Today was very eventful. Considering that it was a National Holiday bang in the middle of the week.

I was up at 0630hrs. Spruced up my bike for the Republic Day Ride ! We all assembled at Giorgio, Besant Nagar. The location has its advantages - Petrol bunk across the road, plenty of chai shops all around the place, and enough space for parking 32 bikes, without creating obstructions. Forgot to mention the Restaurant as a scenic prop for the photoshoots !

This was my first time on the ride as a Madras Bull. Starting her up and standing in line with the other rhythmically-humming babes was quite an experience.

We rode in a two-row staggered formation. Down the Besant Nagar beach road, thru Shastri Nagar to hit Lattice Bridge Road and then onto the ECR. With so many bikes moving together, the thumps reverberated all over the place.

Once on the ECR, and after the initial traffic had thinned out, the thumping gave way to the characterisitic hum of cruising at 60kmph. The tri-colour on some of the Bulls fluttered violently. I liked the discipline that we tried to enforce among ourselves, as we zipped down the ECR.

Halted at the Sholinganallur Turn. There's a Rising Star Outreach of India orphanage out there. Those kids had been anxiously expecting us. One could make out from the loud cheers each one of us got, as every rider entered their gates.

Kids at orphanages are, somehow, always disciplined. All of 'em queued up to have the National Flag pinned onto their proud chests. Then they formed a circle. A quick and earnest prayer in Tamil followed. And breakfast was served. Nobody fussed and the plates were clean in no time.

And then 'twas play time. They did a Simon says.. Man, do I remember doing that ages ago ? Heck it was so much fun. And these guys were loving it. ALL of them covered their eyes when Simon said 'Touch your ears'. When their instructor stressed 'EARS', the switch was prompt, amidst peals of laughter. Me has strongly believed that watching Forrest Gump is the fastest way to make one feel pleasant inside. But. Watching these tiny, frollicking, ecstatic kids - laughing, beats all of them get-happy-quick remedies.

We were told that some of these kids were keen to become doctors and policemen after meeting such people in their uniforms. I don't know what precedent we had set by turning up on loud motorcycles in denim overalls.

Moved on further down the ECR. The cruise till Hotel Mamalla was interspersed with occasional excursions to 90kmph. It was a bright sunny day. The winds were perfect and the sea was gentle. Spotted shelter camps and suddenly realized, it has been exactly one month. Groups of people smiled and waved at us. Maybe things were getting better, atleast along the ECR.

The stopover at Hotel Mamalla was fun. Masala Dosa, Aloo Puri and Kaapi. Didn't realize I was that hungry, until the food came in. We split from there. One group headed off to Chengelpet - exploring a new road. Myself, with a smaller group of riders, headed back to Chennai, the way we came. The ride back was different. My bum was now numb. The sun was getting a little uncomfortable and the traffic had increased considerably. So, it was more like driving thru the city. Guess there's always an ideal time for everything.

Late afternoon to late evening was at the Music Academy, the Odyssey Quiz 2005. Puyal, MIT (that's the middle part of her first name), and myself.. Man was it fun. The preliminary round was straight-forward. So we thought we stood a chance. The problem is, the people who finally made it onto the stage, probably didn't get a single question wrong. Like this trio who sat right ahead of us, quietly. One of them was this girl who was leafing thru some quiz book while the preliminary rounds' answers were being discussed. When their team qualified, there was no cheer or customary high 5s. It looked as if they were simply waiting for their turn to be called. That simple.

I liked this quiz better than the Landmark Quiz 2004. In the sense that one didn't need to have formidable knowledge to answer those questions. They were almost always at the tip of your tongue. I really liked these questions:

1. What is Project 119 ?
With 28 gold medals, China ranked third in medal tally at the Sydney Games 2000. However, only one gold came from what Chinese sports authorities describe as "the basic sports", namely, track and field, swimming and several other water sports including rowing, canoeing and kayaking.

There are a total of 119 gold medals in the above-mentioned sports. Thus, a 119 project was launched, with the focus on encouraging Chinese athletes to win golds in athletics and swimming.

2. His January 1931 cartoon stating that the United States had no official national anthem resulted in such a public outcry that "The Star Spangled Banner" was adopted as the official anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931. Cartoonist, Author, Radio Broadcaster. Identify him.
Robert Leroy Ripley of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not'.

3. "My father dropped the 'M' so that I would be first in everything, even in the alphabetical order." Identify this sportsperson.
Anju Bobby George

4. When Albert Szent-Györgyi (Nobel in Physiology) isolated this compound and published his findings, he called the new substance 'ignose' since he was convinced it was a sugar that resembled glucose and fructose, but was ignorant of its structure. When the editor of this journal (Nature), refused to accept ignose as a sensible name, Szent-Györgyi suggested 'Godnose' instead! Alas the editor was neither imaginative nor humorous, and suggested that a more proper name had to be used. Identify the compound.
Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid. The structure of the carbohydrate was elucidated in collaboration with Haworth at Birmingham and the alternative name given was hexuronic acid (hex = six). During the same period (1928–1931), Charles Glen King of the Columbia University of USA isolated Vitamin C from lemon juice and it was observed that hexuronic acid and Vitamin C were identical.

5. Building of this structure named Uffizi, was commenced in 1560 by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de' Medici. What are we talking about ?
'Galleria degli Uffizi' is a palace or palazzo in Florence, holding one of the most famous museums in the world. These were the offices of the Florentine magistrates - hence the name uffizi, meaning offices.

6. This Latin term is used as a keyword on coins and postal stamps of this Nation, to refer to its inhabitants during the Middle Ages.
The label HELVETIA can be found on Swiss coins and postal stamps, while the abbreviation 'ch' (seen on Swiss cars and aircraft) stands for Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin version of "Swiss Confederation".

7. The chance introduction of this packing material in 1848 by Rev Adam Paterson of St. Andrews, and the spread of the railways, directly contributed to the expansion of golf. What material is this ?
Gutta Percha, from the rubber like sap of the Gutta tree. It had been used to pack an idol that was shipped to Rev. Paterson.

8. He was the epitome of the chivalrous Indian knight, a friend to Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V. On his way to attend Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebrations in London all his baggage was lost at sea. Naturally, for such a grand occasion he required an immediate replacement of his wardrobe and, in explaining the cut of his breeches to a London tailor, he set the fashion for the riding breeches trousers which have borne his name ever since. What are these breeches known as ?
Jodhpurs, from Sir Pratap Singh of Jodhpur

9. The name of this Phoenician port city, which exported ‘papyrus,’ eventually, “Scrolls,” or what we call today, “books” came to be called by this name.
Biblios

10. The meaning of the name Cleopatra.
From the Greek name Kleopatra which meant "glory of the father", derived from kleos "glory" combined with patros "of the father"

Friday morning looked terrific. Thought I was in Ooty. The fog had engulfed the entire city and me was feeling all chilly and perked up. Strangely, none of my roomies looked as excited as I was. My nose was blocked. And I could not smell the air. Apparently, Bhogi Pongal was celebrated today. So, one honours Lord Indra by burning all old unused articles. And what I saw was smog, not fog. I was really put off.

The other 'real' treat to the eyes was the excellent Kollams that all the women in the neighbourhood have been preparing at the entrance of their homes.

I haven't bothered to enquire 'Why'. Its been a ritual for the past few weeks now. And the most complex of designs are restricted to this single stretch of straight road that I take on my way to work. I've spotted them washing the tarmacadam at an odd 2200hrs. And then chalking out the Kollam pattern on the roads under oil-lamp lighting. Dunno how long it takes, but when you traverse the route in the morning, you want to ride everywhere except on the road. Indeed, the stuff is beautiful.

Mogambo (khush hua) passed away this morning. Probably the most prominent villain in the Indian film industry with a stentorian voice. His anger-soaked eyes, alongwith the expressions on his face, worked magic on screen. I loved his role as a doting father in DDLJ and also in Taal. This guy could emote really well.

I think Amrish Puri's makeup as Mola Ram in the Temple of Doom was simply out of the ordinary..

Dined at Tic Tac, Montieth Road, Egmore. The long wait was annoying but their Tangri Kebab was one of the brilliant kind. The place is a pretty simple, no frills restaurant. But they play pleasant Hindi tracks and the evening was fun. One of the best things about dining out on a Wednesday: one gets empty roads on the way back. The seldom-braked ride back home on a chilly evening was simply marvellous.

Was in for a pleasant shock at Saravana Bhavan, T-Nagar today. Was starving and yet, in the mood for a quick bite. In an overcrowded restaurant, thought it would be prudent to order the most popular dish of the afternoon - the Limited Meals. WYSI(not)WYG. Was totally unprepared for a kids meal, really. I dunno how they came up with a tray of six half-empty bowls with assorted varieties of rice and dry vegetables. Best of all, the stuff is served with chilled Pepsi (in a container the size of a coffee cup) and lemon pickle. After that meal, I was still hungry, but the desire to try anything else was gone.

Headed to the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam. The place looked neat and well decked up, especially the centre court. All that appreciation came crashing down when I headed to ease myself out. Its kinda sad that we probably have the worst-maintained public restrooms in the world.

4PM. Jonas Björkman and Mahesh Bhupathi were already on the court, practising. The warm-up session looked terrific, with every shot perfectly in place. The two of them got to the net and practised fiery volleys that brought in a serious round of applause from the small crowd at the stands.

Cat, Isaac, Hari and myself had our seats at South Yellow - right above the Players Guests's Area. Had a good view of the court, until the seats ahead of us got filled up. Who sits ahead of you, finally decides what you ultimately get to watch.

But Tennis is, really colourful. Yellow, brown, green and orange coloured seats. Event managers in maroon outfits. Ballboys and linesmen in Navy blues. Paradorn Srichaphan was in his usual audacious Adidas red Tee with black shorts. Carlos Moya did his bit for Nike - in a white 'n' blue combination and a headband with the 'swoosh'. And of course, a fantastic-green centre court, to play on.

Am not a sports addict, but liked the Moya dude. He lost the first set. Made a come-back by winning the second and was in deep trouble at 3-5 in the last set. Srichaphan was the crowd-favourite. Some of these kids kept yelling 'C'mon Tiger'. But I guess 'the Spaniard' is not called King Carlos for nothin'. Fought back to 5-5. Scrambled for every ball that Paradorn shoved at the baseline's extremes. Served at a pleasant 213kmph and also made one lob from the baseline that made everybody gasp in awe. Yeah, he got that point as well.

It looked like Srichaphan was having some trouble with his calf muscles. Seemed to be in pain. But he fought hard. This was not just-another-game. This was the Chennai Open Singles Final. I loved the pace and was thrilled that Moya won the match after a tie-breaker 7-6. Most importantly, I liked that feeling that strangely, criss-crossed, MY mind.. There's nothing like winning.

The Doubles match followed. But we had had our share of the fun. Did not stick around post the third game and headed for food.

Shombit joined us at Roomaallee - Dunno where they learnt to spell it that way. Its bang opposite Music Academy, and it was actually quite a lot of fun eating under concrete umbrellas and ambient lighting. The food was good. The roomallee was served steaming hot. Light music in the background. And service that was super fast. Sometimes, things are just right.