A great article for those interested in the Enfield Bullet ! Check out when time permits. Might explain why guys like me still ride the Bullet Inspite of all the negatives that naysayers can shoot at it....
What’s bigger than the Bullet? - Swami Ashwinananda Friday, November 07, 2003

Seemingly innocent question, teenaged boy on a bicycle, small dusty village on NH 45. And considering I was on an RE 500, I smiled confidently and replied ‘nothing else in the country’! Little did I know I was being set up to be knocked down. The young chap had been strolling around my bike as I enjoyed the customary ‘chai’ at a local tea shop, his casual air of disinterest thinly concealing the gleam of admiration in his eyes. My answer was met with a disdainful smirk. ‘I saw a foreigner on a Yamaha last week. That was much bigger. He told me they’re going to make it in India. 1200 cc, and it was sooo (he stretched his arms out as far as they would go) big. When I'm old enough, that’s what I’m going to ride’. He gave my bike one last look out of the corner of his eye, then pedaled away nonchalantly on his creaky bicycle. Many kilometers down the road, and alone with my thoughts on the highway, I pondered his question. It was the classic mental pivot. Both ridiculously simplistic and unbelievably deep at the same time.

‘What’s bigger than the Bullet?’

In the old days, people bought a Bullet not because of displacement, size or weight, but for very different reasons. It was the ‘Raja Gadi’. The choice of real men. At least that was the picture Bullet advertising painted then, and a vivid and colourful picture it was, best viewed with the ‘Bullet meri jaan’ jingle playing in your head.

Then about 15 years ago, the Jap Bike wars started. First there were the hundreds, then later the one-tens, the one-fifties, the one-seventy-fives… each claiming to deliver more power and ‘better mileage’, if that’s even possible at the same time, than the other. Buzz boxes abounded, tiddlers screamed manically on every street, and on another road far from where these marketing, R&D and advertising wars were being fought, the Grand Daddy of them all chugged steadily towards the brink of oblivion.

Recently though, there seems to be have been a revival of sorts, at first glance, rather heartening to a die-hard British motorcycle enthusiast like me. It seems as though more people are waking up from their Jap drone-induced stupor, and noticing that there was always a bike that was ‘bigger’ than the plastic clad Jappos available in the country.

Suddenly, one sees many young, macho, iron pumping, testosterone charged, leather clad gentlemen on Bullets. Not just the new-fangled ones, but some even on bikes a tad older than they are. Heartened by this turn of events, I accosted one recently, and asked him why he had chosen to ride a Bullet. My eager curiosity was met by a flat and fake-accented answer. ‘Who wants to buy a 180 cc when there’s a 535 cc available maan. It’s the biggest bike in India!’

I smiled thinly, shook his hand, and walked away thinking to myself ‘maybe the Bullet did manage to stop before it got all the way to oblivion. But it’s probably just standing there teetering at the brink.’

There’s a reason for my pessimism. Viewed from the cubic capacity perspective, the BHP perspective, the wheelbase and weight perspective, the ‘sheer size’ perspective or the advertising budget perspective, there will soon be many, many contenders to the position of Biggest Motorcycle in India. Which means that our testosterone-charged gentleman would buy one of them the moment it shows up on the market (attractively priced I might add). Just as soon, I presume, as he’d use an opportunity to take his shirt off and flex his tattooed muscles.

People today seem to be buying the Bullet for reasons like machismo (pun unintended), attitude, power and freedom. All the wrong reasons if you ask me. Because they’re all easily re-created, duplicated, and maybe even outdone by competition. Just like the 100cc Japs stopped the Bullet in its tracks 15 years ago, we’ll soon have 250, 350 and maybe even 750 and 1200cc Japs shooting the Bullet down again with weapons like cubic capacity, cruiser styling, fatter tyres, more chrome, and more jeans-leather-and-scantily-clad-women advertising --- all of which are in vogue now.

So what is it that will keep the Bullet competitive through the waves of onslaught from bikes that cater to the changing fancies of fickle Indian motorcyclists? What does the Bullet have going for it that no other manufacturer can hope to match no matter how much money he spends on research, development, space-age materials and nubile models?

I think the answer can be summed up in one word. Character.

To me, the Bullet stands for simplicity. A design that worked well not because it changed to incorporate every new discovery at NASA, but because the folks that designed it 50 years ago got everything right the first time. And then didn’t try to fix things that weren’t broke. It’s a bike that has built a reputation for being reliable, simple to work with, comfortable to be with, and lasts a whole lifetime… which is definitely a whole lifetime longer than the Japs, who outdate their throwaway models before one has even paid the second EMI. The most interesting thing is that over the years, this unglamorous but truly solid reputation has rubbed off on people that ride the Bullet too. The result, when one looks closely, is a bond between an individual and his Bullet, where one is but the mirror of the other.

To some folks like me who’ve wanted a Bullet since we were kids, it was the persona of these people that inspired the choice of a motorcycle more than the intrinsic value of the motorcycle itself. They were simple people, responsible people, strong people (not just in body) and they were people you could trust and rely on. I for one just bought into the quiet pride, solidity and soft spoken yet powerful image of Bullet riders I saw as a child, only to realize much later that these were the qualities of the bike itself.

In this day where people are realizing it’s better to step back from technology and glamour sometimes and fly subsonic rather than supersonic, I hope that people soon learn to appreciate and aspire to own the Bullet for what it is. A piece of machinery that has lived, served, rewarded and stood by its owners long enough to develop a character of its own. A motorcycle that has reached that point in evolution where its value cannot be measured in cubic centimeters, kilometres per hour or pounds per square inch. And a brand that speaks volumes for its owner for a lifetime… always saying just the same old good things.

If I had encountered my cyclist friend on the way back, I would have stopped him on his creaky bicycle and given him the answer I should have given him in the first place.

There’s just one thing that’s bigger than the Bullet. It’s the pride of owning one.

=======================================================================================================

Eliminator will get eliminated by a bigger, faster, Eliminator. A new Terminator will overcome the pulse of the Pulsar. The Shogun will be overshadowed by the Ronin, the RX 135 by the ZXR, and so on. But the Bullet will remain Bullet. For it is not a reality. It is a dream.

Dreams are of many types – pleasant, painful, enjoyable, scary, exciting, new, old and many more. Bullet is all this and much more! It is the closest any bike comes to being all things to all people. Being all things to all people is impossible. A theory. That is what Bullet is. A theory. And people love theories. All people love theories. Especially if they sound so good. And nobody can deny (even my 100 year old grandmother does not deny) that no other bike in the world sounds like Bullet.

Credits for writing this piece : Swami Ashwinananda (from the RE website) & Dilip Bam

The pleasure of driving a bullet

The pleasure is when you finish your day ride, and reach in one piece. You the smallest vehicle on the road, and you survived.

The pleasure is when you take off your wristwatch, and see a band of untanned skin.

The pleasure is when your motorcycle and you move as one single united form. Whatever shape the road takes, whichever end of the compass it leads to.

The pleasure is when you use your hands, arms, thighs, knees and feet to steer.

The pleasure is when you take off your riding jacket for a break, and feel the breeze dry your sweat.

The pleasure is when you sing to yourself on an empty road. You are the world’s best rock star.

The pleasure is when your rear wheel slides, and you bring it back, when the front wheel lifts, and you take your time bringing it back.

The pleasure is when you cut through air, at 50 kph or 100.

The pleasure is when you reach a place you never been before, and someone you never seen before asks you for a ride. And comes back grinning.

The pleasure is when you wave to village kids, and they wave back.

The pleasure is when you almost, almost fall. But dont

The pleasure is when you fight the wind, and win.

The pleasure is when you get up that narrow path for the view you never forget.

The pleasure is when you view the world at an angle at 90kph

The pleasure is when you look at a dust-streaked face in the mirror after a 500 km ride, and don't want to wash up.

The pleasure is when your pillion moves with you.

The pleasure is when you can see the petrol after a top-up.

The pleasure is when you jump a speedbreaker.

The pleasure is when you stop to help push a stranded car to the side of the road.

The pleasure is when you stop at the smallest of towns, and somebody asks you technical specifications.

The pleasure is when you know how it feels to have felt the cool morning and the hot afternoon, the light rain and the damp fog.

The pleasure is when you leave four-wheeler traffic standing in a jam.

The pleasure is when you aren’t lulled by an air-conditioner.

The pleasure is when you are free. Open. Independent. Liberated.

(F)Utility of arranged marriages

Long long back when my grand-dad decided to get his only daughter married, and she was a gold medalist in science (a very rare phenomenon in those days in hindu upper class society), all he wanted was a good family and an earning boy (sheesh, what parameters upon which to hinge an entire life and generations to come). And thus it came to pass that the bride and groom were solemnly locked in holy matrimony without so much as having seen a snap or likeliness of each other, much less talk and know each other.

Thence started a long journey of finding new things about each other as you progress from one day to the night...and find that your husband doesn't drink tea or that your wife doesn't

The steps involved in an arranged marriage vary by communities and families. Sometimes they involve extremities such as "promise made while gambling" or "bride whom the father of the groom likes", but here are the most common scenario, and the process can break down at any step -- mostly earlier than later.

• Broadcast of Availability -- This is when the guardians of the groom or bride announce that they are in market for an alliance. Securing of a stable job, engagement of an elder sibling, graduation are some of the events triggering this step.
• Horoscope Matching: The interested parties trade birth horoscopes as a sign of showing interest. Those who believe in horoscopes consult with astrologers and priests to find out compatibility. The compatibility score is often used to reject an alliance.
• Photo Exchange, Interview, and Background Check: Till this step the bride and the groom do not know what the other partner looks like! The pictures (and sometimes videos) are exchanged and if in agreement, one or more face to face interviews (called darshan) are arranged, during which elders are also present to help with familiarization. Background inquiries are conducted to dig past, bad habits (smoking, drinking, anger management problems) through relatives and friends.
• Dowry and Contract Negotiations: The logistics of marriage are then discussed. Who pays how much for the wedding expenses, the gold, the dowry, girl's and boy's net worth, the house they'd live in etc.
• Engagement: If all the parties are in arrangement, sweets are shared to announce the engagement. Sometimes called as "eating of the sugar" this marks the end of an arranging of an arranged marriage, and the gift exchanges begin.

Do arranged marriages work? Opinions tend to differ. Statistics place the divorce rate for arranged marriages much lower than those in the United States, where marriages out of love are the rule. However, research also shows that the pressure a married couple encounters from both society as a whole, and from the respective families, suggests that divorce is often not an option.

Can love grow out of an arranged marriage? Absolutely, and in the same way that love can grow in romance novels from a marriage of convenience. But there’s more to love than finding a suitable match. Love can grow for many reasons, from lust at first sight to friendship that develops over a long period of time. It’s impossible to predict whether a union will be successful. The only two people who can make it work are the bride and groom, the hero and heroine of their own story.

Ten things u'll never hear a consultant say

• You're right; we're billing way too much for this.

• Bet you I can go a week without saying "synergy" or "value-added".

• How about paying us based on the success of the project?

• This whole strategy is based on a Harvard business case I read.

• Actually, the only difference is that we charge more than they do.

• I don't know enough to speak intelligently about that.

• Implementation? I only care about writing long reports.

• I can't take the credit. It was in your marketing department.

• The problem is, you have too much work for too few people.

• Everything looks okay to me. You really don't need me.

Marriage - a homily

A lover came to his girl friend’s house and knocked at the door. She asked from inside, “Who is that?” He said, “Honey, it is I.” She said, “There is no place here for you and me.” He again said, “Dear, it is I, open the door.” But, she said the same, “There is no place here for you and me; please go away.” Though he insisted, she repeated the same words and did not open the door. The man went away sad and depressed. He lost all his happiness and felt lonely. Her words always haunted him: “There is no place here for you and me.” Slowly, he began to think about these words and went into deep reflection. Then, he understood what she really meant. He became enthusiastic and returned to her house and knocked at the door. She asked from within, “Who are you?” He said, “It's you.” The door was opened, and they became one. What she was telling was that there was no place here for “you” and “me”, i.e., “if you feel that you are separate from me, go away.”

Success of married life is in unity, experience of togetherness. There should not be “you and me” between husband and wife. Marriage is the partnership of whole of life. Marriage becomes a failure when husbands and wives think and talk and act like “you and me.” When husband and wife stop saying “this is my house,” “this is my car,” this is my money,” etc., marriage life becomes successful and meaningful.

Today you are born together to that new life, and you shall be together forevermore. Marriage is a call to oneness of two persons. You were born in different family backgrounds; you grew up in different life situations; you may have different temperaments, behavioral patterns or different opinions over many things. Still, you can be together and grow into one reality, accepting each other with all the differences. As Kahlil Gibran puts it, the strings of a lute are different, but they quiver with the same music; the pillars of the temple stand apart, but they together hold the temple. You have to start finding out, one by one, what you appreciate in the other rather than what you dislike in the other. Then you grow into oneness and enjoy the married life.

Marriage is not just a contract. It is a sacrament; a covenant with God. Your spouse is not just your choice. He or she is a gift from God for your growth into the fullness of your life. Many people in America have asked me about the marriage customs in India. Whenever I explained the arranged marriage system in India, and the fact that the bride and groom do not know each other very well before the marriage, I was always confronted by a question, “Are those marriages valid?” My answer was sometimes teasing the western custom of courtship marriages. I would say, “There in America you first fall in love, live together for many years and know each other, then get married, and then easily get divorced, and complain at the church court that marriage is invalid. Whereas, in India bride and groom do not know each other very well before marriage; they first marry, then fall in love and accept each other and stay together. There the spouse is not your choice, but a gift from God.

Your spouse is a gift of God. Treasure it. Treasure each other; accept each other; forgive each other; comfort each other; encourage each other; enjoy each other; and, grow together forevermore.

At the same time, let there be spaces in your togetherness. Kahlil Gibran, in his famous book, The Prophet, says “let the winds of the heavens dance between you; love one another, but, make not a bond of love.” No one should become the slave of the other. No one should grow in the shadow of the other. No one should become the master of the other. There should be freedom of love, not bondage of love. There should not be any controlling of one by the other. You cannot possess love or buy love. You can give love, and only by giving love, can you experience the joy of love.
Marriage is a life of love, not of bond. It is a life of giving and not of possessing. Marriage is not filled with pleasure; it is mixed with pain--pain of caring for each other--pain of love, because love is not pleasure; it is pain--pain of giving.

Do not be foolish to believe that your life from now on would be a pleasant all the time. Be ready to accept the turmoils and sufferings of life. They have a redemptive value. William Barcley, the famous Bible scholar, chants a poem:

“I walked a mile with pleasure
And she chattered all the way
But left me alone the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrow
Never a word said she
But, Oh!, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me.”

In order to have a happy married life, I would recommend Gibran’s advice. I shall quote the lines from his book, The Prophet:

“Let these be your desires--
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And, then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”

Are leaders born or managers trained?

Are leaders made or born ? Are managers born or made ? Do you become a better leader or manager with time ?
Harvard Business School’s Abraham Zaleznik articulated the difference in his classic 1977 essay “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?” Proclaimed Professor Zaleznik, “Managers and leaders are two very different types of people. Managers’ goals arise out of necessities rather than desires; they excel at defusing conflicts between individuals or departments, placating all sides while ensuring that an organization’s day-to-day business gets done. Leaders, on the other hand, adopt personal, active attitudes toward goals. They look for the opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates and firing up the creative process with their own energy. Their relationships with employees and coworkers are intense, and their working environment is often chaotic.” Leadership is the value added; management is what gets automated, rightsized, or outsourced to Bangalore or Guangzhou.
Global markets provided an unambiguously clear opinion: They craved leadership. The Lord John Brownes, Jack Welches, Percy Barneviks, Carlos Ghosns, Andy Groves, and Bill Gateses are celebrated far more as innovative global leaders than as operational management exemplars. The leadership “brand” has become so powerful and compelling that successful managers are inherently considered “great leaders.” Ironically, however, people tagged as great leaders don’t have to be great business managers. Over the past two decades, managing a large corporation has changed beyond recognition. CEO supermen like Andy Grove of Intel and Jack Welch of GE are in short and unpredictable supply from a far too limited pool.
Yet the bursting of the dot-com/telecom bubbles and the disgraceful collapses of Enron, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, Tyco, Parmalat, etc., have cruelly constrained the brand trajectory of the leadership label. Where governance was once the longest and most elastic of leashes that let leadership stray with minimal attention, it is now a beautifully upholstered cage with 24-hour surveillance and legal advisors on call worldwide.
In other words, the global rise of governance as a business concern reflects the pathological failure of leaders to manage. Accountability, transparency, and oversight will mean something very different to CEOs and the boardroom over the next 10 years than they did in the past. A new ecology of interdependent management, leadership, and governance is arising. Striking a balance among these three imperatives will be a greater challenge in years to come. Will those who meet that challenge emerge with better leadership, better management, and better governance? Today’s “leaders” have lost the right to be the only ones with the authority and legitimacy to answer those questions.
According to Charan the essential qualities of a successful business leader are the ability to sort out complexity because of the nature and number of variables and the structural changes in business. The second is managing external constituencies. And the third is you must be a social architect. You have to have those three. And of course, there’s a fourth: tenaciously mastering the business model.
And finally attitude described by a lovely Indian phrase in describing an affliction suffered by successful leaders: “divine discontent.” best explained as “Never satisfied. You’ll never reach that inner, ultimate nirvana.”