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I didn’t have much plans for the new year’s eve and the only places that were open for party in Chandigarh were either discotheques or high-end restaurants. As the open DJ night in sector 17 got wrapped up early, I had no certainty about what I’ll do at midnight. I was suggested to go home and sleep peacefully, but that didn’t sound exciting at all.

I decided to celebrate the new year at my friend’s place and left with him after having dinner. We went to the nearby shop, bought some fruit juice and shared a South-Indian dish(Images in gallery). When we got to his place, his four flat-mates were already there and were watching an award distribution show on TV.
It was 11.30 pm when we got this idea to get pastries, and thus we left on our bikes to search for a place to buy them at this hour of night. Finally we found an open shop and reached back home well before midnight. Just when the minute and hour hands of the clock were coming closer we started dancing. Slowly it gained the momentum and reached its height during the final count down. We continued to dance for another half an hour.

Just when we were sharing jokes, one of them asked me to tell him when I go on my next motorcycle trip. I straight away said, “If you are interested in a trip, why don’t we leave now?”. I suggested all of them to get on their bikes and leave for Patiala to eat the well-known “rajendra ke paranthe”. After much ado, finally the two of us decided to go on our own even though we were redundantly warned about the drunk drivers and strict police.

We wore the jackets, took our back-packs and started off on separate bikes. Just when we were about to take a turn towards Patiala, I stopped my fellow rider and asked him, “Why don’t we go to Shimla instead? road to Patiala is not that fun.” He thought about the weather, speculated the chances of frost bite but finally gave in. We got on the Himalayan highway and after riding a few miles I told my friend that I need to get some petrol as my bike was already running on the reserved fuel. It took us 3 U-turns, 6 closed petrol pumps, about 10 extra miles and a whole one hour to finally get the petrol filled.
After that we took just one stop which was much-needed as our hands were aching because of the cold. We had some tea, shared one ‘parantha’ and continued our journey. All this time, we were riding past the drunkards who were probably coming back from Shimla after celebrating new year. Some of them parked their cars on the roads, played loud music and were dancing with liquor bottles in their hands. There was a lot of traffic from the other side and I had to open my helmet’s visor so that the high beams didn’t affect my vision. This made riding even more difficult as I now had to bear the cold air on my face.

We finally reached Shimla at 4 am and roamed on the Mall road while clicking pictures. There was not even a single soul there, and it was indeed a unique experience to find peace on those roads which were known for their hustle and bustle. After walking through both the upper and lower Mall Road we finally found a shop open where tea was being prepared. We also ordered some buns with butter which turned out to be one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever had.

We left from Shimla at around 6.30 am and reached back in about 3 hours, as we drove fast through the curves and turns while enjoying the empty roads and magnificent views.

 

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I am writing this post to describe the word “speedoholic” which I started using long time back. While creating online accounts dedicated to motorcycling I needed an alias, and that is when this word came into picture. After realizing that my twitter handle need not be my name, the only word that I could think of was speedoholic. Though you will find it’s meaning in the Urban Dictionary it is still not a proper dictionary word.
I gave this definition to myself because it was really hard for me to drive slow as a teenager. Even today I can not promise that I won’t get another adrenaline rush and start speeding through.
I have been through accidents, I have claimed insurances and I have broken my bones. But I have been addicted to this thrill and the only thing that scared me is that I may hurt someone who wasn’t expecting any such fortuity. Though I always knew this fact, I never tried to understand it truly. There’s always been a counter question, “Even crossing a road is risky, then should we simply stay on our side of the road?”

I may be capable of driving fast without causing any accidents because of MY own mistake, but I also know that driving safe is going to cut the chances of accidents that are caused by the mistakes of OTHERS. Someone told me that one should never expect other people on road to be driving in the right way. One of the reasons being that most of the licenses that are issued are claimed to be made illegally without conducting any tests. Moreover there are vehicles like tractors, drivers under the influence of alcohol and we can’t keep slapping every other pudding head on the road.

I am able to write this post with a changed perspective because I have driven below 50 kmph since two weeks already. The reason at first was to make sure that the newly installed piston can correspond with the engine.

Anthony working on the engine

I had to get the engine work done just after 29K kilometers because the engine oil leaked out during one of my long rides.
After riding with the experienced bikers like DBBR and Free Souls I am confident about driving with composure. As for pure thrill, I have found other means of living it and I would only do stunts at a place which is meant for them.

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I bought a pair of canvas shoes for attending the SSB interview but I couldn’t find much use of them later. Thus I decided to experiment with them.
I started off with some pencil markings and made a rough design and then used water colors to get it done.
Click on any of these images to use the gallery:

They look good to me and are working fine with their color as is.

Reference:
http://www.refinery29.com/diy-canvas-shoes

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I have always loved the concept of mountain biking and with the increasing concern for environment, green biking has become popular.

Today while chatting with a colleague at I.T. park I came to know that he has been using an MTB to commute to the office. I had noticed a few more cyclists in Chandigarh before but I hadn’t got a chance to commune with any. After learning the gear shifts, I had a quick test ride in the parking lot and got amazed with its performance. The disc brakes were good enough to perform a rookie stoppie which prompted my idea of buying an MTB. Though I am not a fan of roadster bikes, if you give me a proper MTB I might even ditch my motorcycle. I won’t just be saving my fuel money but would also become a part of  the green family of futurists without letting go of my passion for thrill.

P.S.: As I have just started off with my professional life, I would like to plan more before investing.

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Just watched another Korean movie called “Castaway on the moon”. A very insightful movie indeed.

We often come across incidents when people lock themselves in a room and cut off from the society. What leads us to think like that? Even animals like birds like to stay in a group, then how can a human being want to be alone? After all, man is called a social animal.

I started by looking into my own thought process. Of course I don’t like being alone but there are times when I just need my space. I tried thinking about the reasons and I couldn’t come up with one that is justifiable. Maybe the mind gets so confiscated that it starts asking for a vacation. But our mind never stops working, so even when we are trying to sleep or just doing nothing, we are thinking about one thing or the other. Which makes me wonder, can we really give our mind a rest by meditation? I have tried meditating, but I could never reach the state when my mind stops questioning. No matter how hard I try to keep my eyes closed and relax, it doesn’t work that way for me.

Coming back to the recluse thing, many of us are already moving towards this lifestyle without even knowing it. It’s natural for us to stay busy with our work and ignore the society. This habit of ignoring then becomes a way of living. For instance, we may stop greeting people, first due to lack of time and later because we just don’t find it comfortable. We get so busy making friends on social networks that we forget how to make new friends in real life. We are so scared of getting duped that we can’t risk to pass a smile to a stranger. This is why I have created a poll:

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then probably you like a recluse life.

But one is not born thinking like that. It is what the society makes of us and what we make of the society. People may accept us or cast away, we may adjust with them or just run away. Just something we need to figure out.

You can watch the movie with english subtitles here:

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

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I always believed that kids are supposed to be naggy and spending time with them means dealing with their cries and piss. But this notion got completely changed when I volunteered for Aashayein foundation with the help of Vidwan.
Me and my senior Mr. Ashish Batra met at Sri Sri Bal Vidyalaya primary school for underprivileged kids situated near the BSNL exchange in RDC, Ghaziabad. He debriefed me about the cultural fest called “Khushi Ke Rang” we were supposed to organize. As we had only 2 days to prepare the head mistress was kind of charged up on us, but I later realized that it was just her way of getting the work done fast. While she continued to hasten us, we maintained our cool and took care of all the arrangements one by one. The children had already prepared some of the performances which included songs, western and cultural dances. We analyzed their performances and decided the schedule so.

I got so mixed up with the kids that I started teaching them some dance steps by myself. It was an amazing experience as they were very obedient and worked hard until they got it right.  Just while I was showing them one of the masculine steps, a boy did a cart wheel right out of the blue. I was stunned because he was hardly 7 years old. Soon I realized that there was not just one but about 10 boys who could easily do this stunt flawlessly. To the addition of my amazement a girl did a cart wheel and then 2 more showcased this skill. Watching these little kids do it so easily, I thought that India has really got some talent.

On the day of event, about 12 more volunteers came to the school to become a part of the fest. Each volunteer was assigned about 5 kids with whom they interacted and helped them during the drawing competition. We were dazzled by the marvelous drawings that these kids were making with utmost brilliance. All the drawing material was provided to the kids which was later donated to the school.

The kids were filled with joy and were very anxious to perform on the stage. After all the performances, the stage was declared open for dance. The kids who couldn’t perform earlier were patiently waiting for this moment and grabbed the opportunity in no time. The volunteers were also dragged on stage by the kids who were eager to copy each of their steps. Lunch and drinks were then distributed as the kids made a disciplined row on their own.
Another example of such discipline was noticed by me when one of the kids spilled his lunch. Normally a kid of that age would start crying or just start playing with it. But instead he got up, brought a broom and cleaned the mess on his own. I guess the hardships in their lives teach them to rely on themselves. This incident touched my heart and made me more sure about staying involved with the social work. Just imagine what these kids can do if only their basic requirements are fulfilled.

All in all this was a wonderful experience and I loved spending time with the kids.

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I created this video while unboxing my first smart phone i.e. Motorola Defy Plus:

I had done a lot of research before buying this product from flipkart and finally decided to go for it because of its ruggedness.  Though it lacks a front camera, it is not much of an issue for me as I am not interested in video chats.

As for the specifications, I am quite satisfied because it announces something called ‘value for money’. 2GB of internal memory ensures that I can try enough applications from the android market (Called Google Play); without looking for other storage measures. Within the first week only I had installed about 50 new applications on this phone and experimenting with them was all I could think of even during my dreams.(Kinda exaggerated)

Five mega pixel camera is enough to take clear shots in day light; but even with an LED flash, the shots taken in dark are not that impressive. You can have a look at some of the pictures taken by me at http://instagrid.me/kushalashok

It being water and scratch resistant has been quite helpful as I don’t treat it with much respect. In fact I have dropped it so many times that I sometimes wonder, how come it’s still working fine. The reason behind is its light weight and adequate size; which makes it a perfect tool to be circumvolved within my hand, with the help of my fingers and palm. (will probably post a tutorial video about the same later)

If you didn’t believe me when I  specified I bought it coz of it’s ruggedness, than these videos might help:

I haven’t tried 3G yet but the internet speed has been quite satisfactory with minor upload delays. Tried out WiFi once and updated all my applications within an hour. This was also the time when I watched 3 movies back to back while streaming them online on this device. The earphones are of good quality and will work fine until you decide to do something like what I did; crushing them under your feet(accidentally of course) or trying to pull them out when you are wearing a helmet. (By the way, I fixed them with feviquick and they are now working just as fine)

Related articles

• Motorola DEFY MINI Arrives in Ireland via Vodafone (news.softpedia.com)
• Motorola Updates Ice Cream Sandwich Roll Out Schedule (itproportal.com)
• Google says it won China’s approval for Motorola deal (reuters.com)
• How to install Cyanogenmod 7 (android 2.3 gingerbread) on Motorola defy (newtechworld.net)
• Rugged Motorola DEFY+ Now Available in the UAE (news.softpedia.com)
• Review: Motorola Defy+ (stuffmideast.com)

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I haven’t been using my laptop since the last 4 months and thus I forgot the administrator log-in password. Luckily I had created a guest account using which I logged in and started looking for ways by which I could recover my password. Initially I came across a few methods that involve running a command prompt, but these methods required me to be logged in as one of the administrators.

After going through some YouTube  videos I finally came across the following:

This video gives you a complete demonstration about how you can use a bootable  cd to clear the administrator password.

You don’t need to install any software while you are logged in.

1. Simply download the .zip file by following the link specified in the video description.
2. Unzip the folder to get the .iso image.
3. Use this image to write a CD using any CD burning software.
4. Reboot the system and change the primary boot device to CD ROM.
5. When you leave the BIOS settings after saving them, you will be able to boot the CD which will direct you to the DOS mode.
6. Rest is well demonstrated in the video.

This method worked like a charm and this is why I am writing this blog post to make a record of the same and probably help other users to work around their forgotten passwords.

So even if you don’t have a Guest account and your system is completely locked, you can buy a blank CD and visit your friend; or just go to any cyber cafe and follow the above procedure to make your magic CD. Just don’t forget to watch the video before you start with the process; otherwise you might end up like a magician being stuck in his magic closet.

P.S.: You can also opt for a bootable flash drive but that generally involves installing a software which is not allowed in a guest account.