Sunday, February 8, 2009

Royal Enfield guru notes milestone on web

Known throughout the on-line Royal Enfield world as simply "Nandan," B.R. Gurunandan describes himself as a Bullet owner for two decades. He operates a Royal Enfield business in Bangalore, but his influence is worldwide.

Nandan teaches proper Royal Enfield repair and the proper attitude for a "Bulleteer" on the Internet. His approach is no-nonsense, challenging and deeply opinionated. His knowledge and generous advice has earned him respect in the Royal Enfield community.

Nandan is moderator of the Bulletech Yahoo message board, founded in 2000 but, before that, he was a member of the Royal Enfield Yahoo group. I asked him for a comment about that group as it reached its 10th anniversary of service to the community under its moderator, Martin Walton.

"Royalenfield was the first group ( it wasn't Yahoo those days, it was e-groups ) I discovered and joined after I discovered the Internet.

"True to its name, it encompasses all the strains and flavours of the Royal-Enfield bikes and riders. I mean, you find there the owners of every model, from the oldest vintage RE to the latest souped ones. The owners range from weekend-riders to commuters, from clueless to-be-owners to inveterate tinkerers and super-tuners... Which is its strength... and also its weakness.

"Strength because no where else can you get that wide exposure to 'Anything Royal Enfield' as you do there. Many new ideas, opinions, products, techniques for you to adopt... or ignore. Your choice.

"Weakness because the huge deluge of mails makes it a tad difficult to get enough attention focused on non-mainstream topics. And the presence of diametrically opposite schools of thought on a common platform is liable to cause friction occasionally.

"All said and done however, the entire community of Enfield owners would any day vote Martin the Bullet-eer #1 for his wonderful idea and efforts of starting
royalenfield@yahoogroups.com

Nandan added: "Even persons who left the group due to friction and started groups with different moderation styles and narrower focus have nothing but praise for Martin."
at 7:00 AM
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2 comments:

  1. David, this Nandan is an absolute jerk! He is a control-freak who is quick to ban anyone from his group who questions or makes suggestions regarding management/moderation.

    Those wishing to read one of his messages that reveals a near-psychotic personality disorder should go royalenfield@yahoogroups.com and read mea message #48906
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  2. I appreciate the comment. It seems to me that the various Royal Enfield groups we have today did arise because disputes became heated. Especially in the early days (message 48906 is from 2006, not that old but not that new either). Oddly, acrimony has brought about a wider range of discussion and community. Nandan is Nandan. It took some courage for me to ask him for a comment! I do think that he has created a type of appreciation for the Bullet and the Bullet-eer attitude that has enriched the world's enjoyment of these machines. His contribution has been unique and very valuable, in my opinion.
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