The bullet misses him but does draw blood at the tip of the ear.
And a photographer is right there to capture the shot with a pump fist and an American flag at the background.
No – I am not saying any conspiracy theory here.
But I am awe struck by the amount of luck / good stars Donal Trump has.
It is not over.
He has numerous cases against him. The documents case, the New York tax evasion case, and not to forget the rioting he caused on Jan 6th, 2020 – nothing touched him.
And he won the 2nd term.
I am just appalled.
Like how Adnan Sami sang in his song – Lift Karadae song – divert some luck to us too! I am asking ooper wallah – look at us too a bit!
How can one man – Donald Trump – win once again against all odds stacked against him.
And it does not stop. A totally rational, engineer, scientific tempered man like Elon Musk – sides with Trump. But doesn’t stop there. Uses Twitter and all the power he has – to get Trump elected.
What is going on God! What message are you telling us? Life is unfair – suck it up and get on with our life?
So it is ok for some to have all the luck?
Poda God I am disappointed in you. How much good Karma should Trump done in his past lives – for having this amazing run in this life time!
Anyway – I hope Trump changes the world for the better.
Brings an end to the wars going on.
Finds ever lasting peace in Middle East.
Elon Musk manipulates Trump to accelerate clean energy and EVs in US and brings down the Global Warming temperature by a few degrees
And NASA partners with Elon Musk and focusses on sending humans to Mars and starts a civilisation there.
2 marks answer : My next bike is a Honda Highness. Named Teesta.
10 marks answer :
Last I left the story with me giving away the keys of my KTM Adventure 390.
Then the leaving the country did not happen. That is another story in itself!
And I was left without a bike. What sacrilege.
Now and then I tried riding San’s Vulcan but I was not happy. The cruiser riding position was not to my liking. Also being a super bike I have to take extra care to park and keep an eye where I park – what if it gets towed or something.
First Stop – Triumph
I started my YouTube research. And it was full of Triumph videos. “Speed” and just released “Scrambler 400”.
I liked the Scrambler specs. It was more closer to Adventure 390. However the height was still a bother. It was only 20mm less than my Adventure 390.
One Saturday morning we went to checkout the Scrambler at Mahadevpura, Whitefield Showroom. Morning I was riding San’s Vulcan for a few chores. I got the test ride vehicle and immediately felt deflated. It was similar to getting on the Adventure 390 – I had to tip toe a bit, and the bike had no soul. Shouldn’t have compared with Vulcan perhaps.
Next time on the road you watch these old 150cc bikes. There will be a zhzhzhzhh kind of sound made by the loose chain. I felt something similar.
Both bikes looked really nice. However the looks did not translate to the ride. Perhaps they should have maintained the test ride vehicle better.
I loved the Green Scrambler’s looks.
Second Stop – Kawasaki, Whitefield
This is where San gets her Vulcan serviced. They did not have a single test ride vehicle – only the customer’s vehicles. I wanted to look at the Eliminator but they didn’t not have any.
San wanted me to sit on the Ninja 300. I did as per the Hukum but did not like the posture one bit.
Third – Non Stop – Royal Enfield Whitefield
I went back to YouTubing and Team BHP.
Looks like I was spoilt with the Power and Torque of Adventure 390. I should stick to higher CCs and twin cylinders. And San said you shouldn’t downgrade.
Super Meteor 650 CC was poking my eyes. It was less than 5L and looked gorgeous. The YouTube videos I saw did not give me confidence – has got lot of style and oomph but the brake pads getting worn off quickly, some loose bits here and there – etc. are still there with RE. Decided to overlook.
Though it had a cruiser stance – the feet were not as far ahead like Vulcan – I thought let me take a test ride and decide.
We both had gone for a mid-week vazhkai pirachanai chat at a coffee shop ( we sometimes take time out to specifically discuss our work life etc. keeps us sane ) – and return I wanted to stop at RE. However I overshot the shop and we had to take a mega U Turn – the Whitefield traffic flow is the 8th Wonder of the world. We dropped the idea saying let’s come back on weekend. And we never went.
Fourth Stop – Kawasaki Lavelle Road.
I thought – perhaps I should test ride a Ninja 300.
I have felt Kawasaki’s engine – via Vulcan – it is a lovely piece of engineering. It’s a joy to ride a well engineered machine.
Also Ninja 300 falls under Sports Tourer.
Something about my preference : I don’t do office commutes and I hate riding in City. I love the highways and long rides. I still nurse the ambition to do a solo cross country trip. I want the bike to support me there.
The only test ride vehicle they had was for the Ninja 300. It is a 8 year old design, manufactured only in India – for India market – so the price is kept around 3L – and was within my budget. But this bike was poorly maintained.
There was no soul, life, power – nothing. I had to twist the throttle so much to get the bike moving. And I didn’t like the race bike stance one bit.
We did some window shopping. Eliminator looked nice but I felt Vulcan is much better. Ninja 500 was just released – there was one on display. Looked bigger, seat height was ok – but it was touching 8Lakhs + and they didn’t have an Engine guard. Because they do not manufacture in India and it is imported. The accessories are expected by end of year. Imagine getting this and dropping the machine – or you have parked somewhere and some car hits your bike.
I knew I didn’t want any of these bikes.
Fifth and Final Stop – Honda Big Wing
At this point I was a tad bit disappointed. Just wish they made Adventure 390 a little less taller.
However, they cannot – for the purpose of off-roading the ground clearance has to be kept high.
I had read about Honda’s NX 500. Even though I was not planning to get one I thought let me at least get a test ride since we had come to Bangalore city.
They had NX 500 but it had gone for a test ride. Also the Sales rep said waiting time is till Feb 25!
The downer was this was fully imported. So it was north of 7Lakhs.
They had parked a bunch of CB 350s. Including Highness. I decided to give a shot at Highness.
The moment I sat on it I knew – this is it. I did not even had to ride it. The stance height everything was perfect.
The bike felt so light to straddle.
The horn and indicator switches were a bit off. But the speedometer was round and neat.
It was a perfect Bangalore day. Weather was hovering in the 24s, the test ride too me into Cubbon park – a nice long stretch and could touch 5th gear.
The bike was silky smooth. The clutch was very light. Gear changes were like clicking a mouse.
I had made up my mind.
But San wanted me to try the bigger CB 350. I took it for a spin but my mind was made up on the Highness.
Made the payment via UPI the next few days – to a total of 2.8 Lakhs including accessories. Next Saturday went and picked up the bike.
With me is Pavan. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. He explained how Slipper clutch worked.
That’s the story of Teesta!
Why Teesta. When we went to Sikkim we made a promise. We will be back with our bikes and ride them all the way to the source of Teesta.
First PayTM bites dust. Listed at 2000, and now hovering around 950.
I was really disappointed seeing such loss making startups being celebrated. Something in me doesn’t allow me to accept these loss makers.
The founders have to sell their soul to the investors. Dance to their tunes. Take the wrong unethical moves.
This brings me to Facebook. Initially to gain traction Facebook did all the wrong moves.
You upload a photo – by default it is on to the world – thereby getting more people to login to snoop on others.
Once they got the critical mass they started selling the users data to Advertisers – and over night ( ok over a period of years ) – FB became one of the key go to places for advertisers to grab attention.
Then FB started selling to the politicians – to peddle their philosophies. Donald Trump is one – who rode the Social Network wave – encouraging conspiracy theories and other nonsense.
FB kept minting money all along.
FB swooped and took over all competitors – Whatsapp, Instagram.
Data. Data. Data.
Was it ethical. Questionable. But they built a trillion dollar business on this idea.
And now FB bit dust – their stock has tanked. Partly because of Apple turning in the privacy screws, partly because of their growth tanking – thanks to TikTok and also might be Social media fatigue.
I hope the investment thesis of these rich PEs change. Can they not use their investment money for good causes.
Instead of funding more and more not so essential ideas – like 10 minute grocery delivery for instance.
Instead can’t the investors fund startups which is making the world a happy cleaner place to live in.
Are there enough problems? Yes.
Are there enough problems that when solved can give good returns? Yes.
Are there enough problems where humans are willing to spend their entire lifetime? Yes.
Are investors to be blamed? Yes and No.
Are consumers to be blamed? Yes and No. When consumers do not have a good alternative, yes they will go for the evil startup – So in this case I will say no. But if there is a better alternative – and still they chose to go with the evil one ( because it is free ) – yes consumers are to be blamed.
This brings me to another question. How much money is enough?
1 Crore?
An open heart surgery will cost some 10Lakhs lets say.
A stomach cancer treatment + care etc. will cost – 20 Lakhs?
A vacation in Japan lets say – 10Lakhs?
Still there is enough money to spare. Of course you should buy a 3BHK – there should be a permanent address where no one can evict you.
A car – yes. A bike – yes.
Beyond all this – amassing crores of rupees is really not necessary. Unless the crores are spent on worthy startups and causes.
Am I pissed off seeing the kind of advises doled out in Shark Tank India – yes. Am I pissed off seeing the kind of drama that is happening in BharatPe kind of startups – yes.
It distracts us from the real goal of creating a better loving world.
Enough I tell. Enough of startups which are there to just push Ads – and not create any value.
Amazon – yes. Like the convenience of ordering stuff I dont find in the neighbourhood.
Zomato/Swiggy – not so much. I can always walk and order stuff from my neighbourhood.
BBInstant – yes. When we are short of stuff I can go and pick from our Apartment Entrance.
I respect this gentleman. Of course I had made fun of him when he had come to play IPL – I felt bad for him – He a pure cricketer getting himself corrupted with the IPL’s crassness.
Now Rahul Dravid has acted in a Cred Ad. He is calling himself the Indranagar ka Gunda. Sigh.
Why will Rahul Dravid sully his name? This reminds me of 2 other Gentlemen.
Vishwanathan Anand
Once a memory pill company approached him to promote their product. Vishy said, let me try your pills for a month and see if there is any difference. He did find improvement in his memory and then he accepted to promote the Memory pill.
Rajinikanth
He just does not come in any advertisements. The only one he has come is in an Ad by Doordarshan to promote polio drops.
But it is stupid of me to expect Rahul Dravid from saying no. He has acted in Pepsi commercials and what nots – peddling sugar drinks to kids. He never had a remorse like Amitabh Bhalchan.
All are having a laugh – Dear Rahul – they are laughing at you. Please stop it. I don’t know what your bank balance is – you have other better ways of improving it – use your clean image for the good. Do not let it get kicked around – because once your clean gentlemanly image is sullied – you will never get the clean image back.
Like the Good safe driving you used to promote – now who will believe you tell me?
This photo is circulating over linked in and Twitter since last week.
I was least surprised. I follow Entrackr and daily they send 3 startup’s news. One of them will be the financial breakdown of these heavily funded companies.
What surprised me was – the Aam junta were taken back by surprise. Many could not believe their eyes. They were asking for the poster for the source of this information – as if it was fake news.
Dunzo is a classic example. Many in Bangalore have used it and love dunzo. But they never think if it is a sustainable business. It will never be.
Uber – the one who started it all has publicly stated that they will never be profitable. I just checked – they listed at 42$ and now at 58$.
Perhaps the loss doesn’t matter anymore? Tomorrow Zomato is going IPO. Till now Indian stock markets rewarded profitable companies and punished loss making ones.
Perhaps the trend will change? Zomato’s stock price will go up and it will be kept there by punters and MF companies. The rest in the list will join – and they will just be played around via speculation – while these companies continue to make loses.
“Cred” being the first in list, got ridiculed a lot and Kunal Shah the founder of Cred got angry and posted this
That was yesterday. Today news was in news because they had raised $200 million at a valuation of $2.2Billion from $800 Million.
Now this wants me to ask a fundamental question – how much of this money is “theory” like bitcoin! If we add up all the money in the world – will it translate to the gold held in each country?
No?
If so – what is the multiple then? That is lets say – if US holds 100 Trillion Gold bars lets say – the total dollar money in the world = 10000 Trillion – so a multiple of 100.
What is the multiple if we add INR, Yen, Yuan etc.? Wouldn’t it be an astronomical number?
Anyway – there is too much paper money – in fact I don’t think there is paper money – it is all digital. Just like bitcoin. The $s are all digital.
The VC companies get their money from LPs.
The LPs get their money from other returns from VC investments
The returns from VC investments are obtained when VCs get an exit
And this has mushroomed bigger and bigger – perhaps the initial investment did start with some paper money.
I am just too brain fried right now. I am not an economist. I do not understand this angle of startups.
I believe in plain vanilla business. See a problem, create a solution, sell the solution, ask money for it, sell, support, rinse, repeat.
