Can we actually revamp the political system of our country so that it becomes completely accountable?
In the system that is prevailing today, the politicians find themselves absolutely safe for 5 years once they are bought into power. No matter what happens to the nation or even their own constituency, they care a damn.
* Can we have a new system in place which could make the politicians accountable to the public every year?
* There must be an online politician rating system which should be monitored by an independent and autonomous agency with supreme powers.
* If the above voting system shows negative remarks on a certain MP/MLA/Minister, then a special confidence vote against the said politician should be taken up, and should the said person be found wanting, he should be debarred for life and the party he represents should be debarred for the next 5years in that constituency.
* Serious probing of the financial assets of each politician should be undertaken and any case of any report of misappropriation of funds, the politician should be tried for treason and not just in any normal criminal case.
* No politician holding a legislative seat should be allowed to any other position, whether public or private, unless so warranted by the Constitution. Case in point: Sharad Pawar with the BCCI.
* No post poll alliances between parties should be allowed. If need be, the single largest party/alliance should be allowed to form the government with a certain immunity.
* Political rallies should be banned. Instead, official all-party meets should be organised at all places where all parties contesting elections should be made to share one stage. No individual party meet should be allowed.
* Parties indulging in corupt practices should be barred from elections.
* Lok Ayukta should be given more powers and the citizen must be made closer to the same.
* The judiciary should be toughened and should be immune to political pressure. And also made accountable.
I'm still thinking... so expect more soon.. :)
December 06, 2008
November 27, 2008
I guess its time... High Time
I guess its time... High Time
Today Mumbai has been directly attacked. This is no stealth attack.
Its a face to face fight.
Either the bastards at the helm of the governments do something
concrete or there should be multiple A Wednesdays !!
--
Sent from my mobile device
Vrij
+91 90525 03311
----
November 17, 2008
October 28, 2008
October 09, 2008
September 30, 2008
First snaps !!
Wifey Deepta delivered a healthy baby boy at 6.22AM on the 29th September 2008.
Here are a few snaps...
A big Thanks to everyone who has wished me, wifey n the Baby! Would be deciding on the name very soon and would keep you folks updated on the same.
September 29, 2008
Boy O Boy !!
Folks
The new entrant is a cute looking baby boy.
I'm so happy I can't express.
:-)
--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Vrij
http://vrijilesh.blogspot.com
----
September 24, 2008
Mut-bhed
Ok.. There is a tag again..
Basically lifted from Veens' Rat-a-Tat and Sneha's Warm fuzzies. Taken from THIS.
The Bakras I used were Ankur, Chakoli, Ria, Mia, Veens, Sneha, Cinderella, Ceedy. So u folks are gonna try this one out... Veens n Sneha have done this, so they'r exempted!
1. In a race between you, Ankur and Chakoli, who would win?
A. Two Punekars versus one Hyderabadi.... hmm.. Depends where we are racing to.. but I'm pretty sure I'd beat both of them if the race is in driving, travelling or eating. And sleeping!
2. Who is Cindy's best friend?
A. Her brain. I hope so, considering her blog title.
3. In a race between you, Sneha and Cindy, who would win?
A. Again a race? Who's paying me more to make them win against me here?
4. Who would win in a duel, Ria or Ceedy? And what kind of duel would they pick, anyway?
A. If its eating, it'll be Ceedy, if its sleeping, its gonna be Ria !
5. What would you do if Mia confessed love to you?
A. Accept it.. Man.. she's hot! (With a rider that Biwi should be kept in the dark about it!).
Biwi.. if ur reading this.. this is just a game..
6. If Veens and Veens teamed up, what would they most likely accomplish?
A. Ek bas nahin hain kya?? The Big Bang cauldron would burst again!
7. Who would be a better superhero sidekick between Ria and Sneha, and why?
A. Ria. She would not ask so many questions as Sneha!!
8. Do you miss Ria?
A. In what way?
9. Would you marry Ria?
A. No. I've already committed to Mia ;)
10. What would you do if Ceedy and Mia were going out?
A. Mia two timing me... nahiiiiin :(
Enjoy!
Basically lifted from Veens' Rat-a-Tat and Sneha's Warm fuzzies. Taken from THIS.
The Bakras I used were Ankur, Chakoli, Ria, Mia, Veens, Sneha, Cinderella, Ceedy. So u folks are gonna try this one out... Veens n Sneha have done this, so they'r exempted!
1. In a race between you, Ankur and Chakoli, who would win?
A. Two Punekars versus one Hyderabadi.... hmm.. Depends where we are racing to.. but I'm pretty sure I'd beat both of them if the race is in driving, travelling or eating. And sleeping!
2. Who is Cindy's best friend?
A. Her brain. I hope so, considering her blog title.
3. In a race between you, Sneha and Cindy, who would win?
A. Again a race? Who's paying me more to make them win against me here?
4. Who would win in a duel, Ria or Ceedy? And what kind of duel would they pick, anyway?
A. If its eating, it'll be Ceedy, if its sleeping, its gonna be Ria !
5. What would you do if Mia confessed love to you?
A. Accept it.. Man.. she's hot! (With a rider that Biwi should be kept in the dark about it!).
Biwi.. if ur reading this.. this is just a game..
6. If Veens and Veens teamed up, what would they most likely accomplish?
A. Ek bas nahin hain kya?? The Big Bang cauldron would burst again!
7. Who would be a better superhero sidekick between Ria and Sneha, and why?
A. Ria. She would not ask so many questions as Sneha!!
8. Do you miss Ria?
A. In what way?
9. Would you marry Ria?
A. No. I've already committed to Mia ;)
10. What would you do if Ceedy and Mia were going out?
A. Mia two timing me... nahiiiiin :(
Enjoy!
September 16, 2008
Railway Jargon - 1
Its about time that something related to the railways pops up at this blog. So here's a small list of technical terms used by the Indian Railways and what they mean to the common man. And the woman.
Slack / Buffer Time: To increase the punctuality of long distance trains (on paper), some extra slack or buffer time is built into the train's schedule towards the end of its journey and at zonal changeover points. So, if you are travelling to Mumbai and wondering if Kalyan, which is very much a part of the city- is actually a 2 hour ride from VT, then breathe easy. It is only an hours run plus another hour of slack time. If you have taken the Konark Express from Mumbai to Secunderabad and are wondering why the train has reached half an hour early at Wadi, then it is because there is an hour's slack time between Gulbarga and Wadi. The same train on paper takes 50minutes to cover a 4km distance between Begumpet and Secunderabad !
Technical Halt: You thought that the Sampark Kranti express had very limited halts. But it keeps halting every couple of hundred kilometres or so. At some or the other station. Well, these are probably technical halts which are not reflected in the passenger time tables. These halts are meant for operational reasons like crew change, loco change, watering, catering arrangements, etc. So, even though the Sampoorna Kranti Express between Delhi and Patna is time-tabled as a non-stop train, it does have technical halts at Kanpur and Mughalsarai.
Speed Restrictions: Many a times when the train runs slow, we start grumbling and blaming the driver (loco pilot) calling him an oldie or whatever for driving extremely slowly. Be rest assured that it is not his fault. Every driver taking charge of a train gets a sheet of paper in his hands with details of restrictions in speed. Technically called as Caution Order, this sheet has instructions to the driver to drive at a particular speed in a section. There might be permanent speed restrictions due to level crossings, stations, large curvatures, etc or there might be temporary ones due to track repair work or trackside renewal works or even a river flowing dangerously under a bridge. Speeds get slower once the train enters the city limits of any small or big town due to people crossing tracks haphazardly. So next time if the train is running slowly, its not really ideal to blame the driver.
Alarm Chain Pulling: All coaches of trains have chains which when pulled release the pressure in the air brake pipes which make the train stop. This is common for a lot of day time trains with many general/unreserved coaches. Mostly this happens as soon as the train starts and picking up speed and late comers having the chain pulled to stop the train. One way you can identify if the train has stopped due to an ACP is the subsequent sounding of a special horn tone. It goes Toot - Toot- Toooooooot, Toot - Toot - Toooooooot !!
Chargeable Distance: Most fares on the railway network are calculated based on the distance travelled on the tracks. However, on certain sections, the Railways charge more than they should for the stipulated distance. Since the fare structure is uniform for a distance, Railways have factored in an inflation in the distance between two places to the tune of around 40%. So basically, for a 100km section, they charge fare equivalent to that of 140kms. Even the time tables show the distance as 140 and not the actual one. This is done to offset the cost of construction of lines in sections that have difficult terrains like ghat sections. The entire Konkan Railway network kilometreage is inflated by 40%. Even sections like the Bangalore- Dharmavaram section is inflated. Railways have the permission to inflate the distance for 15 years from the date of commisioning of the route. This is only on a few selected routes.
Slip Coach: These are coaches attached/ detached at an intermediate station to be hauled to a destination other than the main trains'. For example, the 7603 Kacheguda-Yeswantpur Express has 4 slip coaches which get cut off at Guntakal and are attached to the Howrah-Vasco Amaravati express and head towards Goa. This helps in giving connectivity to Goa from Kacheguda(in Hyderabad) as there is no other dedicated train between the two places. Similarly the 1405 Manmad-Kakinada Shirdi express has 5 slip coaches which are attached/ detached at Vijayawada and head to Visakhapatnam hauled by the Tirupati-Puri/Bilaspur expresses.
I guess that should be enough for the post, so that any symptoms of indigestion are avoided ;) More for a latter post..
Slack / Buffer Time: To increase the punctuality of long distance trains (on paper), some extra slack or buffer time is built into the train's schedule towards the end of its journey and at zonal changeover points. So, if you are travelling to Mumbai and wondering if Kalyan, which is very much a part of the city- is actually a 2 hour ride from VT, then breathe easy. It is only an hours run plus another hour of slack time. If you have taken the Konark Express from Mumbai to Secunderabad and are wondering why the train has reached half an hour early at Wadi, then it is because there is an hour's slack time between Gulbarga and Wadi. The same train on paper takes 50minutes to cover a 4km distance between Begumpet and Secunderabad !
Technical Halt: You thought that the Sampark Kranti express had very limited halts. But it keeps halting every couple of hundred kilometres or so. At some or the other station. Well, these are probably technical halts which are not reflected in the passenger time tables. These halts are meant for operational reasons like crew change, loco change, watering, catering arrangements, etc. So, even though the Sampoorna Kranti Express between Delhi and Patna is time-tabled as a non-stop train, it does have technical halts at Kanpur and Mughalsarai.
Speed Restrictions: Many a times when the train runs slow, we start grumbling and blaming the driver (loco pilot) calling him an oldie or whatever for driving extremely slowly. Be rest assured that it is not his fault. Every driver taking charge of a train gets a sheet of paper in his hands with details of restrictions in speed. Technically called as Caution Order, this sheet has instructions to the driver to drive at a particular speed in a section. There might be permanent speed restrictions due to level crossings, stations, large curvatures, etc or there might be temporary ones due to track repair work or trackside renewal works or even a river flowing dangerously under a bridge. Speeds get slower once the train enters the city limits of any small or big town due to people crossing tracks haphazardly. So next time if the train is running slowly, its not really ideal to blame the driver.
Alarm Chain Pulling: All coaches of trains have chains which when pulled release the pressure in the air brake pipes which make the train stop. This is common for a lot of day time trains with many general/unreserved coaches. Mostly this happens as soon as the train starts and picking up speed and late comers having the chain pulled to stop the train. One way you can identify if the train has stopped due to an ACP is the subsequent sounding of a special horn tone. It goes Toot - Toot- Toooooooot, Toot - Toot - Toooooooot !!
Chargeable Distance: Most fares on the railway network are calculated based on the distance travelled on the tracks. However, on certain sections, the Railways charge more than they should for the stipulated distance. Since the fare structure is uniform for a distance, Railways have factored in an inflation in the distance between two places to the tune of around 40%. So basically, for a 100km section, they charge fare equivalent to that of 140kms. Even the time tables show the distance as 140 and not the actual one. This is done to offset the cost of construction of lines in sections that have difficult terrains like ghat sections. The entire Konkan Railway network kilometreage is inflated by 40%. Even sections like the Bangalore- Dharmavaram section is inflated. Railways have the permission to inflate the distance for 15 years from the date of commisioning of the route. This is only on a few selected routes.
Slip Coach: These are coaches attached/ detached at an intermediate station to be hauled to a destination other than the main trains'. For example, the 7603 Kacheguda-Yeswantpur Express has 4 slip coaches which get cut off at Guntakal and are attached to the Howrah-Vasco Amaravati express and head towards Goa. This helps in giving connectivity to Goa from Kacheguda(in Hyderabad) as there is no other dedicated train between the two places. Similarly the 1405 Manmad-Kakinada Shirdi express has 5 slip coaches which are attached/ detached at Vijayawada and head to Visakhapatnam hauled by the Tirupati-Puri/Bilaspur expresses.
I guess that should be enough for the post, so that any symptoms of indigestion are avoided ;) More for a latter post..
September 15, 2008
Hits and Misses
Firstly, apologies for being out of the loop for almost the entire week. Was a bit tied up with work, and then thanx to the Ganesha Festival and the idiotic shenanigans that our people have started with it, there was inclement weather when it came to power and net availability since Friday. Could not even reply to the comments earlier. Sorry sorry sorry...
Secondly, a big thanx to all those who have left comments here, just kept visiting to check why there was no refilling of the chai and to those who dropped by for the first time... and yes.. to all those who have 'followed' me :)
Another big Thanx to Sneha (aka Solitaire) for having a post on my request on Short and Sweet. And to all those who contributed there. Will surely get back there in sometime and reply to all the comments. Thanx dudes n dudettes. Just clarifying the status here.. I'd be promoted to a higher level in life in the first week of October. So requested Sneha to help out with the names of girls, since the boy names were discussed there in a previous post.
Ok, now for the external rantings....
Kimi dude.. U continue to disappoint me. U started 14th and ended there. Ham moved from 15th to 7th. Grrrrr.... And another Grrrrr to Massa for not going for the kill. And yes, A huge congrats to Sebastian Vettel. It was a pleasure to hear the German anthem followed by the Italian. Reminded me of those glorious Schumi days...
A big middle finger salute ..|.. to all the Ganesh pandal owners. The festival is meant to enjoy, and not create trouble for others. On Friday, we had power outage from 2PM to 1AM because the electricity dept had to switch off the power lines so that the revellers dont get electrocuted. Plus they install 15-20ft high 'murtis' in a small residential lane.. it just blocks the entire route. A bigger middle finger ..|.. to all the authorities who allowed big installations, to the police which allowed band after 10pm even though it was banned, allowed free boozing on the streets to the revellers and did nothing to allow free flow of traffic on the street. It was chaos.
A big thumbs down to the bastards who bombed our capital. Heartless brainless cowards.
More later... have to get ready to work.. ciao !
Secondly, a big thanx to all those who have left comments here, just kept visiting to check why there was no refilling of the chai and to those who dropped by for the first time... and yes.. to all those who have 'followed' me :)
Another big Thanx to Sneha (aka Solitaire) for having a post on my request on Short and Sweet. And to all those who contributed there. Will surely get back there in sometime and reply to all the comments. Thanx dudes n dudettes. Just clarifying the status here.. I'd be promoted to a higher level in life in the first week of October. So requested Sneha to help out with the names of girls, since the boy names were discussed there in a previous post.
Ok, now for the external rantings....
Kimi dude.. U continue to disappoint me. U started 14th and ended there. Ham moved from 15th to 7th. Grrrrr.... And another Grrrrr to Massa for not going for the kill. And yes, A huge congrats to Sebastian Vettel. It was a pleasure to hear the German anthem followed by the Italian. Reminded me of those glorious Schumi days...
A big middle finger salute ..|.. to all the Ganesh pandal owners. The festival is meant to enjoy, and not create trouble for others. On Friday, we had power outage from 2PM to 1AM because the electricity dept had to switch off the power lines so that the revellers dont get electrocuted. Plus they install 15-20ft high 'murtis' in a small residential lane.. it just blocks the entire route. A bigger middle finger ..|.. to all the authorities who allowed big installations, to the police which allowed band after 10pm even though it was banned, allowed free boozing on the streets to the revellers and did nothing to allow free flow of traffic on the street. It was chaos.
A big thumbs down to the bastards who bombed our capital. Heartless brainless cowards.
More later... have to get ready to work.. ciao !
September 07, 2008
September 05, 2008
Chuck de !
It seems like its the season for getting slimmer. I've had a couple of friends trying to cut their bellies into half talk about their experiences in the last one week. And today I see Ria doing the same. So I thot wats better than giving some free advice to all of them here to help them Chuck de some weight!
* Drink loads of water. Water helps in flushing out all the unwanted stuff out faster lest it should affect the body. It can reduce ur craving for excess food.
* Dunk the Junk. 99% of junk food (be it pastries/pizzas/burgers/subs or even ragda/bhel) contains carbohydrates and fats. Remaining 1% is made of salts and chemicals. Does not keep you fit. Makes you fat. And unless taken in an optimal proportion, carbs do not get properly digested.
* Eat Healthy. Fruits and Veggies might seem to contain enormous amounts of carbs like glucose and fructose, but these are energy giving and not fattening. Plus the proteins, vitamins and essential minerals you get from them. Most importantly, you get truck loads of fibre from these. This helps you digest your food properly and also helps the intestines in churning the food nicely. Avoid rice and gulp in phulkas(without oil).. and not binge on aloo parathas ! If you really want to test the difference, eat only junk one day and only healthy veggies another day. Note the consistency of your shit the next morning. The bulkier it is, the more fibrous it is and that means that max nutrients have been derived.
* Gymming is optional. Yes, you need not head to the gym unless you plan to practice for Biggest Looser Jeetega. All you need to do is decent exercise which can be done at home or in the garden. Just enough to break a sweat. And be regular, not enough if you exercise Sunday ke Sunday.
* Ouch Potato. Being a couch potato kills you. Do not plonk yourself down on the sofa to watch Big Boss the moment you finish your meal. Never. This makes it tough for your stomach to process what you have eaten. Ideally when you do some light activity like a walk or a brisk stroll after a meal, it helps your stomach coat all what you have eaten with hydrochloric acid so that the enzymes can easily act on your food. However, if you do nothing much, then the food gets incompletely coated, which makes it difficult to digest and some of the carbs are taken in per se, which is not exactly the healthy way. The proteins too miss the bus to get a taste of your blood. So, after every meal, take a short walk for about 10mins. Or help wash the dishes. Not in the dishwasher though. I meant Indian style.
* Go Slow, not Fast. Most people on a weight loss regime try to fast so that they loose weight faster. This kills your gut. Dont ever go on a crash diet. Crash diets are meant only for those who have just been detected with a huge risk of heart disease. Not for weight loss. Remember the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race. Going slow helps you body get adjusted to you new regime more effectively. On a crash diet, your body does not know whats going on. Its like you are in a 737 which is about to crash. You are cluseless.
* Meditate. Keeping your mind and body in meditation helps you in channelizing your energies. Keeps away the boredom.
* No Laptops. Literally. We have a habit of doing work/chatting on the bed with the laptop.. bad for the body. Wrong postures kill not only the muscles but also the intestines. Remember your school anatomy. The stomach and intestines are lined by muscles.
* Try different positions. While exercising in the lawn or on the bed. Yes, sex is also a wonderful exercise. Not just for the man, but also for the woman. It burns a lot of fat. And of course trying out different positions helps in making the quantity of fat burnt a wee bit more than the regular.
So, there you go.. Chuck de fat ! Go slimmer and go healthier.
* Drink loads of water. Water helps in flushing out all the unwanted stuff out faster lest it should affect the body. It can reduce ur craving for excess food.
* Dunk the Junk. 99% of junk food (be it pastries/pizzas/burgers/subs or even ragda/bhel) contains carbohydrates and fats. Remaining 1% is made of salts and chemicals. Does not keep you fit. Makes you fat. And unless taken in an optimal proportion, carbs do not get properly digested.
* Eat Healthy. Fruits and Veggies might seem to contain enormous amounts of carbs like glucose and fructose, but these are energy giving and not fattening. Plus the proteins, vitamins and essential minerals you get from them. Most importantly, you get truck loads of fibre from these. This helps you digest your food properly and also helps the intestines in churning the food nicely. Avoid rice and gulp in phulkas(without oil).. and not binge on aloo parathas ! If you really want to test the difference, eat only junk one day and only healthy veggies another day. Note the consistency of your shit the next morning. The bulkier it is, the more fibrous it is and that means that max nutrients have been derived.
* Gymming is optional. Yes, you need not head to the gym unless you plan to practice for Biggest Looser Jeetega. All you need to do is decent exercise which can be done at home or in the garden. Just enough to break a sweat. And be regular, not enough if you exercise Sunday ke Sunday.
* Ouch Potato. Being a couch potato kills you. Do not plonk yourself down on the sofa to watch Big Boss the moment you finish your meal. Never. This makes it tough for your stomach to process what you have eaten. Ideally when you do some light activity like a walk or a brisk stroll after a meal, it helps your stomach coat all what you have eaten with hydrochloric acid so that the enzymes can easily act on your food. However, if you do nothing much, then the food gets incompletely coated, which makes it difficult to digest and some of the carbs are taken in per se, which is not exactly the healthy way. The proteins too miss the bus to get a taste of your blood. So, after every meal, take a short walk for about 10mins. Or help wash the dishes. Not in the dishwasher though. I meant Indian style.
* Go Slow, not Fast. Most people on a weight loss regime try to fast so that they loose weight faster. This kills your gut. Dont ever go on a crash diet. Crash diets are meant only for those who have just been detected with a huge risk of heart disease. Not for weight loss. Remember the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race. Going slow helps you body get adjusted to you new regime more effectively. On a crash diet, your body does not know whats going on. Its like you are in a 737 which is about to crash. You are cluseless.
* Meditate. Keeping your mind and body in meditation helps you in channelizing your energies. Keeps away the boredom.
* No Laptops. Literally. We have a habit of doing work/chatting on the bed with the laptop.. bad for the body. Wrong postures kill not only the muscles but also the intestines. Remember your school anatomy. The stomach and intestines are lined by muscles.
* Try different positions. While exercising in the lawn or on the bed. Yes, sex is also a wonderful exercise. Not just for the man, but also for the woman. It burns a lot of fat. And of course trying out different positions helps in making the quantity of fat burnt a wee bit more than the regular.
So, there you go.. Chuck de fat ! Go slimmer and go healthier.
September 02, 2008
Technicolour Browsing
Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Safari beware.
Chrome is coming tomorrow to colourise our browsing! And yep, its gonna be good.. its from the Google stable.
The first beta of the browser debuts on the 3rd Sep. I hope it'll be good.
Updates and Downloads from here.
Chrome is coming tomorrow to colourise our browsing! And yep, its gonna be good.. its from the Google stable.
The first beta of the browser debuts on the 3rd Sep. I hope it'll be good.
Updates and Downloads from here.
September 01, 2008
Titanic
Do u know how Titanic sank...?
DUBUK
DUBUK
DUBUK
BUDUK
BUDUK
BUDUK
BUDUK...
GULUM...
Gulu gulu gulu
PUCHIK !!
August 29, 2008
Hanging in the air... Explained!
This is a radiograph (an Orthopantomograph..OPG) of a 42 year old female patient suffering from Chronic Suppurative Periodontitis.
The disease starts with deposition of plaque on the teeth. The plaque is basically a bacterial film which gets deposited due to improper oral hygiene. With the addition of salivary chemicals, chemicals and salts in the food the plaque starts becoming rigid and forms whitish yellow chalk like deposits on the teeth called calculus. This cannot be removed by brushing and one has to visit the dentist to get rid of this.
Alongside, the gums also become infected with the bacteria in the plaque causing Gingivitis. This may lead to swelling and bleeding of the gums. If uncared for, the bacteria present in the calculus and the ones causing gingivitis entrench themselves deep. Underneath the gums is the alveolar bone which supports the teeth by physically enclosing the roots which is attached to the bone by the specialised periodontal fibres. Once the infection reaches these fibres, the case is termed Periodontitis. If left uncontrolled, the infection spreads to the supporting bone and starts degrading the same. As the bone starts receding, the tooth it supports starts getting mobile and paining and the infection starts emaning pus. It reaches a point where there is hardly any bone support left for the tooth. (See the second and third teeth on the left in the lower jaw. They are devoid of any bone support and are just hanging in there attaced to the gums. It would not take me more than a couple of seconds to pull it out without even using a single instrument!
That is all what I meant by 'Hanging in the air' !
Now for the mysterious 'dog bone' on the x-ray that you all were so curious about. Well, I will not reveal that. Instead would request you to read the first line of this post again and then start making intelligent guesses !!
August 28, 2008
Hanging in the air
Note the teeth on the left side (patient's right) without any bone support... just hanging in the air !!
August 20, 2008
Spamming Love
Now this one is totally new and unique spam. I got a scrap in my orkut scrapbook which read thus...
(The A mentioned below is a friend of mine)
Hey A has blocked me...so am writing a scrap to u..pls tell A
abt this..
My Dear Sweet A,
I thought I would let you know that my love for you is burning very
brightly this afternoon. My heart longs for you. My heart longs to
leap at the sound of your voice. My heart longs to be filled with joy
by your smile. My heart longs for my love, respect and adoration to
flow to you as I gently kiss your hands. My heart longs to be warmed
when I hold you in my arms. My heart longs to feel the passion as I
caress your face, stare into your beautiful eyes and tenderly kiss
you. My heart longs to see our love for one another grow as we sit on
the couch and we share from the heart. My heart longs for me to feel
the love and desire of your gentle touch. My heart longs to
experience the sensual passion between us. My heart longs to feel the
love and joy of us cuddling and snuggling close. I adore you my love.
With all the love of my tender heart,
Irfan....
---
All I could do reading this was ROFLMAO !!! And of course I reported the sender as a spammer.
(The A mentioned below is a friend of mine)
Hey A has blocked me...so am writing a scrap to u..pls tell A
abt this..
My Dear Sweet A,
I thought I would let you know that my love for you is burning very
brightly this afternoon. My heart longs for you. My heart longs to
leap at the sound of your voice. My heart longs to be filled with joy
by your smile. My heart longs for my love, respect and adoration to
flow to you as I gently kiss your hands. My heart longs to be warmed
when I hold you in my arms. My heart longs to feel the passion as I
caress your face, stare into your beautiful eyes and tenderly kiss
you. My heart longs to see our love for one another grow as we sit on
the couch and we share from the heart. My heart longs for me to feel
the love and desire of your gentle touch. My heart longs to
experience the sensual passion between us. My heart longs to feel the
love and joy of us cuddling and snuggling close. I adore you my love.
With all the love of my tender heart,
Irfan....
---
All I could do reading this was ROFLMAO !!! And of course I reported the sender as a spammer.
August 15, 2008
Brand India. What's the future ?
Reposting something that I had put up on my old blog two years back. I guess not much has changed in those past two years.
What type of a Nation can we be, if our 'Heads' have no brains ???
Cases in Point :
* J&K sex case: 2 ex-ministers arrested
* Congress workers turn philanthropists on Rahul's birthday
* Pramod & Pravin Mahajan saga
* Rahul Mahajan's Druggery
* Sonia Gandhi's Office of profit Drama
* Uma Bharathi's tantrums
* Deve Gowda's back-door coup in Karnataka
* Abhishek Singhvi's dick-headed press notes
* The recent drama in the Indian Army w.r.t women cadets
* Shiv Sena's Taandav in Mumbai
* The No-Commital stand of all parties on Reservations
* Arjun Singh's boot to equality
* Congress and Left party shenanigans on petro price hike
* Advani's Yatras to nowhere
* Manmohan Singh defending every move of Govt to please Madam
* TV mela in TN
* Left, which does nothing right
* Narendra Modi's monarchy in Gujarat
* Chidambaram and his nakhras with the share bazaar
* HD Kumaraswamy and his land grabbing on the Bangalore-Mysore route
* Taran Gogoi and his Assam Bluff Rifles
* Amar Singh and his interviews
* Y S Rajashekar Reddy and his undoing of Naiduwork
* Sonia Gandhi and her only Ambassador
* The Mullahs of India and their secularism
* Laloo-Rabri jugalbandi
* Buddha's penance
* Vasundhara and her majestic strides
* Natwar Singh as Natwarlal
* The Telangana that only KCR wants
* Amma and her gazillion chappals
* Sri Sri Ravishankar's megabuck penance
* Kanchi Seer and his troubled Millions
* Maneka Gandhi and her unheard voice
* M F Hussain and his treasured trash
* Achuthanandan who ?
* Rajdeep Sardesai and his splattering idiotisms
* Indian Metrological Dept and Bejan Darruwalla
* Dalmiya's hand-wrestling
* Sharad Pawar's arm-twisting
* Chautala and his Chornagri
* Horrifying Hurriyat
* Greg Chappel and his expreiments
* Sheila Dixit and her sweet talk
* K P S Gill and his gilli-danda
* The Great Indian Reliance Challenge of the Ambanis
* D
* Narayan Murthy and his high-voltage nakhras
* Dr Venugopal and his 'AIMS'
* Rahul Dravid's inconsistent men
* Mulayam Singh's easing in the UP Chair
* Shah Rukh Khan's crankiness
* Ekta Kapoor and her swanky melodramas
* Navjot Sindhu and his impromptu tongue-of-war Sidhuisms
* A B Vajpayee and his pauses
* AB and Jaya's tax bills
* Sania Mirza and the First Round Exit Door
* Renuka Chaudhary and her travels
* Salman Khan and his 'bucks'
* Medha Patkar's patka
* Mika & Rakhi Sawant's popularity
* Ramadoss the Boss
With all these great cases as examples, should we expect a better future for Indians?
Note: This is just a list of the leaders India has, whom ideally we should have looked up to as role models.
We need to get rid of many such people. Only then can we say Happy Independence Day !!
What type of a Nation can we be, if our 'Heads' have no brains ???
Cases in Point :
* J&K sex case: 2 ex-ministers arrested
* Congress workers turn philanthropists on Rahul's birthday
* Pramod & Pravin Mahajan saga
* Rahul Mahajan's Druggery
* Sonia Gandhi's Office of profit Drama
* Uma Bharathi's tantrums
* Deve Gowda's back-door coup in Karnataka
* Abhishek Singhvi's dick-headed press notes
* The recent drama in the Indian Army w.r.t women cadets
* Shiv Sena's Taandav in Mumbai
* The No-Commital stand of all parties on Reservations
* Arjun Singh's boot to equality
* Congress and Left party shenanigans on petro price hike
* Advani's Yatras to nowhere
* Manmohan Singh defending every move of Govt to please Madam
* TV mela in TN
* Left, which does nothing right
* Narendra Modi's monarchy in Gujarat
* Chidambaram and his nakhras with the share bazaar
* HD Kumaraswamy and his land grabbing on the Bangalore-Mysore route
* Taran Gogoi and his Assam Bluff Rifles
* Amar Singh and his interviews
* Y S Rajashekar Reddy and his undoing of Naiduwork
* Sonia Gandhi and her only Ambassador
* The Mullahs of India and their secularism
* Laloo-Rabri jugalbandi
* Buddha's penance
* Vasundhara and her majestic strides
* Natwar Singh as Natwarlal
* The Telangana that only KCR wants
* Amma and her gazillion chappals
* Sri Sri Ravishankar's megabuck penance
* Kanchi Seer and his troubled Millions
* Maneka Gandhi and her unheard voice
* M F Hussain and his treasured trash
* Achuthanandan who ?
* Rajdeep Sardesai and his splattering idiotisms
* Indian Metrological Dept and Bejan Darruwalla
* Dalmiya's hand-wrestling
* Sharad Pawar's arm-twisting
* Chautala and his Chornagri
* Horrifying Hurriyat
* Greg Chappel and his expreiments
* Sheila Dixit and her sweet talk
* K P S Gill and his gilli-danda
* The Great Indian Reliance Challenge of the Ambanis
* D
* Narayan Murthy and his high-voltage nakhras
* Dr Venugopal and his 'AIMS'
* Rahul Dravid's inconsistent men
* Mulayam Singh's easing in the UP Chair
* Shah Rukh Khan's crankiness
* Ekta Kapoor and her swanky melodramas
* Navjot Sindhu and his impromptu tongue-of-war Sidhuisms
* A B Vajpayee and his pauses
* AB and Jaya's tax bills
* Sania Mirza and the First Round Exit Door
* Renuka Chaudhary and her travels
* Salman Khan and his 'bucks'
* Medha Patkar's patka
* Mika & Rakhi Sawant's popularity
* Ramadoss the Boss
With all these great cases as examples, should we expect a better future for Indians?
Note: This is just a list of the leaders India has, whom ideally we should have looked up to as role models.
We need to get rid of many such people. Only then can we say Happy Independence Day !!
August 12, 2008
Best search engine
The best search engine for netting mundane info, getting reviews of anything on earth, trying to find a software that you cant find, getting download links for movies, music, videos and whatever else..
Google ?
No !
Yahoo ?
No !
MSN ?
No way !
Live?
Nopes !
Ask ?
Naah..
Wiki ?
Hmmmm... no !
Amazon ?
Good joke :(
Answers.com?
Oh.. no..
Then whats the fuckin answer? Cuil ??
Hahaha.. no!
Tell me.. or else.... grrrrrrrrrrr..
It is..
It is..
ORKUT !!!
Google ?
No !
Yahoo ?
No !
MSN ?
No way !
Live?
Nopes !
Ask ?
Naah..
Wiki ?
Hmmmm... no !
Amazon ?
Good joke :(
Answers.com?
Oh.. no..
Then whats the fuckin answer? Cuil ??
Hahaha.. no!
Tell me.. or else.... grrrrrrrrrrr..
It is..
It is..
ORKUT !!!
August 09, 2008
Happy Birthday MMTS
The Multi-Modal Transit System in Hyderabad celebrates its sixth birthday today. It has grown from strength to strength, even though it has been given a step motherly treatment by the higher echelons of the bureaucracy of the Indian Railways.
From a moderate start, today it carries over a few lakh passengers to their destinations in the city in the shortest time possible. Although only 89 services are operated everyday, it is highly successful. If only the proposed Phase 2 and 3 of the project were in place, it would have been an even bigger winner.
Kudos to all the passengers also who have patronised the services !
August 08, 2008
August 06, 2008
NAGging time !
I bet everyone of us has had this experience in their childhood.
Meal times are painful times. Our parents/grandparents used to come with horrendous looking food in huge quantities and go ahead stuffing it in our mouth. Most of it was stuff that either we never wanted to see on our plates or something we totally abhored. And we tried to shoo away Mom's hands which were aimed for our mouths.
The worst thing to happen was that many a time, this used to happen when we were in no mood to have the stuff, nor did we have enough space in the tummy. It was then that we correlated our 'feeders' to demon incarnations.
And the bathing.. oh that was hell too. It was indeed a pain to have a bath at unearthly hours.. and during monsoons and the winter.. but what to do.. the demons were ruling us those days... :(
And then the make up time.. what with parents trying to comb our hair, put on all sorts of creams and powders on our face to make it appealing to the neighborhood aunty and such people? We used to completely despise the fact that our faces were being smeared with some crap stuff that we did not like.
Am I right in saying that most of us have gone through this hell?
.
.
Yes?
Great !
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Today is NAGA PANCHMI.
Can we all stop behaving the same way with the snakes and let them live thoda aaraam se?
Meal times are painful times. Our parents/grandparents used to come with horrendous looking food in huge quantities and go ahead stuffing it in our mouth. Most of it was stuff that either we never wanted to see on our plates or something we totally abhored. And we tried to shoo away Mom's hands which were aimed for our mouths.
The worst thing to happen was that many a time, this used to happen when we were in no mood to have the stuff, nor did we have enough space in the tummy. It was then that we correlated our 'feeders' to demon incarnations.
And the bathing.. oh that was hell too. It was indeed a pain to have a bath at unearthly hours.. and during monsoons and the winter.. but what to do.. the demons were ruling us those days... :(
And then the make up time.. what with parents trying to comb our hair, put on all sorts of creams and powders on our face to make it appealing to the neighborhood aunty and such people? We used to completely despise the fact that our faces were being smeared with some crap stuff that we did not like.
Am I right in saying that most of us have gone through this hell?
.
.
Yes?
Great !
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Today is NAGA PANCHMI.
Can we all stop behaving the same way with the snakes and let them live thoda aaraam se?
August 05, 2008
Aarushi who.. continued !
Guys.. just a bit caught up to respond to each comment individually on the previous post.. so making a post of it!
Its right when Zephy or Pramod says that the media needs to move onto newer news.. but what I meant here was that when the stories broke.. they were so proud of the fact that they had played such major part in helping the police crack the case and what not.. 24/7 they were at Noida at the Talwar residence.
Now what happened to them? Remember, they have NOT YET SOLVED the case.. they have zero evidence against the accused. They kept a man wrongly in custody for over a month. We are still where we were on day 1 after the incident. So why dont u take a case to culmination? I'm ok with it if you forget a case after solving it and not leaving it in the limbo.
Ditto with Ishmeet. It seems the stories too have been done away with with Ishmeet's funeral. Whatever happened to ur exclusive investigations??
I might forgive if they were just 'reporting'. But then the channels had become nothing short of an investigating agency the way they sensationalised the cases. So, I have every right to rant about them leaving the investigation half way!
Its right when Zephy or Pramod says that the media needs to move onto newer news.. but what I meant here was that when the stories broke.. they were so proud of the fact that they had played such major part in helping the police crack the case and what not.. 24/7 they were at Noida at the Talwar residence.
Now what happened to them? Remember, they have NOT YET SOLVED the case.. they have zero evidence against the accused. They kept a man wrongly in custody for over a month. We are still where we were on day 1 after the incident. So why dont u take a case to culmination? I'm ok with it if you forget a case after solving it and not leaving it in the limbo.
Ditto with Ishmeet. It seems the stories too have been done away with with Ishmeet's funeral. Whatever happened to ur exclusive investigations??
I might forgive if they were just 'reporting'. But then the channels had become nothing short of an investigating agency the way they sensationalised the cases. So, I have every right to rant about them leaving the investigation half way!
August 03, 2008
Aarushi who?
Headlines Today
NDTV 24x7
CNN-IBN
Times Now
CNBC-TV18
NDTV Profit
UTVi
CNBC Awaaz
DD News
Lok Sabha TV
Aaj Tak
NDTV India
Star News
IBN 7
Zee News
India TV
India News
Sahara Samay
Sahara Mumbai
Sahara NCR
BBC World
CNN International
Gemini News
ETV2
TV9
NTV
TV5
TV9 Kannada
Udaya News
Asianet News
The Times of India
The New Indian Express
The Hindu
Deccan Chronicle
Eenadu
Andhra Prabha
Andhra Jyoti
Vaartha
Hindi Milap
India Today
Outlook
The Week
Frontline
None of these news channels, newspapers and news magazines seem to remember who Aarushi Talwar was.
Most of these have forgotten who Ishmeet Singh was.
NDTV 24x7
CNN-IBN
Times Now
CNBC-TV18
NDTV Profit
UTVi
CNBC Awaaz
DD News
Lok Sabha TV
Aaj Tak
NDTV India
Star News
IBN 7
Zee News
India TV
India News
Sahara Samay
Sahara Mumbai
Sahara NCR
BBC World
CNN International
Gemini News
ETV2
TV9
NTV
TV5
TV9 Kannada
Udaya News
Asianet News
The Times of India
The New Indian Express
The Hindu
Deccan Chronicle
Eenadu
Andhra Prabha
Andhra Jyoti
Vaartha
Hindi Milap
India Today
Outlook
The Week
Frontline
None of these news channels, newspapers and news magazines seem to remember who Aarushi Talwar was.
Most of these have forgotten who Ishmeet Singh was.
August 02, 2008
Fake Patriotism
Everyday I see this ageing Amby prancing across the roads of Hyderabad in and around the Somajiguda, Begumpet, Punjagutta, Khairtabad areas with Congress flags fluttering from it with names of Mr Y S Rajashekar Reddy and Mr D Nagendar prominently displayed across the same.
The driver is an oldie dressed in a white Rajasthani outfit with a bandini turban decorating his pate. This Amby has a couple of speakers attached to it and it goes around the areas blaring all sorts of patriotic songs. Basically one cassette I guess.. has Lataji's Aye mere watan ke logon and other such songs. The fella does no other biz. I tried asking him for a lift one day and he said its not allowed for security reasons (!!). I'm sure he does atleast 15-20kms each day, probably even double that.
In this age of rising fuel costs (and depleting fuel as well), is it prudent to waste so much fuel.. and an old Amby must be guzzling fuel like Keshto guzzled alcohol! And yeah, the blaring sound aboard.. do we really need to add more din?
And yes, does a Chief Minister and his close friend need to publicise their fake patriotism? At the cost of precious fuel? I never see them distribute blankets to the poor (how cliched).. never see them travelling to the residential areas and asking if the water and electricity supply was proper or erratic? Never see them anytime but a few months before election.
Do we need such netas with fake patriotism?
The driver is an oldie dressed in a white Rajasthani outfit with a bandini turban decorating his pate. This Amby has a couple of speakers attached to it and it goes around the areas blaring all sorts of patriotic songs. Basically one cassette I guess.. has Lataji's Aye mere watan ke logon and other such songs. The fella does no other biz. I tried asking him for a lift one day and he said its not allowed for security reasons (!!). I'm sure he does atleast 15-20kms each day, probably even double that.
In this age of rising fuel costs (and depleting fuel as well), is it prudent to waste so much fuel.. and an old Amby must be guzzling fuel like Keshto guzzled alcohol! And yeah, the blaring sound aboard.. do we really need to add more din?
And yes, does a Chief Minister and his close friend need to publicise their fake patriotism? At the cost of precious fuel? I never see them distribute blankets to the poor (how cliched).. never see them travelling to the residential areas and asking if the water and electricity supply was proper or erratic? Never see them anytime but a few months before election.
Do we need such netas with fake patriotism?
August 01, 2008
State Funeral ????? !!!!!
Did Ishmeet Singh deserve a State Funeral ??
Do not doubt the fact that I'm saddened by the death of a young aspiring singer and a very fine human being. The point here is quite different.
Ishmeet Singh was no big celebrity (frankly, I'd never heard of him earlier!). He was neither a politician nor someone who's done so much for the nation that we are forever indebted. He was just a normal 19 year old, who had topped an exam he appeared for. That it happened to be in singing and was lucky enough to be aired on national TV is another thing. As yet, he had not rendered any service that could either label him a martyr or even a patriot. He was neither a leader of a state nor of any party. He never faced the bullets and the bombs at Kargil, never trooped the forests of Chattisgarh in search of naxalities, never tried to stop the corruption in Bihar. Then why a State Funeral for him? Why should the Indian Government bear the cost of his funeral and the security arrangements that accompany the same. What makes him worthy of the Indian Tricolor covering him on his last journey?
As I mentioned earlier, he had just topped an exam. Would the Indian Government provide a state funeral to the person who had topped the CAT or the IIT or the Civils? Naah.. they would not even know what happens to those real heroes. Then why Ishmeet ?
Do not doubt the fact that I'm saddened by the death of a young aspiring singer and a very fine human being. The point here is quite different.
Ishmeet Singh was no big celebrity (frankly, I'd never heard of him earlier!). He was neither a politician nor someone who's done so much for the nation that we are forever indebted. He was just a normal 19 year old, who had topped an exam he appeared for. That it happened to be in singing and was lucky enough to be aired on national TV is another thing. As yet, he had not rendered any service that could either label him a martyr or even a patriot. He was neither a leader of a state nor of any party. He never faced the bullets and the bombs at Kargil, never trooped the forests of Chattisgarh in search of naxalities, never tried to stop the corruption in Bihar. Then why a State Funeral for him? Why should the Indian Government bear the cost of his funeral and the security arrangements that accompany the same. What makes him worthy of the Indian Tricolor covering him on his last journey?
As I mentioned earlier, he had just topped an exam. Would the Indian Government provide a state funeral to the person who had topped the CAT or the IIT or the Civils? Naah.. they would not even know what happens to those real heroes. Then why Ishmeet ?
July 31, 2008
July 28, 2008
Discuss Nuclear Power when you don't know shit?
A stranger was seated next to a sexy young girl on the airplane when the stranger tried to get pally with her and said, 'Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.'
The hottie, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, 'What would you like to talk about?'
'Oh, I don't know', said the stranger. 'How about nuclear power?'
'OK', she said. 'That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow and a deer all eat grass - the same stuff. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?'
The stranger thinks about it and says, 'Hmmm, I have no idea.'
To which the young girl replies, 'Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Now read THIS.
Are we sure that our leaders know all about the nuclear deal? When Rahul Gandhi can go on and on in the Parliament about how the nuclear deal can bring all sorts of riches and prosperity to the nation... yeah, yeah, its perceived to be some viagra... I'm assuming he should know A to Z of the deal. Turns out he has no clue what the IAEA abbreviates for !
And here is one major middle finger salute to the assholes in the media, who have conveniently overlooked this blunder and are singing praises of this 'intelligent young man' !
..|..
Hyderabad Blues
Hyderabad is in the grip of a low pressure area which has been bringing some rain to the parched state. Also has cooled off the boiler a bit and the weather is much more easy on the skin.
The rain however had no impression on the Bonalu festivities in the city neither did it have any effect on the loud speakers and the serail lights.
One one hand the Govt cuts power to homes and industries because of shortage and on the other hand it blatantly allows disco lighting and blaring sound systems to function. Someone needs to give the Babus a brain-rich injection. And it better be painful !
The rain however had no impression on the Bonalu festivities in the city neither did it have any effect on the loud speakers and the serail lights.
One one hand the Govt cuts power to homes and industries because of shortage and on the other hand it blatantly allows disco lighting and blaring sound systems to function. Someone needs to give the Babus a brain-rich injection. And it better be painful !
July 27, 2008
Loud Speaker Bonalu
Come July and the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad as also the region of Telangana get to clebrate one of their major festivals, the Bonalu or the Mahakali Jatra in obedience to Goddess Mahakali. I'm not going to write more about the festival you can catch it at Wiki !
What I'm actually concerned about is the fact that at bang 6AM on a nice chilly Sunday morning, I'm awakened by some wierd sounds booming in my ear. After a couple of minutes I realise that the local folks have planted extra-loud speakers to blast everyone out of their deep slumber.. as if to say that the early bird gets the worm.. get up u bozos..
Worse than the fact that the music is extra-loud is that it is tasteless mostly.. bhajans in telugu coined on filmi tunes and sung by first round exiters from some trash reality show I guess.. and well, the music has been lifted and composed by some baraat band I guess, thats the way it actually sounds!
Now for the best part.. this is going to continue for the entire day... holy f****** s*** !!!
--
PS: The power situation in Hyderabad is worsening by the day what with scanty rainfall in the entire south of the country. We face a scheduled power cut everyday from 8AM-11.20AM at our house. But every few days, they extend it to 1PM or 2PM like they did yesterday! Actually, it would be great if they did that today, only if the goddamn loud speakers get their power lines cut too! But knowing the sad creatures that sit on the gaddis, it might well be wishful thinking!!
What I'm actually concerned about is the fact that at bang 6AM on a nice chilly Sunday morning, I'm awakened by some wierd sounds booming in my ear. After a couple of minutes I realise that the local folks have planted extra-loud speakers to blast everyone out of their deep slumber.. as if to say that the early bird gets the worm.. get up u bozos..
Worse than the fact that the music is extra-loud is that it is tasteless mostly.. bhajans in telugu coined on filmi tunes and sung by first round exiters from some trash reality show I guess.. and well, the music has been lifted and composed by some baraat band I guess, thats the way it actually sounds!
Now for the best part.. this is going to continue for the entire day... holy f****** s*** !!!
--
PS: The power situation in Hyderabad is worsening by the day what with scanty rainfall in the entire south of the country. We face a scheduled power cut everyday from 8AM-11.20AM at our house. But every few days, they extend it to 1PM or 2PM like they did yesterday! Actually, it would be great if they did that today, only if the goddamn loud speakers get their power lines cut too! But knowing the sad creatures that sit on the gaddis, it might well be wishful thinking!!
July 25, 2008
July 24, 2008
July 19, 2008
The Jackfruit Letter
There is a legend about this hilarious letter which was apparently written by a very irate railway passenger who was left behind at a station while attending nature's call at the platform rest rooms. The letter is supposedly written around 1909 (a precise date of July 2, 1909 is also sometimes claimed), and is addressed to the East Indian Railway or the Transportation Superintendent at Sahibganj, West Bengal.
Dear Sir,
I am arrive by passenger train at Ahmedpore station, and my belly is too much full of jack fruit. I am therefore went to privy, Just as I doing the nuisance, that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotah in one hand and dhotie in the next hand. I am fall over and expose my shockings to man, females, woman on platform. I am get leaved at Ahmedpore station.
This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung, that dam guard no wait train 5 minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake, otherwise I am making big report to papers.
Your faithful servant,
Okhil Ch. Sen
It is widely believed that this letter was instrumental in Indian Railways making toilets available in train coaches.
July 17, 2008
July 15, 2008
Overtake
One of the most hilarious Traffic Education signboards I've seen in a long long time! This was taken at Brigade Road during my visit to Bangalore last month. It even beats this one hollow..
July 13, 2008
The Shahabad
When I was a kid residing in the Old City area of Hyderabad, flooring of a house was synonymous with the term 'Shahabad'. It was much later when my Geographical knowledge gained some proportion that I came to know that Shahabad was actually a small town in the Gulbarga District of North Eastern Karnataka.
This variety of stone, technically a yellow flaky limestone, is found in the entire North Eastern region of Karnataka (commonly referred to as Hyderabad karnataka owing to its proximity to Hyderabad) and the adjoining borders of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is of ideal weight, texture and color to serve as an excellent material for florring. In fact the stone is used in its native region not only for flooring, but also for making walls and roofs. A special alternating stone size arrangement is used on the roofs to provide excellent ventilation while also providing a solid cover. This typical arrangement also helps in allowing a few rays of sunlight to pass through them, thus illuminating the hutments while also acting as natural ventilators. The region is a dry and hot area and surprisingly, the hutments having the Shahabad roofs are cooler than concrete structures.
But, technology takes its toll. Shahabad stone is a perfect raw material for cement and these are being mined hopelessly and turning these natural hutments into concrete jungles. Huge cement factories have come up in the region which today produces 40% of India's cement.
Long Live the Shahabad !
July 11, 2008
Veiled Rebecca
This is one of the best sculptures you can put your eyes on. The sculptor has magnificently made a veil appear over the beautiful lady's face. The sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni was trained in Rome, eventually establishing his own shop where he trained numerous students. This biblical sculpture depicts Rebecca, bride of Isaac, as she draws her veil about her before being presented to her future husband. This piece represents innocence and purity as Benzoni skillfully creates the appearance of a transparent veil, an exceptional technical achievement.
You can find this statue at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. This museum is the World's largest one man collection of any nature and the largest of arts and artifacts by a huge margin. There are three wings full of his collection in a museum spread over 20 acres. A must see for anyone visiting the City of Nawabs !
July 08, 2008
The Rayalaseema Express
One of the most enigmatic trains running on the Indian Railways is the Rayalaseema Express. Train number 7429 travels between Hyderabad and Tirupati and 7430 does the return.
Kazipet's WDM-2 #16501 leads the Rayalaseema past Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad
That does sound simple enough, right? Hang on..
This train runs combined with the 7416 Kolhapur- Tirupati Haripriya Express.
What.. two trains run combined?
Yes, two trains run combined. Actually, its more complicated than that!
There are basically three origins/destinations. Hyderabad (HYB), Tirupati (TPTY) and Kolhapur (KOP.. new code for Kolhapur is CSMT but I'll use the old one).
Every day, three trains start from these stations. Each of these trains is basically in two parts. In the train starting from HYB, one part is destined for TPTY and one for KOP. In the train originating at KOP, one part is destined for HYB and one for TPTY. Similarly, in the train originating from TPTY, one part goes to HYB and one to KOP.
All these three trains arrive at approximately 2AM at Guntakal, where these three trains are divided into the 6 individual segments. The segments bound to HYB from TPTY and KOP are stitched together and sent to HYB. Segments from TPTY and HYB are joined and sent to KOP and segments from KOP and HYB are coupled and sent to TPTY. So, 6 segments again become three trains and head to their respective destinations.
Each of these three trains get a Kazipet WDM-3A loco. The loco which comes from HYB goes to TPTY, the loco that comes from TPTY goes to KOP and the loco that comes from KOP goes to the shed. The loco that brings in the Dadar-Chennai mail to Guntakal gets cut there and goes to HYB.
So, if you are travelling by these trains, NEVER get down at Guntakal. You never know, where you would turn up next morning !!!
PS: Ur views on this template plz..
Kazipet's WDM-2 #16501 leads the Rayalaseema past Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad
This train runs combined with the 7416 Kolhapur- Tirupati Haripriya Express.
What.. two trains run combined?
Yes, two trains run combined. Actually, its more complicated than that!
There are basically three origins/destinations. Hyderabad (HYB), Tirupati (TPTY) and Kolhapur (KOP.. new code for Kolhapur is CSMT but I'll use the old one).
Every day, three trains start from these stations. Each of these trains is basically in two parts. In the train starting from HYB, one part is destined for TPTY and one for KOP. In the train originating at KOP, one part is destined for HYB and one for TPTY. Similarly, in the train originating from TPTY, one part goes to HYB and one to KOP.
All these three trains arrive at approximately 2AM at Guntakal, where these three trains are divided into the 6 individual segments. The segments bound to HYB from TPTY and KOP are stitched together and sent to HYB. Segments from TPTY and HYB are joined and sent to KOP and segments from KOP and HYB are coupled and sent to TPTY. So, 6 segments again become three trains and head to their respective destinations.
Each of these three trains get a Kazipet WDM-3A loco. The loco which comes from HYB goes to TPTY, the loco that comes from TPTY goes to KOP and the loco that comes from KOP goes to the shed. The loco that brings in the Dadar-Chennai mail to Guntakal gets cut there and goes to HYB.
So, if you are travelling by these trains, NEVER get down at Guntakal. You never know, where you would turn up next morning !!!
PS: Ur views on this template plz..
July 06, 2008
The Number Game
In one of my earlier posts, I wrote that I traveled by the 6593 Nanded - Bangalore Hampi Link express from Vikarabad to Bangalore. And I returned by the 7604 Yeswantpur - Kacheguda Express. Did you know that the numbering of trains followed a pattern?
Why is it that a majority of trains touching Bangalore are either numbered 65xx or 62xx ? Or trains touching Hyderabad have a 70xx numbering?
Well there is a reasoning for that. The current pattern of numbering was implemented during computerisation of the Passenger reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways. At that time, IR had 9 zones. However, in 1996, the then Railway Minister Nitish Kumar came up with the idea of creating more zones and six more zones were notified. This had to wait till 2002, when not six, but seven zones were carved out of the existing zonal structure. Anyways, the trains numbers were still retained which conformed to the earlier 9 zone plan. Newer trains however got into the new series.
Trains belonging to a particular zone had their numbers staring with specific digits.
0 - Konkan Railway and other passenger trains with reservation facility.
1 - Central Railway, West Central Railway
2 - All superfast trains encompassing all zones. Includes all Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, Sampark Kranti and Garib Rath trains.
3 - Eastern Railway, East Central Railway
4 - Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Western Railway
5 - North Eastern Railway and North-East Frontier Railway
6 - Southern Railway, South Westen Railway
7 - South Central Railway and a few trains of South Westen Railway.
8 - South Eastern Railway and East Coast Railway
9 - Western Railway, West Central Railway and North Western Railway.
Also, within each level, there are sub levels.
Trains starting with 7 are mostly trains of South Central Railway. The sub levels are based on the divisions within the zones.
70 - Secunderabad division
72 - Vijayawada / Guntur divisions
74 - Guntakal Division
76 - Hyderabad / Nanded Divisions
( Guntur and Nanded are newly carved out divisions)
75 - Erstwhile MG trains of Hyderabad division
77 - Erstwhile MG trains of Guntakal division
73 - Hubli division of South Western Railway ( Hubli div was in SCR earlier)
A similar pattern follows for all levels and zones.
Even in the Level 2 with superfast trains, there are sublevels corresponding to the main levels.
20 - Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains
21 - Central, West Central
22 - New superfast trains
23 - Eastern, East Central
.. and on and on for other sublevels.
Recently an issue has arisen with a lot of trains being made superfast, the sublevels for superfast trains are getting exhausted. For example, level 26 for SR and SWR is completely full and new SF trains in these zones are being allocated the vacant 22xx series. 28xx and 29xx series are slowly reaching capacity levels.
So, now you know what to expect when someone says he's travelling by 2628 express. Of course he's travelling towards Bangalore from New Delhi by the Karnataka Express!
Why is it that a majority of trains touching Bangalore are either numbered 65xx or 62xx ? Or trains touching Hyderabad have a 70xx numbering?
Well there is a reasoning for that. The current pattern of numbering was implemented during computerisation of the Passenger reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways. At that time, IR had 9 zones. However, in 1996, the then Railway Minister Nitish Kumar came up with the idea of creating more zones and six more zones were notified. This had to wait till 2002, when not six, but seven zones were carved out of the existing zonal structure. Anyways, the trains numbers were still retained which conformed to the earlier 9 zone plan. Newer trains however got into the new series.
Trains belonging to a particular zone had their numbers staring with specific digits.
0 - Konkan Railway and other passenger trains with reservation facility.
1 - Central Railway, West Central Railway
2 - All superfast trains encompassing all zones. Includes all Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, Sampark Kranti and Garib Rath trains.
3 - Eastern Railway, East Central Railway
4 - Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Western Railway
5 - North Eastern Railway and North-East Frontier Railway
6 - Southern Railway, South Westen Railway
7 - South Central Railway and a few trains of South Westen Railway.
8 - South Eastern Railway and East Coast Railway
9 - Western Railway, West Central Railway and North Western Railway.
Also, within each level, there are sub levels.
Trains starting with 7 are mostly trains of South Central Railway. The sub levels are based on the divisions within the zones.
70 - Secunderabad division
72 - Vijayawada / Guntur divisions
74 - Guntakal Division
76 - Hyderabad / Nanded Divisions
( Guntur and Nanded are newly carved out divisions)
75 - Erstwhile MG trains of Hyderabad division
77 - Erstwhile MG trains of Guntakal division
73 - Hubli division of South Western Railway ( Hubli div was in SCR earlier)
A similar pattern follows for all levels and zones.
Even in the Level 2 with superfast trains, there are sublevels corresponding to the main levels.
20 - Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains
21 - Central, West Central
22 - New superfast trains
23 - Eastern, East Central
.. and on and on for other sublevels.
Recently an issue has arisen with a lot of trains being made superfast, the sublevels for superfast trains are getting exhausted. For example, level 26 for SR and SWR is completely full and new SF trains in these zones are being allocated the vacant 22xx series. 28xx and 29xx series are slowly reaching capacity levels.
So, now you know what to expect when someone says he's travelling by 2628 express. Of course he's travelling towards Bangalore from New Delhi by the Karnataka Express!
July 05, 2008
July 04, 2008
Mosaic Tag
Took up this tag from Ria/Solitaire/whoever...
Here are the rules of this tag.
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.
The questions:
1. What is your first name?
Vrijilesh.. can u believe the image I got? It was a railfan's meet at Byappanahalli station, Bangalore in 2003!
2. What is your favorite food? right now ?
Chola Poori
3. What high school did you go to?
Little Flower High School, Hyderabad.. the image is the school logo
4. What is your favorite color?
Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Rimi Sen (as of now. She's done Dhoom, Hungama, Hattrick)
6. What is your favorite drink?
Chai, what else?
7. What is your dream vacation?
New Zealand.. lovely beaches and countryside, unexplored place!
8. What is your favorite dessert?
Gulab Jamun
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Rich & Famous
10. What do you love most in life?
Intimate moments with wifey ;)
11. What is one word that describes you?
Strange
12. What is your user name?
vrij
Guess what's me like... and take u p the tag too!
Here are the rules of this tag.
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab's Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.
The questions:
1. What is your first name?
Vrijilesh.. can u believe the image I got? It was a railfan's meet at Byappanahalli station, Bangalore in 2003!
2. What is your favorite food? right now ?
Chola Poori
3. What high school did you go to?
Little Flower High School, Hyderabad.. the image is the school logo
4. What is your favorite color?
Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Rimi Sen (as of now. She's done Dhoom, Hungama, Hattrick)
6. What is your favorite drink?
Chai, what else?
7. What is your dream vacation?
New Zealand.. lovely beaches and countryside, unexplored place!
8. What is your favorite dessert?
Gulab Jamun
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Rich & Famous
10. What do you love most in life?
Intimate moments with wifey ;)
11. What is one word that describes you?
Strange
12. What is your user name?
vrij
Guess what's me like... and take u p the tag too!
July 03, 2008
July 01, 2008
Dus Bahane
Tagged by Ankur to reveal ten things u don't know about me:
- I love sleeping. I can sleep anywhere I want to. I have even slept on the first bench of the class with a lecture going on and no one the wiser. My eyes were closed I was off, but my head was nodding frequently enough to make everyone think I was wide awake!
- I love bird-watching. You know the types. Of course, I still do that. Biwi knows about it too. Try hard not to do that when biwi is around.
- You know this. I am mad about trains. What you don't know is that trains can cheer me up infinitely. Whenever I was in a gloomy mood, I used to head to the station nearby (Begumpet, BMT) and sit there for a few minutes. Even if I do not get to see a train, the atmosphere and the smell of the place cheers me up. These days however, biwi does the job of cheering me up.
- I have a short temper that I keep bottled within me. I try my level best not to get it out of hand.
- I love the stage. I am a regular at emceeing at functions, parties, etc.. of course, not professionally yet.
- I used to write shayari in my college days. And try to impress girls. Unfortunately for me, even though my shayari was appreciated, I was not!
- I love surfing and chatting on the web. Prior to getting married, I used to chat till the wee hours of the night. Also, I can actually pass off as a software guy and no one can know the real game. I have done it with a nerd who started getting pally in a local train. Talked to him in a lot of tech lingo and when he asked me which company I work for, I told him I'm a doc.. he was sort of thrown aback. In fact my cousin, who is an MCA, regularly calls me to fix her laptop or for any computer related issues.. so much for techies.
- I am a freelance web designer. I have done a few websites including my own www.vrijilesh.com and on my website you can get a lot of railway related information. Very soon, say in a day or two, you will have the entire Indian Railways time table available on my website. Also, you can follow live cricket, tennis, F1 on my website. In July, you can view live updates from the Tour de France.
- I love fast driving. Dad always screams at me that the moment I start the car, I get to 60.. on city roads! Of course, what can u expect from a tifosa?
- I am an avid quizzer. Once in an inter-college competition, we thrashed the opponents so badly, that it basically was boring. We had 80 points while the second placed team had 20 !! It was for my quiz partner's marriage that I headed to Bangalore a few days ago.
I hope I've managed to keep you interested.. but I was'nt wanting to tag anyone particular, coz its a decently old tag, but still if Keerthi, Naveen, Sridhar, Sriram or Ranga are reading this, consider urself tagged !
June 30, 2008
New Railway Time Tables
If any of you folks are scheduled to travel by trains in India in the coming days, this is for you.
Every year, IR introduces a new timetable from July and this year is no different. This means that new trains are announced, many speeded up, a few stoppages are added and a few removed. The schedule of quite a few trains is tweaked and they might depart and arrive at a time different from when you might have booked the ticket.
So please do call up your nearest railway station or the railway enquiry number 139 before you head to the station. Lest you are left behind staring at the LV plate of the train you just missed!
Gyaan: the rear end of every train - passenger or freight - has a small plate with LV written on it, abbreviated for Last Vehicle.
June 29, 2008
June 26, 2008
June 25, 2008
Sai Baba in Dharmsankat !!
That's what was the Breaking news on India TV last night.
And me n Biwi spent a few minutes laughing over it. They proudly proclaimed that at 10PM tonight Sai Baba will tell us who killed Aarushi. And all they did was show shome visuals straight out of some Aastha / Sanskar channel, and in between also told us that the prime accused Krishna and the CBI investigator were both devotees of Sai. So he was in a dharm-sankat (dilemma) regarding whom to support.
How do they get away with such crap? Calling themselves news channels... Sai Baba, save us!
And me n Biwi spent a few minutes laughing over it. They proudly proclaimed that at 10PM tonight Sai Baba will tell us who killed Aarushi. And all they did was show shome visuals straight out of some Aastha / Sanskar channel, and in between also told us that the prime accused Krishna and the CBI investigator were both devotees of Sai. So he was in a dharm-sankat (dilemma) regarding whom to support.
How do they get away with such crap? Calling themselves news channels... Sai Baba, save us!
June 22, 2008
Trip Jottings: VKB-SBC-KCG
Here are a few snippets from the trip I made to Bangalore.
VKB-GTL:
* Departed from Vikarabad on 6593 NED-SBC Hampi Link express. Train departed 30mins late at 1515hrs behind MLY WDM-2 #16363.
* 2748 Palnadu departed VKB on schedule behind GTL WDM-2 # 16656
* SBC-NED link was behind MLY's #16336.
* The loco which takes out the 347 HYB-PAU passenger on Day 1 heads the Hampi link upto GTL the next day.
* A loaded BOXN rake led by UBL WDG-4 #12128 was let to pass VKB at 1505hrs, even while the 6593 was getting late. This made 6593 trail the same till Rukmapur where it overtook the freight. Rukmapur also had a BCNA rake led by GY WDG-3A Baldie #14551.
* At Kurgunta, a BTPN rake led by a WDG-4 crossed us.
* At Malkhaid Road, a pair of Pune WDM-2 locos #17694 & 17713R were at the helm of a cement rake.
* Passed an empty BOXN rake led by twin MLY WDM-2 with 17399 at the helm.
* Just after Sulehalli, about 1km before WADI, SCR territory ends and CR begins. Basically, the CR territory includes the Halkatta bypass. So, as one progress from SC side towards RC, one has to travel about a km in CR territory. The KM markers showing 606 (to CSTM) are sure signs of the same.
* Nalwar is almost a suburb of Wadi, and 6593 seemed to have an unscheduled halt at Halkatta everyday since a lot of people were waiting for the train and a quite a few got in. I could make out that a large number of those were destined for Nalwar and Yadgir, and a few for RC.
* The Nalwar- Yadgir section is a fantastic straight line section with the tracks separated by about 20metres. Our train was constantly doing 100+ on that section. I guess its a good section for high speed videography.
* Crossed an express led by a GTL loco as well as a GY twins #13358, 13314 led freighter.
* UBL WDG-4 #12087 was at Yadgir with an empty BOXN.
* The run to KSN was good and thence it was decent upto RC. The Krishna new bridge is going to be a dual track bridge and the present bridge would be phased out. The work on the bridge towards WADI end is complete, while it might take another few months to do so at the RC end. No tracks have been laid on the entire bridge and neither on the approach.
* Space is being made for another line to come up after the bridge uptil Yermarus, maybe for an extra line to hold rakes, or a possible minor realignment.
GTL:
* Reached Adoni 45mins late, but reached GTL half an hour early, thanks to the enormous slack this train has got.
* 6593 was put on pf 4 at GTL. Announcement was made for arrival of 7604 on pf 5 and it arrived soon with a GY Baldie 14009. It reversed and attached itself at the other end,
* The KCG-VSG/UBL slip coach attachment is now back to GTL. It was shifted to DNC for sometime, but apparently complaints by passengers about lack of facilities at DNC made the authorities get the same back to GTL. This also saved the need for an extra loco at DNC for the shunting.
* The HWH-VSG Amaravati was cancelled on that day and hence a single GTL WDM-2 had brought in the 4 slip coaches from VSG and was going to do the same on return.
* Spotted GTL WDM-2 17944 and 17498 at GTL.
* Soon after 7604 departed, 1013 CBE-LTT with WDP-4 20037 arrived on pf5.
* Ahmedabad-SBC weekly arrived and departed soon from pf 3.
* Pf 1 and 2 (erstwhile MG) are now non existant, and another island pf is coming up which might become the 1 & 2 soon.
* At 11PM, announcement was made for arrival of 6591 UBL-SBC Hampi express on pf 6. It arrived with dual KJM WDP-4 locos #20025, 20027.
* The 6591 locos reached only halfway through the platform and stopped the rake so that the last coach was at the end of the pf. Then the locos were cut from 6591. In the meantime, 16363 had cut off from 6593.
* The twin Dippys were shunted to pf 4, attached to 6593 and headed ahead. After crossing the GTL yard, the 6593 was reversed back onto pf 6 and attached to 6591.
* It was now a 24 coacher. Never knew that 6591 even had a HA coach!!
* Departed GTL at 2330hrs and retired for the night.
SBC:
* Woke up at 5AM to find the train being looped at Dodballapur and a WDG-4 led freighter crossing us.
* Reached YNK at 0530hrs and departed after 5mins. YNK is now under wires. The catenary is ready so that electrics can come upto YNK from BYPL/KJM side. Empty rake of YPR-Muzaffarpur was at YNK.
* The YPR branch has poles up till Lottegollahalli where the Hebbal line joins. No wires though. After Lottegollahalli till YPR, the catenary masts are slowly coming up and most are not even fixed.
* Arrived at YPR at 6AM after a slow run, but were stopped for more than 15mins so that the JS could cross us.
* Rani Chennamma has also just arrived at YPR with dual WDP-4 locos #20007 and 20006.
* Soon we exited YPR and made our way to SBC which we reached at 0630hrs, 20 mins behind schedule after a small halt at MVM.
* Just as I reached pf1, Lalbagh was departing with LGD WAP-4 Monster #22716 !!
* Spotted the usual suspects at SBC, KJM locos 16669, 36016.
BYPL:
* Had a small session at BYPL, the same place where my IRFCA days all began.
* Thanks to Ramdev Gowda who spent the hot afternoon with me.
* Spotted ED WAG-7 #27756 and an OHE inspection car doing the rounds.
* The highlight was a fast running Brindavan led by ED WAP-4 #22526.
* Prashanti went with a WDP-4 LHF.
* The BWT-SBC MEMU arrived and was also seen departing later.
* The rake of SBC-KCVL exp was brought in from probably CSDR to BYPL and after a short halt, went towards SBC led by KJM WDM-2 #16670.
* CBE-LTT came in with ERS WDM-3A #14075.
YPR-KCG-BMT:
* On the return journey, I was booked on the 7604 YPR-KCG exp. It was stationed on pf 2 with GTL WDM-3A #18914R at the helm. (I made one mistake here. Did not actually see the shed name written. It was in the GTL blue-yellow-grey livery hence I assumed the home shed).
* The loco which provided me my first ever FP a few years back, KJM's 18704R was seen idling.
* Sidhaganga Intercity to UBL was late behind 20054.
* We started from YPR bang on time and SBC gangman Pavan Kumar was rushing to YPR to meet me, but I guess he made it to YPR just as the last coach crossed the platform.. never mind Pavan, there's always a next time. :)
* The run was good all the way although we were running just around 10-15 mins behind schedule.
* At Dodballapur, we were made to wait for the GNT-YPR passenger to cross. It was led by GTL's 18756, but had a dead 20032 WDP-4 behind it.
* Makalidurg never disappoints me. 7 out of 10 times I travelled on the section in the evenings, it has rained. And on this occasion, it did not pour but was a light drizzle. It was a wonderful scenery and the loco was making mincemeat of the rake down the ghats.
* The scenery changes from lush green to dull brown barren as we cross Vidhuraswatha, the last station in Karnataka and cross Devarapalle, the first station in AP on that section.
* Crossed Hindupur, Penukonda and SSPN uneventfully and just as we were approaching DMM, an unknown train led by an Alco was on its way on the direct line to PKD.
* The IRCTC stall at DMM was serving hot Dal vadas, idlis and rail aahar (poori and aloo sabzi). The rail ahaar is served in boxes and the rate was mentioned clearly and in bold as Rs 10. But the vendor was charging Rs 15 for the same. Of course I did not pay and a simple threat of putting in a complaint against him made him charge Rs 10 only. And he did that for all the people while I was lurking around !!
* The run to GY was fast. The MG line between DMM and Kalluru is still intact with no sign of GC. However, at Kalluru, the MG line has been replaced by BG. Also a new cross-over line has been built from the existing BG line to the newly converted BG line over a new embankment.
* The tracks and sleepers have been pulled off the MG bridge over the Pennar. I am not sure if the old girder bridge is strong and wide enough to accomodate the BG. I also think that is the exact reason why the GC has been halted between Kalluru and DMM and thats why connection to the old line.
* 7604 (and not 7603) has a loco change at GY. I assume it should be a GY-GY change as 18914 sped into the shed after being replaced by GY's 14038. Thats when my mistake of taking the loco's livery for granted came to haunt me. I was assured by the RPF hawaldar that it is a daily occurrence.
* The RPF on duty takes over 7604 at DMM and they disembark at DNC and take the 2785 back to DMM. This is their daily link. Another common link is Karnataka/7603 between DMM-GTL.
* Arrived on time at GTL on pf5. At the same time, MLY's 18539 brought in the Hampi Link from NED to pf 6.
* CBE-LTT arrived in sometime on pf4 behind KJM's 14084.
* 14038 reversed at GTL while the UBL slip coaches were attached at the RC end of 7604 and off we were towards KCG.
* I took up the side upper berth and dozed off. Woke up at 0445hrs to find ourselves entering Falaknuma. We were put on the pf 3 loop because a MMTS rake for FL-1 was blocking the pf2 mainline! That rake spent the entire night at FM. It could have been put on the pf 3 loop!!
* #360 FM-GR passenger was on pf1.
* Reached KCG 5 minutes behind schedule, probably missing the punctual arrival time due to the looping at FM. Took the FL-1 to BMT.
* At SC, Krishna exp was getting ready behind 22658. 22231 was idling near the pf 1 siding.
* Tungabhadra was on pf 8 while 713 BZA-SC special (which would go as 2706 SC-GNT intercity) was on pf 9.
* Announcements were being made about cancellation of SC-GHY exp and impending arrival of Godavari exp.
* Reached BMT at 0655hrs after a through run. I expected a crossing with AP to happen between SC-HSJ but there was no sign of 2723.
Reached home in another 10mins and dozed off again!!
Hope you enjoyed.
VKB-GTL:
* Departed from Vikarabad on 6593 NED-SBC Hampi Link express. Train departed 30mins late at 1515hrs behind MLY WDM-2 #16363.
* 2748 Palnadu departed VKB on schedule behind GTL WDM-2 # 16656
* SBC-NED link was behind MLY's #16336.
* The loco which takes out the 347 HYB-PAU passenger on Day 1 heads the Hampi link upto GTL the next day.
* A loaded BOXN rake led by UBL WDG-4 #12128 was let to pass VKB at 1505hrs, even while the 6593 was getting late. This made 6593 trail the same till Rukmapur where it overtook the freight. Rukmapur also had a BCNA rake led by GY WDG-3A Baldie #14551.
* At Kurgunta, a BTPN rake led by a WDG-4 crossed us.
* At Malkhaid Road, a pair of Pune WDM-2 locos #17694 & 17713R were at the helm of a cement rake.
* Passed an empty BOXN rake led by twin MLY WDM-2 with 17399 at the helm.
* Just after Sulehalli, about 1km before WADI, SCR territory ends and CR begins. Basically, the CR territory includes the Halkatta bypass. So, as one progress from SC side towards RC, one has to travel about a km in CR territory. The KM markers showing 606 (to CSTM) are sure signs of the same.
* Nalwar is almost a suburb of Wadi, and 6593 seemed to have an unscheduled halt at Halkatta everyday since a lot of people were waiting for the train and a quite a few got in. I could make out that a large number of those were destined for Nalwar and Yadgir, and a few for RC.
* The Nalwar- Yadgir section is a fantastic straight line section with the tracks separated by about 20metres. Our train was constantly doing 100+ on that section. I guess its a good section for high speed videography.
* Crossed an express led by a GTL loco as well as a GY twins #13358, 13314 led freighter.
* UBL WDG-4 #12087 was at Yadgir with an empty BOXN.
* The run to KSN was good and thence it was decent upto RC. The Krishna new bridge is going to be a dual track bridge and the present bridge would be phased out. The work on the bridge towards WADI end is complete, while it might take another few months to do so at the RC end. No tracks have been laid on the entire bridge and neither on the approach.
* Space is being made for another line to come up after the bridge uptil Yermarus, maybe for an extra line to hold rakes, or a possible minor realignment.
GTL:
* Reached Adoni 45mins late, but reached GTL half an hour early, thanks to the enormous slack this train has got.
* 6593 was put on pf 4 at GTL. Announcement was made for arrival of 7604 on pf 5 and it arrived soon with a GY Baldie 14009. It reversed and attached itself at the other end,
* The KCG-VSG/UBL slip coach attachment is now back to GTL. It was shifted to DNC for sometime, but apparently complaints by passengers about lack of facilities at DNC made the authorities get the same back to GTL. This also saved the need for an extra loco at DNC for the shunting.
* The HWH-VSG Amaravati was cancelled on that day and hence a single GTL WDM-2 had brought in the 4 slip coaches from VSG and was going to do the same on return.
* Spotted GTL WDM-2 17944 and 17498 at GTL.
* Soon after 7604 departed, 1013 CBE-LTT with WDP-4 20037 arrived on pf5.
* Ahmedabad-SBC weekly arrived and departed soon from pf 3.
* Pf 1 and 2 (erstwhile MG) are now non existant, and another island pf is coming up which might become the 1 & 2 soon.
* At 11PM, announcement was made for arrival of 6591 UBL-SBC Hampi express on pf 6. It arrived with dual KJM WDP-4 locos #20025, 20027.
* The 6591 locos reached only halfway through the platform and stopped the rake so that the last coach was at the end of the pf. Then the locos were cut from 6591. In the meantime, 16363 had cut off from 6593.
* The twin Dippys were shunted to pf 4, attached to 6593 and headed ahead. After crossing the GTL yard, the 6593 was reversed back onto pf 6 and attached to 6591.
* It was now a 24 coacher. Never knew that 6591 even had a HA coach!!
* Departed GTL at 2330hrs and retired for the night.
SBC:
* Woke up at 5AM to find the train being looped at Dodballapur and a WDG-4 led freighter crossing us.
* Reached YNK at 0530hrs and departed after 5mins. YNK is now under wires. The catenary is ready so that electrics can come upto YNK from BYPL/KJM side. Empty rake of YPR-Muzaffarpur was at YNK.
* The YPR branch has poles up till Lottegollahalli where the Hebbal line joins. No wires though. After Lottegollahalli till YPR, the catenary masts are slowly coming up and most are not even fixed.
* Arrived at YPR at 6AM after a slow run, but were stopped for more than 15mins so that the JS could cross us.
* Rani Chennamma has also just arrived at YPR with dual WDP-4 locos #20007 and 20006.
* Soon we exited YPR and made our way to SBC which we reached at 0630hrs, 20 mins behind schedule after a small halt at MVM.
* Just as I reached pf1, Lalbagh was departing with LGD WAP-4 Monster #22716 !!
* Spotted the usual suspects at SBC, KJM locos 16669, 36016.
BYPL:
* Had a small session at BYPL, the same place where my IRFCA days all began.
* Thanks to Ramdev Gowda who spent the hot afternoon with me.
* Spotted ED WAG-7 #27756 and an OHE inspection car doing the rounds.
* The highlight was a fast running Brindavan led by ED WAP-4 #22526.
* Prashanti went with a WDP-4 LHF.
* The BWT-SBC MEMU arrived and was also seen departing later.
* The rake of SBC-KCVL exp was brought in from probably CSDR to BYPL and after a short halt, went towards SBC led by KJM WDM-2 #16670.
* CBE-LTT came in with ERS WDM-3A #14075.
YPR-KCG-BMT:
* On the return journey, I was booked on the 7604 YPR-KCG exp. It was stationed on pf 2 with GTL WDM-3A #18914R at the helm. (I made one mistake here. Did not actually see the shed name written. It was in the GTL blue-yellow-grey livery hence I assumed the home shed).
* The loco which provided me my first ever FP a few years back, KJM's 18704R was seen idling.
* Sidhaganga Intercity to UBL was late behind 20054.
* We started from YPR bang on time and SBC gangman Pavan Kumar was rushing to YPR to meet me, but I guess he made it to YPR just as the last coach crossed the platform.. never mind Pavan, there's always a next time. :)
* The run was good all the way although we were running just around 10-15 mins behind schedule.
* At Dodballapur, we were made to wait for the GNT-YPR passenger to cross. It was led by GTL's 18756, but had a dead 20032 WDP-4 behind it.
* Makalidurg never disappoints me. 7 out of 10 times I travelled on the section in the evenings, it has rained. And on this occasion, it did not pour but was a light drizzle. It was a wonderful scenery and the loco was making mincemeat of the rake down the ghats.
* The scenery changes from lush green to dull brown barren as we cross Vidhuraswatha, the last station in Karnataka and cross Devarapalle, the first station in AP on that section.
* Crossed Hindupur, Penukonda and SSPN uneventfully and just as we were approaching DMM, an unknown train led by an Alco was on its way on the direct line to PKD.
* The IRCTC stall at DMM was serving hot Dal vadas, idlis and rail aahar (poori and aloo sabzi). The rail ahaar is served in boxes and the rate was mentioned clearly and in bold as Rs 10. But the vendor was charging Rs 15 for the same. Of course I did not pay and a simple threat of putting in a complaint against him made him charge Rs 10 only. And he did that for all the people while I was lurking around !!
* The run to GY was fast. The MG line between DMM and Kalluru is still intact with no sign of GC. However, at Kalluru, the MG line has been replaced by BG. Also a new cross-over line has been built from the existing BG line to the newly converted BG line over a new embankment.
* The tracks and sleepers have been pulled off the MG bridge over the Pennar. I am not sure if the old girder bridge is strong and wide enough to accomodate the BG. I also think that is the exact reason why the GC has been halted between Kalluru and DMM and thats why connection to the old line.
* 7604 (and not 7603) has a loco change at GY. I assume it should be a GY-GY change as 18914 sped into the shed after being replaced by GY's 14038. Thats when my mistake of taking the loco's livery for granted came to haunt me. I was assured by the RPF hawaldar that it is a daily occurrence.
* The RPF on duty takes over 7604 at DMM and they disembark at DNC and take the 2785 back to DMM. This is their daily link. Another common link is Karnataka/7603 between DMM-GTL.
* Arrived on time at GTL on pf5. At the same time, MLY's 18539 brought in the Hampi Link from NED to pf 6.
* CBE-LTT arrived in sometime on pf4 behind KJM's 14084.
* 14038 reversed at GTL while the UBL slip coaches were attached at the RC end of 7604 and off we were towards KCG.
* I took up the side upper berth and dozed off. Woke up at 0445hrs to find ourselves entering Falaknuma. We were put on the pf 3 loop because a MMTS rake for FL-1 was blocking the pf2 mainline! That rake spent the entire night at FM. It could have been put on the pf 3 loop!!
* #360 FM-GR passenger was on pf1.
* Reached KCG 5 minutes behind schedule, probably missing the punctual arrival time due to the looping at FM. Took the FL-1 to BMT.
* At SC, Krishna exp was getting ready behind 22658. 22231 was idling near the pf 1 siding.
* Tungabhadra was on pf 8 while 713 BZA-SC special (which would go as 2706 SC-GNT intercity) was on pf 9.
* Announcements were being made about cancellation of SC-GHY exp and impending arrival of Godavari exp.
* Reached BMT at 0655hrs after a through run. I expected a crossing with AP to happen between SC-HSJ but there was no sign of 2723.
Reached home in another 10mins and dozed off again!!
Hope you enjoyed.
June 18, 2008
Trip to Bangalore
Hi folks
I would be in Bangalore for the next three days.
Reaching SBC by 6593 Hampi Link express. I would be returning back on
Saturday by the 7604 YPR-KCG EXP.
Please do try to plan out a meet.
I can be contacted at 09885357014.
Ciao !!
--
Regards,
Vrijilesh Rai
----
Fedex or Nadal ?
Ferrari or McLaren?
Find out at www.vrijilesh.com
----
June 16, 2008
Coach Gyaan
If u already do not know, then let me tell you that I'm a major fan of the Indian Railways. And people around me make it a point to tell me about the rickety state of the coaches they travelled in, some going to the extent of telling me that the coach they travelled in was probably of Independence era.
Unfortunately for them, I dont buy the statement. As a policy, no coach more than 25 years old runs on tracks in Indian Railways. Now how does one know how old the coach is? Some coaches do have the manufacturers plate near the vestibules, but not all. Then? Its simple. All one has to do is check the coach number printed on the outside of the coach. The first two digits give you the year of manufacture. A number which reads 04028 is a coach manufactured in 2004. A coach numbered 96286 is 1996 product.
Unfortunately for them, I dont buy the statement. As a policy, no coach more than 25 years old runs on tracks in Indian Railways. Now how does one know how old the coach is? Some coaches do have the manufacturers plate near the vestibules, but not all. Then? Its simple. All one has to do is check the coach number printed on the outside of the coach. The first two digits give you the year of manufacture. A number which reads 04028 is a coach manufactured in 2004. A coach numbered 96286 is 1996 product.
Now, the year of manufacture does not give the state of a coach. Each coach undergoes an overhaul every year. This includes checking and repairing of suspension, broken seats and uphostery, electricals, etc and a paint job. Its a complete overhaul and not just a service. So a coach just out of overhaul is as good as a new one. How does one know when it has undergone an overhaul? Just check the back of a coach near the vestibule.. you will have the month of overhaul with the date of return for the next.
I also see a lot of people fumbling to find their seat numbers in the coach. They do not know which end to go in from. An indicator near the coach door should be of some help.
A lot of people who travel AC 2 Tier might find themselves allotted a coach which reads HA-1. Now they fumble hopelessly to find their seats in there. HA-1 is a Composite First AC and AC 2 tier coach, half of each. There are two charts on the coach, on near each door, one entrance for AC First Class and the other 2 Tier AC. Suit your reservations!!
If you are still at sea and have a coach thats pretty bad and unclean, you can complain to the Senior Section Engineer, Coaching and Wagons, Division (SC here is Secunderabad) as indicated on the destination boards of a coach!
Happy Journey !!
June 14, 2008
5 minutes
"Utho"
"Tum Utho"
"Utho na.."
"Tum Utho"
"Uthooooo"
"5 minutes"
"Acha, theek hai"
.. and we collapse into each other's arms again !!
"Tum Utho"
"Utho na.."
"Tum Utho"
"Uthooooo"
"5 minutes"
"Acha, theek hai"
.. and we collapse into each other's arms again !!
June 12, 2008
Obituary: Common Sense
An Obituary printed in the London Times........ Interesting and sadly rather true.
'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents Truth and Trust, his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, his son Reason.
He is survived by his 4 step brothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
June 10, 2008
Serial Killers
The other day I happened to watch an Ekta Kapoor serial for a few minutes. Basically, Mom and Biwi were watching it and I just happened to be in the same room at that time reading the newspaper.
The scene was thus. A group of youngsters dressed in party wear were talking about smoking openly at home. At which one of the girls says that her Mom and Dad were pretty cool about it and there was no problem in fagging or boozing at home. She takes out a ciggie and is about to light it when her Dad appears. This cool Dad, apparently named Mr Walia, approaches her with anger on his face, shouts at her saying she was not supposed to smoke that cheap brand of cigarettes and asks her to smoke the best and costliest brands available. And he walks away ushering his servants to serve costly liquor to his children and their friends. The scene closes with one of the girls telling what a cool Dad she had.
Now, according to biwi.. it was a plan that Mr Walia was using to get his children off smoking. Ok.
I, as a non-regular viewer, saw almost 10-15mins of the episode. There might have been hundreds across the world who might have channel surfed and landed on this channel at the time the scene in question was being screened.
They would surely not know the story, and hence such a scene forms an indelible impression on those minds. If they are young malleable minds, it might send them into a whirlpool of unhealthy activities. Not just smoking and drinking, but also expecting parents to be appreciative of that.
I might be ok with a solitary dialogue in which one protagonist might ask another to smoke or drink, but an entire scene lasting atleast 10minutes unfolding on an entertainment channel is completely the wrong thing to happen.
More views solicited.
The scene was thus. A group of youngsters dressed in party wear were talking about smoking openly at home. At which one of the girls says that her Mom and Dad were pretty cool about it and there was no problem in fagging or boozing at home. She takes out a ciggie and is about to light it when her Dad appears. This cool Dad, apparently named Mr Walia, approaches her with anger on his face, shouts at her saying she was not supposed to smoke that cheap brand of cigarettes and asks her to smoke the best and costliest brands available. And he walks away ushering his servants to serve costly liquor to his children and their friends. The scene closes with one of the girls telling what a cool Dad she had.
Now, according to biwi.. it was a plan that Mr Walia was using to get his children off smoking. Ok.
I, as a non-regular viewer, saw almost 10-15mins of the episode. There might have been hundreds across the world who might have channel surfed and landed on this channel at the time the scene in question was being screened.
They would surely not know the story, and hence such a scene forms an indelible impression on those minds. If they are young malleable minds, it might send them into a whirlpool of unhealthy activities. Not just smoking and drinking, but also expecting parents to be appreciative of that.
I might be ok with a solitary dialogue in which one protagonist might ask another to smoke or drink, but an entire scene lasting atleast 10minutes unfolding on an entertainment channel is completely the wrong thing to happen.
More views solicited.
June 09, 2008
Tagged a-long
Honoured to have been tagged by Chandni
So here goes...
I am: basically a nice chap, masquerading as a rogue.
I think: a lot of things. My mind is never ever idle.
I know: that I am capable of so many things that I dont even try.
I want: small comforts and only happiness
I have: my brains intact and working.
I wish: that people get some civic sense.
I hate: people spitting on roads and those who drive the wrong way.
I miss: Bangalore and its weather, and the uncountable hours spent at CCD 7th blk, Jayanagar
I fear: God
I feel: that there is a lot of good we can do to others if we think selfishly.
I hear: the damn alarm on my mobile every morning :(
I smell: blood!
I crave: to just take a train ride across the entire country!
I search: using Google.
I wonder: if Manmohan Singh can ever get out of Sonia's shadow.
I regret: not finding my wife earlier.
I love: my sweetheart biwi.
I ache: when I'm deprived of my rightful place in front of my comp.
I am not: a saint.
I believe: that I have the answer to all the traffic woes of Hyderabad.
I dance: when i need to make my wife laugh!
I sing: always, in my mind..
I cry: within myself. Seldom express my pain/frustrations to others.
I don’t always: get what I want.
I fight: with some bozo or the other, everytime I drive.. much to biwi's chagrin!
I write: only on my blogs.
I win: rarely against biwi... whether its arguments or a card game or monopoly.
I lose: my temper easily.
I never: will leave my biwi.. for her always.
I always: want to be the best.
I confuse: others.. naah, just joking.
I listen: to old hindi songs.. mukesh, rafi, kishore, saigal..
I can usually be found: online atleast thrice a day, either on the comp or the mobile.
I am scared: of failure.
I need: flattery.
I am happy about: the fact that I'm doing this tag.
I imagine: myself and biwi as a khadoos old couple nagging the neighbour's kids n grandkids day in and day out!!!
I tag: Chakoli, Cinderalla, Pri, Anjuli, Ria and Ankur.June 06, 2008
A year and a half
Have taken an off from work and we are gonna celebrate it together. Going out for a nice drive, to be followed by a neat lunch. This would also be a gift to her for the challenge I lost a few days back. Thanks folks for the idea! I hope to have a wonderful time ahead.
June 04, 2008
Enviro-ideas
Folks
Tomorrow is World Environment Day.
Give three solid ideas that can make a small but sure positive impact
on the nature. Keep your ideas practical and simple.
The best opinions featured in the comments will be displayed in the
next post here.
Go Green.
With Trees, not envy!
June 02, 2008
Lost it !
I'm happy that I've lost the Abstainism Challenge. Even the Biwi was sure that I'd not survive the entire duration. Let alone a week, even 3 days were tough going. So folks, I'm back!
Now for the catch.. ab biwi ko kuch toh gift dena padega.. so suggest something achcha, sasta and tikau !!!
May 28, 2008
Abstainment
Wifey Dearest has come up with a challenge that I cannot abstain for one full week. She knows that I love doing that so much that she has all hopes that I would lose the challenge within a couple of days.
As far as I am concerned, its really too tough to abstain for one full week. I mean a day or two is ok, but one full week? Thats asking a bit too much. But then since wifey did put up that challenge so softly and nicely, I was sort of compelled into taking it up!
So, folks from 29th May to 4th June 2008, I am going to practise abstainment. I know its probably the toughest thing for me to do in a long time, but since its decided, I'm going ahead with it.
Yes, I'm not going to sit in front of the computer for one full week !!!
PS: The only concession is that I can check my mail on my mobile (that too not in her presence). No blogging or orkutting whatsoever.
As far as I am concerned, its really too tough to abstain for one full week. I mean a day or two is ok, but one full week? Thats asking a bit too much. But then since wifey did put up that challenge so softly and nicely, I was sort of compelled into taking it up!
So, folks from 29th May to 4th June 2008, I am going to practise abstainment. I know its probably the toughest thing for me to do in a long time, but since its decided, I'm going ahead with it.
Yes, I'm not going to sit in front of the computer for one full week !!!
PS: The only concession is that I can check my mail on my mobile (that too not in her presence). No blogging or orkutting whatsoever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)