The recently concluded festival season, and the now in progress marriage season, brings out the band-baja on the streets.
Here is an example of the DHOL-TASHA seen in Pune during Ganpati festival – discipline, rhythm, but just too many people involved to create the magic / passion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXl0htbW6fw&feature=related
Here is another version – sandal – popular in Nagpur – 2 people, 2 drums – the unique drum beats, the tempo, and the unique ‘sandal’ dances. I was not able to get a good video for this though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWU3_IP4aUU
And here’s the worst example you can find – a marriage band in Pune. Called a ‘brass’ band, has drums, but any sound made by them is drowned out by the amplified output of keypad generated music. Really, money down the drain!
What is missing in Pune is the ‘real’ marriage band, example – as seen in one of the Love Aaj Kal songs, albeit used as a soft background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDne5fEsxec – see the first 10 seconds to understand what I mean. The trumpets, the 6 feet drums, no electronic amplification needed. I do feel sorry about the band members though – dressed in 10 year old crazy uniforms, in the stifling heat.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Pune.. rapid urbanization
With rapid urbanization in Pune, we have now developed conjoined twins – the original village and the new townships that have come on the village land that was earlier used for farming. Some examples are – the urban “Aundh” has the “Aundh-gaon”, Baner has “Baner-Gaon”, “Pashan” has “Pashan-Gaon/Someshwarwadi” as their alter egos.
The folks staying in the old village still continue to do some marginal farming – either by choice, or waiting for it to be zoned as ‘residential’ so that it can be then sold for crores. Most farmers with bigger land holdings have made their moolah this way, and drive around in white Pajeros, Enddevours, Scorpio and other assorted SUVs – the only common factor being white clothes and white vehicles. Ex farmers have now become the local corporators, MLAs – they own the thriving water tanker business – people living in the’urban’ areas think that they have 24 hours corporation provided water supply, but in most cases, the meager water supply is augmented with the ‘water tankers’. At 800 Rs for 9000 litres of water, all of it drawn from wells owned by the farmers, it’s a business with 80% margins !
The old vacated semi-urban village houses are now occupied by migrants from various states, mostly you will see folks from Rajasthan who ply their trade as carpenters, electricians, painters – all servicing the booming realty market.
With the adhoc urbanization, city planning / development goes for a toss – you have 6000 Rs/sq foot real estate built – but no approach roads, no water. You have developed localities – but no civic amenities. Space for a police station, library, garden, play-ground – all exist – but only on paper – in the city’s Development Plan. The 1987 development plan for Pune, is still only 30% implemented J
The moment you enter the ‘gaon’ part – you will feel as if you are 100 kms outside Pune – the pace of life there is light years slower than the frenetic city life.
For those in Pune – visit the 300 year old Shiv temple in Someshwar-wadi ( 5 minutes off Baner/Aundh T point), and the adjoining civic garden. The temple premises are pretty big – old stone masonry, and a fort-like look.
Also, try the Baner hill (right behind Baner gaon, besides Pancard club) – a nice place for a weekend morning/evening stroll. 300 odd steps to the top of the mountain, excellent views all around. The main hillock adjoins a hilly area that separates Sus Road-Baner road – you can volunteer as part of a nature-lovers’ group who assemble on the hill top each Sunday morning at 7:30 AM. They have constructed few water tanks on the hill, and group together on Sunday mornings to water trees/plants that have been planted as part of an afforestation drive.
The folks staying in the old village still continue to do some marginal farming – either by choice, or waiting for it to be zoned as ‘residential’ so that it can be then sold for crores. Most farmers with bigger land holdings have made their moolah this way, and drive around in white Pajeros, Enddevours, Scorpio and other assorted SUVs – the only common factor being white clothes and white vehicles. Ex farmers have now become the local corporators, MLAs – they own the thriving water tanker business – people living in the’urban’ areas think that they have 24 hours corporation provided water supply, but in most cases, the meager water supply is augmented with the ‘water tankers’. At 800 Rs for 9000 litres of water, all of it drawn from wells owned by the farmers, it’s a business with 80% margins !
The old vacated semi-urban village houses are now occupied by migrants from various states, mostly you will see folks from Rajasthan who ply their trade as carpenters, electricians, painters – all servicing the booming realty market.
With the adhoc urbanization, city planning / development goes for a toss – you have 6000 Rs/sq foot real estate built – but no approach roads, no water. You have developed localities – but no civic amenities. Space for a police station, library, garden, play-ground – all exist – but only on paper – in the city’s Development Plan. The 1987 development plan for Pune, is still only 30% implemented J
The moment you enter the ‘gaon’ part – you will feel as if you are 100 kms outside Pune – the pace of life there is light years slower than the frenetic city life.
For those in Pune – visit the 300 year old Shiv temple in Someshwar-wadi ( 5 minutes off Baner/Aundh T point), and the adjoining civic garden. The temple premises are pretty big – old stone masonry, and a fort-like look.
Also, try the Baner hill (right behind Baner gaon, besides Pancard club) – a nice place for a weekend morning/evening stroll. 300 odd steps to the top of the mountain, excellent views all around. The main hillock adjoins a hilly area that separates Sus Road-Baner road – you can volunteer as part of a nature-lovers’ group who assemble on the hill top each Sunday morning at 7:30 AM. They have constructed few water tanks on the hill, and group together on Sunday mornings to water trees/plants that have been planted as part of an afforestation drive.
Random....
As you travel towards Mumbai on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway – right after the Amrutanjan Point – as you start the descent towards Mumbai, you have a Tapri on the roadside, and 1 lane of the already congested ghat section is filled with parked trucks while the drivers have a cuppa
· If you get a chance, you must visit the Big Bazaar / Big Cinemas complex in Pimpri – a huge free parking lot – reminds me of the Walmart parking lots in the US – you can actually push the shopping cart right till your car – in almost all other malls – parking is non-existent, they charge you even if you park on the road, and you can’t carry the shopping cart out of the store J Lots of food court options, and a chance to catch up a movie in the same trip, free parking included!
· Here is an unique approach my friend is using to search for baby names, apart from searching for them online. The trucks and water tankers that ply around the city have the names of children of the owners painted on it, and per my friend, are a good source of potential names
· If you get a chance, you must visit the Big Bazaar / Big Cinemas complex in Pimpri – a huge free parking lot – reminds me of the Walmart parking lots in the US – you can actually push the shopping cart right till your car – in almost all other malls – parking is non-existent, they charge you even if you park on the road, and you can’t carry the shopping cart out of the store J Lots of food court options, and a chance to catch up a movie in the same trip, free parking included!
· Here is an unique approach my friend is using to search for baby names, apart from searching for them online. The trucks and water tankers that ply around the city have the names of children of the owners painted on it, and per my friend, are a good source of potential names
News from around the world..
US Army’s “smart” bullets: http://www.pcworld.com/article/212029/US_army_takes_on_taliban_with_smart_bullets.html?tk=out
England snow – man drive in circles for 72 hours, even with a GPS:
http://www.news.com.au/world/grandfather-72-drove-in-circles-for-three-days-in-heavy-snow/story-e6frfkyi-1225976656404
Gender discrimination in India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/To-ensure-prized-baby-boy-Indians-flock-to-Bangkok/articleshow/7169495.cms
Dead child comes alive http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/living-infant-declared-dead-saved-from-pyre-75392?pfrom=Cities
Racism embedded in Indian psyche - http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-23-the-darker-side-of-indians
Day in the life of an Indian worker: http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-a-day-in-the-life-of-an-indian-worker/20101116.htm
England snow – man drive in circles for 72 hours, even with a GPS:
http://www.news.com.au/world/grandfather-72-drove-in-circles-for-three-days-in-heavy-snow/story-e6frfkyi-1225976656404
Gender discrimination in India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/To-ensure-prized-baby-boy-Indians-flock-to-Bangkok/articleshow/7169495.cms
Dead child comes alive http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/living-infant-declared-dead-saved-from-pyre-75392?pfrom=Cities
Racism embedded in Indian psyche - http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-23-the-darker-side-of-indians
Day in the life of an Indian worker: http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-a-day-in-the-life-of-an-indian-worker/20101116.htm
Ever wonder...
I have never been able to understand why “English” or proper nouns are written down in Hindi the way they are:
Indian Oil is written as INDIAN AAAA-YAL
Birla is written as BIDLA
· Instructions in public buses or trains are meant to give information to travelers or provide warnings. In India, they are never written in an easy to read format – be it in English or Hindi or Marathi – “beware of pickpockets” or similar such messages in buses etc are always written in a broken font (I think a stencil or something is used when painting the messages) - its impossible to reach such message until you really stare at them J
· The other way – “Ram” in all English school textbooks is always written as “Rama” – but “Lakshman” is not written as “Lakshmana” JJ
· What is the origin of the oft-heard word in old Hindi movies – “Vilayat”
Indian Oil is written as INDIAN AAAA-YAL
Birla is written as BIDLA
· Instructions in public buses or trains are meant to give information to travelers or provide warnings. In India, they are never written in an easy to read format – be it in English or Hindi or Marathi – “beware of pickpockets” or similar such messages in buses etc are always written in a broken font (I think a stencil or something is used when painting the messages) - its impossible to reach such message until you really stare at them J
· The other way – “Ram” in all English school textbooks is always written as “Rama” – but “Lakshman” is not written as “Lakshmana” JJ
· What is the origin of the oft-heard word in old Hindi movies – “Vilayat”
Memories from the past
It’s almost impossible to see kids flying kites (January), or playing with marbles (summer vacations) –
@ Kites : The words like “Suttar”, “Kanna”, “Saddi”, “Luddi”, “Bareilly ka manja”, “Girgot”, shouting “O….Paar”- till you were hoarse, “Serous” – I still don’t know the correct technical/scientific name for this raw material – which you boil and mix the ground glass -, searching the neighborhood kachra-peti for used tube- lights to crush/grind them to make “maanja” – will be lost with this generation.
@Marbles: Playing for hours under the baking sun, all for the “gola-baddi” , impriving your ‘anti’ and ‘nukka’ and playing for other various forms of “jeet” seems to be a lost art. I still have my collection of ‘won’ marbles. In the current milieu, apartment complexes with paved ground surfaces don’t even have earth surfaces to make the perfect “baddi”
@ Kites : The words like “Suttar”, “Kanna”, “Saddi”, “Luddi”, “Bareilly ka manja”, “Girgot”, shouting “O….Paar”- till you were hoarse, “Serous” – I still don’t know the correct technical/scientific name for this raw material – which you boil and mix the ground glass -, searching the neighborhood kachra-peti for used tube- lights to crush/grind them to make “maanja” – will be lost with this generation.
@Marbles: Playing for hours under the baking sun, all for the “gola-baddi” , impriving your ‘anti’ and ‘nukka’ and playing for other various forms of “jeet” seems to be a lost art. I still have my collection of ‘won’ marbles. In the current milieu, apartment complexes with paved ground surfaces don’t even have earth surfaces to make the perfect “baddi”
End of the year, end of the decade
While various media are doing their own yearend summaries, here are few of the key moments/events, IMHO
· 9/11 – the world changed for all, especially for Indians who now need to make trips to Mumbai for the visa interviews. No more visa-comes-to-your-home!
· The 2008-9 recession, all due to the US folks J
· Regarding cricket –
o I don’t think people will ever remember Ponting for the Cricket World Cups he won for Australia in 1999, 2003, 2007 – may be the 3 Ashes will be the daag on his safed chaadar for ever
o 2003 WC – India was so near, yet so far from lifting the trophy. In India, the general public did not blame the bowlers for letting Australia put up a 360+ score, it was more of talking that Sachin does not deliver in big matches J
o 2007 T 20 WC – the rise of Dhoni as a captain
· 9/11 – the world changed for all, especially for Indians who now need to make trips to Mumbai for the visa interviews. No more visa-comes-to-your-home!
· The 2008-9 recession, all due to the US folks J
· Regarding cricket –
o I don’t think people will ever remember Ponting for the Cricket World Cups he won for Australia in 1999, 2003, 2007 – may be the 3 Ashes will be the daag on his safed chaadar for ever
o 2003 WC – India was so near, yet so far from lifting the trophy. In India, the general public did not blame the bowlers for letting Australia put up a 360+ score, it was more of talking that Sachin does not deliver in big matches J
o 2007 T 20 WC – the rise of Dhoni as a captain
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Reading time..
Flirty messages and photographs found on social networking website Facebook are now leading to at least one in five divorces in the US, a survey has revealed
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/one-in-five-american-divorces-now-involve-facebook-survey/718663/
Collateral damage of Munni Badman Hui..
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/munnis-in-pakistan-miffed-with-badnaam-hui-tag/719356/
After 100+ Mercs that were bought in bulk in Aurangabad – now 101 people have grouped together and bought 101 BMWs – in aurangabad, again!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/After-101-Mercedes-Aurangabad-citizens-chase-101-BMWs/articleshow/6975009.cms
A blind Indian man managing billions of dollars for JP Morgan
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/managing-risk-for-jpmorgan-and-blindness/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Development of an articial kidney by a desi doctor
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-based-Indian-creates-first-artificial-kidney/articleshow/7038619.cms
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/one-in-five-american-divorces-now-involve-facebook-survey/718663/
Collateral damage of Munni Badman Hui..
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/munnis-in-pakistan-miffed-with-badnaam-hui-tag/719356/
After 100+ Mercs that were bought in bulk in Aurangabad – now 101 people have grouped together and bought 101 BMWs – in aurangabad, again!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/After-101-Mercedes-Aurangabad-citizens-chase-101-BMWs/articleshow/6975009.cms
A blind Indian man managing billions of dollars for JP Morgan
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/managing-risk-for-jpmorgan-and-blindness/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Development of an articial kidney by a desi doctor
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-based-Indian-creates-first-artificial-kidney/articleshow/7038619.cms
random thoughts
After underworld names like “munna mobile”, “chota pappu” etc… now politicians are also being called similarly.. “Adarsh” Chavan, “Spectrum” Raja
· June 21st is supposed to be the longest day, and the start of summer in the northern hemisphere – so why do the days actually start getting smaller when summer has just begun J
· On similar lines, Dec 21st is supposed to be the shortest day, and the official start of winter – but the days actually begin to get longer J. We un-necessarily blame the winter for short days, even though the days are actually becoming longer J
· While the English news channels, in prime time focus on ‘intellectual debates’ with party spokespersons, or debates with ‘educated’ citizens, it’s difficult to get a quick news digest or sports updates– my recommendation – switch to Hindi news channel – at the start of the hour, or half past the hour, they do 100 quick fire news reports in 2 minutes – enough to give you the gist of the day’s happenings.
· Ever wonder why Ram was always referred to as RAMA in school books?
· June 21st is supposed to be the longest day, and the start of summer in the northern hemisphere – so why do the days actually start getting smaller when summer has just begun J
· On similar lines, Dec 21st is supposed to be the shortest day, and the official start of winter – but the days actually begin to get longer J. We un-necessarily blame the winter for short days, even though the days are actually becoming longer J
· While the English news channels, in prime time focus on ‘intellectual debates’ with party spokespersons, or debates with ‘educated’ citizens, it’s difficult to get a quick news digest or sports updates– my recommendation – switch to Hindi news channel – at the start of the hour, or half past the hour, they do 100 quick fire news reports in 2 minutes – enough to give you the gist of the day’s happenings.
· Ever wonder why Ram was always referred to as RAMA in school books?
Community Dog
A few weeks ago, heard a commotion in my building’s parking lot – turned out that all the kids in my building in the 3-8 age group had brought in a stray puppy, and were trying to wash him and then feed him. Every kid had brought biscuits from their homes, and a couple of the 8 year olds were trying to give him a wash. Poor pup, in 10 minutes he moved from being a stray dog to being adored by numerous kids. He was absolutely scared, and never ventured near our building again the next day J
Since its extremely difficult to have a pet inside apartments, I guess it would be great idea to have a common community dog for a building, so that children can enjoy, and at the same time not dirty their homes, or be 100% responsible for the care of a pet.
Since its extremely difficult to have a pet inside apartments, I guess it would be great idea to have a common community dog for a building, so that children can enjoy, and at the same time not dirty their homes, or be 100% responsible for the care of a pet.
My first 10 K run...
Registrations
This was my first race in India, having earlier run the 5K charity run organized by the Asha Foundation of Chicago in September 2009 in Wheeling. The Pune marathon had an online registration facility, which I used, but the site was missing key information like start place and time. They had tied up with a payment interface to process registration payments. No responses to “ask me” questions and no contact could be made to any of the phone numbers listed on the site
· T Shirts
Reached Deccan/Alka talkies square at around 7, saw people had already gathered in groups, wearing Pune Intl Marathon T shirts (for girls) and vests/banians (for guys). Lots and lots of NCC volunteers to manage the crowd. Lot of corporate presence – many companies had 10-50 member teams planning to do the run. Tried to see if I could get my marathon vest, and my chest tag, but was told that this was supposed to be collected from the office of the organizing committee in advance. I grouped with the group 5 folks, and talking to them, found out that the full marathon was already flagged off at 7 AM sharp. Mr Kalmadi was the chief guest, few politicians/ministers, 2-3 track and field Asiad medalists present for their felicitation, and also Vivek Oberoi and Sameera Reddy for the Bollywood presence. Lot of balloons, and few speeches, and finally the half marathon, 2K, 3K, 5K, 10 K races were flagged off at 8 AM. (my registration card that I had printed online said 8:30 AM J)
· Petals
The crowd was mostly people in the 15-40 age group, with good participation from children, and the 60+ folks. Lot of goreys as well. The route was ‘runners only’ and all vehicular traffic was routed on alternate roads. As we passed down Laxmi road, at each square you had school children showering runners with flower petals
· Live band
At each intersection, big crowds to cheer you on, and live bands, dhols, to create a fantastic atmosphere. This was true on the first 5 KM of the route though J. All along the route the stopped traffic was patiently waiting for the mama folks to give them the green signal – no honking no road rage – a welcome change in the road manners from Pune-ites
Enough water stations and first aid stations to cater to any medical issues. No mobile loos though, anyone wanting to take a leak had to go in to the ‘PATLI GALI’ and relieve yourself. Don’t know how the girls managed though!
· 1 lire bottles
Most water stations – almost every km or so, were handing out 200/500 ml bottles but some were giving out huge 1 liter bottles – running 10 KM is hard, and trying to lug around a heavy bottle – no chance – people just took a sip and discarded them- you could see water being wasted like anything.
· School kids live band
On MG road, school kids in uniforms were having a blast belting out loud drum beats – no tunes, just raw energy hitting the drums with all their might!
· Architecture tour
As we passed through the old areas of Pune, with 200 year old WADAs and houses choc a bloc with each other, some of them being replaced by concrete buildings, you could almost have a ‘architecture’ tour similar to the French Quarter in NOLA. Well, almost J
· Police
lots and lots of traffic and regular police – they did an excellent job! No more lathis, but lot of cops were carrying modern fiber glass sticks :J
· Rasna and Venky’s ‘Gatorade’
Some water stops were actually handing out Rasna in plastic glasses, while some of them were promoting the Indian version of the energy drink Gatorade – manufactured by Venky’s –the same company which bought a EPL football club
· Missing 9 K mark
Completed the 5 K milestone in 40 minutes, 2 minutes shaved off from my previous best – thought of quitting at that point and going home but saw a pretty face chugging along, and thought, what the heck – have paid for 10 K, might as well run the entire distance.
· HSBC & Capgemini
Passed the main branch of HSBC bank somewhere after the 8 K mark, and saw a steep incline of a flyover on the route – switched to the ‘walk’ mode, and saw the welcoming sign of Capgemini’s MIKON office. Did the run-walk-run routine, I was averaging 8 minutes for a KM – and after spending 14 odd minutes, still no sign of the 9 K mark. Went ahead, made a right turn towards Koregaon park, and the finish line for 10 K was right in front of me. I guess the organizers missed putting the 9 K signpost.
· Did it! Boiled eggs
A good crowd was waiting at the 10 K finish line to encourage people who were running the 10 K and also the people who would continue ahead for their half marathons. There were crates and crates of hard boiled eggs being handed out as ‘refreshments’ haven’t yet understood the logic of eggs though. Couple of buses were waiting to take the people back to the starting point. So finally completed my first 10 K in 83:23 J Something that can be definitely improved. Have a bad sprain now in my right foot – waiting for that to subside before I run again – abhi to haalat aisi hai ki chalna mushkil hai J
This was my first race in India, having earlier run the 5K charity run organized by the Asha Foundation of Chicago in September 2009 in Wheeling. The Pune marathon had an online registration facility, which I used, but the site was missing key information like start place and time. They had tied up with a payment interface to process registration payments. No responses to “ask me” questions and no contact could be made to any of the phone numbers listed on the site
· T Shirts
Reached Deccan/Alka talkies square at around 7, saw people had already gathered in groups, wearing Pune Intl Marathon T shirts (for girls) and vests/banians (for guys). Lots and lots of NCC volunteers to manage the crowd. Lot of corporate presence – many companies had 10-50 member teams planning to do the run. Tried to see if I could get my marathon vest, and my chest tag, but was told that this was supposed to be collected from the office of the organizing committee in advance. I grouped with the group 5 folks, and talking to them, found out that the full marathon was already flagged off at 7 AM sharp. Mr Kalmadi was the chief guest, few politicians/ministers, 2-3 track and field Asiad medalists present for their felicitation, and also Vivek Oberoi and Sameera Reddy for the Bollywood presence. Lot of balloons, and few speeches, and finally the half marathon, 2K, 3K, 5K, 10 K races were flagged off at 8 AM. (my registration card that I had printed online said 8:30 AM J)
· Petals
The crowd was mostly people in the 15-40 age group, with good participation from children, and the 60+ folks. Lot of goreys as well. The route was ‘runners only’ and all vehicular traffic was routed on alternate roads. As we passed down Laxmi road, at each square you had school children showering runners with flower petals
· Live band
At each intersection, big crowds to cheer you on, and live bands, dhols, to create a fantastic atmosphere. This was true on the first 5 KM of the route though J. All along the route the stopped traffic was patiently waiting for the mama folks to give them the green signal – no honking no road rage – a welcome change in the road manners from Pune-ites
Enough water stations and first aid stations to cater to any medical issues. No mobile loos though, anyone wanting to take a leak had to go in to the ‘PATLI GALI’ and relieve yourself. Don’t know how the girls managed though!
· 1 lire bottles
Most water stations – almost every km or so, were handing out 200/500 ml bottles but some were giving out huge 1 liter bottles – running 10 KM is hard, and trying to lug around a heavy bottle – no chance – people just took a sip and discarded them- you could see water being wasted like anything.
· School kids live band
On MG road, school kids in uniforms were having a blast belting out loud drum beats – no tunes, just raw energy hitting the drums with all their might!
· Architecture tour
As we passed through the old areas of Pune, with 200 year old WADAs and houses choc a bloc with each other, some of them being replaced by concrete buildings, you could almost have a ‘architecture’ tour similar to the French Quarter in NOLA. Well, almost J
· Police
lots and lots of traffic and regular police – they did an excellent job! No more lathis, but lot of cops were carrying modern fiber glass sticks :J
· Rasna and Venky’s ‘Gatorade’
Some water stops were actually handing out Rasna in plastic glasses, while some of them were promoting the Indian version of the energy drink Gatorade – manufactured by Venky’s –the same company which bought a EPL football club
· Missing 9 K mark
Completed the 5 K milestone in 40 minutes, 2 minutes shaved off from my previous best – thought of quitting at that point and going home but saw a pretty face chugging along, and thought, what the heck – have paid for 10 K, might as well run the entire distance.
· HSBC & Capgemini
Passed the main branch of HSBC bank somewhere after the 8 K mark, and saw a steep incline of a flyover on the route – switched to the ‘walk’ mode, and saw the welcoming sign of Capgemini’s MIKON office. Did the run-walk-run routine, I was averaging 8 minutes for a KM – and after spending 14 odd minutes, still no sign of the 9 K mark. Went ahead, made a right turn towards Koregaon park, and the finish line for 10 K was right in front of me. I guess the organizers missed putting the 9 K signpost.
· Did it! Boiled eggs
A good crowd was waiting at the 10 K finish line to encourage people who were running the 10 K and also the people who would continue ahead for their half marathons. There were crates and crates of hard boiled eggs being handed out as ‘refreshments’ haven’t yet understood the logic of eggs though. Couple of buses were waiting to take the people back to the starting point. So finally completed my first 10 K in 83:23 J Something that can be definitely improved. Have a bad sprain now in my right foot – waiting for that to subside before I run again – abhi to haalat aisi hai ki chalna mushkil hai J
Nice one- April fool
While travelling back from Mumbai to Pune, at the Khopoli rest area saw few people at the food stall poring over a SMS joke which has a nice animation along with it. Had them transfer the file over Bluetooth to my phone as well. Here is this new age joke –
Ravan goes to the place where Ram/Sita/Laxman are staying, disguised as a SADHU while ram and laxman are busy hunting the golden deer.
Raavan asks for alms, bhiksha de do devi…
and Sita comes and says YE LE… SAB KUCH LE LE…
Raavan removes his disguise and laughs a crooked laugh – APRIL FOOL..
mai koi sadhu-vaadhu nahi hu.. mai to raavan hu..RAAVAN..
Pat comes the response from Sita…
Chal be saale…
…
..
…
Mai bhi koi sita-vita nahi hu…
..
…
Mai to RAKHI hu RAKHI.. and Raavan has an heart attack JJ
Ravan goes to the place where Ram/Sita/Laxman are staying, disguised as a SADHU while ram and laxman are busy hunting the golden deer.
Raavan asks for alms, bhiksha de do devi…
and Sita comes and says YE LE… SAB KUCH LE LE…
Raavan removes his disguise and laughs a crooked laugh – APRIL FOOL..
mai koi sadhu-vaadhu nahi hu.. mai to raavan hu..RAAVAN..
Pat comes the response from Sita…
Chal be saale…
…
..
…
Mai bhi koi sita-vita nahi hu…
..
…
Mai to RAKHI hu RAKHI.. and Raavan has an heart attack JJ
Visit to Bhopal - city of lakes
Haven’t yet heard the Bhopali accent made famous by “Soorma Bhopali” in Sholay
· I can understand MNS or Shiv Sena enforcing “Mumbai” in Mumbai/Bombay, but was surprised to see many of the roadside thela/shops selling Mumbai Pavbhaji and Mumbai Vada Pav rather than ‘Bambai’ Pav Bhaji J
· Here for a recruitment drive - while most IT companies are giving packages around 3 or 3.5 lakh per annum, lot of students from the core branches – Mech, Electrical, Civil are opting for core companies like automobiles, construction, engineering – the packages given by L&T, Bajaj, Tata Motors, GM, Hyundai and the likes – 6 lakhs plus !!!The salaries (CTC) for PSU companies like BHEL, ONGC, IOCL, BPCL, NTPC – 9 lakh per annum – the “real” part is around 6 and remaining 3 lakhs or so is the indirect “CTC” portion which includes accommodation, medical costs, etc.. something which only the PSU can provide
· Just came back – had Supriya Pathak, Sonu Sood (Dabangg villain) and Tiku Talsaniya on the flight back. Don’t have a photo or would have uploaded on rediff.com under their “SPOTTED” section
· I can understand MNS or Shiv Sena enforcing “Mumbai” in Mumbai/Bombay, but was surprised to see many of the roadside thela/shops selling Mumbai Pavbhaji and Mumbai Vada Pav rather than ‘Bambai’ Pav Bhaji J
· Here for a recruitment drive - while most IT companies are giving packages around 3 or 3.5 lakh per annum, lot of students from the core branches – Mech, Electrical, Civil are opting for core companies like automobiles, construction, engineering – the packages given by L&T, Bajaj, Tata Motors, GM, Hyundai and the likes – 6 lakhs plus !!!The salaries (CTC) for PSU companies like BHEL, ONGC, IOCL, BPCL, NTPC – 9 lakh per annum – the “real” part is around 6 and remaining 3 lakhs or so is the indirect “CTC” portion which includes accommodation, medical costs, etc.. something which only the PSU can provide
· Just came back – had Supriya Pathak, Sonu Sood (Dabangg villain) and Tiku Talsaniya on the flight back. Don’t have a photo or would have uploaded on rediff.com under their “SPOTTED” section
skywalks in Mumbai
You will see a lot of them spread across Mumbai – at railway stations or at busy road junctions. At a station, the skywalks will start at the overbridge – on the East and West sides, and continue for upto 0.5 Km or 1 KM – for use of pedestrians to enable them to walk and get down further away from the extremely crowded roads just outside the station where there’s a very good chance that pedestrians may get hit by BEST buses, taxis, autos or street traffic.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Indias got talent: Khoj 2
This season’s winners – a choir singing band ended up singing during the Obama state dinner in Delhi. Got to see some awesome performances during the run to the finals – some of the performances given by the differently abled participants were simply mind blowing!!
Here is a demo of Hip hop dance by a young kid with amputated legs -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJxBp7Hpz0 – see at 2:27
The enthu, the zest shown towards life, the optimism – mind blowing!
Here is a demo of Hip hop dance by a young kid with amputated legs -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJxBp7Hpz0 – see at 2:27
The enthu, the zest shown towards life, the optimism – mind blowing!
RAKHI KA INSAAF on NDTV Imagine
You simply have to watch this once! This woman is hilarious, rude, obnoxious – how can even NDTV air this show?
I caught an episode out of curiosity – Rakhi plays the ‘JUDGE’ and the accused party and prosecuting party argue their case in front of her
Rakhi Judge
Man1 – Bollywood casting director
Woman1 – Bollywood/bhojpuri B grade movie/serial actress
Man2- woman’s maana-hua-bhai
Woman1 and Man2 have accused Man1 of casting couch, asking the bechari woman1 to ‘compromise’ to get an ‘item song’
Man1 says that the ‘compromise’ was not asked by him, but proposed by this ‘cheap’ woman1
Halfway into the episode, man1, woman1 hit each other with chappals and there is a **beep** every 10 seconds since everyone is calling everyone – chinaal, maa ki ***, behen ki ***
man2 (bhai) is sitting tense
So what happens next while man 1 and woman1 have quietened down, rakhi rushes to Man2, and scolds him, aapki behen maar kha rahi hai, and aap peechle 10 minute se mere seen eke taraf dekh rahe ho agli baar dekha to set se bahar fikwa doongi!!
You HAVE to see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl09XZjC5zE&feature=related WATCH Clip AT 4:25
I caught an episode out of curiosity – Rakhi plays the ‘JUDGE’ and the accused party and prosecuting party argue their case in front of her
Rakhi Judge
Man1 – Bollywood casting director
Woman1 – Bollywood/bhojpuri B grade movie/serial actress
Man2- woman’s maana-hua-bhai
Woman1 and Man2 have accused Man1 of casting couch, asking the bechari woman1 to ‘compromise’ to get an ‘item song’
Man1 says that the ‘compromise’ was not asked by him, but proposed by this ‘cheap’ woman1
Halfway into the episode, man1, woman1 hit each other with chappals and there is a **beep** every 10 seconds since everyone is calling everyone – chinaal, maa ki ***, behen ki ***
man2 (bhai) is sitting tense
So what happens next while man 1 and woman1 have quietened down, rakhi rushes to Man2, and scolds him, aapki behen maar kha rahi hai, and aap peechle 10 minute se mere seen eke taraf dekh rahe ho agli baar dekha to set se bahar fikwa doongi!!
You HAVE to see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl09XZjC5zE&feature=related WATCH Clip AT 4:25
Thursday, October 7, 2010
New IT DTC - Fine Print?
Indian Income Tax - Direct tax code
The Direct Tax Code or DTC bill was passed in Parliament last month, to implemented effective April 1 2012. Some of the finer print that was highlighted as a future ‘bribe’ enhancer:
· Indian nationals travelling out of the country, need to travel only after they procure an IT Clearance Certificate (to ensure that there are no dues and you are not trying to flee)
· Foreign airlines, operating out of India, are liable for prosecution in India if they allow passengers to travel without a valid IT clearance certificate
· IT cases are generally dealt by a IT Tribunal, where the tribunal result is binding and non reversible. Appeal is allowed to a higher authority similar to HC or supreme court appeals for criminal law. The new DTC allows for reversal of a IT Tribunal decision by the IT department at any point in the future, based on new interpretations of the same law.
The Direct Tax Code or DTC bill was passed in Parliament last month, to implemented effective April 1 2012. Some of the finer print that was highlighted as a future ‘bribe’ enhancer:
· Indian nationals travelling out of the country, need to travel only after they procure an IT Clearance Certificate (to ensure that there are no dues and you are not trying to flee)
· Foreign airlines, operating out of India, are liable for prosecution in India if they allow passengers to travel without a valid IT clearance certificate
· IT cases are generally dealt by a IT Tribunal, where the tribunal result is binding and non reversible. Appeal is allowed to a higher authority similar to HC or supreme court appeals for criminal law. The new DTC allows for reversal of a IT Tribunal decision by the IT department at any point in the future, based on new interpretations of the same law.
Without Wax
A new phrase
Saw a few emails from a colleague –all his emails are signed off with the words - Without wax.
Was intrigued by the phrase ‘without wax’ . Good old Google and Wikipedia helped me understand that without wax means – yours ‘utmost’ sincerely
More on http://www.withoutwax.org/Without_Wax/Welcome.html
And while we are on this, I have coined a new phrase ‘crawling wikipedia’ and anointed it as one of my hobbies J. One of my recent ‘crawling’ started with a wiki search on Pune, and ended up on the Aztec empire in LAM few clicks later!
Saw a few emails from a colleague –all his emails are signed off with the words - Without wax.
Was intrigued by the phrase ‘without wax’ . Good old Google and Wikipedia helped me understand that without wax means – yours ‘utmost’ sincerely
More on http://www.withoutwax.org/Without_Wax/Welcome.html
And while we are on this, I have coined a new phrase ‘crawling wikipedia’ and anointed it as one of my hobbies J. One of my recent ‘crawling’ started with a wiki search on Pune, and ended up on the Aztec empire in LAM few clicks later!
5 Chinese things that influenced my life
(sounds nice..has a nice feel to it…as if I am writing my memoirs)
1> Mosquito Killer ‘badminton’ racket
Mosquitoes used to be a big menace, no matter what you use – Good Knights, mosquito coils – the pesky things used to find some nice hiding places in the house - behind the curtains, etc since all these things don’t kill the mosquitoes, but simply drive them from one room to the other. A friend recommended the ‘racket’ – comes with a wire mesh to zap the mosquitoes/flies, re-chargeable in a standard 230 V electricity outlet, retails at Rs 90-100 at any general store, and VERY VERY effective! The key is to gently ‘wave’ the racket and not ‘swat’
2> Car Dashboard ‘Sunflower’
I first saw this at University Square, being sold at the traffic light by ‘mobile’ vendors who specialize in selling at traffic lights, the most popular item being car washing/wiping cloth pieces.
First though this was some kind of a car perfume that you mount somewhere near the dashboard. Turned out to be a solar power operated decorative piece, very high aesthetic value. This is basically a small pot with a sunflower and 2 leaves. The solar cell makes the leaves flap gently, and the flapping makes the sunflower nod gently. The good thing is that even at night, the motion of the car is sufficient to ‘nod’ the sunflower, though the flapping is not as vigorous during the day. Retails at Rs 50-80 depending on where you buy it, no maintenance, good thing to keep in the car even if the solar cell stops working. Someone in my building got it, became a curiosity for all the 3-5 year olds, and all parents, including me, were forced to buy it – all cars in our building, and roughly every 4th car in the city sports this item! BTW, this is something which you can place it in your home as well, may be a window sill or something which catches nice sunlight.
A nice time for ‘export’ to the US, let me know how many you need, and I can send it out with the next onsite coordinator! No mark up!
3> Decorative lights
No pictures needed for this! I remember from my childhood that the decorative string of lights or ‘lighting’ used for Diwali decoration, used to be high maintenance affairs – the light bulbs used were of the size of the bulbs used in torches, and very prone to getting ‘fused’. So if 3-4 such bulbs in a sequence fused, the entire string stopped working. Compare with the Chinese made varieties available now – retails at 50 Rs, 2 meters, has 8 pre-programmed lighting ‘patterns’, good re-use value, definitely made my life easier!
4> Glow-in-the-dark stars/spaceships/planets
Another of the peer pressure things – this kid has this, and I must have this! Stars, spaceships, planets in various sizes, need to be stuck to the ceiling, and this virtual galaxy starts glowing once you switch off the lights at night! A nice, calming, comforting things for the kids before they go to sleep. Retails for Rs 40-50 on the street, has 4 sheets which say ‘3 M’ technology, but are made somewhere near Shanghai. Has close to 50-60 stars, few planets, some spaceships, and you can nicely decorate a 2 square feet patch on the ceiling.
5> IPOD Nano Armband
This is something, the unavailability of which, impacted my goal of completing half of a Half-Marathon. Kept on postponing my daily jogging routine till I found a Ipod armbnd – searched all of Pimpri and Hong Kong lane on Deccan- no luck yet! And no jogging as well :)
1> Mosquito Killer ‘badminton’ racket
Mosquitoes used to be a big menace, no matter what you use – Good Knights, mosquito coils – the pesky things used to find some nice hiding places in the house - behind the curtains, etc since all these things don’t kill the mosquitoes, but simply drive them from one room to the other. A friend recommended the ‘racket’ – comes with a wire mesh to zap the mosquitoes/flies, re-chargeable in a standard 230 V electricity outlet, retails at Rs 90-100 at any general store, and VERY VERY effective! The key is to gently ‘wave’ the racket and not ‘swat’
2> Car Dashboard ‘Sunflower’
I first saw this at University Square, being sold at the traffic light by ‘mobile’ vendors who specialize in selling at traffic lights, the most popular item being car washing/wiping cloth pieces.
First though this was some kind of a car perfume that you mount somewhere near the dashboard. Turned out to be a solar power operated decorative piece, very high aesthetic value. This is basically a small pot with a sunflower and 2 leaves. The solar cell makes the leaves flap gently, and the flapping makes the sunflower nod gently. The good thing is that even at night, the motion of the car is sufficient to ‘nod’ the sunflower, though the flapping is not as vigorous during the day. Retails at Rs 50-80 depending on where you buy it, no maintenance, good thing to keep in the car even if the solar cell stops working. Someone in my building got it, became a curiosity for all the 3-5 year olds, and all parents, including me, were forced to buy it – all cars in our building, and roughly every 4th car in the city sports this item! BTW, this is something which you can place it in your home as well, may be a window sill or something which catches nice sunlight.
A nice time for ‘export’ to the US, let me know how many you need, and I can send it out with the next onsite coordinator! No mark up!
3> Decorative lights
No pictures needed for this! I remember from my childhood that the decorative string of lights or ‘lighting’ used for Diwali decoration, used to be high maintenance affairs – the light bulbs used were of the size of the bulbs used in torches, and very prone to getting ‘fused’. So if 3-4 such bulbs in a sequence fused, the entire string stopped working. Compare with the Chinese made varieties available now – retails at 50 Rs, 2 meters, has 8 pre-programmed lighting ‘patterns’, good re-use value, definitely made my life easier!
4> Glow-in-the-dark stars/spaceships/planets
Another of the peer pressure things – this kid has this, and I must have this! Stars, spaceships, planets in various sizes, need to be stuck to the ceiling, and this virtual galaxy starts glowing once you switch off the lights at night! A nice, calming, comforting things for the kids before they go to sleep. Retails for Rs 40-50 on the street, has 4 sheets which say ‘3 M’ technology, but are made somewhere near Shanghai. Has close to 50-60 stars, few planets, some spaceships, and you can nicely decorate a 2 square feet patch on the ceiling.
5> IPOD Nano Armband
This is something, the unavailability of which, impacted my goal of completing half of a Half-Marathon. Kept on postponing my daily jogging routine till I found a Ipod armbnd – searched all of Pimpri and Hong Kong lane on Deccan- no luck yet! And no jogging as well :)
Friday, July 2, 2010
Vitamin water
Tap water has the added benefits of being all but free, and free of calories. Critics have bashed Vitaminwater for being a calorie trap. While a single eight-ounce serving has just 50 calories, a bottle contains 2.5 servings, so you could easily drink 125 calories -- just 15 shy of the calories in a can of Coca-Cola -- at once.
Kal aaj aur kal..
I was doing ‘house-keeping’ this weekend, and while cleaning up the closet – I came across 500 odd audio cassettes. Those were in vogue until 2001-2002 when I was adding those to my collection like crazy – it was still the time of ‘walkmans’ being very popular must-have gadgets. The same period saw the advent of portable ‘discmans’ or ‘cd players’ which further got shrunk to portable MP3 players / IPOD / Zune generation – and with Apple coming up with product innovations each year – I am not sure how long by Ipod Nano continues to be the ‘in’ thing. At least there is no physical storage associated with Ipod songs.. still haven’t decided what to do with the cassettes!!
Even the cars in India now come with MP3 players or USB interface on the steering wheel. Also, with 6 FM channels belting out Hindi songs, no one ever listens anything to other than FM radio
Even the cars in India now come with MP3 players or USB interface on the steering wheel. Also, with 6 FM channels belting out Hindi songs, no one ever listens anything to other than FM radio
Random...
Random
Ø In Pune, an apartment is called a ‘flat’, In Mumbai, an apartment is called a ‘block’ or a ‘flat’, the Page 3 folks call an apartment a ‘pad’
Ø In the US, there was some negative criticism regarding the release of ‘Death of a President’ in 2006 which was a fictional documentary type film showing the assassination of George W Bush. Some multiplex chains had even refused screening this movie in theatres, but ‘freedom of expression’ was maintained. In India, there is big uproar regarding the upcoming book ‘Red Saree’ by a Spanish author – about Sonia Gandhi – some sections in the book do not match with the image the Congress wants to portray
Ø Road side ads – the charm of seeing beautiful gals selling soaps, perfumes is gone. Neither can you see ads showing TV actresses promoting their soaps – mostly all the road side signs are now composed of ads selling flats, row houses and other real estate stuff- time to bring back the beautiful ladies on the the advertising boards.
Ø Public transport – the planned Pune metro seems to be going in endless rounds of planning, replanning, and blaming each other – while the Mumbai monorail/metro project (Phase I) gets ready for a launch later this year!!
Ø Why are South Indians leaving Calcutta - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/21099823.cms
Ø In Pune, an apartment is called a ‘flat’, In Mumbai, an apartment is called a ‘block’ or a ‘flat’, the Page 3 folks call an apartment a ‘pad’
Ø In the US, there was some negative criticism regarding the release of ‘Death of a President’ in 2006 which was a fictional documentary type film showing the assassination of George W Bush. Some multiplex chains had even refused screening this movie in theatres, but ‘freedom of expression’ was maintained. In India, there is big uproar regarding the upcoming book ‘Red Saree’ by a Spanish author – about Sonia Gandhi – some sections in the book do not match with the image the Congress wants to portray
Ø Road side ads – the charm of seeing beautiful gals selling soaps, perfumes is gone. Neither can you see ads showing TV actresses promoting their soaps – mostly all the road side signs are now composed of ads selling flats, row houses and other real estate stuff- time to bring back the beautiful ladies on the the advertising boards.
Ø Public transport – the planned Pune metro seems to be going in endless rounds of planning, replanning, and blaming each other – while the Mumbai monorail/metro project (Phase I) gets ready for a launch later this year!!
Ø Why are South Indians leaving Calcutta - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/21099823.cms
Reading time...
New ‘binge’ drinking game – now hugely popular in the US, driving sales of Smirnoff Ice like anything
http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/popular-new-drinking-game-raises-question-whos-icing-whom-30633.php?u=1010 and http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/business/media/09adco.html?scp=1&sq=Icing&st=cse
Ø O’hare – consolidated area for rental cars - http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2367868,ohare-rental-fees-increase-060810.article
Ø All Indian grocery stores – Food bazaar, Reliance Fresh, MORE – should have separate checkout lanes for ’10 items or less’. This is one thing that is missing from Indian stores, and if you unlucky enough to be sent by your wife to do some last minute grocery shopping (stuff that is typically difficult to find in Kiraana stores) – it’s a good wastage of an hour – just standing in the checkout lane!
Ø Another decade of US presence in Afganistan - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?ref=world
Ø Another Indian American governor in the making - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Haley
Ø Himesh is BACK!! - http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/10/review-himesh-is-back-with-kajraare.htm
Ø Now ‘early boarding’ fee - http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/17/american.airlines.boarding.fee/index.html?hpt=T2
Ø Why China consumes so much cement and steel - http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/18/slide-show-1-stunning-bridges-of-china.htm
http://www.ndtv.com/news/world/popular-new-drinking-game-raises-question-whos-icing-whom-30633.php?u=1010 and http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/business/media/09adco.html?scp=1&sq=Icing&st=cse
Ø O’hare – consolidated area for rental cars - http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2367868,ohare-rental-fees-increase-060810.article
Ø All Indian grocery stores – Food bazaar, Reliance Fresh, MORE – should have separate checkout lanes for ’10 items or less’. This is one thing that is missing from Indian stores, and if you unlucky enough to be sent by your wife to do some last minute grocery shopping (stuff that is typically difficult to find in Kiraana stores) – it’s a good wastage of an hour – just standing in the checkout lane!
Ø Another decade of US presence in Afganistan - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?ref=world
Ø Another Indian American governor in the making - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Haley
Ø Himesh is BACK!! - http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/10/review-himesh-is-back-with-kajraare.htm
Ø Now ‘early boarding’ fee - http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/17/american.airlines.boarding.fee/index.html?hpt=T2
Ø Why China consumes so much cement and steel - http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/18/slide-show-1-stunning-bridges-of-china.htm
Mumbai Pune Expressway – trip
9 years after India's first access controlled expressway was opened -----
Amrutanjan Point – it’s a British era viaduct/bridge which was used as a train reversing station. It’s a stone masonry structure and is the BIGGEST bottleneck on the expressway. From the Pune side, that the highest point on the E-way that you ascend to – and you begin your descent down the ghat once you cross this. The traffic moves here at 10 KMPH, with the heavy container trucks blocking almost all lanes. Its very common to find an overturned truck, or a truck with overturned goods – adding further to the traffic jam. Late night and early morning (around 4-5 AM) seem to be the WORST time to travel from Mumbai to Pune – the moment you cross the rest area prior to the ascent (when coming from Mumbai) – you get stuck in endless slow moving overloaded truck traffic, and you have to zig-zag through lanes after every 100 metres.
Made a trip on the expressway again last week, Mumbai bound 1 lane is closed in the ghat section, and an alternative Mumbai bound lane is provided in the Pune bound lanes, thus reducing the Pune bound lanes to 2!! The traffic from the rest area till you reach Lonavala is a mess – its takes you 1 hour in this section.. such is the volume of traffic on the e-way that the day is not far way when a Pune-Mumbai journey will take 5-6 hours to complete, the time it took before the e-way was constructed!!
There is a crane operator mafia that works as follows
Heavily trucks – the 22 wheel kind – make slow progress till they reach the Amrutanjan point. Just as you cross it, you start on a small gradient towards the Khandala tunnel – the traffic cops then stop the trucks just as you start on the gradient – and once the truck stops, it cannot start, and move thru the 1st, 2nd gears since you are already on the upward gradient. Heres when the crane / tow operators move in, and for a good fee, provide the initial momentum to the trucks so that they can overcome the gradient.
Amrutanjan Point – it’s a British era viaduct/bridge which was used as a train reversing station. It’s a stone masonry structure and is the BIGGEST bottleneck on the expressway. From the Pune side, that the highest point on the E-way that you ascend to – and you begin your descent down the ghat once you cross this. The traffic moves here at 10 KMPH, with the heavy container trucks blocking almost all lanes. Its very common to find an overturned truck, or a truck with overturned goods – adding further to the traffic jam. Late night and early morning (around 4-5 AM) seem to be the WORST time to travel from Mumbai to Pune – the moment you cross the rest area prior to the ascent (when coming from Mumbai) – you get stuck in endless slow moving overloaded truck traffic, and you have to zig-zag through lanes after every 100 metres.
Made a trip on the expressway again last week, Mumbai bound 1 lane is closed in the ghat section, and an alternative Mumbai bound lane is provided in the Pune bound lanes, thus reducing the Pune bound lanes to 2!! The traffic from the rest area till you reach Lonavala is a mess – its takes you 1 hour in this section.. such is the volume of traffic on the e-way that the day is not far way when a Pune-Mumbai journey will take 5-6 hours to complete, the time it took before the e-way was constructed!!
There is a crane operator mafia that works as follows
Heavily trucks – the 22 wheel kind – make slow progress till they reach the Amrutanjan point. Just as you cross it, you start on a small gradient towards the Khandala tunnel – the traffic cops then stop the trucks just as you start on the gradient – and once the truck stops, it cannot start, and move thru the 1st, 2nd gears since you are already on the upward gradient. Heres when the crane / tow operators move in, and for a good fee, provide the initial momentum to the trucks so that they can overcome the gradient.
Classic Indian approach to town planning
Recently there was a article in the Pune newspapers that a flyover is proposed at Dange Chowk, reasons being –
Ø Crowded square
Ø Too many illegal hawkers
Ø Daily wage laborers standing in the square to wait for thekedaars to show up and get picked up for a day’s work at some construction site
Ø Bus stop
Ø Lack of a traffic signal
So the approach is not remove encroachments, move the bus stop away from the square, install a traffic light…. The approach is .. lets build a 100 crore flyover, which will soon become 150 crores with cost over runs – and it will solve all the problems mentioned above!!
Ø Crowded square
Ø Too many illegal hawkers
Ø Daily wage laborers standing in the square to wait for thekedaars to show up and get picked up for a day’s work at some construction site
Ø Bus stop
Ø Lack of a traffic signal
So the approach is not remove encroachments, move the bus stop away from the square, install a traffic light…. The approach is .. lets build a 100 crore flyover, which will soon become 150 crores with cost over runs – and it will solve all the problems mentioned above!!
Neo Colonials
Indian Land Banks in Africa – Neo-colonials
Apart from Indian companies buying out ‘western brands’ as well as heavily investing/buying mines, oil and gas fields in other countries, Indian companies are also buying land in Africa to grow agricultural products that can be exported to large markets including India. Companies and investment houses prefer the African route to agriculture as direct investment in this sector in India is fraught with bureaucratic hurdles. Also land is relatively cheaper in Africa and the fertile, contiguous nature of land - a company can get large tracts of land - is the other main driver. According to statistics provided by governments of various countries in east Africa, more than 80 Indian companies have invested about £1.5 billion (about Rs 11,300 crore ) in buying huge plantations in countries in eastern Africa, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique that will be used to grow foodgrain for the domestic market.
Africa continues to get colonized – albeit in a ‘modern’ fashion!
Apart from Indian companies buying out ‘western brands’ as well as heavily investing/buying mines, oil and gas fields in other countries, Indian companies are also buying land in Africa to grow agricultural products that can be exported to large markets including India. Companies and investment houses prefer the African route to agriculture as direct investment in this sector in India is fraught with bureaucratic hurdles. Also land is relatively cheaper in Africa and the fertile, contiguous nature of land - a company can get large tracts of land - is the other main driver. According to statistics provided by governments of various countries in east Africa, more than 80 Indian companies have invested about £1.5 billion (about Rs 11,300 crore ) in buying huge plantations in countries in eastern Africa, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique that will be used to grow foodgrain for the domestic market.
Africa continues to get colonized – albeit in a ‘modern’ fashion!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Movies to watch when you have nothing to do!!
If you have time, and nothing worthwhile to do, you can watch these 2 movies – (I watched both of them last month)
Tehelka – A 1980’s film directed by ANIL Sharma (the same person who directed GADAR and VEER). An atrocious film - out-of-the-world dialogues - Indian army officers (Shammi Kapoor, Mukesh Khanna, Aditya Panchsoli, Naseerudding Shah, Dharmendra trying to bring down a dictator from a Kashmir type country/state ruled by evil Amrish Puri.
The guns used in the movie are iron pipes, painted black, and welded together. Even a kid can tell that those are FAKE guns. I guess the first movie which showed “real” hardware being used was Roza.
Hum Saath Saath Hai – A not-so-successful film from the Barjatya’s – very character is not only named – “something”-Babu, but also uses the Babu suffix in every dialogue, not only referring to the character in 3rd person, but in face to face talk as well.
While on the topic “Babu” – lot of Gulti film stars are “babu” - Aditya “Babu”, Naga “Babu”etc. I can’t imagine why would a film start want to be called “Babu”.
Imagine Shahrukh “Babu”!!!!! or Hrithik “Babu” on the credits!!
Trivia –
One thing in the gulti movies – if a star is famous by a particular screen name or epithet – he HAS to be introduced in all movies with the same name – the junta will cause a riot in the theatre if a different name is used. So Cheeranjeevi has an unique epithet - MEGASTAR - so in the opening credits of all his movies - he is introduced as MEGASTAR Cheeranjeevi - if some director were to drop the 'megastar' suffix, or reduce it to just 'STAR' - there will be riots inside the theatre!!
This was told to me by one of my friends – I will need to verify by watching a gulti movie in the theatre.
Tehelka – A 1980’s film directed by ANIL Sharma (the same person who directed GADAR and VEER). An atrocious film - out-of-the-world dialogues - Indian army officers (Shammi Kapoor, Mukesh Khanna, Aditya Panchsoli, Naseerudding Shah, Dharmendra trying to bring down a dictator from a Kashmir type country/state ruled by evil Amrish Puri.
The guns used in the movie are iron pipes, painted black, and welded together. Even a kid can tell that those are FAKE guns. I guess the first movie which showed “real” hardware being used was Roza.
Hum Saath Saath Hai – A not-so-successful film from the Barjatya’s – very character is not only named – “something”-Babu, but also uses the Babu suffix in every dialogue, not only referring to the character in 3rd person, but in face to face talk as well.
While on the topic “Babu” – lot of Gulti film stars are “babu” - Aditya “Babu”, Naga “Babu”etc. I can’t imagine why would a film start want to be called “Babu”.
Imagine Shahrukh “Babu”!!!!! or Hrithik “Babu” on the credits!!
Trivia –
One thing in the gulti movies – if a star is famous by a particular screen name or epithet – he HAS to be introduced in all movies with the same name – the junta will cause a riot in the theatre if a different name is used. So Cheeranjeevi has an unique epithet - MEGASTAR - so in the opening credits of all his movies - he is introduced as MEGASTAR Cheeranjeevi - if some director were to drop the 'megastar' suffix, or reduce it to just 'STAR' - there will be riots inside the theatre!!
This was told to me by one of my friends – I will need to verify by watching a gulti movie in the theatre.
Reading time!
Ø Samba passes away - http://movies.rediff.com/report/2010/may/10/sholays-samba-passes-away.htm
Ø Getting a job by spending just $ 6 – also read the comments on this article - http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/14/google.job/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Ø Beware – your house can be dangerous! - http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/05/canadian-family-of-4-killed-when-a-sinkhole-swallows-their-home-/1?csp=outbrain&csp=obnetwork]
Ø What Mr Tony Blair is doing - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/technology/25blair.html?scp=3&sq=&st=cse
Ø Getting a job by spending just $ 6 – also read the comments on this article - http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/14/google.job/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Ø Beware – your house can be dangerous! - http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/05/canadian-family-of-4-killed-when-a-sinkhole-swallows-their-home-/1?csp=outbrain&csp=obnetwork]
Ø What Mr Tony Blair is doing - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/technology/25blair.html?scp=3&sq=&st=cse
Security at airports/malls
Airport security
As in the US airports, you walk through the door frame shaped scanner. Here is where the similarity ends.
Ø In the US, if the doorframe scanner doesn’t beep, you just walk through, collect your belongings (shoes, belts, etc) and proceed to your gate
Ø In india, the door frame scanner is kind of redundant – even if it does not beep, you need to go through the hand held scanning and patting !! The only good thing is that there is no need to remove shoes!! Most of the time is spent in the hand-held scanning – and since 100% of travelers have to undergo this process - the door frame scanner might as well be removed!
Mall / theatre security
With the recent blast in Pune, all malls and theatres have installed door frame scanner at entry points. What happens every day – 90% of the establishments don’t bother about the scanners at all – they beep from time to time as people pass through – and no one is around to monitor them!
At the remaining 10% - if the scanner beeps as you pass – a guard will perform some nominal frisking – but if a woman were to pass, and the scanner beeps – then no action is taken!! How sexist!! Women have a clean chit – and men are frisked!!
As in the US airports, you walk through the door frame shaped scanner. Here is where the similarity ends.
Ø In the US, if the doorframe scanner doesn’t beep, you just walk through, collect your belongings (shoes, belts, etc) and proceed to your gate
Ø In india, the door frame scanner is kind of redundant – even if it does not beep, you need to go through the hand held scanning and patting !! The only good thing is that there is no need to remove shoes!! Most of the time is spent in the hand-held scanning – and since 100% of travelers have to undergo this process - the door frame scanner might as well be removed!
Mall / theatre security
With the recent blast in Pune, all malls and theatres have installed door frame scanner at entry points. What happens every day – 90% of the establishments don’t bother about the scanners at all – they beep from time to time as people pass through – and no one is around to monitor them!
At the remaining 10% - if the scanner beeps as you pass – a guard will perform some nominal frisking – but if a woman were to pass, and the scanner beeps – then no action is taken!! How sexist!! Women have a clean chit – and men are frisked!!
Random
Random
Ø Cheapest snack – parle G – a small pack of the evergreen product retails for 2 Rs – 5 or 6 biscuits (crackers to you American folks) – and is cheaper than the Vada-Pav.
Ø Raddi – what a way to re-use! And get paid for it too!! English newspapers get sold for Rs 8 per Kg – with the amount of supplements that are there everyday, and the BestBuy/JC Penney/Kohl’s type inserts that you now see in India (example Chroma, Tata’s foray into electronic goods retailing)
Ø Bangalore/Hyderbad = Outskirts of Bangalore and Hyderabad are dotted with Sholay type rocks – some of these rocks (as big as an apartment) are precariously positioned on each other – if you travel to Capgemini HYD, you can notice these on the new ring road from the airport to Madhapur. The Capgemini guest house that I stayed in, had a bungalow sized rock just behind the guest house!
Ø Temperature range – On a recent trip to Nagpur, 47 centigrade temperatures were prevailing. Having spent 2/3 of my till-date life in Nagpur, it was a great feeling to experience such temperatures after a long gap. I have seen anything from -20 centigrade (Chicago) to +47 (Nagpur) centigrade, not accounting for wind chill or heat index factors!
Ø A GPS has been launched in India – Mapmyindia. More information on http://www.mapmyindia.com/ - the model shown here costs about 8000 rupees
Ø Latest in Chinese made mobile phone – we had talked about 2 SIM cards, and 2 memory slots – here are more – phones with 2 SIMs (GSM) + CDMA and phones that have a 12 mega pixel camera
Ø Worst vehicle on the roads – a 3 wheeler ‘cargo’ rickshaw - Piaggio APE – the noise level is deafening for a vehicle so small!
Ø Best ‘6 seater’ - TATA ACE – ACE is the # 1 vehicle used for what is called as the “6 seater transport”
Ø India has now become a net LENDER to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rather than being a poor borrower for the last 50 odd years
Ø Cheapest snack – parle G – a small pack of the evergreen product retails for 2 Rs – 5 or 6 biscuits (crackers to you American folks) – and is cheaper than the Vada-Pav.
Ø Raddi – what a way to re-use! And get paid for it too!! English newspapers get sold for Rs 8 per Kg – with the amount of supplements that are there everyday, and the BestBuy/JC Penney/Kohl’s type inserts that you now see in India (example Chroma, Tata’s foray into electronic goods retailing)
Ø Bangalore/Hyderbad = Outskirts of Bangalore and Hyderabad are dotted with Sholay type rocks – some of these rocks (as big as an apartment) are precariously positioned on each other – if you travel to Capgemini HYD, you can notice these on the new ring road from the airport to Madhapur. The Capgemini guest house that I stayed in, had a bungalow sized rock just behind the guest house!
Ø Temperature range – On a recent trip to Nagpur, 47 centigrade temperatures were prevailing. Having spent 2/3 of my till-date life in Nagpur, it was a great feeling to experience such temperatures after a long gap. I have seen anything from -20 centigrade (Chicago) to +47 (Nagpur) centigrade, not accounting for wind chill or heat index factors!
Ø A GPS has been launched in India – Mapmyindia. More information on http://www.mapmyindia.com/ - the model shown here costs about 8000 rupees
Ø Latest in Chinese made mobile phone – we had talked about 2 SIM cards, and 2 memory slots – here are more – phones with 2 SIMs (GSM) + CDMA and phones that have a 12 mega pixel camera
Ø Worst vehicle on the roads – a 3 wheeler ‘cargo’ rickshaw - Piaggio APE – the noise level is deafening for a vehicle so small!
Ø Best ‘6 seater’ - TATA ACE – ACE is the # 1 vehicle used for what is called as the “6 seater transport”
Ø India has now become a net LENDER to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rather than being a poor borrower for the last 50 odd years
Hi-Tech Cops
Pune Traffic police have implemented ‘Smart Cop’ application, developed by a city based software company. Traffic police have been given Blackberries which are linked to a vehicle database and also to a database containing list of vehicles which are reported as stolen. The police can input the registration number of suspicious vehicles and find out details using their blackberries, and take necessary action! This has been a HUGE success, and lots of stolen vehicles have been retrieved!!
While in Bangalore, I saw Bangalore cops using a similar application too.
Way to go!! It would take another 50 years to implement it in a pan-Indian setting
While in Bangalore, I saw Bangalore cops using a similar application too.
Way to go!! It would take another 50 years to implement it in a pan-Indian setting
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Road side banners – copying Pune politicians
In PCMC and Pune you will find that road side banners are put up on every chowk and street corner for the local leader, corporator, MLA, MP’s birthday.
These are not made of cotton, with text and pictures painted by hand – as you would have seen during election times prior to 1996-97 era. The banners that you see nowadays can be mass produced, they are made of glossy, synthetic plastic type material – can have pictures with digital image quality printed by machines.
These are the “coding” standards used –
Every one is called “Bhau”, “Sheth”, “Dada”, “Saheb” or “Rao” and every one is a “Karya Samrat”. There is lot of “urf” terminology used (in English - a.k.a or also-known-as)
So if you are a budding “nagar sevak” or even the 5 year old son of a “nagar sevak” – you will find 10 feet * 10 feet banners put on roads for occasions like birthdays, any major festivals etc, with probably 20-30 small size photos of people who are “shubhekshuk – or “compliments from” inserted at the bottom of the banner.
For MLA or a minister, the banners will be 30 feet by 10 feet – with full body size pictures – shown in different style/poses – one in the traditional white political dress, one with a suit in color, and the same one in black-and-white.
Taking inspiration from this, few of my Capgemini and alumni friends made up a 6*4 feet banner for one of our alumni member who was getting married – they actually put this up in the lane where this person (who is getting married), lives. Here is the actual picture of the banner put up in the Aundh area – I am sure the locals would have been amused!!!
These are not made of cotton, with text and pictures painted by hand – as you would have seen during election times prior to 1996-97 era. The banners that you see nowadays can be mass produced, they are made of glossy, synthetic plastic type material – can have pictures with digital image quality printed by machines.
These are the “coding” standards used –
Every one is called “Bhau”, “Sheth”, “Dada”, “Saheb” or “Rao” and every one is a “Karya Samrat”. There is lot of “urf” terminology used (in English - a.k.a or also-known-as)
So if you are a budding “nagar sevak” or even the 5 year old son of a “nagar sevak” – you will find 10 feet * 10 feet banners put on roads for occasions like birthdays, any major festivals etc, with probably 20-30 small size photos of people who are “shubhekshuk – or “compliments from” inserted at the bottom of the banner.
For MLA or a minister, the banners will be 30 feet by 10 feet – with full body size pictures – shown in different style/poses – one in the traditional white political dress, one with a suit in color, and the same one in black-and-white.
Taking inspiration from this, few of my Capgemini and alumni friends made up a 6*4 feet banner for one of our alumni member who was getting married – they actually put this up in the lane where this person (who is getting married), lives. Here is the actual picture of the banner put up in the Aundh area – I am sure the locals would have been amused!!!
Movies to watch when you have nothing to do!!
If you have time, and nothing worthwhile to do, you can watch these 2 movies – (I watched both of them last month). Another equally irritsting movie is FARISHTAY - with dharmendra and Vinod Khanna.
Tehelka – A 1980’s film directed by ANIL Sharma (the same person who directed GADAR and VEER). An atrocious film - out-of-the-world dialogues - Indian army officers (Shammi Kapoor, Mukesh Khanna, Aditya Panchsoli, Naseerudding Shah, Dharmendra trying to bring down a dictator from a Kashmir type country/state ruled by evil Amrish Puri. The guns used in the movie are iron pipes, painted black, and welded together. Even a kid can tell that those are FAKE guns. I guess the first movie which showed “real” hardware being used was Roza.
Hum Saath Saath Hai – A not-so-successful film from the Barjatya’s – very character is not only named – “something”-Babu, but also uses the Babu suffix in every dialogue, not only referring to the character in 3rd person, but in face to face talk as well.
While on the topic “Babu” – lot of Gulti film stars are “babu” - Aditya “Babu”, Naga “Babu”etc. I can’t imagine why would a film start want to be called “Babu”.
Imagine Shahrukh “Babu”!!!!! or Hrithik “Babu” on the credits!!
Trivia –
One thing in the gulti movies – if a star is famous by a particular screen name or epithet – he HAS to be introduced in all movies with the same name – the junta will cause a riot in the theatre if a different name is used. So Cheeranjeevi has an unique epithet, Nagarjuna has one for him and so on..
This was told to me by one of my friends – I will need to verify by watching a gulti movie in the theatre.
Tehelka – A 1980’s film directed by ANIL Sharma (the same person who directed GADAR and VEER). An atrocious film - out-of-the-world dialogues - Indian army officers (Shammi Kapoor, Mukesh Khanna, Aditya Panchsoli, Naseerudding Shah, Dharmendra trying to bring down a dictator from a Kashmir type country/state ruled by evil Amrish Puri. The guns used in the movie are iron pipes, painted black, and welded together. Even a kid can tell that those are FAKE guns. I guess the first movie which showed “real” hardware being used was Roza.
Hum Saath Saath Hai – A not-so-successful film from the Barjatya’s – very character is not only named – “something”-Babu, but also uses the Babu suffix in every dialogue, not only referring to the character in 3rd person, but in face to face talk as well.
While on the topic “Babu” – lot of Gulti film stars are “babu” - Aditya “Babu”, Naga “Babu”etc. I can’t imagine why would a film start want to be called “Babu”.
Imagine Shahrukh “Babu”!!!!! or Hrithik “Babu” on the credits!!
Trivia –
One thing in the gulti movies – if a star is famous by a particular screen name or epithet – he HAS to be introduced in all movies with the same name – the junta will cause a riot in the theatre if a different name is used. So Cheeranjeevi has an unique epithet, Nagarjuna has one for him and so on..
This was told to me by one of my friends – I will need to verify by watching a gulti movie in the theatre.
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