checking in after a full week to report back. after the mad scramble into the new aparment, new beds, new furniture, new cook, new refrigirator, new office, new broadband connection, new desk and lots of newfound acquaintances, and of course a couple of lakh rupees later, here i am. never thought a man could have a relationship with his refrigerator – i seemed to have one with my previous one.
now i am left with a huge decision – what is the best combo of vehicles to own for bangalore life. here’s some choices.
a car: good to haul my 2 three-year olds and self to pre-school, work and home. shields from pollution, and to an extent defines your status in the social pecking order. the bad? the price of the damn Civic or Corolla is 2.5x the price you pay in the US. ridiculous! apart from clogging roads with these oversized cars (yes, civic is oversized in indian roads), gas-inefficiencies and sheer waste of natural resources (why would you need a car that travels 150 kmph in india?), i suffer from the guilt of 10 years of SUV-love. what’s the best car option? reva?
a motorcycle: childhood dream! as a college kid i always craved the freedom and coolness a motorcycle represented. now i want one! not to forget, it is extremely efficient in navigating the crowded roads. what could be a good ‘stud’ bike to have? the enfield brand is quite cool, and so is the new bajaj avenger. what else is out there..? and btw, is there a cool custom bike shop out there?
a moped: wife wants one to run short errands. very fuel-effiecient, very inexpensive, comes in cuddly colors, but doesn’t get you cred-points. really wussy. please discourage me from getting this. please find me a way out of this one. pleeeeese!!!
on a more philosophical note, settling is very chaotic. if you are the kind that plans, likes orderliness and needs predictability, watch out.
all this chaos and this whole move thing leads me to wonder if life is a series of events that can be engineered. meaning.. could one possibly observe and analyze some cause-and-effects and string together a series of catalysts to steer their life on down a string of predictable event-path? ‘coz in a very significant move i made to relocate to india has been an attempt at engineering for a desirable result. one week into it, i am not sure if that’s what i’ll get.
i guess i need to be a bit more jammed at work to forget the philosophical part, and get back to that familiar perceptually-stressed out existence.
How about a nice Jeep Grand Wagoneer? I’ve got one for ya!
hey left. does that mean you actually read the blog! kewl.
that wagoneer is the bomb. you ship it here, i take it right now!
Hey !!! At the lower end of the spectrum there is one more option that you left out … two wheelers without an engine !!!
There are some electricity powered bikes as well … best part … you dont need to register !!! At 4+ bucks per unit beyond the 200 odd consumed units of power … the charging of the bike is going to be costly !!!
On a funny note, you forgot the 3 wheeler as well !!! LOL.
yeah. 3-wheeler is a nice buy. but i could even get a tata nano for what it costs. so 3-wheelers are knocked out of the equarion right away.
for 2-wheeler without an engine, well, i am importing it from the US. a TREK mountain bike model. i’ll wait until the kids on the street giggle at me riding it with helmet and gloves.
You can test-ride my V-Twin or the self powered (bicycle)
i am getting my bicycle shipped from the US. i am not sure about my ability to provide power to it though… anyway, i might take you up on the test-ride!!
nice one dude.
as for engineering desirable result, i got to quote Oscar Wilde –
“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”
ensoy!
Hummer
Saw your bookmark, Diesel Vs. Petrol Engine.
If you intent to drive in cold weather; like himanchal pradesh, kashmir, etc… I have seen diesel to freeze in the tank overnight.
You can imagine what happens then…!
i hope i wont take my rig into himachal!!!! i am a firm believer in renting the local vehicles for local riding. plus, the diesel versions also supposedly take time to start-up on cold days.
i was weighing several car models and interestingly most popular models are often in higher demand on the diesel version. and the skoda fellow was actually pushing the diesel version over the petrol version.
i never had to think about this choice in the U.S.
the bottomline is this : the price of diesel version + maintenance over 3 years + diesel costs < price of petrol version + petrol costs for it to make sense to go with diesel., pure and simple.