My creative juices won't flow
My originality valve says 'no-go'
But my hand still quivers
It shakes and shivers
To write creatively once more.
I'm looking all around me
For something to inspire or confound me
But all I see
Is mediocrity
And a picture of some old Swami.
I don' know what sense this'll make
But Jesus, gimme a break
Cause all I want
Is to quietly flaunt
My genius and hence earn some cake!
I see a Prancing Horse on the table
To stitch it, I know I am able
But the irony within
Is I support McLaren
So why stitch one from Ferrari's stable??
Dad got me mints a-plenty
I counted - I got more than twenty
So I had my fill
And gobble 'em up till
The boxes were all but empty.
I heard a car driving too fast
And I thought to myself,"Blast!
If only these fools
Could stick to some rules
They'd not die before their time was past.
My mum here has got no mention
So this one demands your attention
As her thoughts overflow
With bread, pastries, and sourdough
Ah, what to make? There's HER tension.
My (bitter)sweet sister, too
Has been forgotten, I'm sure, by you
But I still believe
That you must not grieve
Over a silly mistake or a few.
Where is the tunnels-end light?
Will I come into the night?
I wonder which way
I should now foray
Should I flee or should I fight?
This nonsense to you must be jarring
To the uninitiated, even scarring
So I essay
To stop right away
This limerical poem that was starring:
ME!! My Dad!! My Mum! My Sister!! Mints!!
- Aveek Katiyar 10:05 PM
11 July '05
Monday, July 11, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
Dormant
Dormant. Yes, that is what this blog has become. I am hoping to change that in a bit, but until then, well...
Reason: I've been grounded till I go to M-UWC-I, so I ahve no access to the computer. My friend is posting this for me... I ahve asked her to type this, so dad if you're reading this, NO, I did not illegally get on the net, ok??
Will try to update in a bit. See you guys around!!
Reason: I've been grounded till I go to M-UWC-I, so I ahve no access to the computer. My friend is posting this for me... I ahve asked her to type this, so dad if you're reading this, NO, I did not illegally get on the net, ok??
Will try to update in a bit. See you guys around!!
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Kryptonite
I grew up in a land far away
Where it was hot and always day.
We had two suns – one here, one there
That illuminated our planet everywhere.
But our Krypton was dying fast
And we had long since seen the last
Of our peaceful lives;
Our husbands, children, friends and wives
As everyday we could feel
The ground no more on even keel.
Earthquakes in plenty were felt
Lives were lost, and many lost their wealth
As buildings, cars, and planes were taken
By the surface which was a-breakin'
And so one fine man with money plenty
Went down to his basement, which was empty
Except for one large box,
Large enough to hold a fox
And took from it a cylinder slender
And over a year he took to mend her.
For he was a powerful man
A scientist of the Yakooboo clan
And was aspiring to be a family man.
The year before, he was inspired
(By the first tremors ever fired)
to go home and see his wife
to give up work for family life.
But he knew his world would pass
Before he had breathed his last,
Gone west, KAPLOW!
And he thought, "Wow!
What if I'm still there
When this planet gives us the scare
Of our lives by blowing up?
Will my kids be safe from the rut?"
And so it was that he made
A cylinder shaped ship made out of jade
And rubies and diamonds and such
But it really couldn't fit in much
Except a child or two
But he thought that space for one should do.
And so it was that one fine day
That he became a dad in the Year of the Lay
And just a month had passed
Before the tragedy came at last.
At semi-dusk, after a fine sunny day
The ground finally fell away
"This is the end!!' he thought.
So quickly he went down and got
The spaceship, all glittering green
And put in his son, serene,
Because the child knew not
Into what he had just got
And to save him from fate's horrible berth,
His dad sent him to planet Earth.
The ship went rocketing into the sky
Its tail bidding the doomed planet goodbye
For the instant they were out of sight,
The planet blew up with all its might.
But the little boy, he went on
Full of life, though his world was gone.
And a month or so down the line
While everything was going fine
In a small town in southern Cal.
A wife (whose husbands name was Hal)
Chanced to see a shooting star
Fall from the sky next to her car.
"Hal!!" she screamed, terrified,
"Oh my god! I nearly died!
For had I been at that spot
A second ago I should have been shot
By that bullet of tremendous size –
Hey! Wait, do I see eyes
Hidden in that smooth, hard shell?
Let's go see if the thing is well."
And so they walked fast
To the green object the sky had cast
Upon their yard that very night
Thrown at Earth with Krypton's might.
"Open it! Open it quick!"
her voice was calm, her tone was slick.
With anticipation in their eyes
They pressed buttons of the largest size
Till they heard a loud 'POP'
And when they looked at its top
What should they see?
A gurgling, squirming baby!
"He's so tall! Look at his eyes!"
"Oh my god! Jesus Christ!"
"Thank you for this blessing, O One above!
We shall give him all our love!"
"But look, he came from the stars!"
"No matter! Now he is ours!"
"Oh Hal! What shall we name the lad?
Henry, Michael, Steven, maybe Jad?"
To which Hal replied with ease
"Clarke Kent his name will be."
And so it was that the couple fair
Got a child, from God knows where.
Clarke's life in school was fun;
He got to play and run
All across the grounds everyday,
Clarke Kent was here to stay!
He always did well in class
And answered only when asked.
On the track he was a sight
He overcame obstacles with his superior might
He could jump higher and run faster
He could even hold up the P.T. master!
His strength was his, a trait
Of Clarke Kent's physical state.
So for many years life went swell
Everything was good, his family well.
Then one day he felt a change
In his already potent range
Of ammo, guns and the like
Of great hearing and amazing sight.
He heard everything in the hall
And he could see through the wall
He could jump high as a pole
If anything moved
Be it a leg or a hoof
Well, he could sense it all.
All this he confided in his best friend Kate
[Who, incidentally, was his date]
That night at dinner, when
He heard a crash and then
Some people screaming so he ran
To the upturned, blazing van
And ripped open the door and went in
To the fierce, scorching din
And burst out with husband and wife,
Both in his arms, both very much alive.
Yet he, amazingly enough,
Wasn't even hurt by the boiling stuff.
By this time Kate arrived on the spot
"Goodness gracious me!" she thought
"My dear Clarke! You're still alive!
And you saved both husband and his wife!
But what is this? You are unburnt
By that flaming van upturned!
And how did you get here so fast
And jump over that five-storey cliff and last
Out without breaking a shoulder
Even though you landed on this hard boulder?"
Clarke thought for a while
And then he said with a smile
"It must have been the Calcium C
that my mother gave me
that enabled me to take a leap
from so high up upon this heap.
But I don't feel normal, I don't feel fine.
I'm going to ask dad if he's truly mine
Because these traits do not show
In mom, dad or my bro.
I know there's something here not right
I don't need fantastic sight
I'm sure not everything does indeed fit
But Kate! Come, lets eat a bit
For I am famished, and hungry too!
And I was thinking, are not you?"
At the end of dinner he asked her out
And she said "Yes! Without a doubt!
Where shall we go next time we meet?
Must we go somewhere to eat?
I wish to see the stars and moon
And orchids and roses in full bloom."
To this he said "I know a place
Where we can gaze and gaze at outer space.
A little field behind my home
Where we can both be alone
And I was wondering if - "
"Shhh! There's my older brother Biff!
He really hates you
And all the things that you do.
Why don't you drop me now
And I'll get home somehow."
And so it was that after dinner,
Clarke felt like a real winner.
He had a girl, he had a life
And he saved that husband and wife.
And now in the nights later hours,
He wanted to know how he got those powers
So he asked his dad
"Why can I se through the wall?
Why can I hear everything in the hall?
That I can jump high as a pole
That I achieve all my goals?"
To which his father softly said
[Because he was sick in bed]
"Ah Clarke, you're old enough now
To know when and why and where and how
You came from the stars unseen
In a spaceship glittering green.
You know that box in the garage
Saying '1974 in March'?
That box holds your ship
And a clip we found at your hip.
We took you in from the stars
As though you were one of ours."
And then he proceeded to extract
A chip colored silver and black.
Clarke took the chip in his hand
[It was stretchy like a rubber-band]
And planet Krypton materialized
Right there in front of his eyes.
And then he saw a man just like him
Say "Hello son, I'm last of kin.
In fact, I'm you're dad,
And I know you think you're going mad
But listen give me some time
And then everything will be fine.
You were my only child and I
Wanted to save you even if I died.
So I sent you to Planet Earth
Whose sun's enormous girth
Would give you powers that no man
Could ever have had, or ever can.
Use these powers well my boy
For they are no ordinary toy
These powers you must not waste
Use them to good taste
I know you will, because you are wise
I could see it in your month-old eyes
Good-bye my son! Miss you, we shall - "
At which point father Hal
Said "Oh me! Oh my!
You Kryptonites can fly!"
Clarke did not believe his dad –
Which was rather sad –
Because daddy did point out a fact…
But now it was time for Clarke to act.
He set off at a sprint towards the mill
Just beyond the very next hill
And when he reached the fall
He jumped, and didn't come back down at all.
"Oh my god! I'm flying! Its true!
Dearest father! Thank you! Thank you!
I shall use my powers well
To save the good, and send the rest to Hell!"
And with that, Clarke flew away
And has not returned till this day
Leaving his belongings unfurled
Along with a ship from another world.
Clarke Kent by day, Superman by night
Does his very best to fight
All who do not heed law today
In a country called the U.S.A.
His superior hearing, his ability to fly
His power to fry you with his naked eye
Shoplifters and terrorists alike
Are no match for his super-human might
The cities guardian angel is he
Buzzing around, busy as a bee.
There is no crime he cannot stop
He is the ultimate super-cop.
Upon crime he has a hex
He wears 'Chaddies' over his spandex!
He can stop a plane and sink a ship
He can carry the world on his hip
Should there be a crime
My name they call
I'm 'Superman' to one and all.
- Aveek Katiyar
Where it was hot and always day.
We had two suns – one here, one there
That illuminated our planet everywhere.
But our Krypton was dying fast
And we had long since seen the last
Of our peaceful lives;
Our husbands, children, friends and wives
As everyday we could feel
The ground no more on even keel.
Earthquakes in plenty were felt
Lives were lost, and many lost their wealth
As buildings, cars, and planes were taken
By the surface which was a-breakin'
And so one fine man with money plenty
Went down to his basement, which was empty
Except for one large box,
Large enough to hold a fox
And took from it a cylinder slender
And over a year he took to mend her.
For he was a powerful man
A scientist of the Yakooboo clan
And was aspiring to be a family man.
The year before, he was inspired
(By the first tremors ever fired)
to go home and see his wife
to give up work for family life.
But he knew his world would pass
Before he had breathed his last,
Gone west, KAPLOW!
And he thought, "Wow!
What if I'm still there
When this planet gives us the scare
Of our lives by blowing up?
Will my kids be safe from the rut?"
And so it was that he made
A cylinder shaped ship made out of jade
And rubies and diamonds and such
But it really couldn't fit in much
Except a child or two
But he thought that space for one should do.
And so it was that one fine day
That he became a dad in the Year of the Lay
And just a month had passed
Before the tragedy came at last.
At semi-dusk, after a fine sunny day
The ground finally fell away
"This is the end!!' he thought.
So quickly he went down and got
The spaceship, all glittering green
And put in his son, serene,
Because the child knew not
Into what he had just got
And to save him from fate's horrible berth,
His dad sent him to planet Earth.
The ship went rocketing into the sky
Its tail bidding the doomed planet goodbye
For the instant they were out of sight,
The planet blew up with all its might.
But the little boy, he went on
Full of life, though his world was gone.
And a month or so down the line
While everything was going fine
In a small town in southern Cal.
A wife (whose husbands name was Hal)
Chanced to see a shooting star
Fall from the sky next to her car.
"Hal!!" she screamed, terrified,
"Oh my god! I nearly died!
For had I been at that spot
A second ago I should have been shot
By that bullet of tremendous size –
Hey! Wait, do I see eyes
Hidden in that smooth, hard shell?
Let's go see if the thing is well."
And so they walked fast
To the green object the sky had cast
Upon their yard that very night
Thrown at Earth with Krypton's might.
"Open it! Open it quick!"
her voice was calm, her tone was slick.
With anticipation in their eyes
They pressed buttons of the largest size
Till they heard a loud 'POP'
And when they looked at its top
What should they see?
A gurgling, squirming baby!
"He's so tall! Look at his eyes!"
"Oh my god! Jesus Christ!"
"Thank you for this blessing, O One above!
We shall give him all our love!"
"But look, he came from the stars!"
"No matter! Now he is ours!"
"Oh Hal! What shall we name the lad?
Henry, Michael, Steven, maybe Jad?"
To which Hal replied with ease
"Clarke Kent his name will be."
And so it was that the couple fair
Got a child, from God knows where.
Clarke's life in school was fun;
He got to play and run
All across the grounds everyday,
Clarke Kent was here to stay!
He always did well in class
And answered only when asked.
On the track he was a sight
He overcame obstacles with his superior might
He could jump higher and run faster
He could even hold up the P.T. master!
His strength was his, a trait
Of Clarke Kent's physical state.
So for many years life went swell
Everything was good, his family well.
Then one day he felt a change
In his already potent range
Of ammo, guns and the like
Of great hearing and amazing sight.
He heard everything in the hall
And he could see through the wall
He could jump high as a pole
If anything moved
Be it a leg or a hoof
Well, he could sense it all.
All this he confided in his best friend Kate
[Who, incidentally, was his date]
That night at dinner, when
He heard a crash and then
Some people screaming so he ran
To the upturned, blazing van
And ripped open the door and went in
To the fierce, scorching din
And burst out with husband and wife,
Both in his arms, both very much alive.
Yet he, amazingly enough,
Wasn't even hurt by the boiling stuff.
By this time Kate arrived on the spot
"Goodness gracious me!" she thought
"My dear Clarke! You're still alive!
And you saved both husband and his wife!
But what is this? You are unburnt
By that flaming van upturned!
And how did you get here so fast
And jump over that five-storey cliff and last
Out without breaking a shoulder
Even though you landed on this hard boulder?"
Clarke thought for a while
And then he said with a smile
"It must have been the Calcium C
that my mother gave me
that enabled me to take a leap
from so high up upon this heap.
But I don't feel normal, I don't feel fine.
I'm going to ask dad if he's truly mine
Because these traits do not show
In mom, dad or my bro.
I know there's something here not right
I don't need fantastic sight
I'm sure not everything does indeed fit
But Kate! Come, lets eat a bit
For I am famished, and hungry too!
And I was thinking, are not you?"
At the end of dinner he asked her out
And she said "Yes! Without a doubt!
Where shall we go next time we meet?
Must we go somewhere to eat?
I wish to see the stars and moon
And orchids and roses in full bloom."
To this he said "I know a place
Where we can gaze and gaze at outer space.
A little field behind my home
Where we can both be alone
And I was wondering if - "
"Shhh! There's my older brother Biff!
He really hates you
And all the things that you do.
Why don't you drop me now
And I'll get home somehow."
And so it was that after dinner,
Clarke felt like a real winner.
He had a girl, he had a life
And he saved that husband and wife.
And now in the nights later hours,
He wanted to know how he got those powers
So he asked his dad
"Why can I se through the wall?
Why can I hear everything in the hall?
That I can jump high as a pole
That I achieve all my goals?"
To which his father softly said
[Because he was sick in bed]
"Ah Clarke, you're old enough now
To know when and why and where and how
You came from the stars unseen
In a spaceship glittering green.
You know that box in the garage
Saying '1974 in March'?
That box holds your ship
And a clip we found at your hip.
We took you in from the stars
As though you were one of ours."
And then he proceeded to extract
A chip colored silver and black.
Clarke took the chip in his hand
[It was stretchy like a rubber-band]
And planet Krypton materialized
Right there in front of his eyes.
And then he saw a man just like him
Say "Hello son, I'm last of kin.
In fact, I'm you're dad,
And I know you think you're going mad
But listen give me some time
And then everything will be fine.
You were my only child and I
Wanted to save you even if I died.
So I sent you to Planet Earth
Whose sun's enormous girth
Would give you powers that no man
Could ever have had, or ever can.
Use these powers well my boy
For they are no ordinary toy
These powers you must not waste
Use them to good taste
I know you will, because you are wise
I could see it in your month-old eyes
Good-bye my son! Miss you, we shall - "
At which point father Hal
Said "Oh me! Oh my!
You Kryptonites can fly!"
Clarke did not believe his dad –
Which was rather sad –
Because daddy did point out a fact…
But now it was time for Clarke to act.
He set off at a sprint towards the mill
Just beyond the very next hill
And when he reached the fall
He jumped, and didn't come back down at all.
"Oh my god! I'm flying! Its true!
Dearest father! Thank you! Thank you!
I shall use my powers well
To save the good, and send the rest to Hell!"
And with that, Clarke flew away
And has not returned till this day
Leaving his belongings unfurled
Along with a ship from another world.
Clarke Kent by day, Superman by night
Does his very best to fight
All who do not heed law today
In a country called the U.S.A.
His superior hearing, his ability to fly
His power to fry you with his naked eye
Shoplifters and terrorists alike
Are no match for his super-human might
The cities guardian angel is he
Buzzing around, busy as a bee.
There is no crime he cannot stop
He is the ultimate super-cop.
Upon crime he has a hex
He wears 'Chaddies' over his spandex!
He can stop a plane and sink a ship
He can carry the world on his hip
Should there be a crime
My name they call
I'm 'Superman' to one and all.
- Aveek Katiyar
Monday, May 09, 2005
The Return Of The Silver Arrows
No, I'm not talking about some new fad in amazon warfare. I'm talking about West McLaren Mercedes, Kimi Raikkonen, and his mind-blowing pace.
The Spanish circuit (Circuit De Catalunya) saw the comeback of formula-1 giants McLaren-Mercedes - something that wasw coming for some time qith the super-competitive pace of the new McLaren of 2005 from the beginning of the season. Kimi Raikkonen stormed through the length of the 4.62 Km track to come third in the first qualifying session, and then took to the track yet another scorcher during second qualifying to gain pole position, while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya could only get a mere 7th, though still ahead of the two struggling Ferrraris of Michael Schumacher(8th) and Ruben Barrichello(16th).
As the five red lights went out to start the Spanish Grand Prix, Kimi got of to (yet another) flying start, pulling away from title leader and second-placed Fernando Alonso by a second in the first lap.
But this wasn't just a one flying lap by Kimi - he kept this blistering pace up through the entire race, moving a second aa lap quicker than Fernando, and two seconds quicker than almost everyone else. His McLaren team-mate JPM, however, had a very interesting race, spinning most mysteriously through turns 7 and 8 but making a fantastic recovery and proceeding to pretend nothing happened at all.
By the first round of pit-stops, Kimi was 26 seconds in fromt of Alonso, which got him into andd out of the pits still ahead of him, though only just. However, Alonso still had to stop for fuel, so Kimi was under no real threat.
By about lap 35 Kimi lapped a most stubborn Barrichello, who almost refused to move over when the Silver Arrow of the Finn shot by him:
The other Ferrari had absolutely no luck either, with reigning world champion Michael Schumacher, who was fighting for 8th place with McLaren's JPM, was exiting the pits just as the two Mclarens of JPM and Kimi Raikkonen respectively bored down on the Scuderia Ferrari, Kimi lapping JPM and in the proscess cutting off Schumachers exit, giving JPM the advantage by lettting him follow just behind his team-mate to get the btter of Schumi. Michael was finally beginnig to look good, when he suddenly had to pit for a deflated rear tyre. Things got no better for hime either, as on his outlap while on a quick right hander his front-left Bridgestone also deflated, throing the front of his car into the gravel and severely damaging the under-carraige and the side pods of his Ferrari.
The German ace limped back to the pits to retire shortly afterwards.
By the second round of pit-stops around lap 49, Kimi Raikkonen had stapmed his authority allover the Catalan circuit and over all the cars and their drivers. The last time McLaren had won here was thee hands of another Fying Finn - Mika Hakkinen - and Kimi has kept the Finnish flag flying high.
Kimi has earned his Champagne, and may he win every race there is. All hail the next world-champion!!
The Spanish circuit (Circuit De Catalunya) saw the comeback of formula-1 giants McLaren-Mercedes - something that wasw coming for some time qith the super-competitive pace of the new McLaren of 2005 from the beginning of the season. Kimi Raikkonen stormed through the length of the 4.62 Km track to come third in the first qualifying session, and then took to the track yet another scorcher during second qualifying to gain pole position, while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya could only get a mere 7th, though still ahead of the two struggling Ferrraris of Michael Schumacher(8th) and Ruben Barrichello(16th).
As the five red lights went out to start the Spanish Grand Prix, Kimi got of to (yet another) flying start, pulling away from title leader and second-placed Fernando Alonso by a second in the first lap.
But this wasn't just a one flying lap by Kimi - he kept this blistering pace up through the entire race, moving a second aa lap quicker than Fernando, and two seconds quicker than almost everyone else. His McLaren team-mate JPM, however, had a very interesting race, spinning most mysteriously through turns 7 and 8 but making a fantastic recovery and proceeding to pretend nothing happened at all.
By the first round of pit-stops, Kimi was 26 seconds in fromt of Alonso, which got him into andd out of the pits still ahead of him, though only just. However, Alonso still had to stop for fuel, so Kimi was under no real threat.
By about lap 35 Kimi lapped a most stubborn Barrichello, who almost refused to move over when the Silver Arrow of the Finn shot by him:
The other Ferrari had absolutely no luck either, with reigning world champion Michael Schumacher, who was fighting for 8th place with McLaren's JPM, was exiting the pits just as the two Mclarens of JPM and Kimi Raikkonen respectively bored down on the Scuderia Ferrari, Kimi lapping JPM and in the proscess cutting off Schumachers exit, giving JPM the advantage by lettting him follow just behind his team-mate to get the btter of Schumi. Michael was finally beginnig to look good, when he suddenly had to pit for a deflated rear tyre. Things got no better for hime either, as on his outlap while on a quick right hander his front-left Bridgestone also deflated, throing the front of his car into the gravel and severely damaging the under-carraige and the side pods of his Ferrari.
The German ace limped back to the pits to retire shortly afterwards.By the second round of pit-stops around lap 49, Kimi Raikkonen had stapmed his authority allover the Catalan circuit and over all the cars and their drivers. The last time McLaren had won here was thee hands of another Fying Finn - Mika Hakkinen - and Kimi has kept the Finnish flag flying high.
Kimi has earned his Champagne, and may he win every race there is. All hail the next world-champion!!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
All For This One Moment
Does this picture remind you of someone? Does that smile remind you of someone? Does that bring back a memory?
Sure does.
I found this picture at the Inner Ring Road junction, at Koramangalal. Its an advert. for Lufthansa Airlines, which goes like this:
"Flying from 5 Metros in India, with the best connectionss to anywhere in the world.
All for this one moment."
Somehow, the picture reminded me so much of Mona. It really did. I miss her, and I miss her hug. So much. I couldn't get the picture out of my head, so I went and took a few pictures of it today, and showed them to my mum. She, without any suggestion, also identified it as a reminder of Mona. Its the smile. Its taht unforgettable, wonderful smile of hers that once you've seen, you cannot forget. Everytime I think of it, a smile creeps into my expression. And stays there. So, its not just my torn memory thats getting the better of me after all.
All I want is that one moment. Just once more, to be with her, to talk to her, to tell her how much I miss her still, and how much I love her still. I'll give anything for this one moment. All for this one moment.
Friday, April 01, 2005
The Garage
From the beginning of the week before last, I (finally) got my holidays. And the first thing that I did was applied to Valley school, so that even if I didn't get into MUWCI (Mahindra United World College, India) I'd not have to go back to Deeksha. Phew... That took a lot off my mind.
So the next logical thing to do is - SLEEP!!!!! Ok, apart from that little indulgance, I decided to go and work the length of my holidays in a garage as an apprentice to a mechanic. So I went to this place in Koramangala caled R.A.C (Ranjith Autocare Centre) to who I used to give my car to for minor fixes. I knew the guy pretty well, so he said "OK, you come at 9, leave at 5, six days a week." Which I was perfectly fine with. So, now I'm working at a garage intead of doing whatever I want to during my holidays. Actually, I'm doing just what I want - I'm learning quite efficiently about cars, by actually taking them apart by hand, examining them, modifying them, and putting 'em back together.
Over the past week, I've been working on a Zen which has been completey stripped of its parts, leaving just a metal body in place. When I started working on it, the engine block had already been removed, and I got to work on modifying an Esteem engine that we were going to transplant onto the Zen. I Checked the piston timing, cleaned the heads, adjusted the fuel injectors. Then we went about boring the engine out, giving us 0.2L more space to burn fuel, hence increasing the output by about 4 bhp. The next part was placing the engine in the (slightly) smaller engine bay of the Zen. Luckily it was all the same company (Suzuki) os there was not too many areas where a new hole had to be drilled to fit the engine. Now its not easy to fix the engine back and all, cause its pretty darned heavy, so we put it on a wheeled tray, and then raised the whole body of the car over it (using a hydraulic lift), and then lowered the body over it when it was in place.
Then we were under the car on mats, fixing the various screws into the cars body, securing the engine as tightly and snugly as we could. The tools are quite marvelous - necessity is the mother of invention after all. One thing that struck me as odd (and even when I think about it now, it feels a bit strange even though it is sorta DUH..) was the fact that the engine was attached by normal, ordinary nuts and bolts. I know that to someone who's not interested, you may think that I'm a tottal idiot, but when I thought about it, I always took for granted that the engine qould just be there. It never struck me that it was actually attached by normal screws. Anyways...
Next, we took the suspension apart, and stiffined it. We took the springs out, put in Esteem springs, and are planning to replace them with Koni springs (which, by the way, are THE BEST springs on the planet). Then we adjusted the vacuum tubes that help make up the shock absorber system, increasing them ever so slightly to make the suspension harder. There's a lot of welding to be done as well, which I didn't do. However we finally adjusted the height of the springs, and the suspension was much better equipped.
Then we took apart the steering section and worked on it. The last chap who used the car had ripped his rack and pinion system apart - it was all dented and bumpy and bruised, and the rubber boots were all worn out. We took the whole thing apart - it looks easy, but trust me, its not. We basically had to take apart four rods from three shafts, but they were so tightly placed togetther, it took us a total of three hours non-stop work just to take it apart and find the rods amongst the grime. Then we went about cleaning the rods, shafts, and fixtures - another hours worth of work - and after we'd finished it we realised that it was ruined. So then we waited a few more hours after ordering the parts from the Maruti/Suzuki showroom, and went about fixing the entire system up from scratch. It all required so much grease, I thought that I'd puke if I saw anymore for the rest of the day. Finally we got it working again, and we've left it to 'set', so to speak. We'll fix it back tomorrow.
The next thing that we've done is changed the wheel support system. Instead of keeping the Zen's system, we put in an Esteem one, which has a stronger support base, and has better performance brakes. Again, luckily we were transplanting parts from the same manufacturer, so there was minimal 'friction' between the transplanted parts and their corresponding slots. The Esteem has much larger disc brakes, which help decresae the braking distance, and making the car a safer package. We were going to put Brembo Brake Discs, but realised that we didn't have the money (about 20 grand... ouch.), and so stuck to brand new Esteem brakes (also freshly ordered from the factory).
We've also designed Headers and a new manifold for the car's engine. On top of the Esteems standard fuel injection system, we've taken apart the standard injector plate, and we've fabricated a much thicker metal plate as a support replacement and fixed it on. Then we fabricated bent pipes that we cut and welded onto the manifold plate. These tubes (which have a pretty decent diameter) pump fueel inot the engine, and we've made them arch over the mainframe of the engine, making it look like one of them American muscle-cars of yore, with the piping protruding from the bonnet like twin snakes rearing up for a viscious sting to the engine. Then, we custom made a free-flow exhaust system, making the exhaust tubes of equal length so tthat there's enough back-pressure on the engine, which increases the bhp of the car by about 5-6 bhp. We're still working on that particular aspect of the engine setup, as we are unable to fabricate the rest of the tube that leads upto the muffler.
I finally figured out EXACTLY how the famous Turbo-Charger works on a car. Basically it starts off at the exhaust pipe, using the presssure of the expelled gases to turn a turbine, which turns another turbine in another container, which sucks in COLD air and feeds it to the engine, which adds to the fueel/air mixture richness, making a more powerful engine. It can be made to work between a specific RPM (Revolutions Per Minute - The little meter beside the speeedometer on the display that says'1,2,3,4,5,6 x1000' on the instrument display in the cockpit of the car...) range, adding to the rate of increase of the acceleration of the car in that range. So when you hear that a car has a Twin-Turbo, it just means that there are 2 Turbo systems that kick in at different times, hance increasing the accceleration over two ranges of RPM, making the car even quicker.
Some total F*&ker has a Turbo-Charged Honda City over here. That thing is going to be a rocket.
This guy Ranjith is one of the best rally drivers in Bangalore, and he's a professsional tuner, so people come to him to do their cars up - engine mods, I mean. There's this group of car-crazy friends who come to him to modify their cars - 2 Cielos, a Honda City V-Tec(God), a Palio 1.6 GTX(God/s younger brother), and one more car that I haven't seen yet. I've made friends with them, and they are just nuts. They've spent ver 2 Lakhs EACH on their cars to extract the maximum perdormance from them. In my opinion, the guy in the City V-tec is the luckiest. He's got Free-Flow, K'n N Filters, Headers, the works on his V-TEC, which will eat anything alive even in its stock form.
Here is the cool part though. The Zen that we're working on? Ranjiths partner Sanjay is heading the operation. He knows I'm inoto design and all, so he asked me to design a front for the Zen. He wanted it done in a specific way:
1. A hood scoop for air for the injector pipes.
2. A new bumper.
3. No grille on the front, and the bumper muct slope up to the bonnet, not a 90* flat vertical line. It must look angled like a Camaro's bumper.
4. No other modifications - no skirts either, so I must work with the current dimentions of the Zen. Ouch.
So I drew him a concept with what he wanted - it isn't completely to my liking, as I think that it would look much, much better with skirts. But he has a good reason for not adding skirts or frills - weight reduction. Taking off everything in the car makes it go even faster, so the less on the car, the quicker it will be. He wants to Drag Race andStreet race this car, so He's oin to lower the car by about 2 inches, making it lower than the Honda City (Which is suicide for the bottom, so he's got a thin metal sheet under the entire car to protect the undercarraige) and hence making it more stable. Here's the drawing - He actually said that he'd build it!!! HOW COOL!!! I'm not even 18, and I got one desing under my belt!!!!! :-D
So the next logical thing to do is - SLEEP!!!!! Ok, apart from that little indulgance, I decided to go and work the length of my holidays in a garage as an apprentice to a mechanic. So I went to this place in Koramangala caled R.A.C (Ranjith Autocare Centre) to who I used to give my car to for minor fixes. I knew the guy pretty well, so he said "OK, you come at 9, leave at 5, six days a week." Which I was perfectly fine with. So, now I'm working at a garage intead of doing whatever I want to during my holidays. Actually, I'm doing just what I want - I'm learning quite efficiently about cars, by actually taking them apart by hand, examining them, modifying them, and putting 'em back together.
Over the past week, I've been working on a Zen which has been completey stripped of its parts, leaving just a metal body in place. When I started working on it, the engine block had already been removed, and I got to work on modifying an Esteem engine that we were going to transplant onto the Zen. I Checked the piston timing, cleaned the heads, adjusted the fuel injectors. Then we went about boring the engine out, giving us 0.2L more space to burn fuel, hence increasing the output by about 4 bhp. The next part was placing the engine in the (slightly) smaller engine bay of the Zen. Luckily it was all the same company (Suzuki) os there was not too many areas where a new hole had to be drilled to fit the engine. Now its not easy to fix the engine back and all, cause its pretty darned heavy, so we put it on a wheeled tray, and then raised the whole body of the car over it (using a hydraulic lift), and then lowered the body over it when it was in place.
Then we were under the car on mats, fixing the various screws into the cars body, securing the engine as tightly and snugly as we could. The tools are quite marvelous - necessity is the mother of invention after all. One thing that struck me as odd (and even when I think about it now, it feels a bit strange even though it is sorta DUH..) was the fact that the engine was attached by normal, ordinary nuts and bolts. I know that to someone who's not interested, you may think that I'm a tottal idiot, but when I thought about it, I always took for granted that the engine qould just be there. It never struck me that it was actually attached by normal screws. Anyways...
Next, we took the suspension apart, and stiffined it. We took the springs out, put in Esteem springs, and are planning to replace them with Koni springs (which, by the way, are THE BEST springs on the planet). Then we adjusted the vacuum tubes that help make up the shock absorber system, increasing them ever so slightly to make the suspension harder. There's a lot of welding to be done as well, which I didn't do. However we finally adjusted the height of the springs, and the suspension was much better equipped.
Then we took apart the steering section and worked on it. The last chap who used the car had ripped his rack and pinion system apart - it was all dented and bumpy and bruised, and the rubber boots were all worn out. We took the whole thing apart - it looks easy, but trust me, its not. We basically had to take apart four rods from three shafts, but they were so tightly placed togetther, it took us a total of three hours non-stop work just to take it apart and find the rods amongst the grime. Then we went about cleaning the rods, shafts, and fixtures - another hours worth of work - and after we'd finished it we realised that it was ruined. So then we waited a few more hours after ordering the parts from the Maruti/Suzuki showroom, and went about fixing the entire system up from scratch. It all required so much grease, I thought that I'd puke if I saw anymore for the rest of the day. Finally we got it working again, and we've left it to 'set', so to speak. We'll fix it back tomorrow.
The next thing that we've done is changed the wheel support system. Instead of keeping the Zen's system, we put in an Esteem one, which has a stronger support base, and has better performance brakes. Again, luckily we were transplanting parts from the same manufacturer, so there was minimal 'friction' between the transplanted parts and their corresponding slots. The Esteem has much larger disc brakes, which help decresae the braking distance, and making the car a safer package. We were going to put Brembo Brake Discs, but realised that we didn't have the money (about 20 grand... ouch.), and so stuck to brand new Esteem brakes (also freshly ordered from the factory).
We've also designed Headers and a new manifold for the car's engine. On top of the Esteems standard fuel injection system, we've taken apart the standard injector plate, and we've fabricated a much thicker metal plate as a support replacement and fixed it on. Then we fabricated bent pipes that we cut and welded onto the manifold plate. These tubes (which have a pretty decent diameter) pump fueel inot the engine, and we've made them arch over the mainframe of the engine, making it look like one of them American muscle-cars of yore, with the piping protruding from the bonnet like twin snakes rearing up for a viscious sting to the engine. Then, we custom made a free-flow exhaust system, making the exhaust tubes of equal length so tthat there's enough back-pressure on the engine, which increases the bhp of the car by about 5-6 bhp. We're still working on that particular aspect of the engine setup, as we are unable to fabricate the rest of the tube that leads upto the muffler.
I finally figured out EXACTLY how the famous Turbo-Charger works on a car. Basically it starts off at the exhaust pipe, using the presssure of the expelled gases to turn a turbine, which turns another turbine in another container, which sucks in COLD air and feeds it to the engine, which adds to the fueel/air mixture richness, making a more powerful engine. It can be made to work between a specific RPM (Revolutions Per Minute - The little meter beside the speeedometer on the display that says'1,2,3,4,5,6 x1000' on the instrument display in the cockpit of the car...) range, adding to the rate of increase of the acceleration of the car in that range. So when you hear that a car has a Twin-Turbo, it just means that there are 2 Turbo systems that kick in at different times, hance increasing the accceleration over two ranges of RPM, making the car even quicker.
Some total F*&ker has a Turbo-Charged Honda City over here. That thing is going to be a rocket.
This guy Ranjith is one of the best rally drivers in Bangalore, and he's a professsional tuner, so people come to him to do their cars up - engine mods, I mean. There's this group of car-crazy friends who come to him to modify their cars - 2 Cielos, a Honda City V-Tec(God), a Palio 1.6 GTX(God/s younger brother), and one more car that I haven't seen yet. I've made friends with them, and they are just nuts. They've spent ver 2 Lakhs EACH on their cars to extract the maximum perdormance from them. In my opinion, the guy in the City V-tec is the luckiest. He's got Free-Flow, K'n N Filters, Headers, the works on his V-TEC, which will eat anything alive even in its stock form.
Here is the cool part though. The Zen that we're working on? Ranjiths partner Sanjay is heading the operation. He knows I'm inoto design and all, so he asked me to design a front for the Zen. He wanted it done in a specific way:
1. A hood scoop for air for the injector pipes.
2. A new bumper.
3. No grille on the front, and the bumper muct slope up to the bonnet, not a 90* flat vertical line. It must look angled like a Camaro's bumper.
4. No other modifications - no skirts either, so I must work with the current dimentions of the Zen. Ouch.
So I drew him a concept with what he wanted - it isn't completely to my liking, as I think that it would look much, much better with skirts. But he has a good reason for not adding skirts or frills - weight reduction. Taking off everything in the car makes it go even faster, so the less on the car, the quicker it will be. He wants to Drag Race andStreet race this car, so He's oin to lower the car by about 2 inches, making it lower than the Honda City (Which is suicide for the bottom, so he's got a thin metal sheet under the entire car to protect the undercarraige) and hence making it more stable. Here's the drawing - He actually said that he'd build it!!! HOW COOL!!! I'm not even 18, and I got one desing under my belt!!!!! :-D
Friday, March 18, 2005
The Satch Has Arrived!
For anyone who knows who The Satch is, well, there's the whole post in the title, essentially. For those of you who don't:
Satch = Joe Satriani, and his god given ability to twist those strings of that awesome guitar of his. Looks like all my ranting and raving of 'Satriani must come here' and 'Satriani = God' and everything else that I must have subjected everyone to finally came to something!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! He is playing at Calcutta, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The dates:
1. 14th May 05 at MMRDA Grounds Bombay
2. 15th May 05 at Salt Lake City Grounds Calcutta
3. 17th May 05 at Palace Grounds Bangalore
I'm gonna start praying that someone is really nice to me, and givves me two passses to see my God.
So, Himanshu...? Going or not? Anyone else? And even if you aren't, please please please get me a pass - please!!!
OK, now I'm going to go back andd start thanking all my posters and my guitar and my discamn, and Sony Records, and Mona for all giving me Satriani. ALL HAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Passes out, falls down the stairs, and opens eyes to poster of satriani in his room. Slowly dies of dehydration as drool starts to flow, and pseudo neurotoxins kick in.]
The Satch Has Arrived!
Satch = Joe Satriani, and his god given ability to twist those strings of that awesome guitar of his. Looks like all my ranting and raving of 'Satriani must come here' and 'Satriani = God' and everything else that I must have subjected everyone to finally came to something!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! He is playing at Calcutta, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The dates:
1. 14th May 05 at MMRDA Grounds Bombay
2. 15th May 05 at Salt Lake City Grounds Calcutta
3. 17th May 05 at Palace Grounds Bangalore
I'm gonna start praying that someone is really nice to me, and givves me two passses to see my God.
So, Himanshu...? Going or not? Anyone else? And even if you aren't, please please please get me a pass - please!!!
OK, now I'm going to go back andd start thanking all my posters and my guitar and my discamn, and Sony Records, and Mona for all giving me Satriani. ALL HAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Passes out, falls down the stairs, and opens eyes to poster of satriani in his room. Slowly dies of dehydration as drool starts to flow, and pseudo neurotoxins kick in.]
The Satch Has Arrived!
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