Category: General

Day 16/ 365 – Drive to Nathdwara (1/3)

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

I wanted to write this post right after I did this trip 6 weeks back, but somehow was too lazy to write the post. Me, along with my family members decided to drive to Nathdwara, Rajasthan on Friday evening and return back by Monday morning. The distance from Mumbai to Nathdwara is approx. 840 kms one way – so more than 1600 kms driving with one day stay at Nathdwara. You got to think, we are crazy. The reason for such a short and crazy trip was that I was joining a new organization and wanted to visit the temple before starting at the new place as I wasn’t sure that I would have leave available to go anywhere in the next couple of months. Also we got a new Maruti Swift and I thought it was a good opportunity to go on a long drive with the family. So with that in mind, I started the process of convincing everyone to join the trip. My wife couldn’t join me to due to work issues, but slowly steadily remaining members got on board with the idea.

We left on Friday evening around 8pm. Initially my brother took the wheels, with me sitting next to him. This was his first long distance trip. I had already done a trip to Pune earlier. He always had issues driving in the night and that day also it was no less. It is difficult to drive when you lights from the oncoming traffic hitting right in your eyes. However, he was able to adjust well after sometime and took to night driving like a fish in the water. In no time he was driving at speeds well over 100kmph and with extremely good control. We halted after crossing Vapi to have dinner. It took us around 3.5 hours to reach Vapi and so far the roads were excellent. Post dinner, also the smooth roads continued until we reach Surat. Post Surat, the roads until Bharuch was very bad. This was also the time when there were extremely heavy rains in Gujarat, esp. in Bharuch and Vadodara. The potholes would appear out of nowhere. We had the car fog lights on, tried the high beam on but nothing would work to allow an early sighting of the pothole. The problem was also that most of the road was very good, and thus we were going really fast. But then a pothole would appear out of nowhere and car would take a hit.

We reached Ankleshwar bridge and found out there was a huge traffic jam and nobody was sure that when the jam would be cleared. Me and my dad stepped out of the car to check out what the situation was. My brother told me to come back quickly in case we needed to turn around. I went and spoke to a couple of nearby truck drivers and they told me that the traffic jam would only be cleared the next morning. I came back and conveyed the news to my brother and asked him to turn around. However, my dad had gone further ahead to ask a few more people, so I called him. Getting no response from him, I decided to go looking for my dad and I asked my brother to stay where he was and not turn around. That was a big mistake. By the time, I found my dad and told him of the development, my brother called frantically to say the turn to the left was blocked by the truck and now we are stuck. We reached where our car was parked and requested the truck driver next to us to reverse a little so that we could take a left turn. The good driver obliged and we were able to take a left turn on to a service lane and drove in the opposite direction. In between our way was blocked by another truck. Again the same request was made and we got lucky this time too and had enough space to wriggle the car out. We drove in the opposite direction and reached a junction and asked a few local rickshaw drivers directions to Bharuch. They asked us to take the Golden Bridge, which is an old bridge and is only used by light vehicles. We duly crossed the bridge and were once again on our way to Nathdwara. When we reached the highway, the road in the opposite direction was full of traffic. Apparently due to heavy rains, the bridge had developed craters and hence traffic was being restricted. We decided to drive safely here as we were faced with oncoming vehicles. After driving for 40 odd kms, the traffic evened out again and we were on our away to cross Vadodara.

It was approx. 3:30am. My brother had driven for almost 7 hours.

Day 7/ 365 – New battery, but problems exist

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

So I had got the battery charged a couple of days back and took the bike to work. While returning from work, I got the same “Orange” light again and decided I am going to replace the battery. I managed to reach home without any issues and parked the bike. Didn’t use the bike on entire day Saturday and tried starting the bike today afternoon. But there was no response. So I went to the battery store and got myself a brand new battery. After installing the battery by myself, a first for me, the bike seemed to be working fine and there were no “orange” light issues. I even drove for sometime and everything seemed to be fine. So in the evening, I decided to take the bike out for a spin as I wanted to check if it worked well with headlights turned on. Initially while riding for the first 20-25 mins, there were no issues and I was feeling confident that the issues was resolved. However, thats when the dreaded “orange” light appeared again and the bike stalled in the middle of the order. After waiting for a few minutes, I turned it on again and it seemed to work. However, whenever, I would turn on the headlight I started facing issues with the background light in the odometer and the horn started sounding funny. All these are indicators of the battery dying, however, the problem is not with the battery. The problem seems to be something else altogether. I am planning to take it to Service Center tomorrow to understand what issue might be and see if it can be fixed. This is the first time, the bike has given me so many issues. Lets hope tomorrow all of them would sorted and done with.

Day 6/ 365 – Mumbai traffic woes

~ Akshay ~ 1 Comment

Today after the MBA lectures got over, we decided to go for snacks to a nearby place. We were in a friends car when suddenly we started discussing how much of a pain it is to drive in this city. There are traffic jams everywhere and nothing is being done to manage them. I got a car recently and to be honest, I dread about driving it in Mumbai traffic. There are vehicles everywhere. If you are not surrounded by vehicles, then there would be people jay walking. If not people, there would be cows and if not cows there are always dogs!! I mean there is place for everyone but for you to drive. Recently the government approved some 3000 odd rickshaw permits, don’t know where they would be driving or where we would be driving. The traffic situation, I feel, is worst in the suburbs with auto rickshaws and bikes cramming for every little available space.

This leads to the question: how to manage all this much traffic? May be some sort of car pool system. Or may be rickshaws/ taxis could operate only during designated hours during the day or only a fixed number of rickshaws or taxis to operate during the day. Probably this would help reduce the number of vehicles on the road and thus freeing up some space for the private vehicle to drive. Also private vehicles should be occupied with minimum 4 people while on the street. This would also encourage people to carpool and reduce pollution as well as the number of vehicles on the street.

I feel these are some solutions that the government should initiate as soon as possible to reduce the traffic woes that have currently plagued the city. All of these initiatives require political will and discipline from the citizens of the city. Will be able to implement any of these? Only time will tell.

mumbai-traffic-1024x735

Day 1/ 365 – Scare with the Bike

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

The last few days, I have been commuting to work on my bike as it is offers me good flexibility as far as working hours are concerned. Last night after the shift got over, I was traveling on the Ghodbunder Road and faced the usual truck traffic and was able to negotiate safely. After reaching Dahisar Toll Naka, I see the Orange “check engine warning light” come on. I had seen this warning light come on earlier when I did the road trip to Asherigadh. However, after reaching Mumbai I got the bike serviced and didn’t get the warning light. So I didn’t really take any action. Like earlier this time also, I decided to ignore the light and continued towards home. After a few seconds, the light didn’t appear and I thought to myself just like last time. Just when this thought was going through my head, my bike stopped right in the middle of the road. This is the first time in 3 years that something like this had happened with the bike, so my first reaction after panic was to park on the side of the road and wait for a few minutes. After waiting for a few minutes, I turned on the bike again and it didn’t start and made a very strange noise. The noise was good enough to tell me that something is seriously wrong with the bike. I was hoping that the bike would turn on and I wouldn’t have to park the bike in some unknown street or building.  I tried again after a couple of minutes and the bike turned on. So I drove extremely cautiously and reached home.

Today morning, I took the bike to the Yamaha Service Center and they said it is a known “minor” issue and there could be some problem with one of the seven sensors in the bike. I was hoping to get the bike fixed today and get it to work, however, it is still not ready and I am thinking if it was just a “minor” issues what is taking the people at the service center such a long time. Just hoping that there is nothing major.

Update: So it turns out the battery in the bike was dying and had to be recharged. However, have been asked to keep an eye on the “orange” warning light. In case if it comes on again, I will need to get a new battery or probably replace the coil. So nothing major so far yet.

DPP_0009

Song in my head – Fitoor

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Been hearing this song on repeat for quite sometime now. One of the best songs by Mohit Chauhan. 

Der se aaye Der se jaaye Chahaye ban ke saroor
Lakh manao paas na aaye Ishq hai yaara fitoor

Der se aaye Der se jaaye Chahaye ban ke saroor
Chandni raatein paas bulayein yaad kare koi door
Tujhko kiska dil kis dil se mil jayega kya ptaa
Kaise hoga woh dil mein jo Khul jaaye band aarzoo
Kiska dil kis dil se mil jayega kya ptaa
Kaise hoga woh dil mein jo Khul jaaye band aarzoo

Tu ye jaane ya na jaane
Humko ptaa hai hazoor
Tu ye jaane ya na jaane
Humko ptaa hai hazoor
Hoga nazara chaand kinare Raat kahe hai zaroor
Marjana .. marjana meri jaan
Mujh mein samaye mujh ko churaye
Kis ka hai ye kasoor
Der se aaye Der se jaaye Chahaye ban ke saroor
http://www.top10bollywood.com/

Der se aaye Der se jaaye Chahaye ban ke saroor
Lakh manao paas na aaye Ishq hai yaara fitoor
Marjana .. marjana .

Solo car drive to Pune

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Last Thursday I completed my maiden driving visit to Pune. As a new driver, I was really looking forward for a long drive and the drive to Pune was just about the right distance for me. 180 kms from home. Not too short and not too far. I decided to leave early on Thursday morning as I didn’t want to get stuck in the famous Mumbai traffic. I left my house around 7:15am while it was raining cats and dogs outside. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to drive in the rains but the challenge seemed too irresistible for me and I decided to get going. Since it was raining very heavily, the traffic was really slow on the highway and it took me almost an hour just to get to the Airoli bridge. Thankfully the rains stopped after reaching Airoli and the conditions got better for driving. Soon I was cruising along the Mumbai – Pune Expressway. After driving for 30 mins on the expressway, I got a feeling that I am going to fall asleep. I guess it was due to the fact that I had gotten up early and also that there was no company other than the music playing. Thankfully I was nearby the rest area and decided to park at the rest area and get some coffee and water before deciding to get going again. Fresh again, I was excited to drive along the Lonavala ghats and was able to drive along the ghats without any issues. The rest of the journey was equally uneventful and I was able to reach Pune around 12pm. Ideally, I should have reached there by 11:30am, but then I took the Dehu Road exit and was looking for a UPS store and hence was going quite slow on the highway.

I left Pune Friday night and realized a problem which I had not faced before. Almost everyone in Pune drives with their headlights on high beam. That means that lights from the vehicle coming from the opposite direction, is right in your eyes and temporarily blinding you. I have seen many drivers in Mumbai also driving on the high beam, but and large, they are a selective few only. Here, the two wheelers and the four wheelers were all driving on high beams and it was really difficult to drive. I wanted to understand the reason as to why they would be driving like this. But then I realized it is the same city which protested against the law for wearing helmets. I guess a lot of it boils down to lack of awareness as far as driving is concerned. I was having trouble reaching the expressway as a lot of oncoming vehicles were driving on high beam. I had to flash my lights quite a few times before they would lower their lights and make driving easier. In this matter, I found the trucks to be most friendly. They usually drive on low beams and if they are driving on high beam and if they see you driving on low beam, they immediately lower their lights and thus allowing easier travel for both the drivers. I guess Pune traffic police really need to crack down on this menace. When I was in Chandigarh last month, driving on high beam was a punishable offence. May be they should do something like this in Pune also.

After reaching the Mumbai – Pune expressway during my return leg of the journey, driving in the night was considerably easy and I was manage to complete the trip quite safely. The only time when I felt a little nervous was while getting down the ghats, there are a couple of blind curves along which I felt driving was a bit difficult. Other than that, I had a good trip and I really enjoyed driving. Hopefully next time, I will have some company while going for a long distance drive.

High Beam light effecting on coming traffic
High Beam light effecting on coming traffic
Low Beam
Low Beam lights– much safer during night drive

Horrible experience at Vodafone gallery

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Today I had been to Vodafone Gallery in Kandivali to get my mobile number transferred from Corporate plan to Individual plan. I reached there around noon, was given a token and then asked to wait until they announced mu number. While I was waiting for my number, I observed them calling numbers in sequential order and all,of a sudden they announced a couple of numbers randomly. So I went and asked them why are we calling numbers randomly and they said these numbers have been allocated to senior citizens. There was a senior citizen standing next to me and he said how come my number hasn’t been called. So the store manager (Kunal) says you didn’t ask for it. I was very surprised with this response as the man was clearly a senior citizen. However, the store manager arranged for his number to be called out next.

Finally, my number was called out and I was assigned a customer service executive called Devika. I told her I need to transfer my number and told her I have all the required documents. I was told that I can no longer use the existing plan and would have to choose a new plan. I was given a list of all the plans and I chose a plan which I wanted. After selecting the plan, she goes and speaks with someone and then says that the plan is no longer available. I was surprised with the same and I asked why is it on your list of plans? She didn’t say much but said that they are no longer offering that plan. She then offered me a plan with basic rental of Rs. 129. After explaining the plan details, I agreed to the plan and asked her to go,ahead and confirm the same. She goes to her superior and then comes back says that she was confused and this plan is also not available. So I asked her patiently, give me a plan which is available. We finally agreed on a lan with a monthly rental of Rs. 99/ month. I was also given an option of adding 2 numbers for a fixed monthly rental of Rs. 98/ month. I agree to the same. While signing the form, I see an offer to add 3 numbers in a group and calls to those numbers was free and only for Rs. 49/ month. I told her that this add on makes more sense and it is less expensive than the earlier add on of Rs. 98/ month. After finalizing everything, she takes the form to her superior for a final check and then comes back and says, I need to pay Rs. 15/ month for a promotion.

On hearing this, I simply lost my cool. At that point, another executive named, Chandan, came,over and started explaining why the additional promotional fee. I told him I am no longer interested in getting the number changed and told him the entire experience has been bad for me. I have been with Vodafone since 2006 and this is the worst experience that I have ever had. After all this, they decide to waive off the promotional fee and we agreed on the plan. The entire experience was completely bad. I spent approx. 2 hours just to get a new sim card.

How have we become like this?

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Today me and my colleagues were having a very interesting conversation in the cafeteria. The topic was “How have we become like this”? Considering the fact that we got independence in the year 1947 and since then how as a society we have become more and more corrupt. We compared the corruption levels in India to other countries and realized that we are probably worst of the lot and were left wondering where did we go wrong? Is corruption so imbibed in us that we will never change? Or have we started to see some change in the society? During the conversation, we tried to identify the beginnings of India being corrupt. We agreed that we were corrupt since the time India was ruled by many kingdoms. During those times, there were constant fights between two kingdoms with one wanting to establish supremacy over the other and obtain the resources of the other kingdom. During those times, allies would have been paid fees to fight and thus quite a lot of money would be exchanged. Some of it would be exchanged to return a favor, some to get certain work done etc. We felt this how corruption got its roots in India. Greed – was the root cause of corruption.

There is corruption in all the countries, but not to the extent that we have in India. The reason we felt was lack of implementation of laws. While we have laws, we do not have the will to implement the law, thus allowing people to get away with corruption. Once people stop fearing the law, it becomes a way of life and that’s what we are seeing today. Every one from the top to bottom goes scot free even though they would have broken a thousand laws or would be involved in scams worth billions of rupees. In developed countries, people don’t get away. Law is applied equally and hence everyone fears committing a crime or being corrupt.  We don’t have equality in our laws and thus we end up creating more problems rather than solving them.

While there are always a few people who are fighting for the right thing, people in general need to awake and move towards changing their behavior. Even a person accepting a bribe is successful when someone pays him. If we don’t pay, chances are people won’t ask. I believe if we have the strength to apply laws with equality and speed up the judiciary process, we should be able to move towards a better society.

Image