When was the last time you saw a snake that had 2 legs ?

Maybe snakes used to have legs many thousand years ago, but then evolved slowly to be able
to do just fine without legs. Like man evolved from the apes and learned to put his hands to better & productive use - like opening a beer can, for instance.

Coming back to snakes, this snake was spotted in Kerala & as is man's normal instinct since
the time Adam and Eve ate themseleves out of home and hearth after listening to a snake,
the locals gatherered and promptly killed it. Unless the person in question happens to be someone from the NatGeo or AnimalPlanet channels, in which case he will sneak behind the snake, lift it by the tail and inspect the legs closely or maybe even give it a kiss.


Courtesy : The Hindu newspaper.
Note : Sorry about the picture quality - this was the only one I could find via Google.

It did not strike the locals that it is kinda unique for a snake to have legs & that they could
mint money by forming a touring company where they could display the snake to the public
and charge them money to get a short glimpse of such a unique specimen. And if that did not work, they could always make much more money by floating an IPO and getting money from
the gullible public that thinks stocks are an easy way to get rich.

Anyway, some herpetologists get wind of this snake and promptly troop to the place to have
a look. Even while on their way to the place, the researchers are in dream mode - mentally churning out the words to the research paper they would submit and how famous they would become after that, the global recognition that would follow etc etc.

After asking around, they get to the place where the snake had been thrown after it was killed. They promptly pick it up and take it to their lab. They decide to subject it to an X-ray to study the formation of limbs.

But, on the dissection table, they noticed a change of texture at the point where the limbs originated from the body. Also, while touching the legs with the forceps, something began
bulging inside the body of the snake. So they dissected the snake to unearth the mystery.

And guess what ? The body of a frog fell out, taking along with it the mystery legs. Turns out
the snake had swallowed the frog just before it was killed. In its struggle to escape, the live
frog might have prised open the snake's belly with its claws, before itself succumbing to exhaustion and death. And so, with the frog's legs sticking out, the snake created an impression that it had 2 legs.

Ha, must have been such an anti-climax to the global recognition dreams of the scientists. Anyway, to quote them, "Our hopes of a great find were dashed but we are happy that we
could provide an explanation for something that could have remained a mystery for ages,”
says Dr. Oommen".

Wait a minute. Did you just say, "mystery for ages" ? Well, I have not dissected snakes,
though I have dissected many frogs, cockroaches and earthworms in school as part of
academic requirements. But even without that experience, I am sure anyone could have unearthed this "mystery" without needing specialised scientists.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Else, it is sure to break. :-)

I pride myself on being a DIY (Do It Yourself) guy when it comes to things around the home
like electrical, plumbing, minor masonry work, home appliance repair etc or any minor issues with my car or bike. I actually love doing such stuff and it gives me immense satisfaction when
I finish such tasks properly.

I guess I inherited this from my Dad who would not hesitate to take up any such tasks that
popped up at home. As a young boy, I remember my Dad servicing his scooter at home -
cleaning the carburettor, setting the spark plug gap after removing all the accumulated
carbon, etc. And then when he graduated to a car in the early eighties, he would tinker with
it to do some basic preventive maintenance - battery top-up, oil checks, fuel filter cleaning etc.

So, when I noticed the fuel efficiency (FE) of my bike dropping to an abnormally low 51 kmpl (kilometres per litre), I knew that it was time to clean the air-filter which would have become clogged with dirt, resulting in the engine lacking air for combustion and thus burning more
petrol than required. Inspite of it being 13 years old, my bike normally returns somewhere between 60 and 65 kmpl and so an FE of 51 was just not right.

Last weekend I decide to spend sometime with the bike. I removed the side panel, unscrewed the cover of the air filter and take out the filter element, a rectangular spongy thing. It is caked with dirt - no wonder the bike was burning up petrol. I follow the cleaning instructions given in the bike's manual and leave it to dry.

I also check the engine oil level/consistency and it is fine. I had changed the engine oil only a
few hundred kilometres ago, so that was expected. Recently I had noticed that the idle setting
of the engine was not correct and if I took my hands off the accelerator, the engine would switch off. So, I adjust the idle setting of the engine.

Planned work done, I decide to get back home and fit the air filter when it has dried, when
I remember that I did not clean the spark plug. Since there were no issues with sparking,
it was not really required to remove the plug and clean it. But since I was anyway working
on the bike, I decide to do that also.

I use the spanner from the bike's tool kit to unscrew the spark plug. I have done it so many times before in the 13-years that the bike has been with me, that I am not even giving it much thought. Which turns out to be a mistake because the spanner was not properly locked on the plug and slips, resulting in the plug breaking into two - the ceramic part of it.

Now, I have ended up with a broken plug and unless it is replaced with a new one, the bike
won't start. And I need the bike to ride down to the nearest auto-parts shop to get a new
plug, because my car is parked at a friend's place. Finally I borrow my neighbour's bike and
go get a new spark plug, which I fit in the bike - this time very carefully - don't want to break this one.

One good thing that came out of all this is that the spark plug was anyway due for replacement. The old one has been in the bike for years now - don't even remember when it was changed last. Lesson learnt - stick to the wise old saying, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"

Cops in a hurry. Too much of a hurry actually.

This happened a few weeks ago. I am riding to work on my bike. Am already late because I overslept and unlike the car, it is not fun to ride to work in the hot sun with maddening traffic
all around you. I turn a corner and see cops standing there waving down bikes.

I assume that they are clamping down on those that are not wearing helmets inspite of the
rule in place that requires bike-riders to wear helmets. As I approach the cops, one of them waves me down. I am kind of surprised because I am wearing a helmet. I park the bike at
the side of the road, by which time the cop walks up to me and asks me to show the bike's
papers - registration, insurance, etc.

Ha, this should not be a problem, given that I meticulously pay the insurance of my bike/car before it expires. Infact, I have Outlook tasks for each of the bikes/cars in the family, so that
I am reminded in advance before they expire. And registration/road-tax is paid for a bike or
car in a lumpsum for 15 years when you buy it. And my bike is only 13 years old. So, that is
also covered.

I open the small side compartment in the bike, where the papers, bike manual and basic tools are kept. By this time, the cop has gone to wave down other bikes. I take the papers and wait
for the cop to come back and check the papers. I just happen to go through the papers & see to
my shock and disbelief that my bike insurance expired a few months ago. I cannot understand how I missed noticing this, inspite of the Outlook task and all.

Since I have never ever been ticketed for not having proper vehicle documents, I have no idea what the financial damage would be due to not having valid insurance. Must be a few hundred bucks. Now, I am thinking what should be my next course of action. Do I own up to the cop
that I forgot to renew the insurance and that it was a genuine mistake ? Would he actually believe it, since he must be hearing such excuses on a daily basis ?

Anyway, as I stand there thinking of what to do, the cop comes back. He surprises me by saying that he is sorry to have kept me waiting. It is not everyday that a cop in India says sorry to the public. I tell him it is OK - it was anyway only 5 minutes or so. No big deal.

I then handover the documents to him. He goes over the tax document and then the insurance document and returns them to me saying they are all in order and I can go. I am surprised. In his hurry, he forgot to check the insurance expiry date properly.

I put the documents back and ride on. On the way, I drop in at the insurance company's office and get the insurance renewed. I do not really want to go through the hassle of sweating everytime a cop pulls me over.

Parents extract their sweet revenge.

I am not sure whether you guys (and the few girls that drop in here) have heard of this joke.

A couple of kids are playing with water-guns, drenching each other, squealing and stuff.
Basically driving their mom crazy. Since the water guns happen to be gifts from their grandma, the kid's mom asks Grandma, "Mom, don't you remember how we used to drive you crazy with water guns when me and my siblings were kids? Still you thought it fit to buy water guns for your grandkids?"

Grandma replies, "I surely remember how you all would drive me crazy. Which is exactly why
I chose to gift these to your kids". :-)

Something of this kind happened to me a couple of weeks ago. We had gone for a wedding in Kerala and after the wedding and lunch, we were getting ready to head back home. Me and
Dad were sitting in the car waiting for my Mom and wife to come. My Dad was sitting in the
front passenger seat with my son in his lap, while I am sitting in the driver's seat.

Like any kid his age, the stuff around him arouses my son's curiosity and he is fiddling with
any car control that he can reach - the stereo console, CDs, the gear shift lever etc. I move
the CDs out of his reach, lest they get damaged.

My Dad watches both of us and goes, "I can't wait till your son becomes 15 years old."
Me : And why would that be ?

"Because then I would personally teach him how to drive a car".
Me : But at 15 he would be too young to drive a car and also below the legal limit of 18 years.

"Exactly. I want to teach him driving so that he takes out your car, scrapes the paint at a
few places and gets a few dents here-and-there like you did to my car at that age."

Ouch. Looks like my Dad hasn't forgotten how I would sneak his car out of the garage and
roam around with my friends when I was just 15-16 years old.

I think I have a solution to Chennai's rain problem.

Another weekend spent at Chennai. Inspite of being early September, the sun burns down like
it would in peak summer. It is supposed to be monsoon time in Chennai, but there is no sign of rains.

I call home on Saturday and am told that it is raining cats and dogs in Kerala, which is not at all surprising, given that it is monsoon season there round the year. They ask if we are getting any rains in Chennai. Not a drop for many weeks now.

Sunday also turns out to be a hot day. Since the car has accumulated quite some dust over the past many weeks (inspite of my keeping it covered), I think it would be a good idea to give it a good wash. A good chance to burn some calories too.

Washing done, I decide to follow it up with a wax job, since the last waxing was done by me
more than 2 months ago. After a wax and good rub, she is shining like a new car just out of
the showroom. More so, because the black colour just shines when waxed.

Happy with the result of a couple of hours hard work, I go take a shower. Since my parking
slot is alongside the compound wall, where we have some trees, one of the cons is having the birds dirty the car at night. Since I do not want bird droppings on my waxed beauty, I cover
the car with its cover.

My usual practice is to wash the cover also, when I give the car a wash, so as to wash off all
the dust on it, which would otherwise dirty the car. But I am too tired today and reckon that since I have anyway waxed the car, all it would need next day is for me to dust off the specks from the car.

All the washing/waxing has made me hungry and I walk to the restaurant some 1km away
from home to grab a quick dinner. While walking back, the wind is blowing pretty hard and
all the dust from the road is being blown around like a mini-sandstorm. It sort of feels like it might rain. Aah, that would be a welcome respite from the heat, I think to myself.

And then it strikes me that while it would be good to have some rains, it is going to make my
2-hour labour go waste. I hurry home hoping that I can get there before it rains so that I can atleast remove the car cover. Else, all the dust on it will get washed downonto the car. But
before I reach home, it starts drizzling and the cover is wet. No point in taking off the cover
now, because the damage would have been done anyway.

Since the time I started using a car in Chennai many years ago, I have noticed that no matter what month of the year it is, if I wash my car, it will rain that day/night. Some sort of crazy Murphy's law, wherein nature seems to collude against me. It might not be the case 100% of
the time, but it is almost like 95%. It has been such a sure pattern that if I call my wife and
tell her that it rained yesterday in Chennai after a long time, the first thing she would ask is,
"Did you by any chance wash the car yesterday?".

Chennai needs rains so that the lakes supplying water to the city remain full and there won't
be any water scarcity. Ofcourse, Chennai also cannot handle the kind of rains that we get in Kerala - the drainage system here is so bad that a light shower can leave the roads flooded.
So, there needs to be a balance here, like in maybe a good shower every two weeks or so.

And all it needs for this to happen, is for me to wash my car every 2 weeks. And if we need
a really good shower, all I need to do is follow up the wash with a good wax job. :-)

P.S. : Today morning, I remove the cover to see all the dust from the cover on the car.
It looks nothing like the shining beauty it was last night. Anyway, since the cover is anyway
wet, I wash it and leave it to dry. Take a wet cloth and wipe the car clean. While it does not
look like it did after the waxing yesterday, it is still presentable. I can live with that, if it solves Chennai's water problem. :-)

Tank her up to the gills.

After many months, I spent a weekend (30-31 August) at Chennai, instead of rushing off to
Kerala. Incidentally it coincided with a plan that some of us from Chennai and Bangalore had made to visit Pondicherry, which is a state/province some 150kms from Chennai.

Pondicherry used to be a French colony some 60-odd years ago before it was 'liberated' and joined the Republic of India. It gets some benefits which are not available to other normal
states like Kerala, Tamilnadu etc. Eg. there is no luxury tax in Pondy, which makes a lot of
things cheaper there like booze, cars, bikes, hotel rooms, fuel etc etc - the list is long.

As we drive into Pondicherry, this sight greets us at a gas station.




The yellow vehicle seen in the picture is called an auto-rickshaw and is a 3-wheeler taxi.
The auto is from Tamilnadu (as the registration number indicates) and is returning back
to Chennai. The owner/driver wants to tank up on the cheap petrol and has inclined the
auto so that it takes in a little more fuel.

Given that petrol is only Rs.48 in Pondy (as compared to Rs.55 in Chennai), it is a neat
saving of Rs7 per litre. No wonder the guy wants to tank up the auto to the max.