – 2022. This was San’s first geared bike. She names her bikes – this was called FLG. ( Feels like God – the tag line of this bike ). Charu learnt bike riding on this.


  6. KTM Adventure 390, 2020 – 2024. This is like an SUV. Can take it anywhere. Goes really fast and stops like a full stop. Now that’s a “bike” bike!


    https://kvrlogs.me/2020/12/27/bit-by-the-bike-bug-again/

  7. Kawasaki Vulcan. 2022 – with us still. San’s first Super bike. After lot of analysis and Over thinking – finally San got this one. Now San was over hearing me tell Prithvi I am feeling a bit sad that I am without a bike, she said “Vulcan is yours” This is love guys 🙂 She is quite possessive of hers and she is giving me license to ride Vulcan.

    Till my next bike, Vulcan is going to be my Vaahaan for now.

So what am I eyeing next?

I started liking the adventure 390’s posture. Next few years I am going to live more in US. First have to get a motor cycle license there. Which will be hard in my visa status.

Triumph tiger is one I am impressed.

Honda Gold Wing – even though it’s more like a car. I am curious how this will be.

Harleys have always fascinated me.

In US I can rent bikes. Will not purchase and will get my yearly quota of riding done. One has to feed the soul.

Once I am back in India – mostly it will be an electric one. I love the idea of riding the Ultraviolette bike.

It is hard to keep KVR and a bike apart.

health, spirituality

My Morning Routine – 2024

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This is my ideal morning routine. If time permits.

  1. Bhuta Shuddhi

    Water has memory. I remember seeing a scientific experiment where they take 2 bowls of water. To one bowl they tell all positive things – you are amazing, you are happy etc. To another bowl they tell all negative things. Then they freeze it and after a few hours observe the water molecules – the one with the positive things all have beautiful patterns. The one with negative things are all messed up.

The first step of Bhuta Shuddhi, we hold a little water in the palm and tell a mantra 3 times. Then swallow it. I feel this consecrated water gets mixed up with my body’s existing water and also changes it for the better. We humans are 80% Water.

Then we swallow drumstick balls – in lieu of earth. First I thought these were sand from Vellingiri hills. When I had ordered these in US, they had revealed the ingredients. Sneaky 🙂

Then get to light the camphor and view it upclose. Great for the eyes at the beginning of the day.

Finally get to take deep breaths of the Camphor and finish it off with Ujjayi Breathe.

This is the ideal way to start a day.

When I am short of time I skip it. San when she is short of time does only this. She loves doing Bhuta Shuddhi.

How to learn : This is a course taught by Isha Hatha Yoga. Rs.2,100 – they give the Bhuta Shuddhi kit with this. 1.5 hours only.

2. Nadi Vibhajan

This is the preparatory Asana. Earlier I used to just rush through this, but I take my own sweet time to do each of the poses.

I tell myself, this is off-setting the 8-12 hours of sitting on the computer.

I have seen pilates videos – similar to these asanas – saying it’s good for spine, posture etc. Nadi Vibhajan poses are similar.

This is taught along with the Shambhavi course. I do it daily – since this is the first step before Shambhavi.

3. Eye Exercise

We were listening to the audio book of the biography of an American astronaut. He was bespectacled, but he went through some eye exercises to temporarily get 20/20 vision to qualify on some test.

After hearing that I thought – so my eye sight can be reversed or at least contained. I have short sight ( around 5 ) and long sight ( kicked in after I crossed 40 ). Now I wear expensive progressive lens and dread replacing them.

I came across this nice video from Vethanthri Maharishi – I stare into a computer and phone screen 14-16 hours a day – hoping this exercise should reverse it a bit or at least prevent my eye sight from deteriorating further.

Also I have read somewhere that when the eye sight shifts focus from left to right – the neurons do some kind of handshake between the 2 hemispheres – doing this daily is important – it keeps Alzheimers Dementia at bay apparently.

This one hardly takes 5 minutes. Have added this to my daily routine. Need not pay anything to learn this – the YouTube video below is enough.

4. Anga Mardhana

This was the most hardest yoga I had ever learnt. I would say this is like the Baap of all Yogas. Learning this is enough. No more yoga is needed.

The first time I did this I thought man – how will I ever remember it. There were so many steps to follow.

But Isha Hatha Yoga teachers have a way to drill it into your head. Even after 2-3 years since I learnt this I haven’t forgotten the sequence. And I do this occasionally. Last I did in September last year, then next in Feb 1st week this year.

I find it hard to pack this in every day – my goal is to do this once a week at least – on weekends.

The days I do it – I will feel as if my entire body has become extra flexible. Like rubber.

How to learn : Isha Hatha Yoga Rs.3,500 – it is a 4 day program, 3 hours each session.

5. Surya Kriya

This is the elder cousin to Surya Namaskar – slightly different, much slower but super powerful.

The first time I learnt I had loose motions! The body generates so much heat.

The teacher said please drink Tender Coconut, I was not paying attention and on the last day one of the participants said – oh you should have drank Tender Coconut.

I thought I had eaten something bad for the loose motion.

This is some powerful shit ( hehe ). Seriously.

I try to do this almost daily. It is not as demanding as Anga Mardhana – but it pumps your body with lot of energy for the day.

How to learn : Isha Hatha Yoga. Rs. 3,000. 4 days 2 hours each session.

5.5 Sushanti Meditation

At the end of Surya Kriya, I lie down in the best yoga pose of all – Shavasna – the corpse pose.

Then I do this Sushanti meditation where I take my focus to the energy points.

And I lose count and I restart from where I left out. Sometimes I do multiple times to resume the count.

The mind will keep drifting out and I have to bring it back – that’s how all meditation works.

It is very relaxing. Especially after the intensity which Surya Kriya brings.

6. Shambhavi Maha Mudhra – The Hero or rather Heroine of all!

Prior to Shambhavi I was following Art of Living’s Happiness Course – or Sudarshan Kriya. One problem I had was I needed the guidance for counts. Yes, I can do it myself without the aid but I would lose track and felt unsatisfied.

Luckily Shambhavi from beginning they encouraged to do without any guidance.

It is your preference – either Art of Living’s Happiness Course or Isha’s Inner Engineering – pick any one of them – both are super beneficial to your body and mind.

I had seen an old Chinese Chi Master teaches something similar to that in Shambhavi ( don’t recommend following instead learn Shambhavi from Isha itself ). These are powerful stuff, and if we do it the wrong way it might injure our spine etc.

Creating these vibrations in the body does something positive to the body and mind. Yep – I am not going to scientifically analyse, but I can feel the difference this does to my day.

Also I am reading a book called Pranayama – it talks about the triumvirate – Breathe,Mind and Body – have these 3 interchangeably become the Controller, Controlled and Controlling.

Pretty cool idea. Sometimes the Breathe is the controller, controlling the mind and the body gets controlled. Then the body can take over and control the breath and control the mind. Then the mind can take over and by controlling the body, control the breathe.

Shambhavi takes 20-25 minutes. I try not to miss Shambhavi – to me it is like brushing teeth daily. It takes years and years of practise to do this right and to reap its benefits.

Preparatory Asana, Anga Mardhana and Suriya Kriya – all these Yoga is to prepare the body and mind so one can do Shambhavi Perfectly.

The days I do Shambavi and the days I don’t do Shambavi – the difference is like day and night.

Thank you Sadhguru for teaching this to me / us. Ever grateful to you.

How to learn : Inner Engineering Rs.4,000. 7 online videos to watch before the day of initiation, then 2 days. 4 hours on day 1, 9.5 hours on day 2.

Worth every rupee of it.

My take on Shambavi : You might not believe in Sadhguru ( he is least bothered on what we mortals think of him 🙂 ) but learn this gift he has given us. Increasing the positive energy in the body and mind – automatically pushes out the negative stuff from our body and mind – and this allows us to do amazing things in life. And we can have a healthy successful life / career / relationship.

If Sadhguru is too “off-putting” then you can do Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Happiness course. Different set of Kriya – but similar effect.

Also the course fee- Rs.4,000. A Buffet in Whitefield will cost Rs.1,500 for one person. And in Buffets we are happy only for the first 15 minutes. After that we regret eating too much, regret paying the fat bill, regret rest of the day, regret the next day morning 🙂

I would say all the courses Isha charges are way too less.

6.5 Chakra Meditation

Shambhavi clears up the mind and makes it ready for meditation. The mind is nicely primed after Shambhavi – and now I have started doing Chakra meditation.

The point of yoga is to prepare one for meditation. Not long life or healthy living! That is the by-product.

I read a book – 5 Tibetans – he describes a routine like Surya Kriya – and he also spoke about meditation.

I have tried various meditations.

Had learnt TM – in college. Then learnt Shahaj Samadhi from Sri Sri’s Sister from Art of living. Last one I learnt was Heartfulness. I practise occasionally Sahaj – when I wake up in the middle of the night and try to go to sleep.

One problem with Sahaj is – I was given a bheeja mantra to bring back my mind after it starts wandering. And this Bheeja mantra that I got reminds me of a person who generates unpleasant feeling in me – and I have to fight it. Like they say – dont think of red apple and mind can’t just stop thinking of it.

Later I tried my hand at Heartfulness meditation. It is quite good – app is also there. And they ask you to use heartbeat for bringing back the mind.

Like Sushanti meditation – just need some node to come back to – otherwise let the mind freely wander. That’s all meditation is – from my learnings of so many techniques. It is quite simple.

I find Chakra meditation better as I get a sense of where I am during the meditation. Rest of them I do not get a sense of whether I just started meditation, or I am in the middle game or end game!

Here I know – ok, I have been in Manipura for quite sometime, let me move to the next one.

Chakra meditation asks you to focus on the 7 chakras.

Root Chakra – Muladhara

Sacral Chakra – Swadishtana

Solar Plexus Chakra – Manipura

Heart Chakra – Anahata

Throat Chakra – Visudha

Third Eye Chakra – Ajna

Crown Chakra – Sahasrara

Goal of meditation – according to me – is to give the mind a free run to do its thinking. Give it a full playing field – let it play its heart out. Good thoughts, Bad thoughts, Happy thoughts, Unhappy thoughts – all will come in full force. Hear them out. Then the mind will settle. Ok this guy is listening to me – and these thoughts will not be a burden anymore.

7. Shanmukhi Mudhra

I have been suffering from Tinnitus from my child hood. It’s a ringing in my ear that I hear constantly. It gets worse when I have cold – and I become partially deaf. I have got punishment in school because I did not hear the teacher’s instruction properly.

Shanmukhi Mudra is supposed to cure Tinnitus the marketing material said. I signed up. It hardly takes 5 minutes. This is to be done as the last routine. Also I should give a 7 day break after doing this every 21 days.

And I keep skipping this – sometimes I feel I am doing my morning routine way too long and skip. I am not consistent – Tinnitus is still there – perhaps it is kept at bay. Have to get consistent with this.

How to learn : Isha Hatha Yoga, Rs.1,000. 1.5 hours 1 session.

This is the order in which I learnt all these tools

2015 – Sudarshan Kriya ( but stopped practising )

2017 – Shambhavi MahaMudra

2019 – Bhuta Shuddhi and Shanmukhi Mudra

2020 – Anga Mardhana

2021 – Suriya Kriya

2023 – Eye Exercise

Without Anga Mardhana it takes an hour to do my routines.

With Anga Mardhana – She-bang as I call it – it takes 2 hours. This day – whatever problem I am working gets resolved. Guaranteed. Have seen it every time I have done a She-bang

Makes me super human 🙂

What Next?

I have almost learnt all the courses Isha has to offer in their satellite centres – in Whitefield.

I have been wanting to do Shunya for a very long time. But I have to go Ashram for this and be cut off from the world for 4 days. Once I even registered and paid but could not go. This gets filled up immediately in Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore. Perhaps I might do it in US, Tennessee centre this year.

health

Cardiovascular Snapshot at 47

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I will be 47 next month. Here is a snapshot of my vitals.

I use Apple Watch and the below measurements are from that.

My Cardiovascular fitness is very poor. Below Average in fact.

  1. VO2 Max : 29.7.

This is Low. Rock bottom – as per Health app.

2. Cardio Recovery : 24BPM

Couldn’t find enough material on how apple has computed this and how I can interpret.

3. Resting heart rate : 70 BPM

I have High Blood Pressure ( 130/90 ) – haven’t measured in a while.

MENS RESTING HEART RATE CHART
AGE18 -2526 -3536 -4546 – 5556 -6565+
ATHLETE49-5549-5450-5650-5751-5650-55
EXCEL’T56-6155-6157-6258-6357-6156-61
GOOD62-6562-6563-6664-6762-6762-65
ABOVE AV66-6966-7067-7068-7168-7166-69
AVERAGE70-7371-7471-7572-7672-7570-73
BELOW AV74-8175-8176-8277-8376-8174-79
POOR82+82+83+84+82+80+

Resting Heart Rate for WOMEN
Age18-2526-3536-4546-5556-6565+
Athlete54-6054-5954-5954-6054-5954-59
Excellent61-6560-6460-6461-6560-6460-64
Good66-6965-6865-6966-6965-6865-68
Above Average70-7369-7270-7370-7369-7369-72
Average74-7873-7674-7874-7774-7773-76
Below Average79-8477-8279-8478-8378-8377-84
Poor85+83+85+84+84+84+

4. Hang test : 30 seconds. Way lower.

“…males to the standard of two minutes, and females to a minute and half…at the age of forty!”

5. Heart Rate Variability : 30ms. Ideal should be 35ish.

So what next for me?

  1. Increase my Vo2 Max. I have started doing HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training – once a week for 30 minutes. Apple Watch has this option.
  2. Have to take lot of stairs. Back in Bangalore – our office is in 5th floor ( vehicle parking is -2 : 7 floors if I take stairs), Home is in 4th floor ( 3rd floor, vehicle parking is -1 ). Currently in Dallas since we work out of home and hardly there are any stairs to take. I think my Vo2 Max will not improve.
  3. Have to carry weight. There is something called Farmer’s carry – fill 2 bags with heavy weights and walk around the home.
  4. Continue Hanging. Will try to add 1-2 seconds more hang time every week. Have to take it up to a minute somehow.
  5. More runs. Will target daily 10k.
  6. Will start Pushups and planks.
  7. Will start skipping after I get back to India.
  8. I have weights back home – will add to my routine.

Let me post my numbers after 6 months. Apr 2024. Let’s see if I have improved on the above numbers.

MokkaiCartoons

The Uneducated Sufi

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Sufi never once licked us – the most common thing all dogs do to show their affection.

Sufi was born in a lab and never had her mother’s affection. This common trait in all dogs is missing in Sufi and is one of the things that makes her unique!

I have made this joke so many times at Sufi’s expense. She doesn’t mind. She loves us and we love her.

Ahem.. if you haven’t got it – Lick sounds like Likh – in Hindi to write.

Bad Punn.
Mokkai.
I am not Sorry 🙂

MokkaiCartoons

The Poisoned Boli

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This was before the Vaali play began ( The play was spelled Bali – they had bengalisized the word ). The play was about Rama killing Bali by hiding behind a tree and shooting an arrow to kill Bali. What if Rama did not chose an arrow – but a poisoned Boli?

MokkaiCartoons

The Missing Sink

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I enjoy making really Mokkai ( banal, PJ ) observations.

These are not really a “joke” joke – it is an emerging yet to be named art form which Chatgpt cannot create.

It is up to me to save humanity.

Here is my attempt at linking my 2 passions – making mokkai observations and drawing terrible cartoons – introducing Mokkai Cartoons.

Here is the first one – The missing sink

We had gone to Rangashankara to watch a play ( a mokkai play called Baali ) – before show started P and I went to the washroom.

This happened there.

The infamous Meme by Elon Musk “Let that sink in”. I patted Prithvi for the quick mokkai addition – the fruit does not fall far from the tree!

india

Metro @ Whitefield finally

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It took forever – may be 5 years?

But finally – this coming Saturday – May 25th 2023 – Metro is going to be thrown open at Whitefield.

From Kadugodi to KR Puram. The critical KR Puram to Byappanahalli will take June/July – but I am ok to wait – we have waited all these years.

Every time I go to Dubai I will be jealous of their Metro System.

In December I was there for 10 days – and not once I took taxi. Did go around a bit – we even went to the Dubai Library – it was a long walk from Metro station though.

Now – soon – things will be the same here.

For the nearest Metro station – SAP labs – I have to do a 900m walk, then take a bus – 335E and 500 series – 4 stops. Then I can go anywhere in Bangalore.

Just love this freedom – and guilt free travel – without polluting too much nor adding to the traffic woes of Bangalore.

Come March 27th – Monday – I will go to office in Metro – for the first time in India. Have done it in Chicago ( not metro exactly – it was a suburban train ), and in Dubai.

Me happy!

spirituality

My daily routine now – 2023

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Finally I seem to have hit a consistent routine. It all started with me learning another yoga bit – Suriya Kriya in Dec 2022 – a variation of Suriya Namaskar – but more like a moving meditation than yoga.

I start my day around 4 to 4:30ish – by lighting lamps to the Gudi – an Yantra we had got for my sister from Isha Coimbatore, and then handed over for temporary safe keeping by Charu to me.

Then I start with Bhutta Shuddhi. To cleanse the five elements. Has lighting camphor and doing deep Ujjain breathing.

Then I do the preparatory asanas – Flutter, Cradle your baby pose,Cat pose. Simple stretches – to prepare the spine.

Then I do Anga Mardhana. Series of Asanas – brutal in a few places – has the heart beat going up some 2/3 times – and ending with savasaana – it will be like ice cream after an hour walk in the hot sun. This takes some 45 minutes – so if time is short ( I wake up late ) I skip this.

Then I do Suriya Kriya – the latest addition to my arsenal. It looks so simple – but just injects so much energy into the system – keeps me fully ON till I go to sleep.

It will be around 6:10ish.. I take a break to say bye to Prithvi – his bus leaves as 6:30 am.

Then I continue – now I do Shambhavi Maha Mudra. The Main Course This Kriya is taught by Sadhguru and doing just this one is enough – if not we do anything else. Is very powerful.

Starts with a simple alternate nostril breathing – or – pranayama, then Oam Kara sound and some flutter breathing and finally bandha locks – its an experience to be felt – 20-25 minutes.

Then I do Shanmukhi Mudra. This is the brahmari – in the marketing material of Isha it said it will help reduce Tinnitus – I signed up – Could be it is effective – not sure.. but I read this targets the pineal gland – this guy is the main controller of all other glands in the body – so why not?

And I am done.

Anga Mardhana I have just added last week, but since December have been consistently doing Suriya Kriya along with Shambhavi.

Almost daily – but here and there I drop it when I am traveling or some weekends when I am just too lazy.

The effect has been startling – like day and night. Almost zero anger. And the mood is very stable.

Yesterday – for no reason was exuberant.

Immediate next step – to continue Anga Mardhana. It is not easy – takes more time – but the effect is really good.

Next step – sign up for Shoonya – I have learned almost everything I can learn outside Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore. Shoonya is available only there. 4 day residential course.

Here is the life story of a speck

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