Trouser hunt

Few months ago, I had to attend a conference in a different city. The day before the travel, I had given my suite to our friendly neighborhood 'istry' (ironing) shop. Though the urgency was explained, the ironing folks somehow delivered the jacket but forgot to return the trouser. I returned from work around 8:15 PM and we began enquiring the whereabouts of the ironing folks. None of the shops around had his address nor his contact number. We almost gave up, but a chance meeting with my dentist's assistant gave some hopes. The dentist operates out of the same building and some how his assistant knew where the istry person's house. She sent her son with us and we landed up in the narrow bylanes of the near by locality. We knocked on the door and found a different person living there, the istry person had moved to a new place near by!. The neighbors gave us the directions and the landmark where to look. We again began searching in the near by community. Soon, we 'discovered' at least 5-6 people who lived/operated in that area and none of them had any clue about our guy. Finally after asking some people around, we finally found our guy, who was kind enough to travel 2 kms and hand over my trouser. Though it was an annoying experience in the beginning, it turned out to be an interesting hunt. Not to mention we caught the attention of numerous onlookers in the local community, some of them came up to ask if we are from Police or some investigating agency :)

Pondicherry Trip

Pondicherry's new name is Puducherry..

We recently visited Puducherry and the kids liked every moment of the trip. For me, it was a slight disappointment, as I had great expectations in looking forward for more attractions. Having visited Goa a number of times, I expected to see a similar "colonial" touch at Pondi. Except for a few streets where one gets the buildings built in the french style, the majority of the city looks like any other Indian city. I liked the walk along the tiled pathway along the Pondi beach. The absence of the vehicles during the evening is a welcome break and one can enjoy the peaceful walk. The Aurobindo ashram is a must see attraction, so is the auroville city. The kids had great time at the auro beach. Strangely, there is hardly any night life at Pondi. Restaurants shut down their shutters around 930 or 10pm. The pubs and the other watering holes close by 1030pm, again a disappointing aspect!.

The drive from Bangalore to Pondi took about 7-8 hours with some breaks in between. We took the most traveled route, ie via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Tiruvanamallai, Gingee and so forth. The stretch from Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamallai was worst, riddled with so many potholes, some competing with the craters on the moon. The return route was quite comfortable, we traveled from Pondi via Kanchipuram and then on the tolled national highway. Enroute we had a brief stop over at Kanchi for lunch. The meals at the famous Saravana Bhavan (hq at Chennai) was quite good. We had a quick darshan of goddess Kamakshi devi and left for Bangalore.

My suggestions to anyone traveling to Pondi;
1. Travel in a SUV or a Mini Van (especially if traveling thru Tiruvanamallai). I am glad we made that decision.
2. Leave Bangalore early morning and try the Kamat Upachar ( between hosur-krishnagiri) for breakfast. Adyar Anand Bhavan is too crowded on a week end/holiday.
3. Accomodation is available in plenty ( if booked in advance). Call the hotel before booking online, sometimes you are better off with the offline booking.

Bangalore-M.G.Road

We were out on the MGRoad recently. While parking was a non-issue at the utility building, we had to get to a place down the MGRoad, near the big Kids kemp. We decided to walk this short distance, however did not realize the efforts & the risk involved. There is not even 50ft of good walking path in this stretch of MGRoad. You will invariably find the cobble stones lifted, cracked or there is a driveway in to a shopping complex or an office. While expecting a smooth ramp up/down is a distant thought, the height of the curb varies from few inches to about a feet!. In some spots, the curb width narrows down to 2-3 ft!. Worst stretch is the one around the Mayo Hall, which is packed with lots of court houses. We had to make way through the 2 plus feet curb and the parked police vehicles. With the undertrials and convicts staring at you from close distance, it is really a test of your courage and confidence to walk through this stretch. Also, for the first time I came across a 'one way' walking stretch, where there is a line of people on both sides and whoever comes first gets the right of way!

All this is happening right in front of the government offices, the most probable answer is Metro...but as we know Metro is supposed to travel only on the track above, what about the pedestrians below? Added to the above, the motorists add their contribution to the chaos. They don't like 2 legged people walking on the streets and will do anything to push them off the roads either by honking or who knows even knocking them down!. One of the guys on the bike used the curb as a detour to get through a crowded stretch and before we realized what was happening, he was gone!

Very soon, pedestrians might require a head gear to walk on the MG Road... :)

Karnataka Bandh

Bandh - Complete shut down!

The business, commerical establishments across the Karnataka state is being forcibly shut down by the ruling BJP government to protest against the governor's proposed disciplinary action!. Well, the complete shut down might sound absurd to the folks in the developed countries, it is a reality in India!. It is a mockery of the democratic setup we have!. The corrupt politicians don't realize the strain on the economy with a day's shut down. Millions of people depend on daily income, how do they survive? Also, what will happen to someone's planned birthday, wedding and other social events? Why should the normal citizen suffer for someone else's misdeeds?

It is time to enact a legislation (there might be one already!) to strictly ban any such 'bandh' across India.

Comedy day out

A seven hour non stop kannada comedy show was organized recently in our neighbourhood. The event brought together popular kannada comedians. While some of the artistes brought out new anectodes, most of them sticked to their already popular script. Whatever, the 3000-4000 strong crowd enjoyed every bit of the event. It was hilarious to watch Richard Louis pick out certain nuances of daily life for his story line. Most of the artistes performed along with their teams, music instruments included to add to the comedy delivery!
The event stood apart from the overall experience, everything from the seating, vehicle parking, policing and the eatery stalls were setup beyond my expectations...kudos to the organizers for roping some sponsors and doing a wonderful job.
The event reminded me of the 'HariKatha' which we used to frequent as kids. The narrator would tell mythological stories, in between injecting few songs and stirring the event with few funny lines. The late Guru Rajulu Naidu was a (still is) famous Harikathe artiste and we never missed his show in our locality. The current day comedy events have the same crowd attraction like the Harikathe ones, only thing required is the continuous innovation and 'staying current' with the expectations.

Elevated Road experience

Driving on the Bangalore's electronic city elevated toll way is a very pleasant experience. The 9.5 kms trip costs Rs. 30 one way and Rs 50 for a two way trip. It takes approximately 10-15 mins to cover the distance...brings back the memories of using the turn pikes in the Pennsylvania.

The return trip on the toll way from electronics city towards Bangalore is a breeze through until you are brought back down to the ground level at Madivala!. Overall, using the toll way is a pleasant experience, there is a temporary relief from crowded roads!.

Yedduryappa and his survival stories

The Karnataka Chief Minister has yet again managed to save his post. While I don't normally care about the political roller coaster stories, I have assumed some immense interest in following this (in)famous CM. Given the number of attempts made to remove him, number of scams that are being unearthed on a daily basis, he will very soon make it to the Limca Book of Records. Yedduryappa, at least for now is the survival of the 'politically fittest'.

Per Political analysts, politics in Karnataka has hit an all time low. The current government is more or less in a survival mode, ignoring some major issues that need to be addressed.

Unlike Andhra Pradesh, where Chandra Babu made a significant impact in bringing the IT industry in to the state, Karnataka has been fortunate enough not to depend on the politicians for this purpose. Bangalore being a hub of aerospace, research, large scale public and private companies and scores of educational institutions helped incubate the manufacturing, IT and BT industries. All that the industry expects is a stable state government that can address current & future infrastructure needs...Given the present circumstances, that seems like a dream itself!

Food, Laundry and Hot Water

That's my basic expectation from a hotel where I stay. Given my stay at Mumbai for the last one month, the expectation is hardly met. I expect the hotel to have a decent enough restaurant, a reliable laundry service and obviously the hot water for bath. The other expectations are good decor, a nice television with adequate channels, comfy air conditioner, etc. In the hotel where I am currently staying, they charge over Rs 2,600 per day. The food is excellent, but the supply of hot water is non-existent. One needs to content with warm water only!. I am not sure if they have a plumbing issue or if they are going on a cost reduction overdrive. Any feed back, escalation does not have any impact on improving their service levels. I guess it's time to move on to another hotel.

Memories take me back a decade ago when I would travel extensively within Karnataka and Maharastra. Though I always stayed at budget hotels, they exceeded my basic expectations and made me comfortable!.

What's in a movie name?

Well, name dictates the destiny. The bollywood and the rest of the Indian film industry follow a distinct pattern. Movies starred by Hrithik Roshan usually start with the letter "K" and have four words in the title. Golden Star Ganesh ( Kannada) has most of his movie names starting with the letter, "M" ( after the Mungaru Male hit).

Abhishek's much hyped movie, Raavan is said to have flopped. The critics have trained their guns on poor editing, a non compelling story, etc. I have not come across any critic on the movie's name. On the contrary, the producer(s) and other related stake holders seldom admit Raavan is a flop and claim strong box office revenues!

Note, the tamil version Raavanan is already acknowledged to be a super hit!

Bharath Bundh!

July 5th 2010: Seemed more like an extended week end - except no going out until evening 6pm..The mumbai streets looked deserted. All the shops and restaurants in the vicinity were closed. Many companies were 'officially' open though some employees decided to stay off.

In all, I felt it was a complete waste of time for the entire nation. The political parties are bragging themselves for the 'success' but they cannot replace the lost time, income and the opportunities for the millions of people across the country!