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"