Acckkk! Chhhooooo!!

Common cold turns common people into an uncommon state. Both mental and physical.

Indications were setting on since this Wednesday. But today I woke up with a mild temperature accompanied by a blocked nose and sore throat. On top of that a rumbling tummy. And my head decided to warn me about all that is going wrong with the body with a nice headache!

First step out of the bed and...

Acchhoooo!! :-)  Was someone's remembering me? Not exactly.

And that was just the beginning for the day.

Well but all that was not going to deter me in anyways and with an agenda already lined up for the day. It was not the correct time to give in to little ills. However united they were. They won't stand a chance here. And when I have to do some errands around the city, sitting and relaxing was out of question even though it was a weekend off from work.

Many friends suggested many things, if you honor them, you got to trust those strange sounding remedies anyways. So based on that, I turned myself into a Guinea pig and tried Pepper Tea (regular cup of tea with half teaspoon of pepper. It works!),  Ginger tea, Sualin tablets (for throat), Strepsils, Anulom Vilom Pranayam etc etc.

I apologize to friends who suggested medications as I believe that we should not resort to medications if the ailment is not that severe or the discomfort manageable. In my case, discomfort of a running nose, a headache, and a sore throat did not merit a medical treatment. Even when all of them charged at my loving body together.

So, for the upset tummy, I skipped a dinner and took big pinch of Ajwain and water only. Runny nose? Only one cure for that! ;-)

Tell you what? Anulom Vilom Pranayam relieves blocked and runny nose immediately and longer you practice it longer are you relieved for. But one precaution though, keep lots of tissues handy! :-)

Sore throat kept on getting better n better with Ginger tea and Strepsils. Does that counts as medication? Doctor might have suggested a course of antibiotics for a week. So I think not.


Now with a minor discomfort of blocked nose, the ordeal seems to be fairly over. So see you in a still better shape tomorrow.

One last thought though. Having to move around the city in such condition taught me how to blow nose in public without making a noise! ;-)

Happy sneezing!

Dear Recursive Vortex,

I have not been attending to you as frequently these days. But don't you believe that I am no more that faithful friend of yours as I was a couple of weeks ago.

There must be a reason right?

So primarily, I have been lazy because I don't want my fingers numb from typing in this cold spell.

Moreover, and of course because of the same reason, my day has been restricted to getting out of the bed, eating, to the office, then back, eating again, and into the bed...cozy bed...warm bed.

Who dares to move out of the bed and onto the cold stricken computer? Somehow, courtesy my land lord, the breeze is free to roam about my lobby and it enjoys victimizing a lone blogger in the late night hours forcing him to retreat into the quilt. Unless I gift myself a laptop, you have to make good with these small absences of mine off and on.

But how long will this cold breeze last? Eventually, Earth will show its better half to the Sun god and warm its inhabitants accelerating and comforting the lives thereof.

The lone blogger is glad to be back in his chair.

As faithful as ever...

The Indian that should be. Then India would be

I was at home this weekend.

Reason?

Well I am at liberty to not to disclose that...he he.

No. Nothing particular. But yes, the prospect of spending a long weekend at home was enough to cause this visit. One leave and you get a four days long break and those nostalgic fragrances of mom's kitchen throughout the mini vacation!

Tempted already...? Apply a leave :-)

Uh oh! Wait a sec...What is the title of this post? Those fragrances led me away from the subject.

So it is about this guy I met on the way back to Chandigarh on the 26th. A south Indian working at some Bharat Forge, in a division specializing in Crankshaft manufacture for medium to heavy diesel engines, was on a quality improvement and troubleshooting tour at Swaraj Mazda.

Come on! Don't tell me you don't know what a Crankshaft is?
What...? Okay. Agreed.
How will you know as you have not been exposed to such stuff. Also agreed that there are many things that you may know but I don't. No doubts about that..But at least have a look at the Crankshaft.

Are we comfortable now? Lets continue...

As a passenger, I avoid making friends so I was just being formal and precise (someone will smile at me being precise!) towards about his inquiries but you can sense when you connect to someone and tend to involuntarily open up.

I can't recall much of the discussion but it began from the manufacture of crankshaft and its inherent difficulties. Terms like expansion coefficient, tolerance, heat-deformation were discussed and I was pretty much able to follow him.

It was not his technical prowess that impressed me but the thought process with which this person was pursuing the visit.

It was noble.

I came to know that he was here to analyze the causes of failures (apparently this cold wave had caused much more failures than anticipated), suggest improved diagnostic techniques, collaborate etc

But his mission was not to earn a praise or look up to an appraisal or to flaunt his technical might at the others back at Pune....or at me. He was concerned about the association of the two companies. For he viewed that association as the bread and butter of many thousands of workers. All from the lowest grade laborer onwards. He was aware of the crisis that may occur if he fails to resolve the issue with Swaraj Mazda as a lost customer may mean lay offs in a particular division if viewed at a bit higher scale.

"All businesses shall grow. No company shall shut down'".

While quoting above, his concern was whole class of individuals that are associated with a particular industry.
He seemed to be at no more than a senior engineer's rank. But the vision and thoughts that he possessed were even more enlightening than that of many CEO's around. If at a higher management position, such a person will aim for not only profits and processes but also for the spirit of belonging to a nation and bringing forth changes that really matter to everyone alike.

But our engineer had his own doubts as well. All those common to every organization where some people are fearing loss of control and others are too closed to think beyond multiplying number of machines rather than improving processes to improve productivity. He was unable to see why we are not having common rail and turbo charged engines in the traditional vehicles that still ran on age old, unreliable and failure-prone technologies.

As in Gandhiji's Talisman that used to be inscribed at the opening page of my every N.C.E.R.T textbook:

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

That is the Indian that should be. And then India would Be. For the world to witness its glory.

Goodnight!

How many pieces of metal make a Bike?

Like me, if you have been paying microscopic attention to skillful hands of the mechanics and to scores of curious looking pieces of metal that a mechanic disassembles and reassembles each time you get your bike fixed for burping in public, and on top of that if you have taken the risk of looking (and feeling) stupid by asking questions that you know are stupid to the mechanic fraternity (add to that the cost digesting humiliation of a frowning bike-vet staring at you), you must be knowing that in your bike, there is a component called the Carburetor. :)

You knew already? Even without going through the ordeal like me?  You are a genius!

Well, I have not finished yet.

So, Inside the Carburetor, there is a component called 'Float' housed inside yet another component called 'Float-Bowl'. Now this Float is attached to a small 'Float-Pin' that governs a minuscule passage from where fuel is fed into the Float-Bowl and your vehicle breathes through this fuel to get something called Fuel-Air mixture that burns in the Cylinder to push the Piston and...blah ..blah ...blah...and move the bike forward.

That was the prelude :)

The meat of the story is that if some adventurous particle of impurity that should be no more than size of a sand grain, dodges the fuel filter and accidentally (or intentionally) wedges itself between that minute passage and the Float-Pin, will cause the failure of Float mechanism leading to a situation called "Overflow".

The beauty of this situation is that then you cannot keep the Fuel-Tank valve open because that faulty passage will lead to a full Float-Bowl. Means that all the fuel will overflow from a drain pipe at the top of Float-Bowl draining all the fuel in the tank. Not good for the wallet and the mileage. And you cannot close the Fuel-Tank valve because the Bike will stall from need of fuel.

Today, during the morning rush hour, while I was standing at a traffic signal, when I smelled leaking fuel and saw the fuel dripping form overflow duct, It did not took much diagnosis to understand that my Bike had symptoms of an overflow!

Pretty funny situation to get into on a fine morning.

Quick solution was needed. So I decided to play the 'Float-Pin' myself and turn the Fuel-Tank valve off and on all the way helping the Bike get enough fuel to breathe but not enough to let it overflow. Then opening again when it begins to stall.

Somehow, I made it to the office and that adventurous piece of impurity or whatever it was, decided to give up. Return trip was asymptomatic. :)

Now you know how it helps to ask funny questions to mechanics?

Believe me, that two gram piece of metal is equal in worth to any other piece of metal that makes a bike.

For the curious reader. A Float-Pin. less than 5 mm in diameter, 15 mm high (or long depending on how you are holding it), rubber tip at the top and a spring in the shaft as well. Quite an artwork. Isn't it?

Before I turn philosophic on worth of other smaller components of rest of our world and society...


See ya! :)

The good, the bad and the ugly winter

Its been quite a while since my last post but I assure the reader that I was not being a sloth all this time :) This week has been rather eventful for me.

Sometime I was of course put off by the cold that seems to be quite overwhelming this season. It seems like the Mother Nature has made her mind to give a fair chance to the winter wear manufacturers. Now they can pull off the 40 + 60 percent sale placards and go full throttle on the customers' wallet for the customers have been left with no place to hide from the cold wave that has pushed mercury into the negative scales.

There is one very motherly quality to Mother Nature as well, you run away from her and she will come chasing you making you shiver even under the warmest of quilts. But when you brace her and you feel that warmth even in this chilling cold.

Commuting to and from the office on my two wheeler is one every day occasion when I cannot escape from the cold. The dogs are no longer playful, birds are still bathing in the dew falling from the skies. Even my inanimate, cold-paralyzed bike has to be pampered for a few minutes before I can take take off  for 25 minutes of ride through the foggy morning. Breeze is gentle and only able to slowly animate dew bathed leaves. The Laborers, School Buses, Cars, Joggers, Municipal sweepers, Rickshaw pullers all seem drowsy and slowed down. As if my regular morning is now being played at 0.5 X

Everything blurred and dim like an underexposed photo plate. Even the mighty Sun God is unable to defeat the dense fog and has surrendered to Mother Nature, politely staying hidden behind the translucent homogenous cloud composed of vapor-frosted-dust, waiting for its turn to show up whenever permitted.

Night walks are beautiful. The streetlights hidden behind the roadside trees expel few rays of incandescence through the leaves into the fog lighting up the path it travels before illuminating the roads in a theatrical hue. Traveling through this show of lights is very enjoyable even when your fingertips are getting a bit numb while still under the leather gloves.

However, thinking of those poor people who do not have enough to cover themselves and no brick walls to hide from the chill, The cold breeze for them would be like a witch that transforms itself into a cold spell and seeps into their feeble tent-houses through every possible hole and crevice, making its presence known to their human skin. They would keep themselves coiled from the fear of this witch and pray for its departure at the earliest. For them a day without sun is no less than a torture that they have endorsed for themselves since birth.

That's Life...
But it shall go on.