ME: Roy Skaria, affectionately referred to as COUGAR. The word Roy, is derived from an old Gaelic word and depending on context means "Red" or "the Royal One". No I am not Bengali, clarifying because thats the first question popped at me.

A Malayalee by birth, I can trace my origins to the small town of Pandalam in southern Kerala. I was born and bought up in Pune and have spent an overwhelming part of my 28 odd years here in Pune so I consider myself more Maharashtrian than Malayalee! Have a strange connection with Kobras (Konkan Brahmans) - most of my friends being Patwardhans, Kelkars, Aptes and Sahasrabuddhes! Critics often allege that I think and act like a Ko-bra!  I vehemently disagree!

Both my parents work in the Defense Services: My dad was with the CDA (Comptroller of Defense Accounts), basically the dudes posted at Military Stations to keep an eye on how the military fellows are spending their cash. Now retired , his last posting was at the College of Military engineering after serving in virtually every corner of the country. My mom, aka "Indira Gandhi", is the undoubted boss, both at home and at her job with the DRDO.

Profession: Worked independently for over 3 years selling custom made accounting and Order Management software to SME's (Small and Medium Enterprises). Now working as a product architect with a city based software firm, building up international project experience and understanding procedures involved with running an Offshore development centre. Long term business plan is to work on providing IT-enabled solutions on the Offshore model specifically for the airline and travel industry.

My Politics: A democrat, passionate secularist, somewhat to the right of center thought not a rightist.   I have been allocating some time to work with NGO's working on causes that I believe in, though the time alloted has come down now.  At one time I was pretty aggresive on this front: filing PIL's, taking pangas with the local cable mafia or the corrupt road contractors! I have mellowed down a lot the past 2 years though! Growing old!

I admire Mahatma Gandhi and all that he stood for and place Gandhi at a level higher than Christ, Allah or Buddha himself! I believe that if we had walked down the path that this dude had laid out for us, India would be in a much better state today. Abhor extreme positions taken by politicians of the left or the right and believe in the politics of consensus. I also believe that it is important for people to not only have an opinion, but are willing to back them up with concrete action. I was deeply shamed at the political violence perpetrated in the name of religion in the state of Gujarat and back anyone who is willing to ensure that this sort of horror doesnt come to back to haunt us ever again.

My Bike(s): First bike I owned was a Yamaha RX-Z purchased in 1998. Still have it and still use it for city riding. I find the light weight but extremely peppy Yam a much better option for city riding. I did my first long rides on this bike although for business rather than pleasure. I still remember riding out to Mahad, Junnar and Nashik with a laptop slung on my back! Oh those times! Thinking of getting a THIRD bike now: stuck between the Karizma (which I personally think is an awesome choice for cruising) and the new Bajaj Pulsar launching in Feb.

DOUGIE: I was looking around for a bike to pursue my interest in touring and first zeroed in on the Enfield around June '04. Must confess to have test ridden "competition" (Karizma, Pulsar 180 etc) but surrounded by macho types meant the decision was pretty much made. But things didnt quite go the way I thought they would. I walked into Pune's "Perfect Motors" (Sick place btw), looking to pick up a Std-500 which I was planning to kit out like bhai's bike (18" wheels, VM's and all zat). But instead walked out with a gleaming Thunderbird: DOUGIE! Never once regretted that decision. Dont get me wrong: i think the Standard 500 is an awesome beast. Tags like "State of the art", "Antique" (and a new one "Farm Equipment" tee hee!!) are just jibes I reserve for the most insecure among the Standard riders (and there is no shortage of those he he!!)

But the AVL is in a class of its own, and i think this is the engine that is going to save REML from extinction! Look at the benefits: With an easily attained average of 40 kpl in the city and even more on highway riding, the savings in fuel bills itself are substantial. I have got as much as 46 kpl in some conditions. Even with a host of performance mods i still get 35 kpl+, and with careful carb tuning get even better mileage! And this while still staying true to the original tunnel/push-rod design.And the AVL is certainly more reliable than the CI engined enfields, being better built and of a newer technology. There are disadvantages of having a bike with the AVL engine: there is none of that superb thump that gives most enfield lovers a hard-on! And people assure you get used to the annoying sound of the tappets, but *groan* you NEVER do! But then again, the new model -500 sounds like a whiny whore!  Is that because of the lighter crank or is that just Sam? Or is that one and the same? :-)

Entertainment: Love reading and you will usually find me curled up with a book when not doing anything else. Avoid fiction and philosophy books like the plague. Prefer non-fiction. Like all music except noise passing off as "Heavy Metal". Not ashamed to admit that I like Indian film music. Films: love films and have a huge DVD collection of movies(kept securely out of reach of kleptomaniacs) of all genres: war, horror AND porn (again all genres!!) . Specially treasured: MASH (the TV series copied from VHS) and Kurosawa. Currently hunting for the cult film "Motorcycle Diaries". One "geeli puppy" for anyone who can get me that one!